Milford chronicle., 1953-02-13
NEW POWER POLICY NEEDED

N~SONG
NEW POWER POLICY NEEDED
For years the Department of the Interior
and other departments of the federal gov
ernment have used development of hydro
electric power sites as a lever to help pro-
mote socialized electricity. They tried in
vain to put over vast Columbia Valley Au-
thority modelled in part after the IVA. This |
effort failed because it was opposed not only |
by private industry but by the governors OF |
the states involved. Then many other schemes |
were hatched and proposed to push the fed |
eral government further into the power bus
mess.
The recent election in which the people
indicated they were fed up with big govern
ment and socialism has forced the power
planners to take a different tack The ad-
ministratOr of the Bonneville Power Admin
istration now suggests that the federal gov
ernment get out of the power business. Whe-
ther or not this is just switch to try and
ride with the tide, it comes as good news to
taxpayers far removed from the Northwest
who have been compelled to put up billions
of dollars for western power development
Aside from the political issues surround
ing hydrOelectric power there are increasing
signs that costly power dams may one day
become ObsOlescent white elephants Scien-
tific and chronological progress already on
the horizon may make us wish that we had
not put so much money into these hydrOelec-
trio projects Steam plants fueled by coal,
Ignite or oil are becoming more ard more
efficient. Oil from shale is already being eX-
tracted by the Bureau of Mines and if costs
can be lowered there will be incOnceivably
large resources. There is also atomic power.
The new administration might well pause
for a reconsideration of federal policy to-
ward the entire subject of further invest
ments in hydrOelectric power.
NSO&S
is ECONOMY FOR OTHERS ONLY?
Everybody wants government spending
reduced-except when it cuts into his own
pet project" That is the theme of an article
in Nations Business, written by George
Cline Smith, aptly entitled Economy Is For
Others"
Mr.. Smith cites case after case where
this has been true. Farmers, business men,
labor groups veterans, state and local gov
ernment officials and OrganizatiOnS-an are
for strict economy as general principle
But, more often than not, when some pro-
posed reduction in federal spending will cut
into what they consider their share of the
pie, they howl to high heaven. We saw a
sad example of this when the Hoover Com
missions reports on government reOrganl-
zaticn were made public AS Mr.. Smith OBJ
concentrations in general. But on any spe-
cifc point powerful opposition developed" d"
AS a result, many of the most needed and
most logical reforms recommended by the
commission are still hanging fire.
Here is one big reason why tOday's fed
eral tax bill averages $1,389 for each and
every American family-and why that fam
ily's share of the national debt is $780,
And it also is a reason why, believe it or not
the Treasury in one week of 1862 took in
more money in taxes than in all of 1910!
The point is simple. The drive for econ.
Omy in government must begin at the grass
roots. 1t must begin with an overwhelming
public demand for economy regardless OF
whose OK is gored-and regardless of selfish
interests and special privilege. Then we will
get ecOnomy-fOr Washington always mir
rors the mood and temper Of the people.
$500
WELFARE CLAUSE" ABUSED
Because the Preamble to the Constitution
says it was adopted "tO promote the genera
welfare" every dOgOOder who has descend
ed on Washington in The past 20 year
has defended his pc. project as COnstitu
tiOnal under the sO-callcd "welfare clause.
The result has been to entangle the Fed
eral government in an endless series of work
and missions which should have been hand
leu ny SCdIe anu IOCoI SOVGA AIii0llCS' an iii
has helped increase Federal employment
from $4,000 in 1892 to more than 2,5OO,OO
today. 1t mas helped to boost Federal eX
penditures from $4,659, 100000 in 1882
, an estimated STA, ,593 100000 in the curreu
fiscal year.
The cost of this great bureaucracy
more than the economy can support and rC
main prosperous The only way to curta
it's expenditures is to bring government bac
: home so that state and local government
can handle their own public services. That
, what the Founding Fathers intended .thel
:, to do.
n G~GOS~&
REVENUE MEANS POWER
! The power to tax has always meant Il
r power to control. In 1913 when state an