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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 7, 1955)
fridtr, Oetobar 7. 195S ' MCDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE SEVXN John Day Klamath Fall U. S. Sen. Richard L. Neuberger, (D-Ore.) and U.S. Congressman Sam Coon (R-Ore.) last night continued their "great debate" over power policies before a crowd of nearly SOO persons here. , The discussion, next-to-last in a series of 10, was held in the auditorium of Mills school, which was packed to near-capacity with a good-natured crowd which' appeared to be about evenly divided between support er! of the, two politicians and those whocame to learn or just to "watch the show." Bwt of Lot Mike Miksche, Prineville ra dio station manager, a former Medford radioman who helped arrange . the series of debates, said after last night's session it was "the best of the lot so far," from the standpoints of both public' acceptance and argu mentation. The debate was not strictly a public power vs. private power . debate, for as both acknowl edged, the proposed John Day dam which is the subject of the . argument would be a federal project in all respects but two: :() 7e bulk of the cost of the dam $(273,000,000) would be paid by local agencies including private power firms, and (2) These agencies, both public and private, would have distribution and retail sales rights for 50 years. Owned by Government t The dam itself would, be de signed, built, operated and own ed by the federal government, and would be integrated into the Northwest Power pool, under the terms of Congressman Coon's bill. Title of the debate was, "Agreed, the John Day Dam Bill is in the public inter est." The congressman took the Affirmative; the senator the neg- 'ative. .", -.. '. Congressman Coon opened the debate with a 15-minute discus- "- aion of the objectives of the bill and a history of the project. The 1,105,000 kilowatts it would gen erate, and the navigation up the Columbia, to Pasco and the flood control " benefits it would pro vide are "needed and needed now," he maintained.. Foresees Shortage . ' 1 The congressman said a criti cal power shortage is on its way to the Northwest by the early 1960s, and the dam should be started now. He added that the Northwest needs the equivalent of "another Bonneville dam," or 600,000, ... new kilowatts, ea'ch year for the next 10 years just to keep up with normal growth of the area. "We need $1,000,000 spent for power each day for the next 10 years," he declared. But, he queried, "Where are we going to get the money?" LIMITED OFFER OTQS3000 119" Val. only Yj flff fWWt SENSATIONAL 4-SPEEO . PHONO with 16 speed for "talking Here is a real buy! Big 21' Admiral TV with tuning . ' knobs up top, out front so you don't stoop, stretch or ; strain to tune . . . combined with fine radio and phono graph a complete "home theatre" at big savings! See it! V ?Werful Advance Cascode Chassis for sharpclear P"re . . . ooubto-bright aluminized tube Built-in Radio most powerful for its size ever made "Oflf-The-Floor" styling with tapered matching legs TERMS ON APPROVED CREDIT 321 E. 6TH ST. in the Littreli Parts Building OPEN WEDNESDAY UNTIL 9:00 Dam Debate Brought to Congressman Coon pointed out that federal appropriations for Northwest power have aver aged only $150,000,000 annually in recent years, a total equiva lent to about one-third of the federal civil functions budget, in the area. This area alone will need .the equivalent to 60 to 70 per cent of all federal public works money, he said, and he indicated that congress just wouldn't go along with spending that proportion of its money in this area. 'Sell in Advance' The simple and only purpose of his bill is to "sell the power in advance," the congressman said, to obtain the estimated $273,000,000 needed for con struction of power facilities. The other $37,000,000 for other pur poses would be put up by the federal government, and he said he is sure congress would ap prove this amount. Senator Neuberger's charge that it would "wreck the Bonne ville Power administration plan," is "piire nonsense," he declared and so is the suggestion that private utilities would make huge profits in the transaction. He said Oregon laws limit to a maximum of 6 per cent the profits of private utilities. Three-Point Attack Senator Neuberger, in his 15 minute rebuttal period, based his attack on the bill on three related points, first!that distribu tion by non-federal-' agencies would eliminate the preference clause, under which power goes first to publicly-owned distribu tion agencies; second that the low Bonneville rate averaging 2.2 mills would be eliminated, and third, that as a result of the higher rates, industry would no longer be attracted to the Northwest as it was by the low BPA rate. The senator pointed to opposi tion to the bill from the Rural Electrificatin administration co operatives, from the Grange and from the- Oregon Federation of Labor, indicating these agencies know what higher rates would mean in discouraging industry from coming to this area. He pointed out that the Northwest power system, with its federal dams and low cost power, is the most successful development for power, irrigation, navigation and flood control ever organized any where. Only Three Firms He said only three big firms are interested in the bill, none of which were interested in serv ing the Klamath Falls area in the extreme southwest corner of Congressman Coon's fourth con gressional district. There is no chance that the John Day dam, as set up in the, bill, could furn ish cheap power to that area, he said. , " Te cited the sale of the partly completed BPA transmission line ON NEW 1956 TV books' PHONE 3-5433 to Klamath Falls to the Cali fornia Oregon Power company, and said the only, chance for Klamath Falls to get the cheap BPA power rate is to get the line rstored. (Coon earlier had stated the line was never au thorized, by congress, no appro priations made for it, and that a congressional committee had ordered it dismantled, but that Secretary of the Interior McKay and then-Sen. Guy Cordon had worked out the Copco sale, thus saving the entire cost of the line which would have been lost if it had been scrapped.) Rates Compared . The senator declared that the average power rate from private utilities was 8.2 mills, compared to BPA's 2.2 mills (which Coon claimed was a misleading com parison of "wholesale" and "re tail" rates). Senator Neuberger also point ed out the Klamath area's popu lation gain! in recent years has been only 4 per cent, compared to 40 per cent for Oregon as a whole and 14 per cent for the nation. He said the one great chance for growth here, with declining lumber sources and lowered farm income, is in in dustrial payrolls. The only way to attract them, he said, is through low-cost power. He cited some of the benefits in tax advantages which Wenatchee has received since a big aluminum plant went in there last year. Raising Offer The senator declared the pow er utilities . are raising their of fer of participation in building the dam, from $164,000,000 last year to $273,000,000 this year. "What will it be next year?" he asked. He claimed the utilities stood to make $5,000,000,000 in profits in the 50-year period they would have distribution rights on the dam, and that they don't care who owns it as long as they can have the power. Oregon's desperate need is for year-around industry, he reem- phasized, and the one big ad vantage we have is in the BPA low cost power. Could Get Money During his five-minute "affirm ative rebuttal" period, the sen ator declared that if the utilities spent as much time and money working for ' federal appropria tions for power as they have in opposing it, congress would be willing- to appropriate the funds. He cited the Bonneville repay ment schedule, which is $65, 000,000 ahead of itself, and said that the Republican 1954 con gress did not even approve plan ning funds, so 1957 would be the earliest date for John Day construction to begin. In his final rebuttal period, Congressman Coon reiterated his stand that the power is needed now, and that "we can't wait.'.' He charged Neuberger would prefer to let damsites lie idle rather than permit them to be built with non-federal money. He claimed support for his bill from the? Army engineers, the bureau of the budget, the depart ment of the interior, the federal power commission, and from the Oregon legislature, which sup ports the dam no matter how it is financed. Cites Private Enterprise He said his bill is designed to meet the need for power at once, and that he wants the 85 per cent of Oregon people who now are served., by non-federal ', sower agencies to have a chance to get it He declared that, while the dam would be a federal proj ect, it would be of benefit and be sparked by private enterprise, and he declared that it was pri vate enterprise -"that made this country great." The two will conclude debates tonight at Bend. their Lawsuit Charges Blacklist by Union Portland U.R) A $153,000 damage suit has been filed in Federal Court here by a Van couver, Wash., man who claims the International Association of Heat and Insulators and Asbestos Workers prevented him from working at his trade The suit was filed by Michael J. Monoghan, who said he is a skilled mechanic in installing heat and frost insulating ma terials. A similar suit, filed by Charles D. Gumsey, also of Van couver, is pending. Defendants were the union, its Portland local No. 36, and the fiberglass Engineering and Sup ply Company. Both men claim the union has a monopoly in the field, and that the company aided the mon opoly by discharging them im mediately after the plaintiffs were hired in 1953. Monoghan and Guernsey also claim the union "blacklisted" them and prevented them from working. NEWSPAPER SOLD Chester, Pa. (U.PJ The Ches ter Times, 79-year-old" daily afternoon paper with a circula tion of 38,000, has been sold to Publisher Robert S. Howard, it was announced today. Use Mail Tribune Want Ads -Dead line Sunday Classified is at noon Saturday. 10 a.m Monday for Monday; other days 5:20 orevioua day. Audience Gets Outline The following outline of Con- gressman Sam Coon's John Day dam bill, subject of the debate in Klamath Falls last night be tween Congressman . Coon and Senator Richard L. Neuberger, was distributed to the audience prior to the debate. The event was sponsored by the Modoc Toastmaster's club, and Bob Perkins of that club was toastm aster. The Project The John Day dam is a navi gation, flood control and irriga tion project with an initial in stalled capacity of 1,105,000 kilowatts. The damsite is located on the main stem of the Colum bia river near the mouth of the John Day river some 25 miles upstream from the site of The Dalles dam. Five years ago Congress au thorized the Army engineers to construct the John Day dam. Up to this year, however, Congress has not appropriated any funds to start building the multi-pur pose project - ' Estimated cost of building the John Day . dam is $310,000,000 This estimate is based on the cost of building comparable projects such as The Dalles and other Columbia river dams. The dam will fill in the last gap on the main stem of the Co lumbia . river, thus providing slack water navigation from Bonneville dam to the Pascc- cr m ' " &q Jllir - .- -r- f"i J TTE sometimes shudder at the long '4xliivl V V deals we're writing, but we're . BuicVtPwhu Performance Car, ffie Cento (With Buick's highest power-to-weight ratio!) 1955 Buick Century, 4-Door, 6-Passenger Riviera, Model 63, Klamath Kennewick area in : eastern Washington. Terms of the Bill Congressman Coon's bill calls for the government: 1. To design the dam; 2. To build the dam; 3. To operate the dam; 4. To operate the dam; 5. To integrate Portland-Vancouver Off Critical List Salem (U.R The State Un employment Commission said to day that the Portland-Vancouver area has been removed from the list if critical unemployment areas eligible for special treat ment in defense contracts. The four-county area, includ ing Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties in Oregon and Clark county in Washington, has been reclassified from Class D to Class C among American cities with unemployment prob lems. , In its Class D position, the Portland area won a contract for ship conversion that will give employment to about 1000 per sons. The commission has reported labor shortages in many parts of the state with a labor-surplus at its lowest level in three years, 15.900. Non-farm workers in the Portland area now total 248,000, compared with 229,000 last win ter, the commission reported. making so many folks Buick-happy. we can't stopl We're selling so fast breaking so many . sales records that we don't have time to look at our profits. So catch us quick, and get a GARGANTUAN saving on a" brand-new Buick of your dreams, with everything you want from Variable Pitch Dynaflow to those red-hot new IUKB YODB (MI DEAL On A BEAUTIFUL 195S BUIGB Buick's Big, Beoirfrfof and Low-Priced SrtCIAl (look, 4 doors and no center posts-the pioneer of 4-door hardtopil) 1 955 Buick Special, 4-Door, 6-Passenger Riviera,' Model 43, 1 88 hp, 122-tn. wheelbase . 236 hp, 122-in. wheelbot S3EHSJ'EIBffi?S AAH 143 South Riverside Phone 2-6265 Falls by Of Disputed Measure the power in the Northwest Power pool. The bulk of the estimated cost, $273,000,000, is alocated to power. The remaining $37,ouu.- 000 is allocated to general bene fit features of the dam such as the navigation lock. In addition to paying in advance for the cost of power facilities, the local interests are to pay for the fol lowing: 1. Their proportionate share of operating . and maintaining the power facilities and the por tion of the dam allocating pow er; 2. Their proportionate share of building, operating and main taining fish - passing facilities; 3. Any cost of transmitting pow er over federally-owned trans mission lines; 4. Any charges lor upstream and downstream pew er benefits as determined by the Federal Power commission. .The Federal Power commls sioh shall decide what local in terests who apply shall have, a share in building the dam and Adenauer Confined With Feverish Cod Bonn, Germany (U.R) Chan cellor Konrad Adenauer is con fined to bed with a feverish cold, a Bonn government spokesman announced today. The spokesman said the' 79 year-old Chancellor was forced to cancel all scheduled appoint ments for the next few days- B0EBT - Ww over the Biggest f w V8's. All at a price to make your head swim! Never before, perhaps never again, a sales event like this! Head your old car to the Buick Sales Circus or the trade of a motoring lifetime! . 'Variable Pitch Dynaflow is the only Vynaflou) Buick builds today. It is standard on Boadmaster, optional at modest extra cost on other Series. ' Buick's Super-Spacious Sunn , (Wher you sit in tha lap of luxury and love It 1 1955 Buick Supir, 2-Door, 6-Paisenger Convertible, Model 56C, 236 hp, 127-in.wheelbaj Heuhferger, Coon receiving 50-year power con tracts. , Local interests are defined in the bill as states or agencies of states, people's utility districts, public utility districts, munici pal power systems, rural electric cooperatives, private electric utility companies or entities act ing for or on behalf of one or more of these agencies. BONNIE QE7 TOURS &? THE r5 biting our chest "Selling Ytar in Bnick Mm WBaiek. V.IH.V.M 1V1.IM II IaL, f Best I payment Jjfc ft 1 . floe gee ta Mate (to i Dog-E-Stu 0 History AO Hottest Buick ever Buick's Star of Start, . the Car of Cars: ROADMASTIK 1955 Buick ROADMASTER, : 2-Door, 6-Passenger Riviera, Model 76R, 236hp,127-in.whee!base tit i j 1 1 mi in...... ir m V-
