Evening star. [volume], February 25, 1936, Page B-9, Image 25

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
’ MINTON EXPLAINS
DECISION ONT.V.A.
Holds Water Power Clause
in Constitution Is Author
ity for Projects.
(Continued from Page B»7.)
mltted to be granted in the Constitu
tion to the Federal Government. The
Chief Justice points out in these
words the two constitutional powers
under which Congress acted In build
ing Wilson Dam: “We take judicial
notice of the international situation
at the time the act of 1916 was
passed, and It cannot be successfully
' disputed that the Wilson Dam and
Its auxiliary plants, including the
hydro-electric power plant, are and
were Intended to be adapted to the
purposes of national defense.”
Points to Authority.
Having determined that the elec
tric energy was the property of the
United States, the Chief Justice
pointed out a provision 01 the con
stitution which gave authority to
Congress to dispose of the property
of the United States, and observed:
“That the water pow;r and the elec
tric energy generated at the dam are
susceptible of disposition as property
belonging to the United States is well
established.”
But, said the stockholders, “even
though it is Government property,
the Congress has authority to dis
pose of this energy only to the extent
that it is a surplus, necessarily cre
ated in making munitions of war, or
operating the works for navigation
purposes, and the balance must go to
waste.” And these arc the gentlemen
that shed crocodile tears over the
■laughter of little pigs!
The Chief Justice was not much
Impressed with the argument, and
after saying: “We find nothing in the
Constitution which imposes such a
limitation,” he pnfceoded to reduce
the argument to an absurdity by his
own pointed argument in answer, and
the citation of ample authority. .
Finally, the stockholders, as a last
resort, argued that even though the
Government may sell its surplus, it
can only do it at the dam, knowing, of
course, that tneir corporation, the
Alabama Power Co., was the only cus
tomer capable of taking the power
at this point. To this the Chief Jus
tice replied: “We know of no con
stitutional ground upon which the
Federal Government can be denied
the right to seek a wider market." Ana
he sustained the power of the Gov
ernment to acquire the transmission
lines for the transmission of the elec
tric current to the market.
surplus May Be Sold.
In short, the opinion holds that
under the war powers and commerce
clause of the Constitution, Congress
may build these great dams in the
navigable streams of the country. That
the water power thus created may be
converted into electr.city, instead of
permitting it to go to waste, and when
the electricity is generated it is the
property of the United States. That
any surplus energy thus generated
may be sold by the Government and
in order to enable the Government to
market the surplus the Government
may acquire the transmission facilities
for the purpose of conveying the sur
plus to the market. This is ample
authority to sustain all the power
projects under construction at this
time, although there are other con
stitutional powers that might be called
on in aid of the powers mentioned by
the court in the T. V. A. opinion.
The average citizen asks, "How does
this affect me?” First, it will help
bring down the cost of electricity to
the consumer. The average cost of
a kilowatt hour of electricity, outside
the T. V. A. area, is 5.1 cents per
kilowatt hour, while it is only 3.1
cents in the T. V. A. area. Second,
flood waters will be controlled and
the devastating effect thereof lessened
and the soil conserved. Third, trans
portatlon costs will be lowered and with
lower transportation and cheaper pow
er the whole economic life of the
people in that vast area will be bene
fited. Not only this area will be bene
fited, but under the exercise of this ad
mitted power, Congress may develop
the potential water power of the Na
tion, make electricity a useful com
modity in every household, because
available on terms and conditions that
will promote its extensive and uni
versal use. Thus will be saved from
exploitation by private parties a great
national resource that belongs to all
the people.
Private Earnings Increased.
We have heard it said that the Gov
ernment’s activity, through T. V. A.,
is hurting the privately owned utilities.
Let us see. The Tennessee Electric,
Georgia Power and Alabama Power
are the three chief coifipanies oper
ating in this territory. All of these
companies had substantially larger
earnings in 1935 than 1934. The Ten
nessee Electric Co., forced by T. V. A.
to reduce rates, recovered the entire
amount of the reduction in five months.
Since then its revenues have been
larger than before reduction, and this
company, in the worst year, namely,
1934, won the Edison Institute award
for “one of the most, if not the most,
remarkable sales increases in residen
tial. commercial and industrial power
in the history of the electrical Indus
try.”
Georgia Power, the largest utility In
the T. V. A. area, now ranks first
among all companies east of the
Rocky Mountains in kilowatt hour
sales per customer, and its yearly
average per customer is 60 per cent
ahead of the national average. -
As further evidence that T. V. A.
has not hurt the privately owned
utilities in its area, the sale of facili
ties for the use of electricity gives
eloquent and impressive evidence. In
the first year after rate reductions,
caused by T. V. A., Georgia Power Co.
increased its sales of refrigerators
176 per cent; electric ranges, 676 per
cent, and water beaters, 1,472 per
cent. Tennessee Electric Co. increased
refrigerator sales 329 per cent, ranges,
374 per cent, and water heaters, 774
per cent. This was not temporary,
for the increase in sales was even
greater after a second rate reduction.
It is the old story of lower costs In
ducing increased use, which justifies
mass production at lower costs. Thus
we see that private enterprise has not
been injured and the public has
benefited greatly.
Court Decision Conclusive.
The critics of this administration
have been charging T. V. A. to be
Socialistic and Communistic and sub
versive of the purposes of our Gov
ernment. The Liberty League, through
its president, on last July 1, over the
radio said: "If any experiment could
be more radically Socialistic or more
wholly contrary to the whole basic
conceptions of our Government than
the T. V. A., I am at a loss to
Imagine It."
But the Supreme Court says T. V.
A. Is In keeping with and authorized
by the Constitution. So in conclu
sion, let me assure you that if you
have been reading Liberty League
propaganda and have been looking
in the closet and under the bed every
night, expecting to And a Socialist
or Communist with a red Aag in one
hand and a cheese knife in the other,
to be lurking there, you may now rest
your weary head upon your pillow
in peace, for tha Supreme Court as
sures you the T. V. A. is constitutional
and American. You need no longer
fear, nor believe in, the Communistic
and Socialistic bugaboo of the Liberty
League. I will tell you what you may
believe in. When I tell you that
James M. Beck and Newton D. Baker
are reputed to have received $50,000
from the utilities for their opinion
that T. V. A. was unconstitutional,
you may believe in Santa Claus.
The committee is empowered to ex
amine "useless” bureaus and over
lapping agencies with a view to their
abolition or consolidation. Senator
Byrd is a persistent critic of Gov
ernment spending.
lightning Strikes.
Struck In the back of the neck by
lightning, James Taylor, aged 32, was
well enough to leave a Brighton, Eng
land, hospital two hours afterward.
fight mt
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quotes enter justice marsnau.
“The act of 1915 also had in view
Improvements to navigation.' Com
merce includes navigation. 'All
America understands and has uni
formly understood ’ said Chief Jus
tice Marshall, in Gibbons vs. Ogden,
•the word commerce to comprehend
navigation.’ The power to regulate
Interstate commerce embraces the
power to keep the navigable rivers of
the United States free from obstruc
tions to navigation and to remove
such obstacles when they exist” • • •
“The Tennessee Ri' er is a navigable
6tream, although tnere are obstruc
tions at various )joints because of
shoals, reefs and rapids. The im
provement of navigation on this river
has been a matter ct national concern
for over a century.” * * * "When in its
present condition the Tennessee River
Is not adequately unproved for com
mercial navigation, and traffic is small,
we are not at liberty to conclude either
that the river is not susceptible of
development as an important water
way, or that Congress has not under
taken that development, or that con
struction of the Wilson Dam was not
an appropriate means to accomplish
a legitimate end. The Wilson Dam
and Its power plant must be taken to
have been constructed in the exercise
of the constitutional functions of the
Federal Government ” The court hav
ing determined the constitutional
right to build the dam, next consid
ered the right to dispose of the elec
tric energy generated at the dam.
The court said: "The Government ac
quired full title to the dam site, with
all riparian rights. The power of
the falling water was an inevitable
incident of the carstruction of the
dam. That water power came into the
exclusive control of the Federal Gov
ernment. The mechanical energy was
convertible into electric energy, and
the water power, the right to convert
it into electric energy, and the elec
tric energy thus produced, constitute
property belonging to the United
States.”
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