The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1922-11-16

house and to take them out into the
silence and tell it again, to show
them the water wheels in the store
room and in the repair shop, to turn
the spot light into the castings and
chambers where the wheels do their
work, to give them the history Of
construction, to point out the steps
by which the river is conquered with
the dam or the tunnel, how the ad-
ditions of units are made from year
to year as there is need for more
service, why the water wheel of a
given size creates as much power in
one plant as group of wheels Of
the same size generate in the same
sized column of water in another
part of the canyon.
The editor of The Republican was
glad to take such a trip. There
are some industries in which small
amounts of capital and labor can
succeed very we'll on small scale,
and there are industries in which
operations must be done on a large
scale or they amount to nothing.
There are industries that are so
highly specialized that their opera
lions must be guided by experts or
they fail, no matter how sincerely
the management may desire and
strive for success. A good many
years ago we became convinced that
manufacturing, distributing and re-
failing electricity was one of the
latter kind, and when our home
town was disturbed over the ques-
ton of installing a municipal cleo
trio plant, we were puzzled for a
long time, but finally took stand
against it. While the agitation was
on, the members of the city council
and press representatives of Black
foot were invited by the Idaho
Power company to be the guests of
the company for trip to Pocatello
and American Falls to inspect their
property. The trip was made, the
men looked, considered, came home
and were convinced that it would be
a very hazardous enterprise for
them to go about spending the pub
lie money buying, installing and OPP
Grating something as full of mystery
as the electric business. They kept
out of the electrical game, kept the
city from getting it's money tied up
in an enterprise that would be likely
to change management every two
years and always have unskilled
control of something that requires
expert control.
The editor of The Idaho Republic |
can, like other publishers, receives a
large amount Of propaganda in the
mail, that is directed against |
monopolistic power companies, and
in favor of and against public-owned
utilities and on all matters where |
the editor has no definite informa-
ticn it is difficult to decide what to
do with the propaganda and yet do
justice to his readers. Propaganda
reaches the EDITORS desk in so many
forms, so shrewdly prepared and
delivered, that it is a difficult mat
ter to handle.
The power and light industry has
come to us to stay, like the motor
driven vehicles, and even tho the
community is not engaged in the
making, selling or distribution of
electricity, it is engaged in the buy
ing and using of it, and the farmers
and suburban population are con-
cerned over the means and terms by
which they may secure the service.
Operating feed grinders and electric
pumps will be under consideration
among the farmers and the matter
of building or Diminishing the
American Falls reservoir will be de-
cided by vote of the people most |
concerned in a couple of months, |
and this paper will publish further
information gathered on the trip
while the editor was the guest of the
power trust"