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
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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.
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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.
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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
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(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)
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Failure of States
To Provide Money
For Program Eyed
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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.
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