The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-08-11
LET OUTSIDERS DO
 WHAT THE STATE IS UNABLE ID PERFORM
B. J. Dunn Comments on Lide's Letter on the Ala bama Power Company
 Situation
To the Editor of The Ase-Herald.

, To the Editor of The Age Herald
 note with much interest the space and prominence in Monday mornings edition of your paper which is given 10 Consulting Engineer Mir. Ldes letter to the governor and legislature in regard 10 the monopoly, he says. of the water power of our state by the Alabama Power com- pany
 Will you please take few lines from an humble looker-on though much inter- esteo one of this question which is now oerore our legislature. Now, MT. Lide is an engineer and from the reputa ton he has he must be a good one. but as an engineer is he not now taking the wrong position on this question. a butler down rather than a builder up? One of the pest dennitions of a civil engineer Is this; The ability to convert the forces or nature to tte uses of man" Is he do- Ing this In his letter? Is not his whole argument against 1t? Take this para graph; First of all, let me call vour at- tention to the progress made bv our state. Admitted to the union nearly 100 years ago. she stands third from the bot tom today Tn education, and near the bot tom Tn wealth per capita and in annual wealth production per ca pita, and this Ii, state blessed with more natural re- sources In minerals, fertility of soil. dj versihcation of crops, rivers and water power than nearly any state In the union. And why, l ask Is this the case? Is 1t not because we owners, by accident. of all these oountiful gifts of nature have not the ability nor the large sums of monev required to take advantage of them and now when others come forward who can do something to lift the state from the 1 oottom round of the ladder we would l throw obstacles in their way?
 | hold no brief, as the lawyer would say Tor the Alabama Power company. hut I do say that in the name of common sen so let us push any or all along who can and VIII develop the mighty resources Mr. Lloe Writes of. What does the paltrv sum they would pay the state amount to Tn comparison to the millions that would De spent by the company in the develon- ment of the Muscle Shoals water power Think of it, s4O 100000 to s5o.o1o o0o The iaea or waiting for the state to make this | loeNelopment IS very pretty theory hut | now long would the waiting bep What | nus the state ever done in this line other | 'hah 10 oulid little dam across a little wet weather branch near Speignerp If | these Foreigners, as some see proper Ia call them, have influence enough with onr congress to get 1t to spend s20.eoo 600 down nere we most assuredly should give them the glad hand of welcome and tell them 10 go ahead.
 | our nome people have not had inf1lence enough so far to have the VanHoosa canal built and we think that a good en- terprise, much less getting many millions
 Tor the Tennessee river. The mound
 builders will be In possession of our oit
 state again if we walt for it to develor
 the many great natural resources it ha <
 IS not our city and even other cities ir the state spending thousands of dollar, every month and year trying to get al.
 most any old kind of factory to build
 near its corporate limits offering ire.
 grounds. free taxes, and even sometimes money, Then why not help in smal
 way these men who bring millions ant
 whose improvements will 'o paying taxe.
 for our children and grandchildren.
 Suppose the company wil manufactur,
 fertilizer will it not be the very bes [ | thing that could happen tor the farn, CT, Of Alabama and the whole south? The,
 would not be dependent upon Chile, then. , We need not fear that che coal business Will be ruined for there will always b big demand for that One deyeiopnlen
 brings on another and our coal will be il
 demand more and more as the years 2,
 by So I say when the car of progr,s
 begins to climb the rugged hill of ob
 struction. we little fellows should set ru
 of the road at least and if we canno push let us not sprag the wheels. Yol. truly, E. I. DI-NN.
 Birmingham, August 9, 1915.