Montana labor news., 1944-05-04
BUTTE HOLDS LARGE
MASS MEETING ON
POWER HEARING

squeeze $685. 600, 900 of inflated or write
up values from the cost of the plant of
the Montana Power Company in its ac-
counting procedure, a large crowd of
Butte citizens held a spirited mass meet
ing on Sunday afternoon, April 80, in
the Butte Miners Union hall. The large
union hall where once the copper barons
wined and dined in what was the Silver
Bow club, but is now the property of the
who toll, was completely filled by
the time the rally got under way.
The audience presented a wide cross
section of the population of the Mining
city, with workers. small businessmen
and professional people scattered
throughout, and a few Montana Power
representatives in attendance, too.
Mason Is Chairman
William Mason, president Of Butte
Miners Union, No. 1, which sponsored
the meeting, was the chairman of the
gathering. Bringing the rally to order,
Mason explained the purpose of the
meeting, which was to give the people of
Butte a report on the hearing thus far,
and a true picture of the facts, instead
of the false propaganda, spread forth in
the columns of the Anaconda controlled
Montana Standard and Butte Daily Post,
the two dailies published here. President
Mason pointed out that there is no free
dom of the press in Butte, as he related
that the Butte Miners Union had at
tempted to place advertisements in both
Butte papers, concerning the mass meet
ing on the power issue; the advertising
was refused by the propaganda bureau
of the Anaconda Montana Power inter
ests, and was not printed. It is obvious
that the Montana Power has so much to
hide that it dare not let the people
know the facts. After this preliminary
explanation, Mason then introduced the
speaker of the day. Jerry j. O'Connell,
State CLIO Political Action Director.
Financial Skullduggery
O'Connell then explained the purpose
of the hearings that were now being
conducted in Butte; what they could ac-
complish; what benefits would come to
the electric consumers now excessively
charged by the Montana Power, to the
preferred stockholders and bondholders,
and even to the utility corporation itself.
The audience laughed and a%pplauded up
roariously as the former congressman
ridiculed the performance Of Con Kelly
A. c. M. Co. director, while he was on
the stand, and his embarrassment as the
Federal Power Commission attorneys laid
bare the financial skullduggery connect
ed with the incorporation Of the Mon
tana Power Company. The crowd was
actually shocked, when it learned the
illegal m-anipulations resorted to, to in
flate the cost Of plant Of the utility,
upon which fictitious and written-up
figures, the electric bills of the Montana
Power customers are now practically
twice as much as they ought to be, if
this hearing is successful. Describing
the transactions involving the Thompson
powersite, O'Connell pointed out
that John D. Ryan, himself a director of
the Milwaukee railroad, bought the
Thompson Falls site from the railroad
for $45O,OOO; then formed his own
Thompson Falls Power corporation, to
which he sold the powersite for $950,000;
then sold, the very next day, to the
Montana Power Company, OF which he
was the directing genius and largest
.a. .-4o,tboTdor tbi. cam mn ,,ov1,or-
site for 49, 0O,O 900 of the common stock
Of the Montana Power. The CLIO politi-
cal director showed with evidence that
Ryan had bought the Great Falls Water
Power and Townsite Company from
j. Hill, the empire builder so
called, for his notes in the amount of
81, SOC, 900. Ryan next sold one-half of
this interest, or S750,0OO, to the Butte
Electric Power Company, which he was
actually running at the time, for $780,
600 in cash and securities, and then in
1913 when the Butte Electric was sold to
the Montana Power, Ryan then sold the
second half interest in the Great Falls
properties, worth as he paid for it, in
notes, s75O,OO0, to the Montana Power
Company for the amazing, incredible
figure of 500, 100000, or a write-up Of
s21,750 900 in one transaction. O'Connell
another fictitious and false
vrite-up of $40, 600, 900, when the Butte
Electric Power was sold to the newly
Montana Power, for which four
of stock at $500 par value each
If the new company was given for one
of the same par value Of the old
company, or $4OO for $500, which natur-
Ally inflated the cost of plant of the
Montana Power four to one, or a fake
AMOUNT Of 3d. 100000.
Support Hearings
The former congressman, with his
characteristic vigor and fire, tore into
he so-called expert witnesses the utility
company had placed on the stand, and
he "hatohetmen" Of the power trust, the
r%ociferous but unenlightened attorneys
Tor the preferred stockholders. O'Con-
hell charged they were actually retained
by the company and not the stockholders.
He actually proved that the removal of
his fake write-up from the common
stock, which is all owned by a subsidi-
ary Of Electric Bond and Share, would
Continued on Page Four !