The Wilmington morning star., 1940-05-19
LECWIN EXPLAINS
EXTENSION PLANS
LEGISLATURE Candidate Points
To Benefits Of Larger
City

to welcome civic expansion is
a thing that has always been pc
culiar to Wilmington Robert S.
LeGwin, candidate for the legis-
lation said yesterday. In a mea-
sure it may perhaps, be under
standable, for one naturally asso-
ciates congestion, noise and CRIME
with a large city, and it may be
natural that anyone who has wit
messed these evils elsewhere dis
likes to accept them in exchange
for the leisurely atmosphere OF our
town. Yet admitting that expan-
sion, when carried out without pro-
per planning, sometimes results in
certain undesirable features, VIZ
believe that the benefits of such a
policy greatly outweigh its pos
sible evils.
Governments of today can al
ways learn lessons from well-man-
aged and successful businesses,
and they may learn from a study
of business methods that it is Of
ten desirable to secure maximum
amount of production for a mini
mum amount of overhead. In or
der to secure this result, hume
rous companies are merged in
order that the production of the
combined businesses may be main
tanned with only the overhead of a
single business. In this way, it is
also possible to get numerous fail
ing concerns under one efficient
central management. This truth,
recognized by business men ap-
plies with equal force to City
Government, and the advantages
secured r enjoyed equally by
the City and by the citizens. The
advantages to t h e suburbanites
are, of course, cheaper water sup
ply and insurance, as well as po-
lice and fire protection, free garb-
age collection and a sewer sy-
stem. The advantages to the city
are increased population and a
larger fund for tax money.
"However, perhaps the greatest
advantage from a business mans
standpoint , is the advertisement
of Wilmington as a large a n d
growing city, with the resulting
encouragement to industry to To-
cate here. The importance of this
advantage cannot be overestimat-
ed, for in this day and age a city
is not known as a good place to
live merely because it's plazas
r green and it's flowers are love-
ly, but because it is a place where
a conscientious worker can secure
a job and support his family pro-
perly. Therefore, any city desir-
ing to make progress, must of
necessity provide payrolls f o r
workers, for these payrolls are the
life-blood of the community.
ut behooves the city fathers to
realize that a new generation is
growing up, and that its young
men find places to work or they
will be forced to go to other cities
and Wilmington will lose it's fin
est potential citizens. Those who
have passed through industrial
centers of the North and East are
amazed at the number of men in
influential positions who are from
smaller towns of the South, w h o
were forced to leave home because
of the dearth of opportunity at
home. Wilmington has already
lost many of its most capable
men and women and will lose
more unless local industry does
something to provide a place in
the Sum- for them.
This desire to remain in the
same old groove doubtless has it's
roots in the fear, on the part of
some local merchants, that their
business might be ruined should
competition from the outside be
encouraged. Nothing could be far
Their from the truth, for business
increases in size as a SNOWFALL
does when rolling down a hill
when industry is encouraged and
men r at work. Timidity out
look on life never accomplished a
worthwhile deed. Rather t h a II
freeze the interests outside t h e
city, Wilmington should offer
special inducements in the form of
special tax concessions to firms
seeking a place to locate. Then the
city could build and expand so
that it would not need to glory
alone in its past, but look forward
to a great future that it's advant-
ageous location richly promises.
For with its possibilities as a rail-
road center, a shipping point and
a water terminal. Wilmington
could become one of the outstand.
ing cities of the South if it's PEG.
pie make the most of their oppor.
tunities."