Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-05-06
Deserted Villages Become
Factors i'm Political Change

Preliminary census reports show that
the American village is losing its tradi-
tional place as center of community
life and of political activity. Early re-
turns from the Middle West raise the
question of probable political change in
Congress and elsewhere because of the
greater power of the cities. Against
this tendency, however. it is felt that a
counter-shift toward suburban homes
may have effect on the future.
I'm Congress and in all the State
legislatures, says the st. Louis Globe
Democrat, "the representatives from
predominantly rural districts or coun-
ties greatly outnumber the representa-
tives of the urban population. When
the population was largely rural, this
was in accord with the principles of
American government, but if now the
population has become largely urban,
what is to become of these principles
unless there is proportionate read
justment of representation? Nothing
could be more detrimental to our coun-
try than a conflict of interests or a con-
flict of power between city and country.
AS a matter of fact, the material in
tereSts of city and country are identical,
but proportionate representation is a
vital principle of our system, and it is
concentrated in cities, will make in
creasing demands for representation
proportionate to its members. Will they
get it? Not without a struggle, and we
can see disturbing political possibili-
ties"
THE gross injustice of much of our
recent legislation toward the Cities"
according to the Roanoke World-News,
may to some extent be rectified when
the urban population asserts itself. But
too much is not to be expected in that
line. For in the terms of the census
takers an incorporated community of
$500 or more is listed as urban, while,
as a matter of fact, such communities
are often basically rural. The lesson
the census has so far revealed is that
the greatest gain has not been in the
great metropolitan centerS of half a
million or more, nor yet in the country
districts, but in the healthy, established
growth of cities and towns ranging from
5000 to 100000 in population. It is
from such communities that the new
leadership In the Nation for the next
decade must come"
"A decided shift in political control
in favor of industrial centers is pre-
dicted by the Des Moines Register
which holds that lit Is a shift that goes
to our whole theory of government.
shift that is bound to have a dominat-
ing influence on the future of the city
as well as of the country on the future
of our whole United States experiment.
OF course, the political shift comes with
the population shift, but there is
difference between having masses of our
people gradually centering in the cities
and having political influence centering
there. That difference is limited in the
way representation is fixed when we
come to choosing our Senators. 1t is
not a question of population that deter
mined the allotment of two Senators to
each State, no matter how big or small
the State. 1t was purely matter of
State sovereignty"
Estimates reported by the Rochester
Times are that regions of an
urban character will gain at least %
seats in the House of Representatives
and rural districts lose that number"
and that paper thinks 1.-THE shift may
affect vitality the attitude of Congress
on many important questions" Point