The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1924-04-25
SLIJR BRINGS
HOT RETORT
BY HEFLIN
Mississippian Says Ala
bians Ignorant OF Facts
Regarding Shoals
ALMON is TICKLED
BY ARGUMENT
Folse Predicts Defeat OF
Any Senator Who Sup
ports Ford Bid
SAYS STATE PAPERS
WON'T PRINT FACTS
-
SAYS STATE PAPERS
WON'T PRINT FACTS
fWashington Bureau)

WASHINGTON, ID. c., April "a
Challenging assertions Of L. j. Folse,
chairman of the Mississippi development
board, that the south was committed to
the Henry Ford offer for Muscle Shoals
only because it had acted with inn,
petuosity rather than good judgment,
and that any senator who supports that
offer win be defeated when next the
people get an opportunity to declare
their preference, Senator ]. Thomas
Helm of Alabama this morning in
1ceted interest into a situation which
had become actually innocuous.
Mine of every 10 people of the
southern states" exclaimed Senator
Helm with considerable heat, "espouse
the Ford offer. and not through ig-
noranee. They know that Mr.. Ford,
possessed of Muscle Shoals, would I'M
selfishly work for the interest of hui
mainly, and not, like the average corr
puration, further to enrich himself.
Heflin Challenges Assertion
Il challenge the assertion of Mr..
Folse, that any senator who supports
the Ford offer will be retired from pub
lic life. As q matter of fact, ] chal-
leBge any man who differs from me Oh
Ssflbat issue 10 get into the ring today. i
predict that any senator, whether Of the
south or not, who ignores the desires Of
the people. respecting the disposition Of
Muscle Shoals, will suffer the wrath Of
the people"
Senator Helm declared in explana-
tion of his outburst that the time had
come for some southern senator ito
speak out in meeting
I'VE have heard for more than
week. he sqid, witness after witness
assail the offer Of Ford, assail the atti-
tude of southern people and scott at
the position Of members of Congress
who support the Ford offer. / know
the south is for the Ford offer, and is
for it because it means more to the
south, and the entire country, than any
other offer"
Mr.. Folse came to Washington at the
head of a committee of Mississippians
anxious to obtain their prOrata share
of Muscle Shoals power through dis
Summation. He appeared as cocksure
OF himself, very certain his position was
above criticism, and ON his shoulders
were two figurative chips.
He declared that the people of Mis-
sissippi, in the beginning, had Endorsed
the Ford offer, but that every Missis-
sippian to whom he had addressed him
self in an educational campaign, had
expressed opposition to that offer, in
SO far as it contained no guarantee that
Mississippi would receive its share Of
electrical current.
Fling At Alabamians
Following his testimony and the chal-
lsnge of Senator Heflin, Mr.. Folse ex-
claimed that the. people of Alabama had
no opportunity to receive education. As
a witness to that remarkable statement,
he cited Mayor Taylor of Mobile, who
appeared before the House committee on
military affairs in opposition to the
Ford offer. The people Of Mobile, in a
referendum conducted by the Register,
it is recalled, repudiated in an over
whelming majority the attitude. of
Mayor Taylor, and thus eliminated the
impression left on some minds by Mayor
Taylor that they, like the mayor, ia
yored the monopolistie offer of the Ala
bama Power company.
The people of Alabama" said Folse,
CONTINUED on Page TwO.l