Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-27
Franklin Roosevelt Building an Issue
For 1892 i'm Power Trust Question

lines, or subways, or telephone systems,
or railroads.
The money involved in this dispute.
from the standpoint of the receivers of
public utility dividends. or from the
standpoint of the users Of public utility
services, must be estimated not in mill
lions, but in billions. Gov Roosevelt
himself seems to maintain that his pro-
posed new valuations" of public utility
properties. plus his other proposed new
treatments Of those properties, would In
certain instances reduce the profits Of
public utility companies to one-fourth
Of their present possible bulk with a
corresponding cheapening of public utu.
ity services to the consumer.
Such financial prospect is not In
itself without its political attractive
ness TO voters and to delegates but
even higher political praise must be
bestowed upon the Supreme Court phase
of the governors program. When a
statesman undertakes to compel the
Supreme Court to reverse itself. he can
be sure that he is attaching himself
to an issue which will survive through
many and many years. Supreme Court
justices die slowly, and they change
their minds with a slowneSs even
stickier Gov Roosevelt today is astride
of horse which will be going just as
SbLOIlk III 1893 d. ut IIllS HtOIlICIL-dApl
probably stronger.
Nor can 1t be said that he is of on
a ride of mere demagoguery. Quite a
few highly reputable personages are
riding with him. The essence of the
Supreme Court position is that in es-
tablishing the valuation" of a public
utility-for the purpose Of calculating
the rates which 1t may charge the pub
lic-the valuing authorities must take
into consideration the element of re
production cost new" as well as the ele-
ment of original cost" The governor
says-to put it broadly-that original
cost" Is quite enough. So said Robert
NJ. La Toilette. So also say, however
Justice Holmes and Justice Brandeis
d-partly-Justice Stone within the
present personnel of the Supreme Court
itself. So also says-most remarkably
Owen D. Young, head of the General
Electric Co. and of the Radio Corpora
ton of America. Mr.. Young has testi-
fed to that effect. explicitly, before
Senate committee in Washington. He
also, In the course Of his distinguished
business life has endeavored to nego-
tiate at least one franchise for power
company on an outright simple original
cost" basis. He seems to be in favor OF
that basis both in principle and prac-
tice.
n n
Gov. Roosevelt, accordingly, has some
high judicial and economic support. He
might we'll carry his party to his views.
The opinion held and expressed by Mr.
Young, who is himself a Democratic
presidential potentiality, would have
great weight in a Democratic national
convention. The Republicans, on the
other hand seem today to be most
unlikely to be willing to outbid the
Democrats In this matter. They recoil
in principle and they recon also out of
their more intimate contact all through
the country with the regular run OF
public utility interests. The cool
chances are that Gov. Roosevelt is go
ing to be a hero in the next Demo-
cratic national convention; and, If he
succeeds also in getting to be the can
didate. he will have an issue, all his
own, which will make him look more
like an economic emancipation of the
people than any other Democratic can
didate since Woodrow Wilson.
(Copyright, l93o.)