Message to Congress Transmitting a Survey on Interterritorial Freight Rates.

To the Congress:

Herewith I submit a survey entitled "The Interterritorial Freight Rate Problem of the United States," which survey was conducted by the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority, pursuant to Executive Order No. 6161 (June 8, 1933), by which I delegated to it certain powers granted to me by sections 22 and 23 of the Tennessee Valley Authority Act of 1933. I am also transmitting herewith a letter from the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority, dated May 28, 1937, forwarding the aforesaid survey to me, and explaining its nature and purpose.

I invite particular attention to the suggestion, contained in Chairman Morgan's letter, that the report, with its accompanying maps and charts, be published as an official document.

The letter of May 28, 1937, from the Chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority is as follows.

The President The White House Washington, D.C.

My dear Mr. President:

I have the honor to submit, on behalf of the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority, a survey which concerns and is entitled "The Interterritorial Freight Rate Problem of the United States."

This survey has been conducted by the Tennessee Valley Authority pursuant to Executive Order No. 6161 (June 8, 1933), by which you delegated to this board certain authority confided in you by sections 22 and 23 of the Tennessee Valley Authority Act of 1933. This report discusses the existence of and the reasons and remedies for the barrier to interstate commerce in the form of the present interterritorial freight rate structures.

There is no national freight rate structure, but rather a composite of regional structures. Our board initiated this study in the belief that a survey of the national problem created by the existence of these regional freight rate structures would be "useful to the Congress and to the several states in guiding and controlling the extent, sequence, and nature of development of the Tennessee Valley region and adjoining areas through the guidance and control of public authority . . . for the general purpose of fostering an orderly and proper physical, economic, and social development of said areas."

This survey shows that the present territorial freight rate boundaries, which are the outgrowth of tradition, constitute barriers against the free flow of commerce which are hampering and restricting the normal development of the nation as a whole by preventing a full utilization of the varied natural resources that exist in the different regions of the country. It reveals that the existence of these barriers tends to retard substantially the commercial and economic development of the Tennessee River drainage basin and adjoining areas in the South. The report suggests that the establishment of a uniform principle of making interterritorial freight rates will aid the commercial development of such regions as the Tennessee Valley and redound to the benefit of the nation as a whole.

After devoting a major portion of the survey to a statement of the problem and its economic manifestations, the report, in Part VI, suggests possible alternative solutions of the problem.

The Tennessee Valley Authority believes that this survey will be useful to the legislative and executive branches of the Federal Government in its consideration of the problem of promoting and protecting interstate commerce. The subject of the survey is one of current interest, and information regarding the problem is in demand. For this reason, may I suggest that the report be properly printed, together with the charts and maps, as an official document.

Very truly yours,

TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY

ARTHUR E. MORGAN

Chairman of the Board