Evening star., 1936-09-11

between the industry and government,
Carlisle warned that every enter
prise, whether governmental or
private. must pay its own way. must
stand on its own feet. Except for
great emergencies and for short
periods, subsidized business cannot en-
dure.
Business and government have no
natural or inherent antagonisms.
While the prosaic production of goods
and services has not the glamour Of
the monumental government under
takings, none the less, it Is the base
on which modern civilization rests its
security.
Business and government must
work together.
THE criticism of the American
private utilities has related almost
entirely to their financing. Some of
that criticism was founded In fact,
and the wrongs have been severely
condemned by the leaders of the in
dustry, but unsound finance Is not
representative or general in the busi-
ness.
This Is conclusively proven by the
events of the depression. Various
agencies of the Federal Government
advanced money to municipalities,
banks, railroads. insurance companies,
housing projects, farmers and manu-
facturers. The amount exceeded $4,-
000. .000, 900, plus the guarantee Of farm
and home mortgages.
Soundness Demonstrated.
Not / cent was loaned to private
utilities. They were singled out for
special heavy taxation, from which
the municipal power operations were
exempt. Judged by that test of un-
paralleled severity, the American
their financial soundness.
Those of us charged with man
agement must not be denied the pride
of truly great achievement. No in
dustry in the world has been so gen.
orally useful In modern life, and con-
l
zation. With fair criticism we have no
quarrel. But enternal wrangling will
get US nowhere. The world today is
more interested in the future than
in the past. There is no power prob
lem, certainly in the United States
Of America, that cannot be solved by
fair negotiations and reasonable COM
promise.
II commend to the Government and
to the industry the application Of
Aristotle's Golden Mean"
Ickes Stresses Cheap Power.
Paying his tribute to the Roose-
welt Administration, Secretary Ickes
stressed the part which cheap power
must play In the advance Of civiliza-
ton.
Cheap power" he declared, means
wider Use of power, q higher
standard Of living and an advancing
civilization. Therefore, it seems tc
me to be one Of the major problems
of our craftsmanship to see to 1t that
power generated by private enterprise
is made available at the cheapest
possible rates consistent with q re-
turn of . reasonable profit to the
capital that is actually invested in its
production and distribution. I do not
pretend to be acquainted fully with
what other nations have done to make
this civilizing influence available at
prices within the means Of people to
buy. but I am glad to be able to say
that q great stride in the direction oi
cheaper power has been made In the
United States during the administra-
ton Of President Roosevelt.
II am also interested in power from
the point of view of conservation. The
activities of the Department Of the
Interior are principally concerned
with the conservation of our natural
resources. True conservation is not q
misery boarding of a natural
resource but its development and use
for the benefit of the people. Con-
servation is the antithesis OF waste
I imagine that if, from the beginning
human beings had used the rich gifts
of nature without waste there would
be far less poverty in the world today
and our civilization would be upon q
much higher plane.
Not too Late.
"AIl of us have wasted our heritage
of forest and soil and water and
mine, some in greater degree than
others. One great good that could
result from such q conference as this
would be o carefully matured plan
for the use of our resources for the
development of power. not only with
out waste, but in the interest Of the
greatest good Of the greatest number
Of the people of our various countries.
"In point of time 1t Is not ye. too
late to develop sound policies for the
development and use Of those physical
means that are available for the crea-
ton Of electric power. Tho e still
Is In the world an abundance Of nat
ural resources such as coal, oil. gas
and flowing waters, that can be con-
verted into power which in turn can
be utilized for the great benefit OF
the people. Let US not repeat the
mistake that has been made SO per-
,sistently Ia the past Of utilizing these
resources with no thought OF the fu-