Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise. (Pocomoke City, Md.) 1921-1953, 1926-01-30
Worcester County
Offers HOme-Seeker
More Than Florida
Senator Harrison Issues In
sNtesting Paper Telling Of
County's Advantages

Senator Orlando Harrison has In.
sued q very interesting paper on Wor.
sester county In connection with the
Del-Mar-Va Association; and, in part
d says:
Farmers in the North, and in the
West and middle West have, for q
number Of years, been disposing of
heir large acreages and have been
turning to the regions where they
could secure smaller holdings, which
under intensive cultivation, could be
relied upon to yield crops which would
have total value equal to the crops
produced on the larger farms. In ad-
dition, not only white collar en-
Rloyees but many industrial workers in
The larger cities, have been turning
back toward the soil. For two de-
sades the pendulum has been swinging
toward the city 80 far as the drift Of
population is concerned. A change is
becoming apparent. Many residents
d the cities are beginning to seek
economic freedom by securing few
acres Of land capable Of yielding high
returns If planted to specialize crops.
Worcester county has $4,000 acres Of
good land that could be cut up into
small farms with the result that
acreage now idle would be put to use,
population would be increased, and
She business turnover in the county
practically doubled.
The point to remember in this con-
Aection is that Worcester county can
Offer the home seeker just as good
values as Florida can offer him. There
h every reason to believe, therefore,
ahat promotion program such as il
proposed by the Del-Mar-Va Eastern
Shore Association would create an in
creased demand for the land which all
the counties on the Peninsula have in
such abundance.
But, says somebody, increased de-
nand for land will result in an in
crease in values, and an increase in
values will mean higher taxes. Let
n sexamine that proposition. The
Del-Mar-Va Eastern Shore Associa-
tion is not building anything, it is not
constructing roads or schools. There
10 not a thing the Association will do
or can do that necessarily lays any
burden, whatsoever, upon any county
On the Peninsula. County expendi-
lures are matters wholly within the
jurisdiction Of county officials. If
hand values fall, the tax rate can 60
up without any increase in the total
amount Of taxes paid. If, on the
ether hand, land values increase, the
tax rate can be Invertebrates the
eounties themselves voluntarily in
crease their expenditures.
So much for agriculture. Farm
land, however, is not all that Worces-
Ter county has to sell. It has miles
spon miles Of Ocean, Bay and River
frontage. AS wealth and population
increase in the United States, the
people in the inland districts are turn
ing with increasing insistence toward
the sea. The point to remember here
h that there are just SO many miles
Of ocean beach and no more. Modern
science and ingenuity can do many
things, but it cannot make an Ocean.
The Almighty did that job once and
for all. But he implanted q love for
the ocean in the heart Of man. Be-
cause this Ia so, it has likewise come
about that there is not a foot of de-
eirable ocean frontage in all these
United States which cannot be profit
ably sold.
So Worcester county is interested
greatly interested in its Ocean, Bay
and River front possibilities; for part
season resort residents and tourists
mean more business. Any tourist
making the rounds of the Peninsula
would spend considerable in excess Of
500. But, were the Peninsula to add,
during single season, only 100000
tourists to its previous total, it would
be adding $10,0O0,000 a year to the
sums received by those doing business
In the places these tourists visit. So,
Worcester county has, ut least, farm
lands, ocean and river front home
sites and resort possibilities TO sell to
tho millions which are seeking these
very things. That any increase in
wealth and population increases our
industrial opportunities, goes without
saying.
"a In what manner, then, will the Del
sy4ar-Va Eastern Shore Association