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Show i 1933 the percentage of Valley farms electrified increased from three to ! BO per cent; that TVA supplies power to an BO.OOO square mile area, distributing to 1.3 billion consumers; TVA supplied ttu per cent of the pure elemental phosphorous phos-phorous used by the Armed Forces in World War II; and that in no i other region of the country is i great a proportion of total power ' supply being devoted to national i defense primarily to atomic ' plants. F'UND cuts and CiOl' policy have more than apparently earmarked ear-marked a smaller role for the Tennessee Valley Authority and some observers feel that after 20 year and W billion, TVA has Just about "had it." both on the regional re-gional and national scene. TVA directly aftects the seven states It touches, which are Tennessee. Ten-nessee. Alabama. Kentucky. Georgia, Geor-gia, Virginia. North Carolina and MisJissi, pi. It alio supplies power to the Atomic Energy Commission, Commis-sion, munitions materials for defense, de-fense, and fertilizers for farm-education farm-education programs in 30 states TVA activities include the generation, gener-ation, transmission and sale of power, resource development, navigation, navi-gation, flood control, fertilizer andi munitions programs. i Those who feel TVA should be ! cut down, point out that it started j j in 1933 with 45 employees and had ! 22.4U6 workers on its payroll at . the end of fiscal year 1S3 In the ' 20-year period. $2,600,427,000 was made available to TVA through appropriations, and revenues from such TVA operations as sale of power. From this, TVA made gross expenditures of $2.253.8.53.000 and had total assets of $1,149,539,000. Another $210 million was being invested in-vested in construction and at the start of its 21st year. TVA's 20th dam and seventh steam plant were under construction. TVA supporters, like Sen. James O. Eastland (D Miss) say TVA is on a "starvation diet." The facts are that sharp cuts were made in TVA resource development appropriations appro-priations for fiscal 1954. which ends this June 30, which could atTeet TVA effectiveness as a regional agency; that the president made comparatively low new money ie-quests ie-quests for TVA In 1935-1141.8 million; mil-lion; that the fiscal 1955 budset In eluded no money for TVA ton struction of new generating units President Eisenhower has cited , TVA as an example of "creeping! socialism" and has hinted broadly) that the entire valley has its hand out. While maintaining that he has no desire to damage TVA, the president has shown marked Impatience Impa-tience with the fact that too many people too often try to get the Federal Fed-eral Government to expand the power facilities of TVA. He feels that cities in the valley lean too heavily in this direction Instead of growing Industrially on their own strength. Memphis, for example, has been plugging for a steam plant, to be located on the Mississippi Missis-sippi River above the city. The president's suggestion that they should be able to build their own Is a good indicator of what's in store for TVA in the days ahead TVA backers point out that since |