In a case[21] arising in the Federal District Court of Texas in 1877, it was held that for a railroad employee to deny to a passenger the right to ride in the only car appropriated for the use of ladies, because she was a colored woman, was a violation of the Civil Rights Bill. But the judge, in charging the jury at the trial, said that, if there were two cars equally fit and appropriate, then the white and colored passengers might be separated.
The above are only a few of the many cases which arose between 1865 and 1881, involving the separation of white and colored passengers; they are cited to show that, in the absence of legislative authority, many of the public conveyance companies had regulations of their own separating the races. The "Jim Crow" laws, in other words, coming later, did scarcely more than to legalize an existing and widespread custom.
SEPARATION OF PASSENGERS ON STEAMBOATS
As already suggested, the "Jim Crow" laws apply to three classes of vehicles, namely: steamboats, railroad cars, and street cars. There is comparatively little legislation about white and colored passengers on steamboats. North Carolina[22] is the only State to include steamboats in the regular "Jim Crow" law. It requires all steamboat companies engaged as common carriers in the transportation of passengers for hire to provide separate but equal accommodations for the white and colored races of all steamboats carrying passengers. The violation of this law is punishable by a fine of one hundred dollars; each day is considered a separate offence.
