The Wilmington morning star., 1947-07-20
Science, Industry Group
Is Formed To Aid South
BY Benz PRICE

BY Benz PRICE
ATLANTA, July i9. -P)-A good
many southerners recently were
lolted rudely out o. their dreams
CT magnolias, hoopskirts and e
"old Manse".
The Jolt came from an exclusive
lv southern organization, the
Southern Association of Science
and Industry, AMI, perhaps, W a S
all the rougher for that fact.
Under the Craftsmanship OF
Thomas c. Boushall, president OF
the Bank of Virginia at Richmond,
an Sasi committe said:
S%outherners are somewhat gwen
to platitudinous observation rather
than specific and dynamic action.
In southern programs, the south
is experiencing a multiplicity o.
mediocrity rather than achieve
ment in any degree Of single great
ness.
A loyalty to the traditions of the
south interferes with southern zeal
to solve southern problems.
Southerners are concerned with
state loyalists above regional &C
complishments.
A narroWness CT view and self
ishness of purpose both are tend
ing to defeat the elevation Of the
south as a whole.
With that indictment, Boushalps
ccmmitte went or to say:
we find that the IS southern
states have a population equal to
that OF great Britain. Few people
realize that we are three times as
numerous as Comedians. Are we
not then, 40 million strong equally
capable of organizing u eco
romic and social resources?"
What is the southern association
CT science and Industry ana Who
belong to it?
Well, the Sasi is an organization
with headquarters in Richmond,
Va, which is seking to mobilize
the best brains in the south for
al about attack or southern pro-
blemS.
A lady the roster Of its general
staff reads like a who's Who" OF
southern leaders ir education, in
dustry and agricuiture-men such
as DR.. George D. Palmer, profess
eo, nf ornooin ohHpoictrV 9t thn
University Of Alabama, and author
Of THE Introduction to the
Atom"
Others are Homer Pace, c e
president of The South Carolina
Power company, Charleston. S. c.,
DR.. Howard Oduln of the Universe
u of North Carolina, Chapel Hill;
Milton H. Flies, consultin engine
err, of Birmingham, Ala; N. e.
McGown, president of United Gas
company, Shreveport, La; Lloyd
c. Bird, president Of Flipps and
Bird, Inc, Richmond, and Thomas
W. Martin, president of the Ala
bama Power. These are but a few
and the recruiting has just begun.
The Sasi is patterned after the
New England council and is fl
nanced by contributions from in
dividuals, industrial corporations
end associations.
Althouh tn physical setup is
not new, the underlying principle
is. The Sasi is predicted upon the
belief that the south as a region
is comparable to the man who
mounted his horse and tried te
roe off in all directions at once.
On this premise the S a S
proposes to enlist the efforts of the
individuals and each of the 500 tc
500 organizations, public and
private, whose am are listed on
tie masthead Of their stationery
under the general term southern
Improvement"
The idea is to make a concerted
attack on the problems left by
generations of single crop farming,
soil and human erosion, an mad
eguate educational system, lack Of
risk capital for exploitation Of
natural resources and a relatively
anemic industrial establishment
AS its initial detectives the Sas
proposes to fight along these lines:
l. Improve education in the
south SO that its boys and girls
can get adequate training in re.
search and science in southern in.
situations.
2. Create an appreciation by
s~cutherners of the opportunities
and resources offered by the south
8. Inventory southern resources,
Right now Sasi is hammering
away at step three as the key tc
its campaign. 1t says that st h {
ablest staff the south can produce
has been marshalled for this
task"
Part of the staff, a committe
or industrial progress headed BY
} M L. Wilson of Atlanta, already
has submitted a partial report
5 This report said:
Last year was the greatest yea
o industrial development which
the south has ever known. T h
number Of new Industries make
well diversified line of products,
number of which were not mad
IL the south before.
I'm 1885 the II southern state
: maryland to Texas had "a, 143 in
oustrlal plants. This total in
: creased to A, 7I9. by 1945. TIL,
number Of employees in this sam
period increased from 1853, COO t
{ , 103 0n0 Tho u,l,o ~ noJ,.,