Evening star., 1934-02-17
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

TINE rewedding Of industry and
agriculture, divorced parents Of
civilization, is the end closest
i to the hearts of the men di-
recting the Tennessee Valley
program.
In the mind Of President Roosevelt,
also. this is believed to be the domi-
mating motive of the great experiment.
There is contemplated a recasting OF
the whole American way OF life TO
bring about greater security, better
distribution of wealth, more freedom
and more opportunity for originality
and individuality.
For the past half century, more or
less, agriculture and industry have
been drifting apart and developing
an increasingly acrimonious incom-
patibility Of temperament. Industry
the country over has been concentrat-
ing in large centers which 1t COM
pletely dominates. 1t has been an age
of mass production and specialization.
The individual worker, however well
paid and well treated, has become
more and more dependent on his mar
row Job. He was finding, during the
days of prosperity, an increasing ease
of life, but this ease rested upon an
increasingly narrower and narrower
foundation. His job was his life. Mass
production led to an enormous cheap
ening and multiplication of luxIlries,
but at a great price.
Farm Problem Different.
Agriculture, on the other hand, re-
manned widely distributed. Each
farmer was an independent operator.
His fortunes did not depend on the
whim of any employer Introduction
of scientific methods, in so far as he
was able to take advantage of them,
enormously increased the production
of his acres and lessened the demand
for labor. But he had no local mar
kets for his products. He had to
sell to the distant metropolis where
the industrial populations were con-
centrated. He was out of personal
touch with the people who ate his
corn and beef or wore his wool and
cotton. He became the victim of the
-'middleman," who had the money to
finance large operations, and Of the
big manufacturers, who possessed the
machinery to refine his products into
a shape to which the public taste had
been educated, through advertising,
to demand. Through the continued
operation Of this vicious circle the
farmer actually found himself buying
back his own pork for more than he
had received for it.
The farmers life was hard. That
"a d., h. Fo
turing and merchandising centers was
comparatively easy. All the economic
cards seemed to be stacked in favor
of the cities. The old tiller Of the
soil, set in his ways, cursed the city.
His sons and daughters scornfully
abandoned the farm and went to the
cities, where there were weekly pay
envelopes. bathtubs and movies. There
was no place for them on the farms.
even II they wanted to stay and en-
dure the Inconvenience for the sake
of the independence.
Speed Became Too Great.
But the great industries were being
geared to greater and greater speed,
which finally became too fast for eco
great depression. The scornful sons
and daughters could not live in the
city without jobs. They drifted back
to the farms. penitent. They re-
turned to become a burden on par
ents who themselves were barely max
ing ends meet. And in many cases
they came only to wait until there
were jobs in the cities again.
1t was a vicious circle. p. 1t might
wen be repeated over and over again
until civilization collapsed in some
greatest Of business collapseS.
The TnneSSee Valley experiment Is
a valiant effort to break this vicious
circle. Why not take industry to
the country instead Of workers to the
city? Why not dot the countryside
with small factories, the nature OF
which would be determined by the
local raw materials and peculiar ad-
vantages, interspersed among the
farms? Then the farmer would have
q local and direct market for his prod
ucts He would be in direct touch
with his customers. He could regu-
late his production in accordance with
their needs. He could deal directly
with them.
Highways Important Factor.
On the other hand the factory
worker would be living In 0 land OF
plenty. He could be q part-tme
farmer himself. He would not be a
slave to his Job, II business slumped
he could live on the land, get milk
from his own COW, beans from his own
garden and fuel from his own wood
lot. It would be an entirely different
proposition than looking to asphalt
streets, compared to which the Sa-
hara is q garden, for wheat and milk.
Many Of the reasons that had
forced industry to concentrate no
longer were operative. Once they had
been forced to go where there was
power. The factories Rugged the
banks Of rivers. Now the strength Of
the rivers could be brought TO any
body's door through superpower lines.
There was no particular advantage for
o small industry In any particular 10
cation. Another factor had been
transportation Of raw and finished
products, the availability Of rail-
roads and water. This had been
rendered much less important through
the spread Of hard-surfaced roads
and the development Of truck trans
portation.
It is of this situation that the Ten
nessee Valley Authority Is taking ad-
vantage. The change will be facili-
tated by the enormous available sup
ply Of electricity. Industry and agri-
culture can be made to live once more
on friendly terms in the same house
and their dependent children can
know again both the strength Of the
dynamo and the motherliness Of the
earth.
Farms Already There.
Agriculture already is in the Ten
neSsee Valley. For the most part 1t
is not q particularly efficient agricul-