The Omaha guide., 1934-10-27
FARMER MAKES
IN FERA,S
PROGRAM

DIN 1888, Alabama had on relief nc
less than 10000 agricultural workers
certain number of them prime ex.
er4pla1 of that historically unfortu.
nate individual, the share cropper.
For these sufferers relief was accom-.
plishing nothing. More than half the
time the share cropper had no idea
what his previous burden of debt was
to his landlord. for the landlord kept
the only books there were. Most OF
the relief mondy filtered through the
share cropper as through a sieve.
found its way back to the landlord
Time after time the latter took e
ed labor" I'VE appreciate fully" the
letter concludes, "the difficulties to
be encountered and are doing all we
can to overcome them"
debt"-and left the Relief Administra
Of partially ilquiadating his "pasi
the share cropper's entire crop by way
ng to supply a farmer with canned
goods lest he starve, $40 states the For
tune Magazine.
Thaddeus Holt, the State Relief AID
ministrator in Alabama decided thai
the time had come to try a brand
new sort of treatment for the econo
mic ills of the FERA's agricultural re
lief clients, go per cent of which whom
were POOR whites, 40 per cent Of
whom were Negroes. The drastic
step was taken early in 1884 on the
approval of Harry L. Hopkins, FERA
Administrator in Washington. The
State Relief Administrator put this
ultimatum up to the landlords: either
take over your tenant as your relief
problem and feed him when he becomes
destitute, or else waive your claims
to his 1884 crop and let the tenant
farm for himself with the help of the
state and federal government.
Some landlords accepted this latter
alternative, whereupon the Relief AID
ministration took a long leok at its
rolls and out of the lot selected 5000
who seemed to give some promise ot
responding to treatment. Upon them
it then began it's paternalistic expert
ment-
To the 5000, the Relief Administra.
ton now gave the equivalent Of eight
months relief all in one lump. This
included one steer, costing $50, feed
for the steer, four and a half months
supply Of food, plus seed, fertilizer,
tools and clothing. The vaiue Of ali
this comes to an average Of SOL. II
was a loan to the share chopper; he
signed a note and the relief organize
ton tok a mortgage on his crop. The
share cropper remained q mortgage,
but with this very important difference
his creditor was now the govern.
ment, not a private individual. When
the share cropper signed his note, he
became technically no longer a relief
case.
Now it has. always been the conten-
ton of the landlords who operate un.
der the feudal share-crop system that
the share cropper is p~erpetually bank.
rupt because he is either a no-good
poor white, or a lazy shiftless Negro,
The government found only 200 o
the 5000, because of deaths, sickness
and other such unforeseen exigencies
failed to make good, and pay back.
The two following examples picked
at random from the lot tell the story
generally, which was typical of the
majority in this first 5000:
Stranded white farmer with wife
and two children. Had been a relief
case for more than a year. Unable
to obtain credit or farm implement.
to earn a living.
Advanced money by Alabama Re
lief Administration to cover cost o.
steer, seed, feed, fertilizer, farming
implements and subsistence. This ha;
been paid back in full in work relic
labor on public projects.
He produced excellent crop witt
estimated value of two hundred thirt.
one dollars, the yields being as fol
lows. One hundred forty bushels o
corn, thirty five gallons cane syrup
one hundred twenty-five bushels swee
potatoes, twenty-five bushels peanuts
twelve bushels pead, n ton hay an,
an abundance of fresh vegetable
from home garden.