The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-03-08


 After the committee adjourned
 other committee members said
 the legal barriers to acceptance
 of the Ford proposal appeared In-
 escapable, becnnse of the con-
 tracts held by the Alabama Power
 company and the Air Nitratea
 corporation, which. those con-
 eerns claim. give them exclusive
 rights to purchase the Warrior
 steam plant and Nitrate Plant
 No. .. respectively. Both units
 would he delivered to 8Ir. Ford
 with free titles in the event this
 proposal was accepted and conId
 not he freed from the contract
 conditions without prolonged IitS-
 gauon in the courts.
 The discussion of the legal difficult ties the committee faced in consid- erihg the Muscle Shoals situation de- %eloped after MT. Mayo and Gray Silver, Washington representative of the American Farm bureau federa- tion, had presented three alterations which, they said. Mir. Ford had agreed to make in his original offer for the shoals projects.
 Capitalization Fixed
 The first alteration provided for a fixed capitalization of not less than Sl0.O00,OoO for the company Mir. Ford would create to operate the Alabama enterprise. The amendment was sue- gested' by Secretary Weeks when he submitted the bid to Congress In or- der to safeguard the governments interests against failure of the op- erating company to carry out the contract in good faith for the 100 years it would be effective.
 Another amendment offered by MT Mayo was guarantee to manufac- ture commercial fertilizers" rather than nitrates and other componnds,- while the third proposed to give au- thority 10 the conpa ny's directing 45oera to regulate the delivery Of the fertilizers direct from factory to con sumers, making 1t impossible for in termediary agents to handle the products and increase the price to the farmers above the per cent profit charged by the manufacturing com pany
 Amendments welcomed
 These amendments were welcomed by the committee, although some members expressed regret that MT Ford had refused to accept a 50-year lease and had insistetd upon the 1oo- year clause Representative Greene, republican, Vermont. declared he was ctr rftst trgf v f. .kx, .A public policy limiting the issuance of leases on public properties to 50 years, and said it would be unwise to make an exception of it for MT Ford
 Chairman Kahn and Representative Miller. republican, Washington. both asked MT. Mayo if Mir Ford would further modify his offer, eliminating the provisions requiring the govern ment to give him clear titles to the Warrior steam plant and Nitrate Plant No. 2. and whether Mir. Ford would agree himself to adjust the legal disputes over the rights claimed by the Alabama Power company and the Air Nitrates corporation. defray- ing the litigation expenses as well.
 Mir. Mayo replied in each instance that the legal situation was the gov ti nultbt bhSiitGo anu WIT. would not be willing to pay the costs the Warrior plant was essential to the plans for Muscle Shoals develop ment that Mir. Ford had in mind. VIII Fight for Rights
 MT. Kahn said attorneys for the power company and the nitrate cor poration had advised him they would insist that the government discharge the obligations it had assumed when contracts for the construction Of the two units were executed with war de- partment officials and options given their clients for exclusive purch2Se of the plants in the event the gdHrn ment ever decided to sell them. Cn der their separate warnings that they would. refuse to submit to the dis position of the properties to Mir Ford and would battle for their rights from the lowest to the highest courts, Mir Kahn said he was unable to sec how the government could enter into the agreement proposed by Mir. Ford. to the extent of delivering the plants to him fer immediate development or for future operation. if the courts upheld the power company and nf- trate corporation in the final de- cision.
 MT. Mayo revealed that it was Mir Ford's intention to begin work at Muscle Shoals this summer.
 "lt would be crime" he said, "not to settle this affair so we can get into the river this sommer. during the dry season"
 MT. Kahn said he favored quick ae- ton by Congress, but believed that despite whatever action was taken. there could be no assurance tha. the leraI nrnhlems could be soldYed for