Use of Mexican
Americans Said Not
Willing To Do Some
Types of Farm Jobs
Washington - HOT - A House
ubcommittee was told Mon
day that American farm work-
In the Day's News
By FRANK JENKINS
From Albany (Oregon):
Scientists working with a
rare metal refincj here by
the Wall Chang Corporation
have found a way of creating
extremely strong magnetic
fields, using a very small
amount of electricity. The
metal is known as columbium.
Ninety per cent of the world's
supply of it is produced by the
Wah Chang Corp. from ores
mined in Malaya, South Af
rica and Australia. With its
aid a magnetic field can be
generated with one-fiftieth of
the wire hitherto needed.
In case you ask what that
means to you, electric motors
work by means of a magnetic
field. If they can be made
with one-fiftieth of the wire
now needed, they can be made
cheaper and smaller.
THIS new metal is expected
to improve radio transmis
sion. And-
The scientists say-
1T ENCOURAGES
DREAMS OF HARNESSING
FOR PEACEFUL MEANS
THE SOURCE OF ENERGY
USED IN THE H-BOMB.
GOING on from there
I suppose you readin the
papers the other day that our
nuclear submarines are run
ning an unexpectedly long
time on one charge of their
atomic fuel. The story added
that the time might not be
too far off when they will
operate for DECADES on one
charge.
The story speculated that
the time may even come when
a nuclear submarine may be
built that will NEVER have
to be refueled.
AND-
That suggests that a nuclear-powered
SPACE SHIP
MIGHT SOMEDAY BE
BUILT THAT WOULD
CRUISE AROUND FOR
EVER OUT IN SPACE.
w
ELL, you can't stop a guy
from dreamin'. '
AFTER all
Would such a thing be
any more fantastic today than
was electricity when Ben
Franklin first flew his kite up
into the stormy skies and
brought the miracle of elec
tricity down to mankind?
Or when Wilbur Wright
and his brother Orville made
a crude airplane fly for two
or three minutes at Kitty
Hawk? Planes had been
dreamed of for centuries.
Back in the late 1400's Leon-,
ardo da Vinci envisioned the
idea of mechanical flight and
drew a crude but accurate
OltEGOJ Iff Hl'TM!
hi
anncunceb
tfie atichUment cf?
Medford
Insurance Agency
Fred R. Brennan
Mrs. Giroud Davidson
Certified Insurance Agent!
at Agents in
Jackson County
Standard legal reserve policies
currently saving up to W
OREGON MUTUAL INSURANCE CO.. McMINMVILLE, OREGON
ers refuse to do the type of
work performed by thousands
of Mexicans brought to the
United States each year.
Representatives of three
agricultural organizations ap
peared before the House agri
culture subcommittee on
equipment, supplies and man
power to urge extension of a
program under which 500,
000 Mexican nationals are
brought into this country an
nually to work in farms.
Matt Triggs, a spokesman
for the American Farm Bu
reau Federation, told the sub
committee that U.S. citizens
"are interested in permanent
jobs . . . rather than the temp
orary and intermittent em
ployment of the type perform
ed by Mexican nationals."
Robert F. Lederer, who ap
peared on behalf of the Ameri
can Association of Nursery
men, said the Mexicans do
"rough field work" and "stoop
labor," which he described as
work American migrant work
ers are "completely unwilling
to perform."
J. Banks Young, a repre
sentative of the National Cot
ton Council, told members of
the subcommittee that suf
ficient domestic workers were
not available to meet agricul
tural needs.
"Furthermore," Young add
ed, "most Americans simply
do not want to perform the
stoop labor incident to most
agricultural jobs."
Triggs said that if the Mexi
cans workers, referred to as
braceros, were not available
it would force American' farm
ers to hire more domestic mi
grant workers and thus add to
a social problem.
"Many people are concern
ed and properly so with the
health and education of mi
grant children and point out
that migrancy itself is the
major aspect of the problem,"
Triggs said.
The farm bureau spokes
man said that those who op
pose extension of the program
to bring Mexican nationals
into the country for farm
work "are, in effect, calling
for an increase in the num
ber of migratory workers."
Termination of the program
also would "adversely affect"
the Mexican economy, Triggs
said. He added that earnings
of the braceros "have been
second only to tourism as
Mexico's most reliable and
greatest source of foreign ex
change." sketch of what an airplane
ought to look like.
But it wasn't any good un
til somebody came along and
invented the internal combus
tion engine which provided
the power to get a plane up
in the air and keep it there.
The internal combustion en
gine also made possible the
automobile, which revolution
ized land transportation and
made walking ibsolcte.
So . . . don't scoff too much
about this new rare metal and
what may come of it.
Farm Labor Expected
More Protection
For Americans
Among Top Issues
Washington - (CQ) - Pro
posals to change the law au
thorizing Mexican nationals
to enter the U.S. for farm
work are expected to produce
a bitter Congressional fight
this year.
The law expires Dec. 31
and must be renewed during
the current session. Hearings
got under way Monday before
a House Agriculture subcom
mittee headed by Rep. E. C.
Gathings (D-Ark.).
The chief issue is whether
changes should be made to
give added protection to
A m e ri c a n farm workers
against wage competition from
Mexican workers, who are
called braceros. Some 315.846
braceros entered the U.S. in
1960 and worked on about
45,000 farms, chiefly on the
cotton and vegetable crops in
Texas, California, Arkansas,
Arizona and New Mexico.
They are supplied by the La
bor department under an
agreement with Mexico de
signed to insure reasonable
working conditions.
Under existing law, the La
bor department is not author
ized to supply braceros to
farmers who have not made
an effort to obtain native
American workers before re
questing braceros, nor may it
supply them in areas where
this would have an adverse
effect on the wages of Amer
ican farm workers. The bra
ceros must be paid 50 cents
an hour or the prevailing wage
in the locality where they
work, whichever is higher.
Safeguards Too Vague
A bloc of labor unions and
welfare groups, including the
National Catholic Welfare
conference, the National
Council of Churches of Christ
and numerous AFL-CIO un
ions, believes that the exist
ing safeguards for native
American workers are loo
vague. In practice, they argue,
the mere availability of the
braceros creates a labor glut
and depresses wages and
working conditions for do
mestic farm workers, particu
larly migratory workers. The
nation's 346,000 itinerant farm
workers worked only about
one day in three, on the aver
age, and made only $911 per
person during the year 1959
the latest for which figures
are available.
As evidence that the pres
ence of braceros is largely re
sponsible for the low income
of domestic farm workers, the
labor - welfare bloc cites an
October 1959 study by a spec
ial Labor department consul
tants' group headed by cx-
Sen. Edward J. Thye (R
Minn. 1947-59). This group
concluded that over the five-
year period 1953-58, farm
wages for American workc
in areas where braceros were
used extensively had in at
most all cases either gone
down, failed to rise, or risen
much more slowly than wag
es in other areas.
Reform Proposals
The labor-welfare bloc is
putting forward a series of
proposals based on the Thye
group report. These, call for
revision of the Mexican farm
worker law to:
Bar the use of braceros in
year-round and skilled em
ployment (about 20.000 are
now employed in year-round
jobs).
Permit farmers to hire bra
ceros only if they had made
a real effort to obtain native
workers first and had been
unable to do so. Employers
would be required to offer
domestic workers some of the
special benefits they are re
quired to give braceros by the
Mexico-U.S. agreement, name
ly, free housing, free trans
portation to the job and free
insurance against injury. (The
labor welfare group says
many farmers prefer braceros
to native American workers
despite having to give bra
ceros these special benefits
because the braceros don't
have families with them that
would have to be housed, are
prime workers in good health,
inspected before leaving lUex
ico, and fear to make "labor
trouble" lest they be sent
back to Mexico.)
Prohibit the use of braceros
on surplus crops. This would
bar them from cotton, where
over half the braceros are em
ployed and where some of the
lowest wages (35 cents an hour
HEAR TONIGHT 8 P.M.
Evangelist Allen L. Crabtree
at the
APOSTOLIC FhITH CHURCH
3rd and Central
Services each night, except Mon. & Sat.
Sunday services, 11am. and 8 p.m.
Listen to KMED, Sunday, 9;05 a m.
KRVC, Sunday, 4 p.m., Tues. & Sat., 8 a.m.
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE.
some areas) are paid to i
American farm workers.
Work out a new and speci
fic formula to determine
when the use of braceros has
an adverse effect on wages of
American farm workers. The
formula would permit the
Secretary of Labor to refuse
to supply Mexican workers to
farmers in an area where na
tive workers' wage scales had
failed to rise, or had risen
much more slowly than else
where. Farmer Position
Nearly all farmer organiza
tions except the National
Farmers union oppose the re
form plans. They argue that
Mexican workers have not
really undercut the domestic
workers' labor conditions and
farmers would be glad to use
native workers if they could
obtain them; in fact, the farm
er organizations say, Mexi
cans are used largely where
native workers are not available-and.
in work they will
not do - in particular "stoop
labor" requiring the laborer
to stoop.
If the supply of braceros
were cut off, or made diffi
cult to obtain through institu
tion of complicated adminis
trative procedures, the farm
groups argue, the farmer
simply could not bring in his
crops, and this would hurt
smaller farmers, who could
not afford to replace labor
with expensive labor-saving
machinery, more than it
would hurt the larger farm
ers. (The latest census bureau
figures available indicate
that a little over half of all
commercial farms used hired
labort with the largest 15 per
cent accounting for about
three-quarters of all wages
paid to farm hands; however,
even among smallest commer
cial farms, those with sales
under $1,200 a year, a third
use some amount of hired
labor.)
The farmer groups also ar
gue that cutting down the
Mexican labor program would
simply reinvigorate the ille
gal traffic in wetbacks (Mex
icans entering covertly) that
has been virtually ended in
recent years; and that, despite
the presence of braceros,
over-all farm wages nave
risen 50 per cent in the past
13 years.
Outlook
The labor - welfare bloc's
strategy is based on the fact
that the Mexican farm law is
expiring and the farmer
groups want it renewed. A
Bills Approved
By Legislature
Salem -(Urn - Measures ap
proved Monday:
By the Senate
SCR12 - Sorrow upon death
of James D. Olson.
SJR4, 6. 7 - Constitutional
amendments to revise stale's
debt limits.
SJR26 - Chinook salmon as
official Oregon fish.
SB276 - Relating to public
assistance.
SB383 - Official documents.
IIB2010, 2018, 2019, 2024
Budgets for Board of Eugen
ics, State Engineer, Hydroelec
tric commission, State Bank
ing department.
By the House
HB1403 - Relating to herbi
cide protected areas.
11B1476 - Updating old law
to let women and non-white
persons bear arms.
SB384 - Permitting state to
collect license fees from Ox
bow, Brownlee and Pelton
dams.
Signed by Governor
HB1005 - Exempting cer
tain armed forces fuel pur
chases from fuel tax.
HB1044, 1049, 1067, 1069,
1193 - Relating to vehicles
and motor carriers.
HB1050, 1061, 1064 - Relat
ing to elections,
1IBI051 - County clerks'
abstract of votes.
IIB1143 - Throwing away
lighted material in stale for
ests. 11B1262 - Changing Oregon
State College to University.
SB 10 - Relating to legisla
tive fiscal committee.
SB 191 -Licenses for cosme
tic therapy teachers.
TRIES FOP RECORD
Edwards AFB, Calif - WPn -Air
Force Maj. Robert White
today was scheduled to at
tempt to set a new unofficial
speed record of about 2.600
miles an hour in the XI 5
rorkrtship. He already holds
the unofficial world speed
record of 2.275 m.p.h. as well
as the altitude record of 136,
000 fect.
MEDFORD. ORE.
Central Point Jaycees To Hold
Awards-Bosses Night Banquet
Central Point - The Cen-,
tral Point Junior Chamber of j
Commerce Distinguished Sen-!
.,, , ,1
ice Award will be presented .
to one of three candidates
at an awards-bosses night ban
quet at the Pioneer Cafe in
Central Point at 8 p.m. Thurs
day, March 9.
Candidates for the award
are Chester Ayres, 35, of 127
North Ninth st., Central Point;
Donald E. Lavy, 33. of 2092
Scenic ave., Central Point,
and Ernest R. Kennedy Jr.,
30, of 3088 Old Stage rd., Cen
tral Point.
O. W. (Cork) Corbet, Burns,
Ore., a national vice president
of the Jaycees, will speak.
Events Combined
The Distinguished Service
Award and bosses night ban
quet are being combined this
year in order that employers
may have a better knowledge
of what the Central Point
Jaycees are doing in the com
munity. Ayres, who works at Pen
dleton's Mobile Gas station,
Central Point, is being spon
sored by the Central Point
Lions club. Since November,
1959, he has served on the
Central Point city council, has
Gathings bill calls for exten
sion for four years. The labor
welfare bloc is threatening to
block renewal, by every par
liamentary device possible,
unless the farmer groups
agree to some changes in the
law.
The success of this strategy
depends largely on the posi
tion of the Kennedy adminis
tration. If the administration
supports reform of the law,
as several Labor department
sources have indicated it will,
changes could bo forthcom
ing. Without strong adminis
tration support, however, the
labor-welfare group appears
to have little change of over
throwing the power of the
farm bloc in Congress.
(Copyright 1961, Congres.
sional Quarterly, Inc.)
..... "
if It. -ajppaBto
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been president, treasurer and
a director of the Jaycees, and
h,as luld , sovcral ,t!ha(in"i,n'
ships in Jaycee activities in
0s. vo.,,.s
Ayres is a committeeman
for the Central Point Explor
er Scout troop. He is married
and has two children.
Sponsored by Association
Lacy, who is sponsored by
the District 6C Teachers asso
ciation, is chairman of the
speech department at Crater
High school, and has been ac
tive in Jaycee programs. He
is secretary-treasurer of the
Jaycees here now.
He has conducted the public
speaking contest sponsored by
the Knights of Pythias, and
directs the school district
speech conference each year.
Lacy is president of the
District 6C Teachers associa
tion, a candidate for treasurer
of the Jackson county division
of the Oregon Education asso
ciation, past treasurer of Cra
ter High school PTA, past
president of the high school
speech league, past president
of the Delta Sigma Rho, na
tional speech fraternity, and
recently was selected by Dr.
Leonard B. Mayfield, Med
ford, to be chairman of the
social studies textbook selec
tion committee for Jackson
county.
He is married and has sev
eral children.
Chairmanships Noted
Kennedy was chairman of
the March of Dimes in Cen
tral Point for two years, chair
man of the Jaycee-sponsored
1960 Easter Egg hunt for Cen
tral Point, and has been pub
licity chairman for several
Jaycee projects.
He has been a leader in the
drive to rejuvenate and re
activate the Jaycees last year.
He is vice president of the
Jaycees this year, a post which
which he served previously.
Kennedy also has been treas
urer of the Jaycees. He is
president of the Jackson Coun
ty Pharmaceutical association,
and is president of tho Jack
OF CALIFORNIA
son County Shrine club Scoot
er patrol.
Kennedy is a member of the
Oregon State Jaycee resolu
tions committee, and was a
delegate to the state and na
tional Jaycee conventions last
year. He received the key-man
award from the Jaycees in
1959 and 1960.
He is manager of tho Cen
tral Point Pharmacy, and is
married.
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