The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1922-10-28

meet in Greenvilie this week may
well consider as Of vital irispprt
ance to them. viewed from TIE
moral or the purely business stand
point.
FORD no FIGHT FOR
MUSCLE SHOALS
Henry Ford has not abandoned
his plan for. the developmedt OF
Muscle Shoals, and in a dispatch
from Detroit to- the Wall Strees
Journal he Is quoted as foIloNs
Henry Ford denies current re-
ports that he had become disgustea
with the delays that his offer a;r
Muscle ShoaIRsh had been subjected
to during the last session OF Con-
gress and had decided to drop all
efforts to secure favorable vote
Eon the project.
Amy statement that have lost
interest in Muscle Shoals or am
Contemplating q Withdrawal of N.Y.
offer is simply a lie, he said e1n
phatically. I've reached the point
where Tn tired of saying that peo-
pie who continually misrepreseaks'
my position in regard to- Muscae
Shoals are merely mistaken In
stead Of that I'm going to say they
are just plain liars. We are in the
Muscle Shoals project to stay We
haven't started to fight Mr..
Mayo, our chief engineer. has beer
at washington for few weeks.
more as source of information
than anything else. helping The
congressional committee all that h9
could in explaining our proposltipn
and generally making more compli-
Gated engineering problem pisaA
but outside OF that we have dose
nothing.
The opposition has been print
ing pamphlets by the thousands.
lining up great and politicaIly pow
erful business interests, who feel:
they might be injured If we pro-
duced a cheap aluminium or fer
tilizer, to exert their influence. in
every way against our proposifsoa
We have let them. play their string
out.
When the tine comes NE VIII
do our fighting gift it is necessazz.
And if it does. some people VIII
know they have been in a fight =
It IS a weIl-known fact that the
fertilizer interests. the aIuminuua
interests and some others are BIT
terly opposed to Mr.. Ford where
in they are making very serious
technical blunder for their own
welfare. The fertilizer interests
profess to believe that Mr. Ford
cannot make cheap fertilizers. IT,
they really believed that they
would have no cause whatever to
oppose his plan. If he cannot pgo-
duce and sell fertilizers at q lowSr
cost to farmers than the present
price, then the fertilizer people
have no ground Of complaint what
ever # the Aluminium Company
VI @hiitSAAS<1 40 <1hact sOi SifCs Rek<E >
bliity of Mr. Ford producing aIHnl
mum at lower cost than that
company is making this product
and is fighting him on that ground.
it is selfshly standing IN the way
OF the broad development ofs the
South for its own financial profit.
and that is a position which no
great industry. dependent upon the
progress Of the country for it's
prosperity, can afford to take.
The water power interests ases
also fighting Mr.. Ford. and they
too. OF course. are doing it from a
selfish standpoint, but it would
seem that they have little better
fighting ground than either the
fertilizer people or the aiumiHum
people. but they are helping 10 ]
stand in the way of development
which il carried out according TO
Mr.. Ford's plans would bring ahott
enormous prosperity to large sec
ton of the South. and thus TO the
country. The time has passed
when great business interests canS
afford selfishly to fight public ina
provements which would inure TO
the betterment OF the country
merely because these improvements
would interfere with their own "a
dividua1 prosperity.
We are glad, therefore. that Mr..
Ford proposes to fight, and to fight
vigorously and aggressively aRd
we take it from the statement that
he will be able to say to the ep-
ponents Of his plan. Lay on. Mac
Duff. and damned be he who first
cries hold, enough
The Powell Paving Company.
contractors for the hard paving an
the Pinewood road. have compief
ed the concrete work to Old Ford
Bridge and are at work on the
grading in the vicinity Of ME-.
A. Harvin's place. IS:
Turkey might as well understand