European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 30, 1967, Darmstadt, Hesse                              War on poverty still just a skirmish Leo photo Ralph Matthew children Are major victims. Leo photo Michael Sullivan Federal agencies Are pouring $6.5 billion info Appalachia to lick poverty. Many of the people still live in shacks like this House in Southern Appalachia. By Gaylord Shaw and John Koenig or. A staff writers a Federal injection of about$6.5 billion has hardly dented hard Core poverty in the mountains and Val Leys of Appalachia for two years showpiece of the e . Government Antipoverty and development pro Grams. Bold Long Range plans envisioned converting the blighted Region into a woodsy suburb of the great society in the largest and most comprehensive Region Al development program Ever under taken in the United states. The Dole is dead president John son proclaimed March 9, 1965, As he signed legislation establishing the appalachian regional commission arc. A few minutes later however he warned that the Bill will work no Mir Acles  and it has  Progress has been made in Over coming Appalachia s problems but it i spotty. And it seems Only to Sharpen the contrast Between the limited Prosperity and the area s poverty. While the poverty fighters in Washington debate priorities in an Appala Chian hollow 500 Miles away a family of 11 sits Down to a vegetarian supper because there is no Money for  the Region s few new four Lane highways luxury motels and restaurant Sand comfortable Brick Homes have sprung up. But along the rough local roads there Are tar paper shacks with stripped Rames of  cars rust ing in front Yards. In a Village where Many storefronts Are boarded up mountaineers in tattered overalls wait in line to get their food Stamps. On the Grassy Banks of a Creek out Side this Village is a modern consolidated school. But a few Miles away deeper in the Green mountains is a weather beaten one room schoolhouse Complete with potbellied stove. Leo photo. Ralph Matthews a Large families compound health education problems in isolated hollows of Region. Some new roads have been built but rough Back roads Are still far More typical. To serve 25 Rural families in Hardy county West Virginia. Such Small projects Are staunchly defended by a. James Manchin the Cha s West Virginia administrator. Our idea he says is to bring water systems Small factories Good schools and Small businesses to Rural areas where the people want  i these Are but a few of the contrasts of Appalachia a Region stretch ing from new York to Alabama where the Federal government classifies one out of three of the 17 million people a poverty stricken. The monthly labor review a Labo department publication described the Basic problem in a recent Issue. The nation s economic Boom it said Lias in Large measure bypassed  other factors the report pointed to a High proportion of employment in the declining occupations of agriculture and mining. Combined with these Are a High degree of dependence on out Side Aid High Fertility rates and family dependency ratios and Low Levels of health and of educational attainment among its 17 million  the area director of a four count Community action program based in Whitesburg ky., Edwin j. Safford views the Antipoverty push this Way about these programs i can say this flatly they have not eradicated poverty in Eastern Kentucky. Individuals have been helped. But the deep rooted cause that produced poverty in Eastern Kentucky has no been altered. I am talking Here about the most obvious and inescapable Caus of poverty. Purely and simply it is the Region s inability to produce and Export goods and services in sufficient Quan Tity to produce  a nationally recognized expert on regional development William h. Miernyk said people Here simply won t make the Effort to do what needs to be  and the Rev. Jack e. Weller of Haz Ard ky., stresses in his Book yester Day s people that the Mountaineer does not want change Mountain peo ple have a deep feeling of belonging and of loyalty. They Are unashamedly glad to be  although no definite timetable has Ever been set for curing appalachian ills some officials Are disappointed with the limited Progress that has Bee made in the past two years. They Are beginning to look 10 and 20 and 30 years into the future saying maybe then the Region will be sharing fully in the nation s Prosperity. The commission planned to build 3,350 Miles of Highway during the six year period that began in 1965. Thus far Only 20 Miles of the system Are open to traffic. Construction is under Way on 790 Miles and preliminary work is being done on another 500 Miles. Other key segments of the commis Sion s program Are slow in developing too. A health study was Only recently completed. Vital studies of the area s educational facilities and water re sources Are yet to be issued. And an authorized Timber development program never got off the ground. The commission is a cooperative partnership that gives states and the Federal government an equal voice in setting pol icy but lets the Federal government pay most of the Bill. At present the designated Region is composed of All of West Virginia and parts of new York Pennsylvania Mary land Ohio Kentucky Virginia ten Nessee North Carolina South Carolina Georgia and Alabama. Mississippi impressing to be admitted to the Appala Chian Region. Early in president Kennedy s administration the area redevelopment administration and the accelerated Public works program started sending Grants and Loans into the Region. But these amounted Only to a sporadic attack on Appalachia s entrenched poverty. I soon became obvious a much broader Campaign was needed. Since then 10other agencies sponsoring More than 100 different programs have joined income fashion in the new assault on appalachian poverty. One distinction should be made. The arc is the Only Agency directing All its efforts at this specific Region. Theother agencies operate their programs Page 12 on a nationwide basis but the share they spend in Appalachia is sizeable. Despite the scores of studies that have been made of the Region it is difficult to pin Down the total Federal financial investment. The arc had no idea what other agencies were spend ing. Nor for that matter did any Agency except the office of economic Opportunity. The Leo s information service maintains a computerized breakdown on How much Money it and a dozen other Agen cies Are spending in each county in the United states. From these figures the associated press obtained totals for each of the 373 appalachian counties and came up with the two year total of More than $6.5 b Mion. That figure includes such diverse funds As those the Interior department spends for drawing up Mineral maps and those the social Security administration allocates in monthly pensions to the elderly Blinder disabled. But the $6.5 billion does not include More than a half billion in Highway and other funds the arc is authorized to spend during the next four years. Post office department spending is not included nor any defense department out lays other than those of the corps of engineers which supervises construction of flood control and similar projects. Complicating the Effort is the diver sity of the Region. Most of the hard Core poverty and unemployment can be founding Eastern Kentucky southwestern West Virginia the Western tip of Virginia Andin Eastern Tennessee. Farther North particularly in Penn Sylvania much of the Aid is being de voted to rehabilitating former mine areas and controlling mine fires. Andin much of the Southern segment of the Region textile Mills and other factories Are booming. Thus far no major scandal has been linked to appalachian  Are cases of overlapping and duplication in programs. But what smore surprising is the conflict Between approaches taken by different agencies. The arc believes for instance that to get the maximum return on the fed eral Iii Estment it is essential that the mountaineers be drawn out of their Iso lated hollows and into what planner Scall growth centers urbanized areas where Good schools health clinics water and sewage systems can be provided with minimum Cost. In theory programs of other agencies notably the Leo Are supposed to prepare the Mountaineer Fortis eventual move to the City. But in practice some programs have the net effect of keeping the Mountaineer in the hollow by making his life there More comfortable. While the regional commission says itis necessary to get the people into growth centers to give them sanitary Vater the Farmers Home administration is financing a $12.000 water system the stars and stripes saturday september 30, 1967 the stars and stripes f government programs Force the people to eave Rural areas Man Chin adds where in the hell Are you going to put them in Chicago new York Cleveland these places Are Al ready overcrowded. And they be got plenty of problems  to combat the mountaineers Resis Tance to change members of Leo s Vista volunteers in service to Ameri Ca and the appalachian volunteers a a project staffed by College age youths under an Leo Grant live and work in the hollows and isolated Ham lets. They try to organise the people for self help projects and encourage the to press local officials for Road and school improvements. Here is where Sparks Start to Fly. These College mis fits. This Bunch of Damn Long Haire hoodlum beatniks fumes balding Square Jawed Sheldon Clark Marti county ky., school superintendent. They come in Here and give our peo ple the idea we can build a super High Way up every  Harry m. Caudill a Whitesburg ky.,attorney who Heads the Congress for appalachian development Cada newsgroup with members in most Appala Chian states is mounting a Campaign to create Public authorities to sell Bonds buy up Coal reserves and build Power plants to generate electricity for Sale in other areas such As the Northeast. Profits from these sales Caudill says then could be ploughed Hack into build ing Appalachia. He contends the Federal development plan is not a development program at All. They want to depopulate the Region. They want the people to get out so the great Absentee holding corporations can mine without interference so they can tear Down these mountains completely layer by layer by  Page 13