Evening Star Newspaper, November 5, 1935, Page 14

NATURL 0 QU § AGED BY HOLT Senator Claims Those in Control Are Active in Politics. Broadening the scope of his war against the utilities, Senator Rush D. Holt, Democrat of West Virginia, last | night urged a thorough investigation | of the activities of those interests | which control the natural gas indus- try. Senator Holt spoke in the Na- tional Radio Forum, sponsored by The Evening Star and broadcast over a National Broadcasting Co. network. Prefacing his recommendations with an outline of the background of the industry, in which he declared four big companies control 58 per cent of the industry, the Senator said: “I know of no group, not even the power trust, that is more active in politics than those who control the gas industry. gelves in all elections, State and congressional. Control-Seeking Charged. “They try to control municipal officials so that the cities and towns will not have rate cases. They try to control the State officials in order that no public service commissioner will be appointed that would be so-called un- friendly or that no member of the Legislature be named who would in- troduce a bill making pipe lines com- mon carriers or investigate their ac- tivities, “The same lobbyists who represent the power companies in many instances are lobbyists for the gas companies. “They have and are interested in getting propaganda into our schools.” ‘There were about 7,166,000 consumers of natural gas in 1933, the Senator said, the gross revenue being $375,000,000. Text of Address. The text of Senator Holt's address follows: In discussing utilities, the public has not paid much attention to the gas in- dustry. Tonight I will discuss that problem. In 1815, while drilling a salt well In Charleston, W. Va., gas was discovered. A few years thereafter at Fredonia, N. Y. a well was drilled which yielded gas. Natural gas has been in use for 110 years, but the most rapid growth has come in the past 10 or 15 years. It was not until 1872 that the first iron-pipe line was laid for any distance: it was approximately 5 miles long. Gas is produced in 28 States In 5 gas areas—the Appalach- fan, covering the States of New York. Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky: the Southern, covering the States of Louisiana and the Texas Panhandle: the Rocky Mountain, in the States of Montana, Wyoming. Utah, New Mexico and the California fleld. With the advent of the seamless pipe in 1926, the industry started its rapid growth. We find that pipe lines have now been built so that natural gas is at the gateway of almost every city east of the Rockies except in New Eng- land and a few Southern cities. Re- cently the natural gas interests filed 8 brief before a committee of the United States Senate stating that there were approximately 75.000 miles of gathering and transmission lines and about 90,000 miles of local dis- tributifn mains furnishing natural gas to approximately 5.000 communities. In the year of 1933, 7.166,000- domestic and commercial consumers were sup- plied. as compared to approximately 3.500,000 in 1925. When one realizes that it has been estimated that the gas industry has a potential energy of from five to six times that of the power and electric industry, one will realize this gigantic setup. Moody’s volume of Public Utilities estimates that the gas industry (both manufactured and nat- ural) has a capital investment in ex- cess of $4,500.000.000, with 17.000.000 consumers and a gross revenue of $800,000,000. 10,000,000 Consumers. Manufactured gas has approxi- mately 10,000,000 consumers. Although I am not discussing manufactured gas, it might interest you to know that the consumers for this product increased 113 per cent between 1910 and 1930; 360.000,000,000 cubic feet were used in 1934, of which 270.000.000.000 cubic feet were sold to domestic and house heat sales, with a revenue of $312.000,- 000 of the $380.000,000 for the indus- try. To produce this, it took 7,000,800 tons of bituminous coal, 132 tons of AUTUMN SAYS \\Go PLACES” "SRVE AS YOU GO* Make football, Thanksgiving and other Autumn trips this convenient, low-cost way W ITH so many places to go this Fall—Thanksgiving trips, foot- ball games, business trips, week-end Jjaunts, trips to Florida, Gulf Coast, or California—travel budgets will be all too limited! But you can make more of these trips for the same money, if you go by Greyhound bus. Departures are frequent. Coaches are modern and comfortably heated. FLORIDA @ GULF COAST Choice of interesting routes. Lib- eral stopover privileges. Round trip tickets good for 6 months. CALIFORNIA Four optional routes. Stop off at points of interest. Return a different route, if you wish, at no extra cost. GREYHOUND TERMINAL 1403 New York Avenue N.W. Greyhound Phone: Met. 1512 Blue Ridse Phone: Met, 1523 nmmzh%}nc.p They interest them- | municipal, | anthracite coal, 2,000,580 tons of coke and 528,000 gallons of oil. Let us turn now to the natural-gas industry. In 1933, 1,500,000,000,000 cubic feet, with a gross revenue of ap- proximately $375,000,000, were distrib- uted. Ten years ago the domestic and commercial consumers covered 3,500,- 000 users, as compared to 7,166,000 in 1933. The rise ¢f domestic and commercial consumers has been steady. Although the domestic consumer used but between one-fourth and one-fifth of the total amount of gas produced, | they contributed $250,000,000 of the | $360,000,000 rece.ved by the gas indus- try. It is used in heating, lighting | and refrigeration. A rapid increase in the revenue per thousand cubic feet and the rate to domestic consumers has been noticed. Pipe Lines Developed Industry. This has come about by the ce- velopment of large pipe lines. To look at & map of the United States, one would see pipe lines coming close by large centers of populations from the fields where this product is found. It has been estimated that Texas has 10,000 miles, Ohio, 6,000; Pennsylvania, 5,000; West Virginia, 4,000; Oklahoma and Kansas between 3,500 and 4,000, Louisiana nearly 2,- 000 and California, Arkansas, Ken- tucky and New York with more than GUNTHER'S QUALITY BEER ON SALE IN BOTTLES AND ON DRAUGHT EVERYWHERE NO BOTTLE DEPOSITS .12 FL.OZ. SAME AS | contro’led through the ownership of’ | THE EVENING 1,000 miles of these lines. Natural gas is unlike electricity. It is found in limited fields and cannot be generated like electricity— everywhere. One line between the Texas fields to Minneapolis is approxi- mately 1,000 miles in length. Natural gas service has been offered and used by 15 States in 1933 that did not use it in 1925 and replaced manu- factured gas in communities with a combined population of 15,000,000 people. The control of the gas industry does not have to be at the point of production, but it can be pipe lines that transport gas. Sixteen per cent of the total production of gas was interstate. The four holding companies that control this inter- state movement are the Cities Serv- ice, Electric Power & Light and the Standard Ofl Co. of New Jersey, also the Columbia Gas. & Electric. Eleven holding companies control 76 per cent of the total pipe line mileage of America. Four control 58 per cent. The big four are: The Co- lumbia Gas & Electric, which con- trols nearly 25 per cent; Cities Serv- ice, which controls 14 per cent; the Electric Power & Light (a subsidiary of the Electric Bond & Share), ap- proximately 11 per cent, and the Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey, with approximately 8 per cent. Who are BOTTLE COOL BEFORE SERVING NO EMPTIES TO RETURN STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., the big four? Senator Norris says: “The Columbia Gas & Electric, which is Morgan controlled and oper- ates largely in the East—that is, in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Maryland—sells in gas, mostly natural gas, half as much energy as is sold by the entire elec- tric industry of the United States.” Utilities controlled by the Cities Serv- ice is known as the Doherty group. You have heard much of Henry L. Doherty in the power investigations. He was listed as a director or officer in 111 different compandes. The Electric Power & Light goes back to the Electric Bond & Share. The well known'C. E. Groesbeck, who was director in 33 companies, is the powerful factor in this. Standard Oil is Rockefeller. ‘There is no need to go into the Standard Oil as their corporate setup is too well known by all of you through its Rockefeller ownership. The Cities Service and Standard jointly control the Natural Gas Pipe Line Co. The next largest, the Lone Star Gas Co., has its connections with the Columbia Gas & Electric through Mr. Crawford and Mr. Gregory, as djrectors. In 1930, 380,- 600,000,000 cubic feet went across State and international’ boundaries and of that amount 240,000,000 (4 IN KEGLINED cAns through pipe lines under control eof the big four. The Federal Trade Commission re- port says: “The Standard Oil Co. of New Jer- sey owns 30 per cent of some of the Columbia Gas & Electric Corp. main- trunk pipe lines and together they own nearly 50 per cent of all main- trunk pipe lines. The mastery of the most practical gas transporta- tion by a few large corporations | would seem to place the small| well owners at their mercy, to en- able these corporations to dictate! Fincr.--- With. SALADA . TEA GOOD BEER deserves a GOOD CAN. But MORE IMPORTANT than the con- tainer is the BEER that's IN IT. You know GUNTHER'S BEER. You've drunk it, you've read about it, and you've heard people talk about it. And you've made it your FAVORITE BEER because of its high, uniform quality. * And NOW the NEW WAY to BUY BEER is in cans--the BEER to buy is STILL GUNTHER'S-- established, accepted, and applauded for its quality. % It'’s the SAME fine beer GUNTHER'S has always given you. It's the beer you know with the UNVARYING goodness you always expect and get from GUNTHER'S. It's your FAVORITE beer in a NEW container. Ask for GUNTHER'S in the keglined can. 4 SAE CONTENTS AS BOTTLE TUNE IN WRC--WED. 7:45 P. M. “VELVET VOICES” WRC--FRI. 7:45 P. M. _ “UNCLE ZIP” A TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1935. terms of purchase, and to compel the small well owners to sell their gas in order to secure transportation as was the situation in the oil industry prior to the Hepburn act. Thus, these larger gas trunk pipe lines are | common carriers in substance, though not in form, due to their exception as common carriers under the interstate commerce act. “All the natural gas pipe lines trans- porting gas from the Appalachian area to the Eastern Seaboard are operated (Continued on Fifteenth Pag:.) Richer F:lavor 19 Majestic Lock & Electric Co. 1206 N. Y. Ave. N.W. A SENSATIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT Closing out all Xmas Cards at a fraction of their cost All Cards sold up to 10¢ All Cards sold up to e 280.___ Emsedl P8 BOX ASSORTMENTS i Spaty 30 CENT BOX ASSORTMENTS po = Iz 1% We need the space, so hurry, ANOTHER SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT 1935 Lionel Display of Trains 1S HEREL—COME IN AND_SEE THEM HAVE YOU HEARD THE NEW LIONEL FEATURE—THE WHISTLE? We Will Gladly Demonstrate For You. OUR LIONEL BARGAIN TABLE will interest you e “continu s are put on bargain table at %4 to % thing here you want trade-in sets and dis- . 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