Show 0 v national topics interpreted by william bruckart r washington D C national press building washington president roosevelt announced n year ago that the tennessee valley au probing dhority nud find the esthe TVA pediment perl peri ment ot of government production of electric power on a huge scale was to serve as a yardstick on electric rates charged by private power ponner companies lately J it H mccarl comptroller general of the united states has had his bookkeeping sleuths at work on the records of the tennessee valley authority it being beang a government corporation po ration mr sircarl was not concerned about the yardstick for power rates nor was he interested in experiments designed to prove the value of government ownership in tile the power pomer field his job was to determine it ermine what had happened to all of the money that had been taken from the treasury and spent in the effort to transform the tennessee valley into a modern garden of eden it happened that mr mccarle Mc Carls report on the audit of TVA affairs was made public coincidentally with a movement by the TVA directors for new legislation amendments to their basic law which would give them additional authority this circumstance resulted in the TVA and its yardstick being examined by a congressional committee under the strong lens of a magnifying glass I 1 believe it Is generally agreed that TVA suffered in prestige and government ownership advocates came oft off second best because disclosures before the committee were of such a nature as to convince most sound thinking observers that there Is a colored gentleman in the TVA woodpile for instance mr mccarl showed in his report that the federal government had expended a total of in development of the power facilities equipment and necessary appurtenances this property was transferred by the federal govern ment to the tennessee valley authority a corporation and Is carried on the corporation books at this Is 33 per cent of the actual cost to the taxpayers of the property transferred disclosures of tills this fact brought many charges in the course of tile the committee hearing and led to the conclusion causion by several house members that no electric rate based upon JS 1 9 per cent of the cost of the production facilities cili clil ties could be considered honest in other words the me yardstick based on such a method of calculating investment necessarily would have to be made of rubber mr mccarl told the committee also that lie be had found various haphazard and trick methods trick of 0 bookkeeping and bookkeeping that he had found it necessary to disallow expenditures ot of something over two million dollars which he said were illegal the comptroller general did not refer to these expenditures as having been fraudulently made but he told the committee it was his opinion that the law had to be stretched rather tar far by any spending agency to construe the payments as justifiable the comptroller general took sharp exception to the bookkeeping methods used by the TVA it Is upon these records that the electric rate Is based likewise it Is upon the alie basis of these records that the TVA must show wI whether tether it has earned a profit despite the apparently excessive depreciated value nt at which the muscle shoals property was taken up on tile books the authority Is not using the valuation basis for depreciation but instead Is basing depreciation on the earnings from the sale of power by ebar charging ing 10 per cent of the gross revenue to operations as depreciation and accumulating I 1 tile the amount of such char charges cs as a reserve for depreciation assuming lIss a very ery conservative rate of valuation consumption for example ample es 2 per cents cent the alie amount of depreciation based upon the value at which the properties in question were capital ly zed ed by tile the authority be approximately per a annum IIA A larger revenue will proportionately increase the reserve tor for depreciation at the present 10 per cent method of amortization but to accumulate a reserve on the 11 au per cent plan equivalent to the amount that would be charged to depreciation on a valuation basis at 2 per cent the gross revenues would have to be more than ten times the present amount or about per annum there Is very little basis tor for assuming that revenues will ever reach such a figure 6 the comptrollers report touched on many mans other phases of 0 TVA affairs which he found sub much to eject to criticism and i criticise criticism Critic ise it t made mention I 1 of a factor that it seems to me ought to be of 0 ital importance to communities throughout the country that factor Is taxation it 1 Is to be remembered thit that govern ment agencies federal national state or local pay no taxes into tile the treasury of its jurisdiction coni iti the lit illch furkis a municipal ly lv hamud putter pl dimply must forget fi irl loi itu tavi tion that sil emil property irn arty MIS elms its do main like likewise ise such sucha a plant Is in required to consider interests Inter estt on oil investment in the shape of eau to the stockholders who villo in tura taxes on their income ome doctor morgan and other dir of the TVA were subjected to 3 tinning honing ot of a type about as severe any witnesses before a ho house CO coi tee in recent months they the k friends on the committie commit tre ato t B tempted continuously to shield ikel from the ane fire cre ot of TVA opponent fl apparently chairman ala Mc SwaInS wain unable to choke oft off the attack by b if men as representative jer jersey sey and others who doubt tb thib of the federal governa govern engaging en in I 1 power production 1 1 there appeared j just u st no way a at in which friendly members of 0 house committee could justify tl th e tion of 0 the TVA board in its atte to block private power develop de veloiD it shown shon in the was course of 0 DAI hearing hearin fi that the TVA had gole away from its base ot of operal fin buy two small parcels ol of lando land lanil ia o not much larger thana city block 41 the other only a few acres in ertelt under questioning TVA director dir ecton mg K bitted this land lay in the Dil dilie proposed reservoir planned by aps cps vate power corporation la in tit the parcels of land the TVA made bade I 1 impossible for the private interests interested 4 proceed with their power development develop me because the land in question quest ioa iod miida have been in the middle of tte the reser voir feet under water the pit vate interests could not force the byj I 1 to sell and without that land the reservoir program was destroyed the TVA probably will win and tain the amendments its boardo 0 idt a rectors desire there are public inn enship advocates in sufficient to carry out the presidents loea idea to going ahead with the TVA devel brolo anent it Is made to appear nevertt nevert bb less that as a result of the W ures before the house may not henceforth proceed in a was BU ner der quite so arrogant 6 J politics la is politics and apparently politicians will play the game alovao if better proof be playing needed it eedna to the game came me the demon stif von HOD over linnee ate payment of the cash bonus to it war veterans will suffice thebon the bonti D q has been lick licked ed for this session ol at congress but all indications point to le a ballf belief that the country may norba not te so lucky in the next nest session of col coi gress which Is n not ot far ahead of 0 f fa 1930 11 elections an organized 11 minority the noih war veterans ni ere very close to aro sro cess in forcing congress to and pay it over to una they failed because president roc how velt like three presidents before WA had to view the problem from roni lb tte standpoint of 0 the count rys beltoe and not the welfare of this minority credit Is due the president for or it th stand he took just as credit was ila presidents hoover coolidge and hari bard ing lie ile will enill be criticized and it t tacked by this local minority just juat 1 and fr the others ere criticized tacked while a veto message la 13 to re carded by many as not being as been Dev ethela as S it might have mr roosevelt was firm and his alio enough sena senatha terl to ness gave courage to avoid the debacle of waste the awe america floss that I 1 am informed foreign elgo wart W legion the veterans of For sundry other ors and various and sailors m 0 al lations of former forme r soldiers for a bitter lipi 60 prepared marines are those j next neit 5 year air against dared to OP P and senators who tives a no of the conns bonus cash payment pose besk T 1945 when it Is not due until old lind diers lobby Is the greatest 0 of lobby in washington expensive sons CT 4 it it k knows knos nos its power and it ants appon hesitate to characterize low lobak the the cash bonus as traitors traitor aws sr ests are certain to go into su sa nest dext and congress congressional lon 11 district fro roer mer and seek t to 0 defeat those these own dared to follow tile the ir on rold raid lind and vote this u my As a result 0 of athe the vote ou on n le and the subsequent tent presidential entill lit lia have some keen political observers ala gun to calculate la 10 their own 11 it country what the view of the that at out for example was aas pointed nouh be w willi million maximum of four tw 00 same titled to a bonus at the fac wa t 0 tw called to the I 1 attention was age 4 at tile the new voters are arriving ot of franchise at the rate almost ly two million a year or the WO 0 million since the end of six that ati contend tend con war these observers billit ila are re who 0 those new voters and a of mop the bonus constitutes constitute thil titled to a alib lit to ity thus they seek I 1 of the there ts Is a prent great majority see so of 0 the country unwilling to minority to a sum of money voted tile the 8 tilly at a time find ana ment Is t taking ain 9 its citizens 1 rowing in billions to give their ellef chupol cow whether whet lier they fought fo for V aa bealie or not dot the question Is 19 then time alb 0 tile the wit will awake wake U up pj p J ln represent the ma i arity or be orvo 0 j highly by the power of a minority anlo a w ton 40 |