The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-11-20
GOV. O'NEA[ DIRECTS ATTENTION ID WORK
 OF WORTH GTON
Tells Great Part Done by This Man in Making Muscle Shoals Proj-
 ect Success

Former Gov. Bmmet o'Neai yester- day took occasion to call renewed at tention to the great work that mas been done for the Muscle Shoals project by Col J. w. Worthington
 Now that the location of the perma- nent nitrate plant at Muscle Shoals seems assured" said Governor ONeai' i've should not in this hour of reJolc- ing forget those to whom we are chiefly indebted for development Of such far-reaching importance to the south. Years ago Senator Morgan with that wonderful scientific knowledge which he possessed, foresaw the inn portant part that hydro-electric power was destined to play in the greater commerce of the future.
 "The last years of his life were de- voted to the preparation of report to the Senate of the United States on the Improvement of the Tennessee river, and in that remarkable docu- ment the most complete, exhaustive and Illuminating ever written, he ad- vocated a nine-f foot channel for the en- tire length of the river, to be obtained by means of dams, creating slack wa ter pools, securing at the same time, deep water navigation and developing all of the wonderful hydro-electric power of that great stream Unfor- tunately he did not live long enough to carry his statesman-like plans to fruition.
 s'Following the leadership of Senator Morgan Col J. W. Worthingeon be. xrith that hydro electric power was the Alad- din's lamp with which we could sum- mon up the Genii and win for the south an industrial development greater than had ever before been conceived by the most optimistic. Years ago he made a profound and exhaustive study of nitrogen and repeatedly declared that by cheap water power we could ex- tract from the air around us vast storehouse of wealth and make the lands of the south the most fertile in the union.
 He commenced the campaign to se- | cure the passage by Congress of a gen. eral dam act. which would be both just to the government and the investor, but all his efforts proved unavailing. He then undertook to induce the gov ernment to develop the water power at Muscle Shoals in conjunction with corporate capital. and finally secured a favorable report from the engineer ing department of the United States government The conservationists who had succeeded in defeating every just and fair bill to develop the. hydro electric power in our navigable streams bitterly assailed the project and de- nounced it as an effort on the part of the water power trust to gain posses sion of a valuable asset of the govern ment. It was better they declared, that |the great power of Muscle Shoals should continue to flow unharnessed to the sea than that it should be de- veloped by the water power octopus. But Colonel Worthington said if the government Is unwilling to cooperate with private capital, why should not the government itself undertake the task?
 "In the logical powerful and eloquent speech which Senator Underwood de- livered recently at Florence to the largest and most representative au- dience ever gathered from the Tri- Cities. he declared that there was one man who had done more than all oth- srs In winning the fight for Muscle Shoals. and that man was J, W. Wor- hington The vociferous applause that greeted this statement proved that the people of the Tennessee valley were generously appreciative and that they zully recognized that 1t was chiefly ! through the untiring labors, the mas erly and diplomatic skill of J. W. ' Vorthington were we indebted for the recognition by the government of the United States of the imcomparable ad- vantages of the Muscle Shoals as the deal location for the permanent nitrate plant.
 ssWhen the formal announcement of he location of the permanent nitrate olant at Muscle Shoals is made the generous tribute paid by Senator Un-
 erwood to J. W. Warrington will
 nd a responsive echo in the heart of
 very man that appreciates modest yorth The development of this great
 over not only makes us independent
 f Chile. providing the government with an abundant supply of nitrates both for fertilizers and munitions. but will provide that cheap and abundant bower which will develop the greatest ctro-chemical and electro metal