The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, May 12, 1919, Page 8

‘How Power Trust Kills Idaho Industry Abundant Natural Resources Except Coal—Harnessing of Mountain Streams Would Meet Need—But Eastern Financiers Have Monopoly BY RAY McKAIG HERE is waterpower enough in Idaho to run an industrial em- pire. One-tenth of - all the waterpower of our country is within this state’s borders. Yet all the principal waterpower sites are owned by the Idaho power trust (a branch of Wall street banking interests), and as a result are developed so scantily that the indus- . tries of Idaho are about as starved as an Armenian refugee. / Frank G. Carpenter estimates that a water horse- power to be maintained a year would require 10 . tons of coal if developed by steam. Idaho wastes 5,000,000 horsepower every year. The power trust’ is practically holding onto some .of the big power sites by squatter rights, such as running the power house one day a month to live up to contract. Five . million horsepower wastage means that 50,000,000 «"to the shredded wheat elec- ~ tric ovens over a thousand ; power to make and bake suf- ., consumers must pay the freight . both ways to and from the " BY LACK OF POWER i inhabitants are farmers. , irrigated lands are opened up # copper and ¢~ America. . sources of these states to dis- , tant manufacturing i ALY T RS T R S SN B B S —" : tional industries. . for agricultural implements. tons of coal go floating from Idaho’s streams off to the sea. One asks “Why ?” The Pujo congressional investigation of the so- called “money trust” in 1918 was suppressed by President Taft. It revealed the inner secrets of the Wall street exploiters. It showed, for example, that the Morgan banking interests controlled by inter- locking directorates over 25 billions’ worth of na- Power sites, railroads, street car lines, packing plants, implement factories, mills of all kinds, the steel trust and other industries, by the aid of the several big insurance companies and many big banks, are all under the one-man control. Idaho railroads are the best dividend-paying utilities in the mountain states. Hence if Idaho develops local industries, the railroad haulage of the raw materials would fall off so tremen- dously as to decrease the stock dividends of the roads. ; _ Shredded wheat breakfast food requires a certain kind of soft wheat. The Weiser valley in Idaho produces that particular grade. Train loads of that soft wheat leave Idaho every year en route miles away. Yet near that val- ley is enough wasting electric ficient shredded -wheat to feed the entire- country. But the ovens. Why? Railroad divi- dends interlocked with the power trust could answer. FARMERS HIT Idaho state. is a growing farm Over 50 per cent of the New yearly, causing a large market Yet the wood and the metals which are the base of farm- ing equipments in great part have come from Idaho and Utah, where are found some of the greatest forests and iron. mines in The trains regu- larly take the mnatural re- Boise, Idaho. acres. centers and then bring back the finish- J : ed product. The farmer pays the freight bills both ways and then asks “Why?” The railroad divi- dends and the interlocking Wall street control of the power trust is the answer. Other industries are killed at birth. Alfalfa out here often goes seven tons to the acre. When ground up it has no superior as feed for all kinds of stock. But to grind alfalfa requires electric- power and the rates are so high that few men ° have the bravery to invest. Potatoes are a won- derful crop in these valleys.. The commissioner of tenements in New York City told me that Idaho leased to the power trust. The story of North Dakota dominated by outside interests, such as the Min- neapolis Chamber of Commerece, is du- plicated in even more striking form in Idaho. In this case it is a power trust which holds the key. Linked up with interests who want to catch the Idaho people going and coming, it prevents Idaho from getting cheap power and therefore reduces the state to the status of a subject province. Idaho politicians and its large press do not speak for Idaho, but are representa- tives of the eastern interests. No won- der there is a revolt on in that state and that the League program ap- peals to city men as well as farmers. " potatoes sold for 6 cents each in his markets two years ago. Made into flour the possibilities of such a potato industry are unlimited. But power is too high. Great sheep herds dot the hills in summer time and fill the valley in wintry days. But the wool is all sent east or west to cheaper power cen- ters. Dehydrating factories for fruit and garden truck would be a boon to the rich irrigated farm districts. But Idaho, having no coal, must heat the oven with electricity. The power trust has a close connection to refrigerator car haulage to other states and gently says “no” to Idaho industries. BOISE, A CITY < WITHOUT INDUSTRIES o So the farmer baleé his alfalfa, sacks his potatoes, and boxes his fruit and at great ex- The great Arrowrock dam, the highest dam in the world and' only a score of miles from Behind it is a lake 20 miles long, with water for irrigating thousands of It was built and is owned by the federal government, but the power rights are With its high charges for current (three times what the city of Cleveland charges, for instance) the power trust effectively blocks industrial development there that big allied interests in the East may prosper. pense pays the freight to distant shipping points.. The railroads get the freight charges, the commission and jobbing houses get their profits and the producer holds the sack. The power trust charges more for heat, light and power than is charged in many states where coal develops the electricity. Thus is industry in Idaho choked by the all-powerful shadow of ° -Wall street. Boise, the state capital, is a typical power trust city. Thirty thousand in population, yet no factory payroll to build up a metropolitan prosperity. Situ- PAGE' EIGHT ated ideally as a manufacturing center, unlimited timber forests near by, many useful metals within- easy access, irrigated farms all around with lfwish productivity, all that is needed to make Boise a great city is power and heat, generated as cheaply as they are at Seattle, Wash. Everything is ready waiting for the progressive citizens of that city to break away from the power trust rule. Within a few miles of Boise the federal government has built’ the highest dam in the world, which holds back a body of water over 20 miles in length. That Arrowrock dam provides a consistent flowage of waters the year around. The dam is one of the great engineering feats of the world. Why does not Boise secure the waterpower right from this project? The power trust stepped in ahead and got the lease. The power trust com- pels Boise to pay three times as much for its light as is paid in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, where the electricity is developed by steam. Boise is domi- nated by the power trust. Brazen is its strangle- hold on the city. Local bank presidents are used as directors and prominent political leaders are re- tained as legal counsel. And until the past few months light, heat and power have been furnished free to the present governor. When will a slowly awakening civic conscience be too shocked to tolerate any longer such a selfish regime? The Nonpartisan league’s platform demands state ownership of the waterpower. That is why the progressive citizens of Boise are believers in the League. For they, like the farmers, see that state ownership of the waterpower is necessary for state industrial success. As one Boise citizen said: “We are for the League because its motto is Idaho for the Idahoans and not for Wall street.” What is easily possible with state ownership of this important resource is strikingly illustrated at the Niagara Falls. On the one side of the Niagara river is the American power trust; on the other is ownership and operation by the province of Ontario. Ma- chinery used on both sides is very much the same; general equipment costs a- little more if anything in Canada; there is not much wvariation in wages paid for necessary serv- ice. Yet the pecple of On- tario are getting their cur- rent for light and power at about half what the people on the American side of the Falls are paying. PRIVATE MONOPOLY . AN EXPENSIVE LUXURY Switzerland likewise handi- capped by lack of coal is help- ing her citizens to gain their livelihood successfully by means of state ownership - of power supply. Uncle Sam was making war material and is now making nitrate for the farmers in two great govern- ment owned plants in West Virginia and Alabama. . Our American cities, mis- ruled as they are by little and big grafting elements, have been almost everywhere suc- * cessful in reducing power and light charges through munic- ipal ownership. In fact, there is no longer any real business argument against state owner- ship. It is simply a question : of whether the special interests can keep the necessary political power. The people of Idaho can secure even better results from state ownership than have been obtained else- where. Their resources awaiting the coming of cheap power for development are almost beyond imagination and they have immense waterpower at hand if the dog in the manger can be kicked out. The people nearly kicked him out in the first round last fall. The next round will get him in spite of the repeal of the primary. This repeal and other ex-"~ treme measures put through the 1919 legislature is an indication of how near rule by people of Idaho is. =’ s Ll