The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-06-05

made, you know, with the Ala
 bnmn Power company, the Air Nitrates company and the Cyan
 amid company, relative to va-
 rfous matters there. The judge
 advocate general of the army
 and the Attorney General have
 said that the Air Nitrates con-
 tract Is not sound, is not bind-
 &0g. That, of course, I cannot
 cOntrovert. and I am not sure
 about 1t. In the case of the Ala
 bamR Power company, 1t owns
 the land on which the transmis-
 sion line is located, 1t has an in-
 tereBt In the railroad in the
 neiRhb0rh0od, md 1t now has a
 lease of the GOrgns plant. I have
 transmitted to you m offer from
 the Alabama Power company for
 the governments interest in the
 railroad, the Gorses plant and
 the transmission line which was
 built by the government. for $2,bOO ,O0O..
 The chairman: Have you beer down there. MT. Secretary"
 MT. Weeks: T have. yes" The Chairman Lou are familiar then, with the way in which the property of the United States and the property of the Alabama Power company are intermlngled?"
 MT. Weeks; Yes"
 The Chairman, "Have you fn-
 vestigated to determine whether
 there would be nny difficulty, Ie-
 gal or otherwise, If the govern
 ment should take its interest In
 that property and dispose of itfo
 MT. Weeksi "WelI, I think the
 AIMh0u.a ~o..,nan- -h&rL
 is under the public service com
 mission of Alabama, would be in-
 clined to take a broad and gem
 erous view of any matter in
 which the government would be
 involved. Their record seems to
 indicate that. They turned over
 property at Muscle Shoals to the
 government mt the beginning of
 the war which had cost some thing like $500, 900, and so far as
 I have been able to observe, I do not think they would be conten-
 tious about those matters. "lf anybody is going to buy thnt particular property, the Ala bama Power company is the nat urm purchaser. It cnn use 1t to better advantage than anyone else. Moreover, I want to say that do not see, while Mir. Ford hns said that hIs offer must be taken in entirety and not in part, how that particular property is involved In the developments which Mir. Ford has in view. It is simply n question of furnish- ing additional power, hut there
 will he immeasurnbly more pow
 CT than will he required at Mus
 cie shoals. unless there is a very grent industrial development there.v
 The Chairman: Well what have you, if anything, to say, MT. Secre- tary, in regard to the hundred-yeaI proposition that is included in Mir Fords offerT'
 100 Yesrs Too Long MT. Weeksi T am personally opposed to giving anyone power over R development of that kind for a hundred years. The gov
 ernment has established n 5O-
 year limitation fin the water power net, which think Is quite enough. Nobody knows what is going to be developed in 50 years. A hundred years is long time, and I have contended against that part of Mir. Ford's proposi- ton from the start-that it was
 unwise for the government to en- ter into an agreement of that kind. and especially with n pro-
 vision which gives substantially
 mn option to Mir. Ford to renew, or for his successors. the con- tract"
 Senator Kendrick: "Supposing tha, the conditions which you have out lined as to time of the lease. the guaranteee of the manufacture oi fertilizer and other objections to his present offer which you have raised were met. would you then consider his offer of s5,oO0.o00 for the gov ernment's property a satisfactory of fer"
 offer Unsatisfactory Mir. Weeks. .T don't think e5,OOO.0OO is a satisfactory offer for the government property or anything like 1t.
 "I will say definitely, MT. Chairman, that if the fertilizer phase of MT. Ford's offer were left ont, If thnt were discarded and there was not the certainty that he was going to manufac- ture fertilizer. and an assurance that 1t would be done at cost
 thnt would enable the ultimate consumer to get fertiliser cheap CT than heretofore, I do not con- sider Mir. Ford's offer . satisfac-
 tory one, and therefore if l had
 the power I should insist that
 that phase of his offer should be
 made beyond any question:"