it. In Greenwood and
Jackson, Mississippi, the police were instructed to curtail their
practices of beating negroes. Several court cases in which negroes
were involved terminated favorably for them. There followed directly
after the exodus an attempt at more even handed justice, or at least
some conciliatory measures were adopted. The authorities at Laurel,
Mississippi, were cautioned to treat negroes better, so as to prevent
their leaving. There is cited the case of a negro arrested on an
ambiguous charge. He was assigned to the county chain gang and put to
work on the roads. At this time the treatment in the courts was
being urged by negroes as a reason for leaving. This negro's case was
discussed. He was sent back from the county roads alone for a shovel.
He did not return; and his return was not expected.[98]

Conferences of negroes and whites in Mississippi emphasized the
necessity of cooperation between the races for their common good. The
whites said, to quote a negro laborer, "We must just get together."
A negro said: "The dominant race is just a bit less dominant at
present." "We are getting more consideration and appreciation," said
another. From another quarter came the remark that "instead of the old
proverbial accusation--shiftless and unreliable--negro labor is being
heralded as 'the only dependable labor extant, etc.'"[99] A general
review of the results made it clear that there was a disposition
on the part of the white population to give some measure of those
benefits, the denial of which was alleged as the cause of the exodus.
For those who remained conditions were much more tolerable, although
there appeared to persist a feeling of apprehension that these
concessions would be retracted as soon as normal times returned. Some
were of the opinion that the exodus was of more assistance to those
negroes who stayed behind than to those who went away.

As a matter of fact, the white people in the South began to direct
attention to serious work of reconstruction to make that section
inviting to the negro. Bolivar county, Mississippi, as a direct result
of the recommendation of the labor committee, made an appropriation of
$25,000 toward an agricultural high school, the first of its kind
in the State. The school boards of Coahoma and Adams counties have
appointed Jeanes Foundation Supervisors and, in Coahoma county,
promised a farm demonstration agent. They also made repairs on the
school buildings in towns