POWER. 145 



wide scope serving a community interest must be of a common- 

 •carrier order subject to public oversight — such has been the lesson 

 of the railways; (2) that in the realm of production, which has to 

 do with the advance elimination of superfluous weight, competition 

 is desirable and should be as unhampered as possible; and (3) that 

 in the field of manufacture and consumption the attainment of full 

 utilization stands in need of constructive help, that here competi- 

 tion unaided is incapable of employing to full effect the principle 

 of multiple production. Applying these conceptions to power we 

 find that the situation is at fault, because (1) there is no common- 

 carrier system for the transmission of energy, although the develop- 

 ment of electricity permits the power materials to be freed of weight 

 at the source and enables the energy of water power to be utilized; 



(2) the presence of the railways, in the absence of special facilities 

 for electric transmission, has prevented competition from becoming 

 effective in the direction of the advance elimination of weight ; and 



(3) the failure of this country to recognize the principle of multiple 

 production and vitalize its latent force has held private initiative 

 impotent to use fully the energy materials provided. 



The righting of the power situation requires (1) the establishment 

 of a comprehensive system of electric transmission lines to be ad- 

 ministered as a common-carrier system like the railways. (2) The 

 provision of such a system will necessitate the coordinated growth 

 of central power stations in coal fields and at water-power sites, and 

 in doing so will open to business enterprise a tremendous field of op- 

 portunity hitherto closed off from entry, and thus lead to the bal- 

 anced development of the two major energy resources. (3) The 

 principle of multiple production, recognized and incorporated in 

 national policy, will supplement the additional service gained 

 through the organized employment of the electrical principle; ap- 

 plied to the production of coal-generated electricity, and, through the 

 medium of municipal public utility plants, to the distributive employ- 

 ment of coal, this principle will effectively correlate the recovery of 

 the commodity and energy values, so as ultimately to effect a full 

 saving of the former and an increased gain of the latter, thus per- 

 mitting a further relative diminution of the amount of fuel calling 

 for transportation in bulky form. The first two points reduce them- 

 selves to a single issue, which is purely a business proposition to be 

 handled by a business organization ; the third item is more intangible 

 and it is matter of policy, which, therefore, can not be delegated or 

 otherwise handled in objective fashion. 



The provision of a common-carrier system of transmission lines, 

 in brief, is the k-gy to the whole problem. Its establishment will re- 

 move the retarding influence of high interest rates and antagonistic 



