Evening star., 1924-01-08

prompted their cooperation for a
complete and authoritative presenta-
tion to Congress regarding the feast
bility Of developing water power at
Great Falls, Representative. Zilhman
and Representative Moore today is
gued the following statement:
Either the development of the un-
used power Of the Potomac river
should be now undertaken. or all
thought Of doing what has been
dreamed and urged for more than
half a century might as well be
by those who are just as confident
that the government and the public
Of the District of Columbia would
greatly profit by what is proposed as
they We're of the necessity of con-
structine an additional water conduit
to supply the needs of the District
at the time when that proposition,
also set forth in the Tyler report, was
antagonized and sought TO be dis
credited.
THAT invited the contest and the
advocates Of the present bill are, OF
course, perfectly aware Of the oppo-
sition which 1t is going to encounter.
That opposition was indicated at the
hearing before the water-power COM
mission, when the commission was
told by the representatives OF the
Washington Railway and Electric
Company and the Potomac Electric
Power Company. which through a
subsidiary corporation own the land
in Virginia and Maryland adjacent to
the Great Falls and also claim some
ownership over the waterpower, that
. generation of hydro electric power
and the distribution thereof in the
manner set forth In the Tyler report
is not economically practicable.
Moves Made In 1906.
Nevertheless, 1t is not forgotten
that tho same interests, in 1905, when
tho Old Dominion Railway Company
asked access to the Great Falls
through the land Of the subsidiary
corporation, contended before the
state corporation commission of vir-
ginia and before the supreme court
OF appeals Of that state that the
land at the Great Falls had enormous
value for power purposes. and testi-
fed as to the ease with which the
development OF the power could be
effected and of the plans that already
had been made for its development.
The court, passing on the case,
laid: The evidence tends to show
THAT the land sought to be condemned
Is Essential to the appellant (the
Great Falls Power Company for the
development of its water power and
that. If taken, the power company
would be compelled to change its
plans entirely
Now II has no plan and disap-
proves the plans proposed by others.
The Army engineers. however, after
the most elaborate investigation, had
no difficulty in reaching the conclu-
sion that. the power which is going
to waste should and can be made
available for use. and with that con-
ciusfon the views Of the power COM
mission. made up of three members
OF the cabinet, coincided.
Tho quotation from the letter of
the commission ito Congress set forth
In the preamble Of the bill Is an en-
phatic expression OF It's opinion that
to refrain from the development
proposed In the Tyler report would
be detrimental to the interests of
the government and the people.
Coupled with that expression, the
commission said:
VIII Demonstrate Values.
1.-THE project when completed will
stand as an illustration to the coun-
try generally Of the immense value
Of water power development In the