136 BULLETIN" 102, VOL. 1, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



antagonistic to those of manufacture. Where such a situation is 

 permitted to develop in accentuated form, an economic policy satis- 

 factory to the two extremes would appear to involve a type of con- 

 cord foreign to human nature. 



The influence of energy resources in an unfavorable and favorable 

 direction may be illustrated by two examples; one drawn from con- 

 ditions obtaining in New England, and the other taken from recent 

 industrial developments in the South Atlantic States. 



In New England the foundations of industrialism were laid during 

 the regime of water power. With the advent of steam power the 

 i^bundance of coal available to the Middle Atlantic States set up a 

 strong counter attraction which entailed a steady migration of indus- 

 try away from the New England section, since this area contains no 

 coal, and is marked by ph5'^siographic conditions which provide inade- 

 quate gateways for rail transportation and necessitate a roundabout 

 rail-to-water-to-rail service exposed to all manner of exigency.^ 

 Still, with the advantages of its early start. New England maintained 

 a powerful asset in the form of skilled labor, and the weight of this 

 factor has overbalanced the lack of an adequate power supply in 

 those special forms of industry involving specialized workmanship. 

 These, therefore, still prevail and reflect the peculiar color of the 

 situation. But in the newer industrial sections elsewhere skill of 

 workmanship is in process of development, and is steadily lessening 

 the attraction of an advantage which transiently favors New England. 

 In time this factor will be practically neutralized, and with continued 

 mequality of power supply New England will see its industrial life 

 narrowing under the cumulative weight of a growing handicap. 

 This is an example, then, of how a natural power supply may create 

 a development in one part of the country at the expense of another 

 section, a circumstance not making for unity of interest. 



The South Atlantic area resembles New England in respect to 

 power resources; coal must be hauled in from a distance and water 

 power is fairly abundant. But whereas the industrialism of New 

 England is the oldest in the country, that of the South is among the 

 youngest. Here, indeed, the growth of industry has been largely 

 a matter of the past 15 or 20 years, subsequent, therefore, to the intro- 

 duction of electricity as a motive force. In consequence much of the 

 upgrowth is built upon the use of hydroelectric power, and tends to be 

 distributive — ^that is to say, natural — instead of a forced growth in 

 proximity to localized coal belts. Coming into action late the indus- 

 trialism of the South, unhampered by tradition and unencumbered 

 by obsolescent power establishments, took over the practice best 

 suited to its needs. Thus while the Northeastern States form an 



1 The weakness of New England in this respect was conspicuously brought out during 

 the war. 



