Council Proceedings: October 2, 1905

TO THE HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FT. WORTH.

Gentlemen:-

We your committee to whom was referred a communication addressed to the Honorable body dated August 26th 1905, and signed by Jno. K. Rosson beg to report, that we have examined said communication and believe it to be our duty to refuse to consider the same because of the disrepsectful language and the unwarranted imputations therein contained. We are in sympathy with the subject matter of said communication, but believe that when persons desire releif and address communications to this council they should at least be couched in respectful language and be free from imputation ad insinuations such as is are contained in the communication in question.

We therefore return said communication and a prior communication upon the same subject herewith and recommend ^ that council refer to [educator?] the same and that the city secretary be instructed to return the same to their author through the U. S. Mail.

As to the petition signed by numerous citizens of the city of Ft. Worth in regard to requiring the street car companies to separate the white and black passengers from each other in their cars, we recommend that the city attorney be instructed to prepare an ordinance requiring the separation of said wgite and black passengers by requiring the whites to occupy the front seats and the blacks the rear sears in their cars and in this manner filling the cars from each end until full.

We beg to say that after this petition was referred to us we conferred with the ma yor of North Ft. Worth with the view of having the city council of North Ft. Worth enact an ordinance similar in every respect to the ordinance which shall be enacted by this council upon the same subject and we are informed that such action has been taken by the city council of North Ft. Worth and we recommend that the city attorney be instructed to confer with the city attorney of North Ft. Worth with a view of drafting an ordinance for each of said cities enact ordinance upon this subject similar in every respect so as to obviate any trouble or confusion in enforcing the same.

Respectfully submitted

W.R. Parker

MM Lydon

North Fort Worth, Texas. Aug 25, 1905

We the undersigned members of the Ft. Worth Live Stock Exchange, and residents of the City of Ft. Worth do respectfully submit that under present existing conditions it is impossible for white citizens and visitors to the Stock Yards, traveling between the Ft. Worth Stock Yards and the City, to use the street cars with any degree of comfort, physically or mentally.

The personal condition of many of the negroes using the cars is so filfhy that no sel-respecting white person can sit on the same seat without fear of contamination, and the negroes are daily becoming more insolent in their bearing, taking up ever desirable seat on the cars, leaving the most undesirable seats (in the sun) for the white sit izens.

We therefore, respectfully request that your honorable body pass an Ordiance setting aside a certain part of all street cars for whites and negroes in order to obviate the above conditions and to prevent that trouble which is fast daily approaching when the white citizens of this town will be compelled to resent the insolent bearing of the negroes toward them.

To change the existing conditions the street car company will not have to pay one dollar in arranging their cars for the negroes and whites; they can simply compel the negroes to take seats in the rear of the cars as they came in and the white people the front end. FIll the car up in this manner unitl they are fill. This will give the negroes as much right as the white people which we are perfectfully willing for them to have.

Respectfully submitted.

Marie Jackson CL Hare CH Lyford Wm [?] Jay Montague John Dyer Margaret Sweeney OE Feats Horace Wilson Ireland Hampton RH McNatt JF Hovenkamp TH McMakin CM Callaway CK Breedlove

J.W. Smith Geer Mills & CO J B Sanders MM Hargis R.P. Basse Jno F. Grant Caroline Lowe Allen C. Thomas Mrss Singleton RH Bowen HM Heilency RS Hall

N. R. Hickman B. Heill Nellie E. Pickels E. W. Guyen Jno G. Suddarth Linus D. Wall R. L. Hearden T. C. Acola H. M. Donnelly R. L. Halkin J. H. Joss [?] Hammond Ned Carter W D. deG[?] T. M. Canley H. H. Spaulding H. [?] A. G. Johann Wayne Gregg O. W. Matthews W. D. Dutton J. F. Bauer J. G. Shoeneker

W. M. Tucker Wayne Gregg B. C. Darnell J. S. Slaughter W. O. Hickman O. R. Sutton Bessie Carr M. Liston C. Dueff C. Hornsley O. B. Judd Eva Nichols P. M. Hunt Blanche Thompson S. A. Martin M. E. McGovern T. [?] Jr. Chas C. David G. C. Tuvell C. B. McKiernay J. P. Miller E. S. Hilgers