Evening star., 1934-12-26
Mississippi Valley Commit
tee Urges Unification
of All Lines.
PRIVATE OWNERSHIP
Permitted BY PLAN
Report Visions Cheaper Rates and
Greater Stability-Cites Flood
and Navigation Phases.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
A far-reaching proposal for Federal
control of the transmission of the
entire electricity supply Of America
was urged upon President Roosevelt
today in a report by his Mississippi
Valley Committee.
The group Of scientists and tech
nicians that the President directed to
study ways Of developing resources
in the great valley urged unifcation
of all electric lines as a means of
creating giant pool of cheap power
and Of promoting stability.
1t also suggested a billion dollar,
2o-year program Of public works in
the valley and recommended that all
dams be built to aid navigation or
flood control be used to generate
power as well. Even the remotest
hydro-electric developments would be
tied into the common Nationwide
system under the plan.
Ownership Not a Factor.
Headed by Morris L. Cooke, Phila-
delphia consulting engineer, the COM
mittee emphasized the plan does not
involve the question Of public or
private ownership of either generation
or distribution"
Government control of transmA-
sion. however" it said, lis funda-
mental. This goal does not involve
necessarily any great increase in the
number Of publicly owned lines, espe-
cially if the private companies CO.
operate in effecting unification."
Meanwhile there were other de-
velopments in the utilities field.
An effort to find means of stimulat
ing purchases of electrical appliances
through regular private utility chan
nels is being made by President Roose-
welt.
He said today at his regular press
conference that the Government is
seeking to be helpful to private util-
tiles in setting up program-sinilar
to that of the Electric Home and
Farm Authority in the Tennessee
Valley-to aid in financing purchases
Of electrical appliances.
His theory is that by encouraging
the utilities to produce appliances for
the home and farms on a large scale,
the price can be considerably reduced.
Cooperation Hinted.
The presidential attitude was in
terpreted as a distant willingness by
the administration to cooperate with
private utilities in efforts to obtain
cheaper power.
Some of the utility heads have
pledged cooperation to Mr.. Roose-
welt. The Edison Electric Institute
has started court action against the
administration power program. seek
ing to test the constitutionality Of the
Tennessee Valley Authority act.
The vast, long program ad-
vanced by the Mississippi committee
included a proposal to spend $780,
100000 for rural electrification. The
report also suggested that perhaps SO
per cent of the 20-year. billion dollar
construction program would be for
power installations.
The remainder would include flood
control, navigation aids and other
efforts to develop water resources. No
list of specific projects was advanced.
Life in the Mississippi Valley of
the future need not be poverty
stricken or precarious," said the COM
mittee in presenting the report to Sec
retary Ickes, who transmitted 1t TO
the President.
1t said dam-building for flood con-
troll alone may not be economically
feasible, but, when given multiple pur-
poses such as power. recreation and
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