Evening star., 1937-01-24
President Weighs Power
Issue Factors.
BY OWEN L. SCOTT.


uting ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS electricity,
day convinced that President Roosevelt
agreed with him.
A little while later David Lilienthal,
T. v. A. board member and advocate of
open warfare between the Government
and private utilities, came from White
House conference confident that Mr..
Roosevelt agreed with him rather than
with DR.. Morgan, whose viewpoint Mr..
Lilienthal opposes.
Actually, the President, faced with a
showdown on a question of major i'm
portance, was absorbing the ideas of
both sides before making up his own
mind. He pursued what now is recog-
nized as a regular Roosevelt technique
for seeking solution Of difficult issue
a method that involves going along with
the man who is outlining his views, in
search for the heart of his position. and
then endeavoring to evolve formula OF
compromise.
In this particular case-with the whole
issue of utility relationships involved-at
the start Of his second administration
President Roosevelt obviously prefers a
hard boiled attitude toward the interests
has been uncompromising when dealing
with them in the past.
But practical considerations now are
forcing him to reappraise past policies
and to shape new ones For example,
in the Tennessee Valley, T. v. A. has
facilities, completed and under con-
struction, capable of producing large
amounts of electric energy. Expanding
m rkatS pao1ad m obSorh fhic Y,ou,or
A private company now buys, under
contract, an important part of the power
generated. Yet that same company is
joining with others in an attempt to
destroy the entire T. v. A. program, from
which it obtains much of the commodity
that it sells. So successful are the
court attacks OF this and other COM
panies that the Presidents pet expert
ment has been stopped in its tracks, while
judges seek to determine whether the
Government can serve communities seek
ing the electricity its agency generates.
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Should T. v. A. refuse to renew the
private company contract when that
contract expires on February 3, or should
the Government turn its other cheek and
continue to sell while a new attempt is
made to reach an accord with the utility
companies?
DR.. Morgan says: Turn the other cheek.
A national government should be above
any display Of vindictiveness and should
move slowly.
Mr.. Lilienthal says: Shut off the power
when the contract expires and let the
company scratch for new supply, un-
less it and other companies are ready to
end their sniping tactics.
Then. too: Out on the Columbia River
the Federal Government has two other
power projects making rapid progress.
Before many months, the dam at
Bonneville and the Grand Coulee Dam
will be producing large amounts of
electricity that will need a market.
What shall be done with that electricity?
Should the Government sell to private
companies and let them do the distribut-
ing, or should it encourage distribution
by State and local governments or by
co-operatives of rural users? If local
governments are encouraged to enter
the field of power distribution, what
attitude should be taken toward the
private companies already in the field?
In addition: Boulder Dam already is
generating an important amount of
power: If the Senate approves the pro-
posed treaty with Canada to permit COM
pletion of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence
Waterway, other power sources will be
tapped, and if Congress authorizes more
dams on other of the Nations navigable
streams, still more hydroelectric power
will be in the market.
President Roosevelt is convinced that
an abundance of cheap electric power
provides one important key to national
development in the years just ahead.
His mind is set on Federal Govern
ment program that will insure the people
full utilization of their water power re-
sources and the opportunity to enjoy the
cheapest practical rates both from the
Government and from private companies
generating power by other methods.
But until now he has not formulated.
or induced Congress to formulate, def
mite, understandable power policy that
will reveal to the people as well as to
the private utilities just what Federal
Government intentions are.
II ~
So, in order to deal with the present
T. v. A. impasse, and to clear up future
policy, President Roosevelt has COM
mittee at work formulating this policy.
which will be offered to Congress for in
dorsement. The result will be to take the
controversy from the hands of DR.. Nor
gan and Mr.. Lilienthal and place its
determination either with the Federal
Power Commission or with new Federal
power policy commission.
DR.. Morgan, older. with long expert
ence as an engineer and college presi-
dent, has learned to be wary of all at
tempts to remake the world in day.
He urges the Government to seek a
compromise with private companies that
will enable them to look forward to
reasonably secure future. provided they
behave, but which also will enable the
people of the country to experiment with
public ownership. His idea is that If
T. v. A. is used to whip the private
power companies. then its other-and to
him more mportant-activities in re-
gional planning will be jeopardized.
Mr.. Lilienthal, youthful go-getter,
with previous experience as member
of Wisconsins Public Service Commits
sion, would like to show utility magnates
that they have master. His position
has been that T. v. A. should serve as
a yardstick to demonstrate to the people
of the country the benefits that can be
realized from cheap electric power, avail
able in abundance and produced, not for
profit, but to perform the widest possible
service.
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