The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1950-03-16
Farm Union Asks
Truman To Feed
Starving Children

Washington (LPA)-H. l.. Nit
chell, president of the Natl Farm
Labor Union-AFL, has urged Pres
|ident Truman to distribute imme-
diately some of the huge govern
ment-held stocks of surplus food to
thousands of starving farm work
ers across the nation.
Mitchell told the President in a
letter released March 10 that the
situation at a farm labor camp
near Phoenix, Ariz.; where 100
children were found starving to
death recently, was not an isolated
instance. He said there were many
such cases among those people
whose labor produces the food and
fiber crops of our country" espec-
tally in the south and southwest.
81 have no doubt" Mitchell
wrote, "that a thorough inyestiga-
tion would uncover not 100 cases
of children starving, but 100000
or more" He recalled that official
reports this winter from Califor-
MAS lush San Joaquin Valley show
| ed a number of farm workers
children actually died Of malnutri-
tion-starved to death, in other
words.
The situation calls for drastic
action, Mitchell told the President,
asking him to take further correc-
tive action. As an immediate step,
the NFLU head urged abrogation
of the agreement with Mexico per-
uniting the import of Mexican ma
tionals to work on American farms.
He said big-scale farmers, who op-
crate factories in the field,' hire
Mexicans at low wages while AM
orleans go unemployed. He reveal
ed that 5000 Mexican workers have
been imported to work in the I'M
perial valley in California alone.
Mitchell asked the President to
order the US Employment Service
to send home Mexicans who have
come in under the agreement, and
to order the immigration Service
to arrest those who have entered
this country illegally. He proposed
that Army units be used, if neces-
sary, to enforce the latter order.
| Mitchell also asked the President
| to cancel all leases on government
owned farm labor camps, now be-
ling operated by private associations
of farmers and make emergency
funds available for the government
| itself to run them. He also called
for legislation authorizing per
rlanent federal operation of camps
for homeless farm workers wherr
ever required.
Mitchell underlined the fact that
the Phoenix camp is owned by the
government but operated by the
Arizona Farm Bureau. There are
SO such camps, he pointed out
imost of them under lease to private
operators who have allowed then
to deteriorate. He said the private
operators abolished all sanitary
health and medical projects the
government originally instituted.
According to reports, the Phoeni>
camp, to which food was rushed
when the starvation conditions
were made public, has 100 one
room tin shacks none of which has
either electricity or running water
The crude furniture the shacks
once contained has been sold by oc'
cupants to scare up little money
and men, women, and children
sleep on the floor.
So acute was the food shortage
that Investigators found one GROUP
of six children who hadn't eaten
a bite in six days, and family OF
four which had been virtually with
out food for 30 days. Few of the
occupants qualified for state relief
since Arizona requires three years
residence. Moreover, most of the
handful who could qualify on that
score are disqualified on another
account. In Arizona you have to be
unable to work to get relief.