Richmond daily register. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1917-1978, 1922-07-20
NORRIS CONDEMNS
FORD PROPOSITION
Nebraska Senator Delivers Scath
ing Report On Offer To Take
Over Muscle Shoals
(By Associated Pressl

to the Senate today by Chairman
Norris of the Senate Agricultur-
al Committee, Henry Ford's Of
fer for the purchase and lease Of
! the governments initiated
projects at Muscle Shoals, Ala
/ bama, is condemned in unsuua1ly
! strong language, while the Ne
! braska Senator's bill, proposing
development of the properties
under a government owned and
controlled cooperation, is descirb-
ed as ''the most wonderful plan"
that has ever been proposed in
the history of the country.
On the question of the For1
bid, the report says, Senators
Page, McNary, Keyes, Gooding,
Norbeck, Harreld and Mckinley,
republicans, and Kendrick, DEM
ocrat, concur with the chairman.
With reference to the govern
ment ownership proposal, the re-
port gives the names of five Sen
ators. Norris, McNary, Gooding,
Norbeck and Mckinley, who fa-
vor its passage by the Senate
for the solution of athe Muscle
Shoals problem.
The Ford offer is dealt with in
unsparing terms. It's adoption,
the report says, would put "the
government of the United States
into business with vengeance"
adding that "those who ask Con-
gress to accept the Ford offer
ask us, in effect. to lease this
property to this corporation
without any real consideration,
and then in addition thereto,
guarantee to repair and keep apd
maintain it in good condition for
a period of one hundred years.
''It is difficult to harmonic
Our idea Of Mr.. Ford's fairness"
the report continues, with his
silence on this subject, when his
name is so often used in exag-
geration and Misrepresentation as
to Just what he does offer to do.
The country has been given to
understand that Mr.. Ford has
guaranteed to reduce the cost of
fertilizer by one-half. He has
done nothing of the kind. He has
made no guarantee Of any kind
in the way of the reduction OF
the cost OF fertilizer. The coun-
try has been given to understand
that he pays the government
four per cent interest on its in
vestment n the two dams. He
does nothing of the kind. He
has not made any such offer and
no such proposition is included
in his bid. Giving his corpora
ton credit for every dollar that
it pays, he will be paying to the
taxpayers less than three per
cent on the money which he uses
out of the Treasury of the Unit
I'd States, and when we consider
that this loan runs for one hun
lred years, it requires even the
of the imagination to urr-
1erstand the enormous oprohtl
that this corporations secures IN
his one item alone. .9g9 i
Assuming that a fairf interest z
'ate in the commercial world isl
SIX per cent interest, this would
give his corporation during al
Year period, total gift
ST cold cash of $256250,00O and
f this money were compounded
IS Mr.. Ford asks the government
o compound what he pays, the
profit to the corporation at the
md of the one hundred year
,eriod would be $14,5O0,O00,C00. ;
This is more than half our total ,
:ost of the world war"
Other features of the Ford :
are vigorously attack ,
d. That proposing the hundred 6
rear lease of the water-power r
Projects, the report asserts,
would make the Federal Water
,ower Act, in effect, scrap of
,aper."
The document asserts that Mr..
7ord is not claiming many things t
laimed in his behalf by many of
those who are spreading the c
propaganda over the
demanding that Con. T
,ress shall accept his offer" "a
The statement is made that the
cannot afford to en-
er into "the loaning business at
he expense of the taxpayers and
or the enrichment of great
that under the very {
erms of its offer will be beyond {
he regulation Of either Federal t
r State authority" S
Attention is INVITED to provls- '
Continued On page 81