The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-25
ATHENS MAN TELLS
 OF MUSCLE SHOALS
Replies to Frear's Criticism of Project So Important
 to North Alabama

To the Editor of The Age-H Herald:
 In The Age-Herald of December % notice an article from the Hon. MT. Frear, representative from Wisconsin, against the Muscle Shoals development. He certainly does not know a great deal about the conditions on the great Ten nessee river and the amount that has been expended in small Appropriations which since it began in 1928 to the pres ent time has amounted to the enormous sum of s3s,0o0,000 (and has been of very little benefiD, or he is trying to deceive someone that probably does not know any more than he in order to defeat one of the greatest propositions and one of the greatest benefits that 1t is possible to bring to this southland
 He classes it as the most ridiculous thing possible to make an appropriation of s15,000, 900 to a river that has been of So little benefit and falls to tell why it has been thus. The facts are that the government and our representatives who have been in Congress from this section have been sincere in trying to solve this problem and the S3S 000, ,000 bah been spent in good faith in most in-
 
 can scarcely be used and at best by small boats and none at all when the river is low. It is a great project and we have had the greatest engineers that the world has ever known to spend the prime of their life there and foiled be- cause they could not get sufficient ap- Iropriations to carry out their plans See what Goethals has done in the Pan- anna canal. Why? Because he had the A. ., be done.
 He also seems to be afraid that the company who wants the power rights will get something out of it. Of course they will and it is right that they should. And when the proposition proposed is finished the government will get something too The s1S,00e, GOO 1t is proposed that the government pay is not more than half the amount that it will take to do the work which when done will make it so that the large river boats can so from New Orleans to Chattanooga and make river transportation cheap and practical bcsides being a great inland protection to the government.
 MT Frear doesn't take in conside ra ion the difference in the cost of shipping where there are good river shipping facilities and practically no facilities at all, which are the conditions at Muscle Shoals it now is.
 One of the great reasons why the gov ernment should cooperate with strong corporation in the development of Muscle Shoals, is the help that such corporation will have to put forth in the development of the varied natural resources of this section in order to make the great power developed worth anything as an invest ment. And I am satisfied MT. FTear is perfectly ignorant as to the immensity of fhPGa of sand, fire clay, marble, timber, litho. graph stone and mineral waters equal for the healing O? our infirmities to the pest agricultural country anywhere which makes it an ideal section in which to place large amounts of capital.
 There Is not person in the govern. rhent today who has not been made to See Con account of the war), our great need of manufacturing facilities We are now in the throes of financial distress on account of not having factories tc make our cotton into finished products and how can we, have them without en. ccuraging capital to take hold of oul great water power and develop it so as to give us cheap power to compete with other sections that have it and power that can be transmitted to the place wt want it?
 .yur mountains and hills that are filled with minerals of various kinds and val. leys that offer such great advantage. in an agricultural way and our rivers that have such wonderful water powel the development of which will make sucf ideal shipping facilities altogether ar, offering such great advantages that i is no wonder that the representative. of our government who have caught tn, vision are willing to join hands witt capital for the development of such grea resources. Men wfo have caught sucl visions cannot help seeing the advan tages of the outlay of this appropria ton.
 The government is kept up by taxa ton and the tax that will accumnlat from the development of these buried re sources will more than repay the gov erninent if it were to appropriate $40, 000000. Look at the s2o,000.0Go that wa spent in the construction of the Fri canal, and I daresay that there is no a man, it matters not how learned O how ignorant he may be, that will ven ture to belttle it's worth. The prope opening of the Muscle Shoals locks an dams will open up good river shippin facilities for the length of 1500 mile to the gulf. not counting the connec tions that it will give with other nay igable rivers, and why should the govern ment not be willing to make a sufficien