Evening star., 1945-10-28
Cotton Picker Aids
Manpower Problem
Observer Sees Ultimate Gain
From More Machinery
BIZ RAYMOND Moley

ont *'Aoh ANAaNhtAINiy
By Raymond Molev
The claims of the first manufacturer
to place q mechanical cotton picker on
the market are conservative. This
should warn those who claim extrava-
CANT social and economic changes from
single invention. One manufacturer.
displayed and demonstrated its machine
before . large array Of observers last
week, and 1t was truly an event to stir
the imagination. This, 1t was claimed, is
the first cotton picker on the market,
although number of other types are
on their way. Those who saw it r.."e-
warned that q very limited number )
available. Seyenty-five is the limit CT
production for the current year. Net,
year will be about the same. ;
The machine thus will enter cotton
| production gradually. 1t will be sui. 81, ,
In the future, to good deal Of revi-, II.
and development. Other machines by
other inventors and manufacturers will.
come along, with adaptations to DIFF
ferent production problems. The pres
ent machine is suited to prime produc-.
| ton areas, which, In the main, are in.
the lower Mississippi Valley and west Of
that valley. 1t will find its first uses on
large plantations. It's cost, except for
customs or cooperative use, is high for
the average farmer.
Those who are producing this ma,
chine, as well as others with similar
inventions on the way, are frank to scys
| that it would have taken a good deal.
OF courage to offer the machine for sale
before the war. Like the reaper OF 1881,
1t suggests the displacement of great
numbers Of workers. Prejudice against
such machinery always has fared up
and, 1t may be added, always has quieted
| down when all the consequences were
| appraised. Henry Wallace says that
| mechanical cotton pickers will ulti-'
mately displace 2,000, 900 workers. The
manufacturers say that not over so
| workers are displaced by each machine.
| Considering the number Of machines
now in prospect in the next few years,
the loss of jobs will not be serious. And
the manufacture, distribution and OPP
Grafton Of the machines will make a very
| considerable number Of well-paid and
vastly more desirable jobs.
But in addition to these more imme-
diate compensating factors, the war and
| very recent mechanical progress have
| set in motion forces which more than
make up for temporary. job losses. IT,.
| for example, the machine reduces the
cost Of production few cents pound,
the competitive problem of the small
farmer will be met by the increasing
diversification Of crops on the smaller
farms. This will be especially true Of
the farms of the Southeastern States,
whose years Of cotton growing had al
| ready taken their toll of the soil. -,
| k&%
! The war, moreover, swept countless
thousands Of Negroes and whites from
the plantations to cities in all sections
Of the country. Most of those thousands
are not likely to go back. They will find
something. anything to save them from
the cotton field where harvesting this
crop is as primitive form Of toll as
any in the world. Some people who
call themselves socially minded are
! already worrying their heads about
where these Negroes will go after war
industry is over. But it doesn't do any
good for paternalistic people to try to-
decide where or how former cotton
pickers will work. They ultimately will
| be absorbed In States far distant from
their prewar homes. And that, in the
long run. will be best for them and for
the Nation as whole. The manpower
gap they have left in cotton raising
ultimately will be filled by the machine.
| The fact that cotton, in areas where
the new picker is practicable, can be-
produced at lower cost has its implica-.
tions in the world market. American
producers will have less to fear from
new production in other parts of the
| world. But there must also be taken
into account the introduction into the
market of important alternatives to
cotton. Rayon, pulp wool and other
fibers are future factors to be considered.
But the cotton picker, like the reaper
of century ago, is only one factor in
! q general mechanical revolution on the
farms. The multiplicity of new mach'~ :
| produced by many manufacturers Is
destined to have economic, social and
political consequences of great im-
| portance. The. trend is to smaller.
cheaper machines with manifold uses.
This will have the economic effect of
supporting more small, home owned
farms The introduction of new crops
in Southern States. already under way.
will not only provide a livelihood for
those displaced by a shrinking cotton
market, but bring more uniformity and
unity into the Nation as whole.
The problems of Government will
change with the problems of cotton.
This commodity has always had vast
political significance. It's cultivation
brought about the introduction of
racial situation and sectional differences.
In recent years, the disastrous declines
in price have brought forth subsidies
and more subsidies. No industry long
can be supported by such artificial
means. Machinery. not only in cotton
fields. but in crops hitherto limited to
the North and West, will build security
and prosperity which will lessen the
problem of subsidies. And this, in the
long run, is what is wanted not only by
those who pay taxes, but by those who
receive subsidies.
The next morning 1t was found with life
extinct. An autopsy showed that death
was due to conclusion. The sea lion
perished from the force of power Of