Evening star., 1934-08-22
BY PAUL. JARRETT KELLY.

BY PAUL. JARRETT KELLY.
"The future lies open before man,
as 1t did in the day when Joshua said
TO Israel: Behold, I have set before
you life and good, death and evil;
choose ye this day which ye will
serveP"
Joseph K. Hart, authority on social
science, wrote those WORDS 40 years
ago in 1924 as text for a prophetic
article on our electrical and cultural
future. They are as apropos today in
1864 as they were then.
Within those past 40 years we truly
have witnessed an industrial revolu-
ton, at least chronological one. We
ashave witnessed the shaekling Of q
!. Goliath Steam-by the. David Of
Electrical Energy; and through that
.sshackling and the coordinate harness.
ling of mighty rivers life Is no longer
Subordinate to our self-created CEN
sstralization of industry. We have at
tanned q new freedom.
Electrical Progress Since 1884.
: In previous articles on this subject
of our national electrical progress
since 1894 there has been portrayed
somewhat of the situation in which
we found ourselves then--standing at
the portals of a New Era, New Ma
etional Policy of National Electro
6cation.
= There has been told somewhat of
the things we have done in these past
three decadef and of the results
thereof. Yet it is of a truth that no
matter what man may do, in the
doing thereof he must learn some
thing, and, so far, that point has
been untouched.
So what have we learned during
this determined, all-inclusive effort
to make use of the full advantages
ito which our trinity of great natural
power resources-water, coal and oil
entitled us?
Well, we have learned that Pinchot,
@Baruch, Meyer, Cooke, Bruere. Baum
and Bacon, among others, were right
- in their early insistance that our ma
tional future was inevitably, un-
equivocally bound up with the devel-
.opment Of what we now call Giant
Power"
We have learned that Hart and
Wells we're right in their advocacy of
decentralization Of Power, for through
that decentralization we have achieved
O great, better national life.
We have learned that many of the
apparently contradictory ideas of
Cabot and Swope and Gompers and
Green and other leaders of capital
and labor were not contradictory at
all, but could be co-ordinated and ap-
piled for the betterment of either class
and both.
Usage Depends on Rates.
And we have learned these:
That high rates for electric current
have an inevitable, inescapable result
in low usage-and vice versa.
That through continuous cam
paign of education the public can be
taught the advantages to the indivi-
dual of electrical progress. of light
heat and power accessories and
appliances In the home, on the
farm, in the factory and store
If proper inducement in the form
of credits and trial service are offered
1IldL llluunbIy Call NC COI1FulCcu VI
the economy Of central electric sta
ton energy supply-again through
proper inducements.
That the electrical rate structure
of the 30s, with its obsolete method
of meter measurement of energy
usage, was not consistent with
the spirit of progressive development
That the future of the electrical
industry rested squarely upon its ability
to SO unite and develop that trinity
of power sources of ours that eacf
might be utilized to its highest point
of efficiency and economy, and thai
this might be attained only through 9
system Of interconnected nationa
electric highways. super voltage
network linked with all factors Of pro-
duction and distribution, a veritable
national electrical reservoir.
z That the fundamental constant bast
i load of our energy structure must bt
z carried by (a) hydroelectric plant.
s operating at the source of waterpewer
: and (b) steam plants operating at the
source of coal and /or oilpower (the
mine or wells) in conjunction with by
: product distilleries and refinerie!