Archbishop Lucey was one of the five members of President Trumans Commission on Migratory Labor whose report was published in 1951. There have been some sincere efforts to improve conditions since then. but by and large the recommendations made by that Commission have not been acted upon. Archbishop Lucey concludes with the reminder: The injustices inflicted on migrant labor in American agriculture are an international scandal. I believe it is important that we recognize this problem as a Federal responsibility. This is not a case of the Federal Government moving into an area that is wholly a State affair. On the contrary. we sympathize with the problem of the individual States and local communities. They do not have the facilities to provide adequately for migrants who are in their jurisdiction for a few weeks at a time and then move on. Perhaps they cannot be expected by themselves alone to build classrooms and hire teachers for children of migrant workers who come and go. and the problem is similar in social welfare cases. Federal legislation to provide coordination and assistance to the States is badly needed if the center of the problem is to be reached. Meanwhile. the revised standards proposed by Secretary of Labor Mitchell will be a constructive step.
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