Montana labor news., 1950-04-27
DON'T BUY A "PIC IN THE Poke!

Much as it i. against my better judgment, upon occasion it
becomes necessary that doff my hat to the gentlemen VINO
manage Montana Power Co. They re about as able a bunch
Of buccaneers as ever rolled a pair OF loaded dice in Montana.
Less than a year ago Corette & Co., fought with every
weapon at their command Including Zales) to throttle favor
able congressional action on such transmission line projects
as Kerr-Anaconda. Havre-Shelby. etc. Because they placed
selfish interests above public good; because, by their actions
they indicated they cared not whether rural Montanans ever
secured power-except on MPCo's high-prced terms-they
and their fellow monopolists lost that fight.
Then followed six months of tear shedding in which Mon,
,ana Power minions. with quaking voices and fearIadened
words told every Montanan who d listen. about how the coun-
try was fast on its way to a 'sociaistic hades But. though
thew put their ereen-backed souls into each and every speech.
the Montana populace remained unimpressed. The people
knew that. for all too many years, they had been victimized by
rate. which verged on extorhon; that Montana Power and Its
buddy. Anaconda, had arrogantly ridden rough-shod over every
attempt of the people to gain political and economic justice
Having tasted victory in last August senate fight because OF a
hastily organized solid front behind Senator Murray the peo'
ole began to realize that such unified efforts could be made to
pay off in other ways. A new unity between peoples groups
has been growing in the months since.
Knowing that such developments were in the making. land
noting the increasing agitation for eva in western Montana
Montana Powers astute management determined that some
new tactic must be devised if the tide favoring public produc-
ton and distribution Of power be stemmed And 50. with a
furry of headlines, and a bald admission that MPCo. had been
overcharging REA co-ops 81 per cent. or about 81 600 an
nualy. the new strategy was launched recently. 10 take the
curse off the stubborn fight the utility put up last August
Vice President John Corette, in so many words, said that the
oks were all wrong in thinking that Montana Power didn't
want Montana to progress; didn't want rural people to have
power and the new world Of living electricity makes possible.
Said Mr.. Corette:
w want to encourage and contribute to the extension OF
electric service to as many rural areas s possible. thus helping
develop those areas and business in general throughout Mon
tana.
Such newly awakened concern for the people of Montana
might. to the uninitiated. smack Of Billy Sunday-ism but
wat-don't forget those loaded dicel In the news story carry
ing this latest MPCo. share the wealth proposition, a few
paragraphs further down the column, the whole chauvinistic
plot comes to light. Here it $ in Nj. Corette's own words:
1T will make available power at the bureau $ (Reclamahon)
rate without the spending of any Of the taxpayers money for the
building of transmission lines. 1t will save the co-operatves the
additional cost Of building their own transmission systems
Let's look at that last sentence first. Since Montana Power
has already admitted being guilty Of overcharging the REAs
Sl36, 900 per year, this newly found concern for saving the
REAs money is counterfet-is a cover-up for what the out
iii is really up to. Take a good, long look at that first sentence
concerning ransmisson lines.
You REA folks. Just suppose Montana Power DID build
these important transmission lines-that, once built. there
could be no justification for the government duplicating exist
ing facilities. Where would you be then2 You guessed it
at the complete mercy of the Montana Power Co. and its Public
Service Commission. And your new low rates that Montana
Power is placing into effect? Again. you We surmised correct
ly-theyll be gone, along with any future chance OF securing
inexpensive power over publicly owned transmission lines
All this is not to say you should be unwilling to accept th.
81 per cent slash in wholesale rates. Not at all. In fact, you
should insist that substantial cash rebates be made for all the
years Montana Power has been gouging that extra 81 per cent
out Of your co-operatives land in final analysis, your own per
soma, private pocketbook). Rather, my only suggestion to you
is to keep your eye on the ball-and-never for a moment lei
your vision be blurred by any 9th Floor pie in the sky
bunkum. For-if you do-youll be the loser on the long pull
land HOW
From The Peoples Voice