Winthrop M. Daniels to Woodrow Wilson
Title
Winthrop M. Daniels to Woodrow Wilson
Creator
Daniels, Winthrop More, 1867-
Identifier
WWP25185
Date
1918 September 20
Description
Enclosures on utility commissions.
Source
Library of Congress, Woodrow Wilson Papers
Publisher
Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum
Subject
Cooke, Morris Llewellyn, 1872-1960
World War, 1914-1918--United States
Contributor
Danna Faulds
Relation
WWP25186
WWP25187
Language
English
Provenance
Document scan was taken from Library of Congress microfilm reel of the Wilson Papers. WWPL volunteers transcribed the text.
Text
Hon. Woodrow Wilson,
The White House.
My dear Mr. President:
My colleague, Commissioner Woolley, introduced me yesterday to Mr. Morris L. Cooke of the United States Shipping Board. Mr. Cooke’s duties, or one of them, is to represent the Shipping Board in its dealings with Public Utilities. Where, for instance, a large increase in electric current for power is required by the Shipping Board in a particular locality, the task falls to Mr. Cooke to effect the arrangement necessary to obtain the service, and often in connection therewith to assist in financing the additions to plant which the electric power company must build.
Mr. Cooke informs me that the various Government Departments, Boards, and Bureaus are making financial arrangements and commitments of the most diverse character with Public Utilities for the services required. He therefore thinks it vitally important to have a Federal Utility Board before which all proposals of this character must first be laid, and which shall have advisory powers in the premises. The advice of this Federal Utility Board, if followed, would tend to standardize these arrangements, and in certain cases would preclude the [text missing in scan]
This function, of scrutinizing and standardizing financial arrangements between Government Departments and Public Utilities, is one of his main grounds for advocating the creation of a Federal Utility Commission. I enclose a memorandum of his, sketching his conception of its character and function.
I should add also that I liked what he suggested as to its personnel, -- that it shall be composed of representative and experienced men already here on the ground and connected with Government work, and containing at least one representative of Labor, and one or two experienced Utility experts, such as Maltbie, who is now with the Shipping Board.
Mr. Cooke wholly agrees with me that the more general task of guaranteeing and maintaining the credit of Public Utilities serving the general public is a State or Municipal task, not one to be taken over by a Federal tribunal. He thinks, however, that a Federal Utility Commission which, in the first instance, essays the role of guardian and adviser to Federal Departments and Bureaus in their financial dealings with Public Utilities might easily acquire by tact the confidence of the public generally so as to be available to indicate in any case what the direct interest of the Federal Government in any actual utility situation is. He also thinks that where their advice is asked as an arbiter or counselor either in instances where no statute provides for regulation of Public Utilities, or where mutual distrust or long-continued altercation has resulted in an impasse, the advice of this non-partisan and expert Federal body would perhaps be accepted by all sides.
Mr. Cooke agreed with me that such a Federal Utility Commission is quite compatible with an appeal by Proclamation to the States and Municipalities to take up their own proper burden of guaranteeing the credit of menaced Public Utilities and of according increased rates, where necessary, to maintain proper standards of service and continued solvency.
I am sending herewith (1) a copy of Mr. Cooke’s memorandum on the character of a Federal Utility Commission; (2) his memorandum reciting different arrangements already made with Public Utilities by branches of departments of the Government; and (3) a bulletin setting foth the views of certain State Utility Commissioners in the premises.
With all good wishes,
Very sincerely yours,
WM Daniels
(Enclosures)
The White House.
My dear Mr. President:
My colleague, Commissioner Woolley, introduced me yesterday to Mr. Morris L. Cooke of the United States Shipping Board. Mr. Cooke’s duties, or one of them, is to represent the Shipping Board in its dealings with Public Utilities. Where, for instance, a large increase in electric current for power is required by the Shipping Board in a particular locality, the task falls to Mr. Cooke to effect the arrangement necessary to obtain the service, and often in connection therewith to assist in financing the additions to plant which the electric power company must build.
Mr. Cooke informs me that the various Government Departments, Boards, and Bureaus are making financial arrangements and commitments of the most diverse character with Public Utilities for the services required. He therefore thinks it vitally important to have a Federal Utility Board before which all proposals of this character must first be laid, and which shall have advisory powers in the premises. The advice of this Federal Utility Board, if followed, would tend to standardize these arrangements, and in certain cases would preclude the [text missing in scan]
This function, of scrutinizing and standardizing financial arrangements between Government Departments and Public Utilities, is one of his main grounds for advocating the creation of a Federal Utility Commission. I enclose a memorandum of his, sketching his conception of its character and function.
I should add also that I liked what he suggested as to its personnel, -- that it shall be composed of representative and experienced men already here on the ground and connected with Government work, and containing at least one representative of Labor, and one or two experienced Utility experts, such as Maltbie, who is now with the Shipping Board.
Mr. Cooke wholly agrees with me that the more general task of guaranteeing and maintaining the credit of Public Utilities serving the general public is a State or Municipal task, not one to be taken over by a Federal tribunal. He thinks, however, that a Federal Utility Commission which, in the first instance, essays the role of guardian and adviser to Federal Departments and Bureaus in their financial dealings with Public Utilities might easily acquire by tact the confidence of the public generally so as to be available to indicate in any case what the direct interest of the Federal Government in any actual utility situation is. He also thinks that where their advice is asked as an arbiter or counselor either in instances where no statute provides for regulation of Public Utilities, or where mutual distrust or long-continued altercation has resulted in an impasse, the advice of this non-partisan and expert Federal body would perhaps be accepted by all sides.
Mr. Cooke agreed with me that such a Federal Utility Commission is quite compatible with an appeal by Proclamation to the States and Municipalities to take up their own proper burden of guaranteeing the credit of menaced Public Utilities and of according increased rates, where necessary, to maintain proper standards of service and continued solvency.
I am sending herewith (1) a copy of Mr. Cooke’s memorandum on the character of a Federal Utility Commission; (2) his memorandum reciting different arrangements already made with Public Utilities by branches of departments of the Government; and (3) a bulletin setting foth the views of certain State Utility Commissioners in the premises.
With all good wishes,
Very sincerely yours,
WM Daniels
(Enclosures)
Original Format
Letter
To
Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924
Files
Collection
Citation
Daniels, Winthrop More, 1867-, “Winthrop M. Daniels to Woodrow Wilson,” 1918 September 20, WWP25185, World War I Letters, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia.