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1248 An American Dilemma
little influence over the local operation and enforcement of the A.A.A. legislation. This
means that complaints from Negroes about acreage allotment and illegal diversion of
payment practically always are judged by a committee of white farmers.*
About the importance of the literacy factor in this context, see, for instance,
Davis, Gardner, and Gardner, of, cit,^ p. 419.
Changes in Technology and Labor Requirements in Crof Productiony Cotton,
Work Projects Administration, National Research Project (1938). Cited by Lange,
“Trends in Southern Agriculture,” p. 33.
Number or Motor Trucks and Tractors on Farms; 1930 and 1940
Item and Year United The North The
Texas
and
All other
Southern
States and West South Oklahoma States
Motor trucks
1930 900,000 663,000 237,000 76,000 161,000
1940 1,047,000 737*000 310,000 85,000 225,000
Per Cent Increase 16% 11% 31% 11% 40%
Tractors
1930 920,000 774,000 146,000 63,000 83,000
1940 1,567,000 1,296,000 271,000 144,000
1 29%
127,000
64%
Per Cent Increase 70% 67% 86%
Sources: Fifteenth Census of the UnUed States: ipjo, Aif Vol. IV, pp. 536, 537* Sixteenth Census
efthe United States: 1940, Agriculture, United States Summary, Second Series, pp. 27-31.
Holley, Winston, and Wooftcr, of, cit,y p. 20,
By 1940, Texas and Oklahoma had more than half of all farm tractors in the
South. They also showed a more rapid increase during the ’thirties than did the rest of
the South or the nation. This, in conjunction with the drought which hit Oklahoma
particularly, brought about a more spectacular decline in the rural farm population than
in any other Southern state. The white farm population between 1930 and 1 940
decreased by 6 per cent in Oklahoma and by 7 per cei>t in Texas. The corresponding
figures for the much smaller Negro farm population, as usual, were higher; 27 and 13
per cent, respectively.’’ Speaking of mechanization trends as affected by the A.A.A. in
these parts of the South, Carl T. Schmidt says:
“To be sure, technological changes in cotton cultivation have been accelerated by
the A.A.A., not only in the extent that it has given cotton planters cash with which to
buy machinery, but also because the substitution of machines for tenants and croppers
enables the landlords to double their share of the Government subsidy.”*^
The continuance of the differential In mechanization rates between the two parts of
the South must give the Southwest a considerable competitive advantage, re-emphasizing
the old shift in cotton culture to the Southwest. And under the pressure of this compe-
tition, the Southeast will probably intensify its own efforts to make the change. It
seems to be only a question of time until an extensive mechanization of the cotton
“Lange, “Agricultural Adjustment Programs and the Negro,” pp. 24-25. Italics ours.
^Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940, Preliminary Release, Series P-sa, No. 16.
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