The morning call., 1893-08-23
GROWERS.
Troubles in Gathering
Their Crops.
A Vineyardist's View of the Present
Situation and His View of
It's Solution.

"The troubles in the isin-producing
section of the San Joaquin Valley is rather
serious" said Milton McWhorter OF Selma
Yesterday to a CALL reporter. Mr. Nc
WhOrter is a vinevardst and insurance
broker, and is we'll qualified to Judge Of the
possible result of the present agitation.
81 was in Fresno last night and saw 100
Chinese loaded on freightears and started
southeast on the Porterville branch. They
were billed to Butler station, which is
directly back of the Oothout vineyard of
500 acres This vineyard has just come
into bearing and will require the services
OF several hundred men Tor two months or
more. L do not know that the OOthOut
estate will employ Chinese grape-pickers,
but the shipment of coolies last night
serves greatly to aggravate the unemployed
white men of Fresno.
"The raisin-p producers have established
scale Of wages which simply inSures eX-
istence TO man during the grape picking
season. They say they can only pay 70
cents a day and board, or 81 Is without
board. A man can live on that sum. and
that's alt; he can't keep a family or buy
any clothes. But the asin men are not
to blame for this. Their profits have been
almost wholly removed by middlemen, who
style themselves commission merchants
There Is a positive loss to yineyardist un-
his rai isns in the sweatboX, and this year
there is no promise of over 3b or cents.
The small producers in order to receive
any profits have been compelled to hire
Chinese pickers and sell to middlemen.
Only The vineyardists who own packing
houses and market their own products
have any show against the mddlemen.
ut will require 10000 white men to pick
the grapes of the raisin center. but they
cannot subsist upon the present scale of
wages. Every dollar paid 10 a Chinese
means meat and bread taken away from a
white mans family. and the unemployed
are compelled TO look at this statement 10
more serious light than ever. Just
lhink. in Fresno there are zoo idle white
men registered. and there are fully 800 OUT
of work who have not made application at
the free-labor bureau. These 1900 men are
receiving recruits each day, and they all
must be fed.
The cry of the Chinese must go is an
old one, but 1t is good one, and its en-
fOrcement should be Immediately demand
ed by the citizens of the United States. 1t
Is not necessary to resort to harsh means,
because the provisions of the Geary law
are ample to solve the problem. The
$4,000 positions held by Chinese should be
occupied by white citizens, and practical
person Will see that the course would at
once furnish employment TO the idle men
of California.
''Some of US will not pick our grapes
this year. The middlemen have ground
us down TO such degree that we can only
proceed to cure raiSins at a positive loss.
Last season | shipped my dried grapes 20
Chicago, and the house that received them
has not yet paid for them. and l have no
recourse. because l signed commission
contract. L could not dispose of them
otherwise, so / lost all, and the commits
sion man suffers no loss. This year many
of the smaller vineyardists will purchase
hogs and permit them to fatten on the
grapes. We will take no more chances
with the middlemen.
IF the ruinous trade combin ations were
upset the growers could afford to hire
white men at good wages to gather the
crops. The market demands all the
raisins we can produce, and we can force
it to come to US. But let us get ria of the
Chinese first. l fear the future, for hungry
men are dread foe"