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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 5, 1963)
MED10KD .MAIL lltlHLNK. MtDHMD. OKEUUX House Action Still Pending on Mexican Farm Labor Legislation By Ril JaHD P. O'MAR.9 i by organized labor and liberals i lainly not in competition with i that the braccro even before the present law none of these , is questioned whether things The migrant army trucks I Last year the braceros work-1 in Arkansas to no higher than Washineton mpn Th. Congress who contend the I the American farm worker. Yet. enteHnu the mum" is assured I benefits coos to the American ! would be equal between the mi-1 from the apple orchards of ed fields in 21 states, ranging a dollar an hour in most other migrant. An amendment to the ! grant and the bracero even if me nosuc nouse passes uie Washington fUPI) The Senate recently voted a one-year extension of the Mexican Farm Labor act, a law which permits Mexican farm hands, or bra ceros, to work in the United States. House action is pending. Just who is the bracero and what effect does he have on farm life in the United States? And why is he allowed to work the American farms in face of domestic unemployment? Importation of the bracero has come under fire in recent years 1 lb 49c 2 lb 97c 31b $1.45 Instant 10 oz. 1.19 At Grandview and Van Wey's TIP-TOP MKTS. system aggravates the domestic job picture. This resistance has already brought House defeat to an attempt to extend the law for two years instead of one. The bracero represents the largest single bloc of foreign workers entering this country annually. Smaller groups include Canadians, Jamaicans, Baham ians and even some Japanese. The braceros were first brought in to meet a wartime manpower shortage in 19-13. More than 52,000 entered that year. By 19-19 the number had reached 100,000 and by 1954 had i climbed to more than 300,000. ! Yet, this was long after the acute manpower shortage had j ended. ! Tapered Off 'After 1954 the influx tapered off. Last year 195,000 braceros worked in American fields. In . the first six months of this year 82,018 made legal entry. These s t a tistics, gathered by the Bureau of Employment Security of the Department of Labor, in clude only those Mexicans who enter legally. Others, known tra ditionally as "wetbacks," ford the Rio Grande each year in considerable numbers. In theory, the law proclaims that the bracero must not be used unless the domestic labor supply is exhausted, and cer. the American farm worker. Yet, enterine the country, is assured unemployment remains high and certain minimum amounts of the bracero is still hired. work, free housing, insurance Senate-passed extension would Opponents of the system argue I and transportation. But under provide such advantages but it measure. The bracero is regarded as premium labor. All males, they are screened for health and fitness at receiving stations bc- Washington state and Oregon to the cotton fields of Southern California. It picks beets in Colorado, then swings east to the Michigan cucumber fields. Kthnicullv, the group consists mainly of Negroes, Puerto fore entering the country. Thus Kicnns, Texas - Americans and their effectiveness as a work j poor whites, but all are Ameri' force is assured. I can citizens. M V '.it f4 jfisa ,f, j'.htjuL era n 'A a. EAT BY ROADSIDE The Senate recently voted a one-year extension of the Mexican Farm Labor act, a law which permits Mexican farm hands or braceros, to work in the U. S. House action is pending. In this picture, taken in June this year, braceros arc shown eating lunch by a roadside. (UPI) By contrast, the American j migrant generally travels with his family. As a group they often represent an underfed, j travel-weary little band. ': Labor department officials describe the American migrant as a social accident, caused by the very technological develop ments 'which have produced huge food surpluses in this country. Modern farm machinery brought increased produc t i o n and opened the era of crop specialization they say; thus eliminating the need for the old fashioned year - around hired hand. Resident Nowhere As a consequence, what the corn fields of the midwest and bean fields of the south and far west need are large labor sup plies for short seasons of culti vation or harvest. The American migrant came about to fill this need and while tied to the land is a resident of nowhere. W1 ',M' IT ;'!' y ifM. jmjw vm TV f " 'A mm i - - . iUft.i M.iijfc. mii.wiy ii mm J STOCK iHDUCTB In principle an American em ployer can get foreign workers only after reauesting state agencies to supply help. The agencies are the arms of the Bureau of Employment Secur ity which oversees the system of importing foreign help. as far east as Indiana. In 1949 a four-man committee appointed by the then secretary of labor, James P. Mitchell, concluded that the bracero deprived American citizens of job oppor tunities, shortened their work ing season, and held down wages and earning power. Later, in an effort to combat these conditions, another secre tary, Arthur J. Goldberg, put into effect what were called "adverse effect rates." These rates were to be paid all farm help, both foreign and domestic. But that standard was still low, I ranging from 60 cents an hour ! to go along with the Senate, in Arkansas to no higher than a dollar an hour in most other states. Since the early part of the Kennedy administration, when the adverse rates were put into effect, the Bureau of Employ ment Security has reported no significant improvements, but it looks to the Senate - approved amendment to put the domestic workers on a par with the bra- ccro. Also in the legislative mill, but only in the investigative stage, is a movement by the bureau to raise again the farm worker's minimum wage. This will be up to the House which as yet has shown no disposition TODAY thru 7th m -(&! juT Example 0 I : -'Aiy 2-P'ee VM Living Room 1 k-Kj'J OBI y.iut J M'-'f'a-'l Nylon Cover J fig Jrr I tm TV, Stand 1 u.' i EMM I on vmw i RANGES V- .I.'k REFRIGERATORS, l Mm. FREEZERS, DISHWASHERS II MfA fS (if (ill IS EXCHANGED Jimmie Rodgers, right, hcadliner in the Oregon State Fair revue at Salem, presents Linda Olsen, Oregon Dairy Princess, with his latest album. She reciprocat ed with a five-pound loaf of cheese. (UPI) e Name Brand 0 Furniture 0 Bedding 0 Television 0 Carpets 0 Appliances Failure of States To Provide Money For Program Eyed Open Today & Friday Till 8 p.m. Saturday till 6 p.m. 1 EXAMPLE MATTRESS & BOX SPRINGS i95 Iwin M Reg. 59.95 fJf'Vt EXAMPLE 4-Pc. Sectional Ravarsible Poim Cushion Nylon Friei Cover Reg. 329.00 Vilut NOW 199 95 Yf BEDROOM V Dresser, btd, chest y ( FREEFORM LIVING ROOM I 1 jj Divcno, Chiir, g EXAMPLE NORGE WASHER 2-Speed 179.95 KELVINATOR 14995 10 ft. Refrigerator EXAMPLE CARPETING 1.79k 2.95 12 Ft. Twood 12 Ft. All Nylon Cut Pile H Reg. $7.95 ,, if misc. : ITEMS Washineton (UPI) Failure of many state legislatures to pro vide matching funds became a rallying point today for Senate Republicans opposing a hill to increase the federal outlay for President Kennedy's manpower retraining program. Senate GOP Leader Everett M. Dirksen (111.) said he or oth or Republicans would try either to send the measure back to the Senate Labor Committee or amend it to provide federal loans instead of direct grants to help the unemployed qualify for other jobs. Senate leaders hoped for final vote soon on the bill, part of President Kennedy s overall civil tifihls program. The meas ure was brought up Tuesday but aclion was postponed because relatively few senators were in town. The bill, as approved by Ihc Senate Labor Committee, calls for the Treasury to supply an additional $ IB 1 million for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1HR4, because only four state leg islatures have voted matching funds for the program. Covers Three Years The original law was intended to provide retraining for 400,000 unemployed during the three years ending June 30, 1965. The Victim Refuses Blood Transfusion Los Angeles ( UPI ) A Jeho vah's Witness, following his in terpretation of his faith, turned flown a blood transfusion Wed nesday before dying from in- $161 million the second for the iuries suffered when he was run entire cost. But the states were a.own Dy 8 tormcr mental pa- supposed to put up $161 million llcnl' in matching funds for the third Harold Mather, 38, Treasury was authorized to pay out $97 million the first year and year. The labor committee, in ap proving the bill, reported that only Connecticut, Kansas, Mon tana and Tennessee had voted to provide the necessary match' ing money for the third year. The committee recommended that the federal government pro vide the entire amount on grounds the deadline for action was too early for many state legislatures to act. Dirksen Disagrees Dirksen did not agree. He told newsmen that some 213 legisla tures had met and adjourned this year without providing the funds. He said he would be willing to provide the extra $161 million on a loan basis to the states but not as grants. Otherwise, he said, the bill should go back to the labor committee. Two committee members, Sens. Barry M. Goldwater (R Ariz.) and John G. Tower (R Tcx.) voiced similar views in a minority report accompanying the bill. They said there had Roseburg, Ore., was rushed to the hospital late Tuesday night after police said he was intentionally struck by a car in a downtown street. He died early Wednesday morn ing. Hospital attendants said Math er's wife, Neva, also a Je hovah's Witness, told him before he died not to accept a blood transfusion that was offered. Authorities said the couple's 9-ycar-old son pleaded with his I father to sign a release for Uie I transfusion, but he refused. One Jehovah's Witness offic ial explained later that the Mathers' position was "in har mony with the law of God" in regard to the use of blood outside of which a person pos sesses within his own body. been "an overwhelming lack of response" from state legisla tures. A House labor subcommittee has completed public hearings on a similar bill and will begin closed-door consideration next week. SPECIAL TERMS Free Delivery ALL SALES FINAL A Small Deposit Will Hold Your Purchase n tvj ilk 1 1 hi i w . .: i TRANSFER FURNITURE CO To pjjy OFF i - - "1 I .w- 0f Custom 4-Dr. Sedan 2-tone white & turquoise, 6 cyl., auto. f trans., radio and heater. If j Priced for zMiifX IS Clearance! 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