Business and Government in the Tennessee Valley

Abstract

T HE Tennessee Valley Authority, :created some six months ago by act of Congress, is a public agency in the form of a corporation. Its powers are exercised by a board of three directors, appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate. This board is given the same broad discretionary powers in the exercise of its duties that are customarily vested in the directors of private business corporations. In his message to Congress transmitting the bill creating the Authority, President Roosevelt commented on the fact that this Government corporation was to have the same flexibility and opportunity for initiative that is customarily characteristic of a private business corporation. The Tennessee Valley Authority has certain specific duties to perform: For example, it is the proprietor of the great hydroelectric plant at Muscle Shoals, and of the Government nitrate plants at that place; it is directed to construct two great dams-Norris Dam, near the headwaters of the Tennessee, on the Clinch River, and the Joe Wheeler Dam, perhaps the longest dam in the country, some sixteen miles above Muscle Shoals, on the Tennessee River. In addition, it has a duty to develop a program of flood control, of soil erosion prevention, and of reforestation. It is directed to make surveys and studies looking toward the planned development of the entire Tennessee Valley area, embracing seven states and several millions of men, women, and children. The lessons which experience may teach as a result of this effort in the planned development of a region may be adapted and applied in other parts of the country. There is already a movement on foot to create similar agencies in other regions, notably in the Missouri Valley and in the valley of the Columbia River. The Tennessee Valley Authority presents, in very concrete form, certain relations between business and government, which is the general subject-matter of this session's discussion. On so broad a scale, the relationships established by this legislation and its administration may be said to be new. It is of the essence of the Tennessee Valley Authority's activities that these relations between business and government shall be regarded as experimental and tentative, subject to change from time to time in the light of experience and the changing facts. The Tennessee Valley Authority bears two major relationships to business. One is that of a regulatory agency. The second is that of a stimulus to business.