Evening star., 1938-03-27
Troubles Have Beset
T. v. A. From the Start
BY OWEN L. SCOTT.

L.
its big push into the planned develop
ment Of the natural resources OF its
region.
After three years Of legal fighting, sthe
courts finally are on the verge OF STEP
ping out of T. v. AS path. Electric
power is about to be produced in large
volume from the series of dams, COM
pleted and nearing completion, on the
Tennessee and Clinch Rivers. Markets
for that power are opening rapidly.
Revenues from sales of electricity soon
will be flowing into the Federal Treasury
In sizable quantities. Negotiations are
Under way for the purchase Of some pri-
vately owned distribution systems. Nav
igation Is assuming Importance on the
improved portion OF the channel OF the
Tennessee.
More than hundred thousand Amer
ican farms, in SO States, are utilizing the
new phosphate fertilizer developed by
the new T. " A. chairman, DR.. Harcourt
A, Morgan. Erosion control Is reaching
an advanced state OF development. Def
mite progress Is reported IN the spread
of cooperative enterprises among the
farmers of the valley.
In other words, the dream that Presi-
dent Roosevelt outlined to the Nation
even before taking Office in 1888 today is
something OF a reality that soon can be
called upon to stand or fall on its prac-
tical merits and its demonstrated results.
It was on the verge of this test, free
for the first time from the prospect OF
legal obstruction, that DR.. Arthur E..
Morgan, the original chairman OF the
T. v. A. board of directors went on the
warpath against his fellow directors, DR..
Harcourt Morgan and David Lilienthal.
The first chairman never did like the
plans that Mr.. Lilienthal promoted for
developing and distributing the electricity
produced in the valley through public
agencies. The law itself calls for prefer
ence to public bodies in the sale Of power
Out Of this clash of personalities and
of ideas is to come an airing OF T. V. A.
affairs that will permit the country to
appraise FIVE years of accomplishment
and OF failure.
AS President Roosevelt first visioned
this experiment, T. v. A. was to be "a
corporation clothed with the powers of
government, but possessed of the f1exl-
bility and initiative of private enter
prise" The flexibility and initiative be-
fore long were lost in the differences of
opinion between DR.. A. e. Morgan and
his colleagues.
Yet, to date, DR.. Morgan has most to
show in the way of accomplishment in
the valley.
The river that he started to work on
in 1888 Is hardly the same river today.
Seven huge dams are built or building to
harness the Tennessee River and to use
its waters on basis of year r-around plan
ming The Tennessee flows for $50 miles
through the States of Tennessee. Ken
lucky and Alabama before emptying into
the Ohio River. Until 1888. the oppor-
tunities that the Tennessee River offered
for navigation, power development and
flood control we're largely neglected.
Wilson Dam had been started at Muscle
Shoals, in Alabama, during 1918. This
dam was completed in 1925. but was put
to little use owing to arguments about
who should get the electric power that its
turbines generated. Argument stopped
in May. 1888, when Muscle Shoals be-
came the nucleus around which T. v. A.
was built.
After that came the broad program Of
overall river development that now has
reached an advanced stage.
DR.. Morgan pushed quickly into con-
struction of Norris Dam, far up in the
headwaters of the Tennessee. This was
a storage dam impounding the waters
during flood periods and releasing them
during dry periods in order to maintain
an even river flow for navigation and
power development. 1t was completed
in March, 1885,
Wheeler Dam was started in November,
1888, and completed in November. 1886
Pickwick Landing Dam and Guntersville
Dam were started in 1885 and are to be
completed this year. Chickamauga Dam
followed in 1885 and will be ready in l939
while Kiwassee Dam was started in 1887
and will be completed in 1910. Congress
this last week turned down a request for
funds to start an important dam to be
known as Gilbertsville, far down near
the mouth of the Tennessee.
The former T. v. A. chairman is proud
of the construction record of these dams
He is convinced Of their soundness from
a planning and engineering point of view.
They suit him for purposes of navigation
and flood control. But he does not like
what is to be done with the electric
power that the dams develop, favoring
more consideration TO private utilities
than the other directors favored.
Initial installation of turbines at the
dams constructed and soon to be COM
pleted will produce 100000 horsepower,
and later will produce 1,972,000 horse
power Of electricity.
There are demands in the Valley for
this power Big industries already are
signing contracts for some of 1t. Seven
teen municipalities and fourteen rural
co-operatives are distributing T. v. A.
power, even in the face of long-drawn- out
court attacks. Memphis is starting con-
struction of a municipal distributing sys-
tenn to duplicate that of a private COM
pany that refused to sell. Negotiations
are under way for acquisition of the pri-
vate system that serves Knoxville and
the surrounding territory. Chattanooga
has voted for public distribution of T. v.
A. power.
Eventually this sale of power will bring
important revenues to the Government,
whether or not those revenues will be
sufficient to meet the cost to the Gov
ernment of the entire project, plus inter-
est. The earning power OF T. v. A. has
been checked for three years by legal
battles that cost the Government many
uni11ions nf dn11orc If income