The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-01-23
GRANT ASKS TIME TO. PREPARE ANSWER TO. CHARGES OF BISHOP
By Associated Press

NG w 1OAhi Jan. SZ.-Ine Rev. Percy Stickney Grant. rector of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Ascension. late today wrote Bishop William T. Manning, asking for fur ther time in which to prepare his formal reply to the bishops demand that he publicly avow belief in the divinity of Christ or resign from the ministry.
 Dr. Grant reiterated in a sermon yesterday his disbelief in this tenet of the church, first publicly ex- pressed a week ago and pleaded for an "unshackled clergy" thus leading his friends to a strengthened convic- ton that he would force the issue of 8 trial for heresy.
 held in abeyance for four. years un- til water power dam No. 2 was com pleted. Such was not in contempla- ton when the Ford offer was made and referred to the military com mittee of the House. If the House was going to wait three or four years until the dam was finished before the Ford offer should be considered and voted on, the five and half months time and labor of the military com n ittee in holding hearings, visiting Muscle Shoals, and reporting the bill providing for the acceptance of the Ford offer was all in vain and use less.
 Farmers Complaining
 "The people back In our districts. and the farmers especially, are com plaininR seriously about Congress not acting upon the offer of Henry Ford for Muscle Shoals. They do not know and cannot understand why 1t is that 1t cannot be called up, considered, and voted on In the House. We know and understand that it cannot be done without a rule being reported by the rules committee of the House. Such a rule was requested nearly six months ago in the form of resolu- tion introduced by the gentleman from Illinois, MT. Mckenzie. acting chairman of the military affairs com- lnittee, but the rules committee has not acted upon nor reported the res- olution.
 "It was at one time said by the republican managers in the House that we did not have the time to con- slider this legislation and that the members of the House had not had an. opportunity to study 1t. Between now and March we would have ample time to discuss and vote upon IHlS DIll. The mefOpeTS Ol luc ilOuSc have certainly had time to study the Ford offer and the reports of the committees for the subject has been before Congress for more than year and a half. So no reasonable or sat- isfactory excuse can now be assigned for not giving the representatives of the people In this House an oppor- tunity to vote upon this important question, in which the great body of the American people are so vitally interested. Seven million farmers are demanding the acceptance of the Ford offer. It has the indorsement of the Mississippi Valley association, the va rious farmers organizations. union labor. American Legion, and every other organization which has inves tigated the subject.
 Could Make Profit
 "I will not undertake to discuss at length the merits of the Ford offer at this time, but will do so when it comes before the House. Some one has said that MT. Ford would not manufacture fertilizer at Muscle Shoals unless 1t could be done prof itably. Well, in the first place, there Is no question but that it can be done