The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-07-19

| disclose that sections to IS, as also section 15, provide for complete and effective control of hydr< -~lectric DOW
 CT development in the public interest.
 Assuming for the purpose of this argument that the granting of the right
 to dam stream to create hydro electric power will create a local mo- ,nopoly in the distribution of the power
 produced. though as matter of fact it may in some cases produce active icompetition, and is more than likely to do so when the power is usued for man ufacturing purposes; and assuming fur I ther that the eminent authorities I have just quoted are correct in their advocacy of the control and regu- 1ation of public monopoly l rather than its destrliction the question | is squarely presented to us as to whether
 the bill H. R. 16o53 (known the Adam | son general dam bilD, under considera- | lie demand for regulation and control for the public good.
 l Section provides that any grantee 1 who shall fail or refuse to comply with l the lawful order of the Secretary of War | made in accordance with the provisions | the act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor l Power Is given the federal courts to 1 issue injunction, mandamus or other pro- l cess to prevent the violation of the act and if the unlawful maintenance and op- eration are shown to be such as shall l require revocation of all rights and privileges held under authority of the act. the court may decree such revoca- I ton.
 l This section gives ample power to en- l force the law. The power to regulate I the rates is given in section H. ':'Sec. Il. That in all cases where the electric current generated from or by any of the projects provided for in this aafG Gl,o11 n,,fa i,,tr, f,.tA commerce, the rates, charges, and serv | ice for the same to the consumers there- of shall be just and reasonable, and every unjust and unreasonable and unduly dis criminatory charge, rate, or service there | for is hereby prohibited and declared to | be illegal, and whenever the Secretary | of War shall be of the opinion that the I rates or charges demanded or collected | on the service rendered for such electric | current are unjust, unreasonable, or un- duly discriminatory, upon complaint made | therefor and full hearing thereon the Sec | retary of War is hereby authorized and 1 empowered to determine and prescribe what shall be the just and reasonable | rates and charges therefor to be observed as the maximum to be charged and the | service to be rendered; and in case of the violation of any such order of the Sec retary of War the provisions of this act relative to forfeiture and failure to com | l for rate-making purposes of the property existing under said approval of the pro- l ject there may be considered any lock | or locks or other aids to navigation, | and all other capital expenditures re- quired by the United States"
 You cannot obey two masters at the same time. Priority is given to the state
 to regulate the charges in the interest | of it's citizens if it desires to do so; if not. ample authority is vested in the federal government to protect the consumers of I the power.
 The bill therefore protects the public | against monopoloistic abuse by providing | just governmental regulation. . | Tho right to recapture the property by | the government Is provided for in sections | 9 and 10 of the bill
 Not Pay Anything
 Should the government determine to | reeapture the property it will not be com pelled to pay anything for the franchise rights, business developed or good will, | but merely for the fair value of the prop erty belonginfi to the grantee. As the | dam, the power house, the machinery, the transmission lines are subject to deprecia- 1 tion and decay, 1t is In he interest of the government that the price of recapture should be the fair value. and not the original cost To provide that the grantee l should receive less would prohibit men 1 with both money and brains from enter
 ing upon the development of the power, 1 for with government regulation the profits l will, of necessity, be limited, and the 1 grantee takes all the chances of develop | ing paying business.
 l 'Of the 40,000 horse power developed at | Lock l2 on the Coosa river, the Alabama l Fewer company will be competing two
 years with the cheap coal in the Birmng-
 ham district before all of the power at
 Lock 12 is sold.
 | This bill undoubtedly protects the
 rights of the public and my only fear is 1 that it does not hold out sufficient in- eucements to capital, to encourage invest
 nent in such enterprises.
 "The remaining objection that has been | made to the present law is that no tax
 or charge is made for the ues of the
 power.
 Alabama Coke Production
 'The production of coke in Alabama
 is now running at the rate of about 5,Oo0,000 tons per annum. This coke
 when all produced in by-product coke tovens, will yield waste gases that will | produce under boilers 100000 steam
 horse power. It may be expected that
 in 10 years. as Is the case now in Ger
 many and Austria. there will be no
 coke manufactured in Alabama in bee
 hive ovens but that all of the coke
 manufactured in that state will be manufactured in by-product ovens, and
 the waste gases from these ovens will produce steam power at about one-half
 the cost of hydro-electric power. l Thus we find competition between 1 cheaper steam power produced by
 waste gases from by-product coke ovens and hydro electric power, which
 competition exists as an economic fact
 and cannot be regulated by law. l "As a measure of the importance of
 electrical steel as affecting the safety
 of passenger transportation 1t is re-
 ported that there are now 10000 tons
 of electrical steel rail under test in
 the tracks of half dozen railroads
 of this country ana not in a single in-
 a blemish or fracture.
 "One of the most important items of
 cost in the manufacture of automobiles
 Is the high grade special steel required.
 This class of steel Is supplanting cru
 cible steel hitherto manufactured at
 much higher cost in crucible furnaces.
 Continued Debate
 For seven years Congress has con
 tinued it's debate upon this question, and
 while we talk about the conservation of our water power resources, other coun- 1 tries build dams and conserve their wa
 ter powers, while ours go on to waste. "In the arid regions of the west it is
 water, not land which measures argri~
 cultural production. In the cotton fields
 of the south it is fertilizer, not land
 that measures production.
 What appropriations has Congress