Evening star., 1934-05-17
Would Protect Powers N
Public and State Utili.
ties Commissions.
PARITY WITH STATES
SOUGHT FOR DISTRICT
Peoples Counsel Advises House
Committee Need of Righ. 70
Make Valuations.

Peoples Counsel william A. Roberts
today sent to the House Interstate and
Foreign Commerce Committee O series
Of suggested amendments to the Com
munications Commission bill passed
by the Senate Tuesday.
The amendments are designed 10
protect the powers Of the Public Util-
! tiles Commission and Of State util-
tiles commissions generally over VAL
uation and other matters affecting
telephone companies in their own
| jurisdictions.
One set OF amendments was de-
signed to put the District on a parity
with States throughout the bill.
AS to valuation, the amendments
suggested that the rights Of the Dis
trtct and OF States to value telephone
companies In their jurisdictions be
preserved by making the State COM
missions parties to valuation proceed
ings before the Communications Com
mission.
The act as it passed the Senate
gave the neW commission the right to
make valuations without reference to
States.
Valuation Excepted Subject.
With reference to this, Mr.. Roberts
wrote:
There are many things which a
Federal commission can do more efi-
GENTLY and economically than can a
State commission. For example, con-
trol OF the holding company relation
snip, determination Of proper prices
OF manufacturing affiliates, regulation
OF the relationship between interstate
companies and the control Of long
distance interstate rates, but valuation
Is not one Of these subjects.
The establishment of enormous
staf1s OF technical experts to inven-
tory and appraise the property of the
telephone company throughout the
country is a task second only to the
| development Of the Bureau of Valua-
| ton of the Interstate Commerce Com
mission, now decimated by lack Of
appropriations and would require at
least five years. The standards Of
| railroad construction tend toward uni
formity because the equipment may
move over any standard-gauge line.
This Is not true of telephone equip
ment. A small country interstate line
may be far better OF from the point
OF view of service to its consumers If
conducted with local facilities, sec
ond-hand equipment and local offlceS
and employees, than if it were bur-
dened with the cost of standard and
uniform, highly skilled and expensive
national and technical organization"
Right to Set Methods.
The communications bill proposes
to give to the new commission the
right to dictate methods and rates of
depreciation, but provides that the
commission may, after investigation,
make report to Congress suggesting
legislation to exempt certain classes
OF companies in certain States.
Mr.. Roberts suggested an amend
ment to leave the matter of deprecia-
ton rates and methods up to the
individual States and the District.
where State commissions exist, at least
until this report Is made. On this
he said:
The act as now drawn proposes
that the full power over accounts for
depreciation rates shall be In the
Federal commission to the exclusion
Of the local commissions, while at
the same time admitting the doubt
as to the desirability of this course
by providing that the proposed COM
mission shall investigate and report
as to the desirability of legislation.
With respect to this section, more
than any other, I believe that there
exists a necessity for q proviso re-
serving in the State commissions now
having jurisdiction complete liberty
Of action until Congress finally de-
cides as to the proper course Of ac-
ton under the commerce clause. The
effort to deprive the States Of the
rights to require other and different
accounts than those which might be
desired by a Federal body Is not only
doubtful as a matter of policy, but is
very questionable as matter Of
constitutional law"
For Capital Equality.
While Mr. Roberts said he looked
upon the establishment Of the Federal
commission as extremely desirable"
he suggested q series Of amendments
to make the District the equal Of
State, the amendments being prin-
cipally of q technical character.
He said "a number of these sug-
gestions are necessitated because of
the fact that the District Of Column
bia is not State and others arise
as a result Of the dual capacity Of
Congress in legislating for the Dis
trict."
AS to other technical amendments
Mr.. Roberts said:
while they may seem unimportant
at the present time they are really
serious in view of the protracted legal
debates and technical objections
which have been advanced by COM
munications companies ON the
strength of apparent antiquities in
language: in fact, much more certain
that some Of that In the pending BILL"