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Show Decentralization of Industry Would Be of Great Benefit to the Nation Ey SAMUEL INSULL, Utilities Magnate. Our rapid industrial development has one decided disadvantage. It is the massing of our population in large centers, so that we are crowded in some places and extremely rural in others. There is no apparent reason why specialized manufacturing, for example, cannot be conducted as economically in the country as in the city. It would result in vastly improved conditions for workers, better atmosphere for children, better surroundings for family life in all respects, with consequently material effect upon the future manhood and womanhood of our population. There are 29,000,000 of electrical horse power established in the factories of the United States. This is a force equal to 290,000,000 human workmen. The amount of installed and available power per workman in the factories of the United States is ten times the amount per workman in France, and twenty times the amount per workman in Italy. This fact alone accounts for a large part of the differences between wages here and in Europe. It is a main factor in maintaining productive supremacy. |
