374 



ticipation, broad scope of planning, the search for interactions and 

 coherence. These aspects of the particular brand of ad hoc regionalism 

 practiced in the TVA experiment permeated many of the other re- 

 gional development programs. Even in the national programs of the 

 Federal departments, a gesture was made in the direction of regional 

 coherence by a sustained attempt to rationalize the jurisdictional areas 

 of "regional" offices. 



Early Proposals for International Regional Development 



An analysis of TVA as a possible prototype for international appli- 

 cation to developing regions was conducted during the latter years of 

 World War II by Herman Finer under the sponsorship of the Inter- 

 national Labour Office. Dr. Finer concluded that while international 

 development projects might be of great assistance to developing coun- 

 tries, TVA as a model was "not transplantable without reservations 

 and qualifications." 13 On the basis of a thorough examination of the 

 organization, activities, and economic impacts of TVA, Finer con- 

 cluded that its cardinal feature was that "it was deliberately estab- 

 lished and given responsibility for the welfare of an under-developed 

 area." There wore many such areas throughout the world. To apply the 

 regional concepts of TVA to such regions would offer an outlet for 

 savings and for capital transfers from the affluent to the disadvan- 

 taged. Areas of development "need not be restricted to valleys, 

 although mention has been made of the Danube, Yangtze, and the 

 Jordan Valleys." What was important was that "existing political 

 divisions of the world and their frontiers, whether States or their 

 subdivisions, are not self-sufficient economic units." 



Finer noted that regional development required comprehensive and 

 longrange planning. The relationship between those in charge of the 

 development and the political authorities of the region needed to be 

 explicit. Cooperation was imperative between them. Moreover, the 

 powers given to any international regional development authority, 

 "in order to calm any national sensitiveness," should be clear, defined, 

 soberly constructed, and modified with care as the need arose. 



One example of a possible application of the regional development 

 principle appeared shortly after World War II ended. It was offered 

 in a short book by Walter C. Lowdermilk. an official of the U.S. De- 

 partment of Agriculture, and proposed a "Jordan Valley Authority — 

 A Counterpart of TVA in Palestine." 14 He observed that the valley 

 of the Jordan River "offers a combination of natural features and a 

 concentration of resources which set the stage for one of the greatest 

 and most far-reaching reclamation projects on earth, comparable to 

 our TVA in scope and importance." He proposed that the sweet water 

 of the valley be used for irrigation, and that salt water from the Medi- 

 terranean lie introduced into the Dead Sea. generating electric power 

 as it dropped the 1.200 feet from sea level to the level of the water 

 across the bottom of the Jordan rift. Other features of Lowdermilk's 

 plan included water conservation, flood control, soil erosion control. 



w Herman Finer. The TVA, Lessons for International Application, studies and Reports, 

 Series B (Economic Conditions), no. ::7 (Montreal: International Labour Office, nun, 

 pp. 218 236. 



14 Walter Clay Lowdermilk, Palestine, I. ami <>] Promise (New York : Harper and Krotliors, 

 1944). p. 



