Social attitudes of certain migratory agricultural workers in Kern County, California

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SOCIAL ATTITUDES OP CERTAIN MIGRATORY AGRICULTURAL WORKERS IN KERN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Department of Sociology The University of Southern California

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Sociology

by James Bright Wilson February 19^2

UMI Number: EP65634

All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion.

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£1 7&-A T h i s thesis, w r i t t e n by

....... JAMES...BEIGHT...WILS.QN.......... u n d e r the d i r e c t i o n o f hXS.. F a c u l t y C o m m i t t e e , a n d a p p r o v e d by a l l its m e m b e r s , has been presented to a n d accep ted by the C o u n c i l on G r a d u a t e S t u d y a n d Re search in p a r t i a l f u l f i l l ­ m e n t o f the r e q u ire m e n ts f o r the degree o f

MASTER OF ARTS

D San

Secretary D a te

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19.42 ........

F a c u lty Com m ittee

C hairm an

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PREFACE

The migratory agricultural workers in California are interesting people if those residing in Kern County are to he considered as typical of the larger company. They are friendly, hospitable, homorous, and have their own unique manner for expressing themselves.

For example,

as will be discovered throughout the pages which follow, when referring to the Southwest from which most of them came, they invariably called it "back East.”

Similarly,

they referred to themselves as "easterners” or ”foreigners. Furthermore, from their point of view, people who have re­ sided in California for some time are regarded as "natives. On the whole, these natives are understood as having their own particular dislike for the easterners or foreigners. To one unfamiliar with the migrants’ mode of expression this terminology would be misleading. To express a word of appreciation for all who have contributed to the development of this thesis is altogether appropriate.

I am obligated for assistance to more persons

than it is possible here to record, the names of most of them must, therefore, be deferred to footnotes scattered throughout the manuscript.

To the members of my committee,

Drs. Martin H. Neumeyer, Chairman, B. A. McClenahan, and Robert J. Taylor, I am particularly indebted for wise and

i i i

effective counsel.

Drs. Erie Fiske Young, Melvin J. Vincent,

and Walter G. Muelder, also of the University of Southern California, have given valuable suggestions.

Other educators,

including Mr. Leo B. Hart, Superintendent of Kern County Schools, and Dr. Paul Taylor of the University of California, Berkeley, have sent materials and references which proved to be indispensable.

Various Government officials, local,

state, and federal, through their interest and cooperation have enhanced the value of this research project.

Mrs. C.

C. Douglas of Los Angeles read and criticized the thesis in a most helpful manner. To my typists, particularly Miss Louise Foster, I am deeply grateful for skill and accuracy in the copying of the manuscript. Last of all, to the migrants themselves who extended to me their hospitality and fellowship and who opened to me new doors of understanding I owe a tribute of appreciation. J.. B. W.

TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER

PAGE

I . INTRODUCTION

................................

1

The problem . . . . ................... . . .

1

Statement of the p r o b l e m ............

1

Importance and need for the s t u d y ....

2

National and local significance . . . . . . . Limitation to Bakersfield a r e a ...... Definition of terms used Social attitudes

4 5

................

7

........................

7

Migratory agricultural workers Review of the literature

..........

. . ..........

9 12

Sources and method used in approaching the problem

................................

Organization of the remainder of this II.

16

study .

21

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF CALIFORNIA AGRICUL­ TURE WHICH PRODUCED THE LABOR PROBLEM . . . . Early h i s t o r y ..........................

22 22

Developments In the twentieth century . . . . Dominance of large-scale farms

28

..........

Increased use of farm machinery......

28 36

Elaborate Irrigation facilities ..........

38

Absentee ownership

......................

39

Demand for large labor supply ............

41

V

CHAPTER

PAGE The agricultural situation In Kern County . .

44

Sources of labor for California agriculture .

52

Indians

................................

52

American "bindle stlffs**........ . Chinese

52

................................

53

J a p a n e s e ............................

54

M e x i c a n s ............................

56

Hindus, Armenians, Portuguese........

58

Filipinos............................

59

Southwestern American migratory workers . . III.

61

FACTORS INFLUENCING MIGRATION AS RELATED BY THE M I G R A N T S .......................... Natural factors Droughts

?4

......................

78

........................... .

78

S a n d s t o r m s ..........................

79

Increased use of farm machinery........

80

Effects of Agricultural Adjustment Act . . .

87

Advertising............................

96

Newspaper advertising .................... Radio advertising Handbill advertising

96

.................

98

...........

98

H e a l t h ................................

100

Favorable reports by migrants ..............

101

Return visits to relatives in homestates

101

.

vi CHAPTER

PAGE Letters to friends and relatives about work

IV.

and r e l i e f ..............................

102

Availability of r e l i e f ......................

105

THE ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, AND PERSONAL PROBLEMS OP THE MIGRATORY AGRICULTURAL WORKERS

.....

114

Problems connected with e m p l o y m e n t ..........

116

M o b i l i t y ..................................

116

Necessity for having automobile ............

122

Costs of looking for w o r k ..................

124

Over-supply of w o r k e r s ....................

125

Seasonal employment ........................

125

Uncertainty of Job

126

Wages

. . . .

..............

............................

1

Laboring conditions ........................

153

Work of women and c h i l d r e n ................

137

Inadequate labor organization ..............

139

The Contract Labor System

140

..........

Ranch credit s y s t e m ................... * * Competition with other r a c e s .............. Violation of civil liberties

. . . . . . .

145 148 150

“Propertyless" c o n d i t i o n ..................

154

"Rumortism**................................

156

Problems connected with living conditions . . H o u s i n g ....................................

161 l6l

vli CHAPTER

PAGE H e a l t h ............................... . .

199

D i e t ......................... S a n i t a t i o n ...................

223

Problems connected with institutional relations ♦

.

Education...............

V.

232 232

R e c r e a t i o n ................................

244

Relief agencies ............................

245

R e l i g i o n ..................................

245

Community..................................

245

SOCIAL ATTITUDES EXPRESSED BY MIGRATORY AGRICULTURAL W O R K E R S ......................

251

Relief and attitudes toward i t ............

251

History of California relief available for m i g r a n t s ..............................

251

General causes of relief....................

269

Negative attitudes towardrelief

...........

272

Positive attitudes towardrelief

. . . . .

Attitudes toward relief administration

. .

276 278

Methods to end relief as advocated by migrants

.

............................

290

The migrants' philosophy of work and wages

..................................

291

Attitudes toward ranchers ....................

295

Associated Farmers of California, Inc.—

vili CHAPTER

PAGE history and p u r p o s e s .................

295

Attitudes arising out of conflicts with r a n c h e r s ..............................

505

Attitudes indicating accommodations with ranchers

. . . •.....................

516

Undefined worker a t t i t u d e s .......... .

.

520

Attitudes toward the Congress of Industrial Organizations

.

Background of organizational efforts Attitudes stressing weakness Attitudes stressing values

. . .

. ............ ..............

Undefined CIO attitudes

524 524 552 558

.

545

Difficulties encountered in organization of m i g r a n t s ............................ Attitudes toward religion Appreciative attitudes towardreligion

545

. .

.

559 560

Problems of affiliation with religious organizations..........................

564

Uncertainty of religious attitude ........

575

Persons and groups ministering to the migrants1 religious needs ................ VI.

576

SOLUTIONS FOR THE AGRICULTURAL UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM AS SUGGESTED BY M I G R A N T S .......... f,Donft know11 attitude........................

585 585

ix CHAPTER

PAGE Solution impossible ........................

3586

387

Suggested solutions .................. VII*

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS..................

398

B I B L I O G R A P H Y .............................. APPENDIX I.

Summary Arrangement of Persons Inter­

viewed, Including Name, Age, Home State, Year of Arrival in California, Type of Relief, Membership in CIO, Religious Affiliation, Size of Family, and Place ofResidence

. .

APPENDIX II* Current Developments for FutureStudy

.

447

.

450

LIST OF TABLES TABLE

PAGE I. Change In Number, Size, and Value of Farms, Including Equipment and Products, Between

27

I85O-I9OO.................... II. Cotton Ginned in Various Sections of Cali­ fornia, 1909 to 1 9 3 6 ............. III.

Farms According to Value of Products for the United States and for California in 1929

IV.

29

•

30

Percentage Comparison of Large-Scale Farms with All Farms in the United States and California in 1929

V. VI.

32

California Farms by Type— 1930 Principal California Crops— 19*10.

53 Production,

Average Price, Value, and Percentage Change from 1939 VII.

Summary of Census Data on Irrigation in California, 1910-1930 ....................

VIII.

42

Number and Size of Farms In Kern County In 1935

X.

40

Labor Requirements of the Different Types of California Crops in. 1935

IX.

37

45

Amount of Land in Farms (by Size of Farm) in 1935 ..................................

46

xl TABLE XI.

PAGE Amount and Source of Income In Kern County, 1 9 4 0 .........

XII.

48

Total Labor Requirements, Twenty Crops, Kern County; 1 9 3 9 ........................

XIII.

50

Total Man-Days of Labor Requirements, by Months, Segregated Into Regular and Seasonal Workers, by Months, Twenty Crops, Kern County, 1939

XIV.

51

Persons, Members of Parties in Need of Manual Employment Entering California in Motor Vehicles by Months, July, 1935* to December, 1940

XV. XVI.

Comparative Population Increases

65 ..........

Estimated Horsepower Available on Farms in the United States, 1900-30

XVII.

81

Number of Tractors, All Types on Farms, Janu­ ary 1, of Each Year, 1915-1939

XVIII.

82

Increase In Tractors Per Thousand Farms, 1925-30, by Geographic Divisions

XIX.

68

........

84

Estimated Percentage Distribution of Number of Payees and Amount of net Payments by Size-of-Payment Groups, 1939 Conservation P r o g r a m s ................................

XX.

Payments of $200 and Over as a Proportion of

90

xii TABLE

PAGE Total Payments, Agricultural Conservation Program,

XXI.

92

Comparative Public Assistance Data— January,

XXII.

SouthernRegion, 1953

1940 . ..............

106

Unemployment Relief— Comparisons by Regions, Persons Receiving Unemployment Relief, California,1957-59 .............

XXIII.

Average Wage Rates for Picking 100 Pounds of Seed Cotton, by States, 1927-40

XXIV.

. .

129

•

151

Program for Week, Shafter Camp, March 24, 1940

XXVI.

.

Estimate of Average Daily Earnings for Experienced Agricultural Workers, 1955

XXV.

109

174

Percentage Comparisons of Health Defects in Children from California Migratory and Resident Agricultural Families July 1, 1956, to June 50, 1957

XXVII.

. . . . .

205

Defects In 1,002 California Migratory Children July 1, 1956, to June 50,

1957 XXVIII.

206

Nonresident Patients Admitted to Kern General Hospital by State of Origin, July 1, 1958-June 30, 1959

XXIX.

Medical Aid Rendered, and Membership in

212

xiii TABLE

PAGE Agricultural Workers' Health and Medical Association as of February 29, 1940 . . . .

XXX.

215

California Weekly Statistical Report— Week Ending February 24, 1940 .............

XXXI.

216

Patients Treated in Shafter Clinic for Weeks Ending December 50, 1939-April 6, 1940

XXXII.

. . . . . . . . .

218

California and Arizona Diagnostic Report of Cases Treated and Hospitalized, February, 1940

XXXIII.

219

Number of School Transfers in Kern County in First

XXXIV.

.

Half ofSchool

Year 1937-1938

. . 254

Grade Distributions and Age Comparisons Between Migratory and Regular Students in Kern County Elementary Schools, 19571938

XXXV.

255

Comparison of Intelligence Quotients Between 1,406 Migratory and Regular Students in Kern County Elementary Schools, 1936-1937

XXXVI.

..................

257

Average Attendance for the Richland School, Shafter,

XXXVTI.

.

California, by

Years, 1954-1959 . 242

Opening Day Attendance at the Richland School, Shafter, California, by Years 1933-1938 ................................

245

xiv TABLE XXXVIII*

PAGE Total SKA Case Load Movement, March and April, 19^0 and 1 9 4 1 ..................

XXXIX.

Total FSA Grant Case Load out of Bakersfield Office

XL.

258

. . . ..............

265

Average Monthly Employment on WPAProjects for the Eight San Joaquin Valley Counties for 1938-1939..........................

XLI. Strikes in California, 1927-1936

.......

270 327

LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1.

Work C a r d ........................................

PAGE 514

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION I.

THE PROBLEM

Statement of the problem*

Every society has been

marked by migrations which have played a heroic role in the progress of human living. and inevitable.

Migrations are both necessary

Mobility has been a large factor in the

development of the United States. necessity.

It is a national economic

But mobility always produces problems; it gets

out of control; it progresses beyond the mark that consti­ tutes a healthy condition.

In the process of relocation of

families much dislocation occurs. pathologic and disgenic.

The phenomenon becomes

A reign of hysteria may ensue.

This has been the noticeable trend in the Southwestern part of the United States of late years.

The titles of many

articles in current periodical literature bring this fact dramatically forward.

For examples "California, Here We

Come";"California: No Hobo Utopia”

"Roses In January,

^W. Davenport, "California, Here We Come," Colliers, 96:10-11, August 10, 19352”California: No Hobo Utopia,” The Literary Digest, 121:9, February 15 > 1936.

2 Morons In June”;3 ”Again the Covered Wagon” Bowl For California.”5

"Flee Dust

Thus the story goes.

It fell to the lot of California, to he the refuge of the great hosts in distress.

Indeed, California needs an

army of wandering agriculture workers, but the Influx has greatly exceeded the demand.

These newcomers are greetbd

by a type of agriculture with which they are not familiar, for California agriculture is engaged in a transition from the homestead scheme of rural economy to a commercialized, large-scale, collectivist type of rural economy.

This tran­

sition involves social, communal, and personal disorganiza­ tion of a wide variety.

To a degree it is possible to dis­

cover the character of these changes, their social signifi­ cance and implications through a study of the attitudes of the migratory agricultural workers upon whom that economy Is dependent. Importance and need for the study.

So far as the

writer knows this Is the only study of its kind thus far

^ B. Bliven, ,fRoses in January, Morons in June,” The Hew Republic, 85:166-68, December 18, 1935* ^ Paul S. Taylor, ”Again the Covered Wagon,” Survey Graphic, 24:348-51, July, 19355 "Flee Dust Bowl for California,” Business Week, July 5, 1937, P- 6.

3 undertaken with respect to the Southwestern migratory workers living in California.

Many other studies have been

made by various health groups, by the Chamber of Commerce, by interested citizens, and by several government agencies such as the Works Progress Administration.

While these

studies have cast much light upon deplorable living condi­ tions, and while they have brought forth remedial measures, in altogether too many instances the people have been looked upon as "problems.”

Statistics are oftentimes used in sup­

port of a "point of view."

In trying to help people, in

many instances, the most important factor is overlooked, namely, their own attitudes, desires, and hopes.

They are

helped merely because they are unfortunate, because they create social disequilibrium, little effort being made to discover how they themselves feel about their plight.

The

procedure followed is frequently like that of the benign old country doctor with his famous little pill box.

One

remedy, it is assumed, will apply to all, without careful diagnosis.

On the other hand, when efforts are made to get

at the attitudes of people, it is soon discovered that the "country doctor" procedure is outmoded— one remedy may cure or it may kill.

Each person is a distinct unit, he is dif­

ferent, his attitudes set him off from all other persons.

A

study of the attitudes of people unearths much valuable in­ formation which should point in the direction of the ultimate

4 solution of a difficult situation.

When a more extensive

study is made of the social attitudes of the migratory people living in Kern County, California, and other parts of the state, their hopeless lot will be more accurately understood and more speedily remedied. National and local significance.

The national as

well as local significance of agricultural migration has been adequately presented in a recent report.^

This per­

tains to the entire United States as well as to California. The situation in California attracted widespread attention as people in search of agricultural employment continued to pour into the state during the middle and late 1930*s. The condition which now obtains is of interest to all persons and groups who are concerned with the problems of migration— the health authorities, the educators, the ranchers, the relief agencies, the labor unions, the churches, the tax payers, the politicians— local, state, and national.

To a large degree, American democracy is at stake

among the workers in California agriculture, who have Consti­ tutional rights in a formal sense, but who have few of the

^ Interstate Migration, Report of The Select Committee to Investigate The Interstate Migration of Destitute Citizens, House of Representatives, Pursuant to H. Res. 63* 491*629 (76th Congress) and H. Res. 16 (77th Congress), John H. Toland, Chairman, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1941, p. 275* ff.

privileges pertaining thereto.

The federal government must

increasingly concern itself with these people because the problem of migration has long since transcended state boundaries.

It is momentous in scope and no one state is

capable of coping with so great an issue.

To thrust it as

the sole burden upon any one particular state is to cripple the democracy of that state and to impede its progress in the national life. Limitation to Bakersfield area. Because of the migratory problem in California, it was necessary to limit the scope of the study to one particular area. field area was selected for four reasons.

The Bakers­

First, because

of its proximity to the city of Los Angeles, thus making it possible for the writer to visit the area frequently while still pursuing his graduate work at the University of Southern California.

Second, because of the importance

and strategic location of the city of Bakersfield.

It is

the county seat of Kern County, and is the southern gateway to the great San Uoaquin Valley.

Bakersfield is a division

point on both the Sante Fe and the Southern Pacific Rail­ roads.

It is also on the Goldengate Highway, 112 miles

north of Los Angeles, and 287 miles south of San Francisco. The 1920 United States census revealed that Bakersfield had a population of 18,636, by 1930 the city had increased to

6 26,179* while the 1940 census showed 29*252 residents.7 According to the same source, greater Bakersfield in 1940 had an estimated population of 74,000.®

In the third place,

this area was chosen because its agricultural construction demands a large supply of migratory workers.

There are vast

ranches, and many smaller ones, planted primarily in cotton, potatoes, beets, and fruit.

All of these crops, being

seasonal in nature, attract thousands of agricultural workers.

The area, then, was well adapted to this study

since it is the first stopping point for many Southwestern migrants as they came into the state.

While for others,

Bakersfield is within their yearly cycle of movement within the state, coming up from the crops in the Imperial Valley to the San Joaquin, then on north to the greater fruit dis­ tricts.

In due time they make another temporary work stop

in the Bakersfield area on their return to the southern part of the state.

Virgil E. Combs points out that Kern

County, out of a population of 145,000 has 35*000 migrants. In fact, ”Every fourth person you meet is a migrant.”9

7 ”Facts about Bakersfield,” compiled by Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce, Bakersfield, California, p. 3* 1940. ® Loc. cit. 9 Virgil E. Combs, ”The Joad Family In Kern County,” unpublished manuscript, written in reply to The Grapes of Wrath, p. 4.

7 Finally, the Bakersfield area was chosen because the agricul­ tural workers there are predominantly of native, white American stock.

It was deemed inadvisable by the writer to

interview members of other race groups such as the Negro, Filipino, and the Mexican since that would introduce other cultural and psychological factors, thereby defeating the objective of the study.

Only native white Americans were

interviewed; in the Bakersfield area they were found in abundance. II.

DEFINITION OF TERMS USED

Social attitudes. Attitudes are definitely rooted in the group mores and in personal experiences.

Ellsworth

Faris points out that Attitudes are not acts, they are predispositions. If they were predispositions to specific and definite acts the difficulty would be less, but attitudes are tendencies toward modes of action and do not have any one-to-one correspondence to specific responses to stimulations. And thus a difficulty arises since, in strict phrase, an attitude, however real, must always be inferential.10 It can readily be seen that attitudes are not immediately revealed in opinions and statements elicited by direct questions.

Filling in questionnaires may be a really inade­

quate means of conducting research on attitudes.

Attitudes

Ellsworth Paris, ”The Concept of Social Attitudes,” in Kimball Young, Social Attitudes (New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1931), P* 12.

8

are important but are difficult to discover.

In getting at

the attitudes of a person you are getting at the person him­ self.

You are entering his inner shrine.

differ from opinions. former.

Attitudes, then,

The latter are less reliable than the

Bogardus indicates the difference:

They are less a person*s own and more the property of his public. They originate frequently in other person’s experiences, while his attitudes have taken form more definitely through his own experiences. They are often little more than an attempt to justify an attitude. When put to the test a person may act in ways different from his opinion.11 According to R. E. Park, An opinion may be merely a defense-reaction which through overemphasis usually falsifies consciously or unconsciously a man's real attitude.12 The task of the interviewer is to seek the origin of atti­ tudes, "and the processes by which they are formed and by which later they are changed.”^

Attitudes lie deep within

the personality, they are funded experiences. reservoir of past and present acts.

They are the

Opinions, on the other

hand, are more or less surface expressions, oftentimes noth­ ing more than dogmatic assertions.

As such, they are unre­

liable as the basis of judging another's behavior pattern or

E. S. Bogardus, The New Social Research (Los Angeles: Jesse Ray Miller, 19^7> p. 72. ^

I*0 0 * d t

.

Loc. cit.

philosophy of life.

An attitude finds expression in a

single act, but it is in the continumum of experiences, antecedent, and subsequent.

Hence, it is necessary to ex­

plore the total range of experience before the real attitude can be understood.

If meaning is attached to any object,

that object at once becomes a social value.

The same object

may have a different value for different persons, while the same object may also have different value for the same per­ son at different times.

In the former instance, it is due

to the difference in the configuration of their personali­ ties.

In the latter instance, it is due largely to changing

circumstances.

This definition of social attitudes and

values can be concluded by a statement from Bogardus: Under social stimuli, dynamic and directive behavior become organized in terms of tendencies to act, or attitudes. The integrated total of a human being*s attitudes constitute his personality. Individual tendencies to act denote potential personality. An attitude is a tendency to act toward or against some­ thing in the environment which becomes thereby a posi­ tive or negative value. Attitudes are the subjective counterparts of objective phenomena. Attitudes are as numerous as the objects to which a person responds.14 An attitude Is not neutral, it is going in some direction; since it is a tendency to act— that direction Is a value. Migratory agricultural workers. Migratory workers 14 E. S. Bogardus, Fundamentals of Social Psychology (New York: The Century Co., 1931)* P* 5^*

10 come to California from practically every state in the Union. wide.

The fame of California agriculture is known far and However, nearly half of all who have migrated to

this state seeking jobs in agriculture have come from four states: Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri.15

it is

popularly believed that most of the recent additions to California*s agricultural labor supply are from the "Dust Bowl.’1 That is a much overemphasized area.

The "Dust Bowl"

covers the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles, southwestern Kansas, southwestern Colorado, and northwestern Hew Mexico. True, over a period of years the portions of those states just enumerated have witnessed many catastrophes that led to wholesale evictions from the land.

But thousands are in

California who came from portions of those states not affected by the devastating dust storms.

In other words,

there are other extenuating factors that induced many people to seek a new habitat in California. come had there been no "Dust Bowl."

They would have

A youthful m i g r a n t l 6

living in the government migratory camp at Arvin recognized that fact.

He said:

^5 Paul S. Taylor, Adrift on the Land (Public Affairs Pamphlet No. 42, 1940), p. 4. Wiley P. Cuddard, Jr. (in quoting the migrants, fictitious names are used. The place of residence is given only with the first quotation, and not repeated thereafter.)

11

These people out here are not from the Dust Bowl. I'll bet you could ask every man in camp where he was from and not three would say he was from that area. The Dust Bowl people has went to the states north of here— Oregon and Washington and Idaho. I stayed there two years and worked with them so I know. Them that has migrated from the Dust Bowl area has been from the Kansas and Nebraska part. There-are very few people in California from Kansas and Nebraska. Most of the people here are from eastern Oklahoma and not the western part that was affected by the Dust Bowl down there. Migratory workers in this study are to be understood as those people who are living in California at the present time, who came here in the past few years from the Dust Bowl or contiguous territory, who came because of economic dislocation in their home states due to various factors, and who came here, for the most part, with the expectancy of finding jobs in agricultural persuits. It would be misleading to classify all of these migrants as transients.

This is well recognized by Paul S.

Taylor when he points out that: The great majority of those in distress who trek to our state avoid entirely or leave as soon as possible the "transient” class, i.e., persons on Federal relief, with residence in another state. They join the "mi­ grants” of California, i.e., persons who seek a living by following the crops.IT Victor Jones designates various classifications when he says:

I? Paul S. Taylor, "Synopsis of Survey of Migratory Labor Problems in California,” (Resettlement Administration, 85 Second Street, San Francisco, California), p. 2.

12 The migrant population may be divided Into three roups: (l) the habitual migrant (the chronic wanderer); 2) the migratory laborer; and (3) the unassimilated recent entrant into the state. This classification is somewhat arbitrary because the habitual migrant works at casual and seasonal gobs; the migratory laborer must be continuously on the move from job to job, crop to crop, and agricultural operation to agricultural operation; the recent entrant into the state, coming from an agricultural background, joins the stream of migratory laborers. They all present the same economic and social problem. For this reason no attempt will bulletin to deal with each class

f

It is to be understood that not all migratory laborers are in agriculture.

The oil fields, the rail­

roads, highway construction, large public works, logging, and fishing also make use of this type of labor.

Besides,

seasonal employment extends into other areas— meat packing, manufacturing of agricultural implements, production of lime, cement, plaster, glass, clothing, automobiles, furni­ ture, rubber goods, and many other lines of economic activity.

The problems of many of these workers are com­

parable to the problems of migratory agricultural workers, but this study is limited to the latter group. III.

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Much has been written upon the general subject of migrations and the role of migrants in human society.

^8 Victor Jones, Transients and Migrants, Legislative Problems Ho. 4, Bureau of Public Administration, University of California, Berkeley, February 2J, 1939> P- 4.

13 However, the literature upon the agricultural migratory lahor problem in California is not abundant.

The plight of

the migrants in the state was dramatically called to the attention of the public by the recent publication of John Steinbeck*s Grapes of Wrath.

By this time practically

every school boy in America has heard of this stirring novel.

The author, it seems, went among the Southwestern

migratory workers— lived with them, worked with them, suffered with them.

From his varied experiences he created

a composite migrant and called him MJoad," or rather, called them "loads.”

The book traces in realistic fashion the

flight of the family from the native state of Oklahoma. They were "tractored” off the land, they did not understand the nature of the unseen forces that uprooted them, but they knew that all that lay ahead was the open road and sunny California.

On the way both Grandma and Grandpa died.

The indefatigible determinition of ”Ma Joad” kept the family pointed Westward.

Tom, a parolee from prison, had

to be careful lest he be returned for entering another state.

In California circumstances were not as roseate as

the wanderers had imagined. ment greeted them.

Clubs, threats, and unemploy­

Tom killed another man to avenge the

Preacher*s death, and incidentally to escape himself.

The

book ended in a shaft of gloom— a dying woman succoring a dying man.

The Joads were still homeless, rootless, and

14 jobless. From some quarters this book has been heralded as a means of social awakening. prophet.

The author is looked upon as a

In other quarters the book has been banned as too

filthy for decent readers.

The author is looked upon as a

sensational get-rich-quick trouble maker, a defamer of both the migrants and the California ranchers.

At the same time

he is praised and damned. A more factual study of the same conditions was Carey McWilliams1 Factories In The Fields, published in 1939*

The author is a youthful attorney and holds an im­

portant state position in the present administration of Governor Culbert L. Olson, namely, Chief of the Immigration and Housing Division in the State Department.

The book

deals, primarily, with California agriculture as it devel­ oped from 1850 onwards.

The author discusses the develop­

ment of the large holdings, land monopolization, and mechan­ ized farming.

He is interested in the various race groups

that have tilled the soil, with the attendant social conse­ quences.

He shows the difficulties the migrants encounter

in attempting to organize.

The aim of the growers is to

prevent such unionization.

The only hope for the present

contingent of the native white American migrants is a com­ plete revolution in California land ownership with a corres­ ponding change in the methods of agricultural operations that now obtain.

Then, perhaps, their lot would be assauged

15 and California as a whole would be directed toward a better day.

For Mr. McWilliams the social history of California is

as significant as the economic. Helen Dunlap Packard, in June, 1939» was awarded her Master’s degree in the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Southern California, her thesis being entitled, ”The Social Welfare Problems of Migratory Workers In The Cotton Industry of the Southern San Joaquin Valley During the 1957 and 1958 Season.”

The work is an able presentation

of living conditions such as housing, health, education, sanitation, and other important factors.

It has nothing to

say, however, concerning the social attitudes of the people concerned.

Nor is it confined strictly to native-born

American whites coming to California from the Southwestern part of the United States.

Many of the interviews were con­

ducted in Spanish since a large percentage of the inter­ viewees were Mexicans. Various studies have been made by interested agencies or individuals, most of which have appeared in monograph or mimeographed form.

Among these was

a study made by the

Works Progress Administration of 6655 people on the Farm Security Relief rolls, studies by the State Chamber of Commerce, studies by the Kern County Health Department, studies by the Kern County Superintendent of Schools, studies by Paul S. Taylor of the University of California,

16 Berkeley, and others. None of the above studies, or any other known to the writer, has attempted to ascertain and make known the social attitudes of the migrants themselves.

Various persons and

agencies are concerned about the present status of the problem, but nothing is written as to how the people them­ selves feel about the problem.

It has been viewed entirely

by interested persons from the outside looking in, as it were.

The present study was an attempt to reverse the

process, to look from the inside out, to let the people tell their own story in their own words with their own emotions, and without deletions.

It is firmly believed

that this is the ground upon which any ultimate solution must be based.

Unless the real social attitudes of those

in distress can be determined, there is a grave tendency to do nothing more than to fill out questionnaires, tabulate statistics, pigeon-hole the people— then forget them, or view them as a ^problem.”

It was hoped that the discover­

ies of this study would be a valuable contribution to the literature on the subject, and at the same time serve as a stimulus for more exhaustive studies in the same direction. IV.

SOURCES AND METHOD USED IN APPROACHING THE PROBLEM The material in this study was secured from two

sources, namely, historical sources and field sources.

The

17

first, of course, had to do with library research, while the latter consisted of actual contacts in the field.

The his­

torical sources related to documents of various types which may be divided into primary and secondary sources.

Under

primary sources use was made of the Federal census, vari­ ous government reports, reports of county health depart­ ments, reports of educational authorities, reports of relief agencies, and similar studies.

Under secondary sources the

material was gathered from state histories, periodical lit­ erature, newspapers, and so forth. For the field sources the personal interview, non­ participant observation, and letters were the methods em­ ployed.

On three different occasions in 19^0, once in

February, once in March, and once in April, the writer went to the Bakersfield area for a week or longer each time for the purpose of interviewing.

Considerable time was spent

in the two government migratory camps in the valley, Arvin and Shafter.

The remainder of the time was divided between

persons living on the ranches and persons living in the auto and county camps. The writer presented himself as a student, wearing ordinary clothes.

The people were friendly, and for the most

part, were articulate about their problems.

Their hospital­

ity was manifested by their arranging for sleeping quarters even in their crowded shanties.

Furthermore, many invitations

18 were received to partake of their simple fare. No advance information was obtained regarding any of the persons interviewed. casual nature.

The selection was entirely of a

Some of the interviews occurred in the tents

and cabins of the migrants, some on the street, some beside the highway, some while sitting in old jalopies, and tinder other circumstances.

The interviews were limited to men.

In every instance the writer was guided by the par­ ticular factors in the situation.

The interviews were in­

formal, having no hard and fast manner of beginning or ending.

The chief role of the writer, therefore, was not

that of questioner, but that of associate or joint-student in the enterprise.

The undertaking became one of discovery

regarding a problem which was of mutual interest.

Bogardus

describes this kind of interview as the f,Spiral response.11^9 The personal interview, as a method of social re­ search, is a means of arriving at personal experience data, data which questionnaires and other statistical methods cannot possibly reveal.

To quote Bogardus:

The personal interview is penetrating. It goes to the main sources, namely, human experiences, which influence and mold personality and social relationships alike. It attempts to make these sources objective and

19 E. S. Bogardus, Introduction to Social Research (Los Angeles: Suttonhouse Ltd., 19^6)$ p. 114.

amenable to s c i e n t i f i c c l a s s i f i c a t i o n . 20 The personal interview can cover its range of inquiry as thoroughly as can the other methods of research which are often regarded as being more objective.

For example, after

interviews have been conducted over a period of time, there always emerges the point of diminishing returns. no new data are discovered.

That is,

In the present study, by the

time sixty interviews had been conducted, considerable repetition was in evidence, and so interviewing ceased. The writer employed a general outline, covering every point carefully in each interview, but this outline was never in evidence to the interviewees.

The issues covered

were the followings the attitudes of the migratory agricul­ tural workers toward the factors that caused them to leave their native states; their attitudes toward the California relief program; their attitudes toward the California ranchers; their attitudes toward agricultural unionism, with particular reference to the Congress of Industrial Organiza­ tions; their attitudes toward religion; and, finally, their attitudes toward the solution of the migratory agricultural unemployment problem. Interviews were also secured with labor leaders, persons connected with the relief agencies, and others who

2 0 Ib id . ,

pp. 113, 114.

20 are familiar with the California migrant problem. Non-participant observation was also employed in the field research.

Like the interviews as described above, it

is an attempt to avoid the fallacies of the question-answer method.

Bogardus has an explanatory word:

The non-participant observer is one who looks on but does not take part. His presence is made as incon­ spicuous as possible. He is like the experimenter in the laboratory, except that he usually is not able to control his experiments.21 Again: The non-participant observation method is an attempt not to control the experiment but the observer. The social situation that is studied is left as free as possible. Everything is kept natural and normal. The observer, however, is c o n t r o l l e d . 22 The observer must have a clear understanding of what it is he wishes to observe and not allow himself to be concerned with minor issues.

But the very fact that one is a non­

participant observer tends to make him conspicuous.

His

non-participation is likely to be noticeable, hence, elements of subjectivity may enter the picture.

The people may re­

spond according to the way in which the interviewer behaves. Letters which were received from government officials, educators, relief authorities, and others may also be con­ sidered as field sources.

21

I b i d .,

p.

22 l o c . cit.

66.

They are original, presenting

21 first-hand information. These sources, then, are the basis for the data con­ tained in this study, namely, the historical sources based on documents, both primary and secondary, and the field sources, based on the personal interview, non-participant observation, and

letters.

The method of treating the

material is that

of historical description and of analysis.

No claim is made for these methods other than that which is usually

accorded them as means of social research.

There is an abundance of material relating to the migratory agricultural problem which can be made available and which should be made available through other methods of investiga­ tion. V.

ORGANIZATION OF THE REMAINDER OF THIS STUDY The remainder of this study is divided into six

chapters: Chapter Two "Historical Background of California Agriculture Which Produced the Labor Problem"; Chapter Three, "Factors Influencing Migration as Related by the Migrants"; Chapter Four, "The Economic, Social, and Personal Problems of the Migratory Agricultural Workers"; Chapter Five, "Social Attitudes Expressed by Migrants”; Chapter Six, "Solutions for the Agricultural Unemployment Problem as Suggested by Migrants"; and Chapter Seven, "Summary and Conclusions."

CHAPTER II HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURE WHICH PRODUCED THE LABOR PROBLEM I.

EARLY HISTORY

California has long been the mecca for men of all ages and temperaments.

Spain was the first nation to tap

the reservoir of this coastal empire.

The method of settle­

ment was effected by the employment of three well defined institutions: the presidio or military establishment; the pueblo or colonist settlement; and the mission or religious center.

Hence, the soldier, the colonist, and the priest

were the three outstanding leaders in these movements. The chief occupation of the Spanish-Mexiean rule was that of stock raising.

But attention was also directed

toward the production of grain, such as corn and wheat, and various types of fruits--grapes, oranges, pears, peaches, and plums.

Irrigation aided in these early enterprises.

This development was possible because each mission in reality was a great industrial school based upon Indian labor.1

R. G. Clealand and 0. Hardy, March of Industry (Los Angeles: Powell Publishing Company, 19297, pp. 3-4.

23 After 1833 the Mexican government parcelled out most of the mission lands to private owners.

The end result of

this secularizing process was the demolition of the mission system.

Some huge private ranches had existed prior to the

breaking up of the mission system, but that event acceler­ ated their mushroom-like development. and it was cheap.

Land was abundant

Under this new arrangement stock raising

and grain production held the preeminent place, while the Indians, now in the service of the ranchos, descended into a virtual state of

peonage.2

Shortly after 1840 American traders and adventurers began to arrive in California, and in 1846 the stars and stripes were raised over the new territory.

The discovery

of gold in 1848 transformed California overnight into the land of El Dorado.

The news spread throughout the world.

Adventurers came from far and near.^

It Is estimated that

80.000 Americans and 20,000 foreigners arrived in 1849 seeking the coveted nuggets.1* By i860 the population of the state had reached 380,000; while in 1846, when the province passed Into the hands of the United States, there were only 10.000 persons in the new state, exclusive of Indians.

2 Ibid*# PP« 14, 15. ^ C. C. Coy, The Great Trek (Los Angeles: Powell Publishing Company, 1931)> P P • 76 ff. ^ R. D. Hunt, California, The Golden (New York: Silver Burdett and Co. , 1911), pp. "331-32.

24 Of those who came to California under the impetus of the "gold fever11 countless thousands found the shining "dust"; others gave up in despair and started homeward again; the majority, however, became assimilated into the life of the new and growing state.

The pioneers of *49 found a home.

It was not long until the farsighted citizens began to realize that the future prosperity of the state resided not in gold, but in the soil.

Agriculture, not mining, was to

be the reservoir of wealth.

There was a noticeable shift

from the mines to the fields as early as 1852.

The census

of 1850 indicated 1,486 farmers in California, no farm laborers; while the census of i860 listed 21,687 farmers, and 10,421 farm laborers.

Thus, the decade following the

discovery of gold was one of transition and experimentation. Wheat growing now occurred on a large scale.

An unsuccess­

ful venture was made in horticulture,that is, with rice, tobacco, and cotton.

Vericulture, or the growing of grapes,

proved to be more fortunate.

Orchards and market gardening

also received attention. During the period i860 to 1900 agriculture underwent marked changes.

The chief emphasis was upon cattle raising

during the first part of that period.

The great drought of

1863-64 cleared the ranges of their herds of cattle. Treadwell, in his biography of Henry Miller, says, "The

25 bleached bodies of cattle were upon every p l a i n . tt5

The

drought sent hundreds of ranchers into foreclosures and In­ solvencies.

The cost of hay even reached the staggering

sum of $150 a ton.

Other factors, however, such as the rise

in land prices, its increased conversion into horticultural uses, the increase in population, and the coming of rail­ roads, helped to put an end to cattle raising on a large scale.

These were basic causes; the drought was the imme­

diate cause. The Californians then turned from cattle to wheat production.

Wheat could be grown extensively and without

much difficulty.

Irrigation was not needed, the climate was

ideal, it could be shipped long distances without deteriora­ tion, and the price was good.

These fortuitous circum­

stances enabled California to become the granary of the West.

It was not long, however, until troublous times fell

upon the wheat business as it had upon the cattle business. The main difficulty was the reckless disregard with which the soil was cultivated.

Each year the yield was larger

and each year the soil became poorer— exhausted.

The one

great desire was to make fortunes overnight.^

5 E. P. Treadwell, The Cattle King (Wew York: The MacMillan Company, 1931)9 P* 333* ^ Carey McWilliams, Factories In The Field (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1939)> pp.T9-50.

26 As the ranchers had shifted from cattle to wheat following the devastating drought of 1863-64, so now they shifted from wheat to fruit. transition.

Many factors facilitated that

The coming of railroads made the shipment of

perishable goods possible to a wider market.

Furthermore,

with a phenomenal growth in population, land prices rose, making unprofitable the continuance of large wheat acreage. Likewise, irrigation gave an impetus to the development of the fruit industry.

This facilitated the rise of small

ranches devoted exclusively to fruit, grapes, and other smaller crops.

Also, the Californians gradually gained a

more scientific knowledge of the soil with the help of Luther Burbank and others.

Finally, the wheat production

of Russia and the Mississippi Valley, although remote, offered effective competition to the California ranchers. These factors brought about a change in both the size and number of ranches in California.

Table I? indicates the

changes that took place in the fifty-year span, 1850-1900. Intensive farming had arrived.

The cycle was complete:

cattle, wheat, fruit. The twentieth century has witnessed gigantic forward strides in California’s agricultural life.

This is true iii

7 Table I, flChanges in Number, Size, and Value of Farms, Including Equipment and Products, Between l850-1900,,, P. 27.

TABLE I CHANGE IN NUMBER, SIZE, AND VALUE OF FARMS, INCLUDING EQUIPMENT AND PRODUCTS, BETWEEN l850-1900a

Number of Farms

Year 1850

Average Size of Farms

Cash Value of Farm Implements

Acres of Land in Farms Improved

Unimproved

872.. 4,466

32,454

3,861,531

$

103,483

Cash Value of Farms $

Value of Farm Products

3,874,041

i860

18,716

466

2,468,034

6,262,000

2,558,500

48,776,804

1870

23,724

481

6,218,233

5,208,972

5,316,690

141,240,028

$ 49,856,000

1880

35,934

461

10,669,698

5,924,044

8,447,744

261,017,181

59,721,425

1890

52,894

405

12,222,839

8,204,454

14,689,750

697,116,630

87,033,290

1900

72,452

397.4

11,958,837

16,870,114

21,311,670

796,527,955

131,610,606

aR. G. Clealand and 0. Hardy, March of Industry, based on U. S. Census, p. 8l.

ro -'5

28 the citrus industry, due quite largely to the organization of the California Fruit Growers Exchange in 1905.

The grape

industry, along with the table and raisin grape industry, has had a remarkable growth.

Other crops have also enhanced

California’s agricultural value within the century— olives, dates, avocados, wheat, hay, rice, beans, lettuce, canta­ loupes, sugar beets, potatoes, and cotton. an illustration of this development.

The latter is

Table 11^ shows the

number of bales in thousands of lint cotton for the entire state and the yield for the three main production areas for the years 1909-1936. II.

DEVELOPMENTS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Dominance of large-scale farms. ture today is a going concern. tics.

California agricul­

It has several characteris­

There is a marked tendency for large scale farms to

dominate the agricultural pattern.

The medium sized farms

have had to struggle for their existence.

In this connec­

tion, the United States census figures are illuminating as presented in Table III.9

in the higher brackets California

® Table II, "Cotton Ginned in Various Sections of California, 1909-1936," p. 29. 9 Table III, "Farms According to Value of Products for the United States and for California in 1929*n P* 30.

29 TABLE II COTTON GINNED IN VARIOUS SECTIONS OF CALIFORNIA, 1909 TO 1936a

Year ; -f

California

Imperial County

1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936

183^ 5,986 9,817 7,954 22,411 48,374 28,586 43,664 58,974 71,479 59,082 77,892 34,809 28,473 55,313 79,938 122,260 128,825 89,998 171,042 254,126 256,337 171,238 124,361 210,682 251,523 232,725 426,322

9,217 7,214 21,145 45,152 26,955 39,028 52,939 57,750 39,082 49,981 22,604 18,844 28,806 28,247 24,395 13,747 8,165 15,713 11,543 6,725 2,642 (c) 2,194 3,186 3,970 5,279

Riverside San Joaquin County Valley

6,635 13,594 17,095 18,7^0 10,414 8,045 16,979 15,669 18,445 17,537 13,299 13,499 13,454 10,771 8,264 (c) (c) 8,752 7,687 9,306

aUnited States Bureau of the Census. ^Figures represent thousands of bales. cF±gures not available.

135 2,905 8,782 1,791 1,584 9,528 36,022 78,395 96,828 67,942 138,688 227,637 238,841 160,332 119,373 202,902 239,585 221,068 421,737

30 TABLE III FARMS ACCORDING TO VALUE OF PRODUCTS FOR THE UNITED STATES AND FOR CALIFORNIA IN 1929a

Value of Products Under

California Number Per Cent

United States Humber Per Cent

250

397,517

6.6

10,407

8.1

250

999

2,529,854

42.2

29,618

23.0

1,000

1,499

1,919,073

32.0

33,409

25.9

1,500

2,499

981,163

16.4

19,834

15.4

2,500

3,999

628,006

10.5

18,273

14.2

4,000

5,999

291,112

4.9

13,316

10.3

6,000

9,999

147,753

2.4

10,979

8.5

10,000

19,999

61,606

1.0

7,968

6.2

24,981

0.4

4,755

3-8

5,999,882

100.2

128,725

100.0

$

20,000 and over Total

$

aUnited States Bureau of Census, 1930.

31 leads the way.

The United States average for those farms

whose products are valued at $20,000 or over is 0.4 per cent, for California it is 3*8 per cent.

The same table

reveals that California has at least 25 per cent fewer farms that would he classified as medium-sized as has the rest of the country. available.

Census data for 1940 as yet are not

Table I V ^ clearly indicates that large-scale

farming in California from every standpoint is ahead of the country as a whole. onlarge-scale type

for 1930.

Census data for 1940 are also lacking

farms.

Table V 11 shows California farms by

Again, census data for 1940 are not avail­

able . Referring to the 150,360 farms in California as in­ dicated by the 1935 Census of Agriculture, Carey McWilliams says: About 10,000 farms, of this total, not only dominate agriculture production in California, but they employ practically all farm workers in the State and they pay the overwhelming proportion of farm wages. It is cur­ rently estimated, for example, that JO per cent of the farms by number in California employ no farm labor.I2 The same authority, in referring to the LaFollette Committee

-*-0 Table IV, "Percentage Comparison of Large-Scale Farms with All Farms in the United States and California in 1 9 2 9 / ’ P. 32. H

Table V, "California Farms by Type--1930," p. 33*

1 2 Carey McWilliams, "To Ease Californiafs Farm Problem," Christian Science Monitor, February 24, 1940, p. 5 ff.

32

TABLE IV PERCENTAGE COMPARISON OF LARGE-SCALE FARMS WITH ALL FARMS IN THE UNITED STATES AND CALIFORNIA IN 1929a

Item

United States

California

0-1

2.1

11.0

34.6

Acres of land in farms

6.9

25-4

Acres of land worked

1-3

21.4

Value of land and buildings

3.2

19.8

Value of products

4.5

28.5

Number of farms Expenditure for hired labor

aLarge-Scale Farming in the United States (Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Agricultural Economics, Washington, D. C., United States Government Printing Office, 1930), p. 13.

TABLE V CALIFORNIA FARMS BY TYPE— 1930a

Classification^

* »

General Farms Grain farms Cotton farms Crop-specialty Fruit farms Truck farms Dairy farms Animal specialty Stock ranches Poultry farms Self-sufficing Abnormal farms All types 1930 All types 1933

Number Of Farms

Total Acres Included

Average Acres Per Farm

4,426 4,311 2,971 8,944 52,011 6,688 15,179 2,012 5,121 15,424 2,223 9,405

820,408 3,035,808 494,960 1,555,595 3,121,784 515,289 2,703,686 660,689 14,955,646 413,529 205,798 791,828

185 705 167 174 60 77 178 328 2,920 27 92 85

$14,595 49,424 20,554 38,664 28,733 29,001 21,141 23,304 53,719 9,238 4,483 11,634

$ 79 70 123 222 479 376 119 71 , 18 345 53 137

135,676 150,360

30,442,581 30,437,995

224 202

$25,203 15,466

$112 76

Average Value of Land and Bldgs. Per Farm Per Acre

Average Value of Prod. Per Farm (1929) $ 2,167 7,898 7,114 5,640 4,192 8,940 6,095 5,023 10,509 3,619 323

-

$4,481

aAgriculture and Farm Lands in California, Research Department, California State Chamber of Commerce, p. 5* ^"These classifications are based on gross income. Where less than 40 per cent of the value of products was from any single crop it was classified as a 1general farm.* Where more than 40 per cent of the farm income was from grain, cotton, fruit, dairy products, stock, or poultry, it was classified under that head­ ing Vj J

34 hearings In California, states that two companies, one, the Earl Fruit Company, has an annual wage bill of approximately $350,000, while the British-owned, Balfour-Guthrie Company, has an annual wage bill of about $375*000 for farm labor employed on its 8,000 acres located in

California.

Such

establishments, are, in reality, farm-factories, employing several thousand workers.

Dr. Paul Taylor of the University

of California has taken cognizance of this trend in the following words: Of all farms in the United States whose product is valued at $30,000 or above, nearly 37 per cent are found in our state. California has within its borders 30 per cent of the large-scale cotton farms of the country, 41 per cent of the large-scale dairy farms, 44 per cent of the large-scale general farms, 53 per cent of the large-scale poultry farms, and 60 per cent of the large-scale fruit farms of the United States. 14 In another pamphlet, the same authority says: Frequently it is pointed out that there are more small farmers in California than large agricultural employers. From this obvious fact some writers have sought to give the impression that big farms do not dominate California agricultural production. Articles making this point, supported by "statistics” have influenced thought within the industry itself, and even reached out to the public. An example is in an article in Forum Magazine and Reader1s Digest for November, 1$39« The author of the article, Frank J.

33 McWilliams, loc. cit. 3-4 Paul S. Taylor, "Synopsis of Survey of Migratory Labor Problems in California” (United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Washington, D. C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1935)* P« 4.

55 Taylor, writes: ,fThe State has 6,752,590 acres devoted to crops, and the 1955 census shows that 1,758,906 are In farms less than 100 acres in extent, 5,068,742 are in farms of 100 to 1,000 acres, and 1,924,742 are in farms of over 1,000." A check of these data in the census of 1955 shows that less than 7 per cent of all the farms of the state, with acreage of 500 or over, hold 42 per cent of all the crop land. Upon critical examination, the figures reveal just the opposite of what the author intended to prove.^5 A detailed discussion of the nature of large-scale farming in California was presented by Dr. Taylor when he appeared as a witness before the LaFo11ette Committee at its hearings in San

Francisco.

^

in another connection Dr. Taylor indi­

cated that in the Pacific states "three fourths of the paid laborers were employed on less than 8 per cent of the farms.w17 California*s large-scale farming is also revealed in a recent report by the California State Chamber of Com­ merce, the report stating: ^ Paul S. Taylor, Adrift on the Land (Public Affairs Pamphlet, No. 42, 1940), p. 15. Violation of Free Speech and Rights of Labor. Hearings Before a Subcommittee of The Committee on Education and Labor, United States Senate, Seventy-Sixth Congress, Second Session, Subpena Hearing, San Francisco, California, December 15, 1959# United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 1940, p. 17214 ff. Paul S. Taylor, Unemployment and Relief (Extract from Hearings Before a Special Committee to Investigate Un­ employment and Relief, United States Senate, 75th Congress, Third Session, Washington, D. C.: United States Government Printing Office, March, 1958), p. 1601.

36 The cash farm income from marketing, including government payments, aggregated $650,000,000 for 1940, an increase of 5-8 per cent greater than the 1939 and nearly as large as the 1937 income. The 1940 income from crops was $412,627*000 and from livestock and livestock products, $215*943*000. The amounts repre­ sent increases of 6.6 per cent and 3*8 per cent respectively, over the increase for 1939* Government payments aggregated $21,840,000 for 1940, a gain of 12.7 pen cent over the previous year.3*8 Table VI^9 shows the production, average price received by growers, and farm value of the principal California crops for 1940 and the percentage change from 1939*

Only large-

scale farming could account for so great a volume of produc tion as revealed in the table. Increased use of farm machinery. A second character istic of California agriculture is the increased use of machinery.

In i860 the value per acre of Implements and

machines in California was $.29* in 1910 it was $1.31* while in 1930 It rose to $4.46.20

While a great deal of

hand labor is still demanded, large-scale farming could not operate without an abundance of machinery.

This makes for

^ California1s Business--1939-40-41, Research Department, California State Chamber of Commerce, March, 1940, p. 1. * Table VI, ^Principal California Crops— 1940, Production, Average Price, Value, and Percentage Change From 1939*” P* 3720 Max H. Lewis, Migratory Labor in California (State Relief Administration o’ ? California, Division of Special Surveys and Studies, San Francisco, July, 1936), p. 10.

TABLE VI

37

PRINCIPAL CALIFORNIA CROPSa~ 1940 PRODUCTION, AVERAGE PRICE, VALUE, AND PERCENTAGE CHANGE FROM 1939 (source: California Cooperative Crop Reporting Service)®

Crops Fruit Crops: Apricots Grapes— Wine " — Table " — Market Fresh " — Raisins (Dried) Lemons (1) Oranges— Navel and Miscellaneous (1) " — Valencias (1) Peaches--Cling " — Free Pears — Bartlett Prunes (Dry) Walnuts Field Crops: Wheat Barley Rice Flaxseed All Beans (2) Cotton Lint Cotton Seed Potatoes (All) Sugar Beets Tame Hay (All) Vegetables: Asparagus (Market) " (Processed) (6) Cantaloupes, etc. Carrots Celery Lettuce (4) Peas (4) (7) Tomatoes (Can) (4) Tomatoes (Other) (4)

Production of Value Amount Per Cent Chg.

Unit

102,000 608,000 424,000 498,000 164,000 11,963,000 17,107,000 26,294,000 325,000 198,000 188,000 196,000 42,000

-66.4 6.9 8.7 72.3 -33.1 7.7 5.6 18.0 -9.5 -6.2 -14.2 5.9 -23.6

Bu. Bu. Bu. Bu. Cwt. Bales Tons Bu. Tons Tons

11,370,000 33,516,000 8,968,000 2,814,000 5,492,000 525,000 234,000 22,740,000 2,791,000 4,657,000

-6.6 8.6 -0.4 62.8 37.6 18.5 18.8 0.4 3.1 11.3

Cr., 24# Tons Cr. 45*s Cr. 6 doz. £ Cr., 65# Cr., 5 dz. Bu. 30# Tons Lug. 32#

2,895,000 53,880 4,540,000 5,386,000 6,315,000 13,633,000 3,247,000 „ 495,000 6,751,000

27.9 13.2 -24.0 3.1 24.7 -15.3 -31.2 30.1 0.1

Tons Tons Tons Tons Tons Box Box Box Tons Tons Tons Tons Tons

$

Average Price Per Unit Amount Per Cent Chg. $ 53.00 16.30 16.80 15.60 56.00 1.48 .97 1.16 20.80 20.50 26.20 55.00 224.00

,

.77 .37 .62 1.74 3.30 9.70 (3) 22.70 .73 4.90 (4) 8.00 (5) 1.72 87.60 1.55 1.33 1.30 1.51 1.46 12.80 1.16

Value of Production Amount Per Cent Chg.

61.1 14.8 12.0 -4.3 15.5 4.2 38.6 24.7 2.0 -3.8 -7.1 -17.9 35.8

1 5,406,000 9,910,000 7,123,000 7,769,000 9,184,000 17,705,000 16,594,000 30,501,000 6,760,000 4,059,000 4,926,000 10,780,000 9,408,000

-46.0 22.6 21.8 64.9 -22.7 12.3 46.3 47.2 -7.7 -9.7 -20.2 -13.0 3.7

1.3 -11.9 5.1 7.4 -14.3 1.0 -17.0 28.1 -0.6 -10.1

8,755,000 12,401,000 5,560,000 4,896,000 17,216,000 25,462,000 5,312,000 16,600,000 13,676,000 37,256,000

-5.4 -4.3 4.7 74.9 19.2 19.8 -1.4 28.6 2.5 0.0

33.3 20.3 27.0 12.7 14.0 14.4 5.8 1.6 13.7

4,979,000 4,720,000 7,048,000 7,182,000 8,187,000 20,630,000 4,728,000 6,336,000 7,834,000

70.5 ' 36.2 -3.6 16.9 41.6 -2.5 -27.5 32.2 13.8

® Crops with a farm value of $4,000,000 or over. "California Business— 1939-40-41," California State Chamber of Commerce, Research Department, March, 1940, pp. 2-3. Notes: (1) Crop marketed from November 1, 1940 to October 31* 1941. (2) Price and value of cleaned beans. (3) On hundredweight basis. (4) Preliminary. (5) December 1, price. (6) For canning and freezing. (7) Excludes for processing.

38 greater efficiency, greater production, and greater dis­ placement of workers. Elaborate irrigation facilities.

A third feature of

California agriculture is its elaborate irrigation facili­ ties with high costs of operation.

As was noted in the

early portion of this chapter, the factor of irrigation played a large role in facilitating the shift from exten­ sive to intensive farming.

The San Joaquin and Kings rivers

marked the beginning of this new mode of farming in 1872. The real impetus, however, occurred after 1885-

Henry

Miller was one of the first in the state to see the value of irrigation, and, as far as possible, monopolized all water rights that could serve his ends.

The California

State Chamber of Commerce has made a thorough study of irri­ gation in California.

The report states:

There were 38,117 irrigation enterprises reported in the Census of 1930, of which 97*5 per cent were individual or partnership enterprises, 1.5 per cent were cooperative, 0.5 per cent were commercial, 0.2 per cent were irrigation districts, and the remaining 0.3 per cent were operated by governmental or other agencies. Approximately 36.6 per cent of the total acreage was irrigated through private and partnership enterprises which represented 55 per cent of the total investment. Cooperative projects furnished water to 17*9 per cent of the acreage and included 10.8 per cent of the capital outlay. Commercial enterprises had 6.6 per cent of the acreage and 5-5 per cent of the investment. Irrigation districts reported 33-7 per cent of the acreage irrigated and 23*^ per cent of the capital invested in irrigation enterprises. Other forms of organization furnished water to 5-2 per cent of the

39 acreage and reported 5*3 per cent of the total invest­ ment .21 Table VII22 presents a summary of census data on ir­ rigation in California.

The average annual cost per acre

for maintenance and operation of irrigation works rose from $1.54 in 1910, to $4.40 in 1920, to $6.10 in 1930.

Census

data for 1940 are not available; hence, comparisons are not possible. Absentee ownership.

Another trend to be noted in

large-scale intensive farming is the phenomena of absentee ownership.

Much of Californiafs land is owned by the

utilities, the banks, the railroads, and the oil companies. There are many "pencil” farmers in the state, that is, farmers who do not live on the land, but who farm from the point of view of a financial investment.

These big holdings

are operated by managers, with foremen under them.

The

census of 1930 revealed that in the entire United States only .9 of 9 per cent of all farms were operated by managers. In California the proportion was 5*7 per cent, six times that of the nation.22

Dr. Taylor says:

21 «irrigation in California,” California State Cham­ ber of Commerce, Research Department, Economic Survey Report Eo. 12, Series 1932-1933* 22 Table VII, "Summary of Census Data on Irrigation in California, 1910-1930,” p. 40. 2^ Taylor, Adrift on the Land, p. 16.

40

TABLE VII SUMMARY OF CENSUS DATA ON IRRIGATION IN CALIFORNIA, 1910-1930a

Approximate land area of State . . . . . All land in farms . . . ............. Area irrigated ...................... Area enterprises were capable of supplying with water ............... Area enterprises36 ............... Number of f a r m s ......... .......... Total value of farm land and buildings3636(000 omitted)........... Value of irrigated farm land and buildings3636(000 omitted)........... Investment in irrigation enterprises (000 omitted) .................... Estimated final cost of existing enterprises (000 omitted) ^ . . . . . Average annual cost per acre for maintenance and operation of irrigation works ............. . . .

Change 1920-1930 Amount Per cent

1910

1920

1930

Acres Acres Acres

99,617,280 27,931,444 2,664,104

99,617,280 29,365,667 4,219,040

99,617,280 30,442,581 4,746,632

• • • • • 1,076,914 527,592

Acres Acres Number

3,619,378 5>422>360 88,197

5,894,378 7,805,207 117,670

6,815,250 8»075,f95 135,676

920,784 • • • • 18,006

$3,209,880 (figures not available)

$3,265,975 (figures not available)

$3,555,212

$289,237

Item

$2,535,075

•

• • •

•

•

15.6 • • • 15.3 8.8 • •

$72,580

$194,886

$450,968

$256,082

131.4

$84,392

$225,799

$465,931

$240,131

106.2

$1.54

$4.40

$6.10

$1.70

•

3.7 12.5

•

38.6

a”Irrigation in California,” California State Chamber of Commerce , Research Department, Economic Survey Report No. 12, Series 1932-1933. Figures compiled from the United States Bureau of the Census. KIrrigable area in 1930; total area in 1920.

Amount and per cent change not computed because of this change in classification.

^Including value of farm dwellings and farm implements and machinery.

4l In California and in Arizona these farms operated by managers spent one-quarter of all the cash used to employ wage workers on farms in each state. Managed farms in the United States spent for wage labor $2,985 on the average. In Iowa they spent $1,377 and In Mississippi $1,764. But In California, manager­ operated farms spent $4,126 or nearly three times the average spent by all farms hiring labor in the state, and more than eleven times the national average. These figures record the size of the wage bill, not the amount received by each w o r k e r . 24 Demand for large labor supply. A final character­ istic of California agriculture to be noted is its demand for a huge labor supply.

Under the old extensive order, a

few resident, full-time workers could take care of the crops, with perhaps some additional workers at the harvest peak.

Today, however, there is a high fluctuation in the

labor demand.

This is vividly portrayed in Table VIII.25

The labor requirements for the various crops is shown month by month.

January Is the low point needing only

45,448 laborers. crease of 152,891«

But September calls for 198,349, an in­ The average for the year is 108,410.

Fruit crops in every month hold preeminence over field crops, but fall below truck crops for the first five months, of the year.

In this connection R. L. Adams indicates the

Taylor, loc. cit. Table VIII, "Labor Requirements of the Different Types of California Crops in 1935>lf P* 42.

TABLE VIII L A B O R R E Q U I R E M E N T S OP T H E DIF FE RE N T TY P E S OF C A L I F O R N I A CROPS IN 1 9 3 5 a

Month

Total Per laborers Cent

Field Crops Laborers "TeT Cent

Fruit Crops Fer Laborers Cent

Truck Crops Fer Laborers Cent

January February March April May June July August September October November December

8 48,973 61,316 79,982 1 26,160 1 2 5 ,7 17 140,461 158,530 198,349 182,531 8 5,624 46,833

100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

2,082 625 5,648 9,933 26,675 30,30 3 26,593 31,708 39,03 1 39,62 0 28,055 11,466

4.4 1.3 9.2 12.4 21.1 24.1 18.9 20.0 19.7 21.7 32.8 24.5

17,283 18,284 22,440 16,408 34,202 52,504 84,961 104,150 1 29,606 95,983 30,645 18,046

37.2 37-3 36.6 20.5 27.1 41.8 60.4 65.7 65.3 52.6 35-8 38.5

27,13 7 30,064

Average

108,410

100

20,974

19.3

52,043

48.0

45,W

33,228

' 58.4 61.4 54.2

53,641 65,283 42,910 29,032 22,672 29,712 46,928 26,924 17,321

51.8 34.1 20 . 7 14.3 15.0 25 . 7 31 . 4 37.0

35,403

32.7

67.1

a Survey of Agricultural Labor Requirements in California (State Emergency Relief Administration of California, Division of Special Surveys of Studies, San Francisco, 1 9 3 5 )> P* 28.

45 three major periods for seasonal workers. The period November to April, inclusive, is one of relatively low demand; May to July, inclusive, is a period of intermediate demand; and August to October, inclusive, is the period of maximum demand. Thus for six months the demand for seasonal labor is low, rang­ ing from about 1.0 million to about 1.5 million mandays. For three months the demand Is intermediate, ranging from about 2.0 million to 2.5 million man-days. The peak is likewise for three months, ranging from nearly 2.8 million to 5*1 million m a n - d a y s . 26 The demand for workers, according to Table V I I I , s u p p o r t s the above statement. Furthermore, the rural wage earning population In California, as a result of the agricultural construction, is the largest rural wage-earning class in America.

Accord­

ing to the census of 1930, in Mississippi, barely 10 per cent of all persons gainfully employed In agriculture were paid farm laborers.

It was 27 per cent for Iowa, and 26 per cent

for the United States as a whole.

In California paid farm

laborers accounted for 57 per cent of all persons gainfully employed In agriculture.

That was more than twice the

national average, end led all states. In other words [to quote Dr. Taylor], of all persons gainfully engaged in agriculture— owners, tenants, managers, laborers— only one in ten were paid laborers in Mississippi, and one in four in the United States. P6

R. L. Adams, Seasonal Labor Requirements For Cali­ fornia Crops, Bulletin No. 623* Contributions From The Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics, University of California, Berkeley, California, July, 1933, p. 14. 27 Table VIII, p. 42.

44 But in California more than half were paid laborers. John Steinbeck states: "With the change in the nature of farming there has come a parallel change in the nature and amount of the labor necessary to carry it on."29 III.

THE AGRICULTURAL SITUATION IN KERN COUNTY

The fivefold trend in California agriculture* as indicated above, is witnessed in Kern County.

In 1879

Kern Cotinty was 94 per cent extensive in its agricultural life, while In 1937 it was 79 P@** cent intensive, indicat­ ing a complete change In the mode of operation.50

Table

1x51 gives the number and size of farms in Kern County according to the census of agriculture for 1935* while Table x52 gives the amount of land In farms by size of farm.

The 164 farms of over 1,000 acres contained 1,351*214

acres which was far ahead of all other establishments.

Paul S. Taylor, ”Synopsis of Survey of Migratory Labor Problems In California,” p. f>John Steinbeck, "Dubious Battle in California," The Nation, 143:302-4, September 14, 1936. 50 c. F. Baughman, "Survey of Kern County Migratory Labor Problem," Kern County Health Department, Sanitary Division, 1937* P- 1. 51 Table IX, "Number and Size of Farms in Kern County in 1935 *,fP- 45* 52 Table X, "Amount of Land in Farms (By Size of Farm) in 1935*n P- 46.

45 TABLE IX NUMBER AND SIZE OF FARMS IN KERN COUNTY IN 1935a

Farms (by size of farm) Size

Number of farms

Under 5 acres

31

3 to 9 acres

187

10 to 19 acres

257

20 to 29 acres

337

50 to 49 acres

493

50 to 69 acres

160

70 to 99 acres

309

100 to 159 acres

125

140 to 174 acres

167

175 to 179 acres

4

180 to 219 acres

40

220 to 259 acres

37

260 to 579 acres

96

580 to 499 acres

43

500 to 699 acres

69

700 to 999 acres

65

Over 1,000 acres

164

Total number of farms

2,584

a Census of Agriculture, 1935.* PP- 944-45-

46 TABLE X AMOUNT OF LAND IN FARMS (BY SIZE OF FARM) IN 1935a

Size

Acres

Under 5 acres

45 961

3 to 9 acres 10 to 19 acres

2,910

20 to 29 acres

7,024

50 to 49 acres

18,942

50 to 69 acres

9,328

70 to 99 acres

24,773

100 to 159 acres

14,370

140 to 174 acres

26,454

175 to 179 acres

704

180 to 219 acres

7,798

220 to 259 acres

8,820

260 to 579 acres

30,189

580 to 499 acres

19,015

500 to 699 acres

41,715

700 to 999 acres

54,486

Over 1,000 acres

1,351,214

Total acreage in all farms

1,618,748

a Census of Agriculture, 1935, PP« 944-45.

47 In 1940 the total acreage of all crops In Kern County was 227*696, which was an Increase over 1959 with its 284,225

a c r e s . 53

The total return to agriculture for

1940 from all crops was $22,317*084, or an increase of $4,201,895 above the returns of 1 9 3 9 ^ or $28,015,188.75.53 The total 1940 income for Kern County is presented in Table

X I .

56

Agriculture, it can be seen, accounted for 22

per cent of the total income. Like the state as a whole, Kern County agriculture is becoming increasingly diversified.

Indeed, diversification

of crops as a desirable goal, was among the recommendations of the Land Use Planning Conference, Kern County, 1941.57

25 Lewis A. Burtch, "Kern County Department of Agri culture, Crop Report, February 17* 1941," p. 1. 24 Loc. cit. 25 Lewis A. Burtch, "Kern County Agriculture Crop Report, 1939*** Agriculture In The Golden Empire of Kern, Kern County Chamber of Commerce, p. 3. 56 Table XI, "Amount and Source of Income in Kern County, 1940," p. 48. 27 Land Use Planning Conference Recommendations, Kern County, 1941, A Keport of the Findings and deliberations of the Kern County Land Use Planning Committee Based Upon the Progress and Recommendations of the Intensive Land Use Plan­ ning Survey which was made by Community and County Commit­ tees In 1939* compiled by Agricultural Extension Service of University of California, United States Department of Agri­ culture, and County of Kern, Cooperating, Bakersfield, California, p. 4.

TABLE XI

AMOUNT AND SOURCE OP INCOME IN KERN COUNTY, 1940a

Product

Income

Source

Percentage

aac

Deciduous fruits Citrus fruits Grapes Vegetables Melons Cotton and seed Grain Livestock and wool Other field crops and miscellaneous Total agriculture Agricultural labor Dairy products Petroleum products Mineral products Manufacturing —

m —

$

723,814

Petroleum products

35

Manufacturing

27

Agriculture

23

316,022

1,973,849 6 ,866,136

376,293 7,582,950 1 ,028,198 9,865,023 3,671,172 32,317,084 6 ,000,000 1 ,100,000 57,027,483 8 ,317,281 35 ,000,000

Mineral products

7.5

Livestock and wool

6

Dairy products

1.5

-■ LI-

I—

■■■-■

.!

......................

a Facts about Bakersfield, Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce, Bakersfield, California, 194(5, p. 7T*

4*

00

49 Similarly, Kern County needs a large, mobile supply of migatory workers as the above pattern would indicate. Table X

I

indicates by months the total labor requirements

for twenty crops, 1939*

The peak is reached in October with

a demand of 260,842 man-days.

Table XIIl29 gives the total

man-days of labor requirements, by months, segregated into regular and seasonal workers, by months, twenty crops, Kern County, 1939*

The number is almost equal, with the

regular workers having a slightly greater demand. The nature of California agriculture as it obtains today, including of course Kern County, is adequately sum­ marized by Taylor and Vasey: The growth of intensive agriculture, then, with highly capitalized, large-scale farming methods and concentrated ownership, huge total payments to farm laborers, has given California an industrialized agriculture, a system of open-air food factories, it might be called. Nearly six per cent of the farms of California are operated by managers, which is six times as high as the national average. Wage re­ lations are highly developed, and gang labor is em­ ployed, with foremen and sub-foremen. Elaborate piece rates are set up, with bonus payments. Farmer*s agents recruit and distribute laborers, extremely few of whom belong to the family of the farm operator. Incipient labor organizations have arisen, and bitter strikes have been conducted. The state maintains Table XII, "Total Labor Requirements, Twenty Crops, Kern County, 1939 >11 P- 50. 29 Table XIII, "Total Man-Days of Labor Requirements, by Months, Segregated Into Regular and Seasonal Workers, by Months, Twenty Crops, Kern County, 1939>#l P« 51-

50 TABLE XII TOTAL LABOR REQUIREMENTS, TWENTY CROPS, KERN COUNTY,

1939a Month

Total man-days

Percentage of total

J anuary

72,018

4.4

February

45,970

2 .8

March

69,518

4.2

April

108,151

6 .6

May

147,521

8.9

June

188,887

11.5

July

150,639

9.2

August

163,562

9.9

September

157,001

9.6

October

260,842

15.9

November

149,175

9.1

December

129,499

7-9

1,642,783

1 0 0 .0

R. L. Adams, "Agricultural Labor Requirements and Supply, Kern County, Mimeographed Report No. 70, Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics, June, 19^0, p. 6.

51 TABLE XIII TOTAL MAN-DAYS OF LABOR REQUIREMENTS, BY MONTHS, SEGREGATED INTO REGULAR AND SEASONAL WORKERS, BY MONTHS, TWENTY CROPS, KERN COUNTY, 1939a

Month

Total man-days

Man-days, regular workers

Man-days, seasonal workers

January

72,018

55,908

56,110

February

45,970

27,378

18,592

March

69,518

37,770

31,748

April

108,151

69,510

38,641

May

147,521

74,095

73,426

June

188,887

103,837

85,050

July

150,659

104,255

46,384

August

165,56a

99,879

63,683

September

157,001

93,826

63,175

October

260,842

105,230

155,612

November

149,175

40,529

108,646

December

129,499

41,874

87,625

Total

1,642,785

854,091

808,692

R. L. Adams, "Agricultural Labor Requirements and Supply, Kern County, Mimeographed Report No, 70, Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics, June, 19^*0, p. 9*

52 labor commissioners who aid rural laborers to collect unpaid wages, just as they aid urban workers. The family farm, which still expresses the national ideal, is subordinate in California to the influence of agri­ culture on an industrialized pattern.40 Summarizing this portion of the chapter the follow­ ing statements can be made regarding California agriculture. The transitions have been from Spanish to Mexican to Ameri­ can; from extensive to intensive farming— cattle to wheat to fruit and cotton; from mule and peon to tractor and peon; from rain to irrigation; from small finance to big finance; from local market to world market; from no organization to Associated Farmers; from agriculture to industry— "factories in the field"; from living on the land to living in barracks, tents, and "rag hotels." _ IV.

SOURCES OF LABOR FOR CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURE Indians.

The fertile fields of California yielded

first to the simple tillage of the Indians.

Their methods

were crude, their harvests were meagre, and thus they eked out a stinted living in the midst of potential plenty. American "blndle stiffs."

American white laborers

soon began to supplant the docile hand labor of the Indians.

For the most part they were single men, hoboes,

Paul S. Taylor and Tom Vasey, "Contemporary Back­ ground of California Farm Labor," Rural Sociology, December, 1936, p. 419-

53 adventurers. rough work.

Troops of tramps went here and there doing the They were "bindle stiffs'1 or "blanket men."

Chinese.

American Indians and American tramps were

not adequate to meet the growing demands of California agri­ culture.

Many Chinese had arrived on the coast to work in

the mines.

The panic of 185^ glutted the labor market with

white American miners who in turn protested the competition of cheap Chinese labor.

The latter soon entered the fields

and railroad construction as a means of livelihood. the resentment did not cease.

But

It was common to hear cries

of "pigtail," "almond-eyed Celestial," and "thiefs."

Gov­

ernor Weller in 1869 had to send the militia to quell a riot in Shasta County.

A Republican Governor, Newton Booth,

was elected in 1871 on an anti-Chinese platform. broke out in 1877.

Riots

The protests were made by organized

labor who disliked competing with cheap labor, and by the small ranchers who disliked having the big ranchers secure an advantage in this cheap labor supply.

The Exclusion Bill

of 1882, the Geary Act of 1892 , and the final document of 1902, closed the stream of Chinese Immigration to the United States.

Had it not been for the Chinese, the transi­

tion from wheat to fruit, discussed In the first part of this chapter, would not have been possible for many y e a r s . ^

Supra, p. 26.

54 Japanese.

With the passing of the Chinese, California

labor needs had to be replenished from other sources. had the answer.

Japan

In 1882 there were only about eighty-six

Japanese in the state.

But they began to be imported mainly

because of the sugar-beet industry.

It had a promising

future if the right type of workers could be secured.

Be­

tween 1900-1908 the number rose to 156,541. Prom 1909-1924, O79*118 came. These newcomers were superb farmers; they ■

knew the land and loved it. lage.

It prospered under their tute­

Industry did not claim many of them.

They were adept

at stoop labor, so important In beet culture.

The big

farmers idolized them since they did not prove a-year-around problem.

After the gathering of the crop they took up

abode in the cities, or somewhere away from the ranches. This pleased the farmers. handouts at the back door.

There were no relief lines or But when the next crop came on,

they put in their appearance as If by magic.

They did the

work, they asked no favors, they were peaceful.

Besides

this, they made valuable contributions in introducing new crops such as rice, and reclaiming waste places.

Thousands

of acres that were considered worthless, blossomed forth with orchards or vineyards under their care.

In spite of

their contributions and peculiar adaptability to the kind of work demanded, excoriating invectives were heaped upon them.

The competition they offered could not be endured by

55 the native whites or even by the Chinese.

The big farmers

liked that, but not the little farmers who found it impos­ sible to compete with their more fortunate neighbors.

Of

course, the other laborers raised a chorus of disapproval. Furthermore, they did not assimilate into community life; they found social recognition within their own ranks. did not mix well.

They

Again, they were not so eager as the

Chinese to work for wages, they were land hungry.

In 1909

they owned 10,791 acres, in 1920 it was 74,769 acres, in addition to 1,056 city lots. than 427,000 acres.

In reality they occupied more

If they had never become such prolific

land owners their lot would have been much easier.

Such

ownership made inroads upon the large owners, and at the same time reduced their labor supply. Just as Stearns had shouted, "The Chinese must go,11 so Doctor C. C. 0"Donnell, San Francisco politician, was the first to raise the cry, "Japs must go," and that even as early as 1886 with only 400 in the state.

As the years

passed, particularly as the Japanese acquired ownership in land, a multitude joined 0*Donnell. The Gentleman1s agreement of 1908 was a mild attempt at exclusion.

It read in part:

. . . that the Japanese Government shall issue pass­ ports to the continental United States only to such of its subjects as are non-laborers or are laborers who, in coming to the continent, seek to resume a formerly acquired domicile, to join a parent, wife, or children

56 residing there, or to assume active control of an a l ­ ready possessed Interest in a farming enterprise in this country.^2 Many California ranchers protested, as they have always protested when their cheap labor supply has been threatened. The Anti-Alien Land Act of 1915* known as the Webb Act, was a further stroke in the direction of Japanese disfranchise­ ment.

Aliens, especially those who were ineligible to

American citizenship, could no longer hold land.

Incessant

smuggling of Japanese across the Mexican border during the decade 1910-20 tended to circumvent the Gentleman’s Agree­ ment .

The forming of corporations with minor children as

principal stockholders served as a subterfuge for the ban of 1915.

The wave of resentment continued.

Act of 1924 was the final blow.

The Immigration

This was national legisla­

tion, excluding all aliens Ineligible to citizenship, except certain exempted classes. Mexicans.

During the heated Japanese controversy

Mexicans were gradually entering California fields. began on a large scale in 1914.

This

Prior to that, some had

worked in the beet fields and in the vineyards.

But it was

the war which furnished the impetus for their coming.

^ R. D. Hunt and H e H i e Van De Grift Sanchez, A Short History of California (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell and Co., 1929 ), p. 5 9 T T

57 Samuel E. Wood, writing in Sociology and Social Research, says: Taking advantage of the ninth proviso of Section 3 of the Immigration Act of 1917» under which the Depart­ ment of Labor had the power to admit temporarily other­ wise inadmissable aliens, special executive orders were ........ ‘ ortation of laborers to supply With the stoppage of Japanese immigration, the Mexicans stormed the state.

In 1926 a corps of growers in the San

Joaquin Valley imported thousands of them into that area. They coveted the Mexicans for the work, but looked with disdain upon their entering the social stream.

The Pacific

Rural Press estimated that between 1924-1950 an average of 58,000 Mexicans were brought.into the state for agricultural labor each year.1*^

In 1928 Mexicans were employed by 56 per

cent of the growers in the San Joaquin Valley. Mexico proved to be the happy hunting ground of the California farmers.

The workers could be secured in large

numbers; they were ignorant; they were docile; they were good workers, especially in stoop labor; language difficul­ ties militated against organization; after harvest they fled to the cities— to return again when needed; and they

Samuel E. Wood, "California Migrants," Sociology and Social Research (Los Angeles: The University of Southern California Press, Vol. XXIV, No. 5# January-February, 1940), p. 252. ^

McWilliams, Factories In The Field, p. 125•

^5 Max H. Lewis, Migratory Labor In California, p. 2 9.

58 could be deported.

Thus, such a bedraggled group of workers

were used effectively to depress wages and, too, the cities had to bear the heavy burden during the period between har­ vest and planting— the period of hibernation. to the growers* advantage.

That was all

But the cities began to rebel.

As the depression lengthened, the relief load became exorbi­ tant.

The cities returned thousands to Mexico to save re­

lief costs.

This process, coupled with the deportation law

of 1929# has greatly depleted the Mexican migratory workers in California.

Like the Chinese and the Japanese before

him, the Mexican, the longer he stayed, realized the neces­ sity for organization.

The Mexican Labor Union was organ­

ized in Imperial Valley for strike purposes among the canta­ loupe pickers in April, 1928. to crush it.

The growers arose in unison

Some were arrested, others were deported,

scabs were brought in from Texas and Oklahoma. was futile.

The strike

In the succeeding years, due to a growing labor

union consciousness, the Mexican proved to be distasteful to the farm industrialists. Hindus, Armenians, Portuguese.

Other race groups

have been of significance to California agriculture, how­ ever, their role is diminishing today. Hindu, the Armenian, and the Portuguese.

Among these are the They have worked

hard and like their brethren in toil, have been exploited.

59 This additional mixture of races enabled the farmers to pit one against the other in wage battles.

It was all to their

advantage to have the dark skinned people in their midst. Filipinos.

In California when one race group has

been on its way out due to hostility, the growers have al­ ways had a new group to bring in.

They have anticipated

trends, have refused to allow their fields to suffer.

When

it appeared that the Mexican would come under the quota requirement of the Immigration Act of 1924, the Filipino was standing at the threshhold ready to be enlisted.

Their

numbers steadily increased so that by 1929 some 5*795 were in

C a l i f o r n i a .

rootless.

These newcomers were young, single, strong,

There were no defences for them.

were low, their isolation was severe.

Their wages

They took to the

fields with alacrity and proved to be skilled in asparagus, sugar beets, rice, grapes, celery, and lettuce.

The Fili­

pinos travelled in groups, shared expences, suffered to­ gether.

They were silent.

But not for long, for in due

time the growers heard murmers of discontent, higher wages were demanded.

Their lettuce strike at Salinqs in 1954 was

crushed with considerable severity. were no longer wanted. 46 Ibid., p. 35.

They had lost status,

In 1955 Congress passed an act which

60 served a double function: deportation and exclusion*

Those

who accept the beneflclence accorded them in returning to the Islands, forfeit the privilege of returning to America in the future. Prom the foregoing it can readily be seen that Cali­ fornia agriculture has witnessed a successive wave of for­ eign workers.

The pattern followed by the ranchers has

been one of considerable skill on their part, but of con­ siderable disadvantage to the laborers. they have exploited, they have excluded.

They have imported, This has been

done consistently without regard to the needs of the laborers Involved.

For example, they did not consider the

hopeless lot of the Filipino men--away from kindred, single, forbidden to marry American girls* corailed.

These and all

others have been used and then cast off like an old garment. That always occurred when the group in question began to acquire status, to clamor for higher wages, to own land, to secure rights.

This has led Carey McWilliams to say:

For over half a century this sordid business of race exploitation has been going on In the State and it would be difficult to find a meaner record of exploita­ tion in the history of American industry.^7 Governor Culbert L. Olson, in a recent address, took cog­ nizance of this problem when he said:

^

McWilliams, op. cit., p. 13^*

61

Because these workers were unable to safeguard effectively, their rights, employment practices arose which would never have been tolerated by American labor. . . . Agricultural labor in California has this background of being a submerged, disadvantaged, and in every sense underprivileged, social class. Unfortun­ ately, many patterns of behavior established in the long course survived and are operative today. The widespread usage of this type of labor has paved the way for vigilantism, has fomented race riots, and has sowed the seeds of social maladjustment.

More than once golden

California has been transformed into bloody California. Southwestern American migratory workers.

With the

passing of the race groups as the chief workers in Cali­ fornia fields, the ranchers had to look about for new sources of replenishment.

Their search was not futile.

As so often in the past when the present contingent of laborers had been excluded, another group stood ready to invade the land.

This time they were not Oriental Celes­

tials, but rather native Americans. superbly timed.

Their coming was

Just when California needed them most,

these American laborers were ready to come. cans went out, they came in. barren--workers, but no work.

As the M exi ­

The fields they left were The California fields to

which they were coming were fruitful--work, but no workers. The growers at once became elated; these people were the -

Nr

Governor Culbert L. Olson, 11Statement Before Sen­ ate Committee on Education and Labor," San Francisco, Cali­ fornia, December 6, 1939 > PP* 2 and

answer to a knotty problem.

So, with alacrity, they began

to make ready for the newcomers. foreigners.

They are citizens, not

They are of pure American stock.

Dr. Paul

Taylor, testifying before the LaFollette Committee, in response to a question by Senator Thomas, stated: This migration is strongly native American. The percentage of foreign-born is not known, but it is very small indeed. This is perhaps the last, or at least the latest, of the waves of migration which have struck across the country, and in its American composition, it is probably the most American of them all.^9 In this same connection a study by the California State Chamber, of Commerce states: As a whole, the migrant group is made up of Ameri­ can-born whites. During 1936 and 1937* migrants checked at border agricultural stations were classi­ fied roughly according to racial stock. Of the slightly more than 202,000 who entered the State at border stations during these two years, more than 187,000 were classified as whites, approximately 8000 as Mexican, approximately 3000 as Negro, 2800 as Filipino, and some 1300 as of various other racial stocks.30 The majority of them have a long farming background, and not a few of them have achieved marked success with the soil.

Quite often in their local communities they have

assumed various positions of leadership.

But new eircum-

^9 Violation of Free Speech and Rights of Labor, op. cit., p. 17231. 9° Migrants, A National Problem--and Its Impact on California, Report and Recommendations of the State-wide Committee on the Migrant Problem, California State Chamber of Commerce, May, 1940. p. 15.

63 stances arose; California needed them, they needed Cali­ fornia, so they came on. Between July, 1935 and December;31, 1940, 500,269 persons in need of manual employment entered California. They were classified according to state of auto registration and by year of

a r r i v a l .

The Southwestern states--Arizona,

Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma -—lead."all other states.

It is to be assumed that a large

portion of these newcomers were of agricultural origins. Oklahoma alone accounted for 95*483 of the total, while Texas accounted for 43*737*

Arizona ranks high with 51*054

because it was the place of entry for many of the persons, whereas it may have been the actual home state for relatively few.

The migrants stopped there to chop cotton and to pull

bolls in order to get money with which to finish the trek to California.

If they remained long enough to secure an

Arizona license plate, they would be considered as having established residence in the state. Another study was made by specialists of the Works Progress Administration in 1938.^2

They analyzed 6655 case

histories taken from the relief records of the Farm Security

51 Letter to the writer from Varden Fuller, acting Leader, Division of Farm Population and Rural Welfare, Pacific Area, United States Department of Agriculture, Berkeley, California, May 22, 1941. 52 «Synopsis of fA Study of 6655 case histories In California, 1938,»** United States Department of Agriculture, Farm Security Administration, Division of Information, 85 Second Street, San Francisco, California, p. 2.

64 Administration.

These people had come to California chiefly

from four states, namely, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri.

Two fifths of the total, or 2771* came from

Oklahoma. In the present study sixty migratory agricultural workers were interviewed.

They were from the following

states: Oklahoma, 38; Texas, 12; Arkansas, 4; Arizona, 2; Kansas, 1; New Mexico, 1; not reported, 2.

As to years

they came as follows: 2 in 1954, 2 in 1955* 9 in 1956, 6 in 1957* 9 in 1958, 21 in 1959* 2 in 1940, 9 unreported. Table XIV55 presents the months of arrival for the 500,269 migrants who came to California during the period July, 1955 to December, 1940.

This table indicates that the

months in which more work is available in California witness the greatest migration to the state. peak with 105*185 entries.

The year 1957 was the

In 1957 Business Week observed:

"The influx is now averaging one immigrant outfit every ten minutes and the trek has only begun."54

This reference was

to those migrants coming f^om the Dust Bowl. Practically all migrants coming to California have

55 Table XIV, "Persons, Members of Parties in Need of Manual Employment Entering California In Motor Vehicles, by Months, July, 1955* to December, 1940," p. 65* 54 “piee Dust Bowl for California," Business Week, July 3* 1957* P- 56.

65 TABLE XIV PERSONS, MEMBERS OP PARTIES IN NEED OF MANUAL EMPLOYMENT ENTERING CALIFORNIA IN MOTOR VEHICLES BY MONTHS, JULY, 1935 9 TO DECEMBER, 1940a Persons entering California according to years 1936 1938 1940 1935 1937 1939

Month January

9,304

6,006

11,661

4,433

4,131

February

3,868

6,283

9,031

3,607

4,057

March

4,089

8,247

8,957

4,368

6,100

April

5,267

7,932

7,474

5,605

7,747

May

5,384

9,311

7,110

6,718

6,741

June

6,758

8,914

5,600

7,480

6,374

8,420

9,415

5,294

7,468

8,417

August

10,527

10,627

9,710

5,436

8,315

8,673

September

9,471

14,153

9,076

5,860

7,541

8,084

October

7,079

13,365

10,124

6,743

9,689

7,056

November

8,926

8,936

11,714

7,832

9,082

7,812

December

6,591

7,173

8,453

4,168

4,940

5,008

Totals

53,128

97,344

85 ,166

79,246

80,200

in

in

00 H

10,534.

0 H

July

a Letter from Varden Fuller, May 22, 1941.

66 had fanning experience, some for short intermittent periods, others as a lifetime occupation.

In the study made by the

Works Progress Administration, referred to

a b o v e , 55

67*8 per

cent were farm laborers; 17*7 per cent, tenants; 10.8 per cent, share-croppers; 3.7 per cent, owners.

Among the non­

skilled agricultural workers, 35-7 per cent reported as be­ ing unskilled manual laborers; 27-8 per cent, semi-skilled; 19-7 per cent, skilled laborers; 10.6 per cent, servants; 8.2 per cent, all others.

The migrants interviewed in the

present study were all of agricultural backgrounds. It is pertinent to point out here that the South­ western migratory workers, like so many of their predeces­ sors, are peculiarily suitable to the California growers. For one thing, they arrive in the state completely devoid of funds.

The long trek has exhausted the meagre sum ob­

tained by selling the few possessions that could not be brought due to the lack of car space.

They need money,

they are hungry, the children are thin, they are crying and ragged.

Therefore, these hapless wanderers will work

for any price which the rancher quotes— even fifteen cents an hour.

A hungry man with a still hungrier family cannot

spend much time In bargaining for higher wage rates.

55 Supra, p. 63.

The

67 ranchers are well aware of that fact.

The newcomers are

also ignorant of agricultural unions for agricultural labor. This will be brought out in a later chapter.56

They will

have little to do with labor organization--at least for a time.

Again, they come seeking the Job, paying their own

expenses which is a great boon to the farmers.

In times

past, in many instances, the ranchers have had to bear the expense of recruiting their laborers, and transport most of them to the fields.

Furthermore, the new migrant is not a

citizen of the state, belongs to no particular county, or locality, and is thereby woefully lacking in the basic protection of his rights.

His civil liberties are particu­

larly vulnerable, not too infrequently have these been viciously violated.

Finally, they come in great hordes, in

family groups, thus, it is not a single m e n ’s migration. This is advantageous to their employers since an oversupply of workers is always a good lever for depressing wages. Table XV57 shows the effect of this migration upon various California counties.

According to the Bureau of

the Census, the population of California on April 1, 1940, was 6,907 9387 9 which represents a gain of 21.7 per cent over the past ten years.

^

This was the largest numerical gain

Infra, Chapter V, p. 324 ff.

57 Table XV, ^Comparative Population Increases,” p. 68.

TABLE XV

COMPARATIVE POPULATION INCREASES® (Source: Population Estimates, California Taxpayers Association)

County

Estimated Population Jan. 1, 1935-Jan. 1, 1940

Presno Kern Kings Madera Tulare Total 5 Counties

147,720 9^,350 27,130 17,160 81,470 367,830

Merced Sacramento San Joaquin Stanislaus Sutter Yuba Total 6 Counties

39,960 153,640 111,890 61,490 16,720 14,430 398,130

50,300 173,000

Total 11 Counties Los Angeles County Remainder of State State Total

182,000 140,000 36,600

Per Cent, Increase Five-Year Period

Net Increase 5-Yr. Period 1935-1940 Number

23.2 48.4 34.9 52.1 46.1 36.9

34,280 45,650 9,470 8,940 37,530 135,870

75,000 19,300 19,500 465,100

25.9 12.6 14.4 22.0 15.4 35-1 16.8

10,340 19,360 16,110 13,510 2,580 5,070 66,970

765,960 2,438,060 2,984,280

968,800 2,805,000 3 ,326,200

26.5 15.0 H.5

202,840 366,940 341,920

6,188,300

7,100,000

14.7

911,700

26,100

119,000 503,700

128,000

a Migrants, A National Problem and Its Impact on California, Report and Recommendations of The State-tfide Committee onThe Migrant Problem; Sacramento: California State Chamber of Commerce, p. 40.

o\

69 made by any state and was about three times the national average. 67.7 per

For the decade 1920 to 1950, the increase was cent.

58

Hence, in spite of the heavy inflow of

migrants from the Southwestern states, the population of California did not increase as much during the 1950-1940 period as during the previous decade.59

The same source

indicates the role played by migration in the population growth of California. From less than 400,000 in i860, the population of California has come to be almost 7 millions by 1940, a growth of about 1800 per cent. In the boom decade of the 1920 *s the growth was as great as in the first sixty years of Californiafs development from a frontier state. The rate of growth has been over four times that of the population for the whole country. An estimated nine-tenths of the increase in population over the eight decades is attributed to migration.^9 During the past few years the Southwestern migratory workers in coming to California have simply given expression to the well-known American philosophy, which is succinctly

^

California Business— 1959-40-41, op. cit., p. 1.

Interstate Migration, Report of The Select Commit­ tee to InvestigateThe Interstate Migration of Destitute Citizens, House of Representatives, Pursuant to H. Res. 6J>, 491>629 (76th Congress) and H. Res. 16 (77th Congress), John H. Tolani% Chairman, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 1941, pp. 504, 305* 6° Loc. cit.

70 summarized, "When life becomes intolerable in one place, move on to another."

This phenomena of migration has play­

ed a significant role in American life. people have always pointed westward.

The American

After exploring one

frontier, a more luring one usually lay beyond.

Migration

is indeed a positive factor in a dynamic society.

By it

equilibrium is introduced into the national life— it adjusts men to jobs, and men to resources. The people who came westward in the earlier decades secured their food by the blast of a rifle.

The prospect

of a homestead greeted them at the end of the trail.

The

new migrants have no guns--they live out of paper sacks. At the end of the trail is the relief line, the tumble-down shack--Shantytown. fully posted.

The land is all fenced in— it is care­

Instead of securing land, they merely secure

jobs on the land, and that only spasmodically. is closed, the city gates are shut.

The frontier

These latter day

migrants are following their forefathers.

Their forefathers,

when fire and flood and famine cast them adrift, sought new homes in the virgin west.

They crossed the mountains, they

quelled the Indians, they cleared the land.

It became theirs.

They were pioneers.

When disaster struck again, they pulled

stakes and came on.

Nothing could crush them, they were

dauntless.

Thus is was that the west became peopled.

They

were sturdy folk— strength, courage, enthusiasm, endurance—

71 this is what possessed them. joined hands.

In them, romance and toil

But the new comers of today are pioneers

without a frontier.

Some of the same circumstances that

"bested their ancestors have dislodged them.

Instead of

trudging over tortuous trails in ox-cart and covered wagon, they roll along smooth highways in aged Packards and kindred cars.

Instead of arriving in a primeval forest they are

greeted by a highly industrialized agricultural system. They are bewildered.

There Is no frontier to challenge

their Industry, to test their mettle, to yield to their native genius. dependents.

They become rural pilgrims, unsettled

They have no legal or habitable residence

behind them or ahead of them— people without a country. They.have neither states nor status.

In these circumstances,

being in a community but not of it, social erosion does Its deadly work.

They bring the slum to the country side.

California agriculture at this moment in the present century is completely dependent upon these dispossessed migrants.

Today, for the first time, the dominant labor

group In the California fields is of native white American stock.

They are migrants, the majority of them, from neces­

sity, not from choice.

They are a peace loving people, have

known the ways of a settled life, and much prefer It to living in "tent cities.”

They have a strong familial pattern,

they love their children and want to see them educated.

In

72 this respect California offers them abundant opportunities of which they are deeply appreciative.

It is not likely,

therefore, that tramping the highways in search of work, will make a permanent appeal to them.

If ways and means

can be secured they will resettle the west. done.

May it not be so again?

It has been

Is it not possible that

California could benefit from their energy and latent in­ dustry?

To keep them corailed, to harass them continually

is to lose something vital.

It takes something from them

and it takes something from the culture. all suffer.

In the long run,

One thing is certain, they are American citi­

zens, and these "Thirty-niners11 have as much right to be in California as did the "Forty-niners.”

The latter host came

seeking easy money, those of today come seeking jobs.

No

shout of El Dorado has gone up, but they are here and ready to work.

As they face their destiny the ranchers

will fail in their old methods which were employed in hand­ ling the more tractable alien races.

American citizens are

not easily intimidated, though they be poor. are non-deportable.

As such, they

A threefold pattern obtained with most

of the other groups who have harvested California’s crops, namely, invite, exploit, expel.

That will no longer work.

Various factors have brought the Southwestern migrants to the state, various methods are employed to exploit them, but no methods can be found to exclude them.

They are here

73 to stay; this is their future home.

It is the task of

government— local, state, and federal— to ameliorate their lot, to work out an amicable solution.

In all this under­

taking, the cooperation of the majority of the migrants can be assured.

CHAPTER III FACTORS INFLUENCING MIGRATION AS RELATED B Y THE MIGRANTS In living with the migrants one very soon realizes the desperateness of their situation. offs of an economic order.

They are the cast­

Their battles for security

have been raging for many years.

They did not pull stakes

and come to California at the first pinch of poverty.

In­

deed, for most of them, California was the last choice. That fact is often ignored. they prefer staying there.

They love their home states, They know that In coming to

California they will be in a strange land, cut off from familiar faces, and away from the soil that has nurtured them.

All of the migrants in the present study revealed a

long-drawn out attempt to find security before Mhittingff the road to the west,

in many cases, this involved an

effort to make a living from several occupations.

In most

every instance there was much moving about within the home state and across state borders in search of work.

As a

last resort, they fled to California’s fertile fields. Typical of all the migrants is the story of Lonnie Nelson. ■*He is strong and alert.

Here is his story:

-*■ Shafter Government Camp.

75 1 »ve lived in Oklahoma since I was eight years old, stayed on the farm till I was sixteen. I went to railroadin* when I was 22. Come out d u r i n 1 the big strike. I really believe in the Union. I got married in 1922, 12th of July— six o 1clock in the evening. Then me and the bride went back to the farm, and stayed on the farm till *24. Prom that I taken up ginnin* and concrete work 'cause the drought hit and wasn't makin' nothin'. Three babies was born from *22 *27.

*

I went back to the railroads in *26, with a differ­ ent outfit and worked there till *52. In *30 a pair of twins was born. They taken sick when they was seven months old and lost them, three weeks difference in their deaths. In *31 my wife was operated on fer appendicitis. The second day of January *32 I got cut off from the railroad, laid off fer good. I was on the Santa Pe then. There was an overproduction of men and I didn*t have enough seniority to stay. The only thing to do was to go back to the farm and stayed there one year. About this time, in *33* m y wife was operated on fer thyroid goiter. Then I worked on C.W.A. for one year, buildin* and such like as that. In *34 I got a job with the Government killin' cattle. It lasted seven weeks, and I killed from 26 to 135 head a day. The majority of them was grown cattle of course. I killed cows that would give four and five gallons of milk a day, with calves only ten days old or so. Good god yes it was tough. Some of the people felt like It was a relief to get them off their hands because of the shortage of feed and some of us thought it was a damn disgrace to humanity. Some of the cows was skinned and the meat taken care of and distributed to the people. They would issue out so many pounds to the family. Some was left for the crows and buzzards to eat. The cows that the Government didn't kill was shipped to the pastures and stockyards. Later they was sold back to the resettlement people for from $25 to $35 a piece. After that was over I picked up odd jobs till January of *35 &nd went back to fartnin*. The drought struck again in *35* and high Watbrs come on in the late fall. In other words, what the drought didn*t git the high waters did. I was overflowed five times in two

76 months. A farmer c a n !t stand the like of that. So there was nothin* to do but to throw up m y tail and go back on relief. We all got hit and hit hard. That was from *36 to *39* b y gosh. In one way or another I was on relief. We was really a laborin* back there, mister. Now when you put in eight hours you really put it in. Other people was just like me. So the 15 th of January, 1940 we loaded up and come out here, leavin* a snow storm to our back, sunny California to our belly and here we are. The good Lord is just lettin 1 me sit around to see what the hell will happen next. Who can say that Lonnie Nelson came to California at the first sign of disaster?

He and other dispossessed people

would much have preferred remaining in their native states. When misfortune strikes repeatedly, people must go somewhere.

They have always done that.

immoral or selfish or unjust about it. necessity.

There is nothing It is just plain

There are advantages in coming to California.

This is ably stated by Ed. M o r r o w : ^ We c a n ft better ourselves very much more out here b y settin* around on relief. We waz d o i n ’ that back there. But t h e r e fs a w o r k i n 1 season here that we d o n 1t have back there, maybe a little cotton p i c k i n 1 once in a while at 40 cents a hundred. But t h ere’s at least three workin* seasons h ere— spuds, cotton pic k i n ’, and fruit. T h e r e ’s a lot of people here to do it, but at the same time it makes you feel a little better settin’ around near where there is work. You live in hopes of gettin* a little of it. But in a country where there is no work y o u ’ve not got a damn thing to look forward to. No way to take care of your family, n u t h i n ’ to do but just set there and mold over.

I. G. Spurling,^ age 66, was amazed at California’s

2 Auto camp near Bakersfield. ^ Arvin Government Camp.

77 prolific agriculture.

He says:

They grow grapes here that you could hardly believe your own eyes. And the cotton can produce three bales to the acre. Alfalfa grows ten months to the year. I c o u l d n !t hardly believe whut I seen. This state will grow things so that an Eastern man would hardly imagine it. I love the West and if I was an able bodied man it w o u l d n ’t suit me to go back East. Is it any wonder, then, that the migrants come to California when disaster overtakes them? come.

They feel they have a right to

Arthur Brown2* examined his constitutional rights on

this point.

His language is strong and challenging:

I ’m a full blooded American, natural born, and feel that I ’ve got a right to stay In the United States anywhere I want to. I figure t h a t ’s a constitutional right, though they may scrap it in California. I bought a constitution to see b y god if they wuz a violatin* it when they tried to stop people from cornin’ in here. I decided they had no right to stop me so I come on, and I still think I got a right to come. Likewise, Ed Morrow was alert on this issue: Back in Oklahoma you hear a lot of talk about the authorities not lettin* the Oklahoma people in Cali­ fornia unless they go on a visit or have relatives here. California has got no walls around it, you a i n ’t sentenced in it and you a i n ’t sentenced out. Wo laws can make you stay or leave or keep you from cornin’. Lee M o s s 5 went straight to the core of the matter: MAnybody that *s

a citizen of the United States has

a right

to go anywhere in the United States.1* With the above as a background it is now in order to

^ Auto camp near Bakersfield. 5 Arvin Government Camp.

78 proceed more specifically to the task of the present chapter. W h y did they choose California?

In other words, what was

the "push” and the "pull” of their migration? the factors that uprooted them? attracted them? questions.

What were

What were the factors that

The migrants themselves will answer these

Sometimes they speak for themselves,

they speak for the entire migrant population.

sometimes

In either

case, their reasons are interesting, sincere, and revealing. The combined reasons of all the migrants interviewed can be summarized under seven headings:

(l) Natural Factors;

Increased Use of Farm Machinery;

(3) Effects of Agricultural

Adjustment Act;

(5) Health;

(4) Advertising;

(2)

(6 ) Favorable

Reports by Migrants; and (7) Availability of Relief. I. Droughts. from some areas.

NATURAL FACTORS

Droughts were responsible for migrations A. Baldwin^ tells of his diminished crop

in Oklahoma due to droughts: In 1936 we d i d n ft have a drop o f ,rain in nine months. I had five bales of cotton and one hundred bushels from all them oats. The other feed crops burnt up. That was as good a crop as in any part of that country. Several years ago, 1919> I got sixty-five bushels of oats to an acre from the same land. It w a s n ft lack of fertility, just lack of water. I farmed twenty-two years In site of one school house. If I could get g o i n 1 like it was back in 1919 I ’d still be there. But a farmer just c a n ’t put up with them droughts.

6 Shafter Government Camp.

79 Avery Quarles:7 I come out here in September, 1939* At that time you couldn!t stick a pick in the ground back in my part of Oklahoma. Sometime around June was the last rain we had. I !ve dug down four feet deep and there was no moisture at all. W e ’ve got letters since w e !ve been here and I believe the snow is about the most water t h e y !ve had after we left. Wiley P. Cuddard, Sr.,^ announces the same facts concerning Texas: 1TDrought has been pretty bad for the last two years.

I t !s caused a heap of travellin*.”

Nineteen of the sixty migrants interviewed volun­ teered the same information as the three persons just quoted concerning droughts. Sandstorms.

Jess C a r t e r , 9 who left Oklahoma in 1936

described these storms: The sand storms cleaned the country. They really begun up around Delhart, Texas. T h a t !s where the name TTDust Bowl *1 got started. They spread as each storm came every day over fifteen to twenty miles, c leani n ’ the wheat as they went. In lots of places they . were b l o w i n 1 the soil off the land and leavin* n u t h i n ^ but hard clay. They kept m o v i n 1 down the country and p i l i n ’ higher and higher. It would pile up in the roads, like snow drifts and you couldn’t even git the school buses through. I was drivin’ a bus then and I ’ve driven when I c o u l d n ’t even see the kids in the back of the buses. And lots of times I couldn’t even see the radiator cap. It came in puffs. If y o u ’d let a kid out of the bus he might git lost just fifty yards

7 Arvin Government Camp. ^ Arvin Government Camp. 9 Auto camp near Shafter.

80 from his house. Fact of the business is, you just had to deliver the children to the door. I was caught in one of them black dusters with thirty kids on the bus. I stopped and when the dust cleared up there was two cars settin 1 in thirty steps of me and neither of us knew the other was there and we had our light on. That sounds fishy> doesn't it? I could git all kinds of witnesses to that. I a i n ft spreadin* it on. C a n ft you see how a thing like that could just about ruin the crops and cause people to move out? Storms had occurred a lot in the past but never before in history had they just cleaned the country and ruined the farms. II.

INCREASED USE OF FARM MACHINERY

Many small farmers, renters, and sharecroppers have lost their status due to the increased use of farm machin­ ery during the past few years. the open road in search of work.

Their only alternative was When machinery replaced

the mule, the farmer was converted into the migrant. Table XVI^O shows the estimated horsepower available on farms in the United States 1900-1930.

It is to be noted

that there was a great decline in the use of oxen, mules, horses, windmills, and steam engines.

On the other hand,

the total horsepower represented b y tractors and trucks rose from 2 per cent in 1910 to 63 per cent in 1930. Table XVII1-*- shows the increase in tractors for the period

^ Farms in

Table XVI, "Estimated Horsepower Available on the United States, 1900-1930," p. 01.

Table XVII, "Number of Tractors, All Types on Farms, January 1 of each year, 1915-1939*” P» 82.

TABLE XVI ESTIMATED HORSEPOWER AVAILABLE ON FARMS IN THE UNITED STATES, 1900-306 (Source: United States Department of Agriculture, Misc. Pub. 137# P* 12) Total

Power unit (per cent of total)

Horse­ power

Per cent

Horses

Windmills

Steam engines

Gas

Electricit;

Gas tract­ ors

Trucks

Harvester thresher

1900

22,997

100

4.2

9.5

67.6

0.9

15.2

2.6

1910

27,928

100

2.3

10.8

62.6

1.1

12.9

6.4

2.1

1.8

1920

57,495

100

1.0

9.9

46.1

0.9

9.3

8.0

4.0

13.1

7.4

0.3

1930

70,502

100

5-9

18.5-

0.5

1.4

4.5

3*1

31.2

31.9

3.2

engine

Date

Mules

W

Oxen

«n

a Interstate Migration, Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the Interstate Migration of Destitute Citizens, House of Representatives, John H. Tolan, California, Chairman; Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1941, p. 407. 00

H

TABLE XVII NUMBER OF TRACTORS, ALL TYPES ON FARMS, JANUARY 1, OF EACH YEAR, 1915-1939*

Index num­ bers (192429=100)

Year

Number tractors (thousands)

Index num­ bers (192429=100)

Year

Number tractors (thousands)

1915

37

5

1928

827

113

1916

51

7

1929

926

126

1917

85

12

1930

997

136

1918

158

22

1931

1,022

140

1919

246

34

1932

1,019

139

1920

343

47

1933

1,016

139

1921

372

51

1934

1,048

143

1922

428

58

1935

1,130

154

1923

496

68

1936

1,249

171

1924

549

75

1937

1,418

194

1925

621

85

1938

1,515

207

1926

693

95

1939

1,610

220

1927

782

107

* Interstate Migration, Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the Interstate Migration or destitute Citizens, House of Representatives, John H. Tolan, California, Chairman, Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 19^1, p. 408.

83 1915-1939*

In 1920 there were 343,000 tractors, but b y 1939

the number had risen to 1,610,000.

Table X V I I I i n d i c a t e s

the increased use of tractors per 1,000 farms, 1925 -1930 , by geographic divisions.

The number almost doubled in the

Southwestern states which are included in the West South Central Division. Dr.,Paul Taylor, testifying before the La Follette Committee, discussed the increase in tractors as one reason for the migration of agricultural workers to California. Concerning two counties in Texas, he said: The annual numbers of recent tractor sales in Childress were estimated b y an implement dealer as follows: 1934-35, 10 ; 1935-36, 20 ; 1936-37, 105* Similar estimates for Hall County were: 1935,100; 1936, 160; 1937, 200. These figures are to be rearded only as indications of trend. The Memphis Texas) Democrat in 1937 described the rapid influx of tractors:

f

"Keeping pace with the mule exodus here the past few months have seen an influx of tractors. Six car­ loads of tractors were unloaded in Memphis alone dur­ ing the month of January. At least 150 tractors were distributed over this immediate area through Memphis implement channels during the past year.”13 Mechanization is not limited to tractors.

The use

of trucks on farms increased from about 140,000 in 1920 to

^ Table XVIII, "Increase in Tractors Per 1,000 Farms, 1925-30, b y Geographic Divisions,” p. 84. ^ Violations of Free Speech and Rights of L a b o r , Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Education and Labor, United States Senate, Seventy-Sixth Congress, Second Session, Subpoena Hearing, San Francisco, California, December 13, 1939, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1940, p. 17268.

TABLE XVIII INCREASE IN TRACTORS PER THOUSAND FARMS, 1925-30, BY GEOGRAPHIC DIVISIONS®* (Source: Census of 1930, Agriculture, vol. IV, p. 537)

Number of tractors per thousand farms Division

United States

Increase 1925-30 Number per 1,000 Per cent farms

1925

1930

79.4

146.3

66.9

84.3

49.2 119.0 139.5 145.4 28.0 14.0 34.1 85.4 151.4

112.9 229.2 258.0 285.9 44.8 23.0 67.1 198.9 239.4

63.7 110.2 ' 118.5 140.5 16.8 9.0 33.0 113-5 88.0

129.5 92.6 84.9 96.6 60.0 64.3 96.8 132.9 58.1

Geographic divisions: Nev England Middle Atlantic East North Central West North Central South Atlantic East South Central West South Central Mountain Pacific /

a Interstate Migration, Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the Interstate Migration or Cestitute Citizens, House of Representatives, John H* Tolan, California* Chairman; Washington, D*C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1941, p. 410. CD -is-

85 more than a million in 1939*

Together, automobiles and

trucks have saved approximately 400 million man-hours through the reduction in work animals a l o n e . ^

Since 1920

the combine has caused a reduction of at least 84 million man-hours annually in the production of small grains.

In

July, 1939* approximately 110,000 such machines were in use. 1’5

While In 1920 the combine was used in harvesting

5 per cent of the wheat crop, by 1938 It was used on 50 per cent of the acreage harvested for grain.

Less than one

third as much labor Is needed now to harvest an acre of wheat as was required under more primitive m e t h o d s . ^

As

for corn, the mechanical corn pickers increased from 10,000 in 1920 to 70,000 in 1939*

The one-row picker reduces

harvest labor by one third, compared with hand methods, while the two-row picker reduces It b y one half.17 The mechanization process, as described above, is particularly characteristic of the Pacific Coast and the Southwestern states.

The inevitable result, as has been

^ Interstate Migration, Report of the Select Commit­ tee to Investigate the Interstate Migration of Destitute Citizens, House of Representatives, John H. Tolan, Cali­ fornia Chairman, United States Government Printing Office, 1941, p. 411.

^

» 1*0°• o l t .

17 Loc. cit.

86 indicated, is the displacement of workers *

A. P. Brodell

and Robert C. Tetro state: In the Southern Great Plains and in some major wheat areas, labor needs have been reduced as much as 75 per cent, largely since 1920. With 60 million acres of wheat, farm employment in wheat production has been reduced at least 40 million man-days. Dis­ placement of labor is most pronounced during harvest season and in the major wheat areas. Weeds for regular monthly labor, especially for preparing the seed-bed and for hauling grain, have also been reduced g r e a t l y . ^ Apart from the above background it is impossible to understand why m any of the migrants came to California. I. G. Spurling who came from Oklahoma said: The horse power farmin* and the family farmin* has been goin* out fer years. The general trend has been toward machine farmin* on large tracts under managers. It »s come to the point that unless y o u ’ve got at least one hundred acres of land you can*t carry on with a tractor, it just won*t pay the investment to fool with it on a small scale. Per that reason the little farmer with twenty acres can*t afford it. He wouldn*t use it half the time. I ’ve used a team most of m y life and I khow you*ve got to use your equipment to the most advant­ age. If they stood idle a lot of the time that was just a big loss to me. It*s even worse than that with the tractor system. The only way little farmers can do is to go into it on a cooperative basis, say six in a group, so they can use the equipment and have enough investment combined. The big scale farmin* is the only kind of farmin*. As the tractor came in, the farm laborer went out. Will P. Cuddard, Sr., stated it more briefly. The large farmers have cut all the little farmers by usin* all sorts of machinery. That*s brought many

A. P. Brodell and Robert C. Tetro, "Modern Farm Practice and Mechanical Power," The Agricultural Situation, 25:20, May, 1941.

87

df the farm.

Increase your machinery and you increase your migrant population.

Jesse Carter was of a similar opinion. You take a small farmer that used to farm forty to sixty acres with his mules and horses and consumed a lot of their food at home, that today one man with a tractor will farm an average of six farms of that size which puts five families on relief. This farmer takes the money that these families could live on and turns it over to the big manufacturers for more machinery and gas and oil. I s n ft that right? That happens all over the United States. Anywhere in the wheat country a farmer with a tractor and a combine and three men will harvest as much wheat in one day that twenty-six men did the old way. T h a t fs also true in ditch diggln*. III.

EFFECTS OF AGRICULTURAL ADJUSTMENT ACT

One major objective of the New Deal has been that of farm relief.

Thus, on May 12, 1935 > the Agricultural A d ­

justment Act received the presidential signature.

Concern­

ing it, Dr. D. C. Macintosh of Yale, says: Its object was to raise prices of farm products by limiting production, and in order to secure the coopera­ tion of the farmers and at the same time relieve further their almost desperate condition they were to be paid substantial sums for reducing the acreage under corn, wheat, cotton, tobacco, and rice, while similar arrange­ ments were undertaken for limiting the number of hogs and cattle and the quantity of milk to be offered on the market. The cost of the payments thus promised the farmer was to be met in large part by taxes imposed on the manufacturers engaged in preparing the farm products for the consumer. These !,processing taxes,” while g e n ­ erally complained of by the manufacturers, were really In most instances passed on to the consumer In the form of higher prices to be paid for the manufactured product.^9

^ D. C. Macintosh, Social Religion (New York: Charles Sc r i b n e rfs Sons, 1939 )» pp. 216 and 217-

88 The program had certain weaknesses: first, real b u y ­ ing power throughout the population did not increase as much as was expected due to the rise in prices for both farm and factory products coupled with loss of time through strikes; secondly, little attention was given to retain or to prevent the further loss of markets abroad, particularly of cotton; and thirdly, the share-croppers did not receive their proper share of the payments which the landowners received from the government.20 On January 6, 1936, the United States Supreme Court declared the AAA unconstitutional; it was held as being an unwarranted invasion of states* rights. A week later the same tribunal unanimously ordered that $200,000,000 of impounded AAA processing taxes be returned to the processors, even though it was an acknowledged fact that in most cases these taxes had been passed on b y the manufacturer to the consumer. Thus, as a result of what Secretary Wallace denounced as probably the greatest legalized steal in American history, the tax-paying consumer was made to pay twice over the bonus to the farmer for reducing his crops, first in the increased cost of processed farm products, and then once again in being saddled, however, in­ directly, with the burden of meeting the cost of the government*s repayment of the processing t a x . 21 Farm relief was kept in operation during 1936 and 1937 by means of various makeshifts, mainly on a voluntary basis between the government and large numbers of farmers.

20 I b i d ., pp. 217 and 218. 21 Ibid., p. 218.

The

89

new Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 was signed b y President Roosevelt on February 16, 1938.

It is summarized

as follows: Provision was made for constituting the AAA Soil Con­ servation program, according to which farmers were paid for soil conservation work.' The Act also provided acreage allottments, with cash subsidies paid to farmers voluntarily cooperating with the Government in restrict­ ing the amount of land planted to wheat, corn, cotton, tobacco, or rice. Provision'was made for compulsory regulations of the marketing of crops, the compulsion in the form of penalty taxes coming into effect only after approval by two thirds of the voting farmers. Loans were to be made to farmers to enable them to hold surpluses of big crop years until needed (the T,evernormal granary” plan;.7 [The reference to this footnote is indicated b y the author as: 11On August 14, 1938, it was announced that plans were being made to subsidize the export sale of about 100 ,000,000 bushels of surplus wheat.” ] Crop insurance for wheat was also provided. Benefit payments to farmers voluntarily cooperating in crop control were to be financed b y ntariff-equalizing levies on processors of farm products .”8 [The reference to this footnote is: New York Times, February 17 and June 17, 1938; U. S. N e w s , June 20, 1938.]22 Table XIX^3 has to do with the distribution of p a y ­ ments under the 1939 conservation programs of the Agricul­ ture Adjustment Administration.

For the United States as a

whole, it can be observed, payees receiving $200 or more constituted but 7 to 9 P©** cent of all payees, however, they received more than two fifths of the money paid out under the program.

22 I b i d ., pp. 218 and 219 . 23 Table XIX, "Estimated Percentage Distribution of Number of Payees and Amount of Net Payments by Size-ofPayment Groups, 1939 Conservation Programs,” p. 90.

90 TABLE XIX ESTIMATED PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF NUMBER OF PAYEES AND AMOUNT OF NET PAYMENTS BY SIZE-OF-PAYMENT GROUPS, 1959 CONSERVATION PROGRAMS® (Source: Office of the Administrator, Agricultural Adjustment Administration, Jan. 28, 1941)

Size of payment

Number of payees as per cent of total 1 Cumulative Simple upward

Amount of net payment as per cent of total Cumulative Simple upward

0 to $20

24.77

100.00

2.94

100.00

$20.01 to $40

22.20

75.25

7.92

97.06

$40.01 to $60

14.72

55.05

8.75

89.14

$60.01 to $100

16.01

58.51

15.25

80.59

$100.01 to $150

9*02

22.50

15.40

65.16

$150.01 to $200

5-36

15.28

11.14

51.76

$200.01 to $500

4.05

7.92

11.97

40.62

$500.01 to $400

1.69

5.89

7.05

28.65

$400.01 to $500

.82

2.20

4.40

21.62

1.04

M .58

9.28

17.22

$1,000.01 to $2,000

.25

•54

4.40

7.94

$2,000.01 to $5,000

.05

.09

1.41

5 .5^

$5,000.01 to $4,000

.02

.04

.75

2.15

$4,000.01 to $5,000

.01

.02

.45

1.40

$5,000.01 to $10,000

.01

.01

.95

.95

$500.01 to $1,000

Total

100.00

100.00

a Interstate Migration, Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the Interstate Migration of Destitute Citizens, House of Representatives, John H. Tolan, California, Chairman: Washing­ ton, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1941, P* 455-

91 Table X X ^

presents payments of $200 and over as a

proportion of total payments, agricultural conservation program, Southern region, 1938.

The nine Southern states

included in the table contain about one third of all farms in the United States.

The report states:

In this area less than 5 per cent of all persons receiving payments derived, in all, nearly one third of the total cash benefits under the 1938 program. The average payment received b y these persons exceeded $1,500.25 Texas with 596,500 payees, outstripped all other states, Oklahoma and Arkansas also ranked high. The testimony of various witnesses before the Comittee indicated a wide diversity of opinion regarding the role played b y the Agricultural Adjustment Program as a cause of labor d i s p l a c e m e n t . ^

However, the following con­

clusion was announced: From the evidence submitted to the committee it would appear that the program is more vulnerable upon the score of not having adequately protected the sharecroppers 1 and tenant farmers* interest in the program. Many thousands of these already disadvantaged operators have been dispossessed and supplanted b y wage labor, not because this shift would result in lower cost production, but largely because this was the easiest way in which landlords could receive the

Table XX, f!Payments of $200 and Over as a Propor­ tion of Total Payments, Agricultural Conservation Program, Southern Region, 1938,” p. 92. Interstate Migration, o p . c l t ., p. 454.

26 rbia., p. 446 ff.

TABLE XX PAYMENTS OP $200 AND OVER AS A PROPORTION OP TOTAL PAYMENTS, AGRICULTURAL CONSERVATION PROGRAM, SOUTHERN REGION, 1938a (Source: Calculated from data presented by I. Duggan, hearings on House of Representatives 58OO, 76th Congress, 19*10, VV* 6-7)

Total number of payees

Alabama Arkansas Florida Georgia Louisiana Mississippi Oklahoma South Carolina Texas Southern region,total

Payees receiving $200 or more Pep cent Number of total number of payees

Total payments

Estimated payments to payees receiving $200 or more Per cent Amount of total payments

291,000 276,000 41,000 260,000 186,000 312,500 240,500 167,000 596,500

5,400 8,000 1,400 7,900 3,500 7,800 11,900 6,500 61,300

1.9 2.9 3.4 3.0 1.9 2.5 4.9 3.9 10.3

$16,500,000 17,000,000 2,500,000 16,250,000 10,000,000 20,880,000 16,500,000 11,500,000 61,000,000

$2,280,000 4,547,000 918,000 3 ,338,000 1,864,000 6,035,000 4,220,000 2,972,000 26,571,000

15.8 26.7 36.7 20.5 18.6 28.9 25.6 25.8 43.6

2,370,500

113,700

4.8

172,130,000

52,745,000

30.6

a Interstate Migration, Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the Inter­ state Migration of Destitute Citizens, House of Representatives, John H. Tolan, Cali­ fornia, Chairman; Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1941, p.

.

454

93 croppers* or tenants*

share of the Government checks.

Lonnie Nelson indicated the issue as he saw its The Government through the agricultural program drove men off the farm into the towns, and here*s the way it happened. County agents came out and appraised your land on a five-year average hack, and they paid you so much an acre on this average. You wuz allowed to cut your cotton and wheat acreage to 40 per cent of your former production. In other words, if you had heen producin* sixty acres of cotton you could cut it down to forty and draw your Government parity payments fer the other twenty acres. Then you wuz allowed to put this twenty acres in feed and save it for your stock. So the landowner could make more by let tin* the Government have it than he could by the share­ croppers. So they farmed it themselves and put the sharecroppers off their farms. There was no place for them to go except somewhere on relief. Good god, yes, them landowners are on relief, too. If a man come along and offered you from $500 to $400 wouldn*t that be called relief if you d i d n ’t work fer it? If the Government hadn*t done that they*d lost their farms and a lot of them*s a-losin* their farms anyway. That whole program flooded the country and the relief rolls with a surplus of people. They can talk about their overproduction of cotton, and they plowed it up; and they can talk about their overproduction of wheat; and their overproduction of corn; and their overproduc­ tion of cattle; and their overproduction of hogs. But w e ’ve never had but one overproduction, and t h a t ’s our damned ignorance. I killed a lot of cattle fer the Government. When the Government allows a person $50 a month fer relief w o u l d n ’t it a been much better to allowed them $55 & month and give them one of them cows that they might have the milk. So as it was I killed them regardless of what m y brother was without, and they holler there *s not an overproduction in ignorance. Jesse Carter was equally as penetrating in his analysis of the AAA program as a factor in augmenting the

27 I M l * * P- 463-

94 ranks of the migrants. I fm fer the farm program and the New Deal, but still it took many a man off the farm and out of production. If a landlord or owner had a section of land, 640 acres, he would have four or five families on it as sharecroppers. When the AAA come along it paid him to take his land out of production and his sharecroppers moved to town, while he bought a tractor, farmed the land himself and got all the parity payments. If he h ad had a sharecropper there he would have got part of it. A lot of people d o n ft see through that unless t h e y fve tried it. T h a t ’s one of the things that put me here. Before l e a v i n ’ West Texas if I could have got m y parity payments I could have set down and drawed more money from Government than I fve ever r e ­ ceived on relief, quite considerably more, too. H e r e ’s where the AAA failed, and y o u 1re g e t t i n 1 this from a guy that knows. I d i d n ft read this in a book. I ’m t a l k i n 1 about western Oklahoma and Texas, the country I know. It w o u l d n ’t do fer me to talk about Missouri. I t ’s a proven fact that diversified farming increases production. The average farmer, especially in wheat, can take a thousand acres of wheat land, farm five hundred acres one year and "summer till" the other five hundred acres (keep the weeds down, plow it a few times, and let it rest), then plant this the next year and let the other rest. By d o i n ’ so, it stands much more dry weather, grows off quicker in the spring, and has a better resistance to sand storms. It almost and sometimes does, double production. In other words, a farmer makes almost as much off that five hundred acres as he would if he farmed the one thousand continually. When he goes to harvest it he has only five hundred acres to harvest and he hauls nearly as much wheat to the elevator. He has saved a lot in time, and money and in wear of his machinery in coverin’ the ground. If you would check the counties in the wheat countries y o u ’ll find they put just about as much wheat on the market than before the AAA come along, t h a t ’s the fact. The farmer is makin* just as much money as before the AAA from his wheat and g e t t i n ’ the parity payments from the Government fer lettin* land stay out of production, but still he a i n ’t on reliefJ H e ’s on it in a big way, i t ’s only named differently. They call it "Parity Payments." Sounds good. H e ’s g e t t i n ’ paid fer somethin’ he

95 d o e s n ’t do, and we have to work fer ours. Another thing here, while he was s a v i n 1 in his ha r v e s t i n 1 costs and g e t t i n 1 the Government check, he was also b u i l d i n 1 up half his land so it would produce more. Secretary Wallace encourages that. I t ’s easy to see we d o n ft git nowhere there. Let us look at the wheat situation--we h a v e n ft cut our surplus b y r e d u c i n 1 the acreage. We reduced the acreage all right but we increased the production per acre when we done it. The only thing that went up was after it was put in the sackl T h e r e fs no use k i d d i n f ourselves. The only gain to it was the poor old „ farmer who moved off to town— has to pay more fer his flour. This whole set-up is true in cotton as in wheat, i t ’s almost, but it coul d n ’t quite be. Furthermore, the landlord puts his best land in and lets the soriest lay out— it w o u l d n ’t produce n o t h i n ’ nohow. But still he gits his parity payments fer it. Any man with any sense could see through this, seems to me like. The farmer is better off with the AAA, but thousands of people are worse off. It has failed to keep down production and has caused many home l o v i n ’ people to take up the migratory life. 0. E. T a t u m 2 8 explained: Under the AAA crop reduction program the landlord could reap more from the Government checks than from the sharecroppers. In other words, the Government check was certain and the sharecroppers crop w a s n ’t. That left the small renter to where he couldn’t git land. He was without a home and had to drift to find work, and in that country there was none to be found. So about the only thing left was to hit out fer Cali­ fornia and give it a try out here. William P a l m e r ^ 9 commented: The Government went to p a y i n ’ that grass bonus to let the land lay out; that stopped m y work. So it put me on the road. I was a good ranch hand.

Shafter Government Camp. 29 Arvin Government Camp.

96 IV.

ADVERTISING

Much controversy has raged over advertising as a means for replenishing Californiafs labor needs.

Though

it has been strongly denied, there is evidence of its use in securing an oversupply of workers. Newspaper advertising. to newspaper advertising,

Arthur Brown made reference

saying:

The migratory labor is brought to this country b y advertisin* fer cotton pickers and *taterf and fruit hands. When they git here there are three men fer one job and they have to take just what they can git and t h a t !s dad-burned little. Last May as a year ago one of them ads come out In the Tulsa World and the Oklahoma City T i m e s . The best I recollect it was b y the Bakersfield Chamber of C o m ­ merce wantin* 15*000 men in Kern county. Could a been San Joaquin Valley, but seems to me it was in Kern County. There was more men here then than they needed, and they still advertised fer more men so they could fix the prices as they wanted it and let it go at that. The Associated Farmers done that and the Chamber of Commerce--they are the same thing. The Associated Farmers will have three men fer every job. A spud field can open up and five or ten men will be out there runnin* over the boss, just like a man f e e d i n 1 hogs in a backyard with a basket of corn. T h a t fs why they advertise. W iley P. Cuddard, Jr., expressed the opinion that: These people are not out here because of droughts. They had droughts before and didn*t come to California and d i d n ft migrate to any other place. What the drought done and the plow-up program, was to work them up to where they would follow any lead and the Associated Farmers gave them the only one they needed. But if these farmers h a d n !t given them this lead they would have stuck it out like they done before.

97 The Associated Fanners knows that if they git a lot of people out here t h e y 111 git their work done fer nothin* and the workers can*t win a strike fer men are always ready to go into the fields. But if there was only enough men here to do the work they could come to an agreement and git a decent wage--the farmers know that. So if they can git four m e n to every job, that's what they want, that helps them rather than hurts them. Of course they have to pay taxes and bear a lot of this relief program, but we pay our taxes too out of what we git. And that isn't all: if so many workers wasn't here we'd be gittin*, say $ 3-00 a day fer our labor instead of $2.00. The tax load they are carrying is not no more than 15 or 20 cents when if the tax load was taken off they'd have to pay $ 1.00 a day more in wages, that is, if there was fewer of us out here. So it's really about 85 cents cheaper on the farmer a day to have all these people fightin* one another fer the little bit of work. This tax load with all of us here is not nearly as big as their wage load would be without so many of us. What they really want is us here, no matter what they say in their newspapers and in their Chamber of Commerce meetings. This talk of puttin' all of us back East is only a blind, because if they do, they'll have more to come in our place. If they did stop the Oklahomans from cornin', the Associated Farmers would have the Mexicans cornin' like they used to or go up here in one of these other states and git labor. They concentrate on the Eastern people because they know that the people back there are so thickly settled and hard up, never have any money, no more than a livin'. If they'd leave them alone they'd git b y back there. You see they are gittin' relief back there, but not as much as they are here. They don't need as much back there because they have their milk and butter and eggs and wheat. The man t h a t »s back there never once thinks of that p a r t . All he thinks about is how much more the Government is givin' in California, when really he's got more to eat than we have. The Associated Farmers will tell them back there all about the big wages and good relief out here, he just fails to mention about the butter and the eggs- and the meat. This is only a blind. So the sharecroppers will say, ”Well, if they have lots of work out there and if relief is good, then if I don't find work I'll still be all right.” That's just what I've got figured out and 1*11 bet you I'm not fer from bein' right.

98 Radio advertising. affected migration.

Occasionally a radio announcement

Andrew Norris30 stated:

In 1938 the announcement come out over the radio every few days that thousands of workers could be used in the San Joaquin Valley. I guess those people go about that in such a way that you c a n ’t do n o t h i n ’ about it, they d o n ’t leave no loopholes where they could git caught. We d o n ’t have no idee who did the ad v ertisin’. You take people who are up agin it and a thing like that would naturally influence them to come. Handbill advertising.

As in the case of newspaper

and radio advertising, handbill distribution has been a prolific source for inducing workers to come to California. John B e a v e n ^ related his experience: We left Arkansas goin* west l o o k i n ’ fer work. Along the way we stopped at Lordsburg, New Mexico, to git gas. A feller come across the street and said:

11Are you h u n t i n ’ a job ?*1 "Yes, sir.” "Well, I need some cotton pickers." "What do you pay?" "Eighty cents." "But we are on our way to Arizona." " T h a t ’s where the cotton is, Buckeye." So we took one of his leaflets and come right on to Buckeye. We picked cotton fer him until it was about gone. He was one of the foremen fer a big company.

Arvin Government Camp. Private camp near Shafter.

99 One day a boy come along with some leaflets, throwin* them into every cabin. They read, "Nine hnndred hands wanted at Santa Maria. Seven hundred acres of good peas.** We took off but d i d n ’t have the money to go that fer so we dropped in at Calipatria in the Imperial Valley and got a day or so of peas. T h a t ’s when I hit relief fer the first time. We was camped out there on the city dump. The manager of the Brawley Government Migratory Camp, C. E. Berry, drove out there and said to several of us: "How is she g o i n ’, boy s ? ” I said, "Jist as dull as I ever saw.” He said, "Come up to the city hall and w e ’ll try to fix you up." So the next morin* I went up, you bet. Mr. Berry asked me how come I was in California. I give him the leaflet. He fixed me right up. He said: "Would you give me this leaflet?” "Sure, I a i n ’t got no use fer it.” Then I found out later that the leaflets was all a fake, no use to go on. W e come to Shafter to a private camp. I drawed some relief checks, then worked a little and got more checks. After b e i n ’ here awhile I learned that Mr. Berry had been transferred to the Government Camp at Shafter. I saw him one day and he said: "Beaven, that pea contractor is now in jail that handed out them leaflets." I said, " T hat’s fine.

He ought to be there."

Harrison W a l l a c e ^ * ? said: There was some advertisin* in Oklahoma fer workers in Arizona. That d i d n ’t cause me to pull up and leave .but it encouraged me. You know, if a feller has got his mind perty well made up to do somethin’ a thing like that would encourage him. As we hit the port of entry on the Arizona line, we got the handbills advertisin* fer workers in California.

52 Arvin Government Camp.

100 They was just exactly like the ones we saw in Oklahoma a s k i n ’ fer workers to come to Arizona. I a i n ’t positive who does that, some say the Chamber of Commerce does it and are encouraged b y the A sso­ ciated Farmers. I d o n ’t know what their motives are unless it would be to git wages down. The Reverend Clarence Wagner, Pastor, Florence Avenue Methodist Church, Los Angeles, California, Chairman Ministerial Migrant Committee, in his testimony before the Tolan Committee, stated that handbills distributed by labor contractors telling of thousands of jobs available in Cal i ­ fornia was an important cause for many migrants coming to the state .33

indeed,

"Copies of these handbills m a y be

found in the Farm Security Administration offices in San Francisco, California. V.

HEALTH

Like man y of their more fortunate countrymen, the migrants enumerated health as a factor that led them to California.

Lonnie Nelson said:

M y wife was in pore health and I decided she might do better out here. The goiter that was taken out in ’33 was growin back and she c o u l d n ’t hardly git her

33 Interstate Migration, Hearings Before the Select Committee to Investigate the Interstate Migration of D e s t i ­ tute Citizens, House of Representatives, Seventy-sixth Congress, Third Session, John H. Tolan, Chairman, Los Angeles Hearings, September 28, 1940, p. 2924. 34 Loc. c i t ., footnote.

101 breath in Oklahoma* west with her.

The doctor advised me to come

Avery Quarles stated: W e'd got run down in health; all of .us was run down. I hear them say if a m a n stays in one place so* long he kinda gits run down. Then, malaria, too, when a man gits full of it, i t ’s hard to git rid of it. So we decided to git out of that climate. Don Jackson,55 too, attributed his being in California to the quest for better health. M y w i f e ’s health is pressin* me to go back East. She suffers a lot from asthma and h a s n ’t been any good with it. The doctors have advised me to go back just as the doctors have advised me to come out here. VI.

FAVORABLE REPORTS BY MIGRANTS

Return visits to relatives in home states.

This is

a potent cause for influencing people to come to California. A person or a family, having been here for awhile, decides to return home for a brief visit.

They have m any relatives

and friends who question them regarding conditions in Cali­ fornia.

Although they m a y be having a hard time making a

living, they do not always tell the truth since that would leave a bad impression as to their abilities.

Oftentimes

the manner in which they return clouds the issue. Carter has stated it.

Jesse

He says, in speaking of many migrants:

55 Shafter Government Camp.

102 When they git $40 ahead they make a down payment on a car and set out fer home, figu r i n 1 on g e t t i n 1 hack before the paynents come due. It leaves a good impression on the home folks that they are d o i n 1 well. They left in an old wreck and come back in a good car. Mrs. Chism added: Some of them go down here and buy $100 worth of clothes on an installment plan to make a visit back home. Then they will be all winter p a y i n 1 fer them, but, you see, it makes a good impression. Gordon P a y n e ^ put it this way: So many of the people git a little money and go back to Oklahoma and come back again. If they could stop so much of this g o i n 1 backwards and forwards and settle down in one of the other states I think the country would be a lot better off. M y son has been back twice and I fve begged and pleaded with him not to do it, 1cause it costs a lot of money and there a i n ft no use fer hit. He lost his car on the last trip back there, had to sell hit fer money to come back here on. He returned b y a travellin 1 bureau, we call it bootl e g g i n 1 them in. He worked and got money and sent fer his wife. He is now t a l k i n 1 agin of g o i n 1 back to Oklahoma. There jist ain*t n u t h i n 1 I kin do about it. But all this sort of thing jist causes unrest in both states. Letters to friends and relatives about work and relief.

Living among strangers and being separated many

hundreds of miles from old associates, the migratory people are prolific letter writers.

This is vividly brought for­

ward in the experiences of seven young men living on a private ranch near Bottonwillow. was employed with five of them.

The group Interview method Only one was married, and

36 Auto camp near Bakersfield.

103 two were brothers. hood in Oklahoma.

All came from the same town or neighbor­ They were living in miserable shacks.

Two slept in one cabin, three in the next cabin, while a n ­ other slept on a quilt on the bare floor of an empty cabin. The married man, of course, had a separate cabin for his family.

The ages of the five interviewed were as follows:

20, 21, 22, 26, and 27with Argus Dow.

The interview was concerned mainly

However, each boy had his contribution.

This interview shows the influence of letter writing as a means of influencing people to come to California. Argus Dow: I know people back East who had a good l i v i n 1, fair enough, and sold out lock, stock, and barrel to git on WPA. They are still settin* there with less than they started with and are expectin1 to be cut off any time. I d o n ’t know what they are gonna do. Bill Brown: Probably come to California. Henry Johnson: A m a n could take a truck down there and damn near load it full of folks in a day and hit out fer this way. Boyd Jones: T h e y ’re feet git to itchin* fer one thing. And I 111 tell you why their feet git to itchin1. Use me fer an example. I come out here and d o n ’t do so well but I write back that I ’m makin* money hand over fist and so they all git the fever. Henry Johnson: M y brother over there wrote that he was d o i n ’ fine so I got here Tuesday, day before yesterday. Pound out

104 I could git a job thinnin* beets; made 67 cents yesterday and 32 cents tbis morning. I hope times pick up pretty soon.1 First time I saw m y brother he was c o m i n 1 in with a load of groceries, five or six dollars1 worth maybe. Harvey Johnson: I had about three dollars1worth. Them was the first in about a month that I had the cash to pay fer. Jesse Carter stressed this same point: One reason so many are here is because of this kinsfolks business, they write back. They will set right here and half starve, do without work and live on a dirt floor. Then maybe they will go out here and git a job fer a day or so and write back, "John and I made $9-00 today.” But they w o n ’t say anything about how long they have been without work or what they are g o i n 1 to do tomorrow. Seems like i t ’s just nature with them to make their folks at home think they are d o i n ’ fine, but most of it I guess is just through unthotedness. That gits the folks back home to tal k i n ’ that work is pretty good in California, so they decide to pull up stakes and come. Seventeen of the persons interviewed discussed letters about relief as a factor which influenced them or other migrants to come to California.

Two were typical.

John Lawson:37 People here write letters back home about California’s good relief. I heard a feller read one of them letters last winter. It was out here near Shafter. It told of the folks here gettin* $72 just handed to them. T h a t ’s just the way it read. They come and found it w a s n ’t so rich as they thought it was and made a holler about i t . The feller that read it to a bunch of us was cussin* the relief because he c o u l d n ’t draw n u t h i n ’ like what the letter claimed. He done that right in the rnidst of cotton p i c k i n ’ time when he could got out and got a job

37 Shafter Government Camp.

105 If he had wanted it. That went to show me that he come out lookin* fer relief more than fer work and the letter brought him. Claude Bronson:38 They hear of the California relief through their folks here. They write back about their groceries and the cash. They say, flI fm gettin* so much better help here than m y folks back home.11 And then the folks begin to say, "I ain*t gittin* enough here.” That starts them right on out. I*ve heard so man y talkin* that-a-way. VII.

AVAILABILITY OP BELIEF

The high standards of public assistance in California, as compared to the standards in the states of out-migration, have doubtless served as a magnet to draw many persons to the state.

Table XXI^9 presents the disparity in those

standards.

According to the table,

“general relief” means:

The cash payments provided to the needy unemployed or to unemployable indigents b y state or county relief agencies or both, and the figure does not include any estimate of the value of surplus commodities provided in addition to cash.40 In each type of relief, California led all states. The same report adds: Similar disparities in benefits available are shown in the provisions of unemployment insurance laws adopted b y these states, under the Social Security Program. The average weekly benefit payments for total

38 Auto camp near Bakersfield. 39 Table XXI, "Comparative Public Assistance Data, J a n u ­ ary, 1940,"pp.106, 10740 Migrants--A National Problem and Its Impact on C a l i ­ f o r n i a , Report and Recommendations of the Statewide Committee on the Migrant Problem, California State Chamber of Commerce, May, 1940, p. 21.

TABLE XXI COMPARATIVE PUBLIC ASSISTANCE DATA— JANUARY, 1940a (Source: January issue of Public Assistance-Social Security Board) General Relief^ Number of . Cases

WPA*

Obligations Incurred

Average Amount Per Case

Persons Employed

Earnings

Average Per Person

160,53^

$5,033,304

$51.55

86,096

$5,579,000

$62.48

Oregon

12,039

195,569

16.08

14,498

872,000

60.15

Washington

24,349

549,956

14.57

25,608

1,501,000

58.61

Arizona

2,886

41,258

14.50

5,821

557,000

57.89

Arkansas

3,768

18,528

4.86

42,152

1,789,000

42.46

Kansas

29,122

424,001

14.56

25,525

1,259,000

49.71

Missouri

35,955

461,076

12.82

76,757

4,061,000

52.91

Oklahoma**

13,100

65,000

4.96

45,906

1,878,000

40.91

Texas**

15,400

109,000

7.08

88,680

3 ,638,000

41.02

State California

E Migrants, A National Problem and Its Impact on California, Report and Recommendations of the State-Wide Committee on the Migrant Problem, California State Chamber of Commerce, May, 1940, p. 43.

** Estimated.

106

1 Includes cases receiving hospitalization and for burial only, not previously reported. * WPA and other federal agencies, December, 1939*

TABLE XXI (continued) COMPARATIVE PUBLIC ASSISTANCE DATA— JANUARY, 1940 (Source; January issue of Public Assistance— Social Security Board)

State

Old Age Assistance Number Average of Obligations Per Person Recipients Incurred

Aid to Dependent Children Number Average of Obligations Per Families Incurred Family

154,740

$5,120,596

$38.00

14,513

$637,644

$43.94

Oregon

20,521

437,740

21.33

1,918

76,560

39.92

Washington

39,098

861,880

22.04

4,811

143,654

29.86

Arizona

7,848

211,677

26.97

2,482

79,912

32.20

Arkansas

18,464

110,806

6.00

4,051

32,904

8.12

Kansas

26,236

505,407

19.26

6,138

175,212

28.55

Missouri

79,280

1,307,863

16.50

9,902

231,635

23.39

Oklahoma

70,546

1,240,375

17.58

17,482

213,896

12.24

119,900

1,068,107

8.91

0

0

0

California

Texas

108

unemployment under the California Act are $14*22, compared to $6*3!? in Arkansas, $8,08 In Texas, and $9*93 in Oklahoma, as shown by the latest available reports*41 Table X X I I ^ gives a comparison by regions of per­ sons receiving unemployment relief in California, 1937-1939It is to be expected that the figures in this table repre­ sent a great many migratory agricultural workers from the Southwestern states*

Kern County witnessed a marked in­

crease in relief cases, the monthly average for 1937 being 3,835; 1958 it was 6,482; while in 1939 it was 12,859# more than three times greater than in 1937*

Of course, there

was a similar increase in payments for unemployment relief, an increase of 221*3 per cent in 1939 over 1937While it is true that California has a higher relief standard than the Southwestern states, it is also a much wealthier state* this fact.

The Tolan Committee took cognizance of

To quotes

Any comparison of relief standards has to be made in terms of wealth. California contains approximately 5 per cent of the population of the United States. Cali­ forni a^ expenditure for all types of social welfare and relief in January and February of 1939 was 6*5 P©r cent of the national total. U. S. Department of Commerce estimated that California received 7-3 per cent of the national wealth. Because there is a greater per capita distribution of wealth in California it necessarily

^ Migrants— A National Problem and Its Impact on California, loc. c i t . Table XXII, "Unemployment Relief— Comparisons by Regions, Persons Receiving Unemployment Relief, California, 1937-39," pp. 109 and 110.

TABLE XXII UNEMPLOYMENT RELIEF— COMPARISONS BY REGIONS PERSONS RECEIVING UNEMPLOYMENT RELIEF CALIFORNIA, 1937-39a (Source: State Relief Administration--Monthly Reports)

County

Monthly Average 1937

Monthly Average 1938

Fresno Kern Kings Madera Tulare

1,931 3,835 506 133 2,569

5,901 6,482 1,668 783 9,152

Per Cent Increase 1938 Over 1937 205.6 69.O 229.6 488.7 256.2

11,607 12,859 2,416 3,332 15,177

96.7 98.4 44.8 325.5 65.8

Per Cent Increase 1939 Over 1937 501.1 235-3 377.5 2,405.2 490.8

8,975

23,984

167.2

45,391

89.3

405.7

843 3,862 3,059

107.1 47.7 126.3

360 430

1,746 5,703 6,923 1,262 566 830

57.2 93-0

2,563 6,031 9,102 3,389 1,052 1,750

46.8 5.8 31-5 168.5 85.9 110.8

204.0 56.2 197-5 168.5 192.2 307.0

Average 6 Counties

8,554

16,609

94.2

23,886

43.8

179.2

Average 11 Counties Los Angeles County Remainder of State

17,787 68,046 79,032

40,594 99,765 102,185

128.2 46.6 29.3

69,277 122,292 125,852

70.7 22.6 23-2

289.5 79.7 59-2

Average 5 Counties Merced Sacramento San Joaquin Stanislaus Sutter Yuba

Monthly Average 1939

Per Cent Increase 1939 Over 1938

109

a Migrants--A National Problem and Its Impact on California, Report and Recommendations of The State-Wide Committee on the Migrant Problem, California State Chamber of Commerce, May, 19^0, p. 4l.

TABLE XXII (continued) UNEMPLOYMENT RELIEF--COMPARISONS BY REGIONS PAYMENTS FOR UNEMPLOYMENT RELIEF CALIFORNIA, 1957-59 ' (Source: State Relief Administration— Monthly Reports)

County Fresno Kern Kings Madera Tulare

Monthly Average

Monthly Average

1937

1958

Per Cent Increase 1938 Over 1957 $

Monthly Average

Per Cent Increase 1939 Over

1939

1938

166.4 94,858 116,989 ' 144.9 52.4 18,638 24,622 486.7 102.4 140.995

Per Cent Increase 1939 Over 1937 580.1 221.5 397*7 3,048.6 594.4

$ 15,947 $ 56,594 5,885 782 20,503

55,612 47,774 12,251 4,197 69,656

155.5 51-5 214.8 456.7 243.1

75,511

169,560

125.1

596,100

153.6

426.0

6,111 56,547 27,795

61.5 34.4 98.3

2,559 2,986

9,867 48,833 55,110 8,621 4,388 6,186

72.8 107.2

17,512 50,651 76,565 24,031 8,515 14,276

75.5 5.7 38.6 178.8 94.1 130.8

183.5 59.5 174.7 178.8 255.4 578.1

Average 6 Counties

75,778

150,132

71.7

191,127

46.9

155.5

Average 11 Counties Los Angeles Remainder of State

151,088 699,405 805,942

299,691 1,012,189 962,832

98.4 44.7 19.8

587,227 1,314,609 1,260,803

•’ 95-9 29.9 50.9

288.7 88.0 56.8

Average 5 Counties Merced Sacramento San Joaquin Stanislaus Sutter Yuba

110

Ill follows that relief standards can and should he higher in California than for a state with a lower per capita distribution of wealth, (Carey McWilliams, Hollywood Citizen N e w s , January, 19^0. In terms of wealth and in terms of comparative living standards the California relief payments are about the same as those for other states.

Nevertheless, Sam B o w m a n ^ b e ­

lieved that the availability of relief, as discussed above, was of importance in attracting migrants to the state. W e 1ve been c o m i n ’ west from Arkansas to Arizona fer five straight years. The first year we come to Cali­ fornia fer a little while. We made the trips west every year in order to make a better livin*. Had to, or starve. In 1939 ve went to Arizona to pick cotton fer the fifth year. Picked to December 8th and then come right straight to Arvin Camp. We come to Cali­ fornia agin because the relief was better than in Arizona or anywhere else. People who had been here told us that relief was much better and since work played out there we was just forced to it. A man with a wife and nine kids c a n ’t live on air. Heard first in Arkansas that that relief was better, then agin in Arizona. Shoot, they know it everywhere. People tr a vellin1 talk a lot about conditions. We tell one another about things. We meet and say, "How is it over in so and so?"

"Well, it is pretty good," or maybe they say, "They’re on relief over there." "How do you git on?" If there is any ketch to it anyway that we don’t understand they tell us how to git on. Per instance, an industrial worker can’t git on relief out here. This relief is only fer farm laborers and we are forced to tell them we are farm laborers whether we are or not.

^ Interstate Migration, Los Angeles Hearings, o£. cit., footnote p. 2924. ^

Arvin Government Camp.

112 Hell, yes, or let the buzzards git you. Shoot, I ’ve seen them turned down g o i n ’ and comin * and they was hungry too, had families. T h e y ’d go away and say, !,What was the matter? I cou l d n ’t git on.** A n d we a l ­ ways knowed the ketch so we *d say, ”D i d they ask you if you was a farm laborer?” ”Y e s .” ”What did you tell them?” ”1 told them I w a s n ’t." "Now you go back up there and tell them y o u ’ve picked cotton out h e r e .” T h e y ’d git on then. The people back East come out here to git on r e ­ lief, they know there are more people than there are jobs. They tell a damn lie if they say they come out here fer any other thing. T h a t ’s m y personal belief. T h a t ’s all I come fer and I d o n ’t give a damn fer telling you, because I c o u l d n ’t eat in the East. Clyde S t o r e y , S i n g l e and not on relief, said: I d i d n ’t come here fer no relief, ’course a lot of them did. I ’d say 30 per cent come here only fer relief. They have a lot more types of relief here than in the Eastern countries and the people back there got wise to it. M y idea on it though is, that people had better stay where they can make It. If they can make bread and beans back there they had better stay put. The migrants have given their reasons for coming to California.

Just as no one particular thing produces dis­

ease In a physical organism, motivated them to come.

so no one particular thing

On the other haiid, there were

multiple causes— certain factors uprooted them in the

^5 Auto camp near Bakersfield.

113 states of origin, fornia.

certain factors attracted them to C al i ­

In other words, as has been said, the migration

was marked by a push and a pull.

They would have come to

California even if there had been no Dust Bowl.

Drought and

sand storms m a y have served as an immediate impetus for the exodus, but there were more basic causes which have been discussed In this chapter, offered b y the migrants them­ selves.

An abundance of rain in the Southwestern states

would not induce all of the migrants to return nor would it entirely prevent many others from leaving.

Similarly, it is

not to be supposed that higher relief standards in Cali­ fornia was the only, or even the main attraction, but that it was of importance cannot be denied.

In this connection

it is to be remembered that more people came to California in the boom years of the 1920 ’s than during the depression years of the 1 9 3 0 ’s, as was discussed in Chapter

T w o .

Man y of those arrivals were from the Southwestern states, and, of course, relief was not the chief attraction. The sociological principle emerging from the material presented in this chapter is obvious; namely,

social disorgan­

ization in a dynamic society resulting from prolonged m i g r a ­ tion is to be attributed to many, causes.

^

Supra, Chapter II, p. 67 ff»

CHAPTER IV THE ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, AND PERSONAL PROBLEMS OP THE MIGRATORY AGRICULTURAL WORKERS The social attitudes of people arise in social situ­ ations; they do not develop in a vacuum.

Hence, environ­

ment plays a leading role In determining attitudes.

It Is

essential, therefore, in studying the social attitudes of people, to take cognizance of their environment.

This

chapter attempts to do that with respect to the Southwestern migratory agricultural workers now living in California. The material presented herein was revealed in the sixty Interviews, and what is true of those persons, It m a y be assumed, is more or less true of the larger group engaged in similar work within the state. The migrants came from a rural economy in their states of origin which differs somewhat from the economy which now obtains In California.

Mechanization of agricul­

ture is going forward in the Southwestern states; Indeed, it Is one of the factors which displaced a large portion of the workers as described In Chapter Three.**-

However, many

of the migrants come from portions of those states which as yet are relatively free from the mechanization process.

1 Supra, Chapter III, p. 80 ff.

115 On the whole, before coming to California, the migrants lived in a rural economy, typical of the American pattern of rural life, namely, relationships were intimate, personal, and of a face-to-face nature.

They took a personal interest

in one another and in the land on which they lived and which they loved.

Life tended to be more stable, although not

prosperous, and was rooted in local communities.

The ties

of family life and kinship were strong, the we-feeling b i n d ­ ing large groups together. In California new situations have confronted the m i ­ grants .

They enter an agricultural pattern which is engaged

in a rapid transition from the homestead scheme of rural economy to a commercialized, large-scale type of rural economy.

This trend was delineated in Chapter Two.^

Agri­

culture, in reality, has ceased to be agriculture of the trad.itional type and has become industry. open-air food factories.

The farms are

In this situation the agricultural

workers no longer live in intimate, personal face-to-face relationships.

Life tends to become impersonal.

In many

Instances they never see their employer and know very few people although they live In crowded conditions.

Community

life, to which they have been accustomed, has vanished. family and kinship unit, as long as It can stay together

2 Supra, Chapter II,

p. 22 ff.

Each

116 under the new conditions, becomes an isolated group in which the members seek to satisfy their normal desires of recognition, response, and social security.

It can readily

be seen, therefore, that this transition in California agriculture, involves widespread economic, social, and p e r ­ sonal disorganization.

It is possible to discover to a

degree the character of these changes and their social sig­ nificance and Implications through a study of the social attitudes of the migratory agricultural workers upon whom that economy is dependent.

Their mode of living sustains a

direct relationship to their attitudes.

It would be diffi­

cult to analyze those problems with regard to their respec­ tive importance.

Wo attempt will be made in this chapter

to accomplish that end. I.

PROBLEMS CONNECTED WITH EMPLOYMENT

Mobility.

The migratory worker is a wanderer.

very name suggests that he roams far and wide. m a n y states and is often a citizen of none.

The

He lives in

To keep the

proverbial wolf from the door he becomes a familiar figure wherever there is the slightest prospect of a job.

Having

few possessions he can break camp and be off to another locality within a few hours. disappear over night.

Entire communities arise and

Concerning migratory workers in Cali­

fornia, Samuel E. W o o d says:

117 Seldom does the agricultural laborer find sufficient work in one locality to support a family throughout the year* He travels up and down the state, forming a mobile labor unit that feeds the labor demands of a highly mechanized; highly capitalized agricultural industry. This unit moves in cycles, from one harvest to the next, covering thousands of miles. In May the agricul­ tural workers begin to migrate northward from Imperial Valley. Advancing as the crops ripen and demand atten­ tion, they "follow the fruit," thinning the peaches and apricots. They are soon joined b y others who have waited for the cantaloupe harvest in Imperial Valley, and thousands of them with their motley collection of second-hand cars pour over the ridge into the San Joaquin Valley. Here, from June to August, they are busy around Fresno, Bakersfield, or Hanford thinning the fruit and finally contributing to its harvest. They also climb the Pacheco Pass and invade the fruit orchards of Hollister and Gilroy. The vanguard of the army enters the Santa Clara Valley, the Napa Valley, and advances up the Sacramento Valley into the northern interior of California. The grape harvest of the San Joaquin Valley in August recalls m any who have been dispersed. These join with new recruits from Southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico. The army, thus assembled, is busy until the end of September filling packing boxes and trays with m any varieties of grapes. The migrants now begin to scatter. Many remain behind to finish the grape harvests, turning trays and packing raisins into large sweatboxes. These and others coming from the corners of the state, linger some months longer picking and processing cotton. Some choose the valley as a wintering place, seeking odd jobs or some sort of winter employment. Many have b e ­ come permanent settlers. The majority, however, migrate southward, seeking employment in the urban districts of Los Angeles or work in the citrus or walnut harvests of Southern California. Still others return to Imperial Valley for cotton picking and the ripening lettuce crop. Thus, most of the army that poured into the valley with the opening of the fruit season turns southward in the fall, and winters in Southern Cali­ fornia .5

5 Samuel E. Wood, " C a l i f o r n i a ^ Migrants," Sociology and Social R e s e a r c h , The University of Southern California Fress, Los Angeles, California, January-February, 1940, pp. 248-50.

118

Then this trek was to he done all over again.

Such a

nomadic life poses a variety of problems. Arthur Naples1*' gives a graphic summary of his tire­ less efforts to find work covering the period from May, 1936, to February J , 19^0, the day of the interview.

The

nature and problems of mobility are easily discerned. I came here about the 11th of May, 1956, from Arizona with my wife and three children. We stopped along the way to pick up a few dollars but soon landed in Shafter. We stayed here about five weeks. Worked some in potatoes, hoed a little cotton, and worked some in onions. This was all sort of new to us • We went from here up to Escalon and worked in apricots when we finally did go to work. The wages was about 35 cents an hour. W e went then to the peaches. We wuz there, l e t fs see, six weeks I guess. From there up to Santa Rosa to the hops fer seventeen days. W e got $1.30 per hundred till about mid-term of the crop, and then we got $1.75* If 1*3. quit at m i d ­ term, I fd just got $ 1 .50 , but b y stayin' on to the end of the crop I got $1.75* Just a little inducement not to leave. Them hops don't last long and you gotta git them out of there. There wuz about two thousand people w o r k i n ' . When you go to weigh up, a lady puts it down on little checks and you can cash them, but you c a n ft cash your evenin' slips, they're in blue.

Do you know what that's fer? It's to keep the ”bindle stiffs” from spendin* all their money so they won't have to support them. Then they'll have enough money to leave on. Well, then we went from there to the prunes down around Woodland. We wuzn't there but about a week. It was the third pickin' and only 12 cents a box. Now they're payin' 7 cents and 8 cents. That's the reason a man's gotta come here and git on this relief stuff.

^ Shafter County Camp.

119 Then we come from there back down to cotton at Dos Palos--that1s a Mexican name. We got a dollar a hundred. A lot of people wuz there. They had a nigger camp, a Mexican camp, as well as a white camp. We stayed there a month. Our children went to school at Dos Palos. We always moved on weekends to keep the kids in school. Bad on them mis s i n 1 so much. We come on down to PIxley and picked cotton agin. We left Dos Palos because It wuz foggier there and too swampy. Not healthy. We decided we could find a better place and git more money and we did. We stayed around Pixley about three weeks, averaged about $1.15 a hundred. The cotton was all p l a y i n 1 out down here so we went up to Firebaugh, thinkin* the cotton would be better and later because of the river bottom. We got $1.10 there. It rained so much that we d i d n ft do so good. Just made expenses. We stayed there till along in M a y sometime and come back down here. Work played out there and potatoes begin here along in May. We wuz t r y i n ’ to foiler it. We come to Smith*s Corner in Shafter and payed rent fer that space. Most of the time on the road we lived in a tent b y payin* two-bits a week fer lights. We looked fer spuds and whatever work wuz goin* around Shafter. H a d been on the road a year, from one spud crop to another. Aginst we got through we ordinarily d i d n ’t save much, keepin* up the car, just about enough to keep expenses up. You d o n ’t ever gain anything. We got back from that trip in May, 1937* When we landed here we had enough to hold us up till spuds started, never called on no relief. Hit was just around 50 and 55 cents an hour fer work, wages had gone down some from the year before. After spuds we went back to Escalon agin to work in the apricots. Wages was about 50 cents that year. We worked In the dry yards some, scrappin* trays, spreadin* trays, and the like as that. So they could dry, you understand. We went on to Santa Rosa agin to the hops. Wages was $1.50 straight. Twenty-five cents short on a hundred from the year before. The hops last about fifteen or seventeen days, t h a t ’s all. On down to Lodi and tried the grapes, and It d i d n ’t

120 go, too m any people. We worked In the tomatoes too, but d l d n ft make more'n expenses. H a d to pay $6.00 a month rent— t h a t ’s $ 1.50 a week fer tent space. What do you think of that? We come on back to Dos Palos agin to the cotton, 90 cents fer p i c k i n ’. See how s h e ’s fell offI Well, we come on back here, moved down Christmas vacation. That was December, ’58. T h a t ’s when I had to go on relief s o ’s I could send m y kids,;to school, and live too. W e moved right here to the county camp, g i t t i n ’ down lower, you see. We stayed on relief till the spuds opened up in May, then we dropped. I t ’s tough b e i n ’ on it, and a i n ’t no use b e i n ’ on it if a feller can work. From the spuds at Shafter we went over to Brent­ wood fer the apricots. T h a t ’s kinda west of Modesto. Lots of people wuz there and lots of them had to stay in the city p a r k ; t h a t ’s where we stayed and we soon left out of there. I t ’s only a wide place in the road. We moved out to a c u t t i n ’ shed, m y wife worked a short time and d i d n ’t git hardly n u t h i n ’. I worked one day, c o u l d n ’t git nuthin* to do but run around b u r n i n ’ up gas t r y i n ’ to find it. The two girls did some c u t t i n ’ too. You see, what little we gained here we had to spend up there t r y i n ’ to find another job. T h a t ’s just the way she goes. Gotta travel to git the work, but you a i n ’t never got n u t h i n ’. W e left there and went over to San Jose, but it was too early fer the apricots in there. We wuz over on 101 Highway on the coast and come to Hollister as we had worked fer a man down there. Beins as we wuz that close we just went to see how work wuz there and found out that we wuz two weeks early fer the a p ricots. We come over to Patterson across the Chico Pass, landed a cuttin* job in the apricots. Stayed there ten days. The boy got three d a y s ’ work p i c k i n ’ apri­ cots. That wuz about the third p i c k i n ’. *«

Then we went right back over that same road to Hollister, across the Chico Pass, seventy-five miles. H a d written a m a n at Hollister while we wuz at Patter­ son. He dropped me a card to come on. We left a

121 Sunday m o r n i n 1 from Patterson,had just about finished them up, and went to work fer the man on Monday in the apricots. We w u z n ’t there but only a short time, twelve days I guess. We d i d n ’t make nuthin* that time. He wuz sellin1 to the cannery, but you don*t make nuthin1 nohow. We tried the peaches next up at Gridley, above Sacramento. The b o y worked only two days. The peaches wuz awfully little. H e ’s the only one that worked. That*s where the expenses jerked it out of us agin. And these guys wonder why you a i n ’t got a lot laid up. Just let them try it fer a spell. Ex­ penses wuz goin* on all the time and we wuz makin* n u t h i n 1, just plain nuthin*. We stayed around eight or ten days and seen that we wuz goin* to have to git out of there. W e heerd there was peaches down at Houghston, eight or ten miles from Modesto. That was a long trip back down there fer nuthin*. That was dead expense. D i d n ’t see no work, most of the peaches was gone b y that time. D i d n ’t even stretch our tent. We pulled out of there and got as far as we could goin* to Hopland fer the hops. On all that trip we wuz out every dad-gum thing we could make. You know y o u ’ve got to eat whether you work or not. I guess we wuz there ten days, the hops was just fair, good in places and bad in places. W e struck out agin fer Santa Rosa, hops are a little bit later there, ’cause i t ’s lower down. We got eight d a y s . That *s all a dollar and a quarter stuff there per hundred. We come back down to Dos Palos agin to the cotton.

Got 80 cents a hundred. See, she’s still failin’ ain’t she? My wife was sick there and the girls were in school. Nobody but my boy to help. I ’d lose as high as a week at a time with my wife. We picked till that cotton was all picked over fer the second time. The reason we wanted to git out of there, you see, wuz be­ cause the girls had to go half a mile to ketch the school bus on 39 Highway through all that gumbo mud in the rainy season. We come on back to Shafter to put the girls in school fer the winter because they have good schools here. And

122 t h a t fs where we are now. Where are we g o i n 1 now? I fm goin* to try the same thing this year. But I d o n ft know. T h a t fs In the future. Intend to make the effort to make our l i v i n ’. I ’ve always gone off relief when I leave here, expect to agin, yes sir. Let me ask you a question: Do you think a m a n could save anything on a trip like that with car expenses and everything? Could he save enough to put him through here till work opens up agin? I t 1s awfully dull here from January till the first of May. Relief is about the only thing. I ’d rather be out where we could make our way if there wuz som e t h i n ’ where you could make It. I t ’s embarrassin’ to a feller to git relief who has tried to make his way. It d o n ’t look like h e ’s tried or someth in*. These people are called tramps, while in reality, they are the benefactors of C a l i f o r n i a ’s agriculture.

Here

is a man, fifty-four years of age, w ith a wife and three children, ages 14, 16 , 1 9 > who have no permanent dwelling place.

The entire migratory problem Is crystallized In

their desperate search for security.

This search for work

finds repetition In countless thousands of families.

It is

ironical Indeed for the privileged classes in California to contend that this large horde of highway gypsies must be permanently maintained.

Economic and social barriers are

thrown about them to prevent them from rising to a higher status.

To continue that practice is to continue the

peonization of native Americans. cripples democracy.

Such a process continually

It keeps a feudal economy In operation.

Necessity for having a utomobile.

The mobile agricul-

123 tural life, as the above narrative abundantly Illustrates, Is a traveling life.

One study of migratory families in

California revealed that the average number of miles travelled between jobs in the state during one year was 516. Twenty-eight per cent of the families travelled more than 1000 miles.5

Here, an automobile is both a necessity and

a liability.

It is a necessity, for without it the work

could not be secured.

It is a liability, for it demands

expenditures that should be devoted to food and clothing for the family.

Lee Moss spoke to the point when he said:

We can't git out here and git this work on foot. A man's got to have transportation. That's what's held me down. When a man has a car he'll spend a lot on it he shouldn't, but he can't git along without it. J. C.

Townsend,6

still younger, but no less experi­

enced, said: What's a guy gonna do without a car this day and time? That's where they've got you. I reckon times is just so fast it's got ahead of the people, or the people's got ahead of the times, I don't know which to call it. But I just like to see anybody git out here and git this agricultural work without a car. Why, he'd starve quicker'n a guy could say ,,Howdylw

5 cited by Paul S. Taylor, Unemployment and Relief (Extract from Hearings before a Special Committee to liivestigate Unemployment and Relief, United States Senate, 75th Congress, Third Session, Washington, D. C.: United States Government Printing Office, March, 1938), p. 11596 Auto camp near Bakersfield.

124 7 Daniel G o d d a r d : f When people first land here they think they are just a-flyin* if they git $3*00 a day— makin* lots of money. But they ain't here over a month or six weeks till they change their mind. They soon find out they can't make nuthin', can't put away no money at. two hits an hour and, besides, they've gotta have a car, that's a cinch. A m an can't do nuthin* here without a car, an* that costs money. The wheels of the car must he kept shod even though the kids go harefooted. Costs of looking for w o r k .

Arthur Naple's story

indicated that much money is spent in looking for work. Job and joh seeker are often miles apart.

Walter S t o n e d

h a d become well acquainted with this phase of his existence: The farmers in most of the places [he said] tell you when you ask fer a joh, ,fWell, I might use you tomorrow.11 You go hack and they say, ftI might use you tomorrow.11 You go till you jist,git disgusted and quit. The people will run backwards and forwards till they've spent all they've got. Maybe a farmer will tell them that some other farmer needs a hand and he goes on and tries to find it. He wears out all his casin's and spends all he's got fer gasoline. Then he winds up on relief in a migrant camp somewhere with cheap rent. The reason he hunts the migrant camp is because he don't have to pay no rent. John Beaven: Wext week spuds will he openin' up down at Edison, about thirty miles from h e re.tf The pay won't he no more than 30 cents an hour. We'll have to pay our own travel expenses too. Maybe git to work all day one day and maybe three hours the next or maybe more. But your expenses go right on. You see, they dig the spuds as they are demanded. A feller can't make much b y workin* in little spurts.

7 Private camp near Shafter. ® Auto camp south of Shafter.

125 Over-supply of w o r k e r s .

Another problem confronting

the migratory workers, also presented b y Arthur Naples, is the fact that there are too m any of them for the available work.

This naturally limits the amount of work available

per person.

Arthur Brown found himself competing with

many other people. I Just lady hard $150 one.

had a bunch of kids here four years before I came. figured I could make a livin* with me and the old anywhere, always have. But i t 1s pretty damn in this country. When I come out here I spent tryin* to find a job and by-god I couldn*t find Always 150 men ahead of me.

William Powers9 was a newcomer, having arrived at Shafter from Texas in 1940.

It did not take him long, h o w ­

ever, to become apprised of the overcrowded labor condition. He said: Next month a potato crop will come on here, and 1*11 bet t h e r e *11 be seventy-five m e n fer every Job. One opened up at Edison the other day and a feller told me there was at least 5000 people at one shed lookin* fer a job. Now how do you like that? Seasonal employment.

The endless movement of the

migrants is due to the difference in the labor demand in various parts of the state at various seasons.

All crops

in the state in January, 1935 > called for 45,448 laborers. In September, when the peak was reached, 198,549 were needed.

Thus In January, 152,000 would be jobless.

9 Shafter Government Camp. 10 Supra, Chapter II, Table VIII, p. 42.

126

According to Dr. Paul S. Taylor, California’s peak labor period is four times that of the slack season, while in Arizona the peak labor demand Is six times the slack period, and in the Yakima Valley of Washington it is sixty-four times greater than the off-season.11

Hence, in California,

as elsewhere, a large percentage of the workers average less than nine months’ work a year.

It is difficult to

subsist normally from such meagre employment.

Prom this

economic factor there emerges the necessity for relief or public assistance.

If the workers were assured steady

work, they, like most other people, would be self-supporting. Their seasonal employment, coupled with a highly industri­ alized agriculture, makes them dependents.

It is the

system and not the man, for the most part, which accounts for this condition. Uncertainty of job.

A worker reports to work but he

seldom knows if he will work that day or how many hours if he does.

He is kept in a state of uncertainty.

This has a

vitiating effect upon his personality as was indicated by Jesse Carter: A contractor of labor will go down town and tell a gang of men that h e ’s got a job fer them. H e ’ll take

Paul S. Taylor, Unemployment and Relief, op. cit., pp. 1157-58.

12? them out there and maybe work them three or four hours and lay ’em off and tell ’em to come back tomorrow. The next day he m a y put ’em off agin. T h e y ’ll keep a crew hangin* around that digger maybe fer a week. They should be forced to pay a man so m a n y hours or maybe a d a y ’s work when they take him out like that, because h e ’s lost a lot of time, or a chance of gittin* another job, and spent his money in g i t t i n ’ out there. A lot of the tractors do contract diggin* and maybe they will finish a job in the afternoon and tell the crew they will start on John D o e ’s potatoes in the mornin*. The men report fer work and find out that the boss c a n ’t git his potatoes washed, or i t ’s too wet, or the market a i n ’t right. T h e y ’ll put you off and keep tantalizing you all week and you w o n ’t git but a day or so. They hold the crew to git the work done when they want it d o n e . I mean that *s b a d and there *s a lot of it goin* on in California. They jockey with the market and hire and lay you off as they need you. In other words, they dig as they sell. No member of the crew when he goes out knows whether or not he.* s goin* to git three hours or six hours or nine hours that day. It d o n ’t matter how tard you are if they want to git another car loaded t h e y ’ll work you right on till dark. Maybe the next day you w o n ’t even git three hours. They could very easily cooperate with the worker and make it easier on him b y stoppin* part of that. If they give a blame they could do it. If there was only enough hands to do the work they w o u l d n ’t stand fer it. But there are too man y workers. Ask any Oklahoman out here, t h e y ’ll do it fer a meal ticket, and glad to git it. T h a t ’s just the situation in a nutshell, t h a t ’s the truth about it. Spuds is the first big crop that comes on in this part of the state and that rushes all the migratory workers in here, and they can git all the workers they want. About all you git out of it is a lot of hard sweat. Wages.

Victor Jones succinctly stated this problem

when he wrote: Relief and the various types of social security are necessary only because the worker is unable to purchase

128 security .12 He cannot purchase security simply because he cannot secure an adequate wage.

Perhaps a qualifying statement is

needed: when compared with other states, the California wage for agricultural work is relatively high as presented in Table XXIII1^ for only one activity, namely, cotton p i c k ­ ing.

In all years California average was far ahead of the

national average and led all states with the exception of Arizona.

However, in comparing California wage rates with

those In other states, as In the case of relief standards, it must be kept in mind that the per capita of wealth In the state is greater than the states with which the compari­ son Is made.

Furthermore, costs of living are relatively

high In California,

so that In the end the wage rates, In

terms of actual living, are not very much higher than the other states.

Very few of the roving migrants make over

$450 in a year.11*

The migratory workers, on the whole, are

paid on an hourly or on a piece rate basis, rather than b y

12 Victor Jones, Transients and Migrants, Bureau of Public Administration, 1939> Legislative Problems No. 4, University of California, Berkeley, California, February 27* 1939, p. 28 . 1-^ Table XXIII, f,Average Wage Rates for Picking 100 Pounds of Seed Cotton, b y States, 1927-^0," P* 129* 11* "Migrant Farm Labor: The Problem and Ways of M e e t ­ ing It," United States Department of Agriculture, Farm Security Administration, San Francisco, California, p. 5*

TA B L E X X I I I

AVERAGE WAGE RATES FOR PICKING 100 POUNDS OF SEED COTTON, BY STATES, 1927-40a 1929

1950

1931

1932

1933

1934

1935

1936

1937

1938

1939

1940

$1.12 $1.23 $1.15 1.07 1.07 1.01 .81 .78 .83 .88 .90 .85 •95 1.02 1.07

$.75 .58 •52 •57 .76

$•45 06 .56 •55 .41

$.34 •38 .36 •33 •39

$.45 .48 .45 •45 .48

$.65 •65 .50 •50 •55

$.65 $ -70 .65 •65 •50 •55 •50 •55 .60 •55

$.75 .70 .60 .60 .65

$.65 .60 .50 -.50 .60

$.60 .60 .50 •50 .60

$.70 .67 .54 .53 .67

State VS. N.C. s.c.

Ga. Fla.

1927

1928

Mo. Kans. Ky. Tenn.

1.20 1.14 1.50 1.20 1.08

1.20 1.14 1.40 1.20 1.04

1.15 1.12 1.30 1.18 1.54

.71 .71 .75 .70 •63

•50 .49 .45 •49 .43

.40 .52 .48 •50 .47

•65 •67 .65 .60 •54

.75 .80 •75 .80 .65

.75 •75 .70 .75 .60

.90 .95 •75 .95 .80

.70 .80 .65 .80 .70

.70 .75 .65 .80 .60

.70 •75 .65 .80 .60

.70 .77 .65 .80 .65

Ala. Miss. La. Tex. Okla.

.96 1.08 1.05 1.24 1.40

.95 1.02 1.03 1.21 1.28

.92 1.08 1.01 1.11 1.22

•55 .56 .61 •71 •75

.34 .39 .41 .44 .45

.36 .40 .39 .45 .48

•45 .49 .48 •55 •65

•55 .55 .55 .60 •75

•50 .55 •55 .60 .70

.60 .75 •65 •65 .75

.60 .80 .70 .65 .75

.50 .55 .55 .55 .70

•50 .60 •55 .55 .65

.51 .57 •55 •58 .72

Ark. N.Mex . Ariz. Calif .

1.05 1.30 1.55 1.47

1.03 1.22 1.50 1.46

1.06 1.25 1.50 1.45

.56 .68 .89 .89

.40 •43 •58 •50

.44 .44 •50 •45

.52 .55 .67 .65

.60 .65 •90 •90

•55 .65 •90 .90

•75 •70 1.10 1.00

.70 .70 .85 .95

.60 .60 .80 .75

.60 .65 •90 .85

.65 .68 .93 •95

U.S . 1.12

1.10

1.06

.63

.41

.42

.53

.60

.58

.69

.69

.57

.58

.62

111.

6S T

a Farm Labor Report, Farm Employment November 1 Down Less Than Usual, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service, Washington, D.C., November 15, 19^0, p. 5*

130 the day, and they seldom receive hoard.

This fact was

brought out b y Carey McWilliams on the radio program, A m e r i c a ’s Town Meeting of the Air.

His view was contested

b y Philip Bancroft, a member of the Executive Committee of the Associated Farmers of California.13 The Labor Coordinator for the State Relief Adminis­ tration made an estimate of wage rates on the basis of ex­ tensive field experience for 1933Table X X I V . ^

This is presented in

These wage rates do not provide an indication

of actual earnings, according to Lewis, and for two reasons: (A) The Migratory worker does not even at the peak of the harvest work consistently for a week at a time. Whether he is going to work on any given day is rather determined b y a number of factors which may change from day to day. (a) Market conditions, i.e., whether the grower can sell his crop profitably if he harvests that day. (b) Weather conditions, i.e., rains, etc., m a y interfere with the harvest.

storms,

(c) By the crops themselves which may mature later or earlier than expected. This means that the worker m a y have to wait around idle until the grower is ready to send him to work. It m a y and in general does mean waiting around even in the field when he has already been called to work, in order to get in a few hours that day. (B)

The migratory worker does not work an average

^ "What Should America Do for the 1l o a d s 1?" Bulletin of A m e r i c a ’s Town Meeting of the Air, Vol. 5> Wo. 22 (New York: Columbia University Press, March 11, 19^0), p. 22 ff. Table XXIV, "Estimate of Average Daily Earnings for Experienced Agricultural Workers, 1935/” P- 131-

151 TABLE XXIV ESTIMATE OP AVERAGE DAILY EARNINGS FOR EXPERIENCED AGRICULTURAL WORKERS3, 1955 Crops

Earnings

Truck crops Asparagus Lettuce Melons Pears Tomatoes

$2.00 1.60 1.60 1.40 2.00

Field crops Grain and hay Beets Cotton Hops Beans

2.40 1.60 1.50 5.00 2.40

Fruit crops Citrus Grapes Peaches Prunes Walnuts Apricots Apples

5.00 2.20 5.00 5.00 5.20 5.00 5.00

a Max H. Lewis, Migratory Labor in California (State Relief Administration or California, Division of Special Surveys and Studies, San Francisco, July, 1956), p. 50.

132 of fifty-two weeks per year, but only an average of thirty weeks, as the National Labor Relations Board Study in Los Angeles County has pointed out. 17 Sufficient interview material has been presented in the early portion of this chapter to support these conclu­ sions.

However, it is to be remembered,

that the yearly

earnings, meagre as they are, represent the combined efforts of the entire family rather than the earnings of one indi­ vidual.

Other statements are pertinent here, as, for example,

that of Homer T o w n e y ; l 8 A m a n c a n ’t commence to live on $2.50 a day b y the time he pays a lot fer gas to git to his job and $18 or $20 fer a place to live, especially when he has six or seven in the family. Understand, he can exist on it, but he c a n ’t live on it. Very few outside of the foreman work steady. I t fs different out here to what I thought it was. In Oklahoma I heard people t a l k i n 1 who come back. They told of makin* $10 to $15 a day so I decided to come out too. That sounded mighty good. I made that but the job d i d n ’t last long. They d i d n ft tell about h a v i n ’ to drive three hundred miles fer the next job, and they d i d n ’t tell of g e t t i n ’ to it three or four weeks before it started and you had to live durin* that time. I found that out after I got here. T h a t ’s what they d i d n ’t tell me. So I come on out and made $19*50 one day in the potato shed. Made $10 lots of days. But It d o n ’t last long and only a few m e n are needed at that sort of thing. You can make that fer a few days and the next job d o n ’t pay nuthin*. Just take it all the way around, you are broke practically all the time.

17 Max H. Lewis, Migratory Labor in California (State Relief Administration of California, Division of Special Surveys and Studies, San Francisco, July, 1936), pp. 50-51* 1^ Auto camp near Bakersfield.

133 Charles Robinsons .19 A lot of people will work if they can git it, but a lot of them w o n ’t as long as they can git the relief. You hear some say, "Well, if I could git a job I ’d work and wouldn't ask for no relief.” Then t h e r e 1s some of them that say, ”1 d o n ’t aim to work unless they pay me m y price as long as t h e r e ’s relief. But t h e y ’d just about all work if they could git 30 cents an hour. A lot of places they c a n ’t git it, such as H o o v e r ’s Ranch, Herbert H o o v e r ’s Ranch. He pays twobits an hour. I t ’s too little to work fer to tell the truth. I could live good if I had a steady job at 30 cents an hour. Laboring conditions.

The migratory worker is sub­

jected to laboring conditions comparable to those that long ago outraged his fellow industrial worker in the city. Across the years, protective legislation of various kinds has come to the aid of the latter.

His hours are shorter,

he is shielded from dangerous machinery, he has cleanliness --shower baths, too. On the other hand, the migratory agricultural worker in California is confronted with the most austere situation. He has to acquiesce and plod his weary way without protest. If he does protest, his murmurs are summarily throttled.

He

is like a voice crying in the wilderness. He works under the withering rays of the western sun. There is no shade to protect him.

H o w welcome a friendly

tree would be for a brief respite on any sweltering afternoon.

19 Arvin Government Camp.

134 The cotton country is flat, bright, blistering, and shadeless . The employers have little or no provision for water supply In the fields.

The excessive heat makes heavy d e ­

mands In this respect*

Each worker supplies his own need

with thermos jugs, bottles, or desert bags. Likewise, especially in cotton, the workers furnish their own equipment.

This consists of heavy bags made of

white canvas usually ten or eleven feet long.

The bag is

dragged through the long furrows, the receptacle of the white bolls.

The cost of the bag is deducted from the first

pay due the worker.

They usually cost about $1.50-

Often­

times more than one bag has to be bought during a season. Knee pads, frequently used in thinning beets, are also furnished b y the workers.

This holds true, in m any in­

stances, for pruning and cutting equipment in fruit. The irresponsibility of the employers comes to its height when it is fully realized that they make absolutely no provision for first aid equipment.

This would be ef­

frontery to the modern industrial worker who is quite familiar with his first-aid station.

The agricultural worker hazards

his health for a mere pittance.

If he is injured, he must

suffer it. There are no toilet facilities in the fields.

Pack­

ard interviewed many workers, visiting several ranches.

She

135 writes; When asked If any portable toilets were ever taken to the fields, the workers looked amazed at the posibility of such convenience. It had never been heard of. In most instances the fields are too far from the camps for the worker to return there to use the toilet houses, and so they are forced into practices, distaste­ ful and revolting to most of them, elimination without privacy or the elements of sanitation .20 The work is hard.

This holds for all phases--

cotton, potatoes, fruit, beets, and everything else.

Clyde

Storey is young and strong, and yet he said; You see these people stooped in the cotton fields and it d o n ’t look hard. But I ’d like to see the big m a n out there for just one week. I ’d like to see Mr. Olson out there. I t ’s plenty tough. Jesse Carter went into detail; The worker is competing with the tractor and I tell you it d o n ’t worry Mr. John Doe farmer any. He d o n ’t tell you to go to the doctor and see if you git too hot. A few years ago when they started g r o w i n ’ spuds here, they hired the pickers so m uch b y the sack. In that w a y If a picker did a good d a y ’s work he got a good d a y ’s pay, It was really piece work. A good picker could make $8.00 or $9*00 a day. They did pay as high as 7 cents a sack fer p i c k i n ’ them up. As laborers begin to git more plentiful they begin to cut down on the sack year b y year, and more laborers kept cornin’ In. The more labor there is, the less the pay. Fin­ ally, they got it down so cheap that it started confu­ sion among the workers, they begin to object to it. So they told them that if they d i d n ’t pick up b y the sack they would be paid b y the hour. I think they started out back then at about 40 or 45 cents an hour, some 50 cents. They would have a crew of twenty-six

Helen Dunlap Packard, f,The Social Welfare Problems of Migratory Workers in the Cotton Industry of the Southern San Joaquin Valley During the 1937 and 1938 Seasons,**(un­ published M a s t e r ’s thesis, University of Southern California, 1939), PP. 65-66.

13 6 to twenty-eight m e n after one potato digger. The next year they cut the price a n d cut the crew from two to four men. They kept that up year after year and are still d o i n 1 it. They improved their machinery and it got faster and faster and still kept cuttin* the crew down smaller. The wages got less and less until in 1939 the crew was cut to fourteen or sixteen m e n to the digger and the wages dropped to 30 cents an hour. The w a y they have improved the machinery a potato digger that would dig a half mile row in thirteen minutes now does it in six or seven minutes. In other words, t h a t fs just that m uch improvement in machinery. Now you take a crew that was cut from twenty-six to sixteen men means that you lengthen your spaces and work the men harder and faster at the same rate of pay, 30 cents. The machinery is up so that they put on all you can take. This means that the work is done as quickly and more cheaper. They eventually made it so hard that a man couldn*t git his stake b y himself and had to git his wife or children to help him. About eighty per cent of the potatoes that have b een picked up in the last two years have been done b y two people holdin* one stake. Two members of a family work fer the price of one. The farmer gits 60 c e n t s 1 worth of work done fer 30 cents. I mean they bot h come in tard too. Lots of them fall out from the heat and there*re always plenty of them standin* at the end of the row waitin* fer their place. 1*11 bet there*s not a potato digger in this country but what if it could talk would tell of a lot of people that it*s knocked out. Sometimes as m a n y as ten or twelve men fall out in a day. The work is just fast and hot and hard. Furthermore, as a part of the laboring conditions, some of the workers maintain that they are subjected to abuse.

Jesse Carter put it this way:

“When you are workin* and know that a lot of men want your job you have to put up with most anything. The boss comes b y and bawls you out and you take it. But if he bawls you out and you look at the end of the row and don*t see nobody there wantin* your job, you may tell him to go to the devil.

137 Work of vomen and children*

In agriculture it is

taken for granted that women and children can and must work. There is no protective legislation for them.

The earnings

of the husband and father are usually so low and sporadic in nature that the physical strength of his wife and chil­ dren are summoned to replenish the family treasury.

In

recent years the potato digger has become so fast and efficient that one m a n can hardly take care of his allotted space in picking up the potatoes.

Thus, his wife comes to

his side, joining in the contest with machinery.

Conse­

quently, two people hold down the space of one for the w$ge of one.

The employer gets the labor of two people for the

price of one. ation.

Jesse Carter has already revealed this situ­

In cotton picking the wife does her full share at'

so muc h per hundred pounds picked,

the same as her husband.

The working of women in the fields poses a number of problems.

For one thing, it confines them to hard manual

labor under the rays of a scorching sun. while still young. early date.

They become old

Their feminine charm vanishes at an

They become mere shadows of what they might

have been had it been possible to shield them from such u n ­ gainly labor.

This work is carried on to the obvious neglect

of household duties.

There is not m u c h time or energy left

to devote to the art of homemaking.

Beds are often left

unmade, floors littered with rubbish, unwashed dishes

138

scattered about--everything in disorder. prepared, half-cooked, and hastily eaten. evil, however,

Food is hurriedly The most glaring

in this endless routine, has to do with the

smaller children.

As Packard points out, the mother solves

this in one of three ways.

If they have friends or rela­

tives in camp who are not working, left with them.

the little ones m a y be

In that case, the child m a y or may not re­

ceive proper care.

If care by friends or relatives is im­

possible, the children are left in the locked car near the field.

To quote:

The mothers must often be away from the car for hours at a stretch, leaving the children without food, water, or opportunity for exercise or elimination. Several such cases were reported to the authorities in Tulane County, but no action was attempted.21 The most common practice is that of taking the children directly into the fields. This somewhat impedes her own progress and is of no advantage to the children, who are seen trudging along in their wet and soiled panties and diapers, with dirt smeared hands and faces, thirsty, hungry, hot and tired. After a short time the children become fretful and cry at frequent intervals.22 When the children reach the age of seven or eight, they trudge down the rows with their cotton bags, pulling desperately, although inexpertly, at the white bolls.

They

have become workmen, these urchins who should be playing

21 Ibid., p. 6 9 • 22 I b id., p. 70.

139 with dolls or riding In kiddie-cars.

Such work entails

heavy physical handicaps for them; it keeps them, in alto­ gether too m a n y cases, in the midst of rough company where the language is not always delicate--the moral effect is hazardous; and it militates against regular school atten­ dance.

They learn to work before they learn to study.

If

this is persistently followed they become permanently in­ capacitated for higher pursuits.

Their horizons become

limited to the four boundaries of a cotton or a potato field.

They are migrants for life, not b y choice, but by

necessity. tern.

The economic system molded them into that p a t ­

Here, then, is the long-time fruitage of the children

entering the cotton fields. Inadequate labor organization.

Many of the most

pernicious problems of the migratory workers arise from the fact that the workers themselves have little voice in de­ termining their economic destiny.

This is particularly

true with respect to wages, hours, working conditions, and collective bargaining.

On the other hand, the California

growers are the most highly organized agricultural group in America.

The Associated Farmers and the California

Fruit Growers* Exchange are known far and wide.

They act

as a unit while expecting the workers to act as individuals. It requires no spirit of divination to discern where the

140 balance of power lies.

The development of organized labor

in California, with the corresponding attitudes of the agricultural workers toward it, particularly toward the Congress of Industrial Organizations will be discussed more fully in Chapter Five.2^ The Contract Labor System.

The labor contract is the

classic method for hiring agricultural workers in California. It had its inception with the Chinese in the last century and continued with the Japanese, Filipino, Mexican, Hindu, and others.

The contractors served as go-betweens 11. . .

for gangs of their own nationalities or for gangs in which their nationality predominates.”22*' Lewis continues: In all these contracts, the growers preserve the absolute right to dictate to the contractors the number to be hired for the harvesting. Often the grower likes to obtain a mixture of nationalities to prevent mutual understanding among the workers which would lead to labor solidarity, to collective action and thus to the g r o w e r s 1 disadvantage.25 The main points covered in the contracts are gener­ ally as follows: 1. That the contractor furnish a sufficient number of men. 2. The grower remains the judge of the adequacy and competence of the men hired.

2^ I n f r a , Chapter V, p. 324 ff. 2^ Lewis, op. c i t ., p. 52.

25 Loc. cit.

141 3* The grower reserves the right to discharge any worker hired and the right of demanding new men to r e ­ place those discharged. 4. The contract stipulates how and when the harvest­ ing work should be done. 5* The grower is the sole judge of whether the con­ tract is being carried out.

6 . If it is not carried out in the g r o w e r fs opinion, the grower can terminate the contract and obtain another contractor of additional men. 7* The grower m a y furnish cooking and sleeping quarters for the men.

8 . The contract sets a rate b y the piece, b y the box, b y the crate, etc. 9. The money is paid in installments, a certain fraction being withheld b y the grower until the end of the season in order to guarantee fulfillment of the contract. 10. The contractor, not the grower, is held respon­ sible for accidents. 11. A supplementary understanding regulates the price to be paid for the c o n t r a c t o r s services, generally included in the contract .26 U nder such an arrangement what becomes of the rights of the workers?

They vanish.

Lewis quotes the following from the report on the Filipinos b y the State Department of Industrial Relations (1930): Since the labor contractor is very seldom bonded, and is usually a financially irresponsible man, his workers are dependent entirely on his honesty in g e t ­ ting their wages. It happens not infrequently that

26 Lewis, loc. cit.

142 the labor contractor absconds with the payroll e n ­ trusted to him b y the grower, especially toward the end of the harvesting season when the contractor r e ­ ceives the final payment, which is biggest because it contains the money withheld b y the grower as a guar a n ­ tee of fulfillment of the contract.*7 This adds brigandage and thievery to oppression*

The

workers can ill afford to part with the toll of the con­ tractor which is taken from their scant earnings for his services.

Many ranchers have vociferously denied the e x ­

istence today of the labor contract method of getting their work done.

Carey McWilliams, in testifying before the Tolan

Committee in San Francisco, September 25, 1940, discussed the background of the contract labor system in California agriculture, the present day prevalence of this system, a nd the characteristics of this system.^®

Part of his

testimony was incorporated in the r e c o r d . The seven young m en huddled together in tumble-down shacks, to whom reference was made in another chapter,3° were working

27 I b i d *» P* 53. 28 "Testimony of Carey McWilliams,” Chief, California State Division of Immigration and Housing, Before Tolan C o m ­ mittee at San Francisco, California, September 25* 1940, Division of Immigration and Housing, State Building, Los Angeles, California.

29 interstate Mi g r a t i o n , Report of the Select Commit­ tee to Investigate the Interstate Migration of Destitute Citizens, House of Representatives, John H. Tolan, C a l i ­ fornia, Chairman, Washington, D. C.: United States Govern­ ment Printing Office, 1941, p. 582. 36 su p r a , Chapter III, p. 102 ff.

at the time of the interview for a contractor--a Negro. Angus Dow, the chief spokesman,

said:

We were livin* on this place and the landlord leased the beet thinnin* to a “Nigger” contractor fer about $7*00 an acre. He pays us $6.50 an acre fer t h i n n i n 1. We have about thirty acres to do here. He*s also runnin' another field besides this one. H e 111 make more than farm wages at it. Then Bill Brown added:

“He makes a darn site more

than we do.” Henry Johnson continued:

‘’About $4.00 more.

If I

work real hard I can do an acre in three days, maybe.“ Boyd Jones:

“H e 111 have to work as hard as hell

from sun-up to sun-down to do i t .” H arvey Johnson:

“That

d i g g e r 1 guy Is a nice boss,

better than a lot of white m e n .11 Bill Brown spoke again: know I was w o r k i n 1 fer a Henry Johnson:

“But I wouldn*t let nobody

1Nigger.*”

“He said to me the other day,

you please cut the weeds over behind those beets?*

*Will He said,

*P l e a s e . 1“ Boyd Jones: They think as m u c h of a “Nigger” uptown here as they do white people. I don*t even like fer one of them to ask me fer a cigarette. Another thing, they drink out of the same cup. Angus Dow:

“I don*t m ind drinkin* out of the same

cup If h e *11 set it down and let it set fer five minutes.” Harvey Johnson:

“I*ve been in ten states and don*t

144 like them y e t .11 Bill Browns lfYou c a n ’t taste them but you shore can smell t h e m .11 Quite revealing, labor contractor.

these attitudes toward a Negro

The boys are all from Oklahoma.

John Lawson h a d had other experiences in recent years with labor contractors.

He began:

W e ’d be better off without them contractor guys. Some of them take too big a per cent and that helps keep wages down. H e ’ll go contract fer $1.10 a hundred in cotton, and pay only 90 cents a hundred, so h e ’s m a k i n ’ 20 cents a hundred off of labor. Another thing, he uses too big a crew, it knocks the picker out of a lot of work. They pick a field clean and have to go to the expense of m o v i n ’ in a day or so. I t ’d be much better to let each farmer hire his own help. He could appoint a foreman to look after everything. That gives men work fer several days because they can keep the crew down. W h y not let a few make a little money instead of everybody t r y i n ’ to git a few days and nobody gittin* n u t h i n ’ under the contractor? We experienced that this winter. M y wife : and I went out with a contractor who came in this camp in January w a n t i n ’ a crew to pull bolls. We worked three days and had to move four times from one ranch to another, and made $3*96 fer the both of us. W e ’d git over a field maybe in two hours and move on to another field. Nobody here made even.enough to pay board. We quit after the first week. The two of us should a-made in one day w o r k i n ’ fer a farmer what we made in three days w o r k i n ’ fer a contractor on account of too large a crew. Our boss last year told us he wanted two bales of cotton a day so about fourteen of us worked steady fer seven weeks and a half. A con­ tractor with a big crew would a-cleaned that crop in a week easy. C ontractin’ has sure helped ruin this country. People who work fer one just barely make a l i v i n ’.

You

145 d o n ’t git to work steady, you work a day and move on. The fields a i n ft always close together. If you are workin* fer a farmer you git steadier work. M y wife and I can make $5*00 a day in early p i c k i n ’. In a'big contractor’s crew you have only one trailer with scales, one weigh boss. Time you git there with your sack maybe twenty or thirty are ahead of you, and you lose too m uch time. T h a t ’s one of the big drawbacks. When you are workin* yourself fer the small farmer on the small crew you d o n ’t lose no time like that. You arrange among yourselves to go in at different times. Everybody is friendly and has an understandin*. Martin S. Akers-^ was equally critical of the con­ tractor system: The contractor makes money from you fer what you ought to be gittin* fer your labor. W e ’ve steered clear of them since w e ’ve been here. These contractors will set their scales back from three to six pounds. They are jippin* you from three to six pounds on every weight and you weigh from five to ten times a day. The sack weighs from three to six pounds. H e ’s got you. Why c a n ’t a farmer that raises the cotton knock out all these contractors and give us the full $ 1.00 a hundred? Instead of that he gives you 80 cents and the contractor gits 20 cents a hundred from each picker. Suppose a gang of pickers pick eight bales a day, t h a t ’s 1500 pounds to the bale. The contractor gits $240 fer the 12,000 pounds. Every bit of that b y right goes to the laborers that pick it, it ought to. But no, they are makin* the other man a livin*, and an easy one at that. R anch credit sys t e m . tion store is an institution.

Shafter County Camp.

In the deep South the plan t a ­ Its abuses have been widely

146 publicized.

In California its counterpart is found in the

ranch credit store.

Since the ranches are usually located

several miles from town, the ranch^owned store is maintained to meet the daily needs of the tenants on the ranch.

Their

patronage is freely encouraged and credit generously ex ­ tended.

This is a service in that it saves the workers

m a n y trips to town, and in that it gives credit when they are destitute of cash.

It is a disservice in that the

prices are m uch higher than in the nearby town, and in that those receiving credit become perpetual d e b t o r s . kept in financial bondage.

They are

That is, their food consumption

is always a few days ahead of their salary.

At the end of

the harvest when the books are balanced, they owe the ranch instead of the ranch owing them.

Thus, it is difficult for

them to move on to another place where a job might be secured. John F r e e m a n ^ lives on the Buerkle Brothers Ranch at Buttonwillow.

He is clear and incisive in his analysis of the

ranch-owned store.

He said:

Take this store out here owned b y the landlord, a l ­ though the store may assume some other name to hide their relation with the owners, they will charge prices from fifty per cent to three hundred per cent higher than the average chain store. Unless the money earned on the ranch is spent there, a worker will be looking for another job. We notice on this place that they drop out if they d o n ’t patronize the ranch store. J o h n ’s father added,

"Lots and lots of times."

3 2 Private camp, Buttonwillow.

147 John continued: It does cost them a little extra to bring goods out here, but considering the overhead, t h a t 1s another problem. They have practically no overhead. Their taxes are small when compared to town for they are outside the city limits. If gasoline is cheaper o u t ­ side of city limits, why c a n ’t that be true of grocer­ ies? In other words, they get the farm laborer on his wages and also on his prices. I assume that most ranches operated like this one go on the same pri n c i p l e s . The store has a different credit system for the people living in the camp and dependent on the company to the ones living outside the camp and Independent of the company. You see, anybody can trade here. When the ones living in the camp want credit they sign a ticket that is not itemized, has nothing on it but the date and the amount and the tickets are not given when the amount is paid except b y special request which d o e s n ft show a good taste with the company if he asks for it too often. A person w o u l d n ’t dare do that If he wanted to stay with the company. Now, i t ’s different for the ones outside the camp who receive an itemized account on each thing they purchase. And when they pay up on pay day they are usually given some little treat such as a cigar or sack of candy or told to help themselves to the ice cream. But such as that is never mentioned to the ones inside. I might give you an example. I was in the store one day after paying up and a Negro living o u t ­ side the camp came in and paid up. Nothing was said to me but the Negro was told to help himself to the Ice cream. That made me feel more or less like I was w o r k ­ ing in bondage. If it had been a white person it would have been all the same, but this goes to show the circumstances. People d o n ’t stay with this company long. They drop in and stay a few days and If they can get a job somewhere else they move on. No hand stays any longer than he has to. I d o n ’t know of a n y ­ body being content while they are here. But people will stay anywhere when they have to and put up w ith all sorts of treatment in days like this. The above story could be multiplied many times In the lives of countless migrants.

148 Competition with other r a c e s .

In wandering about the

state seeking work most of the migrants have found themselves In competition with other races, particularly the Mexicans and Filipinos.

While some of them accepted it as a matter

of fact, some felt keen resentment about it. was Ed Morrow.

One of these

He related an experience:

I went into one field down here on 99 Highway where the m a n said he c o u l d n ’t pay but 50 cents a hundred fer p u l l i n ’ bolls while the majority of other farmers was p a y i n ’ 75 cents or 80 cents. The thing he done was to go down by the Digirgio Ranch and git Mexicans and Filipinos to pull them bolls fer 50 cents b y furnis h i n ’ them transportation to the field. I feel like that is where a lot of our trouble is. The country is too heavily populated with foreigners. If you or I was in Japan we w o u l d n ’t kick too much on what they offered us fer work, because we would be kinda outa place over there and w e ’d take whatever they offered us in order to live. Be glad to git it. T h a t ’s the same thing over here. These people are here and they gotta live. They will take that job at low wages and even put up with rough treatment. If they was at home they w o u l d n ’t have to put up with It. They d o n ’t have to here either, but they do, t h a t ’s the truth, too. They could do like the rest of us, demand higher wages. T h a t ’s one reason a lot of the Eastern people are here. They demanded better wages back home in the fields and in the factories, but c o u l d n ’t git it. The Digirgio Ranch, the largest fruit ranch In the San Joaquin Valley, is workin* 80 per cent foreign labor. That come from a paper awhile back, some writer checked up on it. They git the same per hour as we would, but they work them longer. I ’d work eight hours fer $2.40 but they work ten or eleven hours fer $2.40. Last winter when I was livin* in the migratory camp at Arvin things wa§s b a d and the relief check was late. I was forced to git out and git work some way or other in order to live and pay rent. So one day I left home without breakfast, told m y wife ,!If t h e r e ’s a job in the country I ’m gonna find it or know the reason why.”

149 I inquired fer work at fifteen or twenty places where they was prunnin* grapes and every time the boss would ask me, 4,What part of Oklahoma are you from?” After w a l k i n ’ all day, I wore blisters on m y feet, t h a t ’s the truth too. I can show them to you, they a i n ft gone away yit. About 4;30 or 5:00 o' clock in the afternoon I walked into a vinpyard where there was a native workin* about thirty-five Filipinos, they was full bloods too. I made inquiries of the *gang pusher*, he*s the owner and the boss. He takes them out there and works them and drives them, and cusses them. I was told that the white man leadin* the field was the m a n that done the hirin* . When I asked him fer a job he said to me, ”What part of Oklahoma are you from?” That*s the first thing he said. I was tard of bein* asked that all day. I had been asked that practically every place I had inquired of work. I felt that had nuthin* to do with me gittin* work there. I said, ”It*s none of your damn business. From the looks of everything, you must be from one of the islands.” Boy, I had blood in my eye that evenin*. I ’d a fought him in a minute. He said, ”Git the hell off this property and stay off or 1*11 have you arrested.” I said, ”1*11 git out of your field. Come out here and w e ’ll have it out on the road, on county property.” He said, ”1*11 call the law on y ou.” He laid his tools down and cut through the fields to the house. I went on down the road and the marshall from Arvin drove up and said, ”What is the matter with you? Why are you disturbin’ these people in the field? I said, ”1 a i n ’t disturbin’ nobody. I ’m just full up on b e i n ’ asked what part of Oklahoma I was from when I ’m tryin* to git work.” He said, ”Git In the car. What have you on you?” He felt of m y pockets to see if I had a gun. He said, ”1 had a call that there was a crazy man out there.” After r i d i n ’ about a mile he stopped and said, ”Git out. Y o u ’ve got no business in jail. I ’m from the East too, I ’ve been here from Texas sixteen years. Y o u ’ll just have to learn to put up with a lot of that. They d o n ’t mean no h a r m . ” I said, ”Well, it *s pretty damn hard to take when they are workin* a flock of foreigners.” I just d o n ’t feel like I t ’s right to work foreigners in preference to native Americans. If we was over there w e ’d probably eat out of the garbage or starve. Over here they git the cream of the crop, they git the

150 cream of the crop, they git the jobs. They do them cheaper than we would. That crowds us out. T h a t ’s the truth about it. It a i n ’t right. The United States Government could deport them if it would. Clyde Storey had also observed racial discrimination: Three years ago down at the Herbert Hoover Ranch I saw a sign which read, ^No White Laborers Weed A p p l y ,*1 or somethin 1 like that. Your damn w h i s t l i n 1 it was. Most of the farmers around here was p a y i n ’ $1.00 and he was p a y i n ’ only 90 cents* He has since worked white people there. Wilbert Stevens:33 Mexicans will take a hard job and cut wages to git it. They d o n ’t care fer hard labor, they can go and bend over all day and not stop. Of course, they are entitled to work, but not to cut wages. Violation of civil liberties.

The American Consti­

tution guarantees to every American citizen certain inalien­ able rights, namely,

life, liberty, and the pursuit of h a p ­

piness.

specifically, freedom of worship,

This means,

freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assem­ blage.

This is the essence of democracy.

In California

agriculture, more than once, the American Constitution has been scrapped, democracy denied.

It would be useless here

to recount the innumerable infringements of these basic rights as they are common knowledge to all.

It will be

sufficient to indicate that these civil liberties are easily violated due to the Inherent nature of the migratory life.

33 Auto camp near Bakersfield.

151 F o r one thing, there are always large hosts of migratory workers in California who are not voters.

Thus, they lack

the political weapons with which to protect themselves. Furthermore, their excessive mobility, their great numbers, the wide area in which they travel, the shortness of the period of employment, and their lack of adequate leadership make their civil liberties all the more vulnerable.

They

are little known in any one community since their pattern of movement m a y vary from year to year.

Again, it must be

reiterated, they are in a community but not of it.

They

have the duties and responsibilities of citizens, but few privileges and little protection.

In time of war their

sons are summoned to the front, thus fulfilling the most dangerous function which citizenship entails.

They are

patriotic to the limit, being steeped in the American tradi­ tion.

In time of peace they are largely ignored, and the

very instruments of government which should provide them with protection are often levelled against them. ".

In short,

. . it is largely because migratory workers are a

socially disadvantaged class in California that their civil liberties have been frequently violated. Vigilante activities are the chief method for obstruct­ ing civil liberties.

It Is in times of labor trouble that

^ Governor Culbert L. Olson, "Statement Before Senate Committee on Education and Labor," San Francisco, December 6 , 1959, P. 5*

152 this expresses Itself.

The workers strike for higher

wages, the ranchers retaliate with violence.

Olson says:

During the cotton strike in the San Joaquin Valley this fall the right of peaceful assembly was inter­ fered with b y grower groups acting in direct concert with law enforcement officials, and in the presence, I believe, of two of your own investigators.35 Not infrequently, officers of the law establish the semblance of legality b y deputizing ranch foremen and roughnecks to assist in strike-breaking.

Concerning this

practice Governor Olson has the following to say: But this thin guise of legality cannot cover the reality. Vigilantism remains vigilantism, and to pin deputy sheriff badges on the members of a mob does not convert a mob into a posse. The so-called deputies who were mobilized into action at Salinas in 1936 cannot be distinguished from the frenzied mob that indulged in the tar and feather incident in Santa Rosa in 1935* Moreover, when the local law enforcement agencies are under the influence of these same pressure groups, it is not uncommon to find sheriffs, district attorneys, health officers and other county officials assisting the growers in a particular community to break a strike.36 Before the La Follette Committee, Governor Olson gave a lengthy testimony concerning the protection of the civil liberties of agricultural laborers in California.^7 ^5 i b i d ., p. 1 1 . 56 i b i d ., p. 7 . 57 Violations of Free Speech and R i g h t s .of L a b o r , Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on"!£ducation and Labor, United States Senate, Seventy-Sixth Congress, Second Session, Robert M. La Follette, Jr., Wisconsin, Chairman. Part 47* California Agricultural Background, San Francisco, California, December 6 th and 13th, 1939 (Washington, D. C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1940), p. 17243 ff*

153 The civil liberties of the workers who live on the private ranches are Imperilled to the highest possible degree.

They

are under the constant surveillance of foremen, bosses, and labor contractors.

Jesse Carter was aware of that when he

said: When you move on a farm you practically sign away your rights. You sign practically every blamed thing they want you to or else you don't move on. You have to sign that you w o n ft do this or that, or if you cause any trouble y o u *11 move off, and that you w o n !t bring suit against them. One ranch near here in *39 had their workers to sign that they could evict them any time they saw fit and was not responsible for any breakage of furniture; that you had to weigh your sack of cotton before you went and got a drink, a boss weighs it himself and calls it as he pleases. If you don't like it you can go down the road. Another thing in weighing, all sacks weigh four or five pounds empty. If you have only a three pound sack you are bound to lose some. You sure sign away all your civil liberties when you move on one of these outfits. And that's just the reason I wouldn't move on to a farm although I was w o r k i n 1 there. A day or two before I got ready to move on they come to me with one of those papers to sign and I told them to heck with i t . T h e r e 1s a lot of eviction in this county, a tremendous lot of it in time of strikes. If you even look like you want to strike, well, off you go and they won't allow a n y ­ body in there except them t h a t 1s w o r k i n f. Furthermore, the courts are used as weapons to trap and terrorize the workers.

Carey McWilliams points this

out: Judges blandly deny constitutional rights to defend­ ants and hand out vagrancy sentences which approximate the period of the harvest season. It is useless to appeal, for, b y the time the appeal is heard, the crop

154 will be h a r v e s t e d . ^ Many repressive methods directed against agricultural laborers in California are not unlike strong-armed methods employed against worker groups in Italy, Germany, and Russia. There is hope from two directions# First, proposed legislation to correct m any of the above abuses and to r e ­ strict officers of the law from deputizing large groups of laymen to do their bidding.

All such persons should be

made directly responsible for any acts of violence that occur Second,

some attempts are being made to stabilize farm

laborers, to give them a settled existence, to enable them to secure community rootage.

Not until then will they have

a voice in the state legislature.

Until these two movements

are accelerated and brought to a greater realization, continued abrogation of civil liberties may be expected as occasions arise. ^Propertyless *1 condition.

The nature of California*s

industrialized agriculture is such as to make property owning for its large b ody of workers an impossibility.

There

is little opportunity for the older migratory laborer or the more recent arrival

from the Southwestern states to

settle down as an owner-operator or even as a tenant-operator Carey McWilliams, Factories in the Field (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1939)> P« 251.

155 They are people of the road b y force of circumstances.

In

fact, as long as the present agricultural structure obtains property will be burdensome to them.

In the present situa­

tion the fewer the possessions the better.

But there is

deeply embedded in every m a n a desire to own something, to possess, to control, to use.

Jesse

Jacobs59

felt this.

As long as we migratory folks have to keep on the move all the time we can't never have n u t h i n 1 to call our own. C a n ’t never git no property. We have to keep g o i n 1 too much. Jacobs* married daughter continued: Let m e ask you one thing: W h y can*t we people of the West settle the West become residents of the western states, get some property, and not have to travel the highways to and fro? Settle and raise our families in homes, not on highways and in camps? There are people that come here that would like to make this their home, and they d o h ’t have a chance because they*re from the East. The western people look down on them because they are from the East. They consider that they don*t have enough sense to hold down a job in the West. I know by experience. Don Jackson was getting ready to return to Oklahoma because of his wife*s ill health.

He enumerated his posses­

sions: I a i n ’t got much. D o n ’t need much l i v i n ’ this kind of life. Course I have to have a car, got an old ’28 Oldsmobile crate. C o u l d n ’t git nowhere without a car. Haul just about all I ’ve got in it. I ’ve got one utility cabinet fer dishes and groceries; one h o m e ­ made clothes cabinet; one bed, i t ’s double but it folds up, a regular camping bed, one small two-burner gasoline stove; one fourteen b y twelve tent; one small

59 Arvin Government Camp.

156 table; one chair and a bench; and of course some c o o k i n 1 utensils. Oh, yes, one wife I T h a t !s about all I*ve got. Have a few clothes, only work clothes, no store bought suit. What I !m wearln* is m y best. This is the first time in m y life I was ever without a real suit, but I*m sure out now. M y wife*s got a pretty complete line of clothes. T h a t fs m y whole worldly possession right there. That is all Don Jackson will ever own as long as m any groups maintain that a peon class is necessary in Californiafs agricultural life. nR u m o r t i s m .g

Due to their unsettled existence the

migratory workers are afflicted with rumors, in fact, they have to depend upon rumors a large part of the time. is

This

especially true with respect to the maturing of crops,

job possibilities,

wage rates, and relief assistance.

There is a dearth in ways and means of keeping them intel­ ligently informed concerning things that vitally affect their well being.

One m a n hears a report and passes it on,

soon it is magnified quite out of proportion from the original statement.

John Brown told m e so-and-so, at

least t h a t 1s what he said he heard another man say--and thus it goes.

This is living by ”rumortism.”

A letter to the writer from Thomas L. Gardner of the Bakersfield Office of the California Department of Empl o y ­ ment reveals how that department is attempting to remedy the above conditions. The Department of Employment has 7 6 regular offices

157 located in various cities of California, and during times of need erect seasonal offices at strategic agricultural points throughout the state. During 1940 three additional offices were added for the period June 3rd to December 1st for informational services to migrants and transient agricultural workers alone. These informational offices were located 12 miles south of Bakersfield, at the Y near India, and at the intersection of Hollister Road and Pacheco Pass. Special pamphlets, maps showing agricultural crops and seasons, and directional literature were given migrants, printed in b o t h Spanish and English. In addition to this service, trained agricultural p e r ­ sonnel was placed at these stations to impart fine details and needs of agricultural areas, not only for the immediate area served, but also for the entire state. This information was sent to the stations weekly from each office serving an agricultural area, showing wages paid, accommodations furnished, extent and condition of crops, surplus or shortage of labor, and labor conditions in general. During the 1959 season, only one of these stations was in existence, the one located south of Bakers­ field. This year, the number is uncertain at this time. Seasonal agricultural offices are also opened wherever needed to serve agricultural laborers, and likewise the growers in that area. An example of this is the seasonal office opened at Pirebaugh last cotton season to furnish workers for that district. Other seasonal offices in the state served other types of growers as needed. General offices give a well balanced service to agricultural workers the year round, with up to the date information on every district in the state.40 The letter continues: In Kern County there are no private employment bureaus. There is a camp called F r a n k !s Camp near Delano where workers are given local agricultural in­ formation; and a m a n is stationed just south of ko

Letter to the writer from Thomas I. Gardner, Cali­ fornia Department of Employment, Bakersfield, California, June 13, 1941.

158 Bakersfield b y the San Joaquin Valley Labor Council during cotton harvest season to direct migrants to local jobs. The only complete service is that of the Department of Employment .41 Prom June 3 to November 2 9 9 1940, 8,723 persons ■
19^0.

227 that furnish gas, electric, and the cabin fer their employees and hire someone to keep the camp in good condition. This is the worst unsanitary camp that I !ve seen. I've talked to fellows who have seen many more than I have and they said it's the worst they've seen. The y inspect it once in a ‘while, the health officer or somebody, but little is ever done about it. It isn't so bad now but in the fall when all the cabins are full it's a sight. Those toilets get messed up so b a d that you can scarcely get in them let alone use them. It's very near impossible fer children to use those toilets, the stools are too high and too big so they just use the floor or go out somewhere in the camp. Grown-ups use them altogether with their feet and they get all filthy. That is no exaggeration--it was a filthy camp. In a similar vein, John Beaven, ranch,

living on Jim Camp's

said:

Take these little private camps around town, a health officer is out there all the time eatin* them out, makin' them obey the rules. But look at this nasty mess here. Look at them awful toilets out there, not fit fer nobody to go into. These big boys can git b y with anything. I've been here a year and ain't never seen a health officer yit. It's the money, they can git b y with anything. You know this outfit would abee n condemned if they'd just come in here. And it would. Packard discovered that 3 2 per cent.of the camps made no effort to clean the toilets; 20 per cent were cleaned daily; 24 per cent, weekly.

semi-weekly; and 24 per cent,

Twenty-five per cent used some disinfectant in the

cleaning. H T

Packard, op. cit., pp. 93-99*

228

The worker spends his days in the fields absolutely without toilet facilities*

As a rule, the work is too far

from camp to allow the use of the customary toilets.

This

is an affront to common decency since both sexes work fre­ quently in the same field. The supervision of sanitation among migratory workers is a far flung and arduous task*

This is one of the impor­

tant functions of the Division of Immigration and Housing in the California Department of State.

In recent years its

personnel has been so reduced as to greatly cripple its efficiency.

Carey McWilliams, Chief of the Division, in a

letter to the writer stated: We have to enforce the Labor Camp Act of the State of California, the Supervisor of Camp Inspection, 2 senior camp inspectors, and 4 junior camp inspectors. These men also enforce the Auto and Trailer Camp Act, as well as the Trailer Camp Act. Inspectors work In various counties and the inspector located In San Joaquin Valley, Mr. Robert Karstaedt, covers the ter­ ritory from San Joaquin south to Kern. Two inspectors in Los Angeles cover the southern California counties and Kern.I18 The activities of the Division, with regard to work of Inspection, are contained in Its report for 1 9 4 0 . The Division has four offices in the state, namely, San Francisco,

Carey McWilliams, Letter to the writer, May 29* 1941. 119 ^Report of Labor Camp Inspections for the Year 1940,,f Issued by Division of Immigration and Housing, Department of Industrial Relations, State of California, 11 pp.

229 Sacramento, Fresno, and Los Angeles.-*-20

Agricultural labor

camps are Inspected along with, logging and lumber camps, mining camps, and railroad camps.3-21

With respect to a g r i ­

cultural labor c a mps, .the inspectors endeavor to follow the crops as they mature in the four districts of the state.122 The report states: The experience of the Division over a great many years clearly indicates that regular and constant i n ­ spection is necessary to keep camps from deteriorat­ ing .123 The problem and method of enforcement of standards is i n ­ cluded in the report.I21*- The number of inspections totalled 4,440,

the greatest number made b y the Division since its

creation in 1913 «-*-2^ camps.

Most of these were agricultural labor

As a result of the Division's work in 1940, private

camp operators spent a total of $1,013*967 in camp construc­ tion and improvements.I2 ^

Kern County accounted for $22,448,

while Shasta County accounted for $525*200 of the above

120 Ibid., p. 1. 121 Ibid., p. 2. 122 L o c . c i t . 125 I b i d ., p. 5I22*" Loc . c i t . 12 5 I b i d ., p. 8. 126 I b i d . , p. 11.

230

expenditures. The Division of Immigration and Housing was the storm center of m uch debate in the recent session of the California State Legislature.

Assembly Bill No. 2162*

which was calculated to abolish the Division* was passed by both houses of the legislature and went to the Governor on June 14* 1941.128

Assembly Bill No. 2 1 6 3 > which was to

transfer the functions of the Division to the State Dep a r t ­ ment of Public Health*

came from the Assembly Committee on

Ways and Means on June 14* 1941* without further action.-*-29 Senate Bill No. 1096* a n e w act abolishing the Division of Immigration and Housing and Housing Commission*

came from

the Senate Committee on Governmental Efficiency on June 14* 1941* without further a c t i o n . T h e

governor had until

J uly 19* 1941* to act on the remaining measures which were In his hands*

that date being thirty days after final a d ­

journment of the legislature

(Sundays excepted).

Assembly

Bill No. 2162 was pocket vetoed by Governor Olson* hence* the functions of the Division of Immigration and Housing

lg7 i b i d ., pp. 15, 26. 128 Letters to the writer from George W. Wakefield, Office of Legislative Counsel* Los Angeles* California, M a y 12* 1941* and June 21* 1941. Loc.

cit.

130 L o c . cit.

231 continue as formerly.

The motivation behind these bills,

it

was alleged, were the liberal policies of both Governor Culbert L. Olson and Carey McWilliams, of Immigration and Housing.151

Chief of the Division

In short, the effort was

made to get rid of a man b y abolishing his job. In addition to the supervision of sanitation for labor camps by the above Division, many counties have a sanitary inspector.

In Kern County, C. F. Baughman is Chief

of the Sanitary Division in the County Health Department. In 1937 he began a rigorous campaign to enlist business men, ranchers, and citizens in a united front for improved sani­ tation.

A large degree of success was realized. Kern County is the only county which provides for a

periodic bacteriological test of every well in use. purity of water is assured.

Hence,

The county authorities are

also attempting to enforce the regulation of one toilet for each sex for every ten cabins or fifty persons.

The Health

Department is making progress with the matter of garbage disposal calling for a greater use of covered pits.

All

ranches visited b y Packard in Kern County h a d likewise r e ­ ceived visits from both state and county sanitary inspec­ tors.

Nevertheless, with regard to sanitation among the

131 ^McWilliams Faces Ouster as State Aide, Vote A b o l i ­ tion of Job Over Alleged Radicalism,ff Los Angeles Evening H e r a l d and E x p r e s s , May 10, 19^1*

132 Packard, o p . c i t ., p. 102.

2j52

migrants, more rigid rules, and greater ability to enforce them is one pressing need. III.

PROBLEMS CORRECTED WITH INSTITUTIONAL RELATIONS Education.

High on the list of problems confronting

the migratory families is that of educating their children. That they want their children to be educated is an established fact.

As a rule, the parents themselves have not gone

very far in school, and they desire for their children a better opportunity. There are m a n y factors which cast up barriers, there­ b y preventing normal schooling for these children. thing, child labor exists on an extensive scale.

For one It would

be difficult to state the exact number of children employed in California agriculture; however, that the number is large.

it is generally known

California law requires children

b etween the ages of eight and sixteen years to attend school.

This includes children of migratory families who

are supposed to enter the children In school each time the family moves.

Jones concludes that if

. . . the attitude of influential members of the co m ­ muni ty favors the employment of children during the rush of the harvest, the chances are slight that chil­ dren of migrant agricultural laborers will be compelled to attend school.135

Jones, op. cit., p. 53-

233

Selfish community interests, then, and not merely the need of supplementing the p a r e n t s 1 earnings force children into the fields and away from school.

One student concluded that

the average school attendance of migratory children was three days a

w e e k .

134

In the second place, the seasonal movement of fami­ lies militates against regular attendance.

Families who

attempt to make all the crops levy a heavy penalty upon their children.

Table

XXXIIl3-35

gives the number and p e r ­

centage of children making from one to six transfers during a half year.

These frequent moves make for retardation when

compared with regular pupils.

Table X X X I V 1^

reveals that

in the first grade they are an average of four months older than the regular pupils, while in the fourth grade they are an average of twenty-one months older. The intelligence quotients of the migratory children is under that of the resident children.

This was determined

in the fall of 1936 by means of a group of five standardized

3-34 E. D. Reynolds, "Migratory Factors Affecting E d u c a ­ tion in Northern Kern County," (unpublished Master's thesis, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1934), 17P

-

3*35 Table XXXIII, "Number of School Transfers in Kern County in First Half of School Year 1937-1938," p. 234. 136 Table XXXIV, "Grade Distributions and Age Compari­ sons Between Migratory and Regular Students in Kern County Elementary Schools, 1937-1938," p. 235-

234

TABLE XXXIII NUMBER OF SCHOOL TRANSFERS IN KERN COUNTY IN FIRST HALF OF SCHOOL YEAR 1937-1938a Number of Transfers

Number of Pupils

1

864

24.00

2

369

10.00

3

56

1.00

4

12

.30

3

2

.05

6

2

in 0•

Total 1,305 Number of cases studied: 3,610

36.00

Per Cent

a ”Growth Statistics, Kern County Schools,11 unpub­ lished material compiled in the office of superintendent of schools, 1938.

TABLE XXXIV GRADE DISTRIBUTIONS AND AGE COMPARISONS BETWEEN MIGRATORY AND REGULAR STUDENTS IN KERN COUNTY ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, 1937-1938a

Grade

Number < of Students Regular Migratory

Regular

1

110

116

VO

2

114

100

3

86

4

Median Age Migratory

Age Difference

6 yr. 11 mo.

k mo.

7 "

9 “

8 "

3 "

6 "

88

8 "

8 "

9 "

6 "

10 n

87

87

9 "

9 "

10 "

9 "

12 11

5

89

91

10 "

8 "

12 "

5 11

21 "

6

79

77

11 "

8 "

12 "

11 "

15 11

7

90

55

13 "

1 "

14 *

0 "

11 "

8

80

57

13 "

8 "

15 "

0 11

16 ”

•

u

7 mo.

Sis

a "Growth Statistics, Kern County Schools,11 unpublished material compiled in the office of superintendent of schools, 1938.

236

tests in Kern County.

These tests were given to 1,406 chil­

dren attending four schools in different parts of the county.

The regular students outnumbered the migratory chi l ­

dren 735 to 671*

Table XXXV137 shows that the differences

in their intelligence quotients increased as the grades a d ­ vanced.

These tables clearly indicate that excessive m o b i l ­

ity is a permanent threat to proper education and a normal intelligence quotient.

A twelve-year old girl in the third

grade accounts for her backwardness thus, "Dad always moves before it is time to go into the fourth. f,158

Sam Bowman,

with nine children living and two dead, had gone through m u c h hardship in order to keep his children in school.

He

spoke from strenuous experience: The migratory people move so muc h that the kids are changed often from one grade to another and fail often. That could be eliminated if the Government or someone would give them steady work to where they woulcki^t have to be movin* around and the kids could go to school regular. An illiterate person has got no chance now fer industry and all else requires people with an education. That school in the camp is one thing that holds me here. Shoot, if it hacb^t been fer it I w o u l d n ^ stayed here fer thirty minutes. (I believe t h a t 1s Icy s n o r i n 1, t h a t 1s my wife.) The kids have been f a i l i n T enough anyway without takin* them out. I be­ lieve them teachers up there are t r y i n 1 their best to Table XXXV, ^Comparison of Intelligence Quotients Between 1,406 Migratory and Regular Students in Kern County Elementary Schools, 1936-1937*" P* 237* 1-58 Genevieve Pox, 1tChild in the Midst-of Crops,11 The Christian Adv o c a t e , October 26, 1939* p- 15*

237

TABLE XXXV COMPARISON OF INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENTS BETWEEN 1,406 MIGRATORY AND REGULAR STUDENTS IN KERN COUNTY ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, 1936-1937a

Grade

Median Intelligence Quotients Regular Migratory

Difference

3

97

89

8

3

95

82

13

6

97

87

10

8

106

90

.

16

a ”A Study of the Migratory Children in Kern County for the School Year 1936-1937*11 “ unpublished material com­ piled in the office of the Superintendent of Schools, Bakersfield, California, 1937* P- 2*

2 58

learn them. Nearly every time we change some of the kids git failed because they always miss out. Little daughter who was in bed added, *3Sometimes they have different books or are farther over in the book.*1

Bowman

continued: Take me now: I a i n ft an educated man. The only reason I know I ’m a m a n and not a mule is that some­ body told me or I read it. I d o n ’t want the kids to be like me, and they will be if we have to keep m o v i n ’ about all the time. Jesse Jeimingsl39 was as equally concerned with the education of his children: The thing I ’m most interested in now is a decent l i v i n 1 fer m y kids and to educate them. ’Course if things d o n ’t change I ’ll never be able to educate them like they should be. C a n ’t do that just runnin* around from one camp to another t r y i n ’ to find a place to set a tent. ’Course I m a y git them through grade school and will do well to do t h a t . A third factor hindering proper schooling is the malnutrition of the children coupled with inadequate clo t h ­ ing.

The effects of malnutrition have been indicated.1^ 0

Malnutrition, retardation, and low intelligence quotients are closely related.

Hurley says:

It has been known that children of the migratory families often go to school hungry, and on the other hand, some remain home as it is impossible for the parents to send their children as they have no food. It is also known that school teachers out of personal

^ -3 9

Arvin Government Camp. Supra, Tables XXVI and XXVII, pp. 205 and 206.

239

funds furnish assistance in the form of clothing and milk for m a n y of the migratory children.1^1 The five children of Martin Akers suffered these ills.

He said:

I !m fer education strong as anybody, but they come out here and find our children naked and hungry and force us to send them up there to school in that shape. They ought to know t h a t *11 just expose them to pneumonia and all sorts of sickness. If they.force us to send them they should be forced to take care of them and pay the bill. A law a i n ’t no account t h a t ’s one sided. Of course, many schools provide free lunches for the chil­ dren. A fourth factor makes school attendance difficult for the migratory children; namely, misunderstanding on the part of some teachers and taunts b y many native children. Coming from the Southwestern states, the migratory families have not been accustomed to compulsory education laws or superior living quarters. ‘ This is reflected in the chil­ dren as they enter the California schools. with dirty faces and tattered clothes.

They often go

They are frequently

called ’’Okies11 and ”Pea-pickers * children’1 b y the more f o r ­ tunate California children.

Jesse Carter, In discussing

this, was Interrupted b y his fourteen-year old son who said: Sometimes a teacher will say to one of us, ’’You a i n ’t had good bringin* u p . ” When they act like that we say, ”Do you know what they do with insane people in Oklahoma and Texas? They send them to California to be school teachers.11

Hurley, op. cit., p. 30.

240

That is amusing and most revealing.

The children go to

school conscious of the fact that often they are stigmatized b y both teachers and native students.

It is an unhealthy

and unfortunate condition, revealing that a high degree of social distance obtains between the two groups. Teachers, when doing their very best, tremendous difficulties.

The retarded migratory children,

in the same room with resident children, teaching program.

labor under

Impede a normal

A systematic schedule is scarcely po s s i ­

ble for each day witnesses new arrivals as well as departures. A student hardly attends one school long enough to follow through to completion a project proposed b y the teacher.

To

obviate these difficulties many schools have segregated the two groups, hoping thereby to deal more favorably with each group.

On the other hand, m any schools object to such d i s ­

crimination, believing that the migratory children should be given every opportunity for community assimilation.

On the

whole, this has been the policy pursued In Kern County. To further meet the problem, Kern County has utilized tents and temporary buildings for instructive purposes, likewise,

the addition of a large corps of teachers.

For

example, the Richland Grammar School in Shafter erected several temporary structures and added eight teachers to the faculty during the 1939-1940 school year.

One permanent

241

building was under c o n s t r u c t i o n . ^ h e need for these i n ­ creased facilities is presented in Table XXXVI. Table XXXVII-*-1^

shows the opening day enrollment for

the Richland School for six consecutive years. marked increase year b y year.

There is a

The attendance for days taken

at random is as follows:***^5 December

1, 1 9 3 6 ............ 959

December 2 5 > 1 9 5 6 ............956 January

12,.1 9 3 7 ............975

October

22,.1939 .........

1298

November

6, 1939

.........

1348

April

9,

1940

.........

1448

This school is typical of m any schools in Kern County. About half of the children in the Richland School come from the migratory camps located in the vicinity of S h a f t e r . ! ^ 6 The same authority states:

-*-^2 interview with School Secretary, Richland Grammar School, Shafter, California, April 9 * 1940. School,

Table XXXVI, “Average Attendance for the Richland Shafter, California, By Years, 1 9 3 4 - 1 9 3 9 P* 242.

^ Table XXXVII, "Opening Day Attendance at the Richland School, Shafter, California, By Years, 1933-1938,11 p. 245interview with School Secretary,

loc. cit.

Letter to the writer from Leo B. Hart, County Superintendent of Schools, Kern County, June 7 > 1941.

242

TABLE XXXVI AVERAGE ATTENDANCE FOR THE RICHLAND SCHOOL, SHAFTER, CALIFORNIA, B Y YEARS, 1934-1939®

Year

Average Attendance

1934-35

574.18

1935-36

635-86

1936-37

880.87

1937-38

1 ,005.22

1938-39

1,101.59

Interview with School Secretary, Richland Grammar School, Shafter, California, April 9, 1940.

243

TABLE XXXVII OPENING DAY ATTENDANCE AT THE RICHLAND SCHOOL, SHAFTER, CALIFORNIA, BY YEARS 1933>-1938a

Year

Attendance

tt tt

A

O H

September 14 , 1933 n 10, 1934 if 1935. n 14, 1936

470 480 527 655

13, 1937

715

12, 1938

926

a Interview with School Secretary, Richland Grammar School, Shafter, California, April 9> 1940.

244 The Edison School District east of Bakersfield has a more seasonable type of migratory problems and has utilized a frame and canvass type temporary structure to house the overflow. Edison is a small, three teacher school but during the peak of the harvest, eight or nine teachers are e m p l o y e d . ^47 The Board of Education is making the best of a bad social situation. Recreation. or crude life. and. recreation. state.

The migratory life is a rough, coarse,

That is true of the food, clothing, housing, Everything is reduced to the most primitive

It cannot be otherwise.

Lacking m o ney and the

means for a more refined existence, to the lowest level.

everything is reduced

There are few opportunities for a

nobler expression of the emotions.

Except in the Govern­

ment Migratory Camps, little effort is made to guide the recreational life of these people. consists of four things: ing.

drinking,

The recreation of many dancing, gambling,

fight­

Then, the general public condemns them for their

crudities, wholly ignoring the situation that gives rise to an unwholesome expression of the emotional life.

The p r i n ­

ciple of education through recreation as well as recreation through education is entirely forgotten.

Also forgotten is

the well known fact that the playtime of the people is one of the hopes of modern democracy.

It is also to be

Letter to the writer from Leo B. Hart,- l o c . c i t .

245 remembered that most of these people are Idle a large p o r ­ tion of their time, leisure being thrust upon them.

There

are few constructive community forces to guide them.

But

nearly every community group stands ready and eager to scorn them, to laugh at them, to push them from its borders. Unless some opportunity is afforded for an expression of the higher sentiments, fest themselves. light in drinking,

invariably the lower sentiments m a n i ­

In the case of the migrants these come to dancing, gambling,

fighting.

That is

the only recreation m any know, but not all they are capable of, provided there was some means of channelizing their e n e r g i e s. Relief a g e n c i e s .

The problem of relief and the a t ­

titudes of the migrants toward it will be discussed in Chapter Five.1^8 Religion.

The religion of the migrants with their

corresponding attitudes toward it will be discussed also in Chapter F i v e . ^ 9 Community.

The pioneer migrants of yesterday were

regarded with high favor, were respected.

In fra, Chapter V, p. 251 ff • I n i n n * Chapter V, p. 559 ff-

In July,

1890 ,

246 Representative Preston B. Plumb of Kansas,

in a speech in

the House on the irrigation of arid lands, had this to say: The record of the frontier is a record of courage, of constancy, of wrecked fortunes, and yet, Mr. Presi­ dent, a record of the most magnificent progress the world has ever seen. . . . The m e n who have gone out there, desiring to get away from the old location, thinking they will find something they do not find, disappointed often, perhaps in a majority of cases, have been the picket line of the great army behind them which has marched on relentlessly until it has brought almost the entire area of the Republic under cultivation.150 That was only fifty years ago.

In May, 1911, Ralph H.

Cameron,

in a House of Representative

delegate from Arizona,

debate on approving the Constitution of Arizona,

said:

,fThe

m a n in the East who has moved to Arizona and started life anew, has, of necessity, been a man of intelligence, enter­ prise, and courage.J,151

These are not eulogies of the well-

fed tourist, but words referring to poor men, who had nothing save strong hands and brave hearts.

Most of the

migrants of yesterday were well received. Today, there is a changed tenor of feeling.

These

migrants in trouble have the same qualities as their fore­ fathers, for the most part, but vastly different treatment

150 John M. Webb, "Internal Migration--An Asset or Liability," Division of Research, Works Progress Administra­ tion, p. 2; quoting Congressional Record 51st Congress, 1st session, Appendix, pp. 720-22.

> P* 3; quoting Congressional R e c o r d , 62d Congress, 1st session, p. 1415*

247 is accorded them,

^hey are not regarded as settlers, rather,

they are looked upon as ^reliefers,” ”trash,” ”ne*er-dow e l l s , - l o o k i n g for a meal ticket. being constitutionally unstable,

They are charged with

totally unable of m a in t a i n ­

ing residence in any given community for an appreciable length of time.

In other words, they are shiftless.

are accused of being prolific carriers of disease; plague spreaders.

They

they are

It is held that they increase the n e c e s ­

sity for policing--they are delinquents.

Their swollen

numbers invariably demand more schools, hence heavier taxes; they themselves do not share the costs.

Some of them want

to organize in order to get higher wages; they are radicals. The charges mount higher and higher as they continue to storm the state.

Derisive epithets are hurled at them,

as 11Okie,” ”A r k y , ” and ”T ex.”

such

"Border Patrols*1 and "Bum

Blockades” try in vain to keep them from entering the state. They are penalized for being poor. to be that they are rootless,

Their chief crime seems

jobless, homeless, hungry.

They are needed, and yet, they are hated.

At the conclusion

of every dance in the Arvin and Shafter Government camps the orchestra plays ”Home, upon the merry-makers. land.

Sweet Hom e . ”

A hush usually falls

They are strangers in a strange

They know they have little chance of becoming accepted

b y their California neighbors.

Many of the migrants express­

ed their feelings clearly regarding this matter.

As a single

248 man, Clyde Storey and travelled about quite a bit.

His

experiences led him to say: The biggest part of these native Californians w o n ’t give you a square look. T h a t ’s the damn truth. They are always w o n d e r i n ’ what relief office you are stop p i n ’ in next or where you are b e g g i n ’ your next meal. You can see it writtin all over their faces. Then they git up on the screen and have a big laugh out of the Okies. Jesse Carter was also vocal on this issue: Out here when they need you, you are a fruit picker, but when they d o n ’t need you, y o u ’re just a damn Oklahoma tramp, a nuisance to the world. T h a t ’s really the attitude the native Californians takes toward you. They want to keep you on the rocks, they d o n ’t want to let you git independent. The more ignorant they can keep you and the poorer they can keep you, the harder they can work you. Don Jackson spoke to the same point: If I should git a job in a store or something like that I probably c o u l d n ’t keep it when they found out I was from Oklahoma. These natives seem to hold a grudge against all Oklahomans. They would prefer a native once it was a known fact I was a foreigner. I ’ve h a d several friends who secured employment in private business only to be discharged upon learning that they was foreigners. These interviews clearly indicate that a rather h i ghly developed state of social distance exists between the native Californians and the migrants.

It is a typical

case of an in-group seeking to protect itself from an o u t ­ group.

The latter, in this instance, is viewed as a threat

b oth culturally and economically.

Hence,

the former resort

to ridicule, aloofness, and various repressive measures to keep the migrants in an inferior position.

Status b y the

249 natives is looked upon as being all important.

Both groups

are aware of this situation, the one promoting it and the other accepting it.

To this extent overt conflict is

avoided. Two migrants gave a terse summary of the multiple problems confronting them and their fellows..

Commenting

upon his mode of living, Don Jackson said: I think a man takes up this type of life when he *s given up hopes of everything else. They*ve just lost everything t h e y fve ever had and they all come to sunny California with high ambition and they soon find out that California is not the land of dreams. Usually the average family that comes out here have sold all of their belongings to support their trip and try to git started when they git here. Everyday life in a migratory camp will actually disgust you. There are everyday hardships in living this type of life that no one can understand without actually experiencing it. Homer Towney h a d a similar view: The conditions of the migratory workers is a dis­ grace to the American people. T h e y 1re just up agin a brick wall. Not a chance fer them to git out of it or better themselves. In this chapter the writer has attempted to present the conditions which were summarized b y the two above state­ ments.

The migratory workers interviewed in this study, and

their fellows, are confronted by grave economic, personal problems.

social, and

In coming to California they enter an

agricultural economy that is highly capitalized, mechanized, and diversified.

It differs in many respects from the a gri­

cultural rural economy to which most of them have been

accustomed.

Within their home states, for the most part,

they lived a settled life among relatives and friends, face-to-face relationships.

In California,

in

they are co n ­

stantly on the move, are always among strangers, and own little or no property.

It is naturally to be supposed that

this type of life sustains a very definite relationship to their social attitudes. this new situation?

What are their social attitudes in

That is the task of the following

chapter, the central problem of this study, for which all of the foregoing has been a necessary preparation.

The a tt i ­

tudes of the migrants will be presented on the following: relief, ranchers, Congress of Industrial Organizations and religion.

(CIO),

CHAPTER V SOCIAL ATTITUDES EXPRESSED B Y MIGRATORY AGRICULTURAL WORKERS I.

RELIEF AND ATTITUDES TOWARD IT

History of California relief available for m i g r a n t s . The most dramatic phase of the migratory problem is that of relief.

It is immediate and calls for prompt attention.

Relief is of interest to b oth the migrants and the tax­ payers.

The former must eat and live, and the latter must

work and pay.

Relief for most of the migrants Is necessary

since they usually arrive without funds, the wages are low in relation to a decent standard of living, and the seasonal character of the work entails long periods of Idleness.

It

is only a naive imagination which contends that all of the migrants are n e 1er-dovwells and are on relief entirely on account of their own improvident tendencies. 1.

The Vagrancy L a w .

The method of dealing with the

migrants prior to 1933 was that provided b y the Vagrancy Law. The local community where the migrants h a d established tem­ porary residence hereby bore the burden of relief. "passing o n ” program.

It was a

Various communities took turns in

shouting "Stay o u t 11 or "Get on down the road.”

Such relief

as extended in this day-by-day existence was temporary, meager, begrudged.

252

2*

Federal Transient Service.

In September,

1923*

the Federal Government instituted the Federal Transient Service for the relief of ’’federal transients.1’

This ser­

vice allocated $9*000,000 for the care of out-or-state transients in California and was $3*000,000 larger than the sum allocated to New York which ranks second in the number of federal transients.

A chain of shelters cared for the

transients, provisions being made for food, cal examinations, and employment.

clothing, p h y s i ­

In April, 1935* 77*118

transients, or about 14 per cent of all under such care in the United States,were in California. mi gratory agricultural workers.

Many of these were

This Federal Transient

Service came to an end in September, 1935 fT&t the very moment when the influx of out of state migrants into C a l i ­ fornia was reaching major proportions.”1 Indigent and categorical aid.

Today there are

several ways by which California takes care of its needy people.

Indigent funds for the sick and unemployables come

from county funds only, while those persons in the categori­ cal classification, old age, blind, and needy children, are financed by federal,

state, and county funds.

2

Governor Culbert L. Olson, ’’Statement Before Senate Committee on Education and Labor,” San Francisco, California, December 6, 1937* p. 17p Interview with Martin Ruderman, Social Service C o n ­ sultant, State Relief Administration, Los Angeles, California, June 12, 1941.

253 Certain residence requirements are necessary in order to qualify for relief in any of the above categories.

Be­

fore being entitled to old age assistance the applicant must be sixty-five years of age with five years of residence in the state, including the immediately preceding year out of the nine years immediately preceding application. In case of blindness a resident of the state receives assistance if he has been a county resident for at least one year I m ­ mediately preceding date of application, and at least five years in the state within the past nine years immediately preceding date of application, or six months if blindness occurred within the State of Cali­ fornia .3 W ith respect to needy children,

such as orphans,

half-orphans, or abandoned children, residence requirements are more liberal than for either the needy aged or needy blind.

Only one year of residence is required b y either

the child or his parents or guardians.

If the child is a

non-resident, the state reimburses the county up to $240 annually. County residence is not required for the above p e r ­ sons in the categorical classifications since the state r e ­ imburses the county for expenditures if the persons have state residence only.

Potentially, migratory agricultural

^ State Aid for Needy Blind Law, enacted by the Legislature of the State of California, M a y 28, 1939 (as amended).

254 workers will contribute to all of the above classifications. 4.

State Relief Administration.

Another means for

providing relief for migrants was through the State Relief Administration, commonly known as the SRA.

This Administra­

tion was the storm center for violent criticism over a period of many months.

Charges of inefficiency and "Red” were

directed towards it.

It was charged with being a convenient

political football for the present party in power and for the former administration.

While much of this is doubtlessly

true, a large part of the barrage was due to disgruntled elements both in and out of politics. Here, again, certain residence requirements had to be met for eligibility for relief.

Persons entering the state

prior to June 1, 1940, had to be here three years, while persons entering subsequent to June 1, 1940, had to be here five years before their case would be accepted for consider­ ation.

Notwithstanding the above, if they received relief

from SRA or were certified to WPA on February 18, 1940, they were eligible for SRA.

Migrants not qualifying under any of

the above categories received thirty days’ help if they were willing to return to their native state.

If approval was

received, the SRA paid transportation and subsistence at the rate of $1.00 per person per day to return.^

In this connection

^ Ruderman, Subsequent Interview, June 24, 1941.

255 Lee Moss stated: About three months ago I was shifted to SRA so they would pay m y transportation to Oklahoma. . They are w i l l i n ’ to do that hut they want to set me out in Oklahoma broke. I asked them fer $25 fer expense money in addition to the transportation and they refused it. So I ’m gonna call them agin this m o r n i n ’ and tell them if they d o n !t want to do that I a i n ’t gonna accept it. ’Bout all to do if they d o n ’t give it to me is to stay here and board it out with them. The SRA budget was based upon the number of members per family.

Prior to February 18, 19^0, a family might

receive $60 per month, but after that the maximum was $ 58 , regardless of the size of the family.

However, it was

possible to receive surplus commodity clothing and to p u r ­ chase food stamps.5 The SRA has played an important role in the m i g r a ­ tory agricultural problem.

This is indicated b y Governor

Olson who says: Of 8 counties located in the San Joaquin Velley the SRA reports indicate that 65-1 pei* cent of the caseload in these counties is made up of agricultural workers. In the three year period between November 50, 1936, and November 23* 1939 >• the total SRA caseload in all counties in the state has more than doubled, but the SRA caseload in the 8 San Joaquin Valley counties is nearly ten times as great today as it was three years ago. In these 8 San Joaquin counties on November 30, 1936, the caseload was 1,03^- This figure, of course, represents individual social cases, made up in the main, however, of heads of families so that the actual number of people involved would be considerably in excess of this figure. On November 23* 1939* however, for these same 8 counties, the caseload was 19*183This latter

5 Ruderman, loc. cit.

256 figure, of course, represents approximately 32,000 to 35,000 people. A study based on the caseload in the 8 San Joaquin Valley counties over an average of ten months each for the years 1937-1938-1939 indicates an increase for 1939 over 1937 in the caseload for these counties of 344*4 pen cent whereas the increase for all counties in the state for the same period and on the same average of the first ten months of each year, was 76.6 per cent. To make this comparison clear to you it should be noted, however,.that the increase in the SRA caseload for all counties between 1937 &nd 1939 has been very largely due to the curtailment in the W P A program, whereas the increase in the 8 San Joaquin counties is directly related to the problem of employment in agriculture, and therefore the contrast is perhaps even greater than I have indicated.6 The SRA expenditures in Kern County for the fiscal year 1937-1938 were $ 458 ,769 , while in 1938-1939 they amounted to $ 1 , 0 2 8 , 4 5 3 - increase of 150 per cent.

During

this same period the caseload increased from 1,863 cases to a total of 4,172 cases.7

The same source shows that

Approximately 40 per cent of the SRA relief clients in 1939 were of less than four years resident in C al i ­ fornia. This percentage is increasing r a p i d l y . 8 Cases under care for Kern County, week of April 18, 1940, totalled 3 ,2 0 6 . 9

Cases under care a little more than

a year later, that is, for the week of M a y 8, 1941, totalled

6

Olson, op. c i t ., p. 17-

^ "Grapes of Wrath is Fiction," b y Associated Farmers of Kern County, Bakersfield, California, A. I. Tucker, President. o Doc. c i t . 9 "Weekly Bulletin, Week Ending April 25, 1940," State Relief Administration of California, Los Angeles, Division of Planning and Research.

257 only 1,877*10

It was Impossible to secure tbe number of

agricultural workers represented in the above figure.

The

decrease in caseload is partially explained b y the movement of agricultural workers and others into the defense indus­ tries.1!

A similar decline in caseload is to be noted for

the state as a whole as presented in Table X X X V I I I .

a

p-

parently, the -observed decline is also due to increased need for men in the defense industries. Due to pressure from various groups, ceased to exist.

the SRA has

During the month of June the newspapers

of the state contained m a n y articles about the struggle in the State Legislature regarding the relief issue.

One r e ­

port stated: The 54th California legislature tonight adjourned sine die without appropriating any mon e y for unemploy­ ment relief. Tired and disgusted with the futile efforts to com­ promise on the SRA controversy, state legislators packed their bags and went home without coming to any agreement on what to do with relief. . . . Failure to act on relief tossed the entire burden of unemployment on the counties. The SRA will be penniless

10 "Weekly Bulletin, W eek Ending M a y 15 , 1941," State Relief Administration of California, Los Angeles, Division of Planning and Research. 11 Ruderman, Interview, June 24, 1941. 12 Table XXXVIII, and April,

"Total SRA Caseload Movement, M a r c h 1940 and 1 9 4 1 ,11 p. 258 .

TABLE XXXVIII TOTAL SRA CASE LOAD MOVEMENT, MARCH AND APRIL, 1940 AND 1941*

Status of Cases

Under care at beginning of month

19 4 1

19 4 0

March

April

March

April

112,554

96,230

43,530

42,625

3,102

13,827

1,915 13,9*16

1,825 9,483

1,021 7,881

129,283

112,091

54,838

51,527

33,053

29,619

12,213

12,992

96,230

82,472

309,091

260,612

42,625 151,318

38,535 136,761

Cases added: New Reopened Total handled Cases closed Under care at end of month: Total cases Persons.included

a,,Monthly Statistical Summary, April, 1941,"California State Relief Admin­ istration, Ralph J. Wakefield, Acting Administrator, Volume 2, Number 10.

ro

ui

oo

259 Friday. Its 2,500 employees will not get any more pay checks, and the counties will have to care for 28,000 cases, or approximately 100 ,000 . Half of these clients live in Los Angeles County. The opposing factions, the anti-Olson advocates of abolishment of the SRA and administration legislators, were firm on every proposal offered, and there were at least a half dozen. Neither side yielded more than one vote.13 Another newspaper article declared: There is enough money in the SRA treasury to finance relief until July 1st, but refusal of the legislature to vote relief funds will throw the burden on the counties after that date, the Olson administration announced today. State Finance Director George Killion said there would be no alternative to disbanding the SRA next month. He issued orders today that remaining "dole** checks should be written to carry the recipient through June 50th, rather than the customary two weeks alloca­ tion. This device will spread out remaining funds and not end relief this Friday, as announced originally. 1*°s Angeles Times has long been a bitter foe of the SRA program.

This was again indicated in a recent e d i ­

torial which charged the SRA with being 11an outworn, wasteful,

!,SRA Penniless as Legislators Quit,” Daily N e w s , Fourth Edition, Los Angeles, June 17> 19^1* llf- "SRA Funds Will Last Until July 1," Dally M e w s , Tenth Edition, Los Angeles, June Y J , 1941.

260

politics-playing, radical-shot relief system. How does the transfer of relief to the counties a f ­ fect the migratory agricultural workers?

The interview

with Martin Ruderman clarified this point.16

Two agencies

are now left in the state to assist the migrants.

They are

the Farm Security Administration to he discussed below,1? and the County Welfare Department.

If the counties apply

the residence provisions of the Public Welfare Act to em ­ ployable migrants in need of relief, they will eliminate all migrants who have not had an independent three y e a r s 1 state residence.

Formerly,

the SRA could extend aid to persons

who had lived three years in the state.

The county law r e ­

quires that they live three years in the state independent of any assistance from any source other than their own rel a ­ tives.

In the end, all migrants who have not had a three

year history of employment are barred from county aid.

A

possible solution might be an indefinite extension of aid b y the Farm Security Administration past the three year period.

An illustration m a y clarify the discussion.

Family

B came to California when the migration was at its peak. They arrived in May, 1937* found work and supported themselves

15 "The Relief Imposse,” Editorial, Los Angeles T i m e s , June 18, 1941. 16 Ruderman, 17 Infra,

Interview, June 24, 1941.

p. 263 ff.

261

until November,

1937-

In tbat month they applied for and

received help from the Farm Security Administration until April,

1938.

They supported themselves until November of

the same year and again the Farm Security Administration assisted them until May of 1939* self-supporting.

Since then they have been

Even though family B has a state residence

dating from May, 1937* & period of four years, they do not qualify for county relief until May, 19^2, a three year period of Independence from any relief assistance.

If this

family asks for relief this winter from the county in which they are living, they will be refused because of Ineligibil­ ity.

The migrants were unanimously opposed to the transfer

of relief to the c o unties .18 An employee in the Accounting Division of the De p a r t ­ ment of Public Assistance, Los Angeles County, volunteered the following: During the month of August a meeting was held between Governor Olson and the various boards of supervisors in the state for the purpose of requesting the Governor to call a special session of the Legislature in order to appropriate funds to aid the counties In the administra­ tion of work relief. The Governor stated at that time that in view of the defense program there were some 75*000 jobs available, which would indicate that there was no unemployment problem in the state. Therefore, he refused to call the special session. The Board of Supervisors of Los Angeles County thereupon took the attitude that if there were no unemployment problem they had no right to expend monies for unemployment r e ­ lief. Thus, they gave notice that after August 31 no

^

Infra, p. 283 ff.

262

further funds would be available for this purpose. In all likelihood, a similar situation prevails in the other counties of the state.19 That an effort was being made to find jobs for relief clients was indicated in a newspaper statement: Meeting with Governor Olson the State Civic and County Co-ordinating Committee to find employment for those on California relief rolls yesterday settled on three important issues: 1. That there are more than 10,300 jobs in Cali ­ fornia available for those on relief. 2. That there is no grave hard labor unemployment problem in Northern California, but only in the cleri­ cal field. 3A committee was appointed to study the problem created b y jobless, homeless men who do not reside in any particular c o u n t y . 20 At this meeting Kenneth I. Pulton, State Director of Natural Resources,

stated that projects were in the offing

which would hire upwards of 10,000 persons.

The counties

would provide 8,500 jobs, the Division of Parks 1,500, the Division of Highways 250, and Natural Resources 100.

Los

Angeles County alone could provide 6,000 jobs of the above on

estimate.

In spite of these attempts to secure and create jobs for the jobless, and in spite of the fact that more jobs are

^9 interview, request.

September 11, 1941.

Name withheld by

"Jobs Exist for Reliefers,” Los Angeles T i m e s , September 13* 1941.

Loc. cit.

263 n o w available than formerly, it is altogether possible that m a n y people for various reasons will fail to qualify for these jobs and will be in need of financial assistance.

This

situation will be more in evidence in the slack periods of the seasonal industries.

Agriculture, of course, will c o n ­

tinue to have its share of needy families.

The transfer of

relief to the counties has placed the migratory agricultural workers in somewhat of a disadvantaged position. 5tion,

Farm Security Administration.

commonly called, FSA, in February,

This administra­ 1933, began its

program of direct cash relief to non-resident families of migratory agricultural workers.

In April of the same year

a change was made from cash grants to commodity grants.

By

September, 1933, assistance had been given to 15>^10 fami­ lies.

The purpose of the FSA is to aid people who, because

of short residence,

cannot qualify for other types of relief

and who are unable to find agricultural employment immediate­ ly.

The program is restricted to agricultural workers.

three phases include: above;

Its

first, actual direct relief as stated

second, a ‘housing program such as the camps at

Shafter and Arvin, discussed in Chapter Four;^^third, a health unit, known as the Agricultural Workers* Health and

22 Supra, Chapter IV, p. 170 ff.

264

Medical Association, F S A budgets,

discussed also in Chapter F o u r . 23

The

like the SRA budgets, are scaled according to

size of families.

In addition, a clothes order is forthcom­

ing when needed. The FSA caseload for the Bakersfield Office is p r e ­ sented in Table X X X I X , c o v e r i n g the period, February, through May, 1941.

1938,

The Bakersfield Office not only services

Kern County, but occasionally extends emergency aid to agricultural workers in Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties.25 Soule explained the 1940 increase as follows: The increase from 1939 to 1940 is probably due to continued migration. Mechanization of farming in the states of origin, mainly Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas, particularly the growing use of tractors in Texas, no doubt has been a large contributing factor. I am assum­ ing that you have read Paul T a y l o r ’s studies on the growth of large scale farming in the plains states and are familiar with the facts he brings out. Our figures show some decrease in migration into California in 1940, which was 50,000 families as against 63*000 in 1939 * The increase in caseload shown b y the Bakersfield Office table is proportionately the same as the general in ­ crease in the r egion. L2oj The regional total caseload rose from 55*884 in 1939 to 77*999 in 1940.27

Supra, Chapter IV, p. 213 ff.

2>* Table XXXIX, "Total FSA Grant Caseload out of Bakersfield Office,11 p. 265* 25 Letter to the writer from Frederick R. Soule, R e ­ gional Information Adviser, Farm Security Administration, San Francisco, California, June 18, 1941. 28 Four states comprise the region.

2T Soule, loc. cit.

265

TABLE XXXIX TOTAL FSA GRANT CASE LOAD OUT OP BAKERSFIELD OFFICE8, 1938

1939

1940

1941

759

2,047

1,465

564

731

1,577

1,884

March

2,332

688

1,832

1,941

April

2,773

623

1,969

1,880

May

1,307

583

1,777

1,614

June

895

664

1,540

July

421

582

1,599

August

434

603

1,020

September

590

890

1,4.50

October

960

1,197

707

November

777

1,172

533

December

803

1,636

1,315

J anuary February

a Letter to the writer from Frederick R. Soule, Regional Information Adviser, Farm Security Administration, San Francisco, California, June 18, 19^1- Mr. Soule stated: ,fThese figures represent total cases handled, in­ cluding duplications, and therefore, are larger than the actual number of individual families receiving aid."

266

Soule continued: Until the past two or three months, there was no Indication that the defense program was materially affecting conditions among the migrant group. This month, however, the estimated caseload has dropped to 6,000, as against 10,000 for June last year, which would seem to indicate that work Is being found either In defense areas or In replacement of resident workers who have found jobs in defense construction or Industry. It is too early and the data is too incomplete to p r o ­ vide more than a speculative basis for an opinion .28 Concerning the possible effect on the FSA caseload, of abolishing the SRA, Soule observed: I am inclined to doubt that change in the method of handling resident relief will materially affect the Federal program, since a major part of the state relief load is urban.29 In a subsequent letter, he added: There would seem to be a genera.l long range p o s s i ­ bility of increase. We will know more when we come to the slack employment season next winter. But what I wanted to suggest is that Ventura County is most likely to show immediate effects, among families evicted In the citrus wage controversy. These families are mostly state residents, SRA, eligibles, and when SRA funds run out, it can create an acute situation.30 The relief program of the F S A has received vigorous criticism from various groups.

It was contended that such a

relief policy was sufficient to tide the migrants over until they could acquire state residence.

28

In other words, It was

Soule, loc. c i t . k o c . c i t .Soule, Letter, June 20, 19^1.

267 a food program calculated to populate the state with perman­ ent hoarders.

Then, too, objection was made to the cash

grants on the score that the migrants would send the money back to relatives in the home states thereby paving the way for new recruits.

The change to commodity grants killed

that criticism and the PSA makes cash grants only in excep­ tional cases.

The Associated Farmers have been especially

active in their opposition to the permanent camp program of the F S A . ^

Their criticism of both the SRA and the FSA in

connection with strikes is presented as follows: The present policies of public relief agencies of the state and federal governments are, to state it baldly, to finance strikes. Wherever a strike occurs in agriculture b o t h the State Relief Administration and the Farm Security Administration appear at the first call of the union involved and begin doling out cash and supplies. The result of this has been very detrimental to agriculture and the solving of labor relations problems on California farms. This is in contravention to their proclaimed policy in referral of workers, that they cannot take side by referring workers. The practice of ready relief to strikers encourages the calling of strikes and the participation of workers in them. In addition it has been very hard to persuade relief agencies to release needed workers for seasonal operations with the result that man y times it is necessary to hire workers from outside the area instead of utilizing local labor. There can be and should be much closer cooperation and action from the relief agencies in releasing usable farm labor during harvest periods. The breakdown of the principles for which relief agencies were created will be very serious in any attempt to coordinate labor demand and supply in the coming shortage. Unless the relief agencies change their policies they will become an even more serious bottleneck than n o w . 3 2 31 D. A. Stevning, "Statement of the Associated Farmers of California, Inc. to the California State Land Use Planning Committee, Sub-committee on Social Problems," May 15> 19^1* p. 13.

Ibid., p. 18.

268

Robert Franklin, Public Relations Counsel for the Associated Farmers of California,

in a recent interview

held a similar attitude toward relief, the Farm Security Administration in par t i c u l a r .53

6.

Works Progress Administration.

Finally,

there is

the Works Progress Administration as a means of relief for people who are in financial distress.

It Is based upon the

philosophy that every person has an inalienable right to work.

Hence,

it is work relief.

The former SRA certified

its applicants and turned them over to the WPA when work was available.

They were entitled to eighteen months of

steady work and then were returned to the other relief agencies.

Obviously, recent arrivals In the state are not

eligible for WPA employment due to lack of residence. Agricultural migrants,

therefore, are only potential WPA

clients .5^ The number on WPA relief in Kern County for 1937 by months were as follows: January, 560; February, 568; March, 555; April, 859; May, 1,022; June, 620; July,

529; August,

551; September, 534; October, 404; November, 393

53 Interview with Robert Franklin, Public Relations Counsel, Associated Farmers of California, Los Angeles, June 24, 1941 54 Letter to writer from Emily Wooley, Director, D i v i ­ sion of Employment, Works Progress Administration, Northern California, San Francisco, June 20, 1941. 55 Letter to the writer from W. R. Lawson, Administra­ tor, Federal Works Agency, Works Progress Administration, Northern California, April 25, 1941.

269 Table XL36 shows the number of persons working on W P A p r o ­ jects in the eight San Joaquin Valley Counties b y m o nth for 1938 and 1939 -

It was impossible to secure any data r e l a ­

tive to the percentage of agricultural workers on the WPA caseload, but that it is relatively high is to be expected. Of the migrants interviewed, the following disposi­ tion of relief responsibilities is worthy of note:

seventeen

were on SRA; twenty-one were on PSA; three were on WPA;

two

were on RYA; thirteen were not on relief of any kind; four, not reported.

Many of those who were not on relief at the

time of the interview m a y in due time have to go on relief. All of them have had experience with the relief set-up either directly or indirectly.

The writer was interested in secur­

ing their attitudes toward the entire relief program.

It

was quite impossible to detect any differences in attitudes between those on relief and those who were managing to get along without relief. General causes of r e l i e f .

It was possible to observe

two chief causes for relief from the interviews. 1.

Farm m a c h i n e r y .

Jess Carter*s attitude was t ypi­

cal . One of the biggest causes of relief is machinery.

^ Table XL, Average Monthly Employment on W P A P r o ­ jects for the Eight San Joaquin Valley Counties for 1938 and 1939," P* 270.

270

TABLE XLa AVERAGE MONTHLY EMPLOYMENT ON W P A PROJECTS FOR THE EIGHT SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY COUNTIES FOR 1938-1939b -

Months

Persons

1938

1939

J anuary

2,199

6,832

February

3,943

7,038

March

5,285

7,670

April

6,347

6,689

May

6,245

6,385

June

5,891

6,592

July

5,952

5,862

August

6,604

5,057

September

7,061

4,515

October

7,327

5,169

November

7,438

5,335

December

7,094

5,642

a Does not include Federal Agency Projects. Letter from William R. Lawson, Adminis­ trator, Federal Works Agency, Works Progress Admin­ istration, Northern California, April 25, 19^0.

271 You take the small farmers that used to farm 40 to 60 to 80 acres with their mules and horses and consumed a lot of their food at home, today have a tractor and can take care of an average of six farms that size. That sort of thing puts about five families on relief. This farmer takes the money that these families could live on and pays it to the big manufacturer for more m a c h ­ inery and gas and oil. I s n !t that right? That happens all over the United States. Anywhere in the wheat country a farmer with a tractor and combine and three m e n will harvest as m uch wheat in one day that twentysix m e n did the old way. Where do those people go? They go the only place possible— relief. 2*

Effects of the Agricultural Adjustment A c t .

Homer Towney believed that this act was more important as a cause of relief than the dust storms. Seems to me the Government wanted people on relief or it w o u l d n !t have passed the AAA. T h a t 1s m y belief about it, course I may be wrong as daylight is different from dark, but t h a t !s the way it looked to me. Here were the farmers on the land with their share­ croppers and the Government paid them more to let the land lay out than they would make by f a r m i n 1 it. The farmers took the parity payments and kicked their sharecroppers off, and where could they go but on r e ­ lief? T h a t 1s the only place they h a d to go. I think the AAA caused more people to go on relief than the dust or the floods. M any of the migrants concurred with the above statements as to factors necessitating relief for large numbers of people. It is apparent from the foregoing interviews that the introduction of machinery and the weaknesses inherent in the Agricultural Adjustment Act have played important roles in the displacement of farm laborers, thereby converting them into roving migrants.

Social disorganization may, therefore,

be caused b y these factors.

272 Interviews revealed repeatedly both negative and positive attitudes on the part of the migrants toward re lief. Negative attitudes toward relief. tudes are summarized thus:

The negative atti­

(l) relief produces embarrass­

ment; (2) relief makes "bums" of many people; (3) relief destroys pride and independence; and (4) relief is futile. A brief presentation of typical interview material illustrat­ ing these attitudes follows. 1.

Relief produces embarrassment.

Being average

Americans who have fallen into economic distress the migrants found relief to be necessary but undesired.

Most of them

testified that it made them feel greatly embarrassed to receive it.

Don Jackson related one experience.

I went in J. C. Penny*s in Bakersfield the other day and bought a pair of shoes. The clerk made some remark about the SRA. My bill amounted to $4.10 includin* tax, and I gave correct change. The cashier sent back 5 cents. The clerk said, "She must be crazy or dumb, or somethin *. ” I said, "Maybe they*ve just lowered the sales tax.11 He says, "Never a chance as long as SRA exists.” He said this pointin' to some customers who happened to have relief checks and were buyin* shoes. He said, "Take that fer example.” Of course, that hurt my feelin's because I happened to be one of them. That's not the only time I*ve run into such occasions, but each and everyone hurt and there are things that will never be forgotten. That's all. There's not much I can do about a situation like that, but just try to shield myself, fer no man is

273 proud of relief, and I happened to have my wife with me. It hurt her, too. I just looked at him and didn*t laugh with his remark as he did, but just turned and walked out. We kinda dropped the subject, however, my wife suggested that we never go in there agin. I have a cer­ tain place where I cash my checks and can spend my money in other places where they won*t know I ’m on relief. Any man will feel that way about it and at the same time be grateful fer it. But I hate to look a man in the face with him knowin’ I fm on relief and feelin’ that I ’m such a failure in life. That’s just the reason I ’m goin’ back East and take it on the chin. I hope to become independent agin and never in my life be dependent on relief. A man always has a better chance in a town and country where h e ’s known. John Lawson felt that accepting relief was similar to begging and said: W e ’ve been on relief four months now and I ’m sorry to tell you that. I t ’s one of the most embarrassin’ things to go Into the office and sign up fer relief. I feel i t ’s just like beggin’. Raymond Dawson:37 I feel plenty sheepish about it, but I a i n ’t on it because I wanted to be. I had to keep myself and my family. Everybody else is on it too. Relief makes "bums" of many people.

All of the

migrants seemed to believe that relief, when needed, was a good thing, but when depended upon all the time tended to ruin the morale of the people.

Jesse Garter gave a pic­

turesque statement. I t ’s a fine thing in a way, but a lot of people quit tryin’ and depend on it. It makes bums out of them. In other words, they’ve got busted and disgusted and "regusted" and set down and throwed up their hands and said, "Peed me, 0 Lord." They have lost heart and ex­ pect Uncle Sam to take care of them.

37 Auto camp near Shafter.

274 Jesse Jacobs and his married daughter concurred with Carter’s view.

f,If people stay on relief too long it takes

somethin* out of them,1* said Jacobs, while his married daughter was more specifics I think that the relief has ruined about the majority of workin* men. I said relief when maybe I should of said Government fer that1s where it all started when the cotton acreage was cut. That took a lot of the small farmers off the farm* didn’t it? They had no place to go and nuthin* to make a livin* with. They got down to where they had to sign themselves as paupers and beggars to git somethin* to eat. When a man gits down low enough to beg like that he becomes discouraged with life and doesnft have any pride. Things have been in that condition so long they don’t care any more, they’ve got to where they expect it. They lived in tents and in ditches and in brush piles and in mountains so long that when a Government camp come along they thought it was paradise. [With em­ phatic gestures and raised voice.] We live from day to day on our beans and sardines and we feel free to say that the majority of people in this camp wouldn’t know what to look fer tomorrow if it wasn’t fer the Government checks. 3-

Relief destroys pride and independence.

Henry

Rollin viewed relief as a threat to a person’s pride and independenc e , saying: Relief has ruined the pride of man. Back in Oklahoma when I first went up to git my $4.50 a month in groceries I ’d walk three or four blocks out of the way returnin’ home fer I was ashamed to go down Main street carryin* that bag. But. after bein’ on fer awhile I ’d walk right down that street like I had a bag of gold. That’s what I mean. His wife-added: He wasn’t the only one that felt that way about it. There was several others there who would almost go without to keep from goin’ after it.

275

Rollln: Have you ever been on relief? Now suppose you had been in a town fer ten years and knowed nearly everyone and didn’t have to ask nobody fer nothin’. Then work shut down and your gorceries run out. And there was a commodity house down town and you had to git your gunny sack and go after your $4.50 in groceries. And all your friends knowed what you was after, how would you feel? I felt like y o u ’d feel. It ’d be the same way. I. G. Spurling, for many years a successful farmer, said: Relief takes that independent American citizen feelin* away from a man. H e ’s got to git out and sign on the dotted line. It takes the finest thing out of a man if h e ’s got it in him. I t ’s hurt the morals and principles of the people. I t ’s made somethin’ else out of them besides what they ought to have been. I ’m afraid if a lot of them went back to Independent farmin’ they wouldn’t know how to make a go of It now. They’ve learn­ ed to take orders and to stand around and they wouldn’t know how to plan. is futile.

There was a common attitude

among those Interviewed that relief prevents immediate star­ vation but offers no goal, no hope, no future— that It is futile.

Andrew Norris gave a terse expression of the end­

less doom in these words: This relief will never git you nowhere. There’s no future to it whatever. You could stay here a year on it and maybe be no better off at the end of the year, just barely exist. That was the refrain over and over again, relief Is non­ productive, there is nothing to show for the money received. The negative attitudes toward relief are an Indica­ tion of the desire of these migrants to maintain their status of respectability.

It is clearly a manifestation of

the wish for recognition as a hasic human urge. Positive attitudes toward relief.

Three definite at­

titudes were in evidence; namely,(l) relief as a means for the prevention of starvation; (2) relief as a means for the prevention of crime; (3) relief as a means for the preven­ tion of civil strife. Relief as a means for tion.It was the

opinion of all

the prevention of

starva­

the migrants that relief was

necessary for the prevention of starvation.

The statements

of Charles Robinson and Walter Stone were typical.

Robinson

said, "If they'd stop this relief right now there'd be two thirds of this camp, I'd say, on starvation by tomorrow night. Stone said: If It hadn't a been fer the relief In California the people would a starved to death fer there are ten men to every job. At the present time there ain't enough work to employ half the people. 2*

Relief as a means for

the prevention of

Similarly, it was held relief helped

crime.

to prevent crime.

Henry

Rollin was determined that his family would not starve even though It would have meant getting Into trouble to feed them. He said, "This relief has kept a lot of people from bein' criminals, It's kept me from bein' one.

Lots of times I

know it come just in the nick of time.” His wife asked, "You mean if you couldn't git it one way you would in some other way?" Rollin:

277 I wouldn't a missed It. I'd had to git It some way and when you begin to takin1 things you are goin* to git into trouble. All a man thinks about Is gittin* what he wants, what he's got to have. I don't know what would a happened to my family If I fd got Into trouble. I may be a peculiar guy, I never try to cross a bridge until I come to It, but when it needs crossin* I cross It. i'd a done it. I don't’know what It'd lead to, wouldn't a cared at the time. My family is all that would cause me to do a thing like that. He was not alone in this point of view. 5* strife.

Relief as a means for the prevention of civil Relief as the prevention of civil strife was the

overwhelming conviction of all the migrants.

Without the

relief program serious difficulties would develop In Cali­ fornia within a short time.

Arthur Brown said with emphasis:

Hell, by-god, relief is just a matter of have-to. You know people ain't a-gonna starve, you know that. If they cut that relief off in California they will have a revo­ lution in California. They'll fight fer it, they always have. Anytime they shut her off the people will go git it. And by-god I ain't no Communist, but I may sound like one though. Wilbert Stevens: If they cut relief off there will be war. People will fight fer somethin* to eat. They would take guns and clubs and walk in the grocery stores and take it. There would be enough of them to -take care of the law. I've heard plenty of people talkin' to know what they would do, of course I'd join them. I'd be a bad man to set around and let my family starve, wouldn't I? Jesse Jacobs: "If It wasn't fer relief I don't know what would become of us." Wife: "We'd have war that's what we'd have." Jacobs: "And it wouldn't be forty-eight hours with some of us.

People would be fightin* fer somethin' to eat."

0. E. Tatum employed a homely illustration to clarify

278 liis meaning: The Government is the people as a whole. B e i n 1 as the Government is the people and the people are u n e m ­ ployed through no fault of their own I am sure they are justified in h a v i n ’ relief, even in d e m a n d i n ’ it. Per an example, 1 111 take the dumb brute, the cow. You'can take a cow and let her find a calf and let this calf run with i t ’s mother until she finds a second calf. The oldest calf will starve the young one to death fer h e ’s got the teat and if someone d o n ’t come to the young o n e ’s assistance h e ’ll be starved out. So the unemployed migratory workers is just like the young calf; t h e y ’re b e i n ’ starved out fer there are too many of them. The relief is fine as fer as it goes, and it is the only thing that is k e e p i n 1 a revolution down. Per i t ’s human nature to eat when you are hungry. Even a dumb brute put in a dry pasture will break into the green one next door. Those expressing positive attitudes toward relief are evidently those who, at one time or other, were com­ pelled b y circumstances to accept relief in order to live. This shows that the desire for security or self-maintenance is a dynamic factor in the attitude toward and the promotion of relief.

It is also believed by these migrants that re­

lief is a type of social control, preventing crime and war or revolution. Attitudes toward relief administration.

Again n e g a ­

tive and positive attitudes were found among the migrants. Negative.

The negative attitudes were directed

toward what the migrants described as

(l) mismanagement of

relief funds and (2) lack of understanding of case workers. It was the belief of a goodly number of the migrants

279 that mismanagement of relief funds was one of the main weaknesses of the entire relief program*

William Powers was

an example of this point of view. The relief money seems to be abused in two ways: b y m i s a ppropriatin’ the money, and b y people not u s i n ’ it as was intended. But, of course, that a i n ’t the fault of the relief authorities. They buy whiskey and beer and wine and a lot of other things that are not essen­ tial to have. And besides, some of these relief investigators show partiality b y givin* some people more consideration than others. Probably i t ’s due to the impression the client makes on him, or he is fond of him, or he tells him such a damn big lie that he believes him. Grant M u r p h y ^ believed that relief was all right, But I d o n ’t believe i t ’s b e i n ’ carried out as it was intended. There are too m any pencil pushers that is a g i t t i n ’ it. The above was one of the most frequent criticisms of the whole relief set-up, namely, it costs so much to operate the program that the needy people do not receive their full share of the appropriations. Lack of understanding of case workers was in evidence in many situations and called forth criticism on the part of the migrants. have received, experience.

Practically all of them are receiving, or

some form of relief assistance.

It is a new

Most of them have managed for years to eke out

a living without calling for help.

Auto camp near Bakersfield.

Others have been quite

280 successful farmers in their home states.

Being farmers on

the whole, they are individualistic and unaccustomed to h a v ­ ing people prying into their private a f f a i r s .

Being u n ­

educated they are a little suspicious of those to whom they reveal themselves. in any form. tempered. defensive.

They feel humiliated in receiving relief

Coupled with this, they are hot-headed, quick­

The feeling of the underdog puts them on the Furthermore, m a n y of the relief workers are

ignorant of the migrant*s background, do not understand them, and are bungling in their procedures.

These, and other

factors, have issued in more than one conflict between client and investigator.

Don Jackson, age 27, lost his temper on

one occasion. On relief you never have anything but a mere existence. All of these people employed in the relief offices are so snobbish they make you so damn m a d that you*d like to knock them in the h e a d . Boy, 1 1ve been so m a d at them I couldn*t hardly hold myself to save my life. Some of them seem to think that it *s their money that they*re lettin* you have. I guess they feel a u t h ­ ority. They talk to you just like it was some poem they h a d memorized, and as fer understandin* people, they don*t. They don*t understand them any more than I understand t r e e s . In reality, those workers themselves are on relief. I told one of them that one day and she got plenty mad. First, she asked me if I was married and I said, "Yes.” Then she asked me if I had any children and I said, flN o . ,f Then she wanted me to produce m y marriage license. I brought it back the next day. She told me: lfYou don*t need any relief, your folks are able to take care of y o u . 11 I said, ’’Does a man have to have nine starvin* dren and a sick wife to git on relief?”

chil­

281

She said, "Yes, i t fs nearly that h a d . 11 I tore the paper up she had there fer me to sign and told her, "You can go to hell, I d o n ’t want none of your damn r elief.” I got up and walked out. That was all of that. That was up north last summer. We left there pretty soon and came down here and got on. The case worker was entirely different and put me on im­ mediately. This might have happened because I had the proper papers with me that day which I d i d n ’t have the other time. I kinda had a better attitude after that toward the relief workers. T h e y ’ve got a tough job. Lonnie Nelson also had difficulty.

He arrived at

Shafter, January, 1940. I had been on F S A about three days or somethin1 like that and then went down with m y son-in-law when he was t r y i n ’ to git on. H e ’s just a kid, only eighteen. We b o t h went in together to see the office worker. Na t u r ­ ally they have to ask you various questions about where y o u ’ve been and what y o u ’ve done and so on. He asked m y son-in-law a lot of these questions and then turned to me and said, "Who advised you to come out here?” It just made me as sore as hell, t h a t ’s just exactly how I felt. I said, " I ’m twenty-one years old and used m y own judgmentI" He said, "I d o n ’t know what California is g o i n ’ to do if Oklahoma d o e s n ’t stop the people from cornin’ out h e r e ." I said, "Mister, I ’ve whupped better damn men than you are, and if you d o n ’t think I can, git up and git over here across that damn desk!” He said,

"I d o n ’t want to cause no trouble."

I said, "If you d o n ’t shut your damn mouth and go to a s k i n ’ questions to the boy I ’ll shut it fer you. He shut up and went to t a l k i n ’ to the boy. It was fortunate, for Nelson was strong, alert, and powerful ly built.

The case worker probably never philosophized with

282 other migrants. Henry Rollin and his wife were expecting the relief investigator. made,

Their tent was clean, the beds were neatly

covered with pink spreads, and they themselves,

simply dressed, were spotless.

though

Rollin h a d heard of some of

the ruthless methods of the investigators so he said: If that man should come in here and start p u l l i n ’ these boxes from under the bed to look in them, or if he lifted up the top of that trunk over there, I w o u l d n ’t say a word, I ’d just be right on him. You bet I would. Before I got through with him h e ’d be glad to leave. Ho doubt he would, for Henry Rollin at forty-five, like Lonnie Nelson, was strong and fearless--and hot tempered. 2*

Positive.

With respect to relief administration

the migrants expressed (l) strong desires that the state should continue to carry on the relief program rather than to have relief turned over to the counties and (2) deep appreciation for relief assistance administered by the state of California.

The recent controversy in the state

regarding the transfer of relief to the respective counties found powerful groups arrayed on both sides of this issue. Heated verbal battles resounded from one end of the state to the other.

The groups in favor of such a move contended

that relief could be operated more efficiently b y county authorities,

that it would reduce much of the present red

tape, and that it would be a bulwark against Communism.

The

283 big farmers, of course, were interested in the transfer. the other hand,

On

the groups opposing the move contended that

county operation of relief would only augment the present inefficiences, that it would make relief more unwieldy', that it would serve to depress wages, and that it would be used as a.bludgeon to prevent labor from organizing. or Olson spoke against the transfer.

Govern­

He said:

In order that the administration of relief should not be used as a means of lowering existing wage levels In agriculture It Is imperative that the administration of relief continue to be vested in the state government. Prom what I have previously said I think you can appre­ ciate the importance of this statement. Many of the large grower interests are advocating--as they have advocated for some years--the desireability of returning the administration of relief to the counties. To do so would result In lack of uniformity In policy of proce­ dure and would also be tantamount to placing control of relief in the hands of local officials who would in many Instances in the rural areas be under the dominance and control of large employers of agricultural labor. I have repeatedly said that this administration will not tolerate a condition of Industrial peonage in this state, and I feel that a return of relief to the counties would be a step towards a state of affairs that could be fairly characterized as industrial p e o n a g e .39 Those are strong words, and yet, they are echoed by a host of the migrants themselves.

Jesse Carter gave a clear

analysis of the problem. If relief goes back to the county the land hog, who is the Associated Parmer, has got more power, he can cut you off relief, he has more power to do it, and will do it. H e !ll force you out on cheap labor. Well,

^9 Olson, o]D. cit., pp. 18 and 19-

284 you see when the spud harvest comes on, fer instance, in this county, t h e y 111 cut the relief and put you out there and make you git it or else. In other words, I d o n ’t know how to put it except this way: if t h e r e ’s a lot of idle people b y b e i n ’ throwed off relief, in order to make a l i v i n ’ t h e y ’ll take the. m a n ’s job that is at work in order to git the wage. T h e y ’ll might near cut one a n o t h e r ’s throat to git the job. If a man is out here in the field at $3*50 a day and another man is cut off relief to root hog or die, h e ’ll be glad to take that job at $2.50. T h a t ’s what brings wages down. Sure, that will happen. If it would cost the tax payer of this county $50,000 more taxes, the Associated Farmers would gain approximately a million dollars and git cheap labor. Take one farmer fer example: If it was to cost him $500 more on his place, that would be a considerable lot in raise of taxes, but if he could pull the price of labor down 5 or 10 cents an hour it would make him a profit of several thousand dollars. H e ’d hold the whip hand over you more than when you are on state relief. In other words, organized labor can fight the wage scale better in the whole state than If they break it down into each county. They may win in one county and lose in another. The farmers could make a slave out of you and make you take it lots easier than they can now. T u r n i n ’ it over to the county would de­ crease the payroll considerably and the small business m a n w o u l d n ’t handle as much money as he would otherwise. Taxes on him would be Increased and he w o u l d n ’t be b e n e f i t i n ’ b y it, while the big farmers would. Fact of the business is, it would put a lot of them out of b u s i ­ ness. Every business man depends on his area, the business is no better than the payroll. A lot of these small business men are on relief indirectly. If it w a s n ’t fer relief they c o u l d n ’t have no business. You can prove that b y their own statements themselves. One business man near here said to me ,fJesse, if they turn relief back Jto the county it will ruin m e . ” This ma n right down here on the corner has as good a business as some of them up in Shafter. Why? He gits his mostly from the people on SRA and FSA and WPA. About three families, twelve to fifteen people, have their livin* from the store on the corner. I honest to-god believe that if relief goes back to the counties it *11 close that store in sixty days. T h e r e ’re on relief now but they will be on direct relief. The best way fer me to tell how I feel about this is to have somebody to argue with me. Their biggest holler about t u r n i n ’ it back to the counties is crooked politics in the SRA. In other

285 words, Olson stacks the SRA with his friends and it leaves the Associated Farmers out in the cold with their f r i e n d s . They want it back in the county so them and their friends can git their finger in the pie. I honestly believe it will mean more friends on the SRA than at present. A lot of them here can't go up to Mr. Olson and say, "See here, Mr. Olson, I want a job." But they can go to the supervisor and say, "We went to school together, now you git me a job or I won't support y o u . 11 What's the man to do? He's goin' to do a lot of strainin' to git his friends a job. When he's through, there will be more friends at work than under Mr. Olson. Furthermore, at present we have one controller of relief fer the state and he gits his friends on. If it goes back to the county there will be a comptroller fer each county and he will put all his friends on. See, it's a friendly state! John, you give me a horse and I'll give you a mule! If the state got the same amount under county a d m i n ­ istration more high collared men would git more of the m oney than at present and the poor devil would git less of it. You might ask me, "Where do you git all of them ideas?" Well, I've worked relief people back in Oklahoma and Texas when the county was runnin* relief. I've worked crews in b oth states. I've seen a lot of the passin' of the buck and sharin' of the money b y high collars. There's so m u c h more dirty political work in the counties than in the state. It's better grazin' fer them, givin' them a fatter chance. It's harder to check up on a lot of fellers than on one, you can git him cornered pretty w e l l . There's another thing too in turnin' this relief back to the counties. In d o i n ' .so, they start the m i ­ grant worker to movin' agin on the road to other places huntin' a better livin'. That helps the oil companies b y sellin' a lot more gasoline. And it also disquali- , fies the workers fer state aid pensions by keepin' them shiftin' around. That's what they are tryin' to do now. Do you git the idee therev? Here's the way it'd happen. If it returns to the county and if you live in this county you are eligible to relief in this county. So they cut the wages and put you on the road or else. By takin' to the road in other counties you keep yourself disqualified fer relief in any county fer at least thirty days. You are disqualified in your own state.

286 I t 1s just sort of like establishin* your residence fer v o t i n * . If they git you out of the state you disqualify yourself in that state fer state aid or old age pensions at a later date. The point I want to bring out is this: take an Oklahoman who has been here fer a few years, and nearly ready fer old age pension, if they can rustle him out, he disqualifies himself onct he establishes residence in another state. T h e y ’ll git new people in here and i t ’d be a long time before they can git new residence. They keep him wallerin* around fer a long time. They want-to keep a lot of people here who have no citizenship. I know that to be a fact. They hold the whip over you in a lot of w a y s . They save both taxes and old age pensions b y d o i n ’ that. All of this can be done more effectively b y p u t t i n ’ relief back to the counties. At the present time I ’m eligible fer relief anywhere in the state because I *m a citizen of the state. I can close m y case today and git In m y car and go anywhere in the state and be eligible fer relief. But under the county system if I go to another county the case worker will say, "Buddy, how long have you been in this county?" I say, "Ten days." Then he tells me, " Y o u ’ve got to be here thirty days before we can do anything fer you, sorry." So I ’d have to git out and take a cheap wage or whatever I could git--maybe would have to take another m a n ’s job. A feller would have to live them other twenty days. If they are carryin* 40,000 on relief In the state, at least 10,000 of them will be disqualified all the.time. At the end of the year t h e y ’ve carried only 50,000 and the other 10,000 are throwed on the mercy of the people or seekin* the other m a n ’s job at a starvation wage. What does that mean? That means more book keepin* in the office to keep track of all sich as this at high salaries. It means more automobiles fer the Investigators that is paid fer out of the relief money that the poor devils should git and don *t . That *s where J o h n ’s friends come Ini If hands were scarce they c o u l d n ’t do that, but they know they can git plenty more In here. They want to keep us on the road. Fact of the business, t h a t ’s what Is worryin* them, too many of us has set down on them too long now. They keep the poor devils disqualified all the time from g i t t i n 1 on the gravy train, If this is any sich train here. Arthur Brown was emphatic in his opposition to letting the counties control relief. If they turn It over to the county the Associated

287 Farmers will be a r u n n ± n f it and by-god look at them now. There will be no damn relief. The "widers" and the orphans might git s o m ethin1 but by-god that *s all. They are t r y i n 1 like hell to cut old age pensions off now. Suppose me and the old lady tried to git a p e n ­ sion, w e ’d have to go up to the court house and give them a deed to this damned old shack. T h a t ’s the Associated Farmers fer you. W e 111 have to work fer them by-god at their price. T h a t 1s only m y way of l o o k i n T at it but I fm only one in California. You might be the damned chief clerk fer the Chamber of Commerce fer all I know and I d o n ’t give a damn. D. S. Knowles2^

believed that it would be a detriment

to the counties if the SRA ceased to exist.

He said,

"The

petty politicians will work their friends in and git a lot of the money if the county operates i t . ,f His wife added-, "Wherever t h e r e Ts a treasury t h e r e 1s always a hand in the treasury." Knowles: Some of these counties are poor and a i n ’t got enough to match the Government so the county that has got the most money would have the most people on relief. T h a t ’s just one reason so man y come from back East to California. A n d if it goes to the county t h e y 111 just do the same and go to the county that can take care of them best. It just a i n ’t right fer it to go to the counties. You c a n ’t keep up as well with it as the state can. A. Baldwin put it briefly, 1tThe Associated Farmers would have it.

They might have a wonderful lot to do with

i t ." Rex Hawkins:^-1* If relief goes back to the county we will have to Private camp near Shafter. ^

Auto camp near Shafter.

288 pick up spuds fer 15 cents an hour. Relief might even be cut off and force people to work fer a starvation wage. E d Morrow believed, field to work fer a song.

"They will force us out into the The farmers and the relief will be

in cahoots." Russell Clapp:^^ If it is turned over to the counties the Associated Farmers would control it and could cut relief off and make the people work fer what they wanted to pay them. If there was any work a person would have to do It or do without. Walter Stone h eld that county operation of relief would be a convenient tool for strike breaking. If relief goes back into the hands of the counties youi're g o i n 1 to see one of the damndest fights this country has ever witnessed. We know that the board of supervisors is Associated Farmers and they are g o i n 1 to use this relief fer strike b r e a k i n 1. They are a bunch of reactionaries. When spud season starts t h e y 111 shet the relief off entirely and tell them that they can work fer their price or else. We will be w o r k i n 1 fer 10 or 15 cents an hour. T h e y *11 have the tractors a goin so fast it will take three of four m e n to pick up a space, a space is about seventy steps or maybe a hundred, and it was b a d enough last year. It was so bad that the chairman of local 2ol of the CIO fell dead at Wasco p i c k i n 1 up spuds from g i t t i n T too hot. The Associated Farmers will expect three times as much, work as they did last year fer they will have the relief, shet off, and they know the people will have to work or starve and w o n !t have the finances to move. They tried everything they could last year to shet off the FSA to break strikes. They let the groceries run out on p u r ­ pose. We raised lots of sand down there before we got groceries agin. They used every damn w a y they could to git the BRA turned into the hands of the counties.

Private camp near Shafter.

289

They've accused the SRA or havin' Communists in the office, of un-American activities so that the counties ■would git the relief, git it into the hands of the Associated Farmers, to lower wages and the standard of livin' of the agricultural worker. The supervisor of FSA in Bakersfield is the most reactionary we've got in office today. Here's what he did right in the heart of the strike, he let the groceries run clear out and told the workers to go pick the 80 cents cotton till the agricultural workers raised up and made a howl ahout it and they got a shipment of groceries in. Hell, they was out of everythin' down there. It'd he worse than all that if the counties git hold of relief fer good. All of the interviewees were sincerely appreciative of what California has done for them h y way of relief assistance. in others.

Of course, this was more marked in some than Martin Childs had only words of praise for the

program. California is hest on relief in the world, I don't har none, the hest I've seen In several states. She seems to me to he doin' her hest on the relief b u s i ­ ness . John Freeman, a young man of 2 7 9 and not on relief, said,

"The general set-up in California deserves no criti­

cism in comparison to other states.

California Is doing

quite well with her burden." The attitudes toward relief administration as refleeted ahove indicates that people want to he treated justly and fairly.

When they feel that this is not the

case, they become critical, and the converse is also true, words of commendation and appreciation are forthcoming.

290

Methods to end relief as advocated by migrants.

The

migrants were not without some Ideas as to the solution of the relief problem of which the following are typical:

(l)

**to give people work” ; (2) "to pay a living wage*1; and (3) "to take the farmer off the dole. 2l£ give people work.

C. A. Peterson^2 and John

Bailey contended that before relief can be ended people must be given employment.

To quote Peterson:

They should stop this relief some way and give people jobs, put them to work. They can fix jobs just as good as they can give you the money. That’d end relief, and besides, people are a whole lot happier workin* than they are settin* around idle. Bailey: If we people had sufficient work there wouldn’t be no such need of relief. But as long as jobs are scarce w e ’ll have to hang around them relief offices. 2.

To pay a living wage.

Others maintained that the

only way to end relief was to pay a living wage to agricul­ tural workers.

Earl Richards stated:

I t ’s more profitable to be on relief than to work fer two bits an hour. If they would pay a decent livin’ wage in this agricultural work Instead of tryin* to starve people to death that would stop a lot of this relief. They have paid more fer their labor and got less fer the stuff they raised than now. One year here they got $3.00 and $4.00 a sack fer potatoes that was in ’36, and still they only paid 30 and 35 cents an hour fer labor. Now, they are gittin’ $1.00 and $1.23 and are payin’ the same wages. Last year potatoes was around 90 cents and they paid 35 cents an hour in some places, down at Edison fer example, but in this neighborhood they paid only 30 cents. They don't have no potatoes

^3 Auto camp near Bakersfield.

291 on this ranch hut never pay over 25 cents an hour fer labor in fruit. A decent wage would knock a lot of this relief in the head. Raymond Dawson: I just feel like if people could git a living wage there wouldn't be no relief. If I could go out and git 35 or 40 cents an hour steady I wouldn't think of goin' on relief. A feller should have that much fer his labor on a farm. If he can't git it, he just can't live without relief, that's all. 2*

Z £ take the farmer off the dole.

Jesse Carter,

like others, maintained that the parity payments received by the farmers from the Government were in reality a dole and should be stopped.

It was felt that this, in turn, would

tend to lessen the need for relief among agricultural workers.

Carter observed:

When they start talkin' about cuttin' down relief they are startin' at the wrong end. Cut the farmer off the dole and let him put his land back into cultivation and we'll go to work. You won't have to have no relief then. You don't hear Mr. Associated Farmer hollerin' about how much it costs the Government to keep Mr. Farmer up do you? Ho. Well, take him off the dole and it'll give all of us a chance to earn our bread instead of standin' in line fer it. The methods suggested by the migrants to end relief are an indication on their part of a desire to maintain their status as respectable members of the group. The migrants» philosophy of work and wages.

The phi­

losophy of the migrants on this point revealed a desire to live independently by their work and a conception of fair play. Would rather work for decent wages than to be

292

on r e l i e f ."

All of the migrants gave evidence of a desire

to earn their own living rather than depending permanently upon the Government. desire a living wage.

Of course,

they, like anyone else,

Whe n that is not forthcoming and

they show no intention of accepting a substandard wage, their opponents hurl hitter epithets at them. accused of being lazy and shiftless.

They are

However, no one

could become tremendously enthusiastic for a hard job that paid only 25 or 50 cents paying 40 or 50 cents

an hour when that job should be

an hour.

Walter Stone: At a decent wage, a minimum wage, I !d rather work fer mine as to have any of the relief. If I could git 40 cents an hour fer tractor drivin*, but that ain*t enough a feller should have 45 or 50 cents fer settin on a tractor. He should have about 40 cents fer irri­ gating If I could git somethin* like that I could make a decent livin* fer m y wife and children and wouldn*t need SRA or FSA. A feller could go to church and Sunday School and not be ashamed to step out in decent company. Arthur Brown punctuated his statements with mil d profanity. Relief don*t exactly suit me. I*d rather work fer $1.50 a day as to be on the damn thing. But I ain*t w o r k i n ’ fer these damn Associated Farmers at 15 cents an hour. If I work fer a man at that he must use me thirty days a month. But these Associated Farmers won*t guarantee you a damn hour*s work. I'know a lot of m e n on WPA who*d. be glad to go off fer $1.50 a day if they could git a steady job. Hell, I*d be tickled to death to go off fer $ 1.50 or $2.00 a day regular. Buster Swanson1^

^

had some plans for the future:

Auto camp near Bakersfield.

293

I fd rather have a job two to one than be on relief anytime. If you git a job and work two or three days and they find it out they will ciit you off and there you are. It*11 take you two or three weeks to git back on. What are you gonna do but starve? I can tell you one thing I won't be on it next year. I'm gonna make enough this summer so I can set back and if I git two or three days' work it won't.be nobody's damn business. I ain't got nothin' and won't have as long as I'm on it. I won't be here to be on it fer I'm gonna go to New Mexico. I'm gonna do spuds till, about July ^ then go to Las Crusas, New Mexico. I'm figurin* on gittin' me a truck patch and do vegetable f a r m i n ' . May be all wet about it, but believe I can. If I could git a job I wouldn't be on relief in the m o r n i n ' . 2.

^Unfair to work and get relief at the same t i m e .”

Practically all of the migrants revealed a sense of justice in this respect:

if a man had a job he was not entitled to

receive relief.

E d Morrow spoke enthusiastically on that

point, and he was on FSA relief. Relief is a good thing, but if a man gits a job he should go up and close his case and then git on agin if he has to. If I go out here and work and stay on relief I'm drawin* a lot of money that other people need. It ain't right. If they catch a m a n workin' on relief he ought to be cut off and not allowed to git on agin fer a certain amount of time. That's right. Of course, if his job Is uncertain and not regular he shouldn't be so fast about a goin* up and closin* his case fer it takes several weeks to git back on. Henry Jensen^5 who was not on relief and was working regularly for a ranch, was in favor of relief for those who need it, but vigorously opposed to working and drawing r e ­ lief checks at the same time.

^5 Private camp near Shafter.

294 Some men down in the Government camp are on SRA and w o r k i n ’ too, but not regularly--workin1 d u r i n ’ the busy season. When their relief check comes they git off and git someone else to work in their place that day. It a i n ’t right. Relief is just fer the p o r ’ people who have no other means of gittin* groceries. Daniel Goddard agreed with Jensen: I d o n ’t believe in a c c e p t i n ’ relief when you d o n ’t n eed it like a lot of guys in California. The SRA has caught up with several and made them pay it back in so many payments--that is, the ones who was caught w o r k i n ’ and g i t t i n ’ it too. One guy on this ranch was caught, but he a i n ’t here now. These migrants apparently had been brought up to live independently, and so had acquired a certain philosophy of work and wages which dignifies labor and shuns relief. It is a manifestation of occupational attitudes and values. In summarizing these different attitudes toward r e ­ lief, it can be concluded that in general the negative attitudes of these migrants have been due chiefly to their basic desires for response, or the maintenance of their status as respected members of their communities.

On the

other hand, those expressing positive attitudes have been motivated chiefly by the desire for econnmic security caused primarily b y the threat of hunger and starvation. Likewise, it can be concluded that all of these a t t i ­ tudes are a manifestation of the occupational Influence upon the lives of these migranta Underneath all, Is the desire to be treated justly and fairly as a dynamic factor In human behavior.

295 Relief, as was said at the beginning of this chapter, is the most dramatic and immediate phase of the migratory problem.

It is necessary because the mobile type of living

prevents the workers from earning a subsistence wage even though the California scale is higher than other states. To a degree, it m a y be stated, relief is a subsidy to an agricultural economy which either cannot or which refuses to pay a living wage.

The migrants much prefer, on the

whole, working in the fields for their bread, in line for their dole.

than standing

However, as long as they remain a

submerged group, and as long as they remain rootless and homeless,

some form of relief will be necessary to maintain

them even on the lowest plane.

Relief,

in some form, is

apparently here to stay. II.

ATTITUDES TOWARD RANCHERS

Associated Farmers of California, I n c .--history and purposes.

In Chapter T w o ^

of this study the structure of

California agriculture was discussed.

Needless repetition

can be avoided here; however, it must be kept in mind that it is intensive In nature,

large scale to a noticeable ex ­

tent, mechanized, highly financed, and demands a large supply of mobile laborers.

^

The employers of this labor are

Supra, Chapter II, p. 22 ff.

296 known by some as ranchers, b y some as landlords.

They m a y

be divided into small farmers and large farmers.

The first

group usually live on the land, do a goodly part of the work themselves, and sustain a close relationship with their employees.

The holdings of the big farmers run into hundreds

and even thousands of acres,

some of whom live in distant

cities leaving their ranches to be operated by foremen. Furthermore,

thousands of acres of land under cultivation in

California are owned b y banks, railroads, utilities, and other corporations.

oil companies,

These vast estates are

likewise under the supervision of foremen.

The real owners

scarcely ever have any dealings with their laborers.

Hence,

in seeking to determine the attitudes of the migrants toward their employers the above facts must be constantly kept in mind.

To many of the migrants the structure of agriculture

in California was something new and baffling, while others had witnessed the same trends in other states.

The Cali­

fornia ranchers are well organized to promote their own interests as evidenced b y the California Fruit Growers E x ­ change and similar employer groups.

The Associated Farmers

is an organization to promote the interests of the farmers.^7 The organization was effected on M a y 7, 1934.^8

There are

47 flThe Associated Farmers,1* Institute for Propaganda Analysis, Inc., Vol. II, August, 1939* ^

Ibid., p. 3.

297 forty-two county organizations affiliated with the state organization,

each county organization being autonomous with

its own set of officers and board of directors.4-9

The A s s o ­

ciated Farmers of California, Inc. and the Associated Farmers units in the various counties are supported by some 50,000

f a r m e r s . 50

The present president of the state organi­

zation is D. A. Stevning of Riverside. Farmers alone did not finance the beginning of the organization. The annual reports of the Railroad Commission of Cali­ fornia show that Southern Pacific Railroad contributed $ 2 , 5 0 0 to the Associated Farmers in 1934-; the Santa Fe Railroad, $ 1 , 5 0 0 ; the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, $ 1 , 2 5 0 ; the Union Pacific, $ 6 0 0 ; and Western Pacific, $400. In 1 9 3 5 * the Pacific Gas and Electric contributed $ 6 2 5 ; the Western Pacific, $ 4 0 0 ; and the Southern Cali­ fornia Gas Company, $ 5 0 0 . Larger contributions were resumed in 1 9 3 6 , when Southern Pacific gave the Associ­ ated Farmers $ 2 , 2 2 5 ; the Santa Fe, $ 1 , 3 3 3 ; the Pacific Gas and Electric, $ 1 , 0 0 0 ; and the Union Pacific, $ 3 4 . In 1 9 3 7 the contributions from these sources were: Southern Pacific, $ 1 , 3 0 0 ; Santa Fe, $ 7 8 0 ; and the Western Pacific, $208.51 Stuart H. Strathman, Field Secretary for the Associated Farmers, in an interview stated that the above figures were

40 ^ Letter to the writer from A. I. Tucker, President Associated Farmers of Kern County, Inc., Bakersfield, Cali­ fornia, April 29, 1941.

Holmes Bishop, ”Annual Address of the President,” Associated Farmers of California, Inc., Ventura, California, December 8, 1938, p. 13.

51 tiT]rie Associated Farmers,” Institute for Propaganda Analysis, Inc., op. cit., pp. 3 and 4.

298 probably correct, but that more funds for the state organi­ zation are secured from agriculture than from these allied i n d u stries.52

He held that the railroads and utilities are

called allied industries because they and the farmers are somewhat dependent upon one another so far as business is concerned, but that no attempt has ever been made to secure m oney from department stores,

steel companies,

or similar

business interests.53 The budget for the state organization is approxi­ mately $30,500 and is secured by assessing the various county units, pay.5^

the assessment being based upon ability to

By August 2 9 ,

194 1 > $17*000 of the budget had been

paid.55 While the Associated Farmers is ostensibly a farmer organization, Carey McWilliams holds that when it came into being in 1934, it was decided that farmers should ’’front1' the organization while the utility companies and the banks would have ultimate c o n t r o l . ^

The article already quoted,

52 interview with Stuart H. Strathman, Field Secretary, Associated Farmers of California, Inc., Los Angeles, S e p t e m b e r . 11, 1941. 53 hoc.

cit.

^

Loc. cit.

^

k°c. cit.

55 Carey McWilliams, Factories in the Field Little, Brown and Company, 1939)* p T 232.

(Boston:

299 states: A number of rTbig business" farmers have been con­ nected with the Associated Farmers since their forma­ tion. One is C. C. Teague, director of the SecurityFirst National Bank of Los .Angeles, who has been described b y the Hollywood Tribune as "feudal overlord of lush Ventura County." Mr. Teague is head of the California Walnut Growers Exchange, owner of the "Diamond" brand, and of the California Fruit Growers Exchange, which controls "Sunkist." R. E. Fisher, Vice-President of Pacific Gas and Electric, has also been associated with the Associated Farmers. So has H. C. Merrit, part owner of Taugus ranch, member of the family which owned the Mesabi iron range in Min n e ­ sota. A delegate to the Associated Farmers convention in 1937> and, according to the Rural Observer, an organizer for the Associated Farmers, was Joseph Di Giorgio. His $30,000,000 DiGiorgio Fruit Company is the w o r l d ’s largest shipper of fresh fruit and owns some 40,000 acres of fruit land in the United States, principally in California. He now controls the famous Italian-Swiss wineries and vineyards in Sonoma County, which were originally established as cooperatives.57 It is alleged that several presidents of the Associ­ ated Farmers have been prominent in Chamber of Commerce circles and have had important connections with banks and utilities.58

Strathman contended that the first president

was the only one who had held such positions.59

Such an

organization as the Associated Farmers is not without influ­ ence.

To quote the Institute for.Propaganda Analysis again: The power of the Associated Farmers seems to rest,

57 nThe Associated Farmers," Institute for Propaganda A n a l y s i s , Inc ., o p . c i t ., p. 4. 58 L o c . cit.

59 Strathman, loc. cit.

300 directly or indirectly, on the economic and political power of hanking, industrial, and corporate farm inter­ ests. This support reflects itself in the cooperative attitude taken b y many government officials and the extent to which the Associated Farmers mesh into county, state, and even Federal Government. Hugh Osborne, southern vice-president of the Associated Farmers of California, is chairman of the Imperial County board of supervisors. In Solano County, the Agricultural Commissioner, Hugh Wren, is a director of the Associated Farmers. In Alameda County, the secretary of the County Farm Bureau served as secretary of the Associated Farmers. In Colusa County, the Agricultural Commissioner is a secretary, too. All but one of the ten members of the Agricultural Pro-rate Commission appointed b y Governor Merriam to administer California!s "Little AAA" were Associated Farmers. The Associated Farmers boasted that nine of the eleven members of the Committee named b y Secretary Wallace In 1937 to administer the fruit and vegetable marketing code were also, m e m b e r s .^0 What is the purpose of the Associated Farmers?

The

second president, Colonel Walter E. Garrison, intimated its purpose

in an address to a local organization meeting in

Salinas, June, 1 9 3 6 . He contended that the farmers must organize to p r o ­ tect themselves against organization of the field workers. He also stated that the Associated Farmers were considering legislative plans to restrict the furnishing of relief to strikers. He asked that m e m ­ bers send him pictures of labor leaders, of "radicals" and said he would "see that they were handled," that the organization had a very effective system of u n d e r ­ cover men working in the Union, and that they had handled the suppression of a strike in Orange C o u n t y . 61 In their Los Angeles office the Associated Farmers have a file of some 30,000 persons whom they view as radicals,

even

6° "The Associated Farmers," Institute for Propaganda Analysis, Inc., op . cit., p. 3* ^

Ibid., pp. 7 and 8.

301 Including many who are connected with labor activities out­ side of agriculture.

Another file contains the pictures of

some of these so-called labor agitators.^2

Apparently, the

request of the president was carried out. The Associated Farmers, while giving verbal and even written assent to the right of labor to organize, are quite vigorously opposed to any effective organization which would materially promote the welfare of the workers.

Hence,

they

have engaged in political activities inimical to the inter­ ests of the workers; they have published far and wide that workers were infested with Communist agitators,

some of

which charges are doubtless true; they have opposed picket­ ing, strikes, and relief to strikers; and they have, either as a group, or individually, types.

engaged in violence of various

Their first major clash with labor occurred in the

Imperial Valley in 193^*

In fact, it was that incident

which gave birth to the Associated F a r m e r s . ^

Today,

the

activities of this organization have grown to such propor­ tions that Carey McWilliams discusses it under the title "The Rise of Farm Fascism i,1®^

62 Strathman, l o c . c i t . ® lfWho are the Associated Farmers?" The Rural Observer, Published by the Simon J. Lubin Society of California, Inc., Special Issue, Vol. I, No. 9* September-October, 1939* 9P

^

Carey McWilliams,

op. c i t ., p. 230 f f .

*

502 The annual report of the Associated Farmers for 1957 indicated that it was to be a permanent organization with one chief purpose, namely, labor.

to prevent unionization of farm

The president declared that it was to follow an

aggressive plan of action rather than content itself with defensive procedures.

He said,

”We cannot wait until racket­

eers begin organizing the packing houses and the pickers in the field.

We must oppose them now, before it is too late.”^5

President Watson and Stevning prepared an ”Outline for Speakers,” the purpose of which was to provide material for persons making talks on behalf of the Associated F a r m e r s . ^ Instructions for a five minute talk center mainly in stat­ ing the purpose and program of the organization.

Attention

is called to the fact that farmers need collective action in order to meet the various situations presented b y u n i o n ­ ism.

To quote:

"It can be pointed out that labor unions

are big business.11^

To support the statement it is asserted

that labor unions in San Francisco alone pay more than two million dollars a year in dues, and that some labor leaders receive salaries as high as twenty thousand dollars a year.

6 5 i b i d ., p. 262. 66 "outline For Speakers," secured from Robert Franklin, Public Relations Counsel, Associated Farmers of C a l i ­ fornia, June 24, 19^1• 67 ibi d . , p. 1.

303 A ten minute talk is merely an elaboration of the above with a few illustrations regarding attempts b y radicals to organize farm labor.

To quote again:

Illustrations of local situations are particularly effective if actual facts are ascertained and presented clearly. Even though an example used m a y not Involve agriculture directly, if it illustrates the point concerning radical activity, it will be effective. If there are no local illustrations, try to use an example from elsewhere in the state which is of sufficient interest to attract attention.68 Instructions for a fifteen minute talk are as follows: A fifteen minute talk should elaborate on radical activities and radical efforts encountered in agricul­ ture b y the use of at least two good current Illustra­ tions, but should also illustrate the work which the Associated Farmers have to do in dealing with various situations presented b y activities of labor unions. These latter illustrations should be of labor union abuses of economic power and should be of clear cut, unreasonable, rash or unfair situations with which farmers have been confronted. To illustrate what is meant here, the following example is set forth as taken from the April, 1939* issue of "The Associated Farmer,11 the bulletin of the state association.69 It is a case of abuse of power b y a union. A twenty-five or thirty minute talk is to be an elaboration of all the above and more time is allowed to present an expose of Grapes of Wrath and of Factories in the Field. Holmes Bishop, in his annual address, outlined four­ teen points which were to serve as the policy for agricultur-

68 I b i d ., p. 2. 69 "Outline for Speakers, l o c . c i t .

304 al labor b y the Associated Farmers of

C a l i f o r n i a .

70

In

addition he said: We have held ourselves steadfastly as a f a r m e r s 1 organization. We have kept ourselves strictly non-partisan and non-political. We have kept our interests strictly in the rural areas. We have financed ourselves from f armers1 funds as nearly as possible to do so, and more and more each year. We have, in the words of the founder of these United States, "avoided entangling alliances ."71 The Associated Farmers of California,

Inc., while

accusing organized labor of being a pressure group, is it ­ self, in reality,

such a group.

And, moreover,

it employs

m a n y high-handed tactics which it finds distasteful on the part of labor unions.

Here, again, is a conflict of inter­

ests b y two groups seeking to preserve or to gain certain ends which each considers just and legitimate. The migratory agricultural workers in Kern County, for the most part, have had many contacts with ranchers who are affiliated with the Associated Farmers, Inc.

Even the

small ranchers who are not always members of the larger group, directly or Indirectly, are influenced b y its p o l i ­ cies with regard to wage rates and treatment of labor.

The

70 ' Holmes Bishop, "Annual Address of the President,” o p . c i t ., p. 11 ff. 71 Loc.

cit.

305 attitudes of the migrants toward the ranchers,

their em­

ployers, is to be understood against this background.

It

is entirely a different relationship from that which o b ­ tains in other farm sections of the United States, for example, in the Middle West and Southwest where workeremployer relationships are on more of a personal, face-toface basis. Attitudes arising out of conflicts with ranchers. For the most part, these attitudes came from the migrants who were not living on the private ranches and who were not steadily employed at the time of the interview.

Never­

theless, they had had much experience with the ranchers. 1.

Payment of low w a g e s .

Low wages were found to

be the chief complaint of the migrants against their em­ ployers, the ranchers.

Ellis and Stevens were typical.

George Ellis:72 They don't want to pay nothin* that *s the reason I say they don*t treat us people right. They cut the wages down last year to 20 cents an hour. You can't live on it a tall. Maybe they work you three or four days and lay you off a month. I can tell you the r e a ­ son they do that: there are too many people here. They flock out here to better themselves like me, but I don't figure they do. The ranchers could pay more if they wanted to. The Government pays them to let their land stay out, and they turn right around and ask us to work fer 20 cents an hour. Tain't right. What do you think about it? They know the people have

72 Auto camp near Bakersfield.

306 to work fer nothin'

or git on WPA or SRA.

Wilbert Stevens: These cotton farmers don't give us no break at all. They cut you off relief and make you pick the cotton at 75 cents a hundred. Some of these potato farmers are all right, but the rest of them are like the cotton farmers, they ain't worth a damn. You can figure it out fer yourself from what they git fer their cotton and spuds, and. then figure out what we git. Besides they git a big check off the Government fer lay out land and don't have to do nothin' fer it. If you want one of these feller's names I'll give it to you, I 'd like fer him to see it in a book and m y name right on top tellin' him how it come out. Camp-WestL o w e — that's it. They're a powerful company. Pay lower wages than anybody else around here. Last fall their cotton stayed In the field late and the relief drove the people to do it--cut them off 75 cents a hundred. Don't that sound nice? 2.

Control of the small farmers b y the big f a r m e r s .

The migrants were deeply Impressed with the structure of California agriculture, particularly the tendency of the large ranches and well-to-do farmers to dominate the agr i ­ cultural situation.

The small farmers, they contended,

were at the mercy of the larger interests. Raymond Dawson had observed this trend: The AssociatedFarmers Is what's keeping the workin' m a n down. The small farmer has to do as they say. Suppose we was pickin' fer 80 cents and if we asked fer $1.00 the small farmer would,say, "Wait till I go and see m y finance company and If they'll let me I'll pay more money.” Some of the little farmers told us that if they paid $1.00 they ' d have to take It out of their own pocket. It seems that the Associated Farmers is the finance companies. It seems that most of the small farmers have to be financed. That about 90 per cent are financed and are just workin' fer a livin' as we are. They tell me that if a feller once gits in debt to the Associated Farmers he never gits

507 out. It sure looks like the Associated Farmers is the finance companies, d o n ’t it? Likewise, Claude Bronson had witnessed the struggle of the small farmers to survive. The Associated Farmers has got it over the little farmers. They c a n !t pay the prices fer the w o r k enough fer the l aborin’ class of people to make a livin*. W h y is that? Because the big ones sets the price on labor. Fact of the business, they set the price on cotton pickin* here last year at 75 cents a hundred. When the laborers wanted $1.25 a hundred, the little farmers said they*d pay it if the Associated Farmers would pay It and lots of them did pay it a n y ­ way. Wiley Cuddard,

Sr.:

What you call the big farmers are not farmers, they are just holders of the farm and the other man does the labor. The big farmers are pressin* the little ones out here just like I told you in Texas. I can git the proof on t h a t . I heard a woman farmer right near here that couldn*t git what her grapes was worth. Had to sell them to the winery. Somethin* is wrong about that. Unless you belong to the Associated Farmers you just git squeezed out. That *s one thing what *s the matter out here.

• work,

Demand for hard w o r k .

While not objecting to

several of the migrants did object to the speed-up

method In agriculture, as for example, Earl Richards. They expect you to work like you was gittin* six bits an hour and pay you only two bits or thirty cents. There are just so many people here they can git them fer that. If a guy won*t work the boss can step out here and holler real loud and t h e y ’ll come flo c k i n ’ in. Everyone of them is just as bad as the other no matter where you work. They expect you to fight it all day long just like you was g i t t i n ’ a big salary fer It. This ranch Is the same way. The foremen will tell the straw bosses to fire eight or ten to scare the rest of them into w o r k i n ’ faster and harder. One of the straw bosses lived right here in the camp and told me about

308 it. H e ’s just a migratory worker like me but got appointed to be straw boss. The higher-ups on the ranch told him to fire eight or ten so the rest of them would work faster. The hands was green and d i d n ’t know much about p i c k i n ’ fruit. A green hand c a n ’t do like an experi­ enced hand. The straw boss told the superintendent that they was inexperienced hands. He kept the best ones of them and fired the rest. This year we was p r u n n i n ’ grapes and the boss come up there and said, "Well, boys, y o u ’ll have to git 225 vines a day or else." Hell, you have to be an extra fast prunner to git that many vines and I mean you have to work. None of them got that. The best got only 170 or 180. They kept the fastest m e n and fired the others. That was pretty dirty. The five young men at Buttonwillow who were inter­ viewed as a group, although new arrivals in California, had found the ranchers to be somewhat exacting.

Three of them

commented on their work. Argus Dow: They d o n ’t live around here much. I ’ve heard and seen a little bit of them. But they d o n ’t seem to realize what a d a y ’s work is. Expect a man to do about as much as a mule. Henry Johnson:

"I wish one of them knew what it was

to work fer the 67 cents I made yesterday." Boyd Jones: I worked fer one rancher that lived in Beverly Hills in Los Angeles. He d i d n ’t have no mercy on nobody. On one job five of us quit and only one kept on w o r k i n ’. Most of the ranchers live in Los Angeles or some other place. We just come in contact mostly with the foremen unless h e ’s a small timer like the feller across the road. A.

Opposition to advertising for w o r k e r s .

It was

309 the universal criticism of the migrants that the California ranchers employ various means of advertising to attract a surplus of workers to

the state.

The purpose for

securing

a surplus, they held,

was to use that surplus to keep wages

down and to thwart strikes. Wiley Cuddard, Jr.: The Associated Farmers know that if they git a lot of people out here they*11 git their work done fer n o t h i n ’. They know the workers can *t win a strike fer m e n are always ready to go into the fields. But if there was only enough men here to do the work they could come to an agreement and git a decent wage--the farmers know that. So if they can git four men to every job, that *s what they want. Helps them rather than hurts them. Of course, they have to pay taxes and bear a lot of this relief program. But we pay our taxes too out of what we git, d o n ’t we? If so many workers w a s n ’t here w e ’d be g i t t i n ’ $3*00 a day in­ stead of $2.00. The tax load they are c a r r y i n ’ a i n ’t no more than 15 cents or 20 cents. If the tax load was taken off t h e y ’d have to pay $1.00 a day more in wages. So i t ’s really about 85 cents cheaper on the farmers a day to have all these people here. Their tax load with all of here a i n ’t nearly as big as their wage load would be without so many of u s . What they really want is us here no matter what they say in their newspapers, in their churches, and in their Chamber of Commerce meetings! This talk about p u t t i n ’ all of us back East is only a blind, because if i t ’s done, these farmers will have more to come in our places. If the Oklahomans and Texans was stopped from cornin’ the Associated Farmers would have the Mexicans cornin’, or go up here in one of the other states and g i t •their labor. They concentrate on the Eastern people because they know they are so thickly settled, and hard up, and never have any money, no more than a livin*. If these farmers would leave them alone t h e y ’d git b y down there. Homer Towney: We never will git very far as long as we have the Associated Farmers to deal with. They send out adver­ tisements to git people to come to this country and

310 there are more here now than the state can take care of. Not work fer half of them. Understand, I ain't no red or Bolshevick either, hut we won't git far as long as that thing goes on. 5*

Employment of foreign l a b o r .

A few of the m i ­

grants were outspoken in their criticism of the ranchers for hiring other race groups while native Americans were idle. However,

only E d Morrow gave evidence of a highly developed

feeling of race prejudice.

His attitude had arisen from

competing on the labor market with these groups, particularly Mexicans, Filipinos, and Japanese.

He spoke vehemently.

Some of these ranchers is inclined to hire foreign labor instead of people who belong in this country. They do it and git away with it. I went into one field down here on 99 highway where the man said he couldn't pay but 50 cents a hundred fer p u l l i n ’ bolls. The majority of the other farmers was payin' 75 cents to 80 cents. He went down b y the DiGorgio Ranch to git Mexicans and Filipinos to pull them bolls fer 50 cents. Furnished them transportation to the field. That is where a lot of our trouble is. The country is too heavily populated with foreigners. If you or I was in Japan, say, we wouldn't kick too much on what was offered fer our labor. We'd be kinda outa place over there. Be glad to take whatever they offered us in order to live. Glad to git it. That's the way it is over here. These people are here and they gotta live. Take a job at low wages and rough treatment. If they was at home they wouldn't have to put up with it. Don't have to here either, but they do. That's the truth, too. They could do like the rest of us, demand higher wages. 'Course it'd be pretty hard on them. Just the same the farmers ain't got no business hirin' them fer low wages when we native white A m e r i ­ can citizens are starvin'. The DiGorgio Ranch, largest fruit ranch in the San Joaquin Valley is workin* 80 per cent foreign labor--that comes from a paper not long ago. Some writer checked up on it. They git the same per hour as we would but the ranch works them longer.

311 6. laborers.

Petermina11on of policies without consulting The persons interviewed noted one of the charac­

teristics of modern industrial enterprise, that is, the concentration of power in the hands of the employers. they urged, was also true in California agriculture. greater degree of democracy,

This, A

on the other hand, would accrue

to the advantage of all, even to the ranchers.

I. G. Spurl-

ing was representative of this view. The Associated Farmers is a set-up that is mighty good fer the farmers but awfully hard on everybody else. Tell you what they do. They git together in January and set a wage scale fer cotton cho p p i n ’ and such as that. They d o n ’t consult with nobody on this. One man agrees not to pay more than another fer wages. They are obligated. In the summer they set the price on p i c k i n ’ whether i t 's a l i v i n ’ wage or not. They git a monoply on labor. Now that would be all right if they would let labor have a part in It. I t ’s all right fer them to meet fer business and set prices if It was a fair price, If it was a l i v i n ’ wage. But they leave labor out, that a i n ’t fair, Is it? H a s n ’t the l a b o r i n ’ man got as good a right to offer his labor at a fair price as the other feller has to make an offer and say, "Take it or leave It.” Last fall cotton p i c k i n ’ was at 75 cents a hundred. The l a b o r i n ’ people thought It should be $ 1 . 0 0 or $ 1 . 2 5 . They asked the farmers to meet with them at San Francisco to discuss a fair wage. Even Governor Olson was w i l l i n ’ to help out. Labor went to a lot of trouble sendin* their delegates -up there, but you know the farmers never did send t h e i r s . They had set the price at 75 cents and was determined at keeping it. there. It was talked that organized labor was unreasonable, that it used violence and tried to take everything and not talk with nobody. Now it seems that after all labor done to git a m e e t i n ’ with the farmers that the farmers was the guilty party, w o u l d n ’t It? The Associated Farmers are strongly organized and

312 many of them own the finance companies and are solidly agin labor. Opposed to labor when they are organized themselves. I d o n !t believe that is right. I d o n ’t believe that the farmers should organize and not let the laborers. M y opinion of the Associated Farmers a i n ’t so good, not because they are farmers, but simply because they are t r y i n ’ to take unfair advantage of labor. I look fer the farmers to go on and stay organized and fer labor to organize too. - They can work it out together. That is fair, a i n ’t it? Both should organ­ ize. Organizations are not supposed to do wrong but to help to cooperate. If these farmers organize why should they object to labor organizin’? If they do it together they can work out a fair and equable wage scale. This f a r m i n ’ business is a partnership after all. The farmers c a n ’t work their farm without labor. Labor c a n ’t live without the farmers. Why c a n ’t they work it out like men? Is it right fer one partner to tell another what he gits? Could thousands of fruit laborers do without DiGorgio? Why not treat one another like human b e i n s ’? On the other side, if labor had the whole say labor could ruin the f armer s . But as it is the farmers are ruinin' labor because they freeze the workin' man out and w o n ’t consult him. 7*

Violation of civil liberties.

The migrants

seemed to be aware that their disadvantaged status made their civil liberties particularly vulnerable, a state of affairs due primarily to their excessive mobility. times their civil liberties are threatened, however,

At all it is

in connection with strike situations that these basic con­ stitutional liberties are proscribed.

The ranchers, having

a superior status, are able to enforce their rights. cers of the law invariably espouse their cause.

Offi­

Jesse

Carter discussed this matter at length, a portion of his discussion being given below.

313 When you move on a farm you practically sign away your rights. You sign practically every hlamed thing they want you to sign or else you d o n ’t move on. You have to sign that you w o n ’t do this or that, or if you cause any trouble y o u ’ll move off, that y o u ’ll not bring suit against them. The Allan Ranch Farm of the Camp-West-Lowe outfit in ’39 had their workers to sign that they could evict them any time they saw fit and was not responsible for any breakage of furniture. When you move on any of these ranches you just about sign away all your civil liberties. And t h a t ’s just the reason I w o u l d n ’t move on to a ranch--although I was already w o r k i n ’ there. A day or two before I got ready to move on they come to me with one of them papers to sign and I told them to hell with it. T h e r e ’s a lot of evictions in this county, a tremen­ dous lot in time of strikes. If you ever look like you want to strike, well, off goes your head. Figure l73 shows a work card and agreement which must be signed b y all workers moving on the Buerkle B r o t h e r s ’ Ranch.

It gives support to Jesse C a r t e r ’s state­

ment . 8.

Acceptance of parity payments b y ranc h e r s .

of the migrants felt that the Agricultural Adjustment Act in giving parity payments to the ranchers for leaving a certain percentage of their land out of production was in reality a relief program.

They resented being called

"reliefers” b y the ranchers when those same ranchers were on relief, only it was called b y a more dignified name, parity payments. Boyd Small:74 ^

Figure 1, "Work Card," p. 314.

74 Auto camp near Bakersfield.

All

314

WORK CARD DATE________________________

CABIN NUMBER__________

NAME_______________________________________________ AGE NATIVE OF: STATE AUTO LICENSE______________ NUMBER IN FAMILY SRA

__________

SOCIAL SEC. DATE LEFT RANCH

. WP_A ________________ OTHER# AGREEMENT

I hereby agree that if I am permitted to occupy any house or other living quarters on the ranch or belonging to Buerkle B r o s . I will maintain such house or living quarters in good repair and will do nothing to injure or damage the premises in any way. I understand and agree that in occupying any such house or living quarters I am not a tenant but a mere licensee, and that m y right to occupy the same shall terminate immediately upon notice to me b y Buerkle Bros, or upon termination of m y employment. I expressly waive any requirement of notice that they m a y be provided b y law. I also agree that my employer m a y at any time enter the premises occupied b y me and take possession thereof and remove all of m y property therefrom without notice to me, and such entry by Buerkle Bros, will be considered b y me to be notice of the termination of my license to occupy such premises.

SIGNATURE

Figure 1

315 Some of these ranchers are g i t t i n 1 parity payments from the Government. Y o u ’ve heard of that, a i n ’t you? They are h o l l e r i n ’ about us b e i n ’ on relief, but they are on relief in a p a y i n ’ way. They git $600 or $1000 in one whack. You can do a lot with that. But if you git only $50 a month around here all you can do is eat, enough to git by. B. J. Lowry: The Government is p a y i n ’ the ranchers more relief than any other class in the country. They are the graftiest class anywhere. They git money fer land that is out and not supposed to be put in anything. Some of them git that money and plant that land too. They call it the three A*s. The Government pays them fer a lot of cotton they never turn a hand to produce. What else would you call it but relief?

9.

Unfriendliness of ranchers.

The migrants had the

feeling that they were constantly being kept "in their place" by their employers.

Relations between the two groups was

strictly of a business nature, social intercourse not being allowed to enter the picture.

Here, in short, was another

indication of a highly developed state of social distance between two groups in a culture, two groups, which, to some extent, are in competition with one another for liveli­ hood and status.

The migrants, although not aware of the

sociological terms to explain this phenomena, were, however, acutely aware of the sociological situation.

John Bailey

and Clyde Storey gave a clear statement of these well d e ­ fined relationships. Bailey: I d o n ’t know many of these ranchers personally, but have worked fer some. They are different from we folks

316

back East. When we go up to know us people. Can tell b y Wife:

ask fer a job they always our talk.

"They all say you are an Okie or an Arkie."

Bailey: Yea, or a Tex. I went to see one the other day about t h i n n i n ’ apricots and he gave me to understand he w a s n ’t h a v i n ’ them thinned. T h a t ’s all there was to it. When we go up to ask fer a job and after st a tin’ our business we may try to start a conversa­ tion but never git nowhere. They are just a little distant and make you feel like they d o n ’t want to talk. Sort of cut you off short. They d o n ’t seem to want to mess with me. I usually apologize and git away. It d o n ’t make a feller feel quite right. Last year I worked fer a man who come out here from Texas and made good as a rancher. It was just sort of like b e i n ’ among home folks. He knew just exactly how to handle us fellers. Last thing he said after a big pay day was, "Boys, I hope to see you back here agin next year and I hope I have a big crop." We thanked him and told him we did too. But these natives are distant. Storey: It all depends how long a m a n ’s been out here as to just what kind of guy he is. You run on to some of them Oklahoma or Texas guys who have become owners out here and t h e y ’ll treat you like a white man. If t h e y ’ve been out here most of their life or taken up the ways of the native t h e y ’re likely not to give you a handy word. I ’d like to see that in the Kern H e r a l d . If they did publish it I ’d probably be out here with a rope around m y neck. Y o u ’ve been around people who acted like they was mad all the time. Treated you sort of cool. Well, t h a t ’s the native rancher. When you are workin* fer a feller and the work is over, y o u ’ve got to git out, he d o n ’t want you then. Y o u ’ve got to git clear off his place. They just come right out and say, "Scram." "Course they go around a little different from that. But you know it means to git. Attitudes indicating accommodations with rancher s . These attitudes,

it was discovered,

came mostly from the

317 migrants who were living on the ranches, and were at the time of the interview employed b y a rancher.

However, there

were exceptions for some of those in steady employment were hostile to the ranchers while some of those living in the Government camps, county camps, or auto camps were favorable, also indicating a degree of accommodation.

The important

thing to note is that when workers feel they are receiving both good treatment and reasonable wages from their em­ ployers, there is likely to be accommodation, as in the present instance.

In such a situation there is an accep­

tance of o n e ’s role, an appreciation of the role of the other, with a consequent reduction of conflict to the bare minimum. 1.

Good treatment of w o r k e r s .

Both T. D. Tribble

and Frank Hart were especially appreciative of a certain amount of independence granted them b y their employer, along with other considerations. Tribble:75 I ’ve never worked fer finer folks. They are doggone good people. A f e l l e r ’s rent don't cost him anything and his electric just costs him 50 cents a week, water and everything f r e e . No rent at a l l . You get that electricity no matter how much you use. When you are not w o r k i n ’ you d o n ’t even pay fer your lights. In cotton pickin' time nobody even pays lights. I worked fer several ranches in Arizona and I've never seen better people than the ones I ’m workin* fer now. They

75 Private camp near Shafter.

318 d o n !t stand around and look down your shirt collar. I fve worked a week at a time and never seen the boss till pay day. Sometimes he comes around and asks you how you are g i t t i n 1 along. Course some people m a y not think like me, different people have different idees maybe, I'm just speakin* fer myself. Frank Hart:76 As a whole they want everything they can get out of a man. When they*re through with you that *s the end. But there are exceptions like this man here. This is about the cleanest camp I've ever been in. H e 1s one of the few that will treat a feller right and not slit your throat when he gits a chance. H e fs always makin' talks over the radio for the benefit of the migratory workers. And when prices go up, h e fs one of the first to go up. At the present time, Camp, Green, and Posnoff are payin' only 23 cents an hour, but Peters is payin* 30 cents for ordinary farm work, and tractor drivin* is 35 cents. He tries to give everyone a break that acts right and if they don*t, they ain*t here long. He doesn*t stand around and keep an eye on you. He shows you what needs to be done and goes off and leaves you. He's just that kind of fellow--figures you're honest and will do a good day's work. Much criticism of the ranchers, according to John Lawson, is entirely unjustified and is made b y persons who would be disgruntled even under the most favorable circum­ stances . I've been treated awful nice by the two small ranchers I've worked fer around here. Worked fer the same guy over here three years and he's treated every­ body just as nice as us. Them Germans treat people awful nice, both was Germans. Some guys holler though no matter how good they are treated. Two guys last year was yellin' about a labor contractor. They said, "I wouldn't work fer that son-of-a-bitch because he owes men in camp." But I've never had to ask nobody fer m y pay. They just wanted to holler.

76 Private camp near Shafter.

319 2.

Reasonable w a g e s >

The wages, although not high,

were regarded b y some interviewees as being reasonable under existing conditions.

They had taken note of both costs of

production and prevailing market prices.

If the ranchers

paid higher wages they themselves would probably suffer loss. Among the following migrants there was manifested the ten­ dency to accept the wage rate without much protest, indicat­ ing thereby a measure of accommodation with their employers. J. E. N a t h a n : 7 7 I find them to be awfully good men and will be nice to you If you are nice to them. But they c a n ’t git a bunch of men in here and work them jist because they are good men, stand them up and stall feed them. When they are through with you, when the harvest is over, they have to let you go. 1 1ve been on this ranch three years, figured i t ’s as good a place as I could find and I ’m satisfied with it. A i n ’t never tried to git a job nowheres else. I came in from Oklahoma one Friday and went to work here the next Wednesday and been here ever since. ’Course some people are against this place because they pay only 25 cents an hour, but I believe if anybody goes down and looks at their books t h e y ’d see that they c o u l d n ’t do much more. I ’ve been here a long time and seen what t h e y ’re out on this stuff. ’Course t h e y ’re bound to make some money or they c o u l d n ’t stay in the business. Henry Jensen: I know a little about f a r m i n ’, tried it a little fer myself back In Kansas; it takes a lot of money to operate one. Under present prices these California farmers are p a y i n ’ about all they can stand fer wages. ’Course 25 cents Is a little too low, a man should have 30 cents. Last year a good many farmers went broke. Spuds brought only- 8 0 cents and I figure it cost them

77 Private camp near Shafter.

320 about 70 cents to produce them and git them sold. You c a n ’t make money on 10 cents a sack. ^his man is an awfully nice man to work fer. I git $7^ Q- month regular. Six other hands on the place git the same as me. Foremen gits $110 a month. T h a t ’s pretty good. Martin Childs: The ranchers have done pretty well. Our main draw­ back is too many people. W e ’ve rustled pretty hard in m y family and got quite'a bit of work. They seem to pay a reasonable fair price. Some folks d o n ’t think they do, but I figure they pay a reasonable fair price. Undefined worker attitudes.

These attitudes may be

attributed mainly to shortness of residence and lack of experience on the part of the migrants since coming to Cali­ fornia.

Typical statements are given below. Harrison Wallace:

I know just as little about the Associated Farmers as maybe you do, but I ’ve heard it talked that they make it pretty hard on the small farmers but I d o n 11 know in what way. Jesse Jacobs: I d o n ’t know so much about the farmers in this state. I ’ve only worked fer two little grape growers and as fer as I could see they was awfully nice. William Holly:7® 111 a i n ’t had much experience with them but the feller I picked up spuds fer was pretty go o d . ” Lonnie Nelson: I d o n ’t know any too much about this country and

78 Shafter Government Camp.

521 would rather not talk about the farmer; ± t fs a pretty big problem. Maybe after b e inV here fer sometime I fll know more. J. C. Townsend:

"All I know about the Associated

Farmers is just b y hearsay.” Avery Quarles:

"I've not had m u c h dealin»s with them

but have talked to a few of them.” The fact that these attitudes are as yet undefined is highly significant.

In due time, the persons will have

encountered a number of employers and then their attitudes will become organized around conflict situations, or else reflect accommodations with their employers, as in the case of the two main groups above. From the foregoing accounts it is evident that there are certain social processes in operation with respect to the relationships existing between the migrants and the ranchers.

The most important among these are the processes

of conflict and accommodation.

Several factors appear to be

responsible for these conflict situations, which make con­ flict as a social process more dominant than accommodation. The following are the most important among these factors. (l) Payment of low wages, showing that the desire for secur­ ity b y means of adequate wages is important in the stabiliza­ tion of the relationship between the two groups.

(2) Control

of the little farmers b y the big farmers, revealing that social dominance,

leading to the exploitation of one social

322 group by another, is not conducive to social stability. (3) Demand for hard work appears to be a trait of the capitalistic system which leads to selfishness and rapacity. This in turn brings about group conflict and hence breeds resentments in the submerged class. vertising for workers,

(4) Opposition to a d ­

such advertising being another off­

shoot of the capitalistic system which in this instance often leads to both misrepresentation and exploitation.

(5)

Employment of foreign labor, an indication of social dis­ tance arising from race differences.

(6) Determination of

policies without consulting laborers is evidence of a lack of democracy in the capitalistic system and results in dissatisfaction on the part of the workers.

This is con­

trary to the democratic ideals and principles of American social organization under which these workers have been brought up, and in which they have developed their attitudes and values.

Obviously,

they seek to extend these democratic

principles into industrial and other relationships.

(7)

Violation of civil liberties is another instance of an atti­ tude developed out of a culture pattern based on democratic procedures, and which these people would like to see extended into all realms of human endeavor.

(8) Acceptance of parity

payments from the Government b y the ranchers has created a social situation which is clearly a result of the desire of the workers to be treated justly and fairly.

It further

323 illustrates an attitude arising from the American Constitu­ tional heritage of individual and social equality.

The

present economic order has so developed as to call for Government financial assistance to most social classes con­ stituting that order.

In California agriculture the Govern­

ment, in subsidizing the employers through parity payments, and the workers through relief, has become the cause of certain types of conflict between the two groups.

(9) U n ­

friendliness of ranchers gives evidence of social distance obtaining between the ranchers and the migrants.

Basically,

this m a y be attributed to the general attitudes of indif­ ference and aloofness on the part of the ranchers which have their roots in economic and cultural backgrounds.

On the

other hand, it is also due to the attitude of social in ­ feriority and compensatory behavior on the part of the workers toward the ran c h e r s . Attitudes indicating accommodations with ranchers are expressed chiefly in two ways, namely, good treatment of workers and reasonable wages.

In both of these cases

there is apparent tolerance on both sides of the employerworker relationship.

The significant fact is that when

people feel that they are being treated justly and fairly, differences are allayed and common action is permitted.

The

undefined worker attitudes toward ranchers are represented b y that group of migrants who have not as yet found their

324 places in the new social situation. In .considering the attitudes of the migrants, an important fact is to he kept in mind, namely, many of these attitudes exist, not in relation to a person, but in r e l a ­ tion to an organization or corporation which has only one goal or end in view and that is profits.

This situation

prevails because of the very nature of California agricul­ ture . III.

ATTITUDES TOWARD THE CONGRESS

OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS Background of organizational efforts.

Agricultural

workers in California, as this study has indipated through­ out, are in reality industrial workers.

Carey McWilliams

says: From a realistic point of view there is slight if any difference between labor employed in a Pennsylvania steel mill and labor employed in a California cannery; or, for that matter, between the type of unskilled labor employed in the mass-production industries and the type of field labor employed in the California farm factories.79 Again, California agriculture is monopolistic in character; it is highly organized; it utilizes familiar pricefixing schemes; it is corporately owned; management and ownership are sharply differentiated; it is enormously profitable to the large growers.8° 79 McWilliams,

o jd

80 Ibid., p. 266.

.

c i t ., p. 265*

325 A n d yet muchi of California agriculture continues to m a s ­ querade as "farming.”

The farm-holding subsidiary of the

Bank of America, California Lands,

Inc., a few years ago

controlled at least 50 P©p cent of the farm lands of nor t h ­ ern and central California.

It was worth $13>831>705 with

an income of $2,532,925 in 1 9 3 6 . ^

The California "farmers"

are the strongest organized farm group in America.

The Cali­

fornia Fruit Growers Exchange is one evidence of that fact. In 1936 its gross sales were $107>000,000. per cent of the California citrus crop.

It controls 75

To quote McWilliams

again: The Exchange is organized as follows: at the base, 13,^00 growers; these growers in turn belong to some 210 packing associations in various regions; above the packing-house associations are some 26 district exchanges; and over the district exchanges is the Cali­ fornia Fruit Growers Exchange. Through this mechanism, the Exchange dominates and controls the entire citrus industry in California (the second largest Industry in the State). Theoretically a 1co-operativef association, the Exchange operates, in fact, like any private corpora­ tion. It Is in effect a huge holding corporation, with the affiliated 1co-operatives1 as subsidiary corpora­ tions . That Is organization of a high order.

The growers who b e ­

long to the Exchange employ the major portion of agricul­ tural labor in California*s fruit crops.

These laborers,

can readily be seen, are at a big disadvantage,

it

since they

"Who are the Associated Farmers?" The Rural Observ­ er, op. cit., p. 10. McWilliams, op. cit., p. 280.

326

are not organized Tor purposes of collective bargaining to any great degree.

The National Labor Relations Act does

not include them in its provisions, while, in reality, they are industrial workers and should be entitled to simi­ lar protection accorded bonafide industrial workers.

As a

result of this unfair balance in bargaining power, Cali­ fornia agriculture has witnessed many serious difficulties. More than once the people of California have been shaken out of the even tenor of their ways.

In the period 1927-

1936 there occurred seventy-nine strikes in agriculture and fishing in the state.

This was more than 13 pei* cent

of all strikes called in the state during that period.

The

number of workers involved and the man days idle as a r e ­ sult of the strikes in agriculture and fishing, and in all occupations are presented in Table X L I . ^

«phe motivating

factor in most of these strikes centered on wages and hours, union organization and recognition.

It requires no gift

of divination to discern the cost of these strikes.

They

are but the symbol of l a b o r ’s effort to better Its status. The strikes bear evidence to long years of frustrated effort in that direction. The American Federation of Labor has been notoriously negligent in effecting labor unions for agricultural workers.

85 Table XLI, "Strikes in California,

1927-36," p. 327.

327

TABLE XLI STRIKES IN CALIFORNIA,

Strikes Number

1927~1936a

Workers involved Per cent

Number

Per cent

Man-days 3,dle Number

Per cent

All occupations 594

100.00

290,353

100.00

4,495,923

100.00

Agriculture and Fishing

69

11.6

65,058

22.4

881,952

19.6

a Computed from Florence Peterson, Strikes in the United States, 1880-1956, United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bulletin No. 651 (1938), p. 93*

328 Its interest has always centered in trades, thus giving no attention to unskilled laborers.

Even its foothold in the

canneries and packing houses in California is on* the wane. The International Workers of the World exerted a tremendous influence toward unionization from about 1910 until after the war.

The Wheatland hop field riots in Yuba

county in 1913 were the impetus for a significant expansion of the IWW organization. volt.

This riot was a spontaneous r e ­

In 1914 there were 5*000 regular m e m b e r s . ^ Other sporadic efforts toward organization took

place during the early 1930*s, but nothing on a large state­ wide scale.

For example, the Monterey County Vegetable

Packers Union engineered the Salinas lettuce strike in 1936. The pea-picking strike in the Imperial Valley in 193*1- was called b y the Imperial Cannery and Agricultural W o r k e r s 1 Industrial Union. the same valley.

Mexican laborers were also organized in In 1936 the Migratory W o r k e r s 1 Protective

Union came into being.

It is governed by a Committee of One

Hundred, the members keeping in touch with one another b y mall.

This committee aspired to organize throughout the

state but it had vigorous opposition. Anderson,

According to Paul Y.

thirty-six members of the committee have been run

down on the highway or met death in some other i f accidental”

84 Lewis, op. cit., p. 7-

329 way.85 By 1937 agricultural workers in all parts of the country "began to see a greater need for industrial organiza­ tion.

Thus, the first national convention of agricultural

workers ever to be held in the United States convened in Denver, July 9-12.

Such groups as the Southern Tennant

F a r m e r s 1 Union and others sent eager delegates. vention voted unanimously to join the CIO.

The con­

A new national

union emerged from the convention, namely, the United Cannery, Agricultural, America.

Packing, and Allied Workers of

National organization was seen as a necessity

since most of the workers crossed state lines as migrants in search of work.

The new union, commonly known as

UCAPAWA, .is the agricultural department of the CIO and has more than sixteen locals in California.

There are four

locals in Kern County: Arvin, Shafter Mexican Colony, Shafter, and Wasco.

These locals including a temporary

"potato” local at Edison, have a membership of about 1,000. The initiation fee is $1.00; dues when employed are 60 cents per month, 25 cents when unemployed.86 member is an organizer.

T,Every UCAPAWA

The CIO buttons they wear mean to

^5 Paul Y. Anderson, "California's Blackshirts," Nation, 147:122-23, August 6, 1933. 83 Letter to the writer from Wyman Hicks, Regional Director CIO, Bakersfield Office, April 30, 1940.

330 them fcan I organize?T"^7

Thus, the CIO through its agri­

cultural union is not only attempting to organize shed and cannery workers hut also the field workers so long neglected b y the American Federation of Labor. The Associated Farmers of California, Inc., while being highly organized themselves, are actively opposed to the efforts of the CIO to organize agricultural workers. The weapon of offence is the charge of Communism in the leadership of the CIO.

A mimeographed statement b y the

Associated Farmers attacks the UCAPAWA,

the California

Committee to Aid Agricultural Workers, the Simon J. Lubin Society, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Hollywood League for Democratic Action (formerly known as the Hol l y ­ wood Anti-Nazi League),

the Inter-Professional Association,

and other groups for having "taken up the cudgel in behalf of Communist activities in agriculture.88

^

j

person

identified with the above groups is reputedly of dangerous left-wing tendencies.

If the Associated Farmers of Cali­

fornia would be more accurate in defining their terms, much confusion and hysteria would be avoided. is a Communistic agitator?

For example, who

Oftentimes the impression is

87 Letter from Wyman Hicks,

loc. cit.

88 "Communistic Activities in Agriculture," Associated Farmers of California, Inc., 19^0, p. 7 *

331 made that he is a person who is receiving twenty-five cents an hour and desires a raise to thirty cents.

If that is

true, of course, there m a y be many "Communists,” but agita­ tion of that sort is frequently legitimate and necessary. A labor leader, in an interview, indicated from his standpoint methods employed by the ranchers to thwart the workers in their attempts at organizing.

He said:

The ranchers have developed a pretty good technique for keeping the workers divided in order to prevent them from organizing. The way they do it is to pit one race against another. They will say to the white workers, "You d o n ft want to work with Negroes and Mexicans, you are a white man. Besides, they are out to get your job." A n d they will say to the Negroes and Mexicans, "You don*t want to have anything to do with the white trash, do you? They are always opposed to you." So you see the campaign of the ranchers as individuals and in the press is effective. In fact, the ranchers are guilty of doing the very things they accuse t h e 'Communists of doing, namely, stirring up hatred.”9 He continued: The ranchers have another technique for keeping the workers from organizing and this time it is in the field of religion. It has been clearly demonstrated that pseudo preachers are often paid b y the ranchers as a means of holding the workers in check. The workers are pretty religious in their home states and continue to attend church services out here, at least, some of them do. It is interesting to note that most of these preachers are active when there Is a little labor trouble in progress. They get up and tell the people that the CIO is wrong, and that those who are

^ 9 Interview, Prank Lopez, International Representa­ tive of the United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing and Allied Workers of America, CIO, Los Angeles, California, October 11, 1941.

332 wearing the CIO badges have the mark of the "beast" upon them. It works, for the people become more sus­ picious of the organization. The manager of the Shafter Government Camp told me that one of those preachers came in the camp and was causing so much trouble that it was necessary to make him l e a v e . 90 In view of the above background, it Is now in order to turn to an examination of the attitudes which were ex­ pressed by the migrants regarding the CIO In its efforts at organizing agricultural laborers.

It is to be kept in

mind that of the sixty persons interviewed, nine were members of the CIO, forty-eight did not belong, while three are unreported. Attitudes stressing weakness.

The migrants had made

the discovery that the CIO was not a "perfect” union.

Their

evaluation of its weaknesses consisted in (l) fear of its alleged Communism,

(2) lack of strategy in strikes,

(3)

m e m b e r s x refusal to work, and (4) the activity of "rats" In the organization. -*-•

Fear of Communism.

Whether based on factual

evidence or not, m a n y of the migrants had come to believe that Communists were playing a significant role in the acti­ vities of the CIO.

It was not possible to discover all of

the sources of their Information, but presumably much of it was based upon hearsay and upon the newspapers.

9° Lopez, loc. cit.

Nevertheless,

it was a deterrent to restrain them from joining the CIO. Also in some local situations they had observed the employ­ ment of violence on the part of the CIO leaders to achieve their ends.

Basic at this point was the fear of loss of

status which would be entailed through identification with an organization which was held in disrepute In some quarters. In view of this alleged radicalism, Clint P o w e l l ^ asserted that the CIO should be sent back to Russia, thereby reveal­ ing his conception of its final loyalty. M y Idea m a y be wrong but I believe it just raises more hell than anything else. Put yourself down in a f e l l e r !s place who had a family and no groceries. Go out here then in the fields and meet a bunch of strikers who have some food. They knock you In the head with a club. What are you gonna do? Wow if they would feed you while y o u ’re strikin1 I ’d strike every day and stay strikin*. I ’d set down there till hell froze over. But a i n ’t no union g o ± n ’ to take care of you like that, not no cotton pickers. I think the American Federation of Labor is all right but I think they should send the CIO back to Russia. It just looks like a damn red outfit to me. I m a y be as wrong as hell but that *s the way I see I t . Robert Orsley and D. S. Knowles considered the radicalism of the CIO as consisting in a departure from its rules— the rules were all right, but their application was harmful.

Here, then, was a relative approval of the CIO,

although neither belonged. Orsley: The rules of the CIO are fine.

Auto camp near Bakersfield.

But when t h e r e ’s a

334 strike they d o n Tt always follow the hook. They pull too much rough stuff and d o n Tt understand whut i t Ts really all a b o u t . Knowles: The constitution and by-laws are all right but I think the Communists and radicals have got in too much. If you c a n ’t talk people into somethin* you c a n ’t force them into it. If you force a man to do somethin* you ain*t made no better man out of him. 2-

Lack of strategy in strikes.

dence to a latent sympathy for the CIO,

While giving evi­

some of the persons

interviewed expressed disgust at its poor strategy in strike situations.

Martin S. Akers and Robert Dawson were charac­

teristic . Akers: It *s a pretty rotten outfit. They are too fanatic. All I want to say about the CIO is what I*ve seen with m y own eyes. They come where I was last summer after cotton pickin* was done started. We would a got $1.00 a hundred just in a short time. They come in there and said, ,fLet *s strike fer $1.25*n The Associated Farmers and the little farmers had done met and set a price. The big farmers was to pay 80 cents and the little farmers $1.00 to open up the season. The CIO come in and says, T,We w o n ’t pick the cotton fer less than $1.25 a hundred..11 The farmers met agin and there was confu­ sion right there. They was mad and just bucked ’em. Said they wouldn*t pay it. We had to pick the cotton fer 80 cents. The little ones paid the $1.00. If the CIO hadn*t butted In we could have got $1.00 from the big farmers. They was just ready to pay it. It w a s n ’t no time fer the CIO to be meddlin* around. They should have commenced in the Spring when cotton choppin* was in full sway. Went around and organized the pickers. They could a told them if they would strike, 1,We will take care of you and your family so you w o n ’t be in need.11 Then, they*d git somewhere. T h a t ’s when to git ready fer a strike.

335 Dawson: The CIO would be all right if they would start in the right way. When they start with the fruit they usually win because they start with the sheds and git them shut down. They got them stopped where I was pickin' last year in half a day. They stopped them from bringin* anything to the cannery so they had to shut d o w n . In cotton the best place fer the CIO to start Is at the gin. Git all the workers organized there and then organize the field workers. If you can organize the gin there won't be no need to bring the cotton up there. Just leave it on the stalk. But the CIO d o n ft always begin that way. They run out here along the roads and cause a big stir. D o n !t git very fer. 3-

M e m b e r s 1 refusal to w o r k .

regarded as a shield for lazy folk.

For some the CIO was

The Interviews are

self explanatory, revealing that work should be accepted as a social responsibility, are

not to be condoned.

and that subtle means to evade work John Lawson was emphatic:

It just seems to.me that the CIO has got a bunch in that won't work. I hear it said that some of these old heads move out of here when the work comes on. Move over to some place where there a i n ft no work. When the work comes on there they move out agin. That 's one way of gittin* by. Some moved out of camp last week. Of course, a lot of them went to the spuds at Edison. The class that w o n ft work is the ones that are always a pullin' the strikes. Just before the work opens up they begin to talk about the wages they are gonna have and generally make it higher than's ever been paid. That ain't the right thing, do you think so? They ask fer too much. La,st year they struck fer $lv25Some of the old heads told me they struck fer that because they knew they c o u l d n ft git it and so be able to stay on SRA or FSA without w orkin*. That's their object. If they had struck fer $1.00 the farmers would a paid it even though they had set the price fer cotton pickin' at 75 cents a hundred.

336

John Bailey: I don*t belong to it. Guess it's all right fer them that belong. In the Brawley camp m y ■wife was a member of the -welfare committee and we found people c o m i n 1 in there destitute. Some didn*t even have a bed to sleep on. We found that most of the people we had to help were members of the CIO. They also made their brags as to what they would d o . I find that they work less than any class of the agricultural w o r k e r s . They claim they are fer higher wages and are always causin* trouble. Last year they pulled a strike here and wouldn*t pick durin* the good pickin*. Just went up and down the highway tryin* to cause all the trouble they could among those that was pickin*. But* durin* the second pickin* they got in and picked fer 90 cents. Just had to fer they wanted to git out of here and needed transportation money. Maybe the reason we had to help so many of the CIO*s at Brawley was because they wouldn*t work unless they could git their prices. But our family has worked fer 25 cents an hour and glad to git It. If we*d had 25 cents an hour all winter we wouldn*t asked fer no relief. I don*t know too much about the CIO but I know all I want to know. Down at Brawley I learned to have very little sympathy with them. I never have found out much good they have done fer the country, have you? Sure haven*t. Wife:

,fHe has given you a pretty good outline of it

all r i g h t .n 4.

Activity of 11rats11 in organization.

In the atti­

tude herein revealed there was again manifested the basic desire to be treated justly and fairly. clear:

The meaning is

a betrayal of confidence begets a feeling of disgust,

which in turn makes it difficult once again to build up a loyal following.

It was with an outlook of bitterness that

John Beaven denounced certain tactics of the CIO, saying:

337 I started out with them hut d i d n ft stay with them long. I come out in the strike with them in the fall of 1938. Some of the "big shots in it were single and drawed a salary. T h e y !d git out and throw their beer parties and a lot of us married guys settin* there with a family--no work, no money. I finally got disgusted and quit. There were too many °ratstf in it. The flyin' squad captain told us to go out with clubs and beat them out of the fields. The cops foilered us everywhere we went every day--right behind us. They follered us right into the CIO headquarters. The law would hang around all day. The big shots would stay in the office and the law w o u l d n !t bother them. But they wanted us married fellers to beat 1em up, run ‘em out--anything. Stick our necks out and git into trouble. They'd tell us to fill the jail up and make 'em take care of us. But you couldn't git one of them scoundrels out. Just sich stunts as that is why I quit 'em. 'Tell you some more. Some of the big flyin' squad captains got up and made speeches. Gave a report every night. They said, t!We*ll go with you and take 'em out in the m o r n i n ' .11 So a big crowd went. These three fellers went in a fast pick-up V-8. The rest went in old rattle-traps that wouldn't even overtake a terrapin. When we got to the fields one of them fellers stayed in the truck and kept the motor r u n n i n ' . The other two jumped out and led the bunch into the field. Pretty soon we heard the siren of the cops cornin'. These two guys made a. beat fer the truck and b y the time they got there it was already m o v i n ' . They made an easy git-away. The cops got the whole bunch. Give them a sixty-day suspended sentence. That was a warnin' not to be caught out in the strike any more. That's one of the reasons I quit. But they'd git up at night and tell us that we was yaller. Afraid to go in there and git 'em when it come to a show d o ™ . Run like scared rabbits. The CIO made promises and didn't keep them. I know of one time that sixteen was throwed in jail. Two of them stayed there five weeks. Never saw a lawyer although one had been promised. They'd a stayed there till they rotted if they hand't submitted to the charge. The instructions had been to everyone to plead not guilty and demand a jury trial in case they got caught. They stayed right in jail till the strike was settled and everybody was back p i c k i n ' . They had to submit to the charges. Looks to me like the CIO just quit the

338 boys after they got in there. When all that took place I said, "Well, I !m done." And I w a s n ’t by myself. Plenty of the rest did the same thing. So I ’m done, plumb done with ’em. Too many "rats" in it. Attitudes stressing values.

While the weaknesses of

the CIO were paramount in the attitudes of m any of the p e r ­ sons interviewed,

its values were equally stressed b y

others.

The fact to be noted here is the approval of organ­

ization^

and dependence upon organization to achieve certain

ends.

Collective action in some instances is more effective

than individual initiative.

The CIO as an organization had

demonstrated its value to the migrants in the respects: (l) securing of better wages, (3)

(2) prevention of starvation,

assistance of the grievance committee of the CIO in

helping relief clients secure their relief quotas.

Beneath

these attitudes m a y be seen the ever present human urge to maintain both security and status. 1.

Securing of better w a g e s .

The CIO was praised

more for its efforts at championing the economic cause of the worker than for any other reason.

John Freeman favored

the CIO because it was a means of "pul l i n ’" together, a l ­ though he was not a member of it. I t ’s a good help to the country. The landowners are inclined to git things done as cheap as they can. The common people have no way of g i t t i n ’ at them except when the union takes the lead. Unless they have a little trouble of some form to impress on their mind that wages should stay higher they will continue to bring them down. They are c u t t i n ’ every year. Payin’

339 less fer i r r i g a t i n g cotton p i c k i n ’, tractor, and all other work. Last year they paid $3*00 fer a twelve hour shift in irrigatin1. Before the year ended it was $2.75* This year i t ’s been put down to $2*50. They would keep on b r i n g i n 1 the labor down so they could raise more crops cheaper and thus would flood the market more. So the price of farm products would come down more and the farmers would have to cut wages agin if they continued to farm. C s n Tt you see that we need somethin1 to hold wages up? They say it will break them to pay high wages. But some of them may have to go broke to save f loodinT the market and lowerin1 wages. We need a standard fer labor prices and let the farmer look out fer himself. Not let the labor i n ’ m an lose everytime when t h e r e ’s a slump in prices. See what I ’m g i t t i n ’ at? We need some form of p u l l i n ’ together to prevent g o i n ’ into slavery. If the CIO can do it, O.K. If not, somethin’ else. But I ’m very much opposed to any outside government h a v i n ’ anything to do with our h o l d i n ’ together. D o n ’t want them spreadin’ their propaganda here. I d o n ’t knock on the CIO but I do say l e t ’s be careful lest we join an organization t h a t ’s influenced b y some foreign government. But i t ’s the best thing w e ’ve got now to keep wages up. Father added:

”We believe in America t a k i n ’ care

of her own business.” Jesse J e n n i n g s : believed that picket lines had prevented a lowering of wages. H e r e ’s the i d e a . Back where I come from I farmed and we d i d n ’t have no labor trouble. D i d n ’t need no union. Course after I come here we could git enough work to live on. But finally so many people, come. They put wages down so that a man with a family the size of mine c o u l d n ’t make a l i v i n ’ and drive backwards and forwards all the way from ten to twenty-five miles and work fer 30 cents an hour. C a n ’t do that unless y o u ’ve got a steady job and people c a n ’t git steady jobs. The jobs d o n ’t last fer but ten to twenty days and you got to move. It m a y be ten to twenty days agin before you git another job. From the first of December to fruit p i c k i n ’ time

340 there is no work at all hut fer a few. So w e ’ve.got to have higher wages while we are workin* or stay on r e ­ lief. T h a t ’s what the CIO is tryin* to do. Shore is a good thing. They advocate higher wages and a better standard of livin* and law a b i d i n ’ citizens. Never seen no violence in any of their strikes. I took part in one last fall. We held the price up towhere it was. My honest opinion is that they would a paid, less if it h a d n ’t been fer the picket lines. J. C. Townsend contrasted the California labor situ­ ation with that in the Southwestern states. I ’ll be durned if it w a s n ’t be a lot of cheap labor. I t ’d back in those Eastern states. had a union y o u ’d see labor go

fer the CIO there *d be just like it is If those Eastern states up back there.

He said this although he had never joined the union, indicat­ ing thereby a relative approval. 2.

Prevention of starvation.

It will be recalled

that the migrants looked upon relief as a means for the prevention of starvation, and In a similar way they r e ­ garded the CIO.

In this case, it was the struggle of the

CIO to maintain decent wages that received consideration. Two brief statements were typical, both men belonging to the union. Rex Hawkins: I t ’s a mighty fine organization. I t ’s the only organization there is that will ever bring labor up to standard. If it w a s n ’t fer the CIO in Kern county I believe there would be people on starvation. . Claude Bronson: I t ’s the goodest thing that can be cooperated. Not because I ’m one of them, understand, but because they try to help the por class of people. If it h a d n ’t been

341 fer the CIO last year I don*t see how the por people would a made it by. Kept some of them from starvin*. They wasn*t g o i n 1 to pay us n o t h i n 1 fer our cotton p i c k i n 1. 3*

Assistance of the grievance committee of the

CIO in helping relief clients secure their relief quot a s . The activities of this committee were confined to members T,T

who belonged to the CIO.

Jesse Carter, a vigorous advo ­

cate of the union, pointed out the need for such a commit­ tee . Seein* the conditions of the people after I got out here, s e ein1 how they have to live and all, t h a t 1s what got me started. It*s a blame shame. They take you out here and work the hell out of you. Maybe you think you*ve got a week*s work ahead and then t h e y 111 come along and lay you off In half a day. The way they do you here is somethin1 awful. You never know how good your job Is till i t Ts over and you can count your money. Under these conditions I thought the thing to do was to git out and fight fer better things. We ain*t won everything we wanted, have made some gains. Fact of the business we*ve got things we would have never got if we hadn*t fought fer them. In other words, if It hadn*t been fer union activities here things would have been a lot worse fer the laborin* class. In cotton p i c k i n 1 in both strikes we have raised the price, 15 or 20 cents on the hundred. And w e ’ve helped a lot of people git relief that they might not have got otherwise. This is the work of our grievance committee. There are laws and regulations fer the FSA and SKA to go by. They have a copy and we have a copy. We lay them on the table *and make them abide b y them. We can*t git anything fer people that they don*t deserve. But we do make them keep on the spot. These green people come In here and don*t know the law. They hit some reaction­ ary in the relief offices--a lot of them guys git their job through the Associated Farmers. T h e y 111 put them off and put them off. I fve known people w h o fve been on relief fer six months and w e r e n ’t gittin* a square deal. Not 10 per cent of the people on relief know what they are really eligible fer and what the exact

542

set-up is. Naturally they have to have somebody who ■ knows the law to help fight their battles so they will git what's cornin' to them. If they d o n ft they sure will git a raw deal. Take the case we had today of a widow in need up at the Government camp. She was very muc h in need. No wood to cook with,, not even b e d d i n 1 to keep her warm. Right up agin it I mean. Her chil­ dren needed to be in school. One of them in order to stay in school was stayin' with some friends. The eighteen year old boy is just root hog or die. The FSA has been p r o m i s i n 1 her a home call and a grant check fer sixty d a y s . Some of her friends has went to see them and I tried to git them out here but no luck. Her friends come to me last night and wanted me to see what the grievance committee of the union could do about it. So I made a personal call to her home this m o r n i n 1. Found n o t h i n 1 in the tent to eat and nothin' to cook it with if she had it. Fact of the business, she was over at one of the neighbors. She had been eatin' over there fer several days. So I took it up with the grievance committee. The FSA promised to send a man out immediately to investigate her needs. I'll check up in the mornin' and if she ain't got no results we will take it up with the camp manager there because he's supposed to see that nothin' like that goes on. If he don't call the FSA we will take her down to the FSA at Bakersfield and start the fight there. We will make them put the cards on the table and give her some immediate relief. A lot of these case workers are daughters of Associated Farmers or a native son or a reactionary and don't want to give what a person needs. They think they own the outfit. Act as if it was their mo n ey they-was a payin'. They like to force the green people out to do the work. Want the migrant people here when they need them. W hen they are through with them they don't care: So the CIO tries to keep them in line. Tries to see that everyone gits a decent or fair break. We like to see a person git justice. Don't like to see a family git a whole lot and another family not git enough. We only helped to git what is deserved. Sam Bowman felt that members of the CIO, because of this committee, received more relief aid than those persons who did not belong to the CIO, hence, he was considering

343 joining. Seems to me that the CIO members have a little p r e ­ ference in gittin their relief checks and grants. Records may not bear that out but I believe i t ’s true. Seems y o u ’ve might near got to belong to the CIO to git w h a t ’s cornin’ to you, or to git it regular. I come in here and had difficulties in g i t t i n ’ a home visit. Other fellers could go up there and git their grants regular. I d i d n ’t know they was CIO then but have found out since. I talked to some of them and asked what was the difference. They said they w a s n ’t g i t t i n ’ more than their share, that I just w a s n ’t g i t t i n ’ what government allowed me. Some of them had families of five or six and g i t t i n ’ from $29 to $57 fer clothes. T h a t ’s the biggest I ’ve heard of fer six in the family, and I got a $33 clothes check and had eleven in the family. On the matter of food a c c o r d i n ’ to ages I was supposed to git $54 a month. The other day, the 6th of March, I got only $50. Told the in­ vestigator I was due $54. He said, "That makes no difference if you had twenty in the family, you c o u l d n ’t git help fer more than ten.” I said, " I t ’s a damn good thing two of m y children died last year because they w o u l d n ’t a been allowed anything to eat accordin’ to that." I was t a l k i n ’ to some CIO members In camp about it. They told me that that was one thing their organiza­ tion did--had a grievance committee fer their members that went up to the relief offices and helped see that a feller got what was cornin’ to him. They do it, hell yes they do. I told them that the $4.00 I was losin* even fer one month would pay fer the initiation fee and the dues fer three months. Just f o r c i n ’ a feller to join looks to me like. If the Government would Investigate each client, and they have a way of f i n d i n ’ out if a person belongs to the CIO, I believe they would discover that the members are g i t t i n ’ more than people who d o n ’t belong. Shoot yes, I ’m forced to join. Undefined CIO attitudes.

Many of the migrants m a n i ­

fested ignorance concerning the CIO.

This Is of great

344

significance and can be readily understood when their b a c k ­ ground is recalled.

They come from the Southwestern states

where agriculture is on a somewhat different pattern than what obtains in California.

Back there farming is not

quite so specialized, not quite so highly financed, or industrialized.

The workers sustain more of a face-to-face

relationship with their employers.

Furthermore, there is

not a mass of wandering, homeless liiigrants since the crops are more of an extensive nature and more stabilized.

In

other words, there does not exist so great a need for agri­ cultural unionism.

Coming from that environment, the

migrants are unfamiliar with agricultural labor organiza­ tion. ferent.

The situation in California, however, is quite dif­ Lonnie Nelson, who had just arrived a few weeks

before the interview,

said:

I d o n ’t know a thing about the CIO. Anything I ’m not familiar with I c a n ’t say. I ’d just heard of it back there. Is it pretty active here? Henry Rollin, who arrived in 1 9 3 9 > said: I a i n ’t got a thing agin them. D o n ’t know about them. I c a n ’t tell that they are d o i n ’ any good. D o n ’t know if they are d o i n ’ any harm or not. Never been bo a m e e t i n ’. C. A. Peterson, who came from New Mexico in 1 9 3 9 > said: Last fall is the first I ever saw of the CIO. We d i d n ’t have them back East. I d o n ’t belong. Not fer them nor agin them. Not been here long enough to know much about them. When they walk up and down the

345 fields I d o n Tt think they should take a man out and whup him. T h a t Ts wrong. And I*ve heard that they done that. They ought to drag out the man who is a p a y i n 1 the low wages. Let the CIO git him and take him along with them. If they take him out h e 111 have to pay it. If he d o n 1t and if the finance companies can git it picked at that low price, take them out too. These are natural and typical attitudes of countless numbers of the migrants--they do not know about the agri­ cultural branch of the CIO. Difficulties encountered in organization of m i g r a n t s . These difficulties are many and deep rooted.

All persons

or organizations who have attempted to organize the migrants have encountered these barriers.

The migrants themselves

are acutely conscious of the issues involved, listing the factors which obstructed successful organization as follows: (l) mobility,

(2) inadequate leadership,

the people of labor organization, (5)

lack of cooperation,

(6)

(4)

(3) ignorance of

oversupply of workers,

fear of Communism in the CIO,

(7) insufficient funds to join and pay dues, and (8) opposi­ tion of ranchers. 1*

These are discussed briefly below.

Mobility.

Mobility ranked high in the thinking

of the migrants as an impediment to labor organization. Wiley Cuddard, Jr., and Martin Childs,

spoke for the entire

group when they said: Cdddard, Jr.: I fve thought about the CIO a lot but d o n ft belong.

3^6 Tell you why. You c a n ’t organize common labor because they d o n ’t make enough money to stay in one place. They have to move on. If you pull a strike they never have no money saved up to live on till they can win the strike. T h a t ’s the main reason you c a n ’t organize. It a i n ’t because the people w o n ’t stick like a skilled l a borin’ man. The skilled l aborin’ man can organize and win strikes fer he usually stays In one place. Has a few dollars to tide him over. If he d o n ’t have the money saved up he can git credit or his union will help him. The groceryman a i n ’t afraid of him because h e ’s got a trade. But the groceryman and everybody else is afraid of the common l a b o r i n ’ man because he has to move around and d o n ’t git n o t h i n ’ for his work. Childs: They c a n ’t never win. The CIO is all right but they d o n ’t have a chance. The people are too transient. D o n ’t stay in one place long enough to organize. I d o n ’t think t h e y ’ve got a chance in the world but I w o u l d n ’t want to tell them that. Figure i t ’s fer a good cause altho I d o n ’t belong. As long as this tran­ sient business continues they can never win. 2.

Inadequate leadership.

can be effective under present conditions,

Only a trained leadership so it was con­

tended b y Russell Clapp who was not a member of the CIO. The agricultural workers are weak in leadership. Take the strike last year fer example. The people was too easy discouraged. D i d n ’t have nobody to go on and lead them. The spealcin’ was poor and done mostly b y the agricultural workers themselves. If t h e y ’d had their main leader and a knowed the law, they would a gone further. Maybe had some results. Some of them got arrested because they d i d n ’t know what to do when they got in a tight spot. D i d n ’t know their rights or how fer to go. But as fer as I know i t ’s d o i n ’ some good fer the w o r k i n ’ class of people. Arthur Brown, who did belong,

shared the same view:

They need a leader. Need somebody to make it. stick. If they are a gonna shet the job down they must shet

3*7 it down. That*s the way they do it in the oil fields hack East. They keep everybody out. And that*s the only way they*11 ever git anywhere out here in the CIO. Git some good leaders and make it stick. ^•

Ignorance of the,people of labor organization.

Having had little or no experience in labor organization before coming to California, the migrants do not readily affiliate with the CIO.

If the CIO would engage in a far-

flung educational program, this obstacle might be partially ov e rcome. Jesse Carter: Most of our trouble in the CIO Is the lack of educa­ tion among the poor p e o p l e . They *re Ignorant and a lot of them don*t know enough to take care of them­ selves. The Associated Farmers take advantage of their ignorance and put things over their heads. That*s our biggest trouble. I. G. Spurling, who did not belong, obstacle is the ignorance of the people.

said:

’’The main

They don*t un d e r ­

stand the CIO and won*t go into It.” *.

Oversupply of w o r k e r s .

As long as there is an

oversupply of workers an effective union will be impossible. The reason is clear: all of the workers cannot be organized and the unorganized workers will do the work regardless of* the union.

Here, again, is the drive for security.

Robert

Orsley had not joined, but he saw that competition for the available jobs militated against the union. It*s almost impossible to have a union where there are so many people. A lot of people from the East have large families and can make pretty good when there *s

348

work. But where one man has to support his family he just c a n ’t make it. T h a t ’s why they c a n ’t organize, too many people. Jesse Carter commented: People just feel like they have to git while the g i t t i n fs good, union or no union. I t ’s that or starve. Too many of us fer the work. 3.

Lack of cooperation.

If the members of the CIO

would present a united front to their employers, a partial victory at least would be assured.

The failure to do so

and the outright *sabotage of one another was considered as treacherous.

This betrayal was in direct opposition to the

desire to be treated justly and fairly b y o n e ’s fellows. The three interviews which follow indicate this principle. > Arthur Brown: The CIO is all right but i t ’s got a por bunch in it. They w o n ’t stay together. T h e y ’ll go down here and pay their dues and then fight over the prices. T h e y ’ll go out here and have a strike and the rest of them will go around to the back side of the field and pick the cotton or peaches. T h a t ’s a sorry bunch. I know that by experience. I walked the picket line down here at the Hoover Ranch, pea pickin* time last summer a year ago. I walked till my legs got plenty stiff. Some of the actual CIO went in and picked the peaches while we was p i c k e t i n ’. We was tryin* to git the price up and they got the work. Charles Robinson: T h e y ’ve got the CIO here but I ’m not very high on it. The biggest reason, last year at Shafter on that cotton strike they asked me to join the picket line, but I d i n ’t because fer the simple reason that the C I O ’s would go out on the picket line one day with their buttons and then slip around the next day and pick cotton. But I did stay out of the fields most of the fall. I just thought they d i d n ’t have much of a

349 union if a bunch of them would do t h a t . When the CIO shows me that they ain't gonna sell out 1*11 join, but until they do, I won't. Buster Swanson, who had cast his lot with the union, believed the CIO had failed in its purpose. You can't git the people to stick together. Yea, they will stick fer a day and then the next day every damn one of them is gone. They are supposed to meet some place and part of them will and part of them won't. Some will say, ,fHell, I'm gonna git m y sack and git back to the field.11 And some just set around home. So fer,. the CIO has failed. Ain't won no strikes around here. Not that I know of. The people won't stick together. They are afraid they will starve to death. I'll bet we have to pick up spuds this year fer tow-bits an hour. If they would stick they could git wages up, but they won't. 6*

Fear of Communism.

The CIO may have some com­

munistic elements in it, but the charge that all agricul­ tural workers are Communists simply because they desire higher wages is unfounded.

However,

just as fear of Co m ­

munism was mentioned as a weakness of the CIO, the same thing was indicated as an obstacle in the way of more ef­ fective organization.

The two interviews below are strik­

ing examples of the urge to maintain one's status, to avoid identification.with any organization which would bring forth criticism or suspicion. Wiley Cuddard, Jr.: One thing that keeps the CIO down, common labor is afraid that there are Communists in it just from what the papers say. That's all they know. They haven't got any way of findin' out so they are really at the mercy of the newspapers. They are scared all the time. More than 60 per cent of migratory people absolutely

350 d o n !t know what a Communist is. You speak of Reds and they don't know what you*re talkin' about. And yit the charge of Communism is throwed at them. What we have is really newspaper Communism. T h a t 1s just what we've got. The newspaper never explains just how the Commun­ ists believe, but they a r e _h o l l e r i n ' about it all the time. M y father has read a lot and he's an old man. I asked him where Communism started and he couldn't tell me. I'll bet there's not one man out of a hundred around here that knows that answer. But still they have to wear the Red label. It hurts the CIO. 0. E. Tatum: Any union where it's carried on right is fine. I'll uphold fer that. Some kicks come about the CIO but that's to keep them down. I mean that they are some­ times called radicals and Reds and Communists. The purpose is to keep the average man from linin* up with them. He don't want to be branded with them names. I used to belong but taken out m y membership just for that very reason. Still I*m a strong sympathesizer with the union. We need someone to hold up labor prices. 7*

Insufficient funds to join and pay d u e s .

The

lack of funds was indicated in a considerable number of interviews as an obstacle to joining the union. true even though the fees were quite low.

This was

C. A. Patterson

put it briefly: One reason I didn't join it is because it costs eighty cents to a dollar to join and I ain't got it. Besides you have to pay monthly dues. A lot of people are just like me. 8.

Opposition of ranchers.

The ranchers have found

organization to their advantage, hence, Farmers.

However,

the Associated

they are strenuously opposed to effective

organization on the part of the migrants.

Their philosophy

has had noticeable implementation on various occasions.

351 Students of the problem, as well as casual readers of the newspapers are aware of this situation.

The migrants d i s ­

cussed the matter both freely and feelingly. Jesse Carter: You pick up a paper in time of strikes and you git only one side of it. They are controlled by the Associated Farmers. D o n ’t hear it on the radio either. I d o n ’t think it, I know it. Fact of the business, we had two organizers right here in Bakersfield who went to jail because they tried to make the papers print stuff that was true. I t ’s an awfully dirty deal. The papers a i n ’t gonna give the public n o t h i n ’ except what they want to give out. Joyce Garner: D u r i n ’ last cotton season some of the farmers ganged up on the strikers at Madera. Beat up four or five. One Mexican guy was beat nearly to death. They put him in jail and w o u l d n ’t let him go home to his wife who was sick with a baby. You c a n ’t strike or picket. They w o n ’t let you. Hex Hawkins told of his eviction from a ranch because he attended a CIO meeting in Shafter.

It illustrates the

employer’s technique in dealing with labor. I come from Vina, California with m y family in October, ’38. Went to Buttonwillow and rented a cabin fer ten days and paid in advance at Buerkle Brothers ranch. I had lived there six days when the flyin* squad blowed their horns and hollered a lot and everybody come out of the fields. I d i d n ’t know hardly what was g o i n ’ on whether there was a strike or not. I told m y wife and brother to wait and see what was goin' to happen before we went back to p i c k i n ’. She was about sick and didn't say much. She really wasn't able to pick cotton. We d i d n ’t go back to the fields in the afternoon. That even i n ’ three or four men come around and one of them said, ”If we had a way we would go over to that Mexican colony and see what sort of speakin' the CIO is p u t t i n ’ on tonight.

352 I told them, "If I had the gasoline I will take ten or twelve." I think finally there was nine of us. They put in five gallons of gas. I just stood around the m e e t i n ’ and never paid no attention to nobody while we wuz there. Just listened at it. Nobody that wuz with me took any part whatever. Have an idee eight hundred wuz there. An awful big crowd. I d o n !t remember much about the m e e t i n 1. Dorothy Hose was there and Duncan. That was the first time I saw him. And Tex Wells was there. H e ’s just an agricul­ tural worker like the rest of us. Duncan was too. But Dorothy Rose was an organizer. We went back home. The next m o r n i n 1 m y wife was pretty sick. She told me to git up and cook breakfast fer the children. I just got a fire built when the camp boss and Bill Buerkle come to the door and said, "Hawkins, I !m m o v i n 1 a bunch out of camp this m o r n i n 1 and y o u ’re one of them." I said, "What are He said, w o r k ."

you m o v i n ’ them out fer?"

"We want our cabins fer people who will

I told him,

" I ’ve never refused to work."

He said, "It d o n ’t make a damn bit of difference. We want our cabin." I said, "My wife is sick and I ’m not gonna move till she gits better. Y o u ’re just b a r k i n ’ up the wrong tree if you think I ’ll move till I git ready. I ’ve got m y rent paid and I ’m gonna stay till i t ’s up. He said,

"Well, w e ’ll see about it."

They went on off. About forty-five minutes later Jerry Leach the constable met me as I went out of the house g o i n ’ fer water at the store. Had to carry it fer the water in the cabin w a s n ’t f i t t i n ’ to use. He said, I said, He said, I said,

"Is your name Hawkins?" "Yes." "Why d o n ’t you move?" "One reason I d o n ’t have to."

353 He said, "You don't! Hawkins, I'm gonna give you thirty minutes to he out of that cabin.'1 I said, "You just might as well run your damn watch up and quit wastin' time." He looked at his watch and said, " T h a t 's final. Git out of that cabin or I'll throw you out!" I went ahead and fixed breakfast and nothin' happened fer about an hour or more. I wuz out a little ways from the house talkin' to some men. Jerry Leach and one of the deputy sheriffs and Bill Buerkle and the camp boss came down and piled all my stuff on the car. Piled it up everywhere. When I come up they had it all pretty well loaded. My wife had been fussin' with them about how to put it on the car the way we hauled it. They wuz just throwin' it on--any old w a y just to git it out of the house. The car wouldn't hold it that way. After they got it loaded they said to me, "There it is. Now git out of here!" I told them,

"I ain't movin'."

Jerry Leach said to one of them, "Git in it and drive the damn thing out on the desert!" One of them said to me, "Do you want me to drive it?" I said, "I'm not tellin' you to drive it and I'm not tellin' you not to drive it. M y advise to you would be to stay out of i t . I don't have no way to move on. No money. No gasoline. Nowhere to go. Besides, I've got m y rent paid up and I'm not gonna m o v e ." Bill Buerkle told the camp boss to drive the car up to the store and put three gallons of gas in it and that would be the refund on my rent. After they put the gas in they said, "There it is; now git in it and git out of here. We want no damn radicals around here." I said, "I'm still not movin'." Jerry Leach said, and let it set."

"Move it out yonder on the road

35 4 The camp boss drove it out on the desert several hundred feet from the store and left it sett i n ’. Bill Buerkle said to me, "Well, if everything gits settled all right come back and ¥e will give you a j o b ." I said, "Well, I think we can find work." Then me and m y wife and children walked out to the car. We wuz t a l k i n ’ about f i x i n 1 camp somewhere when a man by the name of Robertson and Miss Wells drove up. They advised me to go the Government camp at Shafter. Told me t h e y ’d help me git a tent. We went to J a c k s o n ’s place down at Wasco and stayed all night. I come to the CIO m e e t i n ’ that night at the Mexican colony and they borrowed me a tent. I moved from there to the Government camp the next m o r n i n ’. I come down the next m o r n i n ’ to report fer duty to the f l y i n ’ squad. Wanted to help in any way I could. The sheriff met me and said, "I heard you'are acc u s s i n ’ one of m y deputys of t h r o w i n ’ you out of the Buerkle c a m p .1T I told him, "He must a been a deputy fer he had a star on that said, ’Deputy She r i f f ’." He said, " I ’m g o i n ’ to throw you in the can if you d o n ’t quit accussin* m y deputy." I said, "That will be just fine. Be a little bigger damage suit." I had a right good cuss fight with him. I told him, "I wish you would, you son-of-a-bitch. You a i n ’t never throwed nobody in. I ’ll break you from t hrowin’ people in when you git me in." He said,

"I can throw you in."

I said, "I know you can but I ’ll break you of the habit of it. You a i n ’t got the guts." He said, "Well, d o n ’t talk it any more till I can check on it a little bit. If h e ’s done anything like that h e ’s done it without m y consent." He never did come back so I guess he checked and found out it wuz true and just dropped it. Never heard any more about it.

355 The interviews above reveal that the migrants have developed certain types of attitudes towards the CIO which m a y be divided into positive and negative attitudes, that is, attitudes stressing values and attitudes stressing weakness­ es.

Under negative attitudes are (l) fear of radicalism

based chiefly on the possibility of loss of status in the group through identity with an organization reputed to be radical;

(2) lack of strategy in strikes which leads to

greater group conflicts, thereby defeating the ends sought; (3) m e m b e r s 1 refusal to work creates doubt in the minds of many migrants as to the possibility of their getting along well with the members of the CIO, indicating the difference in attitudes of the two groups respecting the use of relief as a means of evading work.

Because of this difference,

members who do not belong to the CIO anticipate group con­ flict which they wish to avoid by not joining the organiza­ tion;

(4) activity of "rats” in the organization indicates

the presence of some predatory elements in the CIO which the migrants deplore,

showing a desire on their part to be

free from the influence of these- elements and to be treated justly and fairly. Positive attitudes or attitudes stressing values in­ clude (l) securing of better wages;

(2) prevention of star­

vation; and (3) assistance of the grievance committee of the CIO in helping relief clients secure their relief quotas.

356 Basically,

the desire for economic security is presented in

all of these attitudes.

In this respect the migrants are

no different from other g r o u p s . Some migrants because of brevity of residence in Cali­ fornia and lack of familiarity with the CIO have not as yet formed a definite attitude with respect to this organization. This would seem to show that an attitude is a product of a considerable degree of doing and thinking, corresponding to the formation of group habits. ■Diffipulties to the organization of migrants In a labor union, as all informed persons know, are numerous, among which are the following;

(l) Mobility, caused b y the

constant desire to earn enough for a living, leads to u n ­ stable group life, thereby hindering group unity which Is necessary for successful labor organization.

(2) Inadequate

leadership demonstrates that in an effective organizational activity the role of leadership and followership is of prime importance.

In the case of the migrants this leader­

ship and followership relationship is lacking.

(3) Ignor­

ance of the people of labor organization appears to be an impediment to the effectiveness of the CIO, indicating that the stability of any organiza,tion must depend upon the proper understanding on the part of both members and poten­ tial members regarding the objectives of that organization. In short, an organization thrives best on a telic social

357 program of educating its members.

(4) Oversupply of workers

as a deterrent to migrants joining the CIO is clearly an evidence of group conflicts arising from insufficient work for all the available men.

(5) Lack of cooperation as a

cause for some migrants not joining the organization demon­ strates that mutual aid or cooperation is a dynamic factor in human activity.

Where there is lack of such cooperation

in an organization it fails to achieve its objectives.

This

criticism for lack of cooperation in the CIO was expressed by both members and non-members.

(6) Fear of Communism in

the CIO restrains people from joining because of the fear of loss of status in the group.

(7) Insufficient funds to

join and pay dues gives evidence to the economic factor as a prime essential in the stability of an organization and in making it possible for non-members to join it.

In the

case of some migrants, this economic stability was lacking, thereby disqualifying them for membership in the CIO.

(8)

Opposition of ranchers Indicates the presence of dominance exercised by them resulting in social distance between the two groups.

This situation creates a certain amount of

group conflict. The attempt to organize agricultural workers is b e ­ ing made because there is a recognition that California agriculture is basically an Industry— highly financed, well organized, and with huge payments in wages.

In many respects

358 it follows industrial patterns.

Its workers, however, have

not as yet won some of the rights which have been accorded to industrial workers.

They are relatively free from any

protective federal legislation.

In trying to organize they

are simply demonstrating their desire to meet their employers on more of an equal basis with respect to better working conditions, hours of labor, and wage considerations. are predominantly of American backgrounds,

steeped in

American traditions, and hold to its way of life. on the whole,

Hence,

charges of radicalism directed towards them

are at the best fantastic. dualists,

They

Being farmers, they are indivi­

and being individualists, they do not readily

join m any organizations.

Most of them are afraid of the

CIO, largely because of its presentation in an unfavorable light b y the newspapers and the ranchers. The struggle to organize industrial workers has gone forward slowly.

The struggle to organize agricultural,

workers is also difficult as this study has indicated.

The

mobile way of living almost makes it an impossibility, and yet it is necessary as one means of raising this under­ privileged group of American workers to a higher standard of decency.

If organization has advanced the interests of their

employers In all phases of their enterprises,

it may also

be assumed that organization would accrue to the welfare of the workers.

In the end, both groups would doubtless receive

359 benefits, for they could work jointly on matters that were of common concern.

The interests of one, then, would be

the interests of both.

Moreover, if charges of "un-American11

were not levelled at the ranchers when they organized, why should they be hurled at the workers who desire to do like­ wise? IV.

ATTITUDES TOWARD RELIGION

In the rural communities of the Southwest where the migrants had a fair degree of community status, they found it relatively easy to affiliate with some church.

Here

they preached and prayed and feasted, for the basket dinners on hot Sunday afternoons are an accepted custom.

Their

religion tied them in close bonds to friends and kindred. It was a happy and shouting religion, replete with a chorus of lusty f,Amensfl and vigorous "Halleluiahs." found free expression.

The emotions

God was near and hell was real.

They loved the "parson” and gorged him with fried chicken and country ham.

Now. the hazards of their present mobile

existence has made most of that a thing of the past.

They

are still religious, many of them, but various factors frustrate a proper expression of that high and holy senti­ ment . The attempt is made in this section to present, In their own words, the m i g r a n t s 1 attitudes toward religion.

Thirteen of them gave evidence of a strong religious faith which expressed itself in regular religious activities. Forty-four of the interviewees did not profess to he reli­ gious.

Three explained their religious status with a Iryes

and a n o ” answer, that is, a state of uncertainty. It is manifestly difficult to determine whether or not another person is religious.

To he religious, as un d e r ­

stood in this study, is to possess a vital faith in God and to evidence that faith hy certain religious practices-prayer, reading of the Bihle and other religious literature, church attendance, and participation in various acts of helpful service.

It is hardly to he supposed that any of

the forty-four who responded negatively are irreligious in the sense that they do not helieve in God. fact, all of them do helieve in God.

As a matter of

But they do not pro-

fess to have accepted or acted upon that belief.

In other

words, their irreligion consists in the failure to give heed to the active side of the religious life.

All of them

tended to identify religion with church attendance. Appreciative attitudes toward religion. tudes are summarized as follows: Church;

These atti­

(l) identification with the

(2) the belief in the n a t i o n ’s need for Christianity

(3) the supreme value of religion with reference to future life;

(4)

the value of religion as a guide to daily conduct;

361 and (5 ) gratitude to the Church for assistance in time of nee d or distress. Identification with the Church.

John Bailey

and his wife always established church relations at each point in their migratory wanderings.

In this regard* they

were followed by other of the interviewees.

Bailey began:'

I've gotten lots of good out of religion and for me to give up religion, well* I wouldn't do that fer any­ thing at all. The Scripture tells us that you can't be saved till you trust in the Lord;; I do know that. Back home we very seldom missed attending the Baptist Church. I also served one year as superintendent of the Sunday School. Whenever it's handy I always go here in California, and i t ’s handy in camp fer we have services in these camps. We got here a few days ago, but we've lived in two other camps so we know how it is. Wife:

”We went to church in town in Brawley.w

Bailey: The people in the town churches dress a little better than we do, but I always manage to git a lot of good out of it. Wife: If a person has really got religion It helps him over many rough places that we have to go over like this. Bailey:

’’When a person once gits religion I d o n ’t

think he'll ever fall from It, no matter where he is*." Wife:

’’We're just pure old Baptists, that's all

we a r e .ft The belief in the n a t i o n 's need for Christianity. One migrant,

in particular, John Freeman,

saw disaster ahead

362 for the nation unless more emphasis was given to the Christian religion in corporate life. The United States as a whole should consider the Christian religion more. Many incidents in history proves out to us that when a nation forgets their Christian duties they were always thrown in a panic of some sort h y a drought, or invaded by some other nation. The wisest man in history said to judge the future b y the past. I noticed an article in the paper the other day where a WPA manager or overseer stopped a group of women who was' gathered fer sewin’, stopped them from b e g i n n i n ’ their work with the L o r d ’s Prayer. He said that was a minute or two minutes every day taken up on Government time. The majority of the schools used to open with prayer and the students were forced to memorize a Scripture verse, and there was no kick on that. T h e r e ’s not a better thing we could get people to do these days then to pray, if it is on Government time. This Government w o u l d n ’t lose anything if it paid someone a dollar an hour to hold this nation up to a power that is able to defend its neutrality and freedom. The law forbids us from t e achin’ the Bible in the schools and I do not object to save arguments, but at the same time the Government is p a y i n ’ high wages fer teachers to teach idolatries of all sorts--everything from evolution to immorality mingled with whoredom. It is almost Impossible fer one to climb the apex of education and still believe there Is a God. And now I would like to criticize Mrs. Roosevelt ’s advocation of liquor fer young girls. She did not only mention that they should learn how much they could drink while they are young, but also confirmed that those were cheap that d i d n ’t drink— sissies. If ex­ amples given to us in the past few centuries are true, how can we exist or how can our Government survive as an example fer the world, under that kind of leadership? We must all be more true to the Christian religion. The supreme value of religion with reference to future l i f e .

Both Gordon Payne and I. G. Spurling saw the

supreme value of religion in the hopes which it brought with reference to future life.

363 Payne: I think religion is the only thing. I've preached pretty near twenty years in the Assembly of God. There's lots of difference in bein' religious and havin' g e n u ­ ine salvation. Most of the people who come from Oklahoma have got some form of religion, but I find a lot of pretenders. They profess to be somethin' and they ain't n u t h i n ' . But real religion is the only thing. Can't git to heaven without it. Spurling: I have some very fixed ideas along the religious line and try to live a Christian life. A lot of foolishness is practiced in the name of religion, bound to be because of so many ideas on it. I'm a Hard Shell Baptist. Bein' of that belief seems like a lot of folks* religion is mighty foolish to me. But I'm not one of these fellers who tries to git folks to go m y way; I don't believe in force of any kind. What a p e r s o n ’s got now doesn't interest him so much, but it's what he lives fer, it's his hopes that count. Take a man like me. I've raised a big family and done nearly all a man's expected to do. Now about all that is left fer me is to wait m y time. Thefe is nuthin* fer me to hope fer In this life, I mean of gettin* property or a home or to accomplish somethin'. 'Course I have religious hopes. We never accomplish all we hope fer I recken. But our hope of eternity no one can take it away from u s . If the infidel was true about the hereafter, we couldn't possible be worse off fer havin' these hopes. value of religion as a guide to daily conduct. In his migratory life William Palmer discovered religion to be an ally with moral standards.

Others echoed his view.

I'm supposed to be religious, try to be. Have been a Missionary Baptist fer twenty-five years. I don't drink or gamble. If I got drunk I'd just be a blowed up "dago” tryin* to take care of this dance hall when we have dances in camp. M y religion helps me all along.

36k 5*

Gratitude to the Church for assistance in time

of need or distress.

Lewis Todd92 paid, a tribute to the

Pentecostal Church for assistance in time of need. regular in attending services.

He was

Here and there other m i ­

grants had received help and were equally grateful. Yes-siree, I ’m strong on religion. The Pentacostal. Church helped us with food and clothin1 when we wuz out. The preachers gone hay-wire now and g i t t i n 1 drunk all the time. H e ’s in jail now. He had another church one time and by-god it just went all to pieces. I go every Sunday to some church and two or three times durin* the week. T h a t ’s the only place I really enjoy g o i n 1 and I usually go by myself. Problems of affiliation with religious organizations. It is not to be understood that the migrants are hostile toward religion, rather,

in their type of life, there are

factors which make a normal expression of the religious sentiment almost impossible. these influences as follows: clothing,

(3)

(l) mobility,

(2) inadequate

financial worries and hard times,

of friends and acquaintances Sunday,

They very freely discussed

(strangeness),

(4) lack

(5) work on

(6) distress over human misery, and (7) mistrust of

religious leaders. 1.

M o b ility.

Mobility was listed more than any

other as an obstacle standing in the way of wholesome reli­ gious growth and church attendance.

92 Auto camp near Bakersfield.

565 Earl Richards: I ¥as religious hack home, hut have just wandered off, that's all I know. You are just associatin1 with all kinds of people and you are here today and gone tomorrow. If you could stay in one place you would he more inclined to .live a good kind of life. But as it is you just go everywhere and git disgusted and d o n ’t care what you do. Me and m y wife d o n ’t ever go to church hut we always see that our hoy goes to Sunday School every Sunday if we are around where he can g o . Martin Childs: I've seen better days. I've lived a better man than I ’m livin' here. I used to make church and Sunday schools m y business, but I'm not attendin' any service now, haven't fer quite a while. But I neither drink nor gamble, drink no coffee, use no tobacco. Got out on the road, not settled down, just from place to place. A man can't make no establish­ ment, here, there, and everywhere. Here a month, then up at Marysville a month, back down at Edison fer a month--anywhere to seek work, just goin' all the time. If a man had a permanent place to live he would have a tendency to git lined up in church along with his family. Frank Hart: I don't make no claim at bein' religious, but try to keep the commandments. It seems that a fellow can't be very religious and live in California. One fellow come to the state line and got down on his knees and said, f1Good-bye, Lord, I'm goin' to Cali­ fornia.11 (Laughed). You never get to stay in one place long enough to be religious. You move too fast to belong to the Church. If you did belong you'd have your membership papers in every church in the s tate. Clint Powell: I ain't got no religion. I kinda believe the Catholic way, but still I ain't a Catholic. I've been around lots of them and that would be m y belief if any. In a religion you are just asked to treat others as you would like to be treated and. t h a t 's all there is to it. But if a fellow follows the crops

366 fer a year he'll lose all his religion. If he jumps around every year, hell, he won't have no religion. Besides, none of us is perfect. Take just today fer example, I jammed a thorn way up in that finger and I didn't wait fer the ladies to scram either before I cussed. Others disagreed on the above viewpoint, holding

-

that moving around a great deal should tend to make one more religious, as for example, Claude Bronson: I'm not a religious man but I go to church every night I can. I don't belong to no church but read the Bible quite a bit, always did that. Moving around a lot should make a person more religious, at least fer the man who knows the Bible. It shows you plainly where these days are cornin'. You know it says-we will be goin' to and fro. It also speaks of automobiles and aeroplanes, of people flyin' like eagles. Every time you go to a different place and see the life of the people plainer than if you set In one place-.-if that ain't enough to turn a person's heart, seein' kids hungry and people settin* out by a ditch, mister, he *s got an awfully hard h e a r t . I shore do think that strong. Clyde Storey and Andrew Norris believed that a fre­ quent change of residence makes no difference with a person being religious. Storey: I once was religious till I come out here to Cali­ fornia. (Laughed). I never was saved and I'm afraid if I was, I'd turn out to be a hypocrite, fer there are a lot of enticin' things in this country. If a man come out here and offered me a drink of beer damn right I'd take it. I've gone to church and come home and been mean as hell. People that go to church are O.K. and some that don't go are O.K. The Church hasn't got much to do with it. A man's gonna be what he is whether he goes to church or a dog fight or any damn thing. I don't believe travellin' around lookin' fer work has much to do with bein' a Christian. A man's gonna be what he is no matter what h a p p e n s . You could

367 be a travelling (Laughed.)

salesman and still be a good Christian.

Norris: Religion is a great thing. M y wife and children b e ­ long to the Nazarene Church and before cornin’ out here they went every Sunday. I d i d n ’t always go but took them. T h e y ’ve gone some out here but in the last month have just sort of drifted away. I f - y o u ’ve got religion it d o n ’t make no difference, you can take it right along wherever you are. There a i n ’t n u t h i n ’ in this camp to interfere with it. 2.

Inadequate clothing.

Inadequate clothing ranked

second in the thinking of the migrants as an influence which tended to keep them from participating in public acts of a religious nature,

such as church attendance.

All of

them felt that if they had a better wage they could have better clothes, and consequently, a better religion.

At

this point, economics and religion are not so far apart. Jesse Carter believed that Christians looked with scorn upon the migrants because of their shabby clothing. I ’m one of these backsliders I guess. I believe in religion but I never was an angel. I ’ve got a letter in a church yonder in West Texas but I ’ve got way ahead of m y letter, i t ’s still there and I ’m here. There are fewer church people here accordin’ to popu­ lation than any place I ’ve ever been. M y mother is very religious- and in every letter she mentions it. She just thinks.this is a place where the devil reigns, that there a i n ’t no good churches. She thinks this Is a land of the devil and that we are bringin* up the children that way. And s h e ’s just about half way right, this a i n ’t no place for a family. The average migrant out here is broke and c a n ’t git good clothes, so when you go down to church among the natives you feel that they are saying, "Here comes a damned Oklahoman." If we went to church back home with our poor clothes on, k n o w i n ’ the ways of the people as we do, we w o u l d n ’t feel that way. But to go down here with our clothes

368 among the high-ups and all their fine cars, it makes you naturally feel like you a i n ’t in their class. You see an old sister over there and maybe she cuts her eyes around at you and looks a hole through you. And maybe y o u ’ve heard some slightin’ remarks s h e ’s made about the Oklahomans or Texans. A lot of them Christians feel like we are tramps, sure they do. If we had better clothes maybe they w o u l d n ’t feel like that. Homer Towney agreed with Carter,

saying:

I h a v e n ’t been to church since cornin’ to California but used to go regularly. The majority of the people who go like to have fairly decent clothes and we h a v e n ’t got a chance to get them as long as we stay on this relief. They d o n ’t pay us enough to live, let alone buy clothes to wear to church. 5-

Financial worries and hard times.

made upon religious faith by economic

An impact is

stresses as several

interviews revealed, only portions of two being given. Henry Rollin:

1!I used to be religious but I just

fell down on it.*1 Wife:

nHe just failed to follow the l e a d i n ’s of the

Spirit, the voice of God.fl Rollin: I take m y wife to church and sometimes come back fer her, and sometimes wait, but never go in. It a i n ’t treatin’ her right and it a i n ’t treatin’ her wrong either, I guess. I do all I can to help her. Wife:

nBut you just see it different, honey.

you think of that?

What do

I d o n ’t know what you would call it

except laziness or stubborness.tf Rollin: The general run of the migratory people are not r e ­ ligious. Take me here t r y i n ’ to feed a family of six

369 on a dollar a day. Can you feed them on that and keep your mind on religion at the same time? Wife:

"Keep your mind on the Lord.”

Rollin: If you h a v e n ’t got the food you will hear children h o l lerin’ around, and you just have to scheme and skimp all the time. Wow if it w a s n ’t fer sich as that, a man might git a chance to have his mind.on somethin* else. Do you see it that way? A lot of good men would do better and git along better if they had sufficient food and clothes fer their family, I mean in a reli­ gious way. Wife:

"But remember Lazarus.

was a child of the Lord.

He was por, but yet he

That w o n ’t excuse you when you

come to the judgment day." Rollin: I know you may see it that way, but I call it a flaw in it. I c a n ’t go off and enjoy the L o r d ’s pleasures or no kind of pleasures knowin* the kids are hungry. T h a t ’s all. Boyd Small: I d o n ’t profess religion at all. Believe in a Supreme B e i n ’ but never been saved. I used to go to church quite a bit, but not very much now. Financial conditions puts worry on a feller that he d o n ’t think about church, religion, or n o t h i n ’ else but tryin* to make a livin* . B e i n ’ unsettled and sayin’ 11Oh, what am I gonna do now, w h a t ’s the next move? W h e r e ’s the money cornin’ from?" T h a t ’s why i t ’s hard fer me to be religious. 4.

Lack of friends and acquaintance

(strangeness).

To be always among strangers has a debilitating effect upon o n e ’s religious life, so the migrants discovered.

In Cali­

fornia the face-to-face relationships to which they had been

310 accustomed, no longer existed.

Three statements will clari­

fy this point. Wiley Cuddard, Jr.: I joined the Hard Shell Baptists once and went regularly. That was while I was stayin1 in one place, hut now since I've been runnin1 around here and there, I !m not a - g o i n ! nowhere. I don't know how a feller can figure it out. I really think i t !s because I can't go to the same church. You git used to one group of people at church and i t 's not easy fer you to change. I fve got well acquainted here but when we move on there may be only half a dozen families that we know, and the rest will all be strangers. By the time we git acquainted with them we move to another camp because the work plays out there and we have to scatter. Grajit Murphy: I !m not religious but I go to church, or at least I did in Oklahoma, h a v e n !t been much here. I went every Saturday night and Sunday back there. I just d o n !t know nobody much here. You could live in this state ten years and w o u l d n !t know the feller across the street. I believe travellin1 around helps keep me from goin* as much fer I don't know nobody. Jesse Carter believed that being constantly among strangers has a depressing effect upon the morality of the migrants, which in turn affects their religion.

He put it

thus: Take the average people from the East, as Oklahomans say, back there he knows everybody and everybody knows him. There's a lot of things he wouldn't do on account of his friends, they'd find it out on him, see. If he gits out here, see, he'll say, "I don't know nobody and nobody knows me, so what difference does it make if I throw a little party? The rest of them do.M That same will apply to his honesty, and debts, and obligations, and bein' a man of his word. You take a feller back home, he'll go to a friend and say, "Loan me $10, I need it." That friend will probably know a lot of his kinsfolks and friends, so he'll say to himself, "Well,

371 I guess h e 1s all right and if he needs it 1 111 let him have it.” In order to protect his name and his fri e n d !s name and to keep up the good name of his kinsfolks, h e 111 pay it back. He comes out here and gits acquaint­ ed with someone, the same man and says, l!Loan me $10, I need it.tt When it comes time to pay h e 111 say, rt0h, I got $10 off the old boy, he c a n !t hurt m y rep., and ,he d o n ’t know my folks at home, and besides 1*11 be gone tomorrow, so why w o r r y . T h e r e f o r e , he d o n !t pay him. This type of life d o n !t make me believe there a i n ’t no religion, but it seems to make a lot of people feel that way. In other words, a man just gits off. Back there you and your neighbors all go to Sunday School and church, but out here neighter you nor your neighbors goes. You just drift off, a lot of times unthotedly. Out here you doii’t care what Tom, Dick, and Harry think of you. You d o n ’t care how drunk you git or how loud you holler, fer you h a v e n ’t got any neighbors, t h e y ’re all strangers to you. If J o h n ’s wife wants to step off and go to the dance with you or to a beer parlor, s h e ’s not so afraid of m e e t i n ’ some of her friends there, she d o n ’t know nobody there and nobody knows her. You have people you live by six months or a year and you never git acquainted. I ’ve done that lots of times. If John wants to go up town and git in a poker game h e ’s not so afraid of ma and pa a findin’ it out, or his mother-in-law. The tendency of most migrant people cornin’ out here, if they a i n ’t already rough, is to soon git that way-to do the other feller first. I was always free hearted and wanted to help m y fellow man, but you just c a n ’t do it in this country. I ’ve learned that from bitter ex­ perience, I've learned it from the other feller. I don't think I ’m any better or any worse, f.er I was quite a ways off religion -when I come out here. I d o n ’t think it has made me'a bit more dishonest but it has the majority of people t h a t ’s a proven fact. 5*

Work on Sunday.

Agriculture, like many other

occupations, demands a great deal of work on Sunday, and thus conflicts with religious activities.

This sustained

conflict over a period,of time tends to accrue to the detri-

372 ment of the religious life as indicated hy the interview m a t e r i al. Frank Hart: Some fellers you work fer have a religion that won't let you work on Saturday, and some have a religion that w o n !t let you work on Sunday, and some have a religion that just won't let you stopl I mean this: I worked some time ago fer a feller that made us quit within an hour of sundown on Friday and then made us go hack Sunday m o r n i n 1. He woul d n !t let you lay off on Sunday and was always insistin1 that you go to his church which was Seven Day Adventist. You just work so much on Sunday that you lose clear out. Henry Parker: I used to he a faithful member of the Methodist Church, hut got out here and had to do a lot of Sunday work so that hy now I !m pretty much off the track. 6.

Distress over human suffering.

The hunger and

penury of the people was so widespread that in a few in­ stances it seemed to have diverted attention from religious activities.

Walter Stone was typical in his despair, de ­

claring that it was difficult to he religious in view of prevailing circumstances. Religion? I feel like i t !s the hest thing in the world. It's just as important or more so than anything. I t ’s somethin1 we all should attend to. I !m not reli­ gious hut I helieve in religion. I !ll tell you jist exactly why: under the present set-up I don't see how a man can call himself religious and clean and see people starvin1 and g o i n 1 on. Everytime I think ahout it, it makes me so mad I could die, to see how people are havin' to do, and the conditions they are havin' to live under. I git to studyin' ahout it and thinkin' of m y own little children, the way they have to suffer. I jist don't see how I could live a Christian life. I jist git to where I don't care fer myself or nohody else, I'd jist as soon he dead as alive. A feller gits

373 to where he jist don't care fer nothin'. My wife and me can make it pretty well, but when I see m y kids cryin' fer food I'm goin' to git mine. Mistrust of religious leaders.

Ed Morrow spoke

more vigorously than others in regarding many expressions of religion as being "grafty.1* I've never belonged to any church. I just feel like if a person wants to, he can live just as good a life outside the Church as in it. I may be wrong but I believe 75 per cent of that religion is grafty, tryin' to make money or somethin' . Right here In spud harvest you will see a man around these camps with a Bible and a banjo, maybe a song book or two, and his family. They sing and preach and take up collections. Maybe that night they go to a dance or git drunk. I've never caught none of them, but I wouldn't put it past two thirds of them.. I've heard talkin' at times that it was a good way to make a livin'. I can't say whether they are Eastern or Western people who do it, but seems like a lot of preachers spring up when there's a pay roll. Some of them are all right and it's all right to go to church and Sunday School, but still a lot of It just ain't right. Uncertainty of religious attitude.

Three migrants

indicated a degree of uncertainty in discussing their re­ ligious status.

They answered in terms of both yes and no.

Rex Hawkins: All m y folks are religious. I'm religious and I'm not religious. I recken I've got a religion of my own. If a man treats other people like he would like to be treated, Is good to his family, Is honest and tells the truth, well, I think he will git along pretty good. I like to be that way but I will git mad at the Associated Farmers when they go to takin' away m y civil liberties, I'll sure git mad. ‘Martin S . A k e r s : I want to be religious but I'm not always that--part

374 of me is and part of me a i n Tt. M y n a m e 1s like a lot of them; it's on the books of the Free Will Baptist. Church. I was immersed. I try to treat m y fellow man right, if I do mistreat him it's through ignorance. I don't drink nor gamble, but I lose m y temper once in awhile and cuss a little. I try to do right. Take a man like myself whose got a family, and whose gone through so much, he ought to live closer. But we have to live like dogs. This kind of life makes you lose faith in God and humanity. You have to go to church in rags and all my life I've held up m y pride. T. D. Tribble: A certain per cent I think I'm religious and a cer­ tain per cent I'm not. I try to do what is right and if I make a mistake i t ’s just m y own hard luck. None of the migrants were openly and vigorously opposed to religion. From the interview material presented above, the following conclusions may be drawn.

The appreciative or

positive attitudes of the migrants towards religion give evidence that religion is a definite social value to some members of this group.

Religion as a collective representa­

tion appears to be a dynamic social control in the ways of doing and thinking of the migrants.

This is clearly m a n i ­

fested in the different types of culture patterns which characterize these people.

Outstanding among these are:

(l) identification with the Church; (2) the belief in the nation's need for Christianity; (3) the supreme value of religion with reference to future life; (4) the value of religion as a guide to daily conduct; and (5) gratitude to the Church for assistance in time of need or distress.

375 Various problems relating to church affiliation are associated with the migratory type of life.

(l) Mobility is

due chiefly to the kind of work available and to the desire to satisfy the urge for eco n o m i c .security.

In this respect

there appears to be a close correlation between economic stability and church affiliation.

(2) Inadequate clothing

as a deterrent to church relationships demonstrates the importance of personal appearance in the maintenance of o n e ’s status.

When such appearance is not possible, a high

degree of social distance develops.

(3) Financial worries

and hard times as causes for non-attendance at church show basically that the primary concern of human beings is to satisfy their hunger.

Self-maintenance mores,

therefore,

may be regarded as a condition precedent to religious and other types of mores.

(^} Lack of friends and acquaintances

as a hindrance to church attendance indicates that close association, or primary group relationships, are important factors in drawing people to the Church.

Lack of this type

of relationship creates social distance and prevents people from becoming members readily.

(5)

Work on Sunday develops

a type of behavior which tends to undermine an established habit of church going and promotes indifference to the Church instead.

(6) Distress over human suffering reveals

that concern for the preservation of life and mutual aid are important and more dynamic in human behavior than is

376 generally recognized.

In the determination of human conduct

they appear to take precedence over religious activities and church attendance in the case of some people at least. Some of the migrants were so conscious of human* suffering within their own families and in the larger company that this phenomena had diverted their attention from church activities.

(7) Mistrust of religious leaders in the think­

ing of a few of the migrants may be due to their unpleasant personal experiences with the Church, or to the influence of other people who have become either enemies or faulty representatives of the Church.

The uncertainty of a few of

the migrants regarding their religious status indicates that religion is largely an acquired characteristic and must be developed b y instruction and practice. Persons and groups ministering to the m i g r a n t s 1 religious n e e d s .

Various persons and groups are seeking to

minister to the religious needs of the migrants.

Among

these is the Home Missions Council of North America which is a merger of The Council of Women for Home Missions and the Home Missions Council, the. merger being effected January 1, 1941.

The National Headquarters are at 297 Fourth Avenue,

New York, New York; the..Executive Secretaries being Miss Edith E. Lowry and Dr. Mark A. Dawber.

The Western Area

offices are located at 8 3 McAlister Street, San Francisco,

377

California; Mrs. P. E. Shotwell, Western Migrant Supervisor. The Council is comprised of twenty-three demoninations, many having previously been members of both councils.

The

present Council is greatly interested in the migrant people, hence, the following statement: The migrant work comes of age this year. The first Christian Centers to care for neglected children of agricultural and cannery migrant workers were opened b y the Council of Women for Home Missions in 1920. There were only eight of them in four eastern states, with only 7 boards contributing. In 1940 there were 60 projects in 15 states, and in 1941, there will be still more. In addition to physical care, health education, re ­ ligious training, and recreational activity, in a typical Center for children, many types of service are now being rendered that were never dreamed of twenty-one years ago. Evening programs of varied character are conducted for young people. Nurses are performing much needed service in the mid-west and Pacific areas. These nurses must meet the emergencies of sudden ill­ ness, child birth, accidents, epidemics, and death. They enlist the help of physicians, hospital authori­ ties, welfare departments, and local churches. Minis­ ters and their wives are giving pastoral care to families of various areas. They and the nurses are really ^migrantsfl themselves journeying from one crop area to another. The pioneering program of the Council of Women for Home Missions preceded b y about ten years any attempt on the part of the government to meet the needs of the migrants. Though worthwhile efforts are now being made b y the Farm Security Administration such as migrant camps and labor homes, only about one tenth of the migrants are being reached b y these methods even in areas where the most is being done. Moreover, there is need for the Church in addition to all that the Government m a y .d o .; Concerned ministry to the hearts and spirits of discouraged people is admittedly not within the province of Government agencies to render. During 1939 the men became really conscious of the fact that this problem concerns us all. In January, 1940,

378 a Joint Migrant Committee was formed which now becomes The Migrant Committee. Eighteen of the denominations that are members of the Council appropriate annually for the migrant work. In the areas where work is conducted--farmers, canners, church and club groups contribute; and for this work also generous gifts come from the World Day of Prayer. The migrant problem is a threat to our democracy, for all the rights of democracy, even the vote, are denied to these millions of our fellow-Americans, about ninety per cent of whom are native born. The "rising tide of resentment against these injustices,11 to quote a former head of the FSA is something that should cause us to take heed. Underprivileged wanderers with re ­ sentment in their hearts, may not make loyal citizens. 9 3 Part of the salaries of the nurses referred to above is paid b y the ranchers.9^

The salary of Reverend Addison

S. Moore, who divides his time between Kern County and the Imperial Valley, is paid b y the Home Missions Council of North America.

Concerning some of his activities, the 19^1

Spring Bulletin for the Western Area states: Mr. and Mrs. Addison S. Moore recently closed their second year in serving the migrants of Kern County. Such a fine impression was made last year, that when the M o o r e 1s returned this season, they were able to gain the cooperation of sixteen churches in Kern County. Each assumed responsibility for Sunday Schools and services in a camp. Many of these groups held services each Sunday afternoon at camps some thirty miles distant. The matter of adequate buildings in which to hold ser­ vices is a serious one but this is being worked out. Several churches erected their own. In some instances, growers have contributed a building. These interested church communities are realizing the need for an expan-

93 !1Work We Do Together," Home Missions Council of North America, New York, New York. 9^ Interview with Mrs. C. C. Douglas, Los Angeles, April 1, 19^1*

379 sion of the program to include recreation for young people, craft work, sewing instruction, in fact, a full community program. This is slowly being developed with the enthusiastic cooperation of the M o o r e ’s. Not only is the work in Kern County appreciated in that area, but other counties have seen the good work and the possibil­ ities of such a program.95 Keverend Moore, in making a plea for tolerance, wr i t e s : Perhaps one of the greatest sins among Christian people today is the lack of understanding. Are we too ready to pass thoughtless judgment on minority groups because of race or condition? Must we be classed in the category of the rich young ruler to whom Jesus said, "you cannot understand people, nor really sym­ pathize until you lose all you have. For until you, yourself, have nothing, you will continue to consider all others who are unfortunate as being inferior." If we remain intolerant to those in our own land, perhaps some of the prejudices and horrible situations prevailing abroad will shock us out of our complacency, until, we, too, shall cry out as Solomon did, "Give us an understanding heart." If we willingly open our minds and hearts, we shall understand that the migrants in our midst are American citizens--many of them the salt of the earth--who have, because of economic circum­ stances over which they had no control, been forced to make a choice between going on relief or picking cotton in a cotton camp, and have dared to choose the c a m p . 9 6 Reverend Moore, therefore, is devoting his life to the spiritual needs of the migrants because he sees in them real human beings who are worthy of the best. M r s . Douglas believes that the churches and the Home Missions Council have missed a great opportunity in not

95 ’’Spring Bulletin, 19^1*" Home Missions Council of North America, Western area, San Francisco, California.

96 Loc. cit.

380 placing a young*

socially minded*

spiritual pastor in each

Federal camp who could also serve some nearby* privately owned ranch c a m p . 97 Another well known organization offering its* re­ sources to the migrants is the American Friends Service Committee.

Last summer the Committee conducted a Work

Camp among migrant workers at Delano under the leadership of Edwin Morgenroth, assistant principal of Westtown School* Westtown* Pennsylvania, and another in Santa Clara County under the leadership of Irwin Abrams* instructor in history at Stanford

U n i v e r s i t y .

98

To these camps a number of college

students of both sexes came for a period of two months. They payed their own expenses and served without salary. Their purpose was to become part of the community life implementing their work with a definite religious philosophy. Hence* they conducted worship services, Bible study classes, vacation schools for children, nurseries, athletics* and various recreational activities* and other community projects such as helping to improve the

h o u s i n g . 99

The Reverend Edgar J. Evans indicates the need for

97

Douglas* l o c . c i t ■

98 "Work Camp Directors, Summer* 19^1^,t American Friends Service Committee* 20 South Twelfth Street, Phila­ delphia, Pennsylvania. 9 9 The writer spent one summer in a similar camp on the Delta Cooperative Farm* Rockdale, Mississippi.

381 more religious leaders among the migrants.

He writes:

A number of ministers and laymen in Kern County now devote one evening a week to conducting Bible study classes in a number of camps. The Catholics are probably doing a better work along religious education lines than are the Protestants. There are about five nuns working out of Delano alone. To even begin to meet the needs we should have five or six times the number of full time workers now on the field.100 Reverend Evans, who spent several years as pastor of a Methodist church in Bakersfield, states the following concerning the denominational affiliations of the migrants: I would say that they are predominantly Pentecostal, a rather incomplete survey made in Tulare County rerealed that fact. However, there are far more adher­ ents of the older denominations than most of the churches in the valley realized. Three years ago when I first brought up the subject in the Kern County Ministerial Association the remarks of several of the ministers showed that they believed the migrants were almost all of the Pentecostal type. That was the principal reason that very little was being attempted by the older churches. A migrant committee of the Ministerial Association was not formed until three years ago. As you know, I was made chairman of that committee. Reverend Addison Moore came into the County upon the invitation of that committee. Regarding the attitude of the ranchers toward this aspect of the problem Reverend Evans adds: Some of the small ranchers and also some of the larger ranchers seem to be sympathetic. Some of them will not even permit public meetings to be held on their grounds. Undoubtedly you remember my experience when

Letter to the writer from Edgar J. Evans, Pastor, The United Church of Eagle Rock (Methodist-Congregational), June 19, 1941.

Loc. cit.

382 Bill Camp, Kern County President of the Associated Farmers, informed the Ministerial Association that every migrant camp in Kern County would be closed to the Association as long as I had anything to do with their Migrant Committee. This incident of course ties in with an important phase of the problem. Most of the big ranchers are not so much concerned in any charity work which may be done for the migrants or a certain type of Bible study. They are concerned however about the individual who believes too strongly in helping the migrants help themselves.102 With reference to the attitude of Bill Camp, above, Reverend Evans said: ,fIt was an attempt, and partly success­ ful, to intimidate the ministers.tfl°3 From the foregoing it can readily be seen that numerous persons and groups are interested in discovering and serving the religious needs of the migratory agricul­ tural workers.

The forces preventing the possibility of

normal religious growth are many, as pointed out by the migrants themselves.

In this connection Reverend Evans has

a pertinent work: Mobility tends to disintegrate the religious life of the migrant. It has the same effect (only worse) that ncoming to California1’ has upon some of the eastern church m e m b e r s . Extreme poverty resulting in shabby clothing takes away any desire they might have to enter any of the churches, especially of the more formal type.10^

Letter from Edgar J. Evans, l o c . c i t . 103 interview with Edgar J. Evans, Pastor, Methodist Church, Bakersfield, February 1, 19^0.

10^ Letter from Evans, loc. cit.

383 Are the majority of the migrants religious?

If by

religious is meant a positive belief in God, the answer is YES.

If b y religious is meant regular attendance in

church affairs, the answer is NO.

Their mode of living

makes that impossible. The effort has been made in this chapter to present the social attitudes of the migrants with respect to four significant areas of their experience, namely:

(2 )

ranchers,

(3) CIO, and (4) religion.

(l) relief,

In each of these

Instances their social attitudes sustain a very definite relationship to their economic and political status.

This

would seem to suggest that the economic and political status of people plays a dominant role in shaping their personalities and philosophy of life.

The migrants, as the

preceding chapter indicated, are in a distressed and sub­ merged, position in practically all aspects of their lives. The one big problem confronting them, and from which most all other problems arise, is that of mobility, the necessity for constant movement in order to secure even a sub-standard living.

It is impossible to understand their attitudes

apart from this condition.

Their attitudes, as a reflection

of their environment, reveal some of the fundamental human urges or wishes, that is, the wish for security, the wish for recognition, the wish for response, and the wish to be treated justly and fairly.

Furthermore, the interview

384 material also revealed other basic sociological concepts, such as, conflict, accommodation,

social distance,

control, social disorganization, and others.

social

CHAPTER VI SOLUTIONS FOR THE AGRICULTURAL UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM AS SUGGESTED BY MIGRANTS After having seen the living conditions of the migrants and after having interviewed them on the issues covered in the preceding chapter, an effort was made to secure their attitudes as to a possible solution or solu­ tions of the problem.

Some of their replies revealed a

depth of understanding as to the issues involved, while others were more or less of a surface nature. fiD o n 11 knowft attitude.

A number of the migrants

seemed helpless in facing their dilemma.

They were baffled

and offered no ideas as to a possible way out.

Lonnie

Nelson put it as follows: I d o n ft understand the circumstances in this country. I fm a funny person. I d o n !t like to ex­ press my opinion about anything I don*t know about. When I Tve been here longer 1*11 know the circumstances of the country better. I think t h a t 1s a fair way fer me to look at it, but now I shore d o n !t know. John Beaven:

"Fact of the business,

I ain*t got no

idea about the way to end this m e s s . ” Burl U t l e y :

111

don*t know.”

It is evident that the interviewees which may be

1 Private camp near Shafter.

386 classified as expressing the "don’t know" attitude consti­ tute those migrants who do not have enough educational back­ ground to keep themselves abreast with current issues. Coupled with this is the time element involved in their resi­ dence in California.

Most of them have been here for a rela­

tively short period of time and have not as yet completely comprehended the social situation in which they now find themselves.

Furthermore, the suddenness with which these

migrants have been thrown into a state of unemployment has prevented them from making an intelligent definition of the problems involved and their solutions.

It is, in short, a

state of helplessness occasioned by a social crisis. Solution impossible.

Three of the interviewees saw

the utter hopelessness of ever finding a way to end the unemployment situation. B. J. Lowry: I don’t see no solution fer the laborin’ class of people. They have been whupped in everything they start at, held down. Every time they turn around somebody slaps them In the face. They’ve lost their guts. They are just like an old hound that’s been kicked around. Every time some official speaks to them they just tuck their tail and hush u p . Argus Dow: "There'never will be a solution.

I t ’s

too big and the ones workin’ at it don’t know how." Avery Quarles: I just couldn’t tell you, I ’m at a loss, sure am. It looks like a hard way to ever be anything else. W e ’ve had this problem from the beginnin’ of the world, even back in Bible times. And the Bible says,

38 7 ’’You will have the poor with you always.” According to that you will always have people on the road. Those expressing the above attitude clearly indicate that in time of a social crisis certain members of the group demonstrate the inability to interpret intelligently social change and make corresponding adjustments.

Suggested solutions.

The solutions presented covered

a wide area and are summarized as follows:

(l) Government

assistance in purchasing land,, (2) war, (3 ) retention of people in home states, (4) cessation of advertising for workers by Associated Farmers, (5) deportation of foreigners, (6 ) lowering of birth rate,

(7) cooperative government,

(8) cessation of work b y women,

(9) taxing of land and

machinery, and (10) voting for ”Ham and Eggs.”

These are

discussed briefly below. 1.

Government assistance in purchasing l a n d .

six of the sixty migrants interviewed believed that the solution of the problem must be effected by Government assistance in purchasing land so that they could again become stabilized farmers.

The migrants were looking to

the Government for permanent deliverance rather than being maintained permanently upon a relief b u d g e t . Homer Towney: If I stay on relief ten years more I 111 just be ten years older but still be on relief and no better off.

Twenty

388 The Government could do away with a lot of it. Pact of the business, I know it could if it would buy land and put the people on i t . Set them up to farmin1 and let them pay the Government instead of the Government p a y i n 1 them. There ought to be forty to sixty to eighty acres to the man accordin' to the size of his family. If t h e 'Associated Farmers can make a profit farmin' why can't some of the rest of us? We might have to do it on a smaller scale. Let the people farm with teams rather than with machinery. That would mean more work fer more people and so do away with a lot of relief. It sure would do away with a lot of it. I fd lots rather be out tryin* to make a livin'. At least I'd have somethin1 to look forward to. As it is I haven*t got anything. Most of these people would work if they can git a half chance. Wiley Cuddard, Sr.: Put the people back to the farms, that*s my idea about it. People should not be in this condition. M y motto is, ”Every man to the farms if he wants it. Every man to wages if he wants it.” There*s only one way I can see to do it. On ten acres in this country you can make a good livin* with irrigation. For Texas you can take thirty to forty acres and make a livin* by irrigation too.' That's the difference in the fertility. We git on an average of one third a bale of cotton to the acre there. Here it's a bale and a half. The Government has got to give a man enough land either here or back there to support his family. Let them pay fer it over a long period. How many millions is it payin* out now? How long will your ancestors be payin' it"back? We ain't in no better condition than we wuz when this relief started. We ain't gittin nowhere. More are goin' on relief right along. Charles Robinson: About the only way I see to ever help this is to take the money that is bein' paid on relief and set a man up back East on a little piece of land and say to him, ”Now work or starve.” The federal relief pays out enough in three years to set up all of them on farms. Tell them, ”When you lose that you can just root fer yourself.” If a feller is trying and hits a streak of hard luck it looks like he ought to have a little help. But if he is too lazy and onery to do it he just ought to root fer himself.

389 2.

War.

Seven of the migrants mentioned war as a

factor in the solution of the problem.

They felt that a

big war, in reducing the population, would enable more people to find work.

It was the logic of current events

which led them to this conclusion.

With the outbreak of

recent hostilities their words become, prophetic. George Ellis: I think a big war is about all that would stop it. It would take all the young people and they w o u l d n ’t be runnin1 around. T h a t ’s all that would stop It. That would help. Joyce Garner: When we have a war t h a t ’s a cornin’, everybody knows i t ’s a cornin’ sooner or later, and kill off a lot of these people, why, t h a t ’s one way to git rid of relief and unemployment. If they git me I ’ll just be one more off relief. J. C. Townsend: Just git to figurin’ it right down, there a i n ’t no solution but war and that would thin the population out. It would just git rid of guys like me who a i n ’t worth a damn no way. I ’m benefittin’ nobody, on relief, no job. Clint Powell:

”1 guess w e ’ll just have to have a

war and kill everybody t h a t ’s big enough to die.” Hetention of people in home states.

Here the

migrants pointed out an important consideration, namely, it is wiser and less expensive to check migrations at the source.

In this connection they advocated that the states

of out-migration should, if possible, provide more adequate

390 relief budgets and more extensive work projects as means of retaining their potential migrants.

Bowman, Ellis, and

Todd represented this point of view. Sam Bowman: One way to stop these people from cornin’ out here would be to fix the relief in the home states so people could eat better. That would suit me better because I don't like to prowl around all the time. I ’d be p e r ­ fectly satisfied to stay in one place. Back there when a drought hits or somethin* like that, there should be relief In the county enough fer a man to eat so he w o u l d n ’t have to sell out and hit the road fer he can live cheaper there than anywhere else. He might as well be on good relief there as good relief here or anywhere else. Fer example, with my meat and farm products it w o u l d n ’t take more than half as much relief to live as it does here. And I ’d be a whole lot better off. I ’m speakin’ fer m y own case, not fer anybody else. It makes me as mad as hell fer them to try to make me believe that I was forced away from a place where I could a made a decent livin' if I ’d only had a little help. George Ellis: All states should treat all the por people like California does so all of them wouldn't come here. California feeds them better on relief. People back East are half starved and they tell me relief ain't no good, that they don't git nothin'. Relief should be sort of standardized--made national. Lewis Todd: I tell you one thing: the states, should take care of their own people. Oklahoma is not takin’ care of its people like it should. They should put more people to work than what they are. Back there they just keep cuttin' them off relief. There are a lot of projects back there that could be done. A lot of road work needs to be done, they're plenty rough. Cessation of advertising for workers by Associ­

ated Farmers.

Wiley Cuddard, Jr., took the lead in main-

391 taining that the Associated Farmers through various means of advertising were responsible for an influx of migrants to the state.

He had his own novel idea as to how some of the

advertising was promoted and insisted that it should cease. Boy, y o u ’ve got me when it comes to d o p i n ’ out a solution fer this thing. But I ’ll just tell you what I really think. People should be stopped from cornin’ out here. I think the Associated Farmers should be made to stop from advertisin’ fer them back East. They are d o i n ’ it, I ’ll tell you how. They will send a man back there, this is- what I ’ve got figured out from all I ’ve gathered up. He will go into a town dressed as a laborin’ man. H e ’ll meet a bunch of little share­ croppers and say, ”M y brother is out in California and he writes that work is shore good out there.’1 T h a t ’s all he has to say. Because them little farmers is just barely m a k i n ’ a livin' back there h e ’ll do the advertisin’ himself. One of them little share-croppers will go to a bunch of men and say ’’Doggone, they are m a k i n ’ money out in California. I saw a feller awhile ago and his brother is out there m a k i n ’ plenty.” By the time i t ’s talked like that fer a few days why money is g r o w i n ’ on trees out here. The whole commun­ ity is stirred up about it. Men gather around in little bunches and talk about g o i n ’ to California. Now all this Associated Farmer has done is put it on the grape-vine. Now how is anybody g o i n ’ to tell that he is an Associated Farmer? He d o n ’t have to go back there and hand out pamphlets or ads or anything like that. He just opens his mouth and the others spread it. H e r e ’s the reason-the share-croppers will scatter it: this Government plow-up program, the AAA, has just about crowded them out. T h e y ’ve got to find somethin’- and t h a t ’s as good a lead as any fer them to work on. Now how are you goin' to stop it? But i t ’s got to. •;

5*

Deportation of foreigners.

r

A number of migrants

of whom Ed Morrow may be considered the chief spokesman, envisioned no remedy for migratory agricultural unemploy­ ment so long as the ranchers employed people of other nationalities.

M o r r o w ’s hostility toward members of these

392 race groups who competed with him on the labor market had reached the level of hatred.

He began:

Let me illustrate what I mean. If I have a good job, a substantial way of l i v i n 1, a good home, I ’d be crazy as- a loon to leave it and go back East. Or if I had it there I'd be crazy to leave it and come here or any other place. Before everybody can have that we will have to deport these damn foreigners. T h a t ’s it, I believe t h a t ’s it. I may be crazy fer t hinkin’ it but t h a t ’s it. I do believe that gits it. Wife:

’’But some of them has got citizenship papers.”

Morrow: That d o n ’t make no difference. They never belonged here in the first place. I ’m quarter Cherokee Indian and I belong here. T h e r e ’s a potato field about half a mile from here, and t h e y ’re dlggin’ now. Out of thirty-five workers t h ere’s only one white worker. The rest are Philipinos and Mexicans. Go out there and ask fer a job and they will say, ’’W e ’ve got our help.” You might as well ask the side of that wall there fer a job as to ask them fer it. If I had a hundred acres of spuds out here to be picked up, if I could git a crew of white Americans, I ’d git ’em. If I couldn’t, I ’d take foreign help. But the first unemployed American that come along would be put to work. I ’d lay one of them ’’boogers” off, h e ’d git canned. I hate everyone of them, d o n ’t like a bone in their body. Ninety-nine per cent of them foreigners would let you lay and die in the b o i l i n ’ hot sun. W o u l d n ’t even put a spoonful of water on you if they had a gallon. W e ’ve got to git rid of them guys if we ever want to have good work in this country. 6.

Lowering of birth r a t e .

Sam Bowman was the only

migrant who indicated that a lower birth rate would play an important role in alleviating the present situation.

He

urged the Government to take the lead In disseminating birth control Information. The birth rate in the migratory people is g o i n ’ to

drop more and more each year. A fellow c a n ’t make an adequate livin* fer his family even on relief so they are goin* to have fewer children. You can hear that discussed all the time now among the men. Among the w i m m i n ’ too. They know it *s wrong to bring children into the world without a safe livin*. You git one check and don*t know when the next one. will come and the groceries play out. They are goin* to watch what they are d o i n * . Most of them are pretty ignorant on that subject but know a damn sight more than t h e y ’re been d o i n ’ about it. The Government should have nurses or doctors to lecture to men and wimmin* and to grown up boys and grown up girls > teach them to practice birth control. That would keep them from bringin* more children into the world fer the Govern­ ment to take care of when they c a n ’t help themselves. And that would help in this unemployment situation. Most of these people a i n ’t had a chance to know much, just been scratchin* around from place to place livin* and lettin* live. They a i n ’t thought about discussin* whether to have many children or few. But now i t ’s come to be a matter of who can eat and who c a n ’t. A great many try to git around it by practicin* abortions. Is that what you call it? They use a k n i t t i n ’ needle to stick in the womb. T h a t ’s supposed to work cause it drains off. Or they take an overdose of purgative or a heavy dose of turpentine. Has the same effect. You damn right they use them. 7*

Cooperative government.

One person, I. G.

Spurling, advocated cooperative government as one step out of the present dilemma. I ’ve been h o p i n ’ y o u ’d ask me how to solve this thing. Y o u ’ll be t a l k i n ’ to a Communist before i t ’s over. I ’ll tell you the best way I see it and I a i n ’t no Communist. There are only two solutions possible and one of them is impossible. One would be to go back to the old style of hand labor and we a i n ’t a gonna do it. The next solution would be this cooperative government. H e r e ’s the thing. Y o u ’d have to stop the money power from p r e s s i n ’ the poor people who d o n ’t own homes. I ’ll never own a home under this system even if I was an able bodied man b e i n ’ a wage laborer. You couldn’t buy and equip a farm under the present set-up. The man that owns the

394 land owns the people. If you go out here In your car y o u ’ve got to ask permission to camp at night even if you've got your own equipment. As soon as you git off the main highway you're tresspassin', and you can't camp on it. As long as the money man owns all the land how can a workin' man ever git any of it? The only solution, and it's a cornin', is to cut out a man ownin' thousands and thousands of acres of land and controllin' the people who live on it. The idea is this: if money controls so much land, then money becomes a big evil. The only way to have good homes is to let the people own the land. Have the govern­ ment so arranged that each man can have a home. Give the land no money value but let it be fer homes so that if you owned a home you couldn't mortgage it or borrow money on it. All natural resources such as oil should be taken out of control of the money inter­ ests. There are different theories to do that, but in the end it must be a cooperative government. If the people is the government then they have a right to ownership and control. What I want is a brotherhood, where men can love one another rather than hate, live in peace and happiness. Cessation of work by w o m e n .

Arthur Brown was

definite in his assertions that too much work was being done b y women in competition with men for the available jobs.

Besides, the function of women should be restricted

primarily to home making. I'm gonna tell you the god-a-mighty truth about this unemployment business. If they would take the women out of the offices and public works and out of the fields and put them in the home where they belong, where my old lady has been all these years, there'd be plenty of work fer everybody. They'd be shorter on men than durin' the war. I honestly believe that 50 per cent of this California work in the fields and in the fruit is done by women. On some of these jobs like packin' fruit they don't use nothin' but women. Like the old saying, it's the women that does the work. Why, they'd knock the hell out of unemployment. They'd give damn birds like you whose got an education a good job. You ain't got no idea of how many women are a workin'. I've seen them take new babies off the

595 breast* put them on a bottle and go out and pick up spuds or pull fruit. They'd put the babies out there in the sunshine and let them blister. A i n ’t no use in such stuff as that. Keep the women at home and let the men folks take to the fields. 9*

Taxing of land and machinery.

If land and

machinery were taxed sufficiently heavy, according to Don Jackson, large numbers of the migrants might be enabled to return to farming thereby reducing the need for relief and ending much unemployment. Without the aid of this machinery it would be im­ possible to farm so many acres. That would enable the rest of us to return to our small farms and take up where we left off. W e ’d just have to tax both land and machinery so damned heavy it would be a los i n ’ propo­ sition fer them to keep it. Cut them farms up in small sections, put us fellows on them. Let the owner of that land who is the Associated Farmer, finance us fer one year, let us pay it back at a reasonable rate of interest over five or ten years. By cuttin’ up their land they w o u l d n ’t go broke fer t h e y ’d still have their financin’ business. By gettin’ us back to the land, d o n ’t you see, w e ’ll become both producer and consumer and go completely off relief. Relief would just be automatically done away with. W e ’d all have work. Voting for 11Ham and E g g s .t!

Strange as it may

seem, William Holly alone insisted that the program pre­ sented by T,Ham and E g g s M^ would help reduce the present u n ­ employment distress.

The migrants, contrary to the opinion

In some quarters, did not appear to be greatly interested

^ A pension plan advocated by various groups in Cali­ fornia to pay old people thirty dollars every Thursday. The voters have repeatedly rejected the proposal at the polls.

396 in this movement. The only way fer the people to win is by the ballot. If you read the "Ham and Eggs11 paper you know what I mean. I d o n ’t say t h e y ’ll do it one hundred per cent. We may never have f,Ham and Eggs11 but somethin’ like it maybe. This here relief is no good. The "Ham and Eggs11 is the only thing I ’ve ever seen that is worth follerin’. I ’ll endorse it ten times before I ’ll endorse that SRA once. If you will git all your friends to vote fer "Ham and E ggs11 w e ’ll git somewhere and be done with this relief and men i d lin’ around. The suggested solutions presented in the above inter­ view material fall into two divisions, the first five are to be considered as typical among the persons interviewed, while the remaining five were mentioned b y only one person In each instance.

The majority of the first division ex­

press solutions that involve Government Intervention.

This

shows the importance of Government in the mind of these people as a type of social control in the solution of migratory unemployment.

It is significant that the depres­

sion years, followed by the relief program, have taught people to depend upon the Government in all emergencies. In other words, they are becoming more and more Government conscious which may lead to a feeling of dependence without inculcating a corresponding feeling of responsibility.

In

a complex social organization the role of the Government b e ­ comes exceedingly comprehensive, touching many aspects of the activities of the group. In the second division are found suggested solutions

597

which also involve Government intervention of one sort or another, but which are not sufficiently shared by the major­ ity of the interviewees as to be considered typical.

These

are mere expressions of individual opinions which in time may become disseminated in the group.

In this connection,

it may be noted that in a social group creative thinking is done by the individuals, while its social application is made effective only by group action. In summarizing this chapter it will be recalled that there are three classifications of migrants expressing dif­ ferent attitudes as to the solution of the migratory agri­ cultural unemployment problem.

These are (l) ”don!t know”

attitude*, (2) solutions impossible, and (5) suggested solu­ tions.

The existence of these classifications would seem to

indicate the variations in thinking and doing of the migrants due to their innate ability, cultural backgrounds, and life experience.

CHAPTER VII

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS The present contingent,of migratory workers in California agriculture are mostly of pure Anglo-Saxon stock.

They belong to the American tradition.

In other

years the dominant labor group was of foreign mixture-Chinese, Japanese, Mexicans, and Filipino.

Due to pressure

from American labor unions because of the competition for jobs, and due to pressure from the ranchers because of their desire to organize for better wages and conditions, these race groups have gradually assumed a diminishing role in California agriculture.

Today, for the first time, the

farmers of California are almost entirely dependent upon native Americans for their labor supply. home grown products.

Moreover, they have behind them a

long agricultural background. revealed this fact. depend upon it.

The migrants are

All competent studies have

They know the soil, they love it, and

Their forefathers did so likewise.

are not novices either with the mule or the tractor.

They Again,

they are migrants, the majority of them from necessity, not from choice.

They hit the trail for one main purpose--jobs.

They have known the ways of a settled life, and much prefer it to living in tent cities and rag hotels. eat they had to travel.

In order to

They are poor--it is not a migration

399 of tourists or sightseers, but of hungry folk.

They come in

whole families--it is not a single men’s migration.

Some­

times as many as fifteen or twenty persons of one family group may be found living in a migrant camp or in the vicinity.

Within the bonds of this strong familial unit

they find security.

Being strangers in a strange land and

scorned at almost every step of the way, they retreat to the family circle for recognition and response, for strength and faith, for hope and courage. holds together. all.

Herein their little world

The problems of one become the problems of

When a decision has to be made, it is a family decision

in which all participate.

When separated from one another,

they are prolific letter writers.

Their loyalty to one an­

other within the family group is unbreakable. The migrants did not migrate at the first pinch of poverty.

The interviews upon which this study is based

revealed their long-drawn-out attempts to find security be­ fore coming to

golden California.t! In many cases there was

a shift from agriculture to other occupations, such as con­ struction work, and back to agriculture in an effort to keep the wolf from the door.

There was much moving about

within the home state and across state borders within the Southwestern area in search of work.

As a last resort,

they fled to California’s fertile fields; California, con­ trary to popular opinion, was not their first choice.

They

^00

would much have preferred staying within their own native territory.

People have always migrated in times of econ­

omic stress. ahout it.

There is nothing immoral or selfish or unjust

It Is a simple sociological fact.

The present

situation, as borne out by this study, Is no exception. Troublous times fell upon that area known as the Dust Bowl, and other influences at work in all portions of the South­ western states produced a mass migration that was as stun­ ning in its suddenness as it was disastrous in its effects. And the end is not yet in sight.

Behind this upheaval,

there has been both a push and a pull.

In other words,

there were factors that uprooted the people in their native states, and there were factors that attracted them to this state.

Drought, sandstorms, the increased use of farm

machinery, and the weaknesses inherent In the Agricultural Adjustment Act led to wholesale evictions from the land. Relief or the highway was the only alternative.

Multitudes

chose the latter. After months of aimless wandering in search of work thousands of them descended upon California, and Californians "social problem" became the current topic--in pulpit, on platform, in the press, on the radio, in Chamber of Commerce circles, in farmers1 meetings, and in the legislature.

The

migrants were attracted for they had heard of jobs through advertisements.

Newspapers, hand-bills, and broadcasts had

401

scattered the nevs of "Men Wanted for Agricultural Work in the San Joaquin Valley" and other .places. So they came. Furthermore, many of the migrants, like others who are in more fortunate economic circumstances, came to Cali­ fornia for health reasons.

Having various health defects

they hoped to make improvements in this more favorable climate.

And they knew living in a tent in California

would be far less hazardous during the winter months than living in a tent in Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, or Arkansas. Belief also must be considered as one factor which attracted the migrants.

More correctly, it should be

stated that it was the availability of relief rather than the amount which was of importance.

California relief

budgets, as has been seen, are relatively higher than for the states of the out-migration.

Ready cash, irrespective

of comparable costs of living, made a strong appeal.

The

Farm Security Administration enabled the migrants to secure a subsistance budget immediately upon arrival.

If there

were no jobs, at least, there would be no starvation.

A

goodly portion of the migrants doubtless were aware of this situation. Finally, the migrants themselves, through return visits home and through much letter writing, directly or indirectly, have encouraged relatives and friends to join them in California.

Hence, the number seeking jobs and the

402

total receiving relief checks may be said to have increased somewhat through this means.

It can readily be seen that

no one factor produced the migration.

There would have

been a migration even if there had been no relief system at all in California.

People migrated to California in the

pre-Dust Bowl and pre-relief period.

The factors today,

it must constantly be remembered, are complex and deepseated. In coming to California the migrants are greeted by an agriculture with which they are not quite familiar. California has witnessed a rapid transition from extensive to intensive agriculture.

In this state there has been a

movement from cattle to wheat, to fruit, and to cotton. This transition has led to a dominance of agriculture by large-scale farms, to the increased use of farm machinery, to elaborate irrigation facilities, to absentee landlords, and to a demand for a large, mobile, labor supply.

It is,

in reality, an Industrialized agriculture, nfactories in the field." There is little difference between the operation of an average California farm and the operation of an average urban industrial unit.

The pattern is similar with

respect to capitalization, production, treatment of labor, and disposition of product.

The ranchers are well organ­

ized, and present a united front to both the laborer and the consumer.

Their point of view is well known throughout

403

the state.

Their propaganda is disseminated effectively

through a state organization, Associated Farmers of Cali­ fornia, Inc., and through the forty-two autonomous county units.

Agriculture for these ranchers is strictly a fin­

ancial undertaking.

Part of their activity, as they con­

ceive it, is to keep the public well informed as to their policies and as to the policies of so-called radical labor organizations. The migrants come from a more simple rural economy of the homestead variety.

Of course, mechanization of

agriculture is going forward in the states of out-migration, but not as rapidly as in California.

Besides, many of the

migrants come from parts of states which as yet are rela­ tively free from the use of modern machinery and where farm­ ing is more of a way of life than a business.

It Is much

less capitalized, with ownership and operation usually cor­ related.

Relations between employer and employee are more

of a personal nature, each knowing the other with his cor­ responding problems.

There Is little need for unionization

of workers since the enterprise is still basically agricul­ ture rather than industry.

The status of open-air food

factories, as In California, does not exist. in California, as it were, enter a new world.

The migrants In fact,

even though most of them have had years of experience in farming, many of them have to learn the processes of labor

peculiar to the California pattern. In entering California’s agricultural life the m i ­ gratory workers become a hapless lot of nomadic wanderers. As such, they are among the lowest paid workers in the nation; and, as such, they have little hope or opportunity of acquiring a stake in the land.

An automobile has to be

maintained in order to make the crops; It must have tires even though the children do not have shoes.

Work is sea­

sonal, jobs uncertain, and laboring conditions oftentimes unfavorable.

The work of women and children Is demanded in

order to supplement the earnings of the father and husband. Hence, the total income represents the energies of the en­ tire family.

Competition with one another due to over-supply

of workers, the ranch credit system, and the contract labor system makes their contributions toward minimum earnings. Inadequate labor organization keeps them constantly at the mercy of their highly organized employers.

The latter In

maintaining their status have at their disposal the new s ­ paper, the radio, the courts, precedent, and prestige.

The

workers, on the other hand, through lack of organization remain subdued and silent.

For their sporadic and abortive

attempts at unionization they are labelled Communists, while it is doubtful If most of them know the origin or meaning of the term.

But the charge is effective; they are

wary of unions and are afraid of anything that is accused of

being un-American.

From time to time their civil liberties

have been proscribed, and the Constitution so far as they are concerned is no more than a scrap of paper.

Their

property consists usually of an old ramshackle car, one or two dilapidated beds, a small stove, a few dishes, no chairs

(save orange crates), and a few well worn clothes.

To have more would be a burden since many moves are made during the course of a year.

They live by rumortism, that

is, by hearsay, with respect to prospective jobs and wages, there being a dearth in ways of keeping them accurately in­ formed in these matters.

Their hovels and huts are scarcely

habitable for human beings; they are too small, too crowded, and often, too leaky.

A diet of fried dough, fat meat,

prunes, and potatoes is not conducive to building able bodied men and women; and medicine is a poor substitute for food.

Sanitation under the above circumstances is a trying

affair, yet many tents and steel cabins are neat in appear­ ance.

Improper garbage and sewage disposal are constant

health threats.

With respect to education, schools are

crowded, and the migrant children are usually one or more gra.des behind the native children.

The reason is obvious.

There is no supervision of recreation except in the Government camps although the people are idle a great deal of the time.

The gambling houses, pool halls, and beer

parlors make a bid for and receive a goodly portion of that

time.

Lacking proper direction, this is frequently the

outlet although it is b y no means true of all the migrants, perhaps not even of the majority. In terms of morality, these people compare favorably with the native population of the state.

A wholesome ex­

pression of the religious sentiment is almost impossible because they are never in one place long enough to become definitely affiliated with a church.

Shabby clothing makes

them shy with regard to attending the established or older denominational churches; hence, there are migrant congrega­ tions, migrant ministers, migrant clothing; and, it can al ­ most be said, there is migrant religion.

The latter is

characterized by loud singing, lusty amens, long sermons punctuated with "Hallelujah1s,tT and many a tear shed over the repentant sinner.

But the Pentecostal or Holiness

groups do not have a complete monopoly of migrant religion, for there are many Baptists, Presbyterians, and Methodists among them, far more than is generally realized. Relief in some form at some time is almost a neces­ sity for every migrant, not necessarily because of indolence, but because of idleness--and there is a difference.

It is

enforced idleness, produced by the very agricultural order which depends upon them and upon which they are dependent. In terms of community relations they are outsiders, u n ­ accepted, and unwanted except in the work seasons.

They are

in a community, but not of it. the gates.

They are strangers within

Their clothing and their brogue set them off as

being different.

They are marked simply for having had

their origins in the Southwestern states. and "Tex” are familiar terms of scorn. since they are rootless,

"Okie,” MArky,M

They are enemies

jobless, homeless, and hungry.

On

the whole, their living conditions and total status are hardly better than the conditions that prevail in many parts of modern Europe and the Orient.

This fact is often

overlooked in the profuse and wordy eulogies of the "American Way."

For this segment of the national life the Ameri­

can Way means penury and want, hunger and disease, fear and frustration, degeneracy and despair, broken morale and lost faith, working women, toiling children, emaciated men. Grave economic social, and personal problems confront the ent ire c ompany. If the social attitudes of people arise from their mode of life and living conditions, then that mode of life and those living conditions are of tremendous importance. This study has clearly indicated that fact.

The mode of

life and living conditions of the migratory people in Cali­ fornia produce a character, a mentality, an outlook com­ parable to those conditions.

Their social attitudes tend

to remain on the level of their political and economic status. This was abundantly demonstrated in their attitudes toward

relief, toward the ranchers, toward labor organization, the CIO in particular, and toward religion.

While care must be

taken to avoid the assumption that all social attitudes are politically and economically determined, that there is a causal relationship between the two cannot be gainsaid.

The

migrants brought with them the social attitudes which had already been formed in more or less of a homestead rural economy.

Here they have entered a rural economy which is

not of the homestead variety, but which is--rather--commer­ cialized, mechanized, large-scale, and collectivist.

The

transition of the migrants from one economy to another in­ volved social, communal, and personal disorganization of a wide variety.

To a degree it has been possible to discover

the character of these changes, their social significance, and implications through a study of the attitudes of the migratory agricultural workers upon whom that economy is dependent.

Furthermore, their attitudes as a reflection of

their environment reveal some of the fundamental human urges, such as the desire for security, recognition, re­ sponse, and the desire to be treated justly and fairly.

The

attitudes also reveal other basic sociological concepts, for example, conflict, accommodation, control,

social distance, social

social disorganization, and others.

There are no easy or made-to-order solutions for the mitigation of the difficulties facing the migratory people

.

409 in California.

Nevertheless, on the’basis of this study

some suggestions are in order.

Since the major portion of

the migrants came from the Great Plains and cotton belt, some measures of a positive nature need to be put into oper­ ation there in order to halt their westward trek.

It is

far better to attempt preventative measures at the source than to institute remedial measures at the end of the journey.

If the Southwestern states can develop their

potential water supply; if they can conserve more moisture; if they can maintain a better balance between crops and grass; if they can break away from the one-crop complex which robs the soil of its fertility and turn to animal husbandry and diversified farming; if they can be more scientific In their total approach to the land--if they can do these things, then notable advance will be made in the direction as indicated above, namely, of stopping migra­ tions before they begin.

Many of the factors which convert

farmers into migrants will be prevented from becoming effec­ tive.

Indeed,

the Federal Government is working in this

direction and has been instrumental in reclaiming much of the impoverished land. If the above policies are insufficient to prevent large numbers from being literally squeezed out, if this agricultural reform Is inadequate or too late, then the states involved and the Federal Government can be urged to

410

support the people on a relief budget sufficient to maintain a decent standard of living. sent.

Such is not the case at p r e ­

Shoddy relief policies at home must be prevented

from serving as a lever to cast them adrift.

This retention

of people in their native states, if at all possible, is a significant factor in the long-time solution of this prob­ lem. California, as this study has indicated, is the state most directly affected by a large migrant population.

On

the whole, the state is to be commended for its efforts to minister to the migrants.

It is carrying an inordinate

share of the burden, due in main to its more favorable cli­ mate, more liberal relief policies, and greater abundance of available jobs accruing from the agricultural construction of the state.

However, many improvements can be made rela­

tive to the migrant situation.

For one thing, new problems

arise since the abolishment of the State Relief Administra­ tion, leaving the Farm Security Administration largely to care for the migrants.

Many migrants who had attained

state residence were on the SRA, and all migrants were p o ­ tential SRA clients.

It is likely that under the county a d ­

ministration of relief that the migrants will be at a decided disadvantage due to constant mobility within the state.

The

change in the method of dispensing relief will doubtless work to the advantage of the large ranchers who were quite vocal

411 on the issue.

Clearly, it may be tantamount to placing the

control of relief in the hands of local officials who will be no more than the front line of defense for the large employers of agricultural labor.

In other words, relief

can easily be used as a tool for further depressing the existing wage levels in agriculture.

The end result will

be equivalent to a condition of industrial peonage in the state.

This problem merits the study of both federal and

state authorities to be certain that American citizens do not go in need during periods of unemployment. The migratory workers are at a disadvantage in secur­ ing employment, this disadvantage arising from their state of poverty upon arrival, ignorance as to the maturing of crops in various parts of the state, and extreme mobility. Thus, they are easy victims of large employers and private employment agencies.

The policies of these groups are to

create and maintain a labor pool of surplus unemployed workers.

The larger the reserve of labor the more easy Is

the task of keeping wages at a minimum.

Workers are forced

to accept both wage rates and living conditions which would not be tolerated were the situation different.

Hence, the

urgent need of some kind of federal legislation designed to regulate out of state recruitment of agricultural workers. In this connection Governor Olson presents a striking case. He says:

kl2 This year an employment service maintained by the cotton growers in Arizona sent out a call for 8000 out of state cotton pickers for Arizona. The State Relief Administration of California was asked to p r o ­ vide some 1500 or 2000 workers. We were asked to take farm workers from the SRA rolls to provide them with $10 per person for gasoline and to start them in the direction of Arizona. Upon investigation we found that the relief rolls in Arizona were already over­ loaded; and that there was a sufficient supply of available farm labor in Arizona and that as nearly as we could determine, there was no labor shortage. We were advised despite this fact the employment service referred to sent its agents to Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas in an effort to recruit out of state workers. Our experience has shown that out of state cotton pickers recruited for Arizona will very likely come to California at the end of the season, and in this con­ nection, the border count maintained at the Arizona border indicated that between October 1, 1939* and November 10, 1939* 7898 persons from the Dust-Bowl states entered California from Arizona in search of employment. It is, of course, mere speculation to estimate what percentage of these people had been lured to Arizona by the activities of private employ­ ment services in that state. But in view of the fact that the influx Into California from the Dust-Bowl states showed a sharp increase for October, it is reasonable to assume that there was some connection between the recruiting activities referred to and the large influx into California for October.^ The Federal Government should regulate such activities b e ­ cause they have a direct bearing upon Inter-state commerce. Closely related to this problem is the need for all placements in agricultural employment In California to be made through a public employment service.

Such agencies as

the United States Farm Placement Service could assume a real

^ Governor Culbert L. Olson, "Statement before Senate Committee on Education and Labor," San Francisco, California, December 6, 1939* P* 22.

413 responsibility in seeing that actual placements are made. Thus, it would be possible to bring about a correlation of men and jobs.

If the major portion of agricultural em­

ployment were handled b y the Public Employment Service, many of the current abuses would come to an end.

The workers

would be saved much futile wandering about the state seeking work that does not exist.

They could arrive on time for

such available work as existed instead of arriving several days before crops matured or several days after crops had matured, incurring loss of time and expense in either case. In this manner the supply and demand for labor could be in­ telligently regulated.

The present existing employment

services do not accomplish this end satisfactorily.

The

California State Employment Service has not achieved notable success in this field. enough in scope.

Its activities have not been broad

Another advantage of a Public Employment

Service would be the accumulation of accurate statistical information which would serve as a guide to the problem of employment In agriculture. If agricultural labor in California Is In reality industrial labor, then various types of federal legislation should apply as in the case.of other industries.

This

would include the Social Security Act and the Unemployment Insurance Act, particularly for those farms whose annual wage bill is $500 or more.

Furthermore,

the National Labor

414 Relations Act should apply to those farms that annually employ a certain number of workers or whose annual wage bill exceeds a certain amount.

In drawing the line as to the

farms to be excluded some distinction would necessarily have to be made between the small, family sized, individually operated farm and the large-scale industrialized corporate farm.

It is in connection with the latter type of farm

that gross injustices prevail.

If agricultural labor in

California is in reality industrial labor except in name, then in all fairness it deserves to share in some of the advantages and protection accorded industrial workers.

To

deny them those rights is to keep them perpetually subjected to untoward discrimination comparable to that suffered by industrial workers before federal legislation espoused their cause.

Federal and state minimum wage and hour laws

would further promote their security. The migrants are in desperate need of a strong labor organization of their own to help secure and preserve their rights.

This study has abundantly indicated that need as

well as abundantly illustrating the forces and factors which impede or frustrate its development.

Such an organization

to be effective would have to be at least state-wide in scope or perhaps even broader.

-One of its chief functions

would be the collaboration with ranchers in their annual spring meetings at which time the rates of pay are set for

415 the coming season.

If the consent of the ranchers was not

forthcoming, then some mediation hoard, acquainted with the problems of both sides, could help work out agreements satisfactory to all concerned.

.Hence, the necessity for

the establishment of a State Migratory Labor Board. Furthermore, a strong labor organization could play a leading role in protecting the civil liberties of the workers especially during strikes.

At the present time, their civil

liberties are quite vulnerable since the practice prevails of converting a mob into a posse simply by pinning deputy sheriff badges on its members.

In many instances an entire

community led by sheriffs, district attorneys, health officers, other county officials, and deputized persons rises in unison to break a strike.

In all such instances

a strong labor organization could call upon the Governor of the state to mediate differences, and also secure actual protection from physical violence.

However, the National

Guard should be used only in extreme cases since the use of martial law often drives the parties involved further apart. A well-planned program of crop diversification in California would do much to ameliorate the migratory labor situation.

This would be particularly beneficial in the

San Joaquin Valley where grapes and cotton are the chief crops.

Each of these crops demands peak labor in the fall.

If other crops were introduced, for example,

sugar beets,

416

work could be offered to many migrants throughout the year since the work demanded In beet production occurs during the slack season in cotton.

By having steady work an

opportunity would be afforded the families to live a more settled life, to become an integral part of the community, to fulfill all of the functions of citizenship.

In many

parts of the San Joaquin Valley such a far-sighted program is in operation. The housing angle of this problem is particularly dis­ tressing since the families average 5*4 persons and live almost entirely in one-room tents and cabins.

Several

steps might be pursued in alleviating this situation. First, create a State Housing Authority in California on the pattern recommended in the report of the Commission on Re-Employment and Relief to work in conjunction with the United States Housing Authority whose assistance would be necessary in such an enterprise.

Second, re-establish the

Commission of Immigration and Housing on the basis of its former size and efficiency in order that it may supervise every ranch.

Thus, the Camp Sanitation Act could be more

effectively enforced.

Third, public discussions, as in

Kern County, 1937> could be utilized as a means of stimulat­ ing the ranchers to increase and improve their housing facil­ ities.

That some would respond to such a frank presentation

of the facts cannot be doubted.

Fourth, the number of

federal migratory labor camps like those at Arvin and Shafter, as described in this study, need to be greatly augmented.

The present camps are capable of housing only

a small portion of the migrant population, yet wherever they have been constructed noticeable improvements have resulted --less crowding, better sanitation, purer water, showers, laundry facilities, electricity, and schools.

Finally, the

Farm Security Administration has built labor homes on land joining several of the federal camps so as to have the migrants adjacent to as much work as possible.

The houses,

usually three rooms and bath, are located on a small plot of land varying In size from one quarter to three quarters of an acre.

The rental is $8.20 per month.

This arrange­

ment enables the families to live in decent houses, raise a portion of their subsistence, keep the children in school, and to enter community life.

With this as a home base the

father and sons can migrate when necessary without causing a complete disruption of family life.

More of these labor

homes, or garden homes as they are frequently called, are needed at the present time. Some part-time farm projects, especially in Arizona, have already demonstrated their worth.

These could be ex­

tended -to California with beneficient results.

On these

projects a large unit of land is cultivated per family. However, part of the family income is derived from seasonal

418 employment on the larger farms in the neighborhood, hence, the name part-time farms.

This is a step toward stabiliza­

tion. The cooperative plan of farming offers more in the way of security than any of the steps mentioned thus far. It deserves more attention from all who are interested in helping the migrants to help themselves.

Participants in

such an enterprise devote full time to the farm and share equally in the income.

Two examples are: the 4000-acre

Casa Grande project In Arizona, farmed cooperatively by sixty families, and the 520-acre Mineral King project in Tulare County, California.

The Mineral King Farm was

started when ten families, eight of whom came from Oklahoma, leased the land which the Government had bought from a bankrupt operating company.

Temporary homes were estab­

lished in the delapidated buildings and a cooperative asso­ ciation was formed to till the soil.

The elected three-man

board of directors secured a $5>000 loan from the Farm Security Administration to purchase equipment and work was begun.

Cotton, hay, and milo maize consumed most of the

acreage, allowance being made for each family to have its own garden. The crops for the first year netted nearly $30,000. The Farm Security Administration loan was paid, as well as $3*700 rent for the land, plus wages to all of the members

419

who had worked on the cooperative* and $4,500 was left over. Instead of dividing the money among themselves the coopera­ tors bought a herd of good cows and added five more migrant families to the farm in order to operate on a wider scale. The incomes per family for the'first year were double the usual earnings, namely, approximately $800.

These

families, having demonstrated themselves to be good credit risks, were granted another loan from the Farm Security Administration to build new homes.

These people in working

out their own economic destiny are on the road to becoming permanent and independent members of the community.

A

similar opportunity, if afforded a larger number of the migrants, would probably have similar results. The cooperative farm points in the direction of a permanent solution, and that solution as suggested by many people, is the bringing about of a democratic collective agriculture rather than a continuance of the present monopolistically owned system.

The present system, it is alleged,

has abundantly demonstrated that it seeks to secure profits rather than to serve persons.

Seen in its true light, it

is both undemocratic and anti-social.

California agricul­

ture is already collective in principle, but it is a collec­ tivism which operates in favor of the owners rather than for the workers.

At present bread and bank accounts for the few

mean hunger and penury for the many.

A change in ownership

420 is urged, which, at the same time, will preserve the effi­ ciency, organization, and abundance attained under the exist­ ing collectivism.

This means that the people will have an

opportunity to come into their, true heritage, will secure a stake in the land, will become directors of their own des­ tiny. But it is to be pointed out that so great a problem as migratory unemployment cannot be solved alone, apart from its relation to the total social problem. saved by segments.

Society cannot be

The situation which now exists in Cali­

fornia is part and parcel of our national life.

In short,

as this study has indicated, the individualistic system of farm land ownership, particularly "factories in the field,11 has failed to meet the needs of the large number of farm laborers necessary for its operation.

What is true in Cali­

fornia applies equally to the entire nation.

A new concep­

tion of industrial and agricultural democracy is essential in order to maintain democracy on a national scale touching every aspect of life.

It is unlikely that democracy can

come to the nation as long as undemocratic treatment of certain groups prevails.

The existence of a large class of

economic wage slaves is a denial of, and a constant threat to, the basic principles and program of democracy-

That

denial and that threat now obtains among California!s m i ­ gratory agricultural workers.

Hence, there is an urgent

421 need for clear and penetrating thinking and planning in the realm of politics and economics. If both federal and state governments, as -well as various social agencies and interested persons, will concern themselves with the problem of migratory agricultural unem­ ployment, and if the steps will be taken along the lines of the conclusions resulting from this study, then noticeable progress can be assured in the direction of a better state of affairs.

When these ameliorative and positive sugges­

tions become operative over a long period of years, there will emerge a different economy in California agriculture. Hence, there will be a different character, a different mentality, a different outlook--a change in social attitudes in Californiafs agricultural laborers, for they will no longer be homeless gypsies, they will be settled workers; no longer objects of scorn, but fellow human beings; no longer peons, but citizens.

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434 Reese, James B., Preliminary Report Transient Program, State Relief Administration of California, February 28, 1959. 25 pp. ’’Regional Adjustments to Meet War Impact,” United States De­ partment of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., October, 1940. 65 PP* ’’Report of Labor Camp Inspections for the Year 1940,” issued by Division of Immigration and Housing, Department of Industrial Relations, State of California* 11 pp. Role of the Kern General Hospital in Kern County, July 1, 1^58-June 36, 1939. Kern County Department of Public Health, Joe S&ith, M.D., Health Officer, compiled by Division of Vital Statistics. 46 pp. Smith, Raymond C., ”Social Effects of The War and The Defense Program on American Agriculture,” United States Depart­ ment of Agriculture, Bureau of Agricultural Economics, December 27> 1940. 11 pp. Spencer, Clarence E., ”A Study of Pupil Age-Grade-Progress in the Schools of the Southern District of Kern County.” Study directed by Kern County Superintendent of Schools, Leo B. Hart, Bakersfield, California, January, 1940. 36 pp. State Aid for Needy Blind Lav, enacted by the Legislature of the State of California, May 28, 1939 (as amended). Survey of Agricultural Labor Requirements in California. San Franciscos State Emergency Relief Administration of California, Division of Special Surveys and Studies, 1935. 142 pp. "Synopsis of *A Study of 6655 Case Histories in California, 1938.1,1 San Francisco: Farm Security Administration, Division of Information, United States Department of Agriculture. 3 PP* Taylor, Carl C., Helen W. Wheeler, E. L. Kirkpatrick, Pisadvantaged Classes in American Agriculture. United States Department of Agriculture, The Farm Security Administration and The Bureau of Agricultural Economics Cooperating, Social Research Report No. VIII, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., April, 1938. 124 pp.

435 Taylor, Paul S., "Power Farming and Labor Displacement in the Cotton Belt, 1957• " Parts 1 and 2, Serial No. R737* Washington, D. C.t United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Government Printing Office, 1938. 29 pp. ______ , "Synopsis of Survey of Migratory Labor Problems in California.” San Franciscos Resettlement Administration. 9 PP. , "The Place of Agricultural Labor in Society," Paper read before the 12th Annual Meeting of Western Farm Economics Association, June 15, 1939* United States Department of Agriculture, Farm Security Adminis­ tration, Division of Information, San Francisco, Cali­ fornia. 11 pp. "Testimony of Carey McWilliams," Chief, California State Division of Immigration and Housing Before Tolan Commit­ tee, San Francisco, California, September 25* 1940. 17 pp. "The Work of the Farm Security Administration in Region IX: 1938-1939*" United States Department of Agriculture, Farm Security Administration, Division of Information, September, 1939* 8 pp. Unemployment and Relief. A statement of Paul S. Taylor in "Extract From hearings Before a Special Committee to Investigate Unemployment and Relief," United States Senate, 75th Congress, 3rd Session, February 28 to April 8, 1938, Washington, D. C.s United States Print­ ing Office, 1938. pp. 1157-70, 1567-1612. United States Bureau of The Census, Fifteenth Census of The United States: 1930* Agriculture, Volume II, Fart~~5— The Western States. Washington, D. C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1932. 581 pp. _______ , Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930* Agri­ culture, Volume III, Type of Farm, Part 3--The Wes tern States. Washington, D. C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1932. 427 PP. ______ , Fifteenth Census of The United States: 1930* Irrlgabion, o f Agrfcultural Lands, General Reports and Analytical Tables, Reports by States with Statistics for Counties, and a Summary for the United States. Washing­ ton, D. C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1932. 481 pp.

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BULLETINS, PAMPHLETS, AND INVESTIGATIONS

. Adams, R. L., "Agricultural Labor Requirements and Supply, Kern County." University of California College of Agriculture, Agricultural Experiment Station, Berkeley, California, Mimeographed Report Number 70, Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics, June, 1940. 20 pp. , "Seasonal Labor Requirements for California Crops." Bulletin 623* Contributions from the Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics, University of California, Berkeley, California, July, 1938. 28 pp.

437 Agricultural Labor Research. Proceedings of the Conference on Res ear ch ReiatIng to Labor In Agriculture, Held in Berkeley, California in March, 1940, edited by William S. Hopkins, Subcommittee on Labor in Agriculture, Pacific Coast Regional Committee, Social Science Re­ search Council, Stanford University, 1940. 67 pp. "Agriculture and Farm Lands in California," Research Depart­ ment, California State Chamber of Commerce, October, 1940 * 7 P P • Alexander, Will, "How the Farm Security Administration is Helping Needy Farm Families.” Statement of Dr. Will Alexander, Administrator, Farm Security Administration, Introduced into the Record at the Hearings on Savings and Investments before the Temporary National Economic Committee. May 24, 1939* 8 pp. Bishop, Holmes, "Annual Address of the President.” Asso­ ciated Farmers of California, Inc., Ventura, California, December 8, 1938. 14 pp. _______ , "Migration as It Affects California.” Address delivered at the Annual Conference of California Secondary School Principals, Long Beach, California, March 18, 1940. 14 pp. Burtch, Lewis A., "Kern County Agriculture Crop Report, 1939,11 In Agriculture In The Golden Empire of Kern, Kern County Chamber of Commerce. 31 PP* _______ , "Kern County Department of Agriculture, Crop Re­ port, February 17, 1941.” 5 pp. "California Business— 1939-40-41.” Research Department, California State Chamber of Commerce, March, 1940. 8 pp. "Communistic Activities In Agriculture, 1940." Statement by the Associated Farmers of California, Incorporated. 9 PP. "Cotton Production in California." California State Chamber of Commerce, Research Department, Economic Survey Series 1940-41, Report No. 39* "Covered Wagon News,” Shafter Government C©mp*s Weekly News, Volume VIII, Issue No. 12, March 24, 1940.

458 "Declaration of Policy for Agricultural Labor*” Endorsed by the Associated Farmers of California, Incorporated. Douglas, Katherine, "Uncle Sam*s Co-op for Individualists. Fifteen Migrant Families Get Homes, Work, and Security at Visalia.11 Copyright 1939* The Coast Corporation, reprint of an article which appeared in the June 1939 issue of The Coast Magazine. 8 pp. "Facts About Bakersfield," compiled by Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce, Bakersfield, California, 1959* "Facts About Bakersfield,11 compiled by Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce, Bakersfield, California, 1940. Gleason, George, The Fifth Migration. A report on the Cali­ fornia Migratory Agricultural Worker situation, prepared for the Los Angeles Committee for Church and Community Cooperation, 1939* 29 PP* "Housing for Migratory Agricultural Workers." from the Public Welfare Hews, July, 1939*

Reprinted 8 pp.

Hutchinson, C. B., "Facts or Factories." Address Before the 1940 Annual Meeting of the Poultry Producers of Central California. 5 PP* "Irrigation in California,11 California State Chamber of Commerce, Research Department, Economic Survey Report Ho. 12, Series 1932-1933* Jones, Victor, Transients and Migrants. Bureau of Public Administration, University of California, Berkeley, 1939 Legislative Problems, Ho. 4. 67 PP* Migrants, A Rational Problem and Its Impact on California, Report and Recommendations of the Statewide Committee on the Migrant Problem, California State Chamber of Commerce, May, 1940. 51 PP* Olson, Culbert L., "Statement Before the Senate Committee on Education and Labor,” San Francisco, California, December 6, 1939* 25 PP* "Outline for Speakers.” 7 PP*

Associated Farmers of California.

"Persons fIn Heed of Manual Employment1 Entering California by Motor Vehicle” (By States of Origin, Total July 1, 1935$ to June 50, 1940, and by months, January 1, 1940,

439 to June 30, 1940), California State Chamber of Commerce, Research Department, Economic Survey Series 1940-41, Number 20. Pike, Roy M., Facts From The Fields. Being a review of Carey McWilliams * Book entitled, Factories In The Field, November, 1939• 21 pp. "Problems of Defense and Migration.” Bulletin, California State Chamber of Commerce, April 1 7 , 1941. 4 pp. Robinson, Harrison S., "Statement Regarding the Report and Recommendations of the Select Committee to Investigate the Interstate Migration of Destitute Citizens (Tolan Committee) made to Congress April 3* 1941," California State Chamber of Commerce, San Francisco, California. 2 pp. _____ , "Statement to the Subcommittee of the Committee on Education and Labor," California State Chamber of Commerce. San Francisco. January 25* 1940. 10 pp. Shear, S. W., Sidney Hoos, and H. R. Wellman, Effects of the War on California Fruit Industries. University of California College of Agriculture, Agricultural Experi­ ment Station, Berkeley, California, contribution from the Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics, Mimeographed Report No. 74. 97 PP* Sidel, James E., Pick for Your Supper. A Study of Child Labor Among Migrants on the Pacific Coast. New York: National Child Labor Committee, Publication No. 378, June, 1939* 67 PP* "Spring Bulletin, 1941." Home Missions Council of North America, Western Area, San Francisco, California. Steinbeck, John, ^heir Blood is Strong. San Francisco: Simon J. Lubin Society of California, Inc., April, 1938. 33 PP* Stevning, D. A., "Statement of the Associated Farmers of California, Inc., to the California State Land Use Planning Committee, Sub-Committee on Social Problems," May 15, 1941. 20 pp. Taylor, Ralph H., "California^ Farm Labor Problem." Re­ printed from The Blue Anchor. 2 pp.

440 Taylor, Paul S., Adrift on the Land. Public Affairs Pam­ phlet Number 42, Copyright, 1940, by the Public Affairs Committee, Inc. 32 pp. _______ , "What Shall We Do With Them?" Address before the Commonwealth Club of California, San Francisco. April, 1938. 9 PP* "The Associated Farmers of California.11 The Associated Farmers of California, Incorporated, San Francisco, California. 4 p p . Wagner, Clarence, "A Statement of the Effect of Interstate Migration on California Community Life." Special House Committee on Interstate Migration of Destitute Citizens, Hearings, Los Angeles, California, September 28, 1940. 6 pp. Watson, John S., "Statement of Associated Farmers of Cali­ fornia to the LaFollette Civil Liberties Committee,” January 29> 1940. 14 pp. "Statement of the Associated Farmers of California, Inc., to the Special Committee to Investigate the Inter­ state Migration of Destitute Citizens.” 9 PP* "What should America do for the •Joads1?" Town Meeting, New York: Columbia Press, Volume 3» No. 22, March 11, 1940. 43 PP• "Work Camp Directors, Summer, 1941." American Friends Service Committee, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. "Work We Do Together.” Home Missions Council of North America, New York, New York. E.

UNPUBLISHED MATERIALS

"A Study of the Migratory Children in Kern County for the School year 1936-1937•,1 Unpublished material compiled in the office of the office of the Superintendent of Schools, Bakersfield, California. Combs, Virgil E., "The Joad Family in Kern County." Un­ published manuscript written in reply to The Grapes of Wrath. 7 PP*

441

"Grapes of Wrath Is Fiction/11 by Associated Farmers of Kern County, Bakersfield, California, A. I. Tucker, President. "Growth Statistics of Kern County Schools." Unpublished report, office of the Superintendent, Kern County Schools, Bakersfield,California, March, 1938. 10 pp. Hurley, R. F., "The Migratory Worker: A survey of Marysville Federal Migratory Camp and the •Pear Orchard1 Squaters Camp, Yuba City." Unpublished thesis, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, 1939* 117 PP. Packard, H. D., "The Social Welfare Problems of Migratory Workers in the Cotton Industry of the Southern San Joaquin Valley During the 1937 and 1938 Seasons.” Un­ published Master*s thesis, University of Southern Cali­ fornia, Los Angeles, California, 1939- 198 pp. Reynalds, E. D., ,fMigratory Factors Affecting Education in Northern Kern County.” Unpublished Master*s thesis, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Cali­ fornia, 1932. 167 PP* F.

NEWSPAPERS

"Anti-Okie Law^Ruled Invalid,” Los Angeles Times, Volume LX, November §5* 1941. "High Rents, Health Menace Cited in Inquiry Here,” The San Diego Union, San Diego, California, June 13* 194T7 ”Jobs Exist for Reliefers,” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California, September 13* 19417 "McWilliams Faces Ouster as State Aide, Vote Abolition of Job over Alleged Radicalism," Los Angeles Evening Herald and Express, May 10, 1941. "Oakies Swarming into West for Jobs,” Los Angeles Times, June 18, 1941. ”SRA Funds Will Last Until July 1,” Dally News, Tenth Edi­ tion, Los Angeles, California, June 17* 1941.

442 "SRA Penniless as Legislators Quit,” Daily News, Fourth Edition, Los Angeles, California, June 1 7 $ 1941. "The Relief Impasse,” Editorial, Los Angeles Times, June 18, 1941.

"Victory in Defeat," Editorial, Southern California Daily Trojan, Los Angeles, California, Volume XXXIII, November 26, 1941.

G.

LETTERS

Bye, Henry, Statistician, Kern County Health Department, Bakersfield, California. Callander, W. F., Head Agricultural Statistician, In charge Agricultural Statistics Division, United States Depart­ ment of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service, Washington, D. C. Clasen, 0. H., Manager, Shafter County Migratory Camp, Shafter, California. Coolidge, D. L ., Senior Grant Supervisor Farm Security Administration, Bakersfield, California. Cooper, Walter W., City Manager, San Diego, San Diego, California. Evans, R. W. , Manager, Bakersfield Office, California Department of Employment, Bakersfield, California. Foraker, Richard, Kern County Health Department, Division of Public Health Education, Bakersfield, California. Fuller, Varden, Active Leader, Division of Farm Population and Bural Welfare, Pacific Area, United States Depart­ ment of Agriculture, Bureau of Agricultural Economics, Berkeley, California. Gardner, Thomas L., California Department of Employment, Bakersfield, California. Gershenson, M. I., Principal Statistician, Division of Labor Statistics and Law Enforcement, State of Cali­ fornia, Department of Industrial Relations.

W3 Hart, Leo B., Superintendent Schools, Kern County, Bakers­ field, California* Haynes, Ann Wilson, Public Information Editor, State of California, Department of Public Health, San Francisco, California* Hicks, Wyman, Regional Director, CIO, Bakersfield, California. Holstein, ElwoodW., Secretary, Subcommittee of the Committee on Education and Labor under S. R. 266, Washington, D. C. Hopkins, William S., Committee on Social Security of the Social Science Research Council, Washington, D. C. Huff, Herbert M., Research and Statistics Officer, Cali­ fornia Department of Employment, Sacramento, California. Killoran, Patricia, Executive Secretary, Committee to Aid Agricultural Workers (Formerly the John Steinbeck Committee), Los Angeles, California. Lawson, William R., Administrator, Works Progress Administra­ tion, San Francisco, California. Lowry, Edith E., Home Missions Council of North America, New York, N. Y. Lyon, R. W., General Manager, Agricultural Workers Health and Medical Association, Fresno, California. MacArthur, Henry C., Public Relations Officer, State of California, Department of Employment, California Em­ ployment Commission, Sacramento, California. MacLatchie, Mrs. Elizabeth, Administrative Assistant, Department of Social Welfare, State of California, Sacramento, California. McClintock, Leonard, Director, SRA, Kern County, Bakers­ field, California. McWilliams, Carey, Chief, Division of Immigration and Housing, State of California, Department of Industrial Relations, Los Angeles, California. Shotwell, Mrs. F. E., Western Migrant Supervisor, Home Missions Council of North America, San Francisco, California.

444 Smith, Eva M., Assistant Secretary, Kern County Chamber of Commerce, Bakersfield, California. Soule, Frederick R., Regional Information Adviser, Farm Security Administration, San Francisco, California. Taylor, Paul S., Professor, University of California, Berkeley, California. Tucker, A. I., President, Associated Farmers of Kern County, Inc., Bakersfield, California. Wakefield, George W., Deputy, State of California, Office of Legislative Counsel, Los Angeles, California. Wooley, Emily, Director, Division of Employment, Federal Works Agency, Works Progress Administration, Northern California, San Francisco, California. H.

INTERVIEWS

Bates, Levis, Director, Farm Security Administration, Wasco. Buerkle, Wesley, Farmer, Buttonwillow. Champion, Clyde, CIO Organizer, Bakersfield. Clasen, 0. H., Manager County Camp, Shafter. Douglas, Mrs. C.C., Los Angeles. Employee, Accounting Division, Department of Public Assist­ ance, Los Angeles (Name withheld by request). Evans, Richard, Kern County Health Department, Division of Public Health Education. Franklin, Robert, Public Relations Counsel, Associated Farmers of California, Inc., Los Angeles, California. Green, Walter, Farmer. Harris, Daniel, Editor, American Federation of Labor, Bakersfield. Henderson, R. W., Attorney, Bakersfield. Hinman, Luke, State Organizer CIO.

W5 James, Mrs. Harold, Bakersfield. Jaynes, Clay, Manager Cooperative Store, Arvin Government Camp. Lopez, Frank, International Representative of the United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing and Allied Workers of America, CIO, Los Angeles, California. McWilliams, Carey, Chief of the Division of Immigration and Housing, State Department, Los Angeles, California. Mork, Ray, Manager, Shafter Government Camp. Newman, Joe, Farmer. Nurse, Agricultural Workers Health and Medical Association, Arvin Government Camp. Nurse, Agricultural Workers Health and Medical Association, Shafter Government Camp. Penner, Otto, Farmer. Rankin, Mrs. Bertha, Farmer. Ruderman, Martin, Social Service Consultant, State Relief Administration, Los Angeles, California. Robinson, Curtis, Farmer. Ross, Fred, Manager Arvin Government Camp. Secretary, Richland School, Shafter. Strathman, Stuart, Field Secretary, Associated Farmers of California, Inc., Los Angeles, California. Trask, Sam, Guard, Arvin Government Camp. Wykoff, Frank, Farmer.

APPENDIXES

447

APPENDIX I SUMMARY ARRANGEMENT OF PERSONS INTERVIEWED, INCLUDING NAME, AGE, HOME STATE, YEAR OF ARRIVAL IN CALIFORNIA, TYPE OF RELIEF, MEMBERSHIP IN CIO, RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION, SIZE OF FAMILY, AND PLACE OF RESIDENCE

Name

Age

Home state

Year of arrival in California

Type of relief

Membership in CIO

Religious affiliation

Size of family

Place of residence

Martin S. Akers

55

Oklahoma

1939

FSA (aOK

No

Yes and no

y

(b)

John Bailey

53

* Arkansas

1938

FSA

No

Yes

5

(c)

A. Baldwin

51

Oklahoma

1938

FSA

No

Yes

3

(c)

John Beaven

33

Arkansas

1938

SRA (d)

No

No

5

(e)

Sam Bowman

38

Arkansas

1939

FSA

No

No

11

(f)

Claude Bronson

34

Oklahoma

1935

SRA

Yes

No

2

(g)

Arthur Brown

.(h)

Oklahoma

(h)

WPA (i)

Yes

No

2

(g)

Jesse Carter

40

Oklahoma

1936

SRA.

Yes

No

5

(3)

Martin Childs

56

Oklahoma

1937

FSA

No

No

5

(c)

Russell Clapp

27

Oklahoma

1939

(k)

(h)

No

3

(e)

Wiley Cuddard, Jr.

30

Texas

1939

(h)

No

No

(m)

(f)

Wiley Cuddard, Sr.

63

Texas

1939

FSA

No

Yes

4

(f)

Raymond Dawson

27

Oklahoma

1938

SRA

No

No

3

(3)

Argus Dow

24

Oklahoma

1939

(k)

No

No

(m)

(n)

George Ellis

58

Texas

(h)

WPA.

No

No

4

(g)

John Freeman

27

Oklahoma

1939 ,

(k)

No

Yes

(m)

(n)

Joyce Garner

23

Oklahoma.

(h)

(h)

No

No

3

(3)

Daniel Goddard

30

Arkansas

1935

(k)

No

No

3

(e)

Frank Hart

28

Texas

1938

(k)

No

No

2

(e)

Rex Hawkins

39

Oklahoma:

1938

SRA

Yes

Yes and no

5

(3)

William Holly

57

Texas

1938

SRA

No

Yes

4

(c)

£

Key to alphabetical letters within parentheses is given at end of chart.

APPENDIX I (continued)

448

SUMMARY ARRANGEMENT OF PERSONS INTERVIEWED, INCLUDING NAME, AGE, HOME STATE, YEAR OF ARRIVAL IN CALIFORNIA, TYPE OF RELIEF, MEMBERSHIP IN CIO, RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION, SIZE OF FAMILY, AND PLACE OF RESIDENCE Year of arrival in California

Type of relief

Membership in CIO

Religious affiliation

Size of family

Place of residence

Age

Home state

Don Jackson

27

Oklahoma

1939

FSA

No

No

2

(c)

Jesse Jacobs

50

Texas

1939

FSA

No

No

7

(f)

Jesse Jennings

46

Oklahoma

1936

SRA

Yes

No

7

(f)

Henry Jensen

25

Kansas

1937

(k)

No

Yes

3

(c)

D. S. Knowles

60

Oklahoma

1939

(k)

No

No

4

(e)

John Lawson

57

Oklahomat

1939

SRA

No

•No

2

(c)

B. J. Lowry

47

Arizona

1939

FSA

Yes

No

4

(c)

Ed Morrow

(h)

Oklahoma

1939

FSA

No

No

5

(g)

Lee Moss

31

Oklahoma

(h)

SRA

No

No

2

if)

Grant Murphy

23

Oklahoma

(h)

NYA (o)

No

No

(m)

(g)

Arthur Naples

54

Arizona

1936

SRA

(h)

No

5

(b)

J. E. Nathan

36

Oklahoma.

1937

(k)

No

No

4

(e)

Lonnie Nelson

(h)

Oklahoma

1940

FSA

No

No

5

(c)

Andrew Norris

48

Oklahoma

1938

FSA

No

No

4

(c)

Robert Orsley

27

Texas

1936

.FSA

No

No

3

(c)

William Palmer

38

Texas

1939

FSA

No

Yes

5

(f)

Henry Parker

29

Texas

1934

WPA

No

No

4

(c)

Gordon Payne

61

Oklahoma

1936

SRA

(h)

Yes

3

(g)

C. A. Peterson

47

New Mexico

1939

FSA

No

No

6

(g)

Clint Powell

(h)

Oklahoma

1939

(k)

No

No

(h)

(g)

William Powers

50

Texas

1940

FSA

No

Yes

2

(c)

Name

449

APPENDIX I (continued) SUMMARY ARRANGEMENT OF PERSONS INTERVIEWED, INCLUDING NAME, AGE, HOME STATE, YEAR OF ARRIVAL IN CALIFORNIA, TYPE OF RELIEF, MEMBERSHIP IN CIO, RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION, SIZE OF FAMILY, AND PLACE OF RESIDENCE ......—

Year of arrival in California

Type of relief

Membership in CIO

Religious affiliation

Size of family

..... .... .

Age

Home state

Avery Quarles

39

Oklahoma

1939

FSA

No

No

8

(f>

Earl Richards

31

Oklahoma

1936

(k)

No

No

3

(e)

Charles Robinson

29

Texas

1939

FSA

No

No

6

(f)

Henry Rollin

4?

Oklahoma

1939

FSA

No

No

6

(f)

Boyd Small

(h)

Oklahoma.

(h)

SRA

No

No

4

(g)

I. G. Spurling

66

Oklahoma

1937

SRA

No

Yes

2

(f)

Wilbert Stevens

29

Oklahoma

(h)

(h)

No

No

4

(g)

Walter Stone

29

Oklahoma:

1938

SRA

Yes

No

6

(j)

Clyde Storey

26

Oklahoma

(h)

(k)

No

No

(m)

(g)

Buster Swanson

26

Oklahoma

(h)

(h)

Yes

Yes

5

(g)

0. E. Tatum

33

Oklahoma

1937

SRA

No

No

7

(c)

Lewis Todd

(h)

Oklahoma

1937

NYA

Yes

Yes

(m)

(g)

Homer Towney

(h)

Oklahoma

1936

SRA

No

No

6

(g)

J. C. Townsend

26

Oklahoma

1939

FSA

No

No

(m)

(g)

T. D. Tribble

30

(h)

1939

(k)

No

Yes and no

3

(e)

Burl Utley

21

Arkansas

1936

(k)

No

No

2

(e)

Harrison Wallace

(h)

Oklahoma

1939

FSA

No

No

7

(f)

I. V. Williams

59

(h)

1934

SRA

No

Yes

7

(P)

Name

(a) (b) (c) (d) (e)

Farm Security Administration Shafter County Camp Shafter Government Camp State Relief Administration Private camp near Shafter

(f) Arvin Government Camp (g) Auto camp near Bakersfield (h) Not reported (i) Works Progress Administration (j) Auto camp near Shafter

■'

Place of residence

(k) Not on relief (m) Single (n) Private camp near Buttonwillow (o) National Youth Administration (p) County camp near Buttonwillow

APPENDIX II CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS FOR FUTURE STUDY The present defense program has focused attention anew upon the migrant problem In California.

One writer

observes: The conclusion is inescapable that the migrant problem is even more with us. National defense busi­ ness has increased the problem of caring for migrants in California. Not only does it mean taking care of jobs for the more than 1,000,000 migrants who have moved into the State during the last decade, but it also means providing jobs, housing, schools, and the like for the many additional thousands now being at­ tracted into the State because of our becoming air­ craft, shipbuilding, and other defense industries. The fact that more than 60 per cent of California*s population increase during the past ten years has con­ centrated in urban areas only aggravates the situa­ tion.! A newspaper article states: “The *0akies and Arkies* are swarming into California faster now than three or four years ago,*1 Richard M. Neustadt told Washington, Oregon, California, and Nevada State employment compensation officials. Neustadt, regional director of the California Social Security Board, asserted the southwesterners are bent upon jobs in airplane factories now, rather than work on farms. He predicted establishment of plants in the Southwest would lessen the migrations.2

1 Edwin Bates, “Pressure on the Western Rim, An Analysis of Some of the Reasons Why California Cannot Expect the Influx of Great Plains Migrants to Cease; An Examination of Our Newest Headache--Defense Migrants,11 California, Magazine of the Pacific, Volume XXXI, Number 2 , California State Chamber of Commerce, June, 1941. p. 13* 2 “Oakies Swarming into West for Jobs,” Los Angeles Times, June 18, 1941.

The California State Chamber of Commerce points outs Although less than 30 per cent of the national defense contracts for aircraft and equipment have been placed in California, more than half of the aircraft workers now employed in the United States are working in plants in this State. This is explained by the fact that only about half of the backlog of orders in California plants are U. S. Government orders.3 The Tolan Committee in its San Diego hearings received testimony from various persons regarding the problems created by the coming of large numbers of people seeking work in the defense industries.^

One migrant, Otis Porter

from Oklahoma, testified that he paid $72 a month rent for a one-room auto-court cabin.

His salary as an aircraft worker

was $135 a month; his family included a wife and six chil­ dren. 5 It is naturally to be expected that many agricultural workers would seek employment in the defense industries due to better pay.

The Associated Farmers of California are

aware of this situation.

To quotes

California, with a large proportion of the defense emergency production contracts, is facing a serious problem in connection with farm labor supply. . . . Farmers throughout the state can very definitely see

3 "Problems of Defense and Migration,” Bulletin, Cali­ fornia State Chamber of Commerce, April 17# 19^1, p. 1. ^ "High Rents, Health Menaces Cited in Inquiry Here,” The San Diego Union, San Diego, California, June 13# 19^1* 5 Loc. cit.

the movement of farm labor to the new defense Industries. Farming operations around the major cities where defense equipment is manufactured already feel a severe pinch. The same condition is true of rural areas in which there are large construction projects such as canton­ ments and airports. . . . Our own observations in the field show without a question of doubt that there is a rapidly increasing flow of agricultural workers into defense industries and projects. This movement has not been quickly recognized, because in previous years there was a surplus and the movement is just now wiping out that surplus. Now, the quicken­ ing pace of the defense production effort points toward a constantly accellerating drain upon our labor supply. We believe the effects of this will be seriously felt before the end of 1941.6 The article concludes: Industry must not drain agriculture dry of workers. We are not criticizing the use of needed workers from agriculture for defense, but there should be some re­ gard for the needs of defense production in agriculture. Possibly a large portion of the damaging effects of draining labor from farms comes about by lack of under­ standing of the vital defense role played by farm pro­ duction of food and fiber. Few people realize that leather, cotton, wool, flax, etc. are vital defense materials.7 Another event worthy of note was the recent decision of the United States Supreme Court invalidating on constitu­ tional: grounds a statute which prohibited the importation of "indigent persons” into California.

The Los Angeles Times

explained:

6 "Labor Supply Becomes Major Problem in Agriculture," The Associated Farmer, Published Monthly by Associated Farmers of California, Inc., San Francisco, California, June 18, 1941. p. 1. 7 Ibid., p. 4.

453 The decision overruled the California courts, which had upheld the conviction of Fred E. Edwards of Marys­ ville, who brought into the State Frank Duncan, his brother-in-law, nearly two years ago. Edwards was given a six months1 suspended jail sentence after con­ viction on charges he violated Sec. 2615 of the "Welfare and Institutions Code, which makes it a misdemeanor to bring an *indigent1 into the State.8 The majority opinion of the court held the law to be unconstitutional on the basis that it was an invasion of the Federal control over interstate commerce, indicating that persons, as well as vehicles or commodities, are "commerce.11 The minority opinion emphasized the "human” side of the dispute.9

The decision simultaneously ruled

out the laws of twenty-seven other states.

The court was

firm In maintaining that no state has the right to set up barriers preventing the entry of residents of other states. The revoking of this prohibitory statute is likely to have some bearing upon continued migrations to the state both of agricultural and industrial workers. Some aspects of the current developments In the Cali­ fornia scene, with particular reference to agricultural workers, would provide suitable material for further study and investigation.

® "Anti-Oakie Law Ruled Invalid," Los Angeles Times, Volume LX, November 25* 1941. 9 Loc. cit.