Tabor City tribune. (Tabor City, N.C.) 1946-1991, 1950-08-02
H0KUM
By George Peck

In the final paragraph OF a
ecent column discussing the in
aston Of Government into the
power manufacturing and dis
ributing business, I said this;
"If no project is plotted for
our particular vicinity, serve
iotice on your Legislators that
you have a great aversion tc
icing forced to pay part OF the
ost OF furnishing juice to citi
ems in other parts Of the nation
From a reader out on the Paci
,ic Coast comes a letter inquiring
IS to just what 1 mean by that
statement. AS the same question
nay be in the minds of other
.eaders, l have chosen to answer
he inquiry via my column. Here
,ocS:
The Tennessee Valley Author
ty is one of the largest power
developments so far completed by
,ur Federal Government. The so
ialistic planners point with great
pride to this project; in fact.
;libly cite it as a glowing exam
Die to prove that the Fedora
Government is able to furnish
power and light to consumers
as lower rates than privately,
owned companies. What hokum
AS the late Al Smith vas wont
TO say. Let's look at the record.
So, let's you and I turn % tn
l949 Annual Report of IVA. We
find that it operated III l949 at
4 net loss of $7,O42,000. That loss
was paid by tax PAYERS in every
state of the Union, only a small
part by tax payers served by the
IVA. In other words. both my
Pacific Coast reader friend and
[ paid part of the cost of furn'
shing Juice" to consumers IN
he Tennessee Valley.
Now, I have nothing against
the good citizens in the Tennes
see Valley who are served by
IVA. They are nice people, but
much as | admire and esteeE7
hem, do object to paying part
If their electric light bills. There
5 no more valid reason for my
paying part of their electric light
pills than their paying part 81
ny rent. food or laundry bills.
Since it was begun in 1882
The American tax payers have
invested about S8O00,O00,000 il
IVA. It has consistently failec
90 earn it's interest charges OF
the money borrowed from tn
National Treasury; even at thu
low Government rates. If a pr
vately-owned company operated
On such a basis it would soon b.
bankrupt. The IVA manages t
stay in business only because i
passes the loss on to you and MI
md the other tax payers.
So, this claim of chcapness o
public power rates turns out t
be myth from national stand
point The taxpayer at large il
called upon to shoulder the take
that the public power agencie
escape paying, as well as to pre-
vide cheap or free capital t
them. While certain areas which
are beneficiaries of Federal pow
er programs enjoy lower electrl
rates, thew do so at the expens
Of taxpayers of the country as
whole. What one citizen saves OF
his electric rate, another cltlze
makes up in his tax.
But, here is the worst teatur
Of this Government invasion int
the power and light business. L
1949, while IVA was taking 81
O42,OOO out of Uncle Sans Tree
sury to meet its deficit, the pr
vately-owned power companie
paid in taxes into that sam
treausry the tidy sum of al
proximately $451,000.000.
From this, it is apparent tina
we get "nicked" twice when Go'
eminent steps out of line an
goes into business. We taxpayer
hays to dig down to meet the d.
fic!ts incurred; ard No longer
there tax revenue from the pr
Vately-owned companies squeez
out by Government.
And so I repeat: If Feders
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