WESTERN HEMISPHERE IMMIGRATION 177

Mr. Rureerrorp. You will admit we have that condition at the
present time in the overproduction of cotton?
Mr. CanaLges. Yes; our commissioner informed us as to that, and
we have tried to limit our acreage in proportion.
Mr. RuraHerrorp. You know it is true that the average cotton
‘armer has to employ his labor for a 12-months period in place of
1sing seasonal labor, whenever he could get it?
Mr. CanaLes. We do that on our own ranch, and we take what are
called Mexican-Americans to do that, and we give them a place to
live and give them farming land and then use them on the ranch for
extra work. When they are not occupied on the farm. we use them
as cowboys.
Mr. Rurnerrorp. If it is tiue that the average southern cotton
farmer is forced to employ labor throughout the whole period of 12
months, that is rather expensive; and allowing Mexicans to come in
here as seasonal labor and just as soon as the service is over dispensing
with their services in order to save expense, makes possible competition
 with the man that has to employ his labor throughout the vear;
and do you think that competition is just and fair?
Mr. CanaLes. We will correct that; and we are confronted with
this situation where they come over there and steal our labor and take
it up to central Texas, and take them from there to the Lord knows
where; and we have to import labor again from the same source we
did before.
Mr. Ruraerrorp. That is exactly what I am contending for.
Whenever they are taken there into another section, they come there
into competition with the native American, and he is seeking a job
to-day. Do you believe it is right for the employers of labor of this
kind to permit these people to come in, indiscriminately, at certain
times of the year, and to come into direct competition with the
fellow who is staying here and trving to make a living and support
his family?
Mr. Canaves. If you can pass a law to prevent their taking the
men away from our section, or even from the State, it will be agreeable
 to us. They suffer great hardship, and they are in your way
here, and at some time or other come into competition with the
other persons, and at the same time they create that situation in
our home. If you can, in your bill, amend it by remedying that
situation, providing that when this labor, or these people, get there,
they should not be taken from us and sent away up there to the
aorth, you understand, we think that would be a good thing.
Mr. ScunempEr. You are not speaking of an immigration problem
now, but of a problem that exists within our boundaries.
Mr. Caxanes. Yes: that is the situation: our people are being
taken north.
In 1913 was the last drought we had there, and there was a great
exodus from our country of Americans who had settled there, coming
from Ohio. They abandoned their fields and went back home.
There was a great exodus from that part of Texas, because they
had not become adapted yet to the climatic conditions we have there.
[t is figured now that we have a greater amount of rain than we
used to have, as I remember, prior to 1904. The reason I can not
explain, but the fact is we get greater rainfall now, when we put
our land into cultivation. than we used to have. We used to suffer