The effects of manufacturing and its consequent commerce upon the welfare of the immediate rural area

It is a well known fact that Tennessee’s development of manufacturing on any extensive scale is of comparatively recent growth. The chief business of the people has been agriculture. The basis of commerce has been largely products of the soil. But there is every reason to believe that manufacturing and its consequent commerce will continue to grow; for with the improvement of farm machinery and the advancement of agricultural science the production per farmer has increased. This will release much labor for other enterprises. Then too, Tennessee is rich in mineral resources and water power.

It is now being recognized as stated by Professor C. E. Allred, Professor of Agricultural Economies, University of Tennessee, in the preface to his bulletin “Economic and Social Study of Tennessee”, that “it is not necessary to leave economic and social progress to blind chance, but it is possible for a state or a region to set a definite goal and by the concerted action of all the agencies and people involved to carry the program to a successful conclusion.

If evidence points toward a great industrial development of the state, and if we can by conscious effort direct this development of the state, and if we can by conscious effort direct this development in economic and social channels for the welfare of the entire state, it would seem logical for some agency to chart this course.