New_Deal7

The New Deal: VII
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Meanwhile, the New Deal continued to evolve as administrators learned of unexpected problems with programs or thought of new and possibly more efficient ways to achieve their goals. Generally speaking, the programs of the Second New Deal reflected greater reliance on centralized bureaucracy. Many programs of the First New Deal had operated through the states. This method derived from two realities: first, the need to get programs up and running as fast as possible, which meant using existing state programs to funnel federal money to the needy; second, the political need to bind state politicians to the New Deal by giving them a say in how states distributed federal funds. However, this method had its drawbacks. In some cases, federal money went to reward political friends of state "machines," leaving others out of the New Deal. This "federal" system also created unnecessary duplication and inefficiency in implementing necessary programs. (The PWA was a classic example. It took over a year to draw up bids at the local level and submit them up the ladder to Harold Ickes of the PWA. Then, if Ickes or his subordinates found reason to object, the bid went back to the local level and the process started all over again. )

"Cry From the Cotton": Agricluture and the Evolution of the New Deal

One place where New Dealers discovered unforseen consequences to their program occured with the First AAA. With the retirement of hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland--especially in areas of the South where cotton was "king"--many of the poorest farmers--tenants and sharecroppers--found themselves homeless and unemployed, with few skills needed to get scarce urban jobs. Some administrators within the AAA felt that the federal government, as the source of the problem, should do something to bring relief to these displaced farmers.

The Resettlement Administration

In 1934, FDR adviser Rexford Tugwell helped create the Resettlement Administration (RA). The RA worked in two ways: first, the government bought sub-marginal land, then CCC workers improved it by building fences and irrigation canals; second, the RA settled displaced farm families on the new land. This was supposed to keep farmers on the land and off city relief rolls.

Right: Rural relief client.

Above: Migrant labor camp built by FSA in California.
The Farm Security Administration (FSA)

The FSA represented a more comprehensive and ambitious effort to aid poorer farmers and agricultural workers. FSA assumed the earlier functions of the RA—buying and improving land, and resettling displaced farm families on it—but also added education and other forms of assistance. FSA gave farmers subsidized loans for new equipment and buildings, livestock, and seeds, and educated them on more efficient farming techniques. FSA also built new houses and camps for migrant farm workers. The houses had gardens to provide food to help sustain the migrant or tenant families. These were often worked communally.

Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenancy Act

To further enable sharecroppers and tenants to remain on the land, in 1938 Congress passed the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenancy Act. The act provided low-interest loans for tenants to purchase family farms. In coordination with FSA, this act sustained the vision of sustaining “family farmers” on the land. However, these small farmers found it difficult to compete with the larger “agri-business” ventures born out of AAA.

The Rural Electrification Administration (REA)

In addition to its work for poor farmers and migrant workers, the New Deal also worked to improve rural life other ways. One of the major efforts aimed at improving farm life involved bringing electricity to rural areas not served by private power companies.

In 1938, Congress created the Rural Electrification Administration (REA), which subsidized electric co-operatives to provide cheap power to rural areas. With the electricity provided by REA, farmers now had power for both domestic and commercial uses: farmers could abandon battery-powered radios for standard models, use electric lamps instead of kerosene; farm wives could utilize modern appliances, while working farmers could employ electricity for new farm machines.

Grateful rural residents showed their appreciation for efforts like the FSA and REA, as well as for Roosevelt personally.

Left: A farm girl listens to a radio (powered by electric current rather than battery) by the light of an electric lamp.

Upper right: A farm wife washes clothes using hot water from an electric water heater.

Lower right: A farmer uses electric machinery to help run his farm.

The relief efforts of RA and FSA proved ineffective at stopping the trend towards greater urbanization throughout the country. In fact, many federal programs—such as the AAA and REA—actually worked to doom the ideal of a small, self-sufficient farmer promoted by RA and FSA. With the government subsidies from crop reduction and the cheap power, farmers mechanized and increased the size of their operations, rendering the efforts of small farmers ineffective. Moreover, the government contribution toward communal efforts through FSA experimental farms alienated the largest farmers, who felt these efforts smacked of socialism and communism.

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The Resettlement Administration In 1934, FDR adviser Rexford Tugwell helped create the Resettlement Administration (RA). The RA worked in two ways: first, the government bought sub-marginal land, then CCC workers improved it by building fences and irrigation canals; second, the RA settled displaced farm families on the new land. This was supposed to keep farmers on the land and off city relief rolls. Right: Rural relief client.
Above: Migrant labor camp built by FSA in California.	The Farm Security Administration (FSA) The FSA represented a more comprehensive and ambitious effort to aid poorer farmers and agricultural workers. FSA assumed the earlier functions of the RA—buying and improving land, and resettling displaced farm families on it—but also added education and other forms of assistance. FSA gave farmers subsidized loans for new equipment and buildings, livestock, and seeds, and educated them on more efficient farming techniques. FSA also built new houses and camps for migrant farm workers. The houses had gardens to provide food to help sustain the migrant or tenant families. These were often worked communally.