THE DRAMATIC BATTLE FOR AMERICAN LAND
Fortas, Abe
The Dramatic Battle For American Land By ABE FORT AS "This is Most Excellent Republican Doctrine— The Best Plank in the Democratic Platform." (Quoted from statement of Republican Chairman of...
...Goldschmidt concludes that Dinuba, by almost any standard, is the better place...
...the nomadic existence of American men, women, and children...
...To achieve these objectives will require vigilance and courage...
...I doubt that this is necessarily true...
...I know that there are those who would like to see the family farm displaced by industrial units because of their belief that individual farm ownership breeds an exaggerated form of economic and political conservatism...
...All that it takes is the national will to do it, reflected in effective political and economic machinery...
...It concerns such diverse economic areas as the depressed middle Rio Grande Valley and the rich Central VaHey of California...
...that substantial aid and encouragement be given to cooperatives...
...the other, Arvin, is the center of a large-farm area...
...141 62 Grammar Schools...
...It affects virtually all phases of oar land policy—the disposition of lands owned by the Federal Government...
...To the efforts of the Department of the Interior to resist this subversion of historic law and practice, the substantial citizens of California and some of their Congressmen responded with of socialism and bureaucratic domination...
...Even if this were generally true (and it is not), the question would still remain whether it is not worth-while and even essential to sacrifice a degree of efficiency that reflects itself only in the income of a few owners to maintain the small, independent farmer who requires fewer tax dollars for health and relief...
...and the constant menace to health which these investigations revealed as incidents of corporate farming, should be a clear warning except to the most radical...
...Advocacy of small, family-owned-and-operated farms is not a novel doctrine for either party...
...the disgraceful living conditions...
...From the Preemption Act in 1841, through the Homestead Act in 1862, the Reclamation Act in 1902, and subsequent legislation, action has been taken to encourage this form of tenure...
...This controversy—the outcome of which is still undetermined at the time of this writing—is symbolic of the vast struggle which is occurring...
...Clash In The Central Valley In recent years, there has been a great increase in the concentration of agricultural holdings in the bands of persons of great wealth...
...In that bill they are insisting that the Army Engineers and not the Bureau of Reclamation should construct the great Kings-Bern and related projects in California...
...It seems to me that the very foundation of ah American land policy must be to encourage and assist the ownership and operation of comparatively small land holdings by persons who are dependent upon them for a livelihood...
...Their expenditures are concentrated upon those things which are quickly consumed...
...and that the disposition of land owned by the Federal Government should be so conditioned as to make certain that it will aid and encourage the establishment and maintenance of the family farm...
...7,770 6,500 Average Farm—acres 57 497 Production...
...They made it appear that any attempt to support the family farm tradition was un-American...
...They regard themselves more or less as in the roles of antagonists to the people who own the facilities of production...
...The disclosures of the La Follette Civil Liberties Committee and the revelations of the Tolan Special Committee should be sufficient indication of the chaos and misery following in the wake of corporate and other large-scale agriculture...
...The real drive against efforts to preserve the family farm comes from those who have an economic interest in increasing the size of their own holdings...
...It seems to me that the choice is clear...
...Congress has with fair consistency reflected the policy of encouraging the family farm...
...They do not want to be forced to sell any of their land, and if they decide to seB, tfcey'do not want to be bound by the anti-speculation provisions of the Reclamation Law which forbid sale at prices in excess of the appraised value...
...Without doubt the war years since 1989 have witnessed a further concentration of agricurtural holdings and production...
...4 1 High Schools...
...A family which is dependent upon the economic convenience of a large owner—generally absentee—is apt to demonstrate the world-wide habits of the economically insecure...
...Quoted from statement of Republican Chairman of House Public Lands Committee—1S68...
...They do not feel that they have a real economic stake in our institutions...
...Many of the difficulties of today arise from the fact that comparatively few of our people feel that they have a real economic participation in our business and agriculture...
...and the use of water and facilities made available by Federal investment...
...Dinuba has paved streets...
...We cannot abruptly impose a death sentence upon large-farm aggregations...
...Arvin has none...
...It is not merely a coincidence that villages and towns which are the center of life for an area of family-size farms tend to be more stable and prosperous than the towns which are the meeting place for employes of large land owners...
...These people make more money if they own more land...
...2 1 Businesses...
...Dinuba has well-spaced attractive homes...
...1 0 Veterans' Associations 2 0 Churches...
...More than this, the answer would seem to be to provide, through cooperatives and governmental means, the advice and assistance necessary to increase the efficiency and economy of small-farm operations...
...that public assistance in the form of technical advice, loans, and possibly equipment should be afforded to the families which are interested in owning and working their own land...
...The industrial farmers, who themselves will continue to be the beneficiaries of tremendous Federal subsidies in one form or another, wffl oppose with all of their strength any attempts to preserve and increase the small-farm units...
...In addition, the health of the small communities, which are the headwaters of American life, is substantially dependent upon the character of land tenure...
...The issue has been clearly joined in the Central Valley of California...
...they are not afraid of the possibilities of strife and upheaval which may result from an increase in the industrialization of the farm economy...
...the conditions for use of the public domain...
...The displacement of families...
...Modest" "Very Poor" Juvenile Delinquency "Slight" "Fairly Serious'' Mr...
...Many of them sincerely believe that it is not in accordance with American traditions to resist the efforts of farm operators to acquire more and ever more land...
...In 1929, about 4 per cent of all of our farms produced 25 per cent of our total national agricultural output...
...The following table summarizes some of his findings: Dinuba Arvin (small-farm) (large-farm) Population...
...We should have learned by now that efficiency is not the greatest of all social values...
...Farm families have tended to become employes of a corporate farm, and a new economic class in this country—the migratory agricultural worker—has become a national problem...
...You will find that the family which owns and works its own farm buys refrigerators, house furnishings, and all of the other appurtenances of the substantial American family...
...2,540,000 $2,460,000 Banks...
...Daniel Webster maintained that the "great subdivision of the soil" in this country was demanded by the "situation" of the early settlers, and that from this subdivision came "a great equality of condition" which "fixed the future and frame and form of their government...
...The contest between the small, family operation and the huge enterprise is raging throughout the land...
...An interesting paper by Walter R. Goldschmidt, a sociologist with the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, compares two cities in the Central Valley of California...
...He characterized this scheme of land tenure as "the true basis, most certainly, of popular government...
...But even if it is so, the family farm provides a better way of life for the people concerned and a more stable foundation for a democratic society...
...A Dramatic Contrast In a town which is the center of small farming operations you are more likely to find churches, good schools, and prosperous stores...
...and that they were the true defenders of the true American tradition wo© insisted upon their inalienable right to obtain services from the subsidized Federal project for all of their lands—no matter how large the aggregation...
...14 7 Housing...
...Today, most of the "conservatives" are likely to be found in opposition...
...The history of the progressive Farmers Union and the Granges in the West indicates that it is not...
...1 0 Service Clubs...
...It has been characteristic of American political organizations throughout our history...
...Today, in the controversies concerning the policies of the Farm Security Administration, the administration of the Central Valley project, and the Surplus Property Administration, the "conservatives" are the consistent advocates of large farm holdings...
...One of them, Dinuba, is the center of a smaH-farm community...
...They will know that, no matter how sincere these expressions may be, they are motivated not so much by a zeal to preserve the rugged individualism of the farmer, as by a desire to continue the process of concentration of the control over land and lives in the hands of comparatively few persons...
...and those who defend small units are Mkely to find themselves referred to as "socialists" or "radicals...
...It is not surprising that from this situation there come labor unrest and political disturbance...
...This is good, conservative American doctrine—or it used to be...
...An American Land Policy For example, we can and should insist that projects constructed with Federal funds should be so used as to encourage the family-size farm...
...but there are many things that we can do...
...for every $100 which is spent on liquor...
...There the Federal Government has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in a gigantic sjwtera of dams and reclamation works...
...By 1939, 25 per cent was produced by only 2.5 per cent of all farms...
...After the war, mechanisation will increase, the premium upon the availability of substantial capital will be greater than ever before, and the financial incentive to large-scale production raajr weM be greater...
...2 0 Newspapers...
...To The Roots Of Americanism There is still a third source of opposition to efforts to preserve the family-size farm...
...Goldschmidt also found that the people of Dinuba spent $232 on household goods, furniture, and building supplies for every $100 spent on liquor...
...I think that it is inevitable that unless positive ures are taken, the traditional American land pohcy will soon become merely a relic of our past...
...An American land poliey must see that this does not occur...
...In Arvin, only $103 is spent on household goods, etc...
...If these projects were constructed by the Army Engineers they would not be subject to the provisions of the Reclamation Act...
...This is the objection that the large-scale farm is more efficient...
...The past 11 years have demonstrated that this can be done...
...Of course, we cannot successfully turn back the calendar...
...Dinuba has sidewalks, Arvin has not...
...Even the Republican platform offered "to make life more attractive on the family-type farm...
...On the other side, the ai-guments for the family farm go to the essence of our way of life...
...But I believe that the American people will know better...
...THE PLATFORM of the Democratic Party, adopted a few months ago, promised to aid the "home ownership of family-sized farms...
...For example, their per capita expenditure for liquor and the movies is likely to be comparatively high...
...Arvin's housing can by no means be called pleasant...
...They will brand legislation or administrative action to this effect as an attempt on the part of the Government to dominate, control, and socialize the farmer...
...5 2 Fraternal Clubs...
...The basic issue is whether the American people desire to have an agricultural economy of employers and employes—or whether they wish to aid and encourage small-scale farmers to own the farms which they operate...
...But the large land owners of California want the water which will be made available by the Central Valley project...
...The project is subject to the National Reclamation Act of 1902 which prohibits supplying water from a Federal project to more than 160 acres of land » any one ownership...
...the type and form of subsidy and assistance to farming operations...
...The Basic Issue To satisfy their desires, the House of Representatives in the Rivers and Harbors Bill recently adopted an amendment proposed by Congressman Elliott of California to make the 160-acre limitation inapplicable to the Central Valley project...
...This same group is seeking to accomplish precisely the same end in the Flood Control Bill by more subtle methods...
Vol. 8 • October 1944 • No. 41
