Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-07-12
Mr.. Fulbright VS.. Humbuq

mr.. ruI0r9nt VS.. HumDug
Senator Fulbright belongs to what is
described as the liberal wing Of the Dem
ocratic Party. He also has always been,
and still is, strong supporter Of the Ten
neSsee Valley Authority So it is partic-
ularly impressive fact that he has come
out with q vigorous full-dreSS defense of
the Presidents directive to the Atomic
Energy Commission to negotiate a 25-year
contract with two private companies for
construction of power plant at West
Memphis, Arkansas.
Arkansas, of course, is Mr.. Fulbright's
home State, and certain benefits would
naturally accrue to it from the building
and operation Of such plant But that
is not the real reason why he has spoken
out as he has in the Senate. The real rea-
son, as he has put it, is that the proposed
contract "has been SO viciously attacked,
and think so unfairly and so enormously
attacked, and figures have been so freely
used without justification, that some one
simply had to say something about the
actual facts"
Broadly speaking, the proposals critics
(mostly the Democratic "liberals'') have
made the following major charges among
authority to negotiate the contract in cues
ton; ~ that the President has exceeded
his powers in issuing his directive; 60 that
the directive constitutes sort of sly, UNI
demanded move that would misuse one of
the Nations most vital and sensitive agen-
cies to initiate policy that could ultimately
destroy IVA for the benefit of the private
utilities; and (4) that power from the pro-
tod 1N1a 1t n
between $35 million and $5.5 million more
year than equivalent power from facil-
tiles that iva could build at Fulton, Ten
neSSee.
These and similar charges, however,
have been effectively rebutted by Mr.. Full
bright. True enough, his Friday speech
does not constitute the last or most author
itative word on the subject, but it certainly
presents persuasive case in favor of the
proposed contract-an arrangement under
which the private companies, at a cost of
about $107 million, would build a 100000
kiloWatt plant whose output (Which would
be for non governmental consumers in the
Memphis area) would be fed into the iva
system to make up for comparable amount
OF IVA power now being delivered to the
atomic installations at Paducah, Kentucky.
Clearly, judging from Mr.. Fulbright's argu-
ment the Aces legal right to negotiate
such contract and the propriety and
validity Of the Presidents directive seem
to be wholly beyond question.
Further, from the standpoint of the
economics involved, Mr. Fulbright has pow
erfully challenged the figures of the oppo-
S1tion. Using the present AEC-TVA Padu-
cab contract as a yardstick, he has pre-
Sented a table showing that power from
the West Memphis project, far from impoS-
ing an additional annual cost of UP to SIS
million, would cost only $4,000 more a
year than power from the IVA And above
all, In addition to citing other advantages
inherent in the proposed arrangement the
Senator has stressed the important fiscal
fact that it would obviate the need for
Government outlay of about $1O0 million
that would otherwise have to be spent on
new iva facilities during the next three
years.
summary Of this sort cannot do JUS
tice to all the points raised by Mr.. Full
bright Suffice to say, however, that his
speech-taken together with the statement
Just issued by the Budget Bureau-makes
much of the criticism of the directive look
like the sheerest sort of humbug. AS he
sees the proposed contract, there is moth
Ing immoral, illegal or wrong about it in
any way" On the contrary, he welcomes
1t for what it plainly seems to be-an hon
est and above-board effort to cut down on
Federal OUTLAWS and encourage free enter
prise in manner that will serve the ma
tional interest without hurting IVA.
E0Sfn0n Centennial