Alabama Power Co. v. Ickes

GRONER, J.

(concurring).

I concur in the conclusion reached on the basis of the trial court’s findings of fact, by which I feel bound, namely:

That the municipalities concerned acted in the matters in question of their own free will and without .coercion or solicitation by the United States or the Administrator.

Second, that there is no agreement or conspiracy between the United States and the municipalities to have the United States foster municipal ownership.

Third, that the United States has, in making the loan and grant, reserved no right to control municipal power rates, to suppress competition, or to regulate operation.

If these findings reflect the real position of the United States in the matters in issue here, then I agree that the United States is only a “buyer of bonds, and a giver of gifts,” and that in the circumstances the threatened damage to plaintiffs’ properties is consequential and indirect.