The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-01-03
NEA Service Writer

Washington.-A couple of years
 ago many strong words were used
 to condemn the power trust" which
 had been caught putting it's propa- ga nda into the public schools, buy ing up or influencing newspapers and subsidizing professors in col leges and universities.
 But the public utilities corpora tions are in the saddle to-day, their sins, washed away, and the benevo- lent, helpful attitude of the federal government toward them probably surpasses anything in their fondest dreams a few years ago. All that the conservationists and progressives federal water power act appears to
 be rapidly going bingo. Although advocates of effective utility regulation-such as Cover nors Pinchot and Roosevelt and Senator Walsh of Montana-won
 conspicuous victories in the Novem-
 Der elections, the administration appears definitely to have taken
 the side of the power companies in
 virtually all recent controversies
 and its stand presumably was out lined in the annual report of the
 old power mmissfon-Secretari
 Wilbur, Hurley and Hyde-which
 recommended that control of water
 power developments be considered
 primarily a matter for the individ-
 ual states.
 A bitter struggle which may have
 have decisive results has broken
 out following the latest 'power
 trust" victory-the dismissal of So- licitor Charles A. Russell and Chief I A ,fan of commission. Russell and King
 were a couple of earnest officials who undertook to carry out the reg ulatory provisions of the water power act by preventing the power companies from padding invest ment charges on federally licensed developments to the extent of mill lions of dollars which the govern ment eventually would have to pay. Braving the disapproval of their superiors and at the obvious risk of their jobs, these two men gave as fearless a demonstration of public service as has been seen here in many decades. Unfortunately, their l refusals to favor the power com- panies was completely out of line with the policies of Executive Sec
 retary F. c. Bonner and Chairman Ray Lyman Wilbur of the commis- sion, who have been accused of helping the power companies at public expense as ofter as possible
 Russell and King were fired by George Otis Smith, chairman of the newly created federal power con-
 mission of five.
 Would Destroy Power Act After all these years, the Clarion River Power company and the Ap- palachian Electric Power company have begun court actions which, if successful, would virtually destroy the power act, according to its sup porters. Attorney General Mitchell did what he could to help the old power commission in an opinion which suggested that there was serious question regarding the con-
 stitutionality of the act.
 The opinion, too involved to out line here, also suggested course
 for the commission by which most of the large federally licensed power
 sites might be freed from all but
 the most superficial type of regu- lation.
 The new power commission was confirmed by the senate with gen.
 orally large majorities. Its mem
 bership was obviously satisfactory to the utilities, but not especially
 satisfactory 10 anyone but them
 and their sympathizers. Chairman
 Smith had admitted that he worked
 privately for the Insull interests in
 Maine.
 Next Fight on Norris Bill i IL was charged that Marcel Gar