The daily independent., 1937-06-03
BY DREW PEARSON and ROBERT S. ALLEN


Senate, House Committees Part
Company; mo Public Calam-
ity," Joe Robinson Says, If Act
Fails To Go Through; Power
Lion Lies Down With Public
Lamb As Wall Street Finances
Deals; Stewart Quit FEC in
Disgust; President Wanted To
Grant Him New Term.
Washington,- the President
has been wondering why nothing
has been done aboUS his ambltl-
Gus government reorganization
bill. he can get pretty good idea
of the reason from what happen
ed behind the closed doors OF the
last Joint Senate and House COM
mittee meeting.
This group, named specially to
consider the measure, daWdled a
round for more than three
months doing nothing. Finally,
under White House prodding, it
met to decide on some course OF
action. An agreement was reach
ed-to disagree.
The House members insisted
that the Presidents plan be chop
ped up into four SepraSe bills and
submitted 10 the chambers in that
form. They contended this would
expedite consideration. The Sen
aJors opposed this, demanding
that the legislation be Concentrat-
ed in one measure as proposed by
the President.
Splitting this up INTO four
bills" remarked Senate Leader
Joe Robinson, head of the Senate
committee, will only further de-
lay acton. OF course. it probably
doeSnT matter, for l doubt if any
reorganization legislation will get
through this session. And that
won't be a public calamity"
With these spirited words spur
ring them on. the two committees
decided to part company and each
go its own way.
Lion And Lamb
Strange [hingS are happening
in the strifC-ridden power indus
try.
In widely separated sections Of
the country, private and public
power interests are peacefully
getting together in mutually ac-
ceptable dealS-a development
almost as miraculous as the par
able of the lion and the lamb.
These are the transactions:
In Nebraska, negotiat:onS have
been completed under which three
federally financed state power
pdojectS will take over virtually
all the private utilities in the
StaIe, at a cost of between S75,-
100000 and $lOO,OOO.OO0.
In Ponce, Puerto Rico, second
largest city on the island the
municipal plant has bought out
the competing private company
And in Seattle. Wash, the
municipal power and light plant,
managed by SEC Commissioner
j. d. Ross and one of the mos,
successful of its kind, has aCQuir-
ed its private rival at cost OF
S37.O0O.O0O.
These abSOrptiOnS are history
making, but even more aSt0und-
ing s the facV that the NebraS-
ka and Seattle purchases are be-
ing financed by Wall Street. The
citadel of big business is lending
the governments Of Nebraska and
Seattle the money 20 buy out pri-
vate utility interests.
Government power executives
are not aCClaiming these eVenSs
as the millennium, but they do re-
gard them as sign; tiCant StraWS in
the wind of future power devel-
opment.
Uncle Joe Cannon
Ex-Governor ROberG P. Bass Of
New Hampshire is The only sur
vivor of seven Governors who, in
1912 wrote a letter urging Theo-
dore Roosevelt to run for the
nomination against Taft.
Visiting Washington the other
day to survey his chances of run
ming for the Senate, Bass told this
story on Uncle Joe Cannon, one
of the mCSt famous Speakers IN
the history of Congress.
Bass, chen a member OF Con-
greSS, went to Speaker Cannon to
get his support for a conservation