Evening star., 1927-12-04
GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP
). ISSUE LOOMS in CONGRESS
Federal Control of Utilities Held Likely
to Permeate Debates in
Both Houses.
,lant after the Government has built

plant after the Government mas Duilt
| it?
On this point Senator johnson has
been thoroughly impartial. His bill
permits the Secretary of the Interior,
who will be In charge of the plant
either to lease it outright to private
| interests or else to retain it in public
control and sell the power to private
distribution companies or to local
public subdivisions such as municipal
tiles or counties.
1t is to be pointed out that public
operation Of the whole mighty plant
at Boulder Canyon would not require
the services of more than a score or
so of men at any given moment. The
private opposition to the plan does
not spring from any fear of any new
horde of Federal employees. 1t springs
from a fear that the plant might
produce power at a lower cost and
sell it at lower price than is Gus
tomary among the private companies
in that part of the world.
Boulder Canyons Future.
There is absolutely no chance, how
ever, that the Congress will now ever
hand over the Boulder Canyon to any
private company for merely private
development. and therefore the prac-
tical choice is likely to be between the
johnson plan on the one hand and. on
the other. no plan or progress at all.
Time and human need and the pres
sure of the future would therefore
seem to be working on Senator John.
sons side. and the ultimate prospect
is that he some day will triumph.
Meanwhile, to watch him. and also
to watch Senator Walsh of Montana
and the Walsh resolution. for an in
quiry into our privately owned public
utility companies, we this year have
in Washington one of the most inn
pressive Hobbies" in Washington's
history. 1t is headed by Josiah New
comb and it is maintained by a triple
alliance between the National Asso-
citation of Electric Light & Power
Companies, the National Association
of Gas Companies and the National
Association of Electric Railway Com
panies. Their investments amount to
many billions of dollars. and Mr.. New.
comb has the interesting task of dong
mortal combat politically with Senator
Johnson and Senator Walsh-aEd
Senator Norris.
Some other equally ardent "lobty,-
list" for private business versus pubic
ownership will presently arrive In
Washington to do combat with Sem.
tor Jones of Washington. Mr.. Jon.s
will presently reintroduce his bill Ter
authorizing the United States Ship
ping Board to spend money building
more and better publicly owned mer-
chant ships. This bill was at the last
session recommended to the Senate
from its commerce committee by
committee vote in which there were
no negatives. craftsmanship Sena-
tors have despaired of persuading the
vsfslf "a
for a subsidy to privately owned
American merchant ships. They are
becoming numerously convinced that
the only way of keeping the American
flag successfully on the ocean is to
pass appropriations for improving and
enlarging the publicly owned merchant
feet now in the care of the Shipping
Board The Shipping Board is in
unanimous agreement with this point
of view and it calculates that the an.
nual expenditure necessary for new
needed ships in its feet would amount
to some S40.000.000. -
Federal Ownership Looms.
These public-ownership prospects
are all of them most intensely-and,
in this writer's Judgment, most prop
erly-distastefu in principle to the
mass of Senators and Representa-
tives. increasingly, however, they
find themselves obliged to solve a
series of practical situations in accord
ance with immediate apparent neces-
sity rather than in accordance with
ultimate theory. They now see cer-
tain sorts of Federal public owner
ship closing in upon them from all
sides.
This review may close with the one
point of humor that Senators and Rep
resentatives have been able to CLEAN
from the public-ownership problems
that surround them. In the midst or
their general dislike for the public
ownership idea on behalf of the coun-,
try at large, they have gone and estab.
lished quite striking instance Of pub
lie ownership for themselves.
The Capitol Building, the Senate
Office Building, the House Office Build
ing and the immense Congressional
Library do not buy their light and
power from any local private COM
pany. Those >edifices are lighted by
the Capitol power plant" which by
vote of the Senate and of the House
was built and is maintained with pub
lie money in order to avoid paying
charges into private Golfers in Wash
ington.
There is at any rate one laugh in
state Of things which shows us our
Senators and Representatives defend
ing the principle of privately owned
power throughout the country and
then cheating the local private power
and light interests out of the job OF
providing the illumination for their
legislative labors.