The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, May 20, 1918, Page 13

-t Exploiters From — Idaho Moves to Free Its Water Power T the East Prevent State Ownership —What a City Near the Great Snake River Is Now Doing— The League Is Planning to Use .This Great Resource BY RAY McKAIG INE of the garden spots of Idaho is the Twin Falls country. It is nothing unusual for that ir- rigated land to produce 60 bushels ot wheat ‘to an acre. Its alfalfa and clover fields are real money makers. Nearly everything grows there. Gov- ernment statistics tell us that 5 more cattle, sheep and hogs are turned out of that district per acre than any other place in the Union. Settlers from all over America came there. “In addition to the promise of the fertility of the soil, the attraction of unlimited cheap electric power dazzled these settlers. That promise has been one of the lemons of Idaho. Most of the natural water- power -sites have been gobbled up, and with few exceptions are controlled by a great power trust. In the heart of this Twin Falls country is what is called the Clear lake power site. About . five miles north of the city of Buhl, Clear lake.lies about 90 feet above the Snake river, not more than a quarter of a mile away from that stream. This lake.is fed by springs. It never changes in tem- perature the year round, and its flowage is con- stant and very powerful. These springs are sup- " posed to be a part of the Lost river which dis- appears in the lava beds about a hundred miles north. Clear lake has a flow of about 750 cubic feet per second, and could develop over 5,000 horse- power at very low cost. It is an ideal power site. STATE COULD DO WONDERS Even at the present high cost of generating out- fits, wire, etc., it- has been estimated that light could-be sold in Buhl and Twin Falls cities for three cents a kilowatt, and power for cooking for one cent, and if the city owned that plant the city ; would make money. 7 Does the Twin .Falls country appreciate this power and know what this waste means? The Snake river has a 5,000-foot fall through Idaho. New Orleans falls about 1,000 feet. power trust is more interested in keeping it from development. Twin Falls pays a high monopoly rate, for its electric plant is controlled by the power trust of the state. Engineer George W. Sturdevant of Chicago spoke at a public meeting at the. Commercial elub in Twin Falls, at -which he stated that the cost per capita for electricity in that city was the highest, except one, for any city in this country. And yet the cheap natural power, at less than three cents per kilowatt, is knocking at the door of Twin Falls ‘and the surrounding farming country. : Control can be wrenched from the hands of the power trust. Under state ownership and develop- ment electricity should be so reasonable that, as a well-informed Idahoan recently said, if the coal trust would dump a ton of coal at his door free of charge, if we had public ownership of electricity, he could not afford, from the point of convenience, to shut off the electricity and buy a coal stove to burn that free coal—electricity would be so cheap. - The city of Burley along the banks of this same Snake river is in remarkable contrast with this city of Twin Falls. Both of these municipalities draw their light and power from the Snake river. Both are progressive. Both are well paved and ‘well lighted. Burley, however, is_connected with the - government-owned power plant at Minidoka. Its electricity is obtained from the big government dam at one cent a kilowatt. And the government is not running a charitable institution at that price. The city buys and maintains its own local equip- ment, lines and transformers, and provides city lights for the streets and yet sells at prices much lower than Twin Falls. Last year there was a net profit to the city. ° ; Most of the business rlaces in this city are lighted and heated by electricity. The second biggest flour mill in the state is run by this gov- ernment-manufactured electricity. To step off: the train at night and look up the streets, by the bril- liancy of the lights it would make you think you . were in a city as well lighted as Chicago., Burley PAGE THIRTEEN The Mississippi from Minneapolis to The top picture on the left is American falls. Below is- Twin falls. The Minidoka government dam is above. It shows how public ownership furnishes water to irrigate and electric power for the whole countryside. A N business men are strong for municipal ownership. I slept at the National hotel in the coldest part of the month ‘of February. A little electric stove screwed to the side of the wall kept my room cozy. No steam pipes to freeze or clog or burst. No singing and knocking of radiators. No reheated, insanitary hot air. No stoves. No ashes. No janitor forgetting to put on coal. A hotel with about 100 rooms, heated by electricity. A LESSON IN PUBLIC OWNERSHIP I talked to C. C. Baker, vice president of the First National bank. It is one of the biggest banks of the southern,part of this state. I warned him that I was a Nonpartisan :league booster. ¥ told him that what- ever he said would be quoted in our official paper. He did not care. He said, “STATE-OWNED ELECTRICAL DEVELOPMENT IS MY IDEAL.” I asked him should a state own its waterpower. He answered quickly, “Sure, it should own it and sell it to the other cities like the government is selling electricity to us. See how nice it is,” he added. “Cheap, clean and no janitor service. These days, janitor service amounts to something.” Mr. Baker said: “Even though electricity might cost as much as steam, look at the convenience of it. Ready any time, any moment, for use.” His bank is erecting a large corner office building. Electric stoves and plenty of them. FARMERS HAVE A’ LINE OF THEIR OWN I went across the street to the big Burley Phar- macy. The manager told me that it cost only $9 a month to heat that large double store. He added that he had a three-room apartment and it cost him only $3 a month for heat. No ashes, no coal and clean heat. : Nearly every store, office and restaurant in that town has electric heat. There are 300 homes that are heated by electricity. It was owing to this that the city was not crippled by the coal shortage last winter. A farnfers’ line for electricity from ’ Burley costs each farmer $150 for poles, lines and transformers. They are using iron wire now be- cause copper is too high. The electric bill for the entire 60 farmers in January was only $77.49. The cost does not even take in the convenience. They can have electric heaters to warm the water for their stock; automatic, pumps which pump the moment the water in the tank is at a certain low level; milking machines run by electricity to save the expense of a hired man; electric power for saw and churn, for grindstone, to fill the silo, and for all outside chores; electric power to wash the dishes, to run ‘the duster, to iron, and do the wash- ing, to heat the home, and to cook in the kitchen, percolating the coffee, toasting the bread, poach-