double and
treble those received in the South. Women who received $2.50 a week
in domestic service could earn from $2.10 to $2.50 a day and men
receiving $1.10 and $1.25 a day could earn from $2.50 to $3.75 a day
in the various industries in the North. An intensive study of the
migration to Pittsburgh, made by Mr. Abraham Epstein, gives an idea of
the difference in wages paid in the North and the South. His findings
may be quoted: "The great mass of workers get higher wages here than
in the places from which they come. Fifty-six per cent received less
than two dollars a day in the South, while only five per cent received
such wages in Pittsburgh." Sixty-two per cent received between $2 and
$3 per day in Pittsburgh as compared with 25 per cent in the South,
and 28 per cent received between $3 and $3.60 in this city as compared
with four per cent in the South.

The inability to educate their children properly because of the
inadequacy of school facilities was another cause which has been
universally given for leaving the South. The basis for this
frequently voiced complaint is well set forth in the study of _Negro
Education_ by Dr. Thomas Jesse Jones. The inadequacy of the elementary school system for colored
children is indicated both by the comparisons of public
appropriations already given and by the fact that the
attendance in both public and private schools is only 58.1 per
cent of the children six to fourteen years of age. The average
length of the public school term is less than five months in
practically all of the southern States. Most of the school
buildings, especially those in the rural districts, are in
wretched condition. There is little supervision and little
effort to improve the schools or adapt their efforts to the
needs of the community. The reports of the State Departments
of Georgia and Alabama indicate that 70 per cent of the
colored teachers have third grade or temporary certificates,
representing a preparation less than that usually given in
the first eight elementary grades. Investigations made by
supervisors of colored schools in other States indicate that
the percentage of poorly prepared colored teachers is almost
as high in the other southern States.

The treatment which the negroes received at the hands of the courts
and the guardians of the peace constituted another cause of the

 Prev. P 11/238 next