The Washington times., 1938-09-12

tures syndicate, All Rights Reserved.
strictly Prohibited.l
DEHnND this presidential move
ID to investigate wartime power
needs Is the old forgotten
scheme to force the power COM
panieS into spending som e
money for plant expansion.
Mr.. Roosevelt announced he
was appointing q commission Of
five to study the problem, but
the commission will not have to
study very hard. War Depart
ment has confidentially blocked
out Q complete scheme.
War engineers have been
working on it for months under
direction Of Assistant Secretary
Louis johnson, who inspired the
White House action.
When JohnSon'S commission
reports you will find it calls for
specific expansion Of connecting
lines and steam plant power ia
cilitieS (no hydro in 16 spe-
cific cities Baltimore, Wash.
ington. Birmingham, Boston.
Bridgeport, Buffalo land Mia
gara), Chicago, Cincinnati,
Cleveland, Detroit, New York,
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Ro-
chester, st. Louis and Schenec-
tady. Expansions now starting
in two or three Of the cities may
make them safe for war posi-
bilitieS before the report gets out
but all are In the programO
POsOer People SuspiciOus
TUE power people smelled .
L political short circuit some
where In the scheme at first.
That Mr.. Roosevelt would ever
do anything nonpolitical in con-
nection with power seemed In
comprehensive to them.
The mouse in the generator,
Is they saw it, was the idea Of
developing connecting lines.
Such companies as Niagara
Hudson and Public Service Of
New Jersey have been carefully
keeping their kilowattS from
crossing State lines. Their frank
purpose was to avoid the hold
ing companies act which applies
only to interstate traffic. This
new Administration move looked
like an effort to push these and
other companies into interstate
arrangements which would bring
them under the thumb Of the
SEC.
Consultations have been
started inside which may lift
this mouse out. A legal arrange
ment may be made whereby the
Government will officially order
the companies to enter inter
state agreements, relieving them
Of responsibility and saving
them from the SEC.
Might Press Them
TUE project seems certain to
l. go through in one form or
another. War Department has
enough weapons and candy to
get the power boys either way.
The candy Of RFC loans will
be offered first. II it does not
work, then the War Department
will wheel out o threat TO build
the facilities itself and lease
them-and it will.
The bombing Of any of these
l6 cities today would blacken
them out Of the industrial pic
ture, running nearby munitions
and war implement industries.
Furthermore, business improve
ment might press them. Power
men contend, however, that they
do not need the added facilities
today, and therefore expansion
Is not commercially feasible.
There may be considerable argu-
ing about this point. A variety
Of figures are available to show
that the companies now are
near capacity output las the
President said) or that they
have q fair leeway to handle
any load likely to be put on
them short Of war edison Elec-
tric Institute figureS).
The fact that JOhnSon'S law
firm formerly represented utili-
ties in West Virginia and that
he knows the power business
may help the negotiations and
bring the power people around.
At any rate, they will be
around.
MOT a single CIo big shot
IN made a speech on Labor
Day. Newspapers, trying to give
both sides, found it impossible
to get C1O material for that day
to balance their AFL handouts.
CPEAKER B NIX H E A D
~ dropped into town a week
back, but nothing from him ap-
peared in the press. Like the
other Southern Congressman
who have come back for q few
days, Bankhead avoided news
men because he did not want
to be asked questions about the
purge.
TALK about repeating the
L Spanish embargo next seS-
sion is starting. House Foreign
Affairs Committee Chairman
McReynolds mentioned it cas-
ually after seeing MeSsrS S.
Roosevelt and Hull, although
he did not indicate that official
opposition to repeal would be
relaxed.
Adro;nistrott tton NAV he will.