[24 WESTERN HEMISPHERE IMMIGRATION

Mr. Brair. I think it was 0.32 of an inch this last year. Some
23 months we did not have any.
The Crairman. As a matter of fact, you have a fine valley and
artificial means whereby it goes at high speed?
Mr. Brag. Yes, sir; for about nine months.
The CuaairRMAN. It 1s a hot-house proposition entirely?
Mr. Brair. Generally.
The Cuatrman. With cheap labor?
Mr. Brair. No; we pay from $3.25 to $4 a day to Mexican labor,
and furnish them a place in which to live.
The Crairman. Of course, there are many white men raising
lettuce throughout the United States?
Mr. Brag, Yes, sir. We have tried to get them, but it is almost
impossible to get them there.
The CuairMaN. And you are asking for more tariff on the items
that you raise there?
Mr. Brair. I think we ask for a tariff on peas and tomatoes.
The CrairMaN. Tomatoes are quite a crop in Imperial Valley?
Mr. Brair. Yes, sir.
The CuamrmaN. If you got a little more tariff could you pay a
little more wages?
Mr. Brair. No. We have been paying about all the business
sould stand. Still, we are making a little money on the side; I will
admit that; we are not there for our health. We have a number of
white men in the valley; they jungle up. I went to their place a
few weeks ago to get some white men to irrigate. I found one, and
he said: “Go and bring the field in here and I will look at it and see
if I will work on it.”
Mr. SceneipErR. How much do you pay for the itinerant work
there?
Mr. Brair. Forty cents.
Mr. Scanziper. And the worker boards himself?
Mr. Brair. Yes.
Mr. ScanemER. Where do they live?
Mr. Brair. We furnish houses for them.
Mr. Scaneiper. If he had to hire a housekeeper; how could he live
on 40 cents an hour?
Mr. Brag. I think 90 per cent of the Mexicans—well, there is a
fittle too high—but they have their own families; probably I should
say 75 per cent.
The Crairman. What do the others do?
Mr. Brair. They bundle up.
Mr. DickstEIN. You make a strong indictment against the white
man because of his exercise of his right to be lazy. You think he
should be working all the time?
Mr. Brair. No; that is his affair. We give the white man the
preference on our truck drivers and shed men. They are white men.
Mr. DickstEIN. What are those you call the fruit tramps—they
work hard, don’t they? They are not tramps?
Mr. Brarr. They work hard when working.
Mr. DickstEIN. Do you say they are organized?
M.. Brair. Yes.