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No. 4 -- 1 5J4
DOC UMc.,i
IQ
ROOM
THE
WORKS
PROGRA M
-- Works Progress Admir.d_strati_QQ
For Rele a se t o Morning lrewspap ers,
Monday, Sept embe r 27, 1937.
The follo wing address was deliv e re d by Aub rey Williams, Deputy
Admi.nistrator of the Works Progress Admini s tra ti on, before the Southern
Tenant r a rmer's Union and the United CRnnery, Agricultu r al , Pack ing and
Allied Workers of Amer i ca , a t 2;30 p.m. Sunday , September 26 , 1937, in
the Labor Temple, Memphi s , Temr-.:
It is a g r eat plea sure to b e back in t~e So ut h:
I was born a nd re a r e d
I think I underst and its
in the deep South, in t he Black Belt of Al abama .
problems and i ts peopl e , its ~,eA.l th of humi,n mr, teri.:1,l a nd defici ency of
fina nci a l power and technical equipment , its poss i b ili tie.s a11d it s limitations for making a distinctive contribution to American life .
I am lk~ppy t hat the occa sion for my comir.g is this joint meeting
of t he Southe r n Tenant Fo.r me r s I Union a nd the Unit e d Cnnnery, Ag ricultura l,
Packing , and Alli ed. Worke rs of Am e ric a .
For I see in these org:miza tions
an effort to sa f egunr d the interest s o~ a l a r ge segment of the bre n.dwinners
of the South and of the nation.
A segment wh ich, if not r e inforced by
organiza tion and go ve rnment a l n ssist n.nce , is, in some r espec t s , the most
insecure of any in the na tion I s economic fr1..bric.
If we under s t and sec'.1 ri ty
as embra cing the ab ility to make a living compar. .ble
0
rothat of othe r Forkers,
a reasonable protection fr om ruinous fluctun,tions in /this income, and public
services which insure a full social enjoyment of this income, then it is
ror.,dily n.ppn,rent that southern tcnnnt frmors r.nd fr.nn lr>.borers ;>.re [-U!Jong
the most i!lsecure of r-.ny of our nntionA-1 g roups.
An i!lcome of $300 ns
e'l.rned by tenantrn gi1~Jiiy34 is low onow;h but that was Ori grn11rt-t?r?ely good yeRr.
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Whc':tt happ ens in yee, rs li ke 1 932 and 1933 is he a rtbreaking .
The recent study
of incom e s in the Unit ed St a t e· s niado by t'ri·e Nationn.l Industrial Confe r ence
Boa rd shows six stD,tes in the Souther·.st with the lowest incomes in the
n('),tion, less thon $250 per capi tn.
When the st n tes a r e r;-,nked in r e spect
to income fro m highest to lowest, twelve of the bottom fourteen st ntes a r e
in the South.
in the city.
But these nre st~tewide averages held up by n, f e w lRrge income s
If tho p e ople in whom you a re interested. hnd $250 per c a pita,
they would feel rich.
In 1934 the ir income s avo r aged $70 p e r c a pita.
You
n.re f a mili a r rrith t he tragic wai1t that goes with thes e mer.gre a nd uncert n in
incomes.
It is one of the ambitions of this Ad.ministro,tion to comba t such
inse curity a nd p ove rty in a ll walks of life a nd in this r e spect the obj e ctives
of the Administro..tion a re simil n r to t ho s e of your orgrmi zations.
I v:rish, in ndvance, to extend my congrn,tulo..tions to your organiz a-
tions for the success you h'lve al!'en.dy had in CD.lli ng to the .'.t.tt e ntion of
the Americ a n public the m[',nife st n ee ds of t he southern ,".g ricult u ral workers.
l'Teed s uhich h o.v e exist ed for a gener ...,_t ion nith little constructive effort
to meet them.
We a ll knou of the e fforts whi ch h :cve been made to thTTnrt
the orF,anization of ten2.nts nnd sha re croppe rs.
The t es timony of unim-
peachnble witnesses on this point is too strong.
Anyone who tak e s the
trouble to r end t ho r eports of your n.ctiviti e s c an hRrdly ;,,void a r er,. liz n tion
of the suffering which tho lea de rs and memb e rs of the Southe rn Tenant Fa rme rs
Union hnve g ene thr ough to survive.
The f ~ct tha t you a r e meeting here toda y,
a fter thre e yenrs struggle, is evidence of your c ournge n..nd det e rminntion ond
your b e li e f in the justice of your e n.use .
The t 0-sk Dt}ij:izeltttffl'.th nc hrwe [.l,dd r essed oursol ves dlagiMifron:n eri.sy one.
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It is well n.t the outset to t a ke into a cc ount t he difficulti e s and obst a cl e s
_ra.'s gr eat e r s ecuri· t y for t hos e dewhich ma rk every foot of the road tov.·,.,.
, r.1,
p e nd ing on agriculture for
R
l iving.
To a n a udi e nce such a s this, who se
da ily life is <1.griculture , I feel a g r ent he s it ancy in a tt emp ting to spen.k
on t h is subject for you know the det e,ils of the difficulties and the obsta cles
in a f a r mo re intimn.te way th::,,,n I know them but it may b e p rofit abl e for us,
togeth e r, to r evi ew some of t he ma.j ar p roblems in the r eh....,,bili t nt ion of the
South,
!n the first pl a c e , we have to r emembe r tha t southe rn ag riculture is
an int egr a l p a rt of [', n:,_,ti ona l nnd
to r e c ogniz e t hat
l\ S
r,,
wo rld ngri cul turn.l economy a nd we hnve
l ong a s t h is i s true , t h o Sou th c nnnot lift itsel f by
its own boot stro.ps but ,-,ill b o compelled to depend on the r e c onstruction of
our na tiona l .'.),gri cul ture nnd t h e r e vi t n.l i z,':'.ti on of our for e i gn t r nde .
At the pe.'.'.k of our r e lief l o[',d in 1 935 there we r e mo r e t han a mil li -. m
fr'lllili es i n the United Stn.t e s Tiho h ad been depe ndent on ngri c ulture out TTho
h..'1d be e n so unsucc essful in weat he ring tho depr e ssi on thrst they h r.td b e e n com-
p elle d t o seek publi c n. s s ist n.nce .
a single month.
Thi s numb e r ,.-,o.,s on the r el i e f r oll s in
It has been e stima t e d thD. t ::i.t one time o r nnothe r during
the depr e ssion s ome t,.-,o million f a rm f :unili o s h::we rece ive d r el i e f .
This
gives us a meP.,sure o f the inse curity of f .... rmo r s thr oughout the n o.tion.
Tho more ,1e o..na.lyze this situn,ti on the more i t b e c omes n.ppnrent
thn.t this was not primarily a phenome non of t he depression of the 1 930 1 s .
Fe dera l relief cnll od attenti on to n numerous g r oup of f a rme rs and f a rm
l:,b or e rs whose distre ss nrose from l ongt ime fr.ct0rs, nho h a d lived from
hn,nd to mouth for ye 1'. rs before t he fina nci 1'.l dep r essi on , nnd fo r \7hom relief,
the Works Progr2~ , M d the Resettl ement Admi n istrati on o ff e r e d the first
~o. 4 -- 1 594
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public 8."":encie
s n ff orde"'.
b
v
It
i·
s no
• ,-,
k
· -01
" ,,=,.
aep ress·i on
t"'~ir--.. t a g ric
· ult ur2 l
be gA.n l ong b e f ore 1 929 a nd. thIJ.t rel c:ttive to industri a l prices, n.gricuJ.tura l
prices began to decline soon [',ft e r 1910.
In addition, in many p [',,rts of
the country, fa.rmers h.'l.d a ttempted to produce crops on s o:l r;bich oi ther
should not have been brollfsht under the plow or which ha s been mine d until
its fertility is lost.
Soil erosion h n d bee n allo we d to continue unche ck ed
until over 150 million a cre s of l a nd hn d lo s t Rll o r mo st of its top soil.
In s ome fl,r eRs, fr,rme rs we re a tt emp t ing to make ;:,_ livin 6 for l a r ge f am ili e s
on f .?.r ms t o o snmll in size .
In many s e ctions , de v o ti on to
.'.1.
sing l e ca sh
crop a mounted to o.l most n worship of c ott on, tob r,cc o , c orn, or ,-:h ec,t.
More
and more tho prnctico of n egl e cting tho production of f ood and f eed crops
spread , l eaving the f a rme r vulnera ble to the p ric e fluct uati on s of a norld
mr>.rket.
A good mnny f n,rm e rs nl s o spe cul a t e d in l a n d v nl u e s rr, the r t han
f a rming the ir l n.nd, c onse qu e ntly, mort gngo bu r d c-m s nccumul 2.t e d r a p idly.
Opportunities for en.r ni ng wage s in off s e n so n s \1c r 0 a l so dw i ndling a s the
timb e r, conl, nnd ot he r mine r,ls '\7e r e :p r ot;r ess i Ye l ;:' d.opj_ot ocl i n s ome o.re a s.
All of t hes e disn.dva nt ng e s to ng ricul tur e opo r . .- ted r~ o r o o r l e s s
ge nera lly throllfshout the n['..ti on n.nd in tuTn , bt:.d t l10 L· effec t s in the South,
but, in addition to all the othe r r-,gricuJ.t·i.:.~al
s o r e s~Jo t!; , t he South ha d
its peculiri.r institution of sl a very, s ince t he C~vil ·-::1.t
',78
hD.v e h,9,d the
p c culi :::tr instituti on of tena:1cy, the dir0et li:1er~l d8 s s01~d.,1..nt o f sl n.vcry.
A m'.".p r ec ently prcp,,-., r od by the Works Progr e s s Admi::i s'~ r ac i on s ~1ov1s a
rcm.q,rknble c oi n cide:1c e o f t ho 0.r e as of h erwy t e nancy i n 1 9 30 u i th the n r e n.s
of heavy sl a very hol d ing in 1860 .
Ago.in, I ,;,ill not p r e sume in ;...,n nudi e nce of t h is kind t o e ngn..ge in
o. technico.l di@~§;fui;JQB,- of t e llc..,,ncy since y ou y ours el v ~ igmti~ro1r#nrmt s or n.re
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
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4-1544
- 5 intima tely associated with the tenant group.
:But I shall call attenti on to
the fact that the handicaps of the t onant were not born of the depression, but were gradu::>. l l y evolvod of a l ong-s t1:m.ding e conomic syst em
and a firmly e s tablished pq,-t t orn of so ci;:,1 t r :.dit i ons snrl cu:1toE1r. .
Any in-·
cultural structure and which is so stronc l y ontr o:::clwd. wilJ. no t be ac:.s ily
changed.
I say this merely to encourage you ~ot to weary in t he f a ce cf
obstacles and disappointments, for anyone who is endeavoring t o pr omot e cuch
a fun<L?..menta l cha nge in society should be forewa rned tha t these ob sb.cles
will appear and these disappointments will be met.
One further f a ctor needs to be considere d a s contributing l a rgely
\
to the insecur e position of southern l abor, that is the pr es sure of popu~
lation on re sources.
The increa se in popula tion of the country is now
coming almost entirely from the nation's farms, e specially since the s t oppage of European immigration, and the southern f ar ms are producing for
more than their share of this na tural incre a se.
Of course , t h is increase
of populat ion has wide si gnificance in social and institutional fiel ds but
we may confine ourselves at the present to its effects on the l abor market.
It moans first that for every ava ilabl e farm the re are several maturing
farm boys a nd in periods of depres s ion, when these boys do not move to
the city, they compete for farm jobs in a glut t ed labor market.
On t he
other hand, it means that when they do move to the city they compete
with industrial labor at a low wage level.
It has been definitely shown
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th at differential wages between the South and other sections of the country
arc greatest in those jobs which can be filled. oy unskilled farm boys and
l east in those jobs where a pe riod of t r a ining or apprenticeship is necessary before the job can be performed.
This emphasizes the int erdependence
It
of southern agr iculture with southern industry and national industry.
South.
tells us why industri es orrncd by outside ca pit al a re locat ing in the
The
They see in this mass of poverty a cheap and exploitable l ab or suppl:')'•
intelligent training and direction of these future l aborers of the nation is
a matter of gravest na tional concern and one not limited to the confines
of the southern states.
I suppose, however, tha t you are not interested in hearing me recite
the co.t nlo g of misfortunes with which you are a lr endy thoroughly familiar.
I cn.n see that the question which is uppermost in your mind is:
What
C'.Ul
be done ab out it7
If the South is to nchieve the place it so richly deserves in the
. national economy, its plane of living must be r a ised to a l evel whic.½ is
more nearly compat i ble with stan.dards of he n.l th and comfort for the masses.
elsewhere.
It would be futile for anyone not a professional economi st , statis-
tician, pol itical scientist, or social worker
definite blueprint of how this can be done.
siderations which point the way.
the basic economic structure .
combined to try to map out a
There are, however, certain con-
Considerat ions which revolve a r ound change s in
No amount of prea ching of the gospel of hard
work, of frugality, or rugged individualism will suffice to improve living conditions.
Such improvement can result only from a concerted and determined
effort on the part of southern workers, southe rn industry, and southern
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aided by the Federal Government with the cl ear understa nding
tha t problems of the South are national in their effects.
The first, and one of the most obvious points of a ttack which is appar ent to even the most superficia l observers of southern agr icu l t ure, can
be ma de on the cred1· t s:1rs
. t em.
· th e
No one in
s ou th ,
r
t b ank e,
be b e t enan,
l andlord• or merchant, is sa tisfied with the cre cUt structure which dr a ins
so largo a proportion of the South's f a rm income into the r e servoir s of
financial centers.
It is the outcome of a vicious financial syst em which
has fastened itself on the region, along with the devotion to the one crop
cott on.
The Rural Reha bili t a t ion Division of F.E.R.A., a~d l a t er of t he
Reset tlement Administra tion, has been abl e to make some hea dway in a ssuming risks which the commercial and the int ermodia t e credit banks would not
f ormerly as sume for two r eason s:
(1) By mak i ng a b:r ge number of loans t he
risk has been spr oa.d over a gr eat many sect i ons and a grea t many clients,
and (2) the lo ans ha ve been accompani ed by a t ype of supervision which the
merchant or banker. is not in a position to give to his borrower.
In other
words , t he loan ha s been a cc ompa nied by advi ce and aid of the t ype mo st
calcula ted to increa s e t he income of t h e b orrower, and t hus, insure repayment.
This is obviously beginning a t the right point, but only a be-
ginning in proportio n to the vast amount of hi gh cost credit which is still
use d,
The most obvious method of raising the standard of living is to be
expe ct ed from an increa se in the effective income s of the farmers.
The De-
partment of Agricultur e and the Stat e Experiment Stations have a number of
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programs in this field which ncod to bo pros£ed to the lir.i.it;
These
r ange all the way from retiremen t of subme.rgin al land to various devices
designed to obtain parity prices for the farmers.
Another method, and
one which is less in the public mind, is in the line of reduction of costs
of productio n and of marketing the product.
It is evident from the recent report of the National Resources Commi tteo on Technolog ical Trends that the technical improvem ents in agricultu re
are likely to continue at JD ast as rapidly as they have in the past.
It
has been estimated that from 1870 to 1930, tho output per agricultu ral worker
increased from 100 to 150 porcont.
A similar increase per worker over the
next 20 or 30 years would mean tha t the s ame agricultu ral productio n could
1:io miint','.'. incd with a reduction of 33 :percent of the labor supply.
I would not, under any circumsta nces, oppose the reduction of form
costs by mechaniza tion of crop productio n, but we rrni st recognize that this
is an existing trend nnd will bring with it the need for drastic e.djust"
ment s in tho labor supply
and the d enand for continuou s vigilance on the
part of those who are primarily intereste d in the human values in agricul tu.re
as opposed to aold productio n economics .
Herein lies a challenge for all
progrc>.JI1s with a hu.ma..11i taria.11 viewpoint .
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If tho l eve l of living of some f 2.JJ1ili es is to be i ~p r oved, it will bo
nece s sar y not only t o effe c t gr eater effi ciency i n t he production o f the total
income , but a l s o more equity in t he distribution of that i ncome.
I am not of
the school of thought which would assert that all landlords are overgr eedy and
gr a sp ing and too p rone to exp l oit their l abo r.
However, I know that owi ng to
his lack of control of capital, his lack of educat ion and experi ence , h is poor
bargaining p osition wh i ch is due l a r ge ly to t ho pressur e of popul at i on , and to
his lack of prestige and political power, the southern farm worker is particularly vulnerab le to exp l oitat i on unless p r ote cted by a strong public sentiment
and social l egi s l at i on .
It is tho function of labor or ganizati on and government-
al regulation t o p r ov ide this p r ot ec tion.
The i mproveme nt of l and l or d. tenant l eases is a fi eld i n which England is
nearly 100 years ahead of this country, to such an extent t hat Eng lish oper at i ng
farmers would for the mos t part p r ef er to bo t enant s r a t he r than l a ndl ords , keeping their cap ital in livesto ck and machi ne r y r athe r than i n land.
technique
The gener a l
which they have adopted in t his f i eld has been the care f ul supervi s ion
of leases by local boards and the p r ovision that i mp r ove me nts made i n l and or
buildings shall be pa id for by the la::-idlord when the t enant l oave s the f ar m.
It is significa nt that t he adoption of more equitable leases was one of
the principal p l anks in the platform put forth by the President's Comm ission on
Tenancy.
'
It is of equal i mportance to a n organization of this nature that the
rec ommendati on of t his comm ission was directed en tir el y at t ho State s and not at
the Federal
Govern□en t,
since it was deemed impossible under the present consti-
tutional limitations to promote a po licy of Feder a l control of far m l ease s.
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adoption of any such prngr a□ of iupr oved l cas-::: s by cnns id0rabl0 proportion of tho
snuthern States , howeve r, will depend upon the building of a far stronger and
bettor organized public sentiment than r1o•w" exi'st s .
Hr
.e e J.· s a t a s k to whi·ch all
poop lo i n organizations int or os t od. i n tho upbuilding of tho South can devote
t hemselves.
It no.,y be t oo much to expe ct in the i nmediate future, but s ome of us
present today nay live to see wages and hours le gisla tion,and unemp l oynent i nsurance extended to agricultural workers. Other ~a tions of the world, concerned l es t
their farr.1 workers sink to tho coo lie l ovol,havo taken such steps and arc well
cont ent m..th the results.
It is no t t oo much to hope that the future may add
those bulwarks to t he security of tho .American wor ke r.
When we turn from the ocon0mic to the more purely s ocial objectives of
i mprovor.icnt i n stanclnrd s of living, we a re
i □;Je diat e ly
cm1f r onted with tho pr esent
l ow levels of hous i ng, dio t,public health, and oc.uce.t i on of f ar n wnr ko rs.
It is to be re ccgniz od that exD.ctly tho sane typo of house is not requir e d in tho South as is required i n a col de r clina t e , but the f a ct ro r.1ains t ha t
wha t eve r ncasuro is applied, whe ther it be va lue of dvmlling, nur.-;ber of rooms in
rela tion to occupants , convo11ionccs, such as piped water, sewering , or sanitation,
tho she lter on co:tton farns ran.1cs below t ha t of any l a rge gr oup i n the country.
Sir.dlarly, the devotion t o tho one r;irmoy crop has, t o a ruinous degree,
e xcluded t ho production of those articles which enrich tho die t of ~o re selfsustaining farnors.
A gl ance at tho Southe rn Regional Stud;y,produced at the
University of North Car nlina,will pr0vido anple evidence of tho South's doficioncics i n consUJ--:iption n f nilk, noat, and green vege t ab l es , and its dcvntion t o
pork, grits, and gr~vy.
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· t ed
h
' k'in d tat,
Th0r0 is no need to poi·nt out to ,~. group of th
a ssocia
. is
LL
Pith the se deficienci es in housing n.nd diet, we hav e high infant mo rta lity and
the almost peculiarly southern dis eas 0s of pellagra, malaria, Md typho id.
It
is indeed a scathing indictment of King Cotton tha t he has kep t so many of his
subjects ill-housed ruid ill-fed.
It is high time tha t we demand an improvement
in the welfare of the subjects.
A genuine ::tnd l e.st i ng i mprovemen t i n the st andard of livb.g will not
come without a genuine des ire f or
n.
hi gher s t andard which i n turn is dependent
upon education and efficient finac~cin g of educ a tion and its s i s t er, public health,
depend upon the equaliz a tion of opportunity be t ween the poo r and the richer
sections of the Nation.
The guarantee of the minimum amount of educ a tion and of other public
services consistent with tho national int er es t is difficult without Federal equaliza tion bet vreen Sta t es becaus e of the wi de diff er entials i n r egi onal wealth and
income.
Again the contrast is bet\7een rural Md urbnn, agricul turel and i ndustrial
wealth.
In addition, students of taxation a gr ee t hat, with the integr a tion of
business and concentration of l a r ge incomes, it is pr actical ly i mposs i~le f or a
State which does not contain one of the large finnnci al c en t ers, t o true the v1ealth
which is actually produced in the Sta te and for that r eason t he br oader t rue ba se
of the Federal Governmen t should be used to collect from l ~r ge surpluses and redistribute to the sources of the actual production of true wealth.
The r e sulting inequ a lities in the tax base have placed six times mo re
economic power per child in the richest Sta te than is possessed by the poorest
State and four times as much power in the richest quart~r of our 48 Sta tes as
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there is in the po 0rost qua rt e r.
This indicates that tho inequaliti e s i n our State oduca tionn.l nffcring
arc not sn nuch tho r c sul t nf a l a ck of i nt or e st i n or of willi!1gness t o supp ort
scho ols but of an abs olute i nability to se cure funds t o p r 0v i de opp0rtunities
conparable to the income receiving Sta t e s of the industrial and financial are~s .
We, therefore, have a condition where t he Sta t e8 with the mo st rap id
natural.increase of population and the l ar gest p r opartion of schoo l childr en a r e
those least able to support education by r eason of the f a ct:
first, that t hey
depend so largely upon a griculture for income; and second, that s o large a proportion of the income fr om t he ir na tura l r es ource s and fr or.i t he processing of
their agricultura l pr oducb:' is colle cte d and con contra t od i n other r egions.
I wish today that we had a wide r audience of peop l e actively interested
For t ho se outside
in r a ising the standard of living 0f the s out he r n f a r m wo rker.
the South, I would quote Booke r Wash ingt on 1 s f ar:irius aphorism,
11
You canno t hold a
man in a ditch without staying the r e with h i m. 11 Tho economy of t ho Na ti on cannot
hold so gr eat a proporti on of its population i n tho ditch of depr e s se d agriculture
without staying t he r e with it.
For those profess ional people of t he South and manufa cture rs and busine ss
men of the Nation at largo , I would ca ll attention to the f a ct that when we say,
fRaise the standard of living" we arc , i n fac t , saying, "Increase the purchasing
1
volume. 11
Southern farmers work in jeans overalls and for all too many of them, a
pair of j eans overalls is all tha t they have to turn as ide the sun and harsh
weather.
They work in brogans and for all too many, these coarse sho os must
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ffice for a ll occasi on s.
4-1594
Th·
1 ren a re often too naked to go to school.
e1r c h'ld
w much more pleasant wo uld it be for the farm er
'
a s we ll as profitable for the
oe and clothing merchants, if he could purchase an extra suit and pair of shoes
r Sunday, and if his children could be fully 0nd decent l y clothed.
Likewise,
would be more profitable to the southern lav.,ye rs and doct ors if the;y had good
d steady paying clients.
Al so, increased spendi ng povrn r would make for the
~elopment of a dairy and cheese industry in the South and increase d sales of
)cessed foods.
In other words, there is no conflict bet we en you who a re attempting to
~ma cropp e r union, others who a re forming textil e unions, and the objectives
the New Deal, and the ultimate desires of the manufact urers and merchants who
in business for profit.
What I am trying to say is that there must be fundamental adjustments in
distribution of the national income if America is to march forvrard to a bal!ed prog r e ss inst ead of being strangled by tho ep icurean exc1:: ss of the privil eged
tsses as were Egypt, Greece, a nd Rome.
I am also stating that your job is a part
this redistribution process.
We had a na ti onal income of 80 billion dollars in 1 929 , but the distri;ion of that income was not such as to prevent a great deal of human insecurity
misery.
This unbalance of income l ed to misery a nd want among the unemployed
·ing the dep ression which in the past 5 years has run up a r eli ef bill amounting
billions of dollars.
This must not happen again.
It is not unreasonabl e to
)Ortion 8 or 10 billion dollars of a n 80 billion dollar income as a preventative
want through the proces s of Federal taxation and Fede ral expenditure for smoothout the unequal spots in our economic life.
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The New Deal is merely a reflection of the growing conviction on the
part of the American people tha t there is nlenty for all and that all people
can and should have a share in this plenty; thPt th0r c is no r eason for anyone
in America to go without docent food , sh elter, or clothing; tha t ther e is every
reason why every last American should h:1.ve some of che good things of life beyond
mere food, shelter, and clothing.
Those who are opposed to this belief seem to fear that the process will
take something away from them.
We are not interested in taking away from onybody
but are concerned that when we have prosperity we shall have balru1ced prosperity
which will add some of the good things of life for those who now suffer in ~ant.
We beli eve thnt we should s trivo t o soe thnt f uture incr 0nses in th~ n~tional
income shall accunmlate in the pockets of those who need the increas e , not in
the pockets of those whose land is already flowing with milk and honey, two cars,
and numerous servants.
We are not only interested in more equitable redistribution of nationa l
income and the improvement of the standards of living of the lower tenth but we
are also concerned with the democratic exercise of power.
Do not deceive yourselves.
Efforts to set up such controls of power will
meet with a blinding smoke screen of objections from the powerful.
Prosperity,
of a sort, has returned and those in power will endeavor to drug the workers with
the doctrine that we should do nothing to endanger profits.
Eut prosperity of the
brand of 1929, where 36,000 families at the top had an aggregate income equal to
that of 10 million families at the bottom is not the kind of prosperity in which
the New Deal is interested.
It is not the kind of prosperity which will make
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America permanently great.
The
Nev1
Deal ins ists that if America is to be permanently gr eat, its
lawyers, its doctors, its merchants, its landowners, its b:1I1ke rs, and its l aborers
will unite on a policy of wide distribution of t h e benefits of prosperity 311d not
Qn a policy of monopolistic control of profits.
More decent living -standards for the southern tenant is an important part
of this larger pattern of social justice--a part which is as essential to the upbuilding of America as it is to the upbuilding of the South.
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