, 1935-10-29
Behind the
Scenes in
Washington
by RODNEY BUTCHER
The Brownsville Herald WnshIngtc
NmwMnuwMmmAm~

Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Oct. %. -Secre-
tary Ickes is now a member OF only
20 boards. committees and commits
sions. The number used to be 80.
Along with Wallace Of Agriculture
and Roper OF Commerce. he has re-
signed from the committee on the
Relation OF Electricity to Agriculture.
The federal government has COM
pletely Withdrawn from participa-
ton In the committees activities.
The inside story Is that certain
persons intimately associated with
the committee were found to be sa-
b0taging 1870 consciously or otherwise
the program OF the Rural Electri-
fication Administration.
Herbert Hoover had much to do
with founding the committee In
1923. There was widespread howl
ing for cheaper and more rural cleo
tricity. which power companies
thought they'd better take IN hand.
The National Electric Light AsSoci-
alton and the American Farm Blu.
reau Federation organized the
group. the Commerce. Interior and
Agriculture departments came In
TO give It prestige - and the
franking privilege and power
companies paid the bills.
Avoid Talk OF Rates
Committees, organized IN "a states,
we're comprised OF farmers. sub
sidized college professors and pow
er company men who ran the show.
Power trust" companies also in
sisted the set-up was n brake
against cheaper rural electricity,
since little was done but research
and the rates issue vas carefully
avoided.
The first minutes on one state
committee showed: 1T Is the sense
OF this committee that rates be not
discussed"
The Farm Bureau Federation,
after much unpleasant publicity as
20 its friendliness with power in
terests, withdrew a couple OF years
ago.
Lately. circumstances reached
the ars Of REA Administrator
Morris l.. Cooke. In Maryland. a
man identified with the state COM
mittee was spreading the untrue
word that the Maryland public
service commission had ruled that
all plans for rural el~ectrifcaton
projects must first be submitted to
the local utility company.
In Iowa another was interpret
ing REA announcements and
warning that IN each case farmers
should mentally add 3 or 4 cents as
the price Of wholesale electricity
per kilowatt hour. 1t might be
anywhere from a few mills 10 two
cents) And SO on. with the result
that Wallace, Ickes and Roper and
their departments withdrew.
Money To Help
REA will announce its first pro-
iects very soon. Both private pow
er companies and public agencies
will share in the first few million
dollars 70 be loaned In the cam
paien 70 bring electricity TO a few
OF the 60 per cent 0f American
farms now unelectrified. CFrom 80
70 80 per cent Of farms IN the ad-
vanced European countries have
electricity.
About 500. 000. 900 Is available for
loans 10 public. private and cooper
alive groups on electrification pro-
jects. Strangely enough. the pro-
gram Is all 70 be self liquidating
and loans n made for 20 years at
3 per cent.
Private power companies are
taking a new interest IN rural cleo
trification as an indirect result Of
have previously concentrated on
their own money. Although they
have previously concentrated on
Cookies program. even putting up
urban areas where higher profits
are possible. they prefer TO handle
projects themselves rather than
leave them to public development
and REA propaganda has stirred
up wide interest In rural electrifl-