The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1950-02-10
Billings Man Urges
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navigation, irrigation, management
of the public range and forest lands
fish and wildlife conservation, anC
other resource development tasks
are accepted. In fact, private invest
ment in the industry and agriculture
of the region is dependent on the
dams, power plants, irrigation ia
cilities, and other services which the
Federal Government provides.
The need for more effective Fed
eral management instruments for
administration of resource activities
in the Northwest was wisely written
into legislation by the Public Works
Committee when it considered and
established the Bonneville Power Ad-
ministration. The Bonneville Pro-
ject Act of 1887 stataes: "the form
of administration herein established
for the Bonneville project is intend
ed to be provisional pending the es-
Establishment of permanent admins
tration for Bonneville and other pro-
jects in the Columbia River Basin"
Now with two dams on the Columbia
completed and in operation, and with
four more under active construction,
we stand on the Threshold of a de-
velopment program involving dozens
of dams in the Columbia basin. Now
the time is ripe for establishment of
the permanent administration" for
which the Congress twelve years ago
foresaw the need.
Reviews Accomplishments of IVA
To show what a program such as
eva can actually mean, let's for a
minute review the accomplishments of
the Tennessee Valley Authority. The
Tennessee Valley covers more than
10000 square miles, about four-fifths !
he size of England The Valley prop
er includes parts of seven states
Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North
Mississippi. Today, power from IVA /
iams and steam plants reach homes,
arms, stores, mines, and factories
'ver an area of about $4,000 square
niles. The Valley is rich in coal, cop
Ter, iron, manganese, marble, and
inc, and other valuable minerals.
is supplies of limestone, sand, and
'ravel are said to be inexhaustable.
ireater and greater amounts of these
Kings are now being produced in the
ALLEY. The Tennessee River is about 4
$50 miles long, but it has become one
Il the greatest sources of power in n
he United States.
art in national defense was much
reater than all its other activities.
he electric-power capacity practical
doubled between June, 1941, and
december 1914. Now remember this:
It ten. billion Kilowatt Hours pro-
uced from July 1913 to July 1914, |
bout three-fourths went into war use
or the production of aluminium, cop
er, ships boilers, heavy chemicals, :
and many other materials
Or the armed forces. Was this not /
asset during World War II?
nder IVA, power is distributed at
w rates to increase wider use by 129
and cooperative electric
stems. Home consumers pay less
ian 1.9 cents per Kilowatt Hour
n electric power. 4
VA VIII Make Entire Region /
ore Prosperous Il
Now with such a program already Il
existence and self-supporting, how Il
n we have any qualms about eva? II
mink of the increased industry it Il
Ill attract, the increased farm land
at will be made available, and of
e new jobs that will therefore be H
Gated. There isn't one phase of
e that wouldn't benefit from such II
program. More farms will be equip \
d with electricity, which means :
ore electrical appliances will be &
ed. This will stimulate larger r
tput for the manufacturer. which in e
m will create larger market for T.
W materials, and of course the raw q
aterials will come in large part u
pm the area affected by the pro- y
am. Basically then ambition Of i'm u
owing our living conditions and our u
tons wealth. u