OCR Text |
Show scientists born in the South were living outside the South. The economic problem of 1930.-The problem of rehabilitation in the Tennessee Valley, as it existed in 1930, was a matter of low income and its ill effects upon health and education in a predomi- nantly rural society. The area at that time was called the Nation's No. 1 economic problem. Thus, the program of water resources development on the river inaugurated in the middle thirties was begun in an unpromising economic environment. The Tennessee River Basin in 1950 In general, for the period as a whole since 1933, economic progress has been much more rapid in the valley than before. Many factors in addition to those peculiar to the area have contributed to this progress; the Southeast as a whole has advanced rapidly during the period. But there are also spe- cial reasons within the valley itself. Total incomes of individuals are a significant measure of economic activity. From 1929 to 1948, the latest year for which valley statistics are avail- able, such income payments increased 249 percent in the 122 Tennessee Valley counties, as compared to 223 percent in the 7 Valley States and 149 per- cent in the United States. This is shown in the fol- lowing tabulation. Total income of individuals (millions of dollars) Increase, 1929-48 (percent) 1929 1948 Total income Per capita United States........... $82,617 $206,011 149 107 122 valley counties...... 7 valley States1......... 778 6,126 2,714 19, 752 249 223 197 178 Southeast.............. 8,681 28,498 228 178 Alabama *........... Georgia!............ Kentucky *........... Mississippil.......... North Carolina *...... Tennessee1........... Virginiax............ Arkansas............. Florida.............. Louisiana............ South Carolina....... 802 956 964 544 966 905 987 562 695 862 438 2,585 3,076 2,596 1,603 3,531 3,036 3,326 1,672 2,762 2,597 1,714 222 222 169 195 266 235 237 198 297 201 291 192 195 145 178 201 174 175 183 135 141 243 Total income in one valley State-North Caro- lina-and five nonvalley States-New Mexico, Florida, South Carolina, Nevada, and Oregon- increased at a faster rate than in the 122 counties of the Tennessee Valley. Per capita income in the 122 counties increased percentagewise more than anywhere else except North and South Carolina, North and South Dakota, and Montana. As shown in the tabulation below, bank deposits and retail sales increased faster in the valley counties between 1929 and 1948 than in the valley States or the Nation as a whole. Bank deposits also increased faster than for the Southeastern States. [In millions of dollars] Bank deposits Retail sales in CO ON u a June 1949 Percentage increase 1929 1948 Percentage increase United States.. 122 Tennessee Valley counties ......... 7 States partly within Tennessee Valley. Southeast...... 44, 625 214 1,877 2,545 132,055 1,037 7,985 11,680 196 385 325 359 48, 330 539 4,000 5,667 130, 527 1,821 12, 998 19,259 170 238 225 240 1 States partly within the Tennessee Valley. Source: Tennessee^Valley Authority, 1950. Source: Tennessee Valley Authority, 1950. Although curtailed activities at Oak Ridge since 1946 have had an adverse effect upon manufactur- ing employment, statistics as to value added by manufacturing and number of production workers employed in manufacturing indicate a more diversi- fied occupational base than in 1930. Manufacturing enterprises in the valley in 1947 employed 158,000 more workers than in 1933. This was an increase of 147 percent, as compared with an increase of 119 percent for the Nation. In- come from manufacturing increased from 83.2 mil- lion dollars in 1933 to 623.2 million dollars in 1947. In 1933 income from manufacturing was 19 per- cent of total income; in 1947 it was 23 percent. Employment in manufacturing establishments in 1939 and 1948 is shown in the tabulation in the first column of the next page. Income derived from trades and services in- creased from 145.7 million dollars in 1933 to 910 709 |