Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-19
Senator Predicts More Star
Ting Disclosures of Inter-
locking Financial Control.
GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP
HELD EVENTUAL RESULT
Montanan Believes Probe Will Do
Much to Kill Off Public
Apathy.
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.


Developments more startling than any
hitherto brought to light by the Fed
eral Trade Commissions probe into
power are predicted by Senator Walsh,
Democrat, Of Montana, author of the
resolution which paved the way to the
recent sensational developments.
Senator Walsh expects that before
the trade commission has quit delving
into the varied activities Of power capi-
tai, it will discover things of far great
er and more sinister import than "pur-
chase of public opinion"
The Montanan believes 1t will be
brought to light that there is far
flung, systematic coordination of pub
lie utility interests linked for profit
making purposes at consumers cost.
Feels Public Foots Bills.
zone thing seems certain to me-" he
told this writer. THAT is, that the big
power corporations can only be gen.
Grating the dividends they are paying
to shareholders by taking them from
the pockets of the consuming public.
Such gigantic returns as these corpora
ticns derive from their investments, in
Guiding the huge fortunes initially made
by flotation and underwriting concerns,
can, In my Judgment, only emanate
from assessing them against consumers
in the form of excessive rates. Either
these swollen profits are thus derived,
or the investing public, which Is asked
to finance mammoth power companies,
Is being hornswaggled. Unquestionably
the more recent movement toward CEN
tralization-the merger trend-has been
induced and accelerated by the profits
realized in the power business, which
has been enormously profitable. In NO
other way is the extraordinary rise in
the price Of the stocks of many Of the
companies-holding and operating
plicable. It is doubtful whether In the
heyday of trust organization following
the Mckinley election 80 years ago the
antitrust law was more boldly, gen.
orally and VIGOROUSLY violated than In
recent years"
May Kill Public Apathy.
Senator Walsh was asked to state
what, In his opinion. the Federal Trade
Commissions exposure of power CAPT.
tails invasion of the American news.
paper business Is going to lead to. "Ir
the first place." he replied, IT am con-
fident it Is going to kill of good dea
of the nonchalance with which the
American public has viewed the arro-
gance of powers procedure. ! do not
think, for example, that there will be
so lively tendency to look upon
United States Senators as nuisances
when day in and day out, as some OF
them have been doing for years, they
venture to call an apathetic country's
attention to certain aspects of the ma
tional life. In particular, I am per-
suaded that an impetus has been given
to the idea of public ownership. ]
don't think there can be any ques-
ton about that"
He remarked that he is not an apos-
tie of Government ownership. But
the point is" he explained, that even
opponents of public ownership Of power
and other natural resources are being
forced, against their will, to contem-
bulwark against the rising tide OF
power domination, which the Federal
Trade Commissions inquiry Is depicting
in colors too lurid to be ignored.
"These disclosures about wholesale
buying of newspapers make it crystal
clear that the basic purpose Of power
capital is to alley criticism of almost
anything which, in the plenitude
of Its might, 1t sees fit to do. There
can be no man, woman or child In the
country today so blind as not to real
ize now why power has been subsidizine
schools, colleges, universities and every
thing else 1t could lay Its financial
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