Montana labor news., 1944-12-21
ARMY CONTROL
MENANCES
SMALL FARMERS

FRESNO, Calf - (FP) - Californians
who believe in dirt farmers and family
sized farms rather than corporate fac
tories in the fields worked by armies of
wage labor are watching Washington
these days because of the Senate-House
conferences on flood control bills.
Those CaHfornians include AFL and
CIO unions and the National Farmers
Union, officially and actively. They
fear the hearings may lead to enactment
of a measure that would not only au-
thorize the Army to add irrigation and
power development to its present navi-
cation and flood control powers, but
would provide for Army construction Of
irrigation and power projects in Cali
fornia's Central valley and elsewhere.
If such a bill went through it would
get around vital safeguards under which
the great S265, 100000 Central valley wa
ter projects is now being constructed by
the reclamation bureau OF the Interior
department. Under federal law, water
from bureau project may not be sup
piled to irrigate more than 100 acres
under one ownership. Purpose OF the
law is to prevent federal reclamation eX-
penditures from benefiting land specu-
lators. vast holdings and the corporate
farmer" at the expense of the bona fide
working farmer.
California's great Central valley-5OO
miles long, so miles wide-is full of vast
land holdings. Nowhere else in the ma
ton is the arabic land so concentrated
in the hands of the largest owners as
in California. Those big land-owning
corporations, which make up the back
bone of the union-hating Associated
Farmers and rural reaction, are fighting,
tooth, nail and claw, to kill the l6O-acre
irrigation limitation.
They want the water the great Cen
tral valley project will bring-but they
want it for themselves. And there will
= not be enough to go around if they get
it. They have whipped up fancy argu-
ments on why the 160-acre limitation Is
uneconomic and dangerous. They have
deeply influenced some western con-
gressmen in addition to those who are
as a matter of course Associated Farmer
mouthpieces.
If they can not get what they want
z under reclamation bureau operation OF
: the project, they will try to get it under
3 Army flood control construction, which
is not bound by l6O-acre limitations OF
: the social welfare considerations that in
: fluence the Department Of Interior I'M
: der Harold L. Ickes.
Typical of the situation is the case
z of the Kern County Land company, big
: gest corporate farm landowner in Cali
: fornia with an empire of 354,000 acres
: including $4,000 of the 100000 acres II
& the Central valley Breaking through
: the l6O-acre irrigation limit would hike
Z the value of this land empire by at leas
z SIS million overnight.
If the l60-acre protection remains II
force Kern County Land company prob
: ably will have to sell its empire in fam
: ily-sized farms to men and women wht
: will work them, live on them, raise chill
dren on them and contribute to tn
welfare of the communities. And othe
2 large-scale landowners and land specu
z lators will be forced to do the same.
81 That would be very good thing, botl
z the AFL and CLIO believe. They have
real stake in the struggle for distribu
: ton of the limited Central valley projec
2 water because only if the 16O-acre claus
3 stays will returning veterans be able t
? become farmers with a chance for SUI
s3 vival and success. And they know tha
Va what is good for the small farmer
y good for them.
Id That is why union men and wome
y are mighty concerned about what Cor
ID gress is going to do in its flood contr
y bills. They want that 160-acre irris
u ton protection to stay-not in a rig
y form that will bust up in business
q farmer who happens to have 200 acr
g already, but in way that will keep t
u Central valley project a thing to he
raise the level of living in the state, n
u line the pockets of a few financiers W
~ -t...,l low, - I,ar,-ovu from q ha