The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1930-04-24
Declining Villages

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North Dakota Is 80 intimately in contact with its small
rural communities that the decline Of many Of the VII
lases in population since the count Of 1920 Is not . sur
prise. Decadence Of the village or small town has been .
familiar topic Of discussion in commercial organizations
IA the larger centers Of population, as In the Association
Of Commerce here, and In service clubs Of cities like this.
In fact. the necessity Of cities like Bismarck adjusting
their trade relations 20 this phenomenon has famiiarizcd
commercial circles with the situation that the census now
Is formally r~eiterating with actual figures.
The revelation, however. is not confined to North d.
kota. Even In the East the small town is declining or
passing out. The drift Of population may not be to the
metropolitan areas, but there is . drift nevertheless, and
It Is to the larger towns and cities. Strategic centers Of
population are gathering in the villages, especially such
places as are organised with utilities and afford a life Of
modern conyeniences, schools. movies ana industries
where employment may be obtained.
Modern combination Of industry and business in some
cases Is deprtving some Of the smaller places of their
Industrial sustenance. in closing out shops and mills to
be concentrated IN larger centers. This Is In part the
secret Of the decline in the East and middle states.
Nearly 60 per cent Of the small towns counted In Illi-
hois and Indiana showed q marked decline in population
during the last 10 years. Some have been abandoned al
together. and even those that have increased in size are
Increasing less rapidly than the normal birth increase.
In adjacent states the same tendency is noticed.
The small town. evidently, is going the way Of the one
horse shay. For generations it was perhaps the most
purely American thing on the continent. Now it is 60
ing. The census Of 1910. undoubtedly, viii show its de-
cline carried stil further.
A good many things are to blame. The automobile and
the hard-surfaced highway probably head the list. They
have freed the farmer Of his dependence on the cross
roads store. the village doctor, the diminutive country
hank and the small town professional man. Movies. ra-
dios and daily newspapers probably have played q part
too. The rural hamlet, in other words, has outlivsd much
Of Its usefulness. People no longer need it Is they once
did.
This change indicates . shift in q basic part Of Amer
lean life. These rural villages would not be dwindling un-
less some very profound changes were coming over US.
Our population seems to be getting centralized: yet. 1t
what the final result win be. WIN We all. eventually, be
grouped into big cities2 Or will the cities. in their turn,
begin to split up 6 Improvement in transportation con-
tiuues, 70 that suburban villages win lie scattered over q
loo-mile radius? Either thing can happen: it will be
years before VI can zee which It Is to be.
Meanwhile, let's not shed too many tears over the pass
ing Of the small town-n. g the figures seem to indicate.
Il really Is passing. Life In the small town was never
quite Is idyllic - We often suppose. The small town
had . way Of breeding provincialim and narrowness. It
had no slums. but It cramped many . life quite Is eH-
not Be losing quite @ much g we think We are.
At any rate, for better Of for worse. we are changing
Modern life Is setting Us on . new highway, and no 6ne
q wise enough to say where It will lead. We are In the
midst Of . tremendous re-azransement. The census fig
ures can only give Us . glimpse 1t . few Of its major
Tendencies