SOME PROBLEMS OF AGRICULTURAL LABOR 89 



26. Does the history of older agricultural regions seem to indicate 

 that labor organization is bound to come eventually ? Why ? 



PROBLEMS 



1. "Recently the wages of orange-pickers were raised to $2 . 25 per 

 day. They now demand $2 . 50. I.W.W. leaders seem to be respon- 

 sible for the agitation. Mexicans, Japanese, Filipinos, I.W.W. , ask 

 for the same wages, regardless of the number of boxes picked per day." 

 This applies to conditions of March, 19 17. Explain the economic 

 issues involved. The dispatch continues: " Unless new labor can be 

 secured from other points, no doubt total shipments will be affected 

 to a considerable extent." Trace the results in that case. 



2. It was expected that employers would fight the advance 

 demanded in the foregoing case. What will determine the outcome 

 of such a struggle? "I know of farmers who shut down operations 

 this year because they could not break even, whose men were riotous 

 and saucy for fifty dollars a month; whose same men came back crying 

 for their old jobs at thirty dollars after the farmer had been compelled 

 to sell out. When unskilled farm labor exceeds fifty dollars a month, 

 I defy you to break even I don't care what you are raising: apples, 

 potatoes, wheat, barley, corn, or milk." Does this shed any light 

 on the problem ? 



3. "The farmers' wives do their share of the work. In 26 per 

 cent of the families the women work in the fields during the rush 

 seasons; in two- thirds of the families they help milk and do the chores." 

 Is this "their share of the work"? Is the question one of morals, 

 economics, social standards, health, or what ? 



4. "Even the 'desirable' immigrant from Northern and Western 

 Europe who brings with him on an average $55 can at best only ob- 

 tain employment as a farm hand, which depends primarily on the 

 demand for farm labor, and here he is confronted by the fact that the 

 American farmer cannot even keep his own sons on the farm." Does 

 this indicate that the farm-labor market is over-supplied ? Explain. 



5. "There is not the intense competition for place among men in 

 the country that there is in the city. In the industrial and com- 

 mercial world positions are graded so that there is always a more 

 desirable one just ahead. There is no place where one can stop to 

 take a breath without fear that someone will step in ahead of him. 

 But the farmer may become old-fashioned and yet make a good liv- 

 ing. He has very little need to fear that someone else can crowd him 

 out if he does not want to go." Is this true ? Is it a desirable or an 

 undesirable condition ? It was written as a partial explanation of 

 the lower death-rate in the country, Would this have any bearing 

 on your answer ? 



