The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1922-07-22
improvements. In advocating

passage we hold out no will-o'-the-
wisp to deceive and n1islead the
people. We face. the fertilizer
proposition without practicing any
deception upon the farmers. We
believe the extraction Of nitrogen
from the air can be cheapened, but
we cannot guarantee it. Fertilizer
can be produced at Muscle Shoals,
but. if it is cheapened to the farm
er we must have cheap power and
improved processes. Nothing can
be gained by deception. The de-
STABILITY of cheapening the cost of
fertilizer is conceded by all.
1--WE believe that the government
is justified not only as war
measure. but as peace propo-
sition,. to expend all of the money
that may be necessary in chemi-
cal experiments with the view Of
cheapening fertilizer. This provis-
ion ought to be hailed with de-
light, not only by the : farmers,
but by ali Of the consumers who
buy the products Of the farm. 1t
will develop at Nitrate Plant No.
| /, the greatest experimental lab
oratory in the world.
Instead Of turning over the
surplus power to any one indi-
vidua or to one corporation, TO be
used for his or its financial bene-
| fit, without regulation from any
source whatever, it will be able to
supply electricity to the people at
large, and cities and communities,
hundreds of miles distant from
Muscle Shoals will receive bene7
fits either directly from this source
or indirectly, by the eheapening of
electricity by men and corpora
tions who will be competitors of
this governmental corporation.
The report points out that cleo
triciry developed at Muscle Shoals
should be furnished to municipali-
ties at as near cost as possible and
should be so distributed that all
of the people, both rich and poor,
would receive a proportionate
benefit to the cheapening of cleo
astrieal energy. That is the idea
that the Norris bill seeks TO ac-
complish, the report adds.
when the power on the Ten
nessee River is fully developed it
| ought to be carried to the, cities all
over the states of Alabama, Lou
isiara, Tennessee. and Kentucky
and given as wide distribution
as possible so that ali of the people
may get the benefit Of the develop
ment of the property owned by all
of the people"
Attention is invited to provisions
of the senate bill directing the
secretary of war to construct dams
in the upper Tennessee River to
equalize the fow Of water through
out the year and, the report says.
more than doubling the power pos
sibilities at Muscle Shoals. It
adds that the. government is about
the only one that can afford to
construct these reservoir dams. The.
storage of waters in the Tennessee
river, the report claims. would au-
tomatically assist to great extent
in lessening the danger of over
flew, on the Ohio and Mississippi
rivers, thereby offering at least a
partial remedy :. to feod control
conditions.
The only objection made to the
passage Of the Norris bill. the re-
port says, has been by those who
are opposed to the government en-
gaging in any kind of business,
adding that "a fair, consideration of
all the facts surrounding the Mus
Gle Shoals property will, we
think, convince any fair-Ininded in
yestigator that the government is
amply justified in operating the
governments property at Muscle
Shoals" .s
The document concludes with a
detailed comparison between fea-
tures Of the. Ford offer and those
of the: Norris bill and ,emphasiz-
ing what it describes as the greater
adyaut ages the people will obtain
from Muscle Shoals development
under the latter proposal.
"The weakest point in the pow
er possibilities at Muscle Shoals"
the report says, is the immense
variation in the flow of the river.
At. some, seasons of the year it is
sufficient to produce more than
one million horsepower, while at
its minimum flow the horsepower
is Jess than one hundred thousand.
Gauge readings of the river have
been carefully taken for a period OF
fifty years. These, readings show
that if the dam. is completed power
will be developed there as follows:
$1,000 horsepower - S9.4 per
cent of the time.
100000 horsepowre-97 per cent
of the; time.
!, 141,e00 horsepower-SS.3 per
cert of the time, or about 10
months. ~
a 205,o horsepower-66.66 per
cent of the: time, or. about S
months.
306,560 horsepower-60 per cent
of the time, or about s months.
100000 horsepower-20 per cent
of the time. or about 2.5 months.
1,eO0. 600 Horsepower per cent
of the time, or a little less than 1
month.
Senate bill S42o undertakes
new step in power development. 1t
provides that the secretary of war
shall proceed to make surveys of
the upper Tennessee and its tribu-
taries with view Of locating dams