t has always
been bad. The attitude of the citizenry appeared to be that of passive
acceptance of conditions which must not be interfered with. As an
example of the state of mind, much surprise was manifested when an
investigation of the rioting was begun. Criminals have been known to
buy immunity. The mayor was assassinated some time ago and little or
no effort was made to punish his murderers.

Long before an influx was felt, it had been foreseen and mentioned by
several men, most notably, Mr. Charles Nagel, Secretary of Commerce
and Labor under President Taft. The East St. Louis plants had been
going to Ellis Island for laborers. When this supply was checked,
steps were taken to secure negroes. Agents were sent to Cairo to get
men en route further North. One advertisement which appeared in a
Texas paper promised negroes $3.05 a day and houses. It is estimated
that as a result of this beckoning the increase in population due to
the migration was 5,000. A number of other negro migrants, however,
work in East St. Louis and live in St. Louis, Lovejoy and Brooklyn,
a negro town. The school registration of the city showed that the
largest numbers of these blacks came from Mississippi and West
Tennessee. Despite the advertisement for men in Texas newspapers, few
came to this city from that State.[107]

The industries requiring the labor of these negroes were numerous.
The packing plants of Swift, Armour, Nelson and Morris employ large
numbers of negroes. In some of the unskilled departments fifty per
cent of the employes are black. The Aluminum Ore Works employs about
600 blacks and 1,000 whites. This is the plant in which occurred
the strike which in a measure precipitated the riot. The Missouri
Malleable Iron Works makes it a policy to keep three classes of men at
work and as nearly equal numerically as possible. The usual division
is one-third foreign whites, one-third American whites and one-third
blacks. The theory is that these three elements will not unite to
strike. Negroes are also employed in the glass works, cotton presses
and transfer yards. Their wages for unskilled work ranges from $2.75
to $3.75 generally for eight hours a day. Semiskilled work pays from
35 cents to 50 cents an hour.

The housing of the negro migrants was one of the most perplexing
problems in East St. Louis. The type of houses available for negroes,
before being burned during the riot, were small dilapidated cottages.
Congestion, of cour