The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1962-01-26

wealth. 1t has never been publicly
reported, so far as l can find-al-
though one group of financiers is
now quietly using it in an operation
which promises to be highly profit
able. Apparently they are the first
to fully understand the formula, and
to put it to deliberate use.
Earlier it had been tested success
fully in two states Massachusetts
and California-but these demon
strations were inadverent. Most of
the people concerned did not quite
grasp what was happening, or why.
This isn't surprising, because the
demonstrations occurred piecemeal,
over period of about fifteen years,
without any conscious plan.
Once the formula is widely known,
however, it should be possible to ap-
ply it more quickly in at least a doz-
en- other places. The South. Puerto
Rico, and the Pacific Northwest look
like the best bets. All of them have
one of the two vital ingredients, and
probably can create the other if they
really try. The result might well be
a surprisingly rapid rise in new fac
tories, skilled employment, and per
capital income. In certain other
states, however, it is never likely to
work, for reasons to be noted in
moment.
Our poorer communities have, of
course, been looking for just such a
recipe for generations. They have
tried many kinds of lures to attract
ind OF, ha Loe Hoo
tax concessions sometimes, as in the
case of Puerto Rico, complete tax
exemption for as long as twenty
years. Often they have put up new
buildings and offered them at low |
rent Cor none) to any factory that |
would move in. In addition they usu-
ally have promised cheap labor, and
some Southern states have limited |
loudly that newcomers wouldn't have
to worry about trouble with labor
unions.
All too frequently the catch has
proved disappointing. For the kind
of industry that will snap at such
bait is hardly worth having.
The South, for example, succeeded
in enticing a good many textile mills
away from New England-but the
industry already was in decline, and
its low wages certainly have bestowed
no crescendo of prosperity on the
Carolinas or Georgia.
EXCITING INDUSTRIES NEED
HIGHLY SKILLED LABOR
On the other hand, the exciting
growth industries-electron for
instance-aren't interested in cheap
labor. They need highly skilled men
and are willing to pay almost any
price to get them-as anyone can
see by glancing at the help-wanted J.,
ads in SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN or !,
the Sunday NEW YORK TIMES.
Neither are they much interested in :
low taxes, because low taxes mean ,
poor schools. Such schools can't turn !,
out the kind of brains these indus :
tries need; moreover, the men they 7
seek aren't willing to settle in COM {
munities where their children will be ;,
doomed to second-rate education.
In fact, the major growth indus y
tries of the postwar era-the prizes h
any ambitious community would love =
to get-differ in six important char :,
acteristics from the old-fashioned in l.
iustries such as steel, textiles, and W ~
=,
1. They mostly produce items of n
small size but great value: transis- ~
;ors, magnetic tape, automation-con- w
,rol instruments, micro-bearings, COM -
,uters, missile-fuel pumps, pharma- A,
.euticals, inertial-guidance systems, :,
o mention a few.
2. They do not use huge tonnages
f raw material and fuel. Cd
8. Consequently they don't have to al
ocate near ore bodies or coal mines. vi
Jor are they dependent on river 70
transport or rail lines. Indeed so far LII
s physical requirements are con- Gu
erned, they can locate practically ie'
nywhere they please.
a. Their plants usually operates III
rithout noise, smoke or smell. There II
pre- they don't blight the surround I'd
lg neighborhoods as a steel mill or WI
ox.o, fo o+o,.xr daoc On the contrary III