Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-03
INDUSTRIAL. SPREAD
TO COUNTRY seen.
Martin insult Sees Trend To-
ward Diffusion in U. S.
Business Life.
npeciai Dispatch to The Star.


NEW YORK, August 3.-Industry,
headed for more than a century toward
concentration in the cities, is likely
to re-inhabit the countryside, Martin
J. insult, president of the Middle West
Utilities Co., predicts in symposium
Of the Engineering Foundation on
Benefits from Engineering Progress"
The industrial evolution of the Nation
need not be viewed with despair, ac-
cording to Mr. insult who points out
that industry is retracing its steps, and
is again tending toward diffusion. Just
as power changed the decentralized IN
dustry of 1871 into a centralized IN
dustry by 1881, he declares, power In
1881 appears to be changing industry
back into a decentralized structure.
For some peculiar reason, IN COM
parsons of present day life with that
of preceding times, 1t seems to be as
suned that progress invariably moves
only in one direction" Mr.. insult says.
discussing "1731-1831-1931." This, OF
course, Is not necessarily true. We
see this easily If we review the history
of the primary factor underlying the
Industrial changes of the twentieth
century and the two centuries which
preceded it.
Power FACTOR.
"That primary factor is power. Our
life today, with its machinery. its mass
production and its teeming cities. is an
outgrowth Of changes in the nature
of our power resources. The life which
it supplanted, the rural life, likewise
was determined by the nature Of the
power resources of the time.
'The human races work and welfare
naturally varies according to the amount
of energy at its command. If energy
is limited to human and animal muscle,
depending upon vegetation Tor It's fuel,
1t sets certain limits on the amount OF
production that is possible. 1t ike,
wise dictates a dominantly agricultural
mode of existence. On the other hand.
If energy is derived from coal and
water, the limits upon production tend
to disappear, and the importance OF
agriculture diminiSheS.
eff we examine the nature Of our
energy resources in 1881 and compare
them with the energy resources OF 1881
and of 1881, we shall see rather clearly
how the form of industrial structure has
always been dictated by this energy fac
tor. And we shall see, If we examine
It closely, that the direction of these
changes is not always the same.
THE year 1871 was one in which
population was widely diffused Why?
Because it was necessary to derive from
agriculture the greater amount OF the
energy necessary to do the worlds work.
and agriculture is necessarily scattered
activity. Furthermore, without me-
chanical power there was little incentive
to develop machinery or organize people
into factories.
Changes Violent.
"Violent changes occurred in the fol-
lowing hundred years. Freed from the
definite limitations of human energy,
and with the infinite resources OF the
coal pit at its command instead of the
meager annual crops industrial produc-
ton multiplied. To take advantage OF
this greater energy supply, 1t was neces-
sary to concentrate pro0uction, because
the power supply itself was concentrated.
Great cities drew population from
the countryside. The countryside could
spare them, because agriculture no
longer had to produce the entire energy
supply, and becauss agriculture itself
simultaneously became more efficient.
THAT trend toward concentration,
when specifically considered, seems to
have continued to the present day.
There are, to be sure, ample evidences
of it. But there are still more Strik-
ing evidences to the ontrary-evldences
that industry is tending once more away
from concentration anu IoHdIu uAAu-
sion.
"These changes, too. are concerned
with the nature of our energy supply.
Power changed the decentralized in
dustry of 1871 into a centralized in
dustry by 1881. In 1881 power appears
to be changing industry back into a
decentralized structure. The power
supply of today is widely distributed.
Electricity is available in any quantity
at virtually every point on the map,
whereas its predecessor, steam power,
was to be had at relatively few points.
THE same is true of transportation,
which is, after all, another form of
power And industry is not slow to
recognize the advantages of decentral-
ization in terms of lower costs and
improved working conditions.
Industry of Future.
"There is hope in this for those who
view our industrial evolution with de-
spair. Let them not conclude that, be-
cause we were headed toward indus
trial concentration for a century or
more we cannot reverse the direction
of our development. We need not
necessarily expect still more congeSted
cities, still higher SkyScrapers and
depopulated countryside.
THE industry OF the future is more
likely to reinhabit the countryside;
to possess all the advantages of power
machinery without the disadvantages
of congestion which have hitherto &C