The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1918-10-11
Special interests Have Bad Week
All Around At National Capfol
DIR WASHINGTON LET

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tbe country. He referred to ms own
declaration in the senate flve years
400 that he was Sin favor OF aoSo
l,,ta public ownership" He delheu
he nresent view of the waterpoWer
nrohlan as one of demanding that
Who Government retain its present
ownership, and that the munlcipan
ties. the states, the political dlVlsio.l0
Of the states, and the government ~
ea,f sbonld develop and operate this
power. 49,
He took up the claim made oy tfie
private power lobbyists that mum
cipal ownership of public utilities IS
demoralizing force in politics. ne
showed that the cities that nave Tue
best government in the world are
those having municipality owned ana
operated utilities.
Kellogg of Minnesota, GUARDIAN 0,
tho special-privilege faith, asked
whether Borah would stand for gov
eminent ownership of all mines ana
minerals of all kinds. Borah replled
that he stood for public ownership
Of coal and coal mines now; for the
rest of the mining industry he would
wait until another time to express
himself, as Sufficient unto the day Is
the evil thereof"
RESULTS OF PUBLIC OWNER
SHIP
He read a report by the city en-
gineer of Seattle on the municipality
owned water power plant at that
point. This report showed that the
: city had gained the advantage OF low
r err cost to the consumer, with better
t service and a reader public control
r of the service. Then he qouted the
r results of municipal ownership OF
5 power plants in score OF cltles
< showing how the cost of electricity
$ had been reduce so to rs per cent IN
almost every case. From that h
turned to the marvellous record made
by the Ontario hydro-elecUric COM
S mission, public body established by
: the province of Ontario to build Oh
/ bull electric power plants and to fur.
4 nish power to the people of that
: province.
: All the way through, Borah was
e heckled by Shields of Tennessee
O while Poindexter of Washington ano
? Walsh of Montana suggested that the
: house bill made it possible for mu
S nicipality to get the preference over
S any private interest in leasing pow
II er site. Borah replied that he want
: ed the bill to compel the waterpowel
S commission to give municipalitie:
and states the first chance in every
d development; he did not want an!
a official to have the power to deny the
e public interest that preference.
Y WILL BE BANDWAGON ISSUE
h 'Let me indulge in a little prophe
e cy to my Democratic friends" HI
S suggested. Before two years th'
f policy of this administration will b.
e in favor of public ownership and op
e Grafton of waterpoWer. | say tina
for the reason that the economic an;
e financial condition will inevitably lea'
e to that conclusion. This waterpowe
Is must be developed. 1t is suprem
e necessity. 1t is saving of coal;
l. never wears out; it is as good
II thousand years from now as it
sc now; and in my humble judgmen
n when this leasing plan begins to op
I'd crate and it is determined beyon
t. all question that the independent
can not get into the field, that it /
& simply doing business with those VIII
are now in control, this administra
ne ton will go unhesitatingly to the de
i'll velopment of it through those il
strumentalities by means of whic
he Independents can be put into the fell
he and those Independents will be nun
n cipalities and subdivisions of the stat
p and the national government"
u SPECIAL INTEREST BLUFFIN
is NICELY CALLED
ry Rush c.. Butler, the Chicago co
Elf poration lawyer who wrote tn;
90 chamber of commerce attack upc
,ss the federal trade commission whe
the commission had shown up tt
it's lawless character and the profteerir
to busy week in Washington.
es- squirmed and twisted and grew r,
lily in the face before the senate COMM
ice tee on agriculture when it question:
,p- him on the attitude of the chamb
lat of commerce toward the packers al
of the federal trade commission. /
op- squirmed some more when he rep1
ov- sented the National Feed Manufs
ned turers' association in the senate j