Montana labor news., 1936-04-16
WHEAT
KING GETS GIFT

WASHINGTON-(FP) = There is
at least one sharecropper who is pros
pering, Secretary OF the Interior Har-
old l.. Ickes revealed here.
His name is Thomas D. Campbell
the nations wheat king who received
approximately $4,000 in AAA benefit
payments for not growing wheat on
land rented from the Indians. Camp
bell received approximately 81 for not
growing wheat on land which he
rented from the Crow Indians for So
cents to $50 an acre. The land re-
tired had a productivity Of approx
mately a bushel an acre.
At the same time the Campbell dis
closure pointed out that the AAA op-
crates two theroies Of benefit payments
where sbarecroppers are concerned
One operates on the theory that in
the cotton growing states of the South
the landlord is entitled to IS per cent
OF the benefit payments as a reward
for ownership. in the West, however.
ownership OF the land entities the land
lord TO only approximately IS per cent
OF the benefit payments.
Campbell rented about $4,000 acres
from 800 Indians in Montana. two
thirds from the Indian Bureau and one
Jhird from the Indians themselves.
Although he received Approximately
$4,000 In benefit payments for reduc-
ing acreage on some OF these lands.
the Indian owners are working in Gee
camps and other relief projects, John
Collier, Indian Commissioner reveal
ed.
During the World War, Campbell
was employed as a special investiga-
tor Of the availability Of farm lands
on Indian reservations and following
the armistice was set UP in the cor
poration farming business Of j. P.
Morgan and Co, it is alleged.
While Campbell received approxi-
mately IS per cent Of the $4,000 bene-
fit payment, the practice adopted in
the southern states, under the new
soil conservation act, is to allow the
landlord 37H per cent for ownership
12H per cent more if he furnishes the
sharecropper with implements and
equipment and the remainder split Oh
the anne basis as the crop.
WASHINGTON-(FP) Radical.
can pack up aud 60 home. LIBERIA
and radical newspapers can turn theii
printing plants into hen coops. The
millennium has arrived A sharecrop-
per gets the benefit payments and the
landlord goes on relief.
Well, almost anyhow. The revela-
ton made by Secretary OF the Inter
ior Harold L. Ickes, with a sly grir
and a twinkle in his eye, that the ma
tons wheat king n Thomas D. Camp
bell - is a sharecropper, came as a
schock to reporters at his press con
ference. There it was, in black anc
white, however. Campbell rented his
land from the Indians and split the
profits on a share basis. That made
HIM a sharecropper. He got around
$4,000 for the not growing bushes:
and his landlords, the Indians, are or
relief.
OF course, Campbell is a sharecrop-
per in the West and that makes a diff
ference apparently. If he was a share
cropper in the South he would only
get a measly portion OF the AAA bene-
fit payments, would be denied relief
and his landlords would kick him out
set vigilante gangs on him if he pro-
tested.
It all goes to prove the old adage
Of a venerable representative Of the
peepul Said he to a younger collea-
que, There's only one formula for
what's right in politics. Gods always
in the money, He don't lose"
CampbelTs in the money. He don't
lose.