Evening star., 1936-03-01
T.V.A. Huge Electro-Social Experiment
Far-Reaching i'm Effect on AmericanL Life

minded, could dream Of doing. The
system is not yardstick of pennies
per kilowatt hour-eXcept quite Incl
dentally 1t will be-or is intended to
be-a yardstick for the measurement
of electro-social values.
Power Territorial Unit.
The Tennessee Valley is natural
electric power territorial unit. All its
waterpower resources can be wired to-
gether into closed system for turning
the wheels of industry, agriculture and
transportation 1t can be made to
serve particularly all the activities OF
human life, from dish washing to iron
smelling.
Such territorial unit may form the
natural, rational state of the future,
the co-ordinated power lines pro-
viding the cohesive factor. At present,
most territorial divisions in the United
States, or in the world, are quite IRA
tional, consisting of areas of diverse
interests and ways of life, lumbled
together by political skullduggery or
military conquest in the past.
If the electric power unit is the
natural unit. it probably will evolve
eventually. with or without govern
ment experimentation. But, as DR..
Morgan and his aides see it, the sur
vival of the fittest" way of bringing it
about will be long, weary, awkward
and expensive. In other spheres Of
twentieth century life. the philosophy
of progress by experiment is almost
universally accepted. In the fields OF
medicine or physics, for example, re-
suits can be brought about in . few
weeks which would not come in thou
sands of years of natural development.
Why not, it is asked, in the political
and social fields?
1t may be that any sort of expert
mentation in these fields never can
amount to more than meddlesome
bungling. The factors involved may
be altogether too numerous and COM
plexly interacting-or they may not
be. In any event, this appears to be
the ground upon which the T. v. A.
venture in the long run must stand
or fall-its Justification as nam.
moth experiment in a field where
many decry any sort of experimenting
and advocate letting nature take its
course.
In this particular part of the United
States, nature has taken its course
biological, social and economic-fof
$50 years.
Look at the results, say the directors
of the T. v. A. Look at the illiterates,
nder-nourished hill people. Look at
the tubercular tenant farmer and
his ragged family, with all their
earthly goods on their backs, trudging
along the highways. Look at the mud
filled rivers. the forest-stripped noun
tains, the deep-gullied fields. the dilap-
idated school houses. Yes, look at the
results, say the power company stock
holders. Look at the thriving indus.
tries, the broad highways, the growing
cities with their prosperous, happy
populations, the sturdy, independent
farmers.
Everybody has the privilege of look
ing at the results, deciding whether
one factor, such as electricity, can
affect him very much one way or the
other, and then deciding. according to
his own pre-disposition, the worth or
uselesness of the Tennessee Valley
Authority. 'a'-s'sl
It is a colossal experiment. It's out
come, for good or bad. promises to
have q far-reaching effect on the fu-
ture social and economic organization
Of the United States-and perhaps q
the whole world.
lCopyrtght. 1o36J