Color Line

Two Louisiana laws and a New Orleans ordinance, which attempted to segregate Caucasian and Negro residential districts, were declared unconstitutional by the U. S. Supreme Court last week. Refusing to take stock in the contention that conditions have changed, Chief Justice William Howard Taft simply pointed to a Supreme Court opinion of 1917 which declared that a Louisville (Ky.) ordinance invaded "the right to acquire, enjoy and use property which is guaranteed in equal measure to all citizens, white or colored, by the 14th Amendment."

Neither the 1917 nor last week's decision prevents individual property owners from refusing to rent or sell dwellings to Negroes. If color segregation is desirable in cities, realtors must henceforth act by agreement rather than by law.