The Monroe journal., 1922-11-10
Fertilizer Trust Sells Dirt and
Sand. Mr.. Hammer Alleges

fertilizer companies and other big in
terests rejoieed and were made glad
Ii looked as though these interests
had won.
The scrapping process az Muscle
Shoals had already begun. and ship
ments of materials were going out
from the nitrate plants when the
farmers, who had fought for the
preservation and operation of thess
plants fom the beginning, called or
Secretary of War Weeks and asked
him If he would undertake TO secure
proposals for the purchase or lease
of the Governments property al
Muscle Shoals. He agreed to do so
and once more these various inter
! ests, including the hydroelectric
power companies of the Southeastern
States, were given an opportunity to
bid on the property. Once more the
answer was unanimously no. Not
an offer was made, and the House
had rejected the amendment approp-
Rating Sl0,000,000 for continuing
the work at Muscle Shoals. The
project was a dead issue until out
of the blue there dropped the thunder
bolt of Henry Ford. (Applause.)
Here was a rank outsider who did
not belong to the fraternity, who rad
the au6aeity TO oppose the well laid
plan of these Thoroughly inrrenched
interests. The nerve Of Ford was as
founding. Something had to be done,
some offer had to he put in TO meet
he proposal of Henry Ford; and,
after hasty conferences behind closed
doors. it was decided that the Ala
bama Power Co. was the logical party
10 present a bid which, II was cn?'i-
d, ntly expected. would he more than
4 match for ne Ford pr1posal Mean
while. encouraged Ly the unfriendly
reception which the proposal was
receiving at the hands Of The Secre-
tary of War. other bidders of un-
known responsibility began to APP
PEAR until five or six proposals had
been made for the property which
previously had been considered on its
way to the national Junk heap with
the entire consen. and approval of
the opposing interests.
Dubious House Committee Report
For seven months the Ford pro-
posal was in the Office of the Secre-
tary of War, and finally the Secre-
tary sent it to Congress, not with
recommendation. but with a letter of
comment. in which his friendly atti-
tude toward the offer was apparent.
and after months of VCluminouS hear
ings in which the interts and purposes
aaa~motives of Mr.. Ford were bitter
ly assalled the majority Of the COM
mittee finally reported recommend
alton for the acceptance of his offer.
Doubtless to the astonishment of the
o.her bidders their proposals, includ-
ing that of the Alabama Power Co.,
did not even receive serious con
deration.
Just why the majority of the Mill
tary Committee should elect to play
into the hands of the Alabama Power
Co. by reserving the right to sell to
that company the Governments in
terest in the steam plant at Gorgas,
Ala, and undertaking to accept the
Ford proposal on this basis !. is
hard to understand.
During the war, when il was
necessary to provide a supply Of
electric power for nitrate plant> No.
= at Muscle Shoals from a source
Immediately available, the Govern
ment had asked the Alabama Power
Co. to cooperate in an effort to secure
this power quickly. After much
ne gotiation, which was brought to a
hasty conclusion on the day of the
false report of the signing of the
armistce, the company entered into
a mos, remarkable arrangement with
he Government whereby the Gov
arnment placed an additional unit in
its power plant and ra d the Alabama
Power Co. q profit OF S2S0,0000 for
installing this Government property
IN the Alabama Power Co.'S own
land
Alabama Power Co. Cyerpllys lis
Hand
This contrac.. which had been de-
nounced in vigorous terms by the
Attorney General and the Acting
Judge Advocate General. sought to
.urn every possible change Of circum-
stances to the advantages of the Ala
bama Power Co. Under It's terms,
by a simple expeGient of supplying
want to the Government at a price
almost twice as high as the price of
four nils per kilOwatt hour asked /
by the Union Gas g. Electric Co. in
its contract to supply power for nj
trate plant No. 3 at Cincinnati, Ohio, /
and apply ing part of the power /
charges on the purchase Of the unit,
the Alabama Power Co. would ulti- +
mately have become the owner of the |
property with no cost to
it whatever. But the Alabama Pow
er Co. overplayed Its hand by refus-
ing to bid on the Government property
ungIl after the Ford bid had come |
n, and then, seeing the futility of
u secure this power plant !
lnder a contract with the highest
legal authorities in the administra-
We branch OF the Government had
declared null and void. the company
Inally came ont with an offer of
$500, ,00o-which | believe was sub
:equently raised TO S3,0)0,00Q-for
.he purchase OF the Gorgas plant,
which had been built by the Ala
)ara Power Co., as heretofore stated,
Indee 2 long and difficult to under
) and contract with the Upited States
At cost OF about S5,000.000 to the
American taxpayers, S2S0,000 of
rhich was clear profit to the Alabama
Power Co. The Alabama Power Co.'S
position for years has been one of
,nric patton that the Muscle Shoals