Rural Electrification Sources Behind the Story

		Source: A Campaign Address on Public Utilities and Development of Hydro-Electric Power Franklin Roosevelt believed that access to electricity was important for all Americans. This belief was an important part of his presidential campaign. In 1932 Roosevelt gave a speech in Portland, Ore., where he argued that only the federal government can ensure equal access to electricity for all Americans – especially for people living in rural areas. Portland, Ore. Sept. 21, 1932
"I have strengthened the belief that I have had for a long time and that I have constantly set forth in my speeches and papers in my work as Governor of the State of New York, that the question of power, of electrical development and distribution, is primarily a national problem. ... As I see it, the object of Government is the welfare of the people ... With the advance of civilization, many of other necessities of a monopolistic character have been added to the list of public utilities, such as railroads, street railways, pipelines and, more lately, the distribution of gas and electricity. ... "Electricity is no longer a luxury. It is a definite necessity. It lights our homes, our places of work and our streets. It turns the wheels of most of our transportation and our factories. In our homes it serves not only for light, but it can become the willing servant of the family in countless ways. It can relieve the drudgery of the housewife and lift the great burden off the shoulders of the hardworking farmer. ... "What prevents our American people from taking full advantage of this great economic and human agency? The answer is simple. It is not because we lack undeveloped water power or unclaimed supplies of coal and oil. ... [it is] that power has grown into [an] interstate business of vast proportions and requires the strict regulation and control of the Federal Government. ... "I have spoken on several occasions of a 'New Deal' for the American people. I believe that the 'New Deal,' as you and I know it, can be applied to a whole lot of things. It can be applied very definitely to the relationship between the electric utilities on the one side, and the consumer and the investor on the other. ... "I do not hold with those who advocate Government ownership or Government operation of all utilities. I state to you categorically that as a broad general rule the development of utilities should remain, with certain exceptions, a function for private initiative and private capital. ... "I promise you this. Never shall the Federal Government part with its sovereignty or with its control over its power resources, while I am President of the United States." – Franklin D. Roosevelt
Source of the Source: "The Portland Speech," A Campaign Address on Public Utilities and Development of Hydro-Electric Power, Portland, Ore. Sept. 21, 1932. Works of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
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