Evening star., 1938-03-05

man. DR.. Arthur ~ I
e. Morgan, chair n-.
man of the A"''"'''
Tennessee Valley Authority, who
thought that government could be de-
cent and honest because he himself
was decent and honest, who thought
government could be unselfish and
conscientious because he himself was
unselfish and conscientious.
The tragedy is no less easy to bear
because Senator George W. Norris,
radical of radicals. liberal of liberals,
was the father of the T. v. A. and
fought with might and main to keep
the new agency free from the spoils
system and the sordid machinations
of the politicians. He wrote into the
law clauses that commanded the
merit system to be applied. He in
sisted on high standards in selecting
personnel.
Human Nature Not Abolished.
But Mr.. Norris, like many reformers,
forgot that human nature is not
abolished when the law says its
greedy hand must be kept from pub
lie authority. He forgot, too, that
there were other ways for people to
become partisan besides affiliating
with either Of the major political
parties or classifying themselves as
progressive or conservative.
DR.. Morgan now calls for con-
gressional investigation of the whole
T. v. A. He hints at scandal and lack
Of integrity. His statement comes
just after a special commission had
refused to entertain the claims Of a
United States Senator for hundreds
Of thousands of dollars Of compensa-
ton for marble resources in and
around T. v. A.
That there has been division in the
Board of Directors of the T. v. A.
for several months is we'll known to
the public just as is the fact that
DR.. Morgan has been crying alone in
the wilderness for Congress to take
. good look at the T. v. A. His exact
words In his open appeal this week
to Congress for an inquiry are worth
quoting:
TO steadily increasing degree, I
have contended with an attitude of
conspiracy, secretiveness and bureau
cratic manipulation which has made
the proper and effective conduct of
T. v. A. business increasingly difficult.
During this period the public has
been steadily, and believe purposely
led to believe that the difficulties with
in the T. V. A. have been due pri-
marily to differences as to power pol
icy, or to just another family quarrel.
The real difficulty has been the
effort to secure honesty, openness,
deeency and fairness in government" "
DR.. Morgan's Views Liberal.
Now who is DR.. Morgan? He is no
tool Of the power interests" He has
believed and now believes in the basic
purpose of the T. v. A. He has for
years been president of Antioch Col
lege Of Ohio. He has what might be
called liberal views that border on the
socialistic But above all he is an
idealist. almost purist in his belief
that democratic government-the peo-
pies government-can be and should
be honest and decent.
When DR.. Morgan, member of the
directorate of three which manages
the T. v. A., calls on Congress to
investigate, his charges cannot be
swept aside as those of an economic
royalist" or a money changer" or
even one of the Sixty Families, for
DR.. Morgan neither by inheritance or
by occupation can be classed as a rich
man. He is not even a man of mod
est means.
The administration has known for
some time that DR.. Morgan was
thorn in its side, but has preferred
to temporize with the situation, hoping
that the good doctor would get tired
and quit. Today the intrigue spon-
sored by the administration and its
henchmen in Congress is to switch the
inquiry to the presidentially controlled
Federal Trade Commission, where the
whole thing can be hushed up, or at
least maneuvered so that it does not
do the administration any publicity
damage.
Norris Favors Trade Commission.
But the mere fact that the admin
istration wants to hush something up
and is afraid Of a congressional in
quiry is in itself suspicious. Even
Senator Norris of Nebraska now is
said to favor an inquiry only by the
Federal Trade Commission instead of
by Congress. But it will be recalled
that IN 1928, when the inquiry into
public utilities was first suggested by
the late Senator Tom Walsh of Mon
tana, Mr.. Norris and others felt that
q committee of Congress would do
better job than would the Federal
Trade Commission. The utilities, on
the other hand, believed that a con-
gressional committee would not be as
much in their interest as would be
Federal Trade Commission inquiry.
Certainly. so far as giving the in
quiy a bipartisan handling SO that
all sides may be represented, an in
vestigation by Senate and House
committee would be decidedly in the
public interest. But there's another
reason. The Federal Trade Commis-
sion Is an executive agency Its mem
bers are subject to presidential ap-
pointment and removal. One execu-
tive agency ought not to be asked to
investigate another executive agency.
To investigate executive agencies is
plainly the duty Of Congress, which
created the Tennessee Valley Author
ity and Is being asked now to vote
millions of dollars for more and more
public ownership projects. It surely
would seem that If there is nothing
10 hide the administration would not
care who conducts an inquiry to find
out whether there can be decency and
honesty and fairness in government.
(Copyright. 193S)