Imperial Valley press., 1922-05-31

| H'ic IL Il pili ptHllHS III toHSICNo
called the Harmon:Johnson tariff bill,
or amendment, for the protection of
| American farmers on the Pacific slope,
particularly of benefit to the farmers
Of the Imperial Valley, California, and
| the Yuma valley, in Arizona. 1t is one
! imposing q small import duty upon
+ vegetables shipped from old Mexico. |
have already noted that a telegram has
been sent to Senator Ashurst and
Congressman Hayden by the Yuma
County Commercial club, protesting
against the passage of this proposed
tariff for the protection of our western
farmers for the reason that the Com
mercial club considered that the devel
opment of farming resources of Old
Mexico is the peculiar heritage of the
Yuma county; and apparently on the
instigation of the Yuma County Com
! mercial club, the same sort of telegram
has been sent to our Arizona repre-
sentatives in congress from the cham.
Der of commerce of Nogales, Arizona.
OF course, Nogales, Arizona, is not a
farming section; they have no back
| country to develop on the American
side of the line. 1t is purely COM
mercial and mining city, with also a
small stock-raising industry, with no
prospect of the development of any
vegetable growing industry, for the
reason that they have there neither
land nor water. Under such circum-
stances, with the people there looking
only to their own gains and not taking
into consideration the development of
such large and important sections of
the country as the Yuma and Imperial
valleys, such protest against the legis-
lation proposed is to be expected. They
would rather make a profit from their
commerce with the vegetable growers
of Mexico than see the farmers upon
hundreds Of thousands Of acres OF
lands elsewhere in Arizona and in Cal
ifornia prosper by reason of the pro-
duction of vegetables in competition
with Old Mexico.
Club Policy Criticized
Tn fact, they would probably not be
hurt directly if the whole of Imperial
Valley, and the whole of Yuma valley
should once more revert to its ancient
desert, uninhabited condition. But for
the Yuma County Commercial club to
adopt the same policy, Il club supposed
to be organized, and to exist solely
for the uplifting and development of
the Yuma valley and environs, to adopt
a policy diametrically opposed to the
development of this country, and in
favor, on the contrary, of the develop
ment of the farming resources Of Mex
leo at the expense of those of the Unit
ed States, is almost past my cOmpre-
hension.
Ought we not here be more concerned
with development of the Yuma valley,
and giving the farmers of the valley,
by adoption of this legislation, the
preference of a very small duty upon
imports, than with the development of
the lands of Old Mexico? Are the lands
of Old Mexico more our "natural heri-
tage'' than the land in our own Yuma
valley, between this city and the Mex
lean line, or the lands of the San Pas
qualc valley?
Should we be willing to withhold
the small protection of the proposed
duty from our own farmers in order
that the farmers of Old Mexico should
reap the benefit of having our Amer
lean market all to themselves?
Without the duty, American farmers
cannot compete with farmers of Old
Mexico. There they have cheap water
for irrigation where irrigation is needed
ut all, and in many places abundant
rainfall without irrigation; they have
abundant and cheap labor; they have
the cheapest land in the world for its
quality; they have no taxes upon their
land to pay; and at their very door
Ene, bn ~. oh o,l, ,+ h.
face of the earth-the American pub
lie, with the greatest purchasing power
per capita and as Il whole of any
country.
Higher Cost on U. S. Side
On our side of the line, farmers have,
on the contrary, high priced land,
meaning an initial great investment
upon which interest must be paid; high
priced labor, if not an utter dearth of
it in the particular industry concerned;
high priced water for irrigation; high
taxes, in fact, taxes and water rents
so high that it is almost detriment
rather than advantage to own it.
To illustrate the point:
Suppose there were two farmers, say,
A and b living upon opposite sides of
tlc Todu, one IdrIiilIlS uIluer CONDITIONS
as they exist in the United States, and
one under conditions as they exist in
Mexico, both having access to the same
market, upon the same terms. How
long do you suppose it would be before
the farmer ON the American plan would
abandon his farm, and move over on
the other side of the road, where labor
was abundant and cheap; where initial
investment in land was, in comparison
with that on the American side, almost
nothing; where he had no taxes to
pay; where the water charges for If
rigation were practically nothings
Purchasing Power Imperilled
Under such condition, we would soon
find our lands abandoned and, unable
to compete with those on the Mexican
side of the line, worthless or of small
| value.
Our population would dwindle and
lose the great purchasing power which
is now our boast, and instead of such
places as the Yuma valley and the I'm
perial Valley being rich, fertile, culti-