sheriffs.—In addition to police, militiamen, and volunteers, another group composed of specially recruited deputy sheriffs, appeared in the riot zone as preservers of the peace. They were sworn in by Sheriff Peters, of Cook County, after citizens had appealed to him, he said, to quell the riot. In regard to their formation, numbers, orders, and duties, the sheriff had this to say:
I advertised for ex-service men to serve as deputy sheriffs. A thousand or more applied. They were all men who had returned from the war and were out of work. I hired 500 of them, kept them in the army uniforms, and instructed them to shoot to kill any disturbers or rioters. The presence of these men and the show of authority thereby made was effective, and the riot was quelled.
Fifteen thousand dollars was spent on this force.
It appears that these deputies came on the scene toward the end of the riot week and at once fell into disfavor with the militia, whom they ridiculed as "tin soldiers" in much the same manner as did the volunteers. Two regimental commanders of militia said the special deputies "did not behave in a very pleasant manner" and "in the majority of instances were no good." The sheriff was notified to call them in and they soon disappeared. There is no record of organized methods of procedure or of their activities.
Restoration of order.—Long before actual hostilities ceased, and even before the arrival of the militia, various agencies, in addition to the police, were at work trying to hold lawlessness in check and restore order. Efforts of citizens of both races helped greatly in bringing about peace. As long as the rioting was in progress thousands of Negroes were cut off from their employment. The Stock Yards workers especially were affected, since Negroes living east of Wentworth Avenue would have been forced to go to work on foot through the district in which the worst rioting occurred. The hostilities also cut off the food supply in the main riot areas. The dealers in the "Black Belt," principally Jewish merchants, became alarmed lest temporary lack of funds due to the separation from work and wages should lead Negroes to loot their stores.
On August 1, the various packing companies made the unpaid wages of Negro employees available for them by establishing pay stations at the Chicago Urban League at 3032 Wabash Avenue, the Wabash Avenue Young Men's Christian Association at 3763 Wabash Avenue, the South Side Community Service House at 3201 South Wabash Avenue, and the Binga State Bank, Thirty-eighth and State streets. Approximately 6,000 employees were paid in this way. Banks within the district made small temporary loans to stranded persons, sometimes without security. The cashier of the Franklin State Bank at Thirty-fifth Street and Michigan Avenue said that he had made loans of more than $200 to Negroes in sums of $2 and $3 on their simple promise to pay, and that every dollar had been repaid.
All the local newspapers in their editorial columns took a vigorous stand against disorder, urged the people to be calm and avoid crowds, and were insistent that those responsible for rioting should be brought to justice. The Tribune, for example, published editorials under the following captions: "Regain Order and Keep It," "Sane Men and Rioters," "This Is No Holiday," "The Facts of the Riot," and "Penalties for Rioters." All of these articles were calm appeals for tolerance, sanity, and dispassionate inquiry for the facts. The Evening American, in an editorial entitled "This Is Chicago's Crisis; Keep a Cool Head," said:
Chicago is facing its crisis today.
In one great section of the city law and order for the time being seem to have been flung to the four winds. White men and colored men are shooting one another down in the streets for no earthly cause except that the color of their faces differs.
These mobs are not representative of whites or blacks. They are the hoodlums of both races. But the law abiding whites and blacks are innocent victims.
Hotheads and smoking gun barrels have almost wrested the rule from the keepers of the peace.
It is worse than a calamity, this race rioting. It is a deadly, ghastly scourge, a dire contagion that is sweeping through a community for no reason except that mob violence is contagious.
It is up to the cool-headed men of Chicago to settle the great difficulty. It is up to the serious-minded business men of the city to get together and find a solution to a problem which has become so serious.
To meet violence with violence is but making matters worse. Gun toting at a time like this only adds fuel to the fire already raging.
Reason is the solution. It is mightier than the six-gun. How it is to be exerted is for the level-headed citizenry to decide, and decide at once.
Hardly an hour passes that more names are not added to the already long list of slain in the South Side rioting.
There is no time to be lost. Other matters must be put aside for the moment and a solution reached for Chicago's greatest problem.
NEGRO STOCK YARDS WORKERS CUT OFF FROM WORK RECEIVING WAGES
Photograph taken at temporary pay station established at the Y.M.C.A. by packing companies.
BUYING ICE FROM FREIGHT CAR SWITCHED INTO NEGRO RESIDENCE AREA
Labor unions also took a hand in the efforts toward peace. Unionists of both races were exhorted to co-operate in bringing about harmonious relations, and meetings for this purpose were planned by trade-union leaders, as described in the section of this report dealing with the Negro in industry. Probably the most effective effort of union labor was the following article in the New Majority, the organ of the Chicago Federation of Labor, prominently displayed:
For White Union Men to Read
Let any white union worker who has ever been on strike where gunmen or machine gun have been brought in and turned on him and his fellows search his memory and recall how he felt. In this critical moment let every union man remember the tactics of the boss in a strike when he tries by shooting to terrorize striking workers into violence to protect themselves.
Well, that is how the Negroes feel. They are panic-stricken over the prospect of being killed.
A heavy responsibility rests on the white portion of the community to stop assault on Negroes by white men. Violence against them is not the way to solve the vexed race problem.
This responsibility rests particularly heavy upon the white men and women of organized labor, not because they had anything to do with starting the present trouble, but because of their advantageous position to help end it. Right now it is going to be decided whether the colored workers are to continue to come into the labor movement or whether they are going to feel that they have been abandoned by it and lose confidence in it.
It is a critical time for Chicago.
It is a critical time for organized labor.
All the influence of the unions should be exerted on the community to protect colored fellow-workers from the unreasoning frenzy of race prejudice. Indications of the past have been that organized labor has gone further in eliminating race hatred than any other class. It is up against the acid test now to show whether this is so.
Various social agencies took steps to help in the emergency and restore order. The American Red Cross has a branch at Thirty-fifth Street and Michigan Avenue. As soon as the rioting became serious a special relief headquarters was established here, and food was distributed to needy families cut off from work. The Urban League was used as a headquarters for the distribution
