The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1926-02-06
Coolidge, Dawes, Bankers, Bread, Electric
Power and Grocery Clerks!


'ocery Clerks!
His latest efforts have been devoted to the aid
of consolidated capital in the electric industry.
He is bent on turning over to this private
capital the great power project at Muscle
Shoals. A committee Of the United States Sen
ate was engaged in seeking some safeguard
for the people in the process of giving up the
enterprise for which their money had paid.
Coolidge called the Senators to the White
House and told them to stop obstructing the
scheme. The Senator'S stopped obstructing-
for the moment, at least.
There is every chance that Coolidge means
well, even though the methods he has to use are
not very pretty. He sacrificed some of the dig
nifty of his office when he called those Senators
in to tell them they must quit interfering with
the plan to let the private power interests have
Muscle Shoals But he may believe this is
necessary. And whatever encouragement he
may be giving the Socialist or other radical
dreamers, it is fairly certain that it is not in
territorial
IN the matter Of the bread trust, now seek
III ing public sanction by proposing to de-
vote the crumbs from its table to the welfare
of its customers, Coolidge may see more clearly.
The danger there is more obvious than in the
case of oil or transportation or electric power.
Even Morrow, Young and Harbord probably
are shaking their heads at the thought of all
hai
or one corporation.
EV7ELL, what about it alil If complete dom
lW nation by private capital is to be feared
and if the Socialist millennium is long way
off, what can we grocery clerks do about it
Possibly this.
We might, as people, through our Gov
eminent, hold on to what we've got. We
might hold on to those valuable resources
which private capital hasn't yet seized. The
best example at the moment of course, Is Mus
Gle Shoals, although it occupies only one Of a
thousand valuable power sites available In
America. We can put Muscle Shoals devel-
oped already with our money-to work for all
the people and all the industries Of that Sec
tom Later we can do the same with our re-
naming power Sites
Every public power project thus far at
tempted In America has been successful, They
have all made money. Seattle, Tacoma, Cleve-
land, Los Angeles have proved that cities ian
do this job successfully, can produce light and
Canadian province of Ontario has proved it on
an even bigger scale
The principal thing that has been proved,
in the American cities, by these public power
plants has been the value Of competition. In
every city named and In some others the city
projects have compelled the private concerns
to bring down their prices Private power
sells as cheaply in Seattle for instance, as pub
lie power. And the private concern makes
money. In nearby cities where there is no pub
lie competition, prices are very much higher.
In some cases prices are two and three times
as high.
For generation now the Government has
been trying through antitrust laws to compel
private capital TO compete with itself. The
failure has been pretty complete.
Seattle, Cleveland and the other cities
named have compelled private capital to COM
pete with public capital. The success has been
H. boc &c hos koo,
given and the lowest of rates charged. Nobody
has lost money, not even private capital-its
profits have merely beer brought within rea-
son.
ITlHE Socialist dreams of time when every
enterprise will be so consolidated that
the Government can easily take it over. The
red radical dreams of the time when the people,
their patience worn ragged by private exploita-