Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 45 Part 1.djvu/739

 688 May 21, 1M. [s.J. Res. 129] [Pub. Res., No .47.] Pi nk bollworm cot ton. Preamble. Appropriation au- thorized to pay farmers for loss due to nonpro- duction, in noncotton zones established by a State to eradicate boll- worm in affected ar ea. Post,p.895. In cooperation with State authorities. .SEVENTIETH CONGRESS. SEss. I. Cii. 665 . 1928 . CHAP. 665 .-Joint Resolution To provide for eradication of pink bollworm and authorizing an appropriation therefor. of Whereas a very serious emergency has arisen by reason of an out- break of the pink bollworm invol ving some sev en counties i n the western extension of cotton in Texas which threatens one of the primary industries of the Nation and demands immediate action ; and Whereas there are only two possible means of meeting this situation, one by regulating the movement of cotton and cottonseed from the newly infested counties with the idea of preventing long-distance spread through the agency of such products, and the other to declare and enforce noncotton zones as to such areas with the idea of the immediate eradication of the pest, with the object of saving the cotton crop of the Nation from general invasion and future enormous annual losses ; and Whereas regulation does not eradicate nor does it prevent spread except as to districts so completely isolated from other cotton as to eliminate the possibility of the natural spread of the pest, and, therefore, the regulation of these new areas in contact with con- tinuous cotton cultivation will necessarily permit the natural and probabl y very wide s pread of this pest yearly, and will amoun t, therefore, to giving up the battle to save Texas and the rest of the Cotto n Belt from g eneral and pro bably wide in vasion by the pink bo llworm, acco mpanie d by annual and g reatl y incr easing costs of such regulation ; and Whereas the only known means of eradication is by the establishment of noncotton zones for one or two years-a method which has a long re cord of succe sses, but whic h may become impossible as to such we st Texas area s on account o f natural spr ead and mounti ng costs if postponed ; and Whereas the losses due to such zones must fall primarily and heavily upon a small group o f farmers, and inasmuch as these losses a re in the int eres t of the cot ton crop of the Nati on, comp ensa tion of such farmers for actual and necessary losses due to the enforced nonproduction of cotton would seem to be fully warranted Whereas the cost of the establishment of such noncotton zones in these new areas will be necessarily very large on account of the considerable cotton acreage involved-some three hundred and sixty thousand acres-costs which are in the interest of the entire Cotton Belt ; and Whereas the State of Texas has now no funds available for such compensation of farmers and its legislature is not now in session and will not normally come in session for another year, and, fur- ther, the securing of such funds by the State would involve new legislation and new taxation very unlikely to be obtained in view of the amount involved, and the fact, as indicated, that such expendi- ture would be for the protection of the entire Cotton Belt : There- fore be it Resolved by the Senate and House o f Representatives o f the United States of America in Congress assembled, That when any State shall have enacted legislation and taken measures, including the establish- ment and enforceme nt of noncotto n zones, adeq uate, in the opinion of the Secretary of Agriculture, to eradicate the pink bollworm in any area thereof actually infested, or threatened, by such pest, the said Secretary, under regulations to be prescribed by him, is author- ized to pay, out of $5,000,000 hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be expended in cooperation with the proper authorities of the State conce rned in compe nsating any fa rmer for his actual and ne cessary loss due to the enforced nonproduction of cotton within said zones :
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