GOVERNMENT: A State's Right

When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1950 that the East Ohio Gas Co., serving Cleveland, was subject to Federal Power Commission control, the precedent setting opinion affected rates of all utilities bringing in gas from outside their state borders. Last week the U.S. Senate overrode the court (52-25) in a bill which removed natural gas distributors doing business "locally" (i.e., within one state) from FPC's authority, put them under state regulatory agencies alone.

The bill, which goes to the White House for the President's signature, was fought by Ohio's Democratic Senator Thomas A. Burke but was strongly supported by Ohio's Republican Senator John W. Bricker, whose law firm gets $500 a month as counsel in state tax matters for the East Ohio company. But it also drew support from other quarters; four members of the five-man FPC favored it, as did many state commissions.