MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD. OREGON WEDNESDAY. SEPTEMBER 12. 19S2 g jj
Poverty of fountain Folk of Eastern Kentucky More Pronounced
By JOSEPH VARILLA
United Press International
Frankfort, Ky -iUPl The
mountain lolk of Eastern Ken
tucky always were poor, but !
in these affluent limes their j
poverty has become even i
more pronounced.
They find themselves lack-.
ing the basic facilities of a'
modern industrial society. i
Roads, schools, power
plants, flood control dams,
sewage plants and airports are
inadequate in most of Eastern
Kentucky's 32 counties.
As a result, industry refuses
to locate there, unemployment
mounts and income drops.
Kentucky Gov. Bert Combs
maintains that until those
basic facilities are provided,
Eastern Kentucky and other
areas just like it in the eight
state Appalachian region will
continue to hold the bottom
rung on the economic ladder.
His administration is pull
ing out all stops and the stale
is going deep in hock on bond
issues in an effort to provide
those facilities. But he does
not feel the Federal govern
ment is providing the aid it
should.
The governor argues that
present federal development
programs are not geared to
the underdeveloped areas of
the Appalachian region
ureas which he says are most
in need of aid. He claims the
programs are geared rather to
areas that already have been
industrialized but have fallen
off in recent years. '
Even the much-heralded
area redevelopment admin
istration (ARA) is not hitting
the mark in Appalachia, ac
cording to Combs.
He contends ARA still is
wed to the old plant-location
concept of development and
consequently its outlook is too
narrow.
"The plant-location idea
might be fine for the indus
trialized areas of the cast," he
said. "But Eastern Kentucky
isn't ready for that yet. We've
got a lot to do first before
we're in a position to really
compete for plants.
Combs is chairman of the
conference of Appalachian
Governors, made up of the
chief executives of Kentucky,
Tennessee, Virginia, West Vir
land. North Carolina and Ala
bama. The Appalachian areas of
all eight states are beset with
the same kinds of problems
evident in Kentucky.- But the
32 counties of Eastern Ken
tucky are viewed as present
ing the most intense expres
sion of the region s problem.
Not even in severely de-
pressed West Virginia is there
a contiguous area so large
with so little. i
Family income in most of
the 32 counties barely reaches
the subsistence level. In 22 of
, them, the median family in-1
come is less than $24 50 a I
j week. :
The reason is painfully sim
I pie there are almost no
I jobs to be had because there
I are almost no industries in
! Eastern Kentucky. In the
! United States as a whole,
there are 1.72 manufacturing
establishments per 1.000 pop
ulation. The part of West Vir
ginia considered most de
pressed has 0.95. Eastern Ken
: tucky has 0.7. And none of
' the plants employs a large
number of people.
...
There was a time when
most of the area residents
made their living by mining
coal. But many mines have
closed down and the others
have' become highly mechan-
j ized.
I Farming in most of the area
is all but impossible because
of the mountainous terrain.
I There are small farms, but the
I' ' if : &w . -
ONE-ROOM SCHOOL Schools like this 1,000, most of these one-room schoolhouses
one-room schoolhouse near Campbell's creek are located in the eastern part of Kentucky,
in Perry county. Ky., serve the small 10 considered by many to be the most dis-
Pnd 12 l""c" h-jmlnlc (hot lip in Jlig 1h11q,V'S trnecnrl largo arna in Ihg rminlrv. (UPH
be'wccn the mountains. Numbering about '
day when the small farm was '
profitable is gone. j
Kentucky has tried to at
tract industry to the area.
But John Whisman, who
heads the state's area program
office, explains industry is re
luctant to move into an area
where the roads are bad.
where there is a threat of
flood, where there are few
airports, where power often is
inadequate, where schools are
poor.
Transportation Is the big
problem. Because of the
mountains, the area has been
land-locked. The inability to
get raw materials in and pro
ducts out is often a deciding
factor when an industry turns
down bids to locate there.
The state decided to attack
the problem with a toll road.
the first section of which is
scheduled to be completed in
November.
But the toll road won't com
pletely solve the problem.
There will still be counties in
Eastern Kentucky with only a
few paved roads.
The transportation problem
has contributed greatly to the
education problem in the
area. With the lack of roads,
consolidated schools are al
most impossible in many of
the mountain counties. As a
result, there still are almost
1,000 one-room school houses
in Kentucky, most of them in
the mountainous eastern part.
The situation on flood con
trol has been basically the
same as on highways, accord
ing to Whisman. Many jobs
needed In Eastern Kentucky
are trivial compared to the
large projects constructed by
the Corps of Engineers and
creeks present the biggest
headaches. In total, the little
riveij and streams present a
serious problem.
Whisman was encouraged
recently by a report from four
Federal cabinet officials
which will permit regional ef
fects to be used as a criterion
to determine whether the Fed
eral government will partici
pate in a particular water pro
ject. Under the old policy,
such benefits as stimulation to
labor and business activity,
development of industrial and
tourist activities, land en
hancement and provision of
municipal and industrial
water were not acceptable as
criteria.
Now they will be. But it
may be a year before the me
chanics of the program are
worked out.
Officials here do not view
the problem of Eastern Ken
tucky as insoluble, but they
insist that the full resources
of the Federal and State gov
ernment must be used to
launch an overall program of
development.
The Conference of Appa
lachian Governors already is
working on a regional pro-
grain. The staff lepresenta- j Sulphur Springs, W.Va.,
lives of the governors are Sept. 18-19 to work further on
scheduled to meet at White . it. Combs and several other
Eovernors will attend. All the i to the Drugram will be the
governors will meet later. I support of the Federal gov
But Whisman feels the keylernment. He feels ARA is the
logical agency to coordinate
the effort and provide tech
nical assistance.
5iM niv:i H:s '
i.
s At 1
s?t
ONE OF BETTER ROADS - This is a sec- the first section of which is scheduled to be
tion of Kentucky Highway 15 one 01 tne opened in rovemDer. Siaie ofnciais say lick
better roads in eastern Kentucky. Parallel- of adequate roads has kept industry out of
ling it now is a new state-built toll road, the area. (UPI)
1 rr&T
Area Farm Tour
Set by Northrup
Because of the increasing
use of hybrid corn, alfalfas.
and permanent pastures in the
southern Oregon area, North
rup, King, and company, Al
bany and Portland plant
breeders, have developed good
varieties during the past few
years.
As a service to Interested
farmers, the varieties will be
shown on Northrup King's
farm tour, Tuesday, Sept. 18.
The tour will begin at, the
Southern Oregon Experiment
station, located about two
miles west of Medford.
Included in the tour will be
field corns for grain and sil
age, alfalfas, and grasses in
test plots at the experimental
station; the A. D. Christcnscn
ranch in the Applcgate area,
where alfalfas will be shown;
the Jerry Stone ranch in Pro
volt, for corns for silage; the
Howard Pruitt ranch, on the
lower river road, where farm
ers will see 75 acres of West
land pasture mixture; and the
Hoot's Angus ranch, where
they wil lobserve Latar Or
chard Grass-Ladino Clover
mixture. From there they will
continue to Dale Martin's, on
River Banks rd. at March
Loop, where they will check
on corn and alfalfas, and to
the Bill Spratling ranch on
Helm rd. for corn trials.
Director of the tour is Mel
vin Atwood, Northrup, King
and company, Albany.
NAMED PRESIDENT
Portland - il'Pli - The Rev.
Paul E. Waldschmidt, C.S.C.,
has been named president of
the University of Portland. He
has been vice president since
1955.
POVERTY MORE PRONOUNCED The nounced The cabin in lower left of this
mountain people of eastern Kentucky al- picture s one of thousands of its kind in
wavs were poor, but in these affluent times eastern Kentucky located in the hollows be-
their provcrly lias become even more pro- twecn the mountains. (UPI)
NOTICE
Cty $niriry Sirvict Co.
dump, one milt touth of
Jtcksonvillt on South
Sr9c now optn for pub
lie u$.
Open Daily
7 to 5
City Sanitary Srv. Co.
PAUL LEA SAYS
TO
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