Evening star., 1940-07-02

oVi1loSl aOIS ava
tional Commit David Lawrence.
tee wel-considered attack on
alleged inconsistencies as between
the selection of Willkie and McNary.
There wasn't anything personal or
unethical about it.
Senator Norris of Nebraska,
ardent New Dealer, who has the
reputation of being great progress
sive, jumped into the fray, however,
and began calling names. This
might have been popular few
years ago. but the Nebraska Senator
will discover it only makes votes
now for the man sought to be
smeared.
There's a simple reason for this.
The public knows more about the
electric power issue than it did
when Senator Norris and his friends
began their campaign for public
ownership, and the people are a
bit fed up on attacks that merely
impugn other peoples motives and
integrity without proof.
htduS W DtDdtt ISSUE.
If the New Deal wants to go to
bat on the utility issue it will doubt
less find Wendell ready and eager
to debate it. Nothing probably
would please him more than to go
up and down the country telling the
people of the millions of dollars
that have been wasted on the
T. V. A. and of the financial jug
Cling in the T. V. A. which has
brought criticism from the office
of the controller general of the
United States.
Then there is the question of loss
of taxes to the States and munich
palities in the T. V. A. area and
the vast subsidies paid by taxpayers
in the North for the benefit of
persons and interests in the South
all of this has never really been
opened up on the stump because
the American people have never
before been ready to listen, and
there has been nobody on the anti
T. V. A. side who could get a hear
ing.
Today the American people are
ready to listen to what Wendell
Willkie says and he can go back
over the whole history of the way
the T. V. A. was put over on the
taxpayers and get hearing such
as he never could have had before.
Mr.. Willkie may welcome the chance
not only to go into the T. v. A.
matter, but to tell the public of
the blackmail tactics that have been
used by the New Deal to break down
private industry and force it to
sell electric light properties under
the threat of annihilation of the
private owners.
The whole story of what the
utilities did in financial pyramiding
before 1933-which incidentally was
before Mr.. Willkie was made presi-
dent OF mis- company-does not COM
pare in public damage to what
has been done to the economic
system since 1888 by the use of
governmental power and money. AS
for national defense and unpre-
paredness, it can be proved that
the administration spent more time
and effort worrying about electric
light companies than it did about
building airplanes and tanks and
naval vessels.
Huge Private Outlay Prevented.
Then there's the story of how
literally the expenditure of billions
of dollars of construction by private
industry for the utilities was pre-
vented by the action of the New
Deals, and this can easily be trans
lated into statistics showing the
loss in pay rolls and jobs occasioned
by fight that was largely political
and demagogic.
II the New Dealers want the issue
OF the campaign to be Government
versus private ownership, they will
ind in Wendell Willkie man who
knows the vulnerable points of their
schemes OF State socialism as well
as any man in America. The New
Deal itself has revealed in recent
months what happens when utility
company comes within its political
clutches-fat jobs are created for
the friends of the New Deal. Such
posts are handed around NOWADAYS
Just as if they were a part of the
customary political patronage.
Few men are as well informed
about the New Deal operations as
Wendell Willkie, and he can give
facts and figures in a debate that
can symbolic the entire wave of
resentment that has swept the busi-
nessmen of all industries in the last
few years. For the attack on the