The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-30
ANOTHER SHOALS BID This Time It Is Niagara Falls
 Corporation

WASHINGTON, Jan. 29.-(By the Associated-Press.)- .)-Hearings on the lease of Muscle Shoals were brought to. a closet late today by the House military committee after it had re- eeived another proposal for the prop erty. The committee, which tomorrow takes up discussion of the offers. now has four bids before it.
 The new proposal was made by Zion H. Hooker, president of the Hooker Electro Chemical company. Niagara Falls, N. Y., who said he represented himself and James G. White. president of the White Engineering corporation. and W. W. Atterbury. vice president of the Pennsylvania railroad.
 MT. Rockers offer in brief would leave the Muscle Shoals property in the hands of the government, with his corporation being responsible for it's operation. He and his associates would place with the government ST. 100000 as a guarantee of good faith and mooHey needed for the development and operation of the project would be furnished by the government.
 Fifty-Year Lease
 The proposal would provide for a fifty-year lease and would include de velopment of all branches of the prof. ect, with special emphasis placed upon the production of fertilizer X sinking fund would be created which would repy the government for all money in vested
 Besides this proposal. :he committee also had before it Henry Ford's propo- gal of two years ago, which is embOd- led in the Mckenzie bill. The meas ure, reported by the committee last year, is said to be acceptable to Mir. Ford, provided it includes the pending Madden bill, which would replace the Gorgas plant by the erection of a sim liar steam plant.
 The two other offers are the bid of the southern power companies, which also provides for development of both power and fertilizer and the proposal of the United Carbide company. New York, for the production of fertilizer.
 Representative Hull of Iowa, a re- publican member Of the House military committee, who has been urging accept ance of the offer of the group of south ern power companies for Muscle Shoals, issued the following statement tonight:
 Hull Not Surprised"
 The refusal of Henry Ford. as telegraphed and made public today. to come before the House military affairs committee at the committees request and make explanation to it's members concerning certain details of his bid for the governments vast property and Ire mendously valuable water power rights at Muscle Shoals is not surprising to me. Mir. Ford is a wise man. He ap- preciates that he could not defend be- fore any committee of Congress the proposition he has submitted for turn ing over to a corporation to be formed by him one of greatest natural resources for S110.O0O,OOO less than the amount we are offered by the other bidders.
 Apparently. Mir. Ford does not wei come the opportunity presented for making personal guarantee to carry out his promise to manufacture cheap fer dlizer or to explain certain ambiguous provisions in his offer connected with such manufacture. No definite prOpO- sition is made in his proposal for the manufacture of cheap fertilizer and he prefers not to come before the commit tee and make personal guarantee that would be binding.
 But by his refusal to come he can still permit advertising agents to dupe the public into believing. that he is per sonally guaranteeing the manufacture of cheap fertilizer for the farmers and effort can eRn also be made to have this proposition damned through Con Sress by a propaganda of mis-state-