Rural Electrification Administration priority requests and their disposition cumulative to Dec. 1, 1941-Continued Virginia 37, Nanse- Minnesota 99G, Lake Maine 13, Hancock.. Virgin Islands 1G, St. Do... 850 feet 600-volt stranded rubber Critical materials to complete 51 Metering equipment to supply Prince George Electric Cooperative with power and release mobile units. Request for higher rating and the return of certificate No. 111255. Steel conductor, service wire, and accessories to complete construction on 13 miles of singlephase line. Meters and sockets for connections. 3 potheads, 4 transformers, and the accessories for service to Army air base. Texas 117G, Upshur. 3 applications to cover materials for 284 miles of 33-kilovolt transmission lines, (insulators, clamps, line hardware, transmission line accessories, guy wire); service to Texas 72 and Army camp. Nov. 24, 1941. A-10, C-98746. Minnesota 53, Waseca. Request for higher rating from Minnesota 92A, South Wisconsin 56G, Craw- Delaware 2, Sussex... Texas 80, Collings- Texas 117G, Upshur.. Minnesota 92A, South Wisconsin 56G, Craw- do. B-1, Oct. 17, 1941, for 4 500-kilovolt-ampere transformers, dairy farms. 4 substation transformers. Various tanks, 2 fuel-oil heaters. Metering equipment, Fort Saulsbury. 14,601 pounds copperweld con- 3 applications: Insulators, Tanks and 2 fuel oil heaters Tri State Power Cooperative, Project rating requested Oct. 22, Delaware 2, Sussex... Metering equipment Fort Sauls bury, Del., Rural Electric Association, Greenwood, Del. Texas 80, Collings- Copperweld conductor, Greenworth. belt Electric Cooperative, Wellington, Tex. 1 Resubmitted. QUESTION OF PURPOSE ON THE PART OF SOME TO LIMIT COPPER PRODUCTION Mr. TARVER. What would be the effect on your program of failure to receive any further allocation of copper for the projects you consider as national-defense projects, or projects that have received a rating by the Office of Production Management as being of a national-defense character? Mr. SLATTERY. Well, they would have to close down. I should like to say, frankly, Mr. Chairman, just this word. When I was in the Interior Department, during the last World War, the question of copper supplies came up as it has now. Then action was taken through the War Department and the Interior Department concerning the question of minerals of which there was a production shortage. We went out and produced in order to increase the production of copper; and I have called those actions to the attention of men in the Bureau of Mines and to Dr. Finch especially, concerning the production of copper. I stated the other day before the Bureau of the Budget that, in my opinion, a great deal of thought was being given to limiting rather than increasing the production of copper. We have certain information, and I think the Office of Production Management must know, that there are certain mines that are not running. There are certainly opportunities for increasing the production of copper; and I should like to put that word in that the emphasis has never been placed on increasing the production of copper. I realize that there is a growing demand to come under the war plan; and as I have said before, as far as the Rural Electrification Administration is concerned, we do not want to take any copper that is needed for shells or any item of the War Department. I think, however, that many R. E. A. projects are not only needed to aid the War Department in national defense, but also to aid the Nation in production of critical food, which is a large defense item in itself. RELATION OF RURAL ELECTRIFICATION ADMINISTRATION PROJECTS ΤΟ ΝΑΤΙΟΝΑΙ, DEFENSE Mr. TARVER. I was going to ask you, Mr. Slattery, what relationship do you conceive that these projects have, the extension of existing lines have, to national defense where the ordinary projects are undertaken? Mr. SLATTERY. We have given priority in our allotments to cooperatives that affect the production of food because they are an important part of the whole food program. That is true in the dairying sections of Wisconsin and in the Middle West, and it affects agriculture in many other sections of the country. The R. E. A. co-ops are finding that electricity is an important element in the production of food, poultry, milk and other dairy products, because if you do not have electricity it is difficult to increase the production of many of those foods on the farm. In fact, electricity is essential in dairying to meet modern State sanitary standards. The production of those items is a vital part of the whole defense plan. R. E. A. cooperatives and the members of those cooperatives are serving the Nation through increasing the production of these items called for by the program of defense. There is an increased demand for production of these foods and for electricity from the co-ops to make this production possible. The R. E. A., therefore, is very decidedly in the defense picture. 66481-41- 2 RELATION OF RURAL ELECTRIFICATION ADMINISTRATION TO REQUESTS OF COOPERATIVES FOR COPPER PRIORITIES Mr. TARVER. Some of us conferred yesterday with representatives of the O. P. M. with regard to this problem, Mr. Slattery, and we gained the impression that your organization and the O. P. M. is endeavoring to work out some plan by which allocation of copper, so far as copper may be available and not needed for strictly defense purposes, may be made to R. E. A. cooperatives, but that final plan as yet has not been worked out. There also seemed to be some impression in the information we had received from your organization and the information we received from the O. P. M. in that they were apparently wanting to base their action as to the defense features of projects and deciding which projects should receive consideration, and the extent to which consideration should be accorded a project, on what arrangement your organization has made with the co-ops, and that your organization, however, has advised the co-ops that they should file their application with O. P. M., leaving it with them to determine which ones would be able to get what copper might be available. What is the status of your negotiations with O. P. M. along that line, with regard to working out some plan under which this whole matter could be handled? Mr. SLATTERY. Mr. Chairman, I started to say a little while ago, when the question of priorities was raised, that I put Dr. Craig in charge of R. E. A. priorities work, and he can correct me if my understanding is in error. The question of individual priorities after the O. P. A. C. S. reorganization became the decision of O. P. M. and not the decision of R. E. A. Mr. TARVER. You have not been requested by O. P. M. to submit the opinion of your organization as to which projects, the amount of copper, the number of projects, that you thought were the most deserving of consideration? Mr. SLATTERY. Not that I know of, Mr. Chairman. O. P. M. gave us the impression that they were going to handle all of the applications of the Cooperatives and that they should make their individual requests to O. P. M. I understood that a long questionnaire was to be sent to the co-ops to obtain data, and that put us out the window, so to speak. Mr. TARVER. You do not understand that their plan contemplated the submission of any recommendations by your organization as to which projects should have priority? Mr. SLATTERY. No, sir. We submitted to O. P. M. a list which I should like to submit for the record. Mr. TARVER. This list simply shows the number of projects, the name and address of the cooperative, the number of miles authorized, the percentage of completion, the date of allocation, the number of pounds of copper required to complete the project, the name of the manufacturer, and the date the conductor was ordered. From the standpoint of the relationship of the project to the national-defense program and the necessity for the project as a matter of national defense, and from the standpoint of the reasons which entitled one project to copper over another, you submitted no statement. |