The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-07-05
Ready for Strke" Is Core of Steel Workers Program
Unite against Drought, A.A.A. Program,
Farmers Manifesto Calls to TOiIers

NEW YORK.-CaIling for unity
of poor farmers and urban work
ers in struggle against the effect
of capitalist crisis. the manifesto
adopted by the first national con-
vention of the United Farmers
League in Minneapolis raises de-
n1ands for immediate drought re-
lief, and exposes current govern
ment measures as being designed
solely to benefit rich farmers. The
manifesto follows in full:
To small, rank and file farmers,
farm and city workers, and small
consumers. To the members and
locals of the Grange, National
Holiday Association, Farmers
Union, Farm Bureau, and all
other organizations whose men,
bers are affected by the drouth:
The worst drouth in the history of
the United States has drawn its
fiery hand across the country, burn
ing crops, searching pastures,
leaving behind dead and perishing
cattle and horses. Top soils have
been blown away and farm buildings
half buried in dust. Poor farmers
have been left destitute; livestock
is being driven off the farms; homes
are being destroyed.
The drouth affects many other
countries and many besides farmers.
City workers who depend upon farm
production for employment will be
thrown out of work. Thousands of
farm workers will be deprived Of
jobs. City laborers and small con-
sumers are already paying higher
prices while food SPECTATORS rake
in huge profits from this calamity.
While drought itself is not the
basic difficulty, its effects have ire
mendously aggravated the ruin of
the capitalist crisis and the attacks
of the New Deal so that the con-
ditions of the poor farmers become
intolerable.
Drought, A. A. A. Work Together
Secretary Wallace declared that
the drouth would be blessing"
He meant that with the crops and
livestock destroyed the big middle
man, the food trusts. the specul-
ators, the banks, landlords, and
large farmers would reap greater
profits from the sale of the remain
ing farm products. The New Deal
is based on the theory that there is
a surplus. It's plan is that Supplies
in the hands of big business and big
farmers must bring high prices to
them, while crops must be reduced
and millions of farmers put out of
commercial production ALTOGETHER,
or onto subsistence farms. The A.
A. A. attacks the small farmers just
as the N. r. A. attacks the workers
But the mass of producers OF the
nation were refusing to become the
destroyers of crops. So the drought
is being Used to help put through
the reduction program of the New
Deal. Try as it would, the New
Deal was not able to destroy as
much of the crops, of the nations
feed. as its plans called for. The
criminal crop reduction program
was not put through in spite of the
blowing under of cotton. in spite
of the slaughter of six million pigs
in spite of the Bankhead bill and
the night riders of the South. The
United Farmers League. the Share
choppers Union, the Nebraska Holt
day Association, the United Farmers
Protective Association, the nation
wide conferences of the Farmers
National Committee for Action
resisted the New Deal plans OF
driving the small farmers into a
peasant starvation existence. This
is the power of united mass action
Long before it moved a hand the
government knew that drought was
raging. 1t suppressed the news
Only the fea~ Of mass resentment
and mass action caused belateo
reports to be printed and finally
brought some meagre relief. Very
little of this is to go for direct cash
relief. Government measures were
delayed until after hundreds Of
milk cows were destroyed, until after
irreparable damage was done to the
crop farmer. Not a hand was raised
While thousands of cattle we're al
lowed to die from thirst and from
lack Of pastures, hay and fodder
The chief sufferers we're the small
farmers. The resources of the large
farmer have often enabled him tt
carry through while the small
farmer was completely destroyed
The small and middle farmers
might have secured themselve;
against the rayages of the drought
if their resources had not been fol
years devoured by the banks, mort