158 WESTERN HEMISPHERE IMMIGRATION

Mr. Austin. I do not know that.
Mr. Box. There is no higher class of farmers than those composing
the grange?
Mr. Austin. No.
Mr. Box. Well, they have asked this committee to take that
action. It would be enlightening to you to see the communications
which come to this committee from members of the grange.
Mr. Austin. I might add, Judge Box, that both the National
Grange and the American Farm Bureau Federation are on record
as opposed to the limitation of Mexican labor at this time.
Mr. Box. You work for the sugar companies, don’t you?
Mr. AusTIN. Yes, sir; I announced that beforehand.
A careful study of the result of restricted immigration must convince
one that while American industrial labor has reaped the benefit of
this legislation, it has not produced equally good results in the farming
communities. Thus, while farmers have been compelled to pay higher
prices for the commodities which they buy, due to a large extent to
mcreased wages in industry, which, in turn, is due to a certain extent
to restricted immigration, these farmers have been compelled to pay
higher and higher wages for the farm labor necessary to produce their
crops, and it is becoming more and more difficult to secure this labor,
even at the higher wages.
Much stress has been laid upon the fact, that in New England and
some of the other manufacturing districts of the country unemployment
 of labor is at the present time a serious problem. Assuming
this to be true, yet I do not believe that it has a direct bearing on the
subject matter under discussion. This belief is based upon the wellknown
 fact that Mexican labor, to a very large extent, is adaptable
to, and engages solely in, agricultural work. Much of the Mexican
population is descended directly from the Indian. He has by nature
the inherent traits of that race. He is fundamentally rural. He
prefers outdoor life to the confinement of industrial pursuits. Again,
the work in which he engages is, in the main, seasonal. He migrates
to the farming sections of the Middle, South, and far West, performs
the work for which he is engaged, returning home when that work is
finished. While a certain small percentage of this labor may seep
into industry after arriving in this country, the records show that the
great bulk either returns to Mexico or remains in agricultural work
and does not compete with labor in industry.
On the other hand, the character of labor which is now out of
employment in New England and other industrial centers is not
only unadaptable to the work which these Mexicans perform, but
such work, as a rule, is repugnant to the industrial worker. Also,
this unemployed labor in industrial sections in so far removed from
the agricultural sections which need the labor, as to make its employment
 prohibitive as far as transportation is concerned. The
seasonal character of the work which the Mexicans perform adds
another difficulty in inducing unemployed labor in industrial sections
to accept it.
In this connection let me say that the beet-sugar companies, in
their attempts to aid the beat farmer in securing seasonal labor,
scour the near-by cities before going to the border. This is but
natural, from an economic standpoint, if for no other reason. In
appearing before this committee in 1928, the chairman will rememe-