Evening star., 1936-12-02
917FARM TENANTS
GET 76,925 ACRES.
Progress of U. S. Drive Told.
Government Leases Land
for Five Years.
BY BLAIR BOLLES.

The Federal campaign to rid the
country OF the farm tenancy system
has already provided GIT former
share troopers with 1926 acres to
cultivate as their own, DR.. Will w.
Alexander, deputy administrator of
the Resettlement Administration and
the man thought most likely to re-
place Administrator Rexford G. Tug
well, told the press today.
These farm tenant security projects,
set up as models of what can be done
for study by the commission which
will recommend farm tenancy legis-
lation to President Roosevelt, are
located in North Carolina, Tennessee,
South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama,
Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Ok
lahoma and Texas. r. A. estimates
that 2,865.155, or 42l per cent, OF
the Nations 6,812,350 farms are op-
Grated by tenants.
About so per cent Of these farms
we're already occupied by the ten
ants selected for the project. The
other so per cent are to be occupied
by tenant farmers who will move
from other farms, probably in the
same county or in a nearby county.
Land Leased for Five Years.
The land is bought by the Gov
ernment through the Resettlement
Administration and leased to the ten
ants for q five-year period, At the
end Of this period the tenant, If he
has satisfactorily managed his farm,
has the privilege of renewing his
lease or of entering into a purchase
agreement with R. A.
The principal requirement for the
tenant entering into a purchasing
to Is per cent of the farm unit cost
The remaining IS per cent of the
farm unit cost will be paid under a
40-year amortization plan at 3 per
cent interest.
Among the last hopes expressed BY
Or. Tugwell before he announced hi'
resignation as chief of R. A. was tina,
the United States would undertake g
lo-year, $500, 100000 program to elini.
nate the share-cropper problem,
Alexander. who has won college de-
gress and an array of honors for hi!
studies of the tenancy and racial prob
lens IN the South. declined to STATE
whether he agreed with Tugwel
II don't think my ideas will bt
very important" he said What il
presented to the White House will bt
Q composite plan based on many ideas.
Alexander is member of the Presi-
dents Committee on Farm Tenancy
appointed two weeks ago to study the
problem and offer suggestions fol
remedial legislation.
Middle West to Be Aided Also.
A national program would. o1
course, aim at making self-suficien,
the Middle Western as well as the
Southern tenant farmer, even though
the former is able usually to finance
himself and owns some capital. The
Southern tenant, in most instances
depends for financing each year or
banks and stores.
But the basic problem is the same
tn each instance" Alexander said
"The cultivation practices of both
groups deplete the soil. and the ten
ants practice of moving on from place
to place from year to year makes ii
difficult to build up communities.
Alexander admitted that a certain
percentage of tenants were incapable
OF rehabilitation as self sufficient
landowners, but he hesitated to guess
what percentage fell into this group.
II think the hopelessness of these
people is greatly exaggerated" he
commented.