THE BRENTWOOD-MILLER PLAN IN OPERATION 



40 



Baum: You went into office in November 1934? 



Miller: I went into office January the 1st, 1935* 



Baum: So this was the time to begin thinking about the 

 picking season, wasn f t it? 



Miller: That's right, and this was the thing that occupied 

 my mind extensively. The farmers were very, very 

 worried. If a man who had been sheriff for forty 

 years could not hold the situation down, if the 

 riots were going on as they had in the past year, 

 in '34, then how, in their mind, could a young 

 sheriff without experience hold the fort? And 

 they were tremendously concerned, and I was tre- 

 mendously concerned. They expected me to keep 

 the peace. 



I then called them into conference at the 

 very earliest date. I would say this was in May, 

 at Brentwood, and I said to them, "How much do you 

 pay these men?" 



They said, "We pay 200 an hour." 



