The Waterbury Democrat., 1938-01-08
'. BEHIND THE SCENESl WASHINGTON gY RODNEY DuTcHER-a
 Democrat Washington
 Correspondent
Supreme Court Power Verdict Reflected In
 FDR's Message
 Ahead of Time

Washington, Jan. - New Deal victories in the Supreme Court on the power front strengthen previ- ous predictions that conversations between the president and public utilities executives would be without result.
 This fact and the aftermath of Roosevelts message to Congress em- phasize one of the points which might have made the situation clearer in the last two or three months if it had been more com- monly recognized: the President has been and is unwilling to make any noteworthy concessions in response to vociferous business demand which would mean any retreat from administration positions previously taken.
 The message has been widely in terpreted as demand" for busi- ness cooperation. Instead of prom iSing concessions" its chief new proposition was one for more busi- ness regulation. This has the same flavor as the real facts of the widely ballyhooed White House utility con- versations, in which demands for changes in New Deal power policy were met by presidential requests for lower rates and a large private expansion program.
 Weakest Case Wins
 Roosevelt's confidence in his own position at that time was fortified by a serene faith that the Supreme Court would uphold the government in the PWA power, IVA and hold ing company act test cases.
 The court has now approved PWA lOan-grants to municipali-
 ties for public power plants after
 three-year court fight. It has
 suggested possibility of an over
 turn in its conservative theory of
 reproduction cost" in valuations and agreed to an early hearing
 on the holding company act test.
 Government attorneys thought their weakest link in the power test cases was the right of government to make outright gifts to erect mu- nicipal plants which would con- pete with private power companies. But the nine justices now unani- mously approve that.
 "POWer Trust" Loses
 It really looks as if the so-called power trust" had lost out in its long, bitter and expensive battle to defeat Roosevelts aims, first in Con- gress and then in the courts. Mean while, there are some other essen- tial points regarding the White House conversations with utilities magnateS which have never leaked out.
 ROosevelt's talk with Wendell
 Willkie of the Commonwealth &
 Southern company, although more
 publicized, was not as potentially important as his discussion with Floyd Carlisle of the Niagara Hud- son and Consolidated Edison conn., panies. The atmosphere toward Willkie has been somewhat cooler since he gave out the program of suggested concessions he had pro- posed to Roosevelt, and wasn't
 very warm in the first place. Orig
 inal initiative for the Willkie ap-
 pointment was taken not by
 Roosevelt but by an ex New Deal
 lawyer now associated with Will kie, working through a highly
 placed conservative White House
 adviser.
 Much more important to RooSe- welt was his conversation with car lisle which really concerned St. Law renee river power development ana the rich market for power in New York state. At the time, in Novem- Der, it appeared that the St. Law renee treaty with Canada was near CT fruition than was generally sup posed.
 Share Benefits
 Roosevelt undertook to tell Car lisle that the longer he and other utility men fought the admlnsIra- tion program, the worse 1t would be for them. He said the market was growing faster than facilities, that even if public development or St. Lawrence power came the prl- yate interests had nothing to De afraid of, that Carlisle should ex- band distribution systems through the state, reduce rates, "get in m the ground floor" and prepare for competition in a program when a meanwhile would benefit the nation as well as the Carlisle interests.
 The President was at least per suasive enough to cause Carlisle to say that fears of government com. petition are very much lessened and to announce a new $112,0Oo,ooo construction program which already had been decided upon.
 Copyright, 1888, NEA Service, Incl