The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1924-04-01

Tissue Second only TO 1eapOC hoAe
Oil Lease. Contentious of Those
Who Favor and Oppose Turning
Property Over for 100 Years.
WASHINGTON, D. C.-Mussel
Shoals will be almost as big an issue
in this country in the next few weeks
as the Teapot Dome oil lease.
The United States senate is soon to
take up the Mussel Shoals bill leasing
the huge power plant to Henry Ford,
and the question that is being asked,
and particularly by the farmers, is
this. "What is the senate going to do
about Mussel Shoals?"
To the farmer Mussel Shoals means
cheap fertilizer To the conservation
lists it means virtually giving away
one OF the greatest natural resources
of the country. The battle is between
these two forces, and it promises to
wax bitter in the near future.
End of Coal and Steam.
1t is becoming recognized generally
that the coal deposits of the world are
nearing their end With the depletion
of the coal beds will come the end OF
steam as a source of power. Coal may
| last 100 years yet, but it is incumbent
that man look to other sources OF pow
er. lust now scientists are saying that
| we are living in the dawn of an cleo
trical age and that electricity, general
cd by water power, will replace steam
and all other kinds of power.
| In Alabama the Tennessee river has
fall of 1856 feet in 81 miles For years
the water has been going to absolute
waste as it poured over that 3z-mIle
drop. Then came the world war, and
with the war came an unprecedented
demand for nitrogen for the manu-
| facture OF explosives with which to
feed the guns.
| This country was getting its nitro
gen from Chile, but to get 1t ships
| had to traverse many miles OF water.
| Then the secret OF extracting nitro
gen from the air was discovered. With
| feverish haste the United States gov
eminent went to work to build gi-
gantic plant near the foot OF that 81
mile drop Of the Tennessee river IN
lA1abama-a drop in the river that was
known as Mussel Shoals
In single year the government
spent $105,000,000 on the plant at
Mussel Shoals, and If was about half
! completed when the armistice was
| signed and the war was virtually over.
| The enormous dam, Wilson dam, and
the nitrogen plants, storage reservoirs
and supplementary dams were lett
standing, deserted by the vast army
of workers. The water continued to
| go over Musse1 Shoals--a dead waste.
Man of Vision.
There was a man in Alabama who
had vision and his name was John
Worthington Now that there was no
longer any urgent demand for the
manufacture of nitrogen Worthington
had a vision Of huge fertilizer works
and other big manufacturing plants,
using the Mussel Shoals power and
deriving the raw materials from the
mountains OF Alabama, Tennessee and
| Kentucky. Phosphate rock is plentiful
in Tennessee, and phosphate rock
makes phosphate acid, fertilizer for
| the farmer. Other valuable minerals
are to be found near Mussel Shoals in
! abundance
Worthington went to Washington
with his scheme For four years no
| body paid much attention to him. Mus
sci Shoals was on the bargain coun-
| ter. The government wanted to get
rid of it. Nobody would buy. Then,
two years ago. Worthington got Gre
dentials from the war department and
went to Detroit, Mich. to talk it over
with Henry Ford. For four hours
| Worthington talked and then both he
and Ford went to Alabama to look
over the Mussel Shoals dam and
plants, only half completed
Ford Makes Offer.
Ford soon made an offer to the gov
eminent to take over the plant on a
| 100-year lease. The details of Ford's
offer first STIMULATES that the govern
ment must complete the mammoth
project. then he will lease for certain
stipulated sums Ford says he will
manufacture fertilizer and sell it to the
farmers at price much lower than it
is at present.
But there is opposition to the plan,
and. though the house of representa-
tives has passed the Mckenzie bill,
accepting Ford's offer, the senate will
undoubtedly stage fight over it. The
opponents of the bill say that it gives
IIC41AJ A'Old wv l4A0SAA POWOA ORCA tllN
destinies of the American people to
surrender to him such enormous water
power and Sl00000,000 in completed
factory buildings.
Ford's offer for Mussel Shoals calls
for a payment by the manufacturer of
$5000,000, and an annual rental for
100-year lease. Opponents declare that
there are a half dozen other offers
yielding greater financial return,
promising more phosphate for the
farmers and asking only 50-year
lease.
Fifty years is the length of time
lease can be granted on water power
sites, according to federal laws, and
the leaders in the movement for con-
servation of Americas natural re-
sources have lined up against the Ford
proposition because the automobile
manufacturer would break this law by
asking for. a 100-year lease.
FrauIein Marianne Beth Is Austria's