WESTERN HEMISPHERE IMMIGRATION 47

In Texas from El Paso to Brownsville, there are two congressional
districts served by Mr. John Garner, the minority leader and Mr.
Claude Hudspeth, who resides on a ranch just below El Paso. Unfortunately,
 Mr. Hudspeth is ill and not able to be here, and, as a matter
of fact, is not in Washington. I therefore take the liberty of introducing
 Mr. Carwell, who speaks for the upper Rio Grande district.
The Cuarrman, You mention the upper Rio Grande. When you
hear a part of Texas spoken of as west Texas, is that another region?
Mr. Simms. As far as we are concerned, or have information, there
are two regions on the Rio Grande River, from Brownsville to a point
about 100 miles below El Paso, known as the lower part and then
from 100 miles below El Paso on up, the upper part.
The Cuarrman. The reason I ask is that it is just possible that
this committee may be glad to be divided into subcommittees of three
to make trips to see these areas. All of us together could not go to
all, but by dividing into subcommittees, we might be able to do it.
Mr. Simms. I think the idea is excellent, to divide the region into
two sections, one to consider agricultural and economic conditions
from the town of Las Cruces, N. Mex., or a few miles above there,
south to El Paso, and that the headquarters for such a committee
could conveniently be in El Paso or Las Cruces, because in that way
the committee would be within two or three hours of the entire sec-‘ion,
 which could be reached on good highways.
The CratrmaN. And El Paso is the center?
Mr. Simms. Yes, sir. 1 want to shorten my statement. There are
a lot of words spoken on the “hill” and I do not want to give you
any more words than I have to.
Our position is different from the Rio Grande proposition in the
fact that we have cold weather in the wintertime and our region can
not prosperously and successfully raise citrus fruits and many of
these out-of-season vegetables, which the lower valley is able to
raise and bring to the New York market in the wintertime. There
are few crops that we can successfully raise. Our principal one, in
this project, is cotton. We have an urgent need, therefore, for the
seasonal importation of a few thousand laborers coming from the
neighboring Republic of Mexico, who can be employed at fair wages.
[ understand from these gentlemen, who will give the details later,
that they earn from $2.50 to $4.50 a day.
We favor limited immigration. We are, however much our
pocketbooks may urge us to use abundantly cheap labor, American
citizens and we want to do as much as possible to keep up the standards
 of American life; but pocketed as we are in the valley of this
remote river, the Rio Grande, we are so far from the surplus accumulation
 of American labor that, for the seasons we require it, for the
three or four months of cotton picking, we just can not get it.
The CrairMaN. You are the representative from the State of
New Mexico?
Mr. Simms. Yes, sir.
The CuAalrRMAN. And your home town is——
Mr. Simms. Albuquerque. We have, in this Elephant-Butte
rrigation district—— i
The Cuairman. The population of the State is what?
Mr. Simms. Four hundred thousand people, at least.