Drivers Return to Work

Drivers Return to Work –

Negroes Boycott Vehicles As Buses Roll at Baton Rouge

BATON ROUGE (AP) – The United Defense League asked Negroes to boycott city buses when service was resumed today after a four-day strike by drivers who objected to Negroes sitting in front of buses.

The drivers agreed late yesterday to return to work at dawn after they won a legal point with the city.

The bus company later said the Negro boycott was nearly 100 percent during the morning hours after buses began rolling.

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‘Free Ride’ Signs.

Passenger cars and taxis displaying “free ride” signs were picking up Negroes at bus stops.

The bus drivers agreed late yesterday to return to work at dawn after they won a legal point with the city.

A city ordinance adopted on March 

11 had ruled that Negroes boarding a bus in Negro sections would not have to surrender seats in front of the bus when white passengers boarded. The drivers said this violated the Louisiana segregation law which reserved separate seats for whites and Negroes.

  The state attorney general’s office agreed in an opinion handed down yesterday that the ordinance conflicted with the law.

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Appeal by Radio.

Shortly before midnight, the United Defense League made its appeal in a radio broadcast by Raymond Scott, 

secretary of the organization of Negro citizens.

Scott urged all Negroes in East Baton Rouge Parish to refuse to ride the buses under the present situation.

Approximately 20,000 of the 110,000 persons in this capital city ride the buses each day. More than half of the 20,000 are Negroes.