The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1945-02-09
Some Democratic

tContinued from Page OHeb
when an action is or is not demo
cratic. In the case of the IVA, how
ever, we have a method which is boil
very old and very new
For the IVA is a corporation. Who
is there in Montana to say that {
corporation as a corporation is undem
ocratic? The corporation is a crea
ture of the state, the method of 6
democratic people by which their re
sources of men and materials have
been modified for their own economic
development. The congressional com
mittee reporting on the IVA bill said
I'VE intend that the corporation shall
have much of the essential freedom
and elasticity of private business
enterprise"
In point of fact, the IVA is pat.
termed after a corporation: board of
directors, general manager, depart.
mental organization, personnel admin
istration, and an employment relation
ship policy which the American Fed.
erationist has called a "history-mak-
ing labor document"
The IVA, then, is both old and new.
1t is new in the sense that it is a
public corporation: the people going
into business for themselves. 1t is,
however, not the first public corpora
ton by any means. Anglo-Saxon law
has for a long time been very friendly
to the development of this public serv-
ice. Fact is, government is every
where adapting the tried and true
methods of private business enterprise
for" the people. Is this the reason
for the anger of the Montana press
against the MVA? What a sad day
when corporations become afraid of
corporate competition Actually, of
course, there has been in the Tennes-
see Valley not rivalry but fine coop
GRAFTON between this public and the
many private corporations; there has
not been conflict but partnership
Those who fear public corporation
might well ask where the country
would have been during the 1905
without the Reconstruction Finance
Corporation, or the FLD.C., or the
H.O.LC., and others. The IVA has
differed from them only in this sense:
it was a public corporation put to
work for given region. AS a cor
poration, it has the legal power of any
other corporation, but no more. Is
this the reason for the fear in Mon
tana of an MVA?
Has the IVA been an action "of"
the people? Has it worked with the
people? Are its "bases" democratic?
The IVA has had this fixed policy, |
adopted early: wherever possible |
those parts of its program which re-
quire direct relationship with the peo-
pie of the area must be carried out |
by the agencies which these people |
support and control" Wherever it |
can, it contracts with business and |
government units for the operation of
any particular service. Its formula is:
of power but decentral-
lzation of function.
The IVA works with the people.
Thus its officers, the men who make
It's decisions, live in the region where
The work is done. If this be test |
Of democracy, can Montana boast of |
he democracy Of some of its most |
significant economic enterprise? Adult |
farm demonstration, home |
economics demonstration, scientific |
soil conservation, land use
industrial development |
research: these activities take it into |
he areas where people live. It's de-
;isions are always made after and in |
consultation with the areas and units
The iva has been an agency which |
las planned with the people, not for
hem; 1t has planned with every unit
If public and private enterprise in
he area: and it has planned with
hem for multitude of purposes. The
esults are plain. No other region
an match the record of economic and
ocial progress of the Tennessee Val
ey in the last 10 years. Are we to
elieve that many Montanans and APP
arently the Montana legislature have
epudiated the proposed Missouri Val
ey Authority because they were fam
liar with this record?