1904: Atlanta and Savannah Crime

In this report on crime in Atlanta and Savannah, Henry Hugh Proctor and M.N. Work analyze crime statistics. They find that “the principal causes of these arrests were disorderly conduct, drunkenness, idling and loitering and suspicion… the leading cause for arrest was drunkenness.” (49) They conclude that “the fountain head of crime among the Negroes of Atlanta is the open saloon. There is no doubt that the removal of strong drink from the city would decrease crime by half. In my native Southern town the abolition fo the saloon has almost put the courts out of business with Negroes. In one of our Decatur street saloons 100 colored men were seen to enter within 13 minutes one rainy evening. Of the 150 colored men and boys now in the city stockade the keeper tells me that most of them are there for drunkenness.” (49)