Heavy Industry Is Home On The
Range To Stay, Says Pacific Coast
By ROBERT E. GEIGER
AP Features Writer
DENVER — War has wrought
a new industrial kingdom in the
American west rivaling that of
the eastern states, and possibly
fore-shadowing revolution in post
war marketing patterns.
The west always nas had the
natural resources—iron, copper,
oil, coal and a dozen other re
sources upon which factories
feed. Just as important, it now
has the world’s two greatest hy
dro-electric plants, Boulder Dam
and Grand Coulee, and a dozen
smaller ones.
The Pacific Coast states alone—
California, Oregon, Washington
and Arizona, produce: two-fifths
of all U. S. lumber: two-fifths of
all U. S. gold: one-third of U. S.
copper;! one-sixth of U. S. pe
troleum: one-sixth of U. S. natu
ral gas: one-seventh of U. S. sil
ver and two-fifths of the U. S.
fish catch.
But the west has lacked capital
and vast, working populations.
Therefore it had to buy manufac
tured goods from the industrial-;
ized east.
Industrial Revolution
War was a magnet which drew
billions of dollars and thousands
of people to the west.
In three years the war brought
In more manufacturing plants
and skyrocketed production
higher than peace could have
achieved in two decades. The Pa
cific coast states alone are pro
ducing 14.5 per cent of all U. S.
was production.
There are airplane factories;
shipbuilding yards; steel mlils, a
■whole new light metals business,
and many other activities.
For months, after 1940, 1,000
people each day migrated west
ward. The Pacific coast gained
more population than any other
j U. S. area.
I 'This is the combination of ele
iments — raw materials, popula
tion, cheap electricity, industrial
1 plants—the west has needed to
! touch off its industrial skyrocket,”
i say the fascinated manpower and
trade experts.
"This new surge of empire may
be slowed but it won’t be halted
by America’s industrial tradition
alists. The peace time marke's
will be waiting, in Alaska, South
America, Hawaii, the Philippines
and Asia as well as west of the
Mississippi.
“Millions of people! One step
upward in their scale of living
will swamp the west coast w'ith
market orders.”
The Post-War Market
When peace comes, the west
will struggle to hold a top rung
of the industrial ladder. Billions
will be spent on reclamation and
hydro-electrification. In the Col
umbia river basin, alone, one
half billion is earmarked for
Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Mon
tana and Wyoming.
“Eastern interests, as always,
will continue to oppose heavy in
dustry in the west,” says Federal
Judge Homer T. Bone of Wash
ington.
“Since finances must to a large
extent be obtained in the east,
this opposition is serious. How-!
ever, the development on the
west coast of such enormous in
dustries as Boeing indicates what
can be done.
“President Roosevelt has indi
cated his desire to build up the
west by encouraging development
of heavy industries. We can look
for support from this powerful
source.”
Wendell Willkie, before he
withdrew as presidential candi
date, also recognized the new
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giant o£*the west. Westerners will
learn the attitudes of both par ies
and their candidates on this ques
tion before the next election.
A Second Gold Rush
The “second gold rush" hasn'*
been as spectacular as the -first,
because P’s spread over an area
from Canada to Mexico.
In 1939 only 4.5 per cent of Los
Angeles’ citizens made their liv
ing from manufacturing. Today
Los Angeles' Industrial wage
earners have tripled — equal to
those of pre-war Detroit.
In Texas, the War Production
Board reported, almost six bil
lions have been spent, since the
fall of France, on industrial de
velopment.
“Today, one-third of our total
labor is employed in i ar. .utiav
ing indus*ries compared with
one-sixth four years ago,” says
Gov. Earl Warren of Cali To ni l.
Growth of the northwest has
been spectacular. A now alumi
num industry has arisen, besides
giant shipbuilding, rrroraft. mg
i nesium, chemical and alloy
plants.
In the Portland area indusfrial
employment jumped from ?0,n00
in 1940 to approximately ldd.ooO
in 1943, not counting another 30
000 that has been added, since
then, in one plant Sea*tie gain-!
ed 325 per cent in industrial em
ployment.
A g ant new 5190,000,000 steel
mill was constructed in Utah;
there are arms plants in Colora
do and U*ah; new Iron and alum
inum plants in Wyoming; the
largest food dehydrating plants
in the world is in Idaho; a hel
ium plant has been constructed in
New Mexico.
I
In Region Eight of the War
Manpower Commission — Ne
braska, Iowa, Minnesota, Nor‘h
and South Dakota — 70 major
projects have been established
since 1940, although population
in 'his region has declined from
7,923,776 to 7.059,833, according
to the WMC.
In the midwest, this side of the
M ssissippi, a huge airplane busi-,
n"=s has developed at Wichita,
Kas.; manufacturing has jumped
in Arkansas; Kansas, Missouri,
Oklahoma and other states.
t
Most Westerners agree the two
things ‘he West will want after
♦ he war are: capital and lower
freight rates.
' If]
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