Evening star., 1934-01-13
INDUSTRY
CODE DENOUNCED
Spokesman for Ickes and
Head of Federal Commission
Attack Private interests.

BY the Associated Press.
The private power industry was de-
nounced as guilty of "nefarious prac-
tices" in a statement to the National
Recovery Administration last night by
a spokesman for Secretary of the In
terror, Ickes, who, with the Federal
Power Commission, challenged the right
Of the N. r. A. to entertain public
utility codes
Denunciation of the private power in
dustry in general, and the Edison Elec-
trio Institute in particular, was made
on Ickes' behalf by Henry B. Hunt at
a public hearing on the electric code
The institute, chief proponent of the
code, is the successor to what was
termed the "malodorous National Elec-
trio Light Association"
Hunt Wages Bitter Attack.
So flercely did Hunt wage his verbal
attack that John E. Zimmerman, presi-
dent of the United Gas Improvement
Co., Philadelphia. asked the chairman
to call halt. Since Hunt was a public
representative, however, this was not
done. Hunt insisted his statements
were borne out by the record of the
Federal Trade Commissions power in
veStigation.
Both Hunt and Frank r. McNinch,
chairman Of the Power Commission,
assailed many provisions of the code as
either intentional attempts or un-
guarded opportunities for the institute
TO seize much Of the regulatory power
over the industry now held by the Gov
eminent and the States and designed
to weaken Federal and municipality
operated power properties
Their chief contention, however. was
that the industrial act authorized codes
| only for non-monopolistic industries
| that public utilities were rightly monop-
oistic in character, and that, therefore,
the only thing the administration
should do was obtain an agreement to
improve hours and wages of the power
employees.
Farm-Laborites Score Code.
Representatives Kvale and Lundeen,
both Farmer-Labor members from Min
| nesota, Joined in the attack on the
code, Kvale presenting a telegram
from the mayor of Rochester, Mimi,
denouncing the pact.
A further onslaught was made by
spokeSmen for workers of the New York
Edison Co, who charged that concern
with creating company union to sup
press collective bargaining, and asked
for administration protection.
The code had been presented by
Preston S. Arkwright, an Atlanta. util-
lty man, who is chairman of the Edison
Institute Code Committee. He and
others explained the code in detail and
defended its provisions. Outstanding
clauses were:
That publicly-owned plants be given
opportunity to join the code voluntarily
and that wherever such a company or
any other competitor failed to adopt
code terms the competing private COM
pany could drop them.
McNinch Assails Plan.
That national survey looking to a
l0-year plan of rationalizing the in
dustry be made jointly by private and
public interests under the code
That public interest" requires sale
of electric appliances by utility COM
panies, and that the power code au-
thority have degree of joint super
vision over trade practices in this with
the retail code authority.
All three clauses were asSailed Wig
orouSly. McNinch said the phrasing oi
the code was such as actually to at
tempt to compel the public owned util-
tiles to come under the code and SUBJ
NIT them to regulation by a code
authority so constituted as to be wholly