Speech #870045538

With high unemployment in Oregoneven at pearpicking timethere are. I am willing to suggest. 199 people in the State of Oregon who would be willing to work on the farms and in the orchards if decent minimum wages are paid to the domestic workers. In its final report to the legislature. the Bureau of Labor of the State of Oregonthe official public body assigned the job of working with this problemmakes the following statement: Because of the exploitation of the Mexican immigrant in years past. and in the present. he has been subjected to different economic treatment. As the result of the poorer condition of the native of Mexico. the immigrant has been more likely to accept low standards of wages and conditions. This has resulted in unfair competition with the AngloAmerican for jobs. The net result was unfavorable social acceptance for the Spanishspeaking immigrant and a continuing bondage from which he has had difficulty escaping because of this unfavorable social acceptance. This vicious cycle has had its effect on the second. third and further generations of the Mexican immigrant. In the migrant labor field a further factor is present in that the Mexican immigrant has come from an agrarian economy and he and his descendants in large numbers regard farming as their lifetime occupation. As individuals they have developed physical endurance by working in the fields from childhood through adulthood. The AngloAmericans who have followed the same pattern. of course. have developed the same endurance. Because of the precarious economic existence he leads and the lack of alternatives. the Mexican immigrant is less demanding and less apt to voice his grievances. The AngloAmerican does not like to compete with such standards of conduct and regards the SpanishAmerican as a threat to his livelihood. This is further intensified when Mexican nationals are brought in under contract.