The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-06-27

saying that 1t has no money to move
 the workers, even if F'SA had camps
 to put them in.
 So, if anything gets done in the
 immediate future, 1t seems the
 money will have to come out of that
 good old reliable kitty, the Pres-
 tdent's emergency fund. The policy
 committee of the War Manpower
 Commission has passed resolution to impress on Congress and the
 Bureau of the Budget the necessity
 for allocating funds for these mi. gratory farm laborers, but resolu.
 tions aren't exactly folding money, yet. W
 Today, FSA has 96 migratory la-
 Dor camps on its books -. 45 per- manent, 43 mobile and six being set up. It has made surveys to indicate where l50 additional camps might be located.
 HIT BY
 REVOLT
 The Bureau of the Budget recom- mended that for the year beginning July 1, $3.5 million be given to FSA for migratory labor camps. The House of Representatives, in revolt against FSA, completely eliminated the item. The Senate restored 1t, but put a limit of 4l.4 million on the amount to be spent for camps. If the ceiling stays at that level, FSA will not only be unable to open ad- dittonal camps, but it will have to close down over half of the 95 camps now running. If that happens, listen to the farmers yell and watch con- gross do 8 magnificent about-face to set up these maligned Okie camps once more.
 The situation is even more bind- ing for the once of Defense Trans- portation. Although slt got this di- recttve from the Manpower Com. mission on May 2l, ODT hasn't done anything about the situation for the simple reason that 1t couldn't. ODT also has no money to spend on transporting migrant workers. ODT | furthermore is not in the transpor- tation business. It owns no busses, no tires, no gasoline. When Q trans- l portation crisis arises, all 1t can | do is clamp down on some unnec- essary transportation in some To- cality and direct that the equip- i rnent thus made available be used in some other service. Thus, 1t | put the sightseeing buses into | regular transportation channels, hauling war workers. But to ex- pect ODT to step into every rural | community where there Is Q farm l labor shortage and mobilize trans portation to haul farm labor | around Is too much.
 FSA Administrator c. B. Bald win has testified that there are | thousands and thousands of farm laborers available If they can be | moved where they are needed. HAPHAZARD JOB
 Recruiting of farm labor has been Baldwin asserts, and the | resulting waste of manpower on the l front has been costly. l Somehow, the gasoline situation will l have to be rationed to meet the is- sue.
 Department of Agriculture field | men report some tendency on the | part of farmers to reduce the | acreage of some crops needed in the Food for Victory program be- cause they fear shortage of farm | hands. That kind of panic might be | serious.
 The points this issue empha- | sizes are two. First, solving this | farm labor shortage, where 1t ex- ists, is g local problem. Second, government by directive, where | one agency tells another to go do | something it hasn't the power or | authority to do, Is simply glorified | buck passing and if the War Man. power Commission thinks 1t can solve It's problem, admittedly one ] of the toughest assignments in the 1 war effort, that way, 1t Is doomed | to complete failure.