Evening star., 1939-12-01
R. Will Finance
Power if Wall Street
Won't, President Says
No Electricity Emergency
Now, He Asserts; Linked
Systems Held First Need
~ the Associated Press.

~ the Associated Press.
President Roosevelt said today
there was no immediate emergency
in the electric power supply for the
Nation and that private power COM
panies, in planning expansion OF
supply, could find needed funds at
the Reconstruction Finance Corp. If
they failed to get the money in Wall
Street.
The power question arose at the
Presidents press conference when a
reporter sought Mr.. Roosevelts views
on conferences planned this week by
private companies to survey power
needs both as to defense measures
and as to normal requirements. The
question put was whether standby
steam plants would be necessary in
any expanded system.
The President said lot Of rot
had been written about that. He
added standby steam plants prob
ably would be needed in time of war,
but, since this country was not going
to war, there was no need to talk
about them.
Wants Connecting Links.
The primary question, he contin-
ued, was how to provide connecting
links between a number of great
private systems so power could be
shifted from one locality to another
as needed.
Private companies could build these
links with private funds, he said,
but if Wall Street money was not
available they could 60 to see Jesse
Jones, Federal loan administrator,
who has supervision over the R. F. C..
The President, without naming
the person, said that the other day
some one used his recommendation
of several years ago for creating nine
regional planning authorities in the
Nations watersheds as deliberate
effort to becloud what he called the
human engineering idea involved by
contending it was designed to set up
nine power authorities.
He said this was not true because
power was only minor part of the
various regional plans he had in
mind.
Norris Talks Recalled.
Tracing the history of the Ten
nessee Valley Authority plan up to
the time he proposed the other
regional plans, the President told OF
his early 1882 conferences with Sem
ator Norris, independent, of Ne
braska for developing the Tennessee
River. He said this was to cover
both civil and human engineering
and the Norris Waterpower plan
which was included did not amount
to Is per cent of the total plan.
This, as we'll as the later plans
proposed, he said, emphasized hu-
man values and flood prevention
highway development, and indus
trialization of localities close to
available water.
In other words. he said, if the
human phase of the T. v. A. worked
it would be extended to other water
sheds. The results were so encour-
aging, he added, that he proposed
the additional regional planning
areas for extension of human engl-
neerlng.
Waterpower Held a Minor Item.
Waterpower was a minor item in
most of these areas, he said, adding
that, for example, it was very mi
nor in connection with the Ohio
River and rivers running into the
Gulf of Mexico.
Despite this, the Chief Executive
said some one had deliberately per-
verted the actual facts in his mes
sage. The time would come, he said,
when, much more human planning
might be necessary.
He recalled that the late Senator
Robinson. Democrat. of Arkansas
had sought to set up planning
region for the Arkansas River and
said waterpower on that long. wind
ing waterway was practically nil,
compared with the human angles
involved.
Asked about the ST. Lawrence wa
terway, on which a treaty with Can
ada is now being negotiated, the
President said that was a separate
question and embraced the poten-
tial future shortage rather than
existing need in both countries.
n Ii