National Affairs: The End of Dixon-Yates?

In downtown Memphis, a dingy, narrow street bears a significant (to Memphians) name: November 6th Street. It commemorates the day in 1934 when Memphis, urged on by its utility-baiting political boss, the late Edward H. ("Mister") Crump, voted against private power and for the Tennessee Valley Authority power system (it was the first major city to enter TVA). Most Memphians have remained passionately loyal to TVA; they were outraged when the Eisenhower Administration, under the Dixon-Yates contract (TIME, June 28, 1954 et seq.) decided to bypass TVA in constructing a $107 million power installation in the Memphis area. In the...

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