Imperial Valley press., 1922-06-05

served with hight and power by the
! Ontario Hydro Electrical Commission.
| 1t has been necessary for each of them
| to vote twice to enter into the con-
| tract, and in not a single municipality
or district has the proposal been de-
| feated. In most instances the vote for
it has been about 80 out of every 100
east. Many of these elections have
been held, of course, after years of OPP
Grafton had tested the worth of the
public ownership scheme.
cit will take lot of written docu-
ments issued by the power trust to
convince me that the people of that
many localities are locoed.
"'The power corporations here claim
| they are the true friends of the farm
ers and point to the smaller number
served in Ontario. There is no sense in
| that comparison. We use power fer
| pumping; they do not.
I "In Ontario wherever three farmers
to mile sign up the service is extend
ed to them. They are using it for cut
ting silo and to run grinding machines,
| threshing machines, etc. The farmers
are thoroughly pleased and the rural
service is being extended rapidly.
cit is worthy of note that the COM
| mission, a political board, is doing a
great deal of pioneering. For instance,
they are putting their high potential
wires in lead-insulated cables and bury
| ing them in the ground.
1.-THE average rate, wholesale, is SIS
| to $40 per horsepower per year; the
cost of local distribution is not great.
I IN Cnlifnrpia xyb a
the cost has been 50 per horsepower
per month.
"Opponents of the water and power
act are insisting that comparisons of
Ontario rates with California rates are
not fair. Very well, it is fair to com
pare Ontario rates with rates inst
across the line in the United States
under private ownership. Detroit and
Winsor, Ontario, receive their electri-
cal energy from the same source. De
troit is nearer the source, and its much
greater size should reduce the burden
of overhead on the rate payer. Yet
Winsor gets its light and power 40 per
cent cheaper than Detroit.
Gas to that $500,000,000 bugaboo!
They claim they fear State bankruptcy
if the State spends that amount right
here in the State, yet the power cor
porations are preparing to spend sew
eral times that amount under super
vision of the Railroad Commission and
will ask and get per cent return, net,
above all extravagances and excessive
overhead which the system encourages.
81 have not been able in my own
mind to work up any fear over board
at least as easily controlled by the
people as is the State Railroad Com
mission, whose job it will be to invest
State money at low interest rates i'll
revenue-producing projects which give
US light and power at cost and carry
interest and sinking fund. When the
bonds have been paid off we will own
the projects outright, free of debt.
"The Farm Bureau Federation,
through its public utility department.
has conducted for two years an 1nves-
tigation of power corporation methed DIS.
We have not found them so high
minded. so idealistic, that / am willing
to trust the entire development to them
on 3 per cent perpetual returns of
projects which the people never will
own.
"The four or five largest companies
right now are asking for more than
5000 100000 for new projects, and they
have in sight other feasible projects
that will increase that new investment
to not less than 81 $1,600,00O,OOO. They
are not soaring me off with that half
a-million bugaboO.N