Cash Crop

Contrary to popular belief, money does grow on trees. At least it does in Hidalgo County in the southern tip of Texas. It takes the form of oranges, all ripe and now starting to rot. The reason, according to Mike Wallace, a regional manager of Texas Citrus Mutual, is that the pickers "are lined up over at the post office waiting for Uncle Sam to feed them." Since December, the area's post offices have been issuing food stamps. The growers claim that the program has undermined the desire to work. The food-stamp officials deny this, explaining that nobody who refuses work can get the stamps. The growers, who need about 2,000 workers, say the rules are not enforced. Union representatives, in turn, claim that the minimum wage of $1.30 per hour is so low that it is not worth reaching for. If the two sides cannot come together, about $30 million in rotten fruit will soon fall in between them--pulpy proof that the welfare ethic and the work ethic must find some common ground.

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