Evening star., 1933-04-16
COMPANIES
STOCKS ASSA|LED.
House Witness Says Roose-
welt Fr0Wns on "Water"
in Securities.
BY the Associated Press.

Dy the Associated Press.
A declaration that President RoOSe-
welt wants the Tennessee Valley devel-
opment bill 80 framed that it will force
some Southern power companies to take
water out Of their stocks" yesterday
climaxed the House Military Affairs
Committees public study OF the meas
ure.
On that note the hearing ended ana
in executive session early next week,
said Chairman McSws the commit
ready for House action Tuesday or
Wednesday.
The prediction as to what President
Roosevelt hopes To see was made by
Judson King of the National Popular
Government League, q close friend OF
Senator Norris, Republican, Of Ne
brAska, who long has been an advocate
of Government operation OF the Muscle
Shoals power plant.
King testified that last July he talked
with the President-then the Demo-
cratic nominee-and was told he could
rest assured that Mr. Roosevelt's at
titude toward transmission Of publicly
produced power had not changed.
Demanded Actual Cost.
As Governor, King recalled, MT.
Roosevelt demanded that the stock OF
transmission companies be reduced 70
actual cost.
And I know, gentlemen" King went
on, that II these companies are will
ing TO strip the cost of their transmits
sion lines Of all water and wind, the
President will be willing to let them
have the power"
Because of that attitude he believed
the President would prefer to leave with
the Tennessee Valley Authority, which
would control the vast development,
the power either to construct its own
transmission lines or agree to contract
to sell it to private concerns at the
switchboard.
As King was making this forecast,
States gave out letter President Henry
!. Hartman sent to all Of its members
insisting that ''the duplication Of public
service facilities is uneconomical and
must ultimately result in added cost to
consumers"
Hartman said the Tennessee Basin
project would entail an ultimate Fed
eral expenditure Of $1,250, ,0OO, 900 and
would launch the Government perma-
nently into the business of generating
and distributing electric power.
Sees Worthless Securities.
Discussing earlier assertions that
$40o, ,000, 900 worth Of securities would be
made worthless" by Government OPP
Grafton Of the Shoals plant, Senator
Bone (Democrat) of Washington told
the committee that these securities
soon will be worthless, anyhow"
These utility companies can't con-
tinue to pay dividends on such fictitious
values as wind and water" Bone said
1T makes no difference whether We
70 through with this Muscle Shoals bill
or not-the investors are going to lose
anyhow"
Bone charged that private companies
"evade taxes" through the innuence
they have upon officials who fix valua-
tions
There was q protest from Milton H.
Fies Of Birmingham, Ala, coal opera
tor, against the proposed construction
of hydroelectric instead OF steam gen.
orators. II water power Is used, he
said. the coal business will suffer.
TT isn't exactly fair to junk an in
dustry for an experiment" he testified.
THE coal business cannot stand the
force and strength Of the United States
Government as q competitor IN hydro-
electric power generation"
Adams Linked to Utility.
In Senator Bones statement, the
committee was told that in December
of 1929, when Washington State was
suffering q water shortage, the Tacoma
plant had to call on the aircraft car
rier Lexington to help supply power.
The Puget Sound Power and Light Co.,
= private concern, he testified, also
found itself in trouble and had atie-ih
with the Government steam plant at
the Bremerton Navy Yard"
Available information, he said,
showed that Charles Francis Adams,
then Secretary of the Navy, had a
monetary interest in the company"
since he was "a director in every Stone
q Webster Co. in the country" There
was Q later announcement, Bone testi-
fed, that Adams had severed his utility
connections.
But, the Senator continued:
"The Secretary Of the Navy had a
monetary interest in the company the
Navy was serving In that crisis and
that fact was hidden from the coun-
try. The fact that he was Secretary
Of the Navy enabled the Puget Sound
Power Co. to carry on"