Evening star., 1928-06-18
Widely Differing Opinions on
Pocket Veto of Muscle Shoals

cost for fertilizer. in direct competition
with heavily taxed fertilizer couuanieS.
In giving this bill a pocket veto, Mr..
Coolidge lost an opportunity 70 warn
the country against the dangerous trend
TO Government ownership and operation
OF power Developments for which GER
tain noisy minoritiss are barnstorm-
ing"
Sound scientific opinion" declares
the Birmingham News tDemocratic)
seems to hold that the Norris-Morin
bill. rather than being a serious attempt
to solve the Muscle Shoals problems,
was actually at graSS-roots political
measure calculated to awaken in
Americas agricultural regions an exag-
gerated idea Of benefits that never could
be obtained through labyriuthian proc
eSSeS of Federal red tape"
On the other hand, the Topeka Daily
Capital tRepublicanl AYERS; There
never has been any objection to this
Government use Of the Muscle Shoals
investment except from the power in
tereSts, who have attacked it as social
iStic, bolShevfStic' and so on. merely
because IL is a public and not a private
enterprise. none of these interests. how
ever, ever having come forward with an
oner TO take on the plant for nitrateS
or fertilizer. They desire Ii exclusively
for the development and sale OF power"
Objections to putting the Government,
INTO composition with private business
are indorSed by the Hartford Times ,ip-
dependent Democraticl and Providence
Journal independently. while the Cin-
cnnati TimeS-Star (Repuhlicanl Sati-
rizeS public control The ChattanooSa
Times independent Democraticl ana
santa Barbara Daily News Democratic
favor private enterprise. the mdianap-
oils News independently sees no general
support for public ownership and opera
ton, while the st. Paul Pioneer Press
independently condemns the PreSi-
dents rejection without Official action.
comment or explanation" but recoS-
nixeS objection TO Government diStri-
button OF electricity. a large and COM
plicated part Of the power business"
Method Of rejection Is condemned also
by the Waterbury Republican tinde-
pendent Republican,.
%%S&
The bill did not put the Govern
ment into business, for that Was done
over 10 years ago" protests the Spring.
field Republican independently, and the
journal (ndepcnden,l
states: Az Muscle Shoals. built in the
emergency Of war. $i60, ,00O, 900 OF ths
peoples money has been invested. For
eight years the property has been a
founding. and in all that time no pri-
yate concern has offered 10 buy Il 5,
ngure that Congress dared ACCEPT /" The
lack OF acceptable bids from private en-
terpriSe also Is emphasized hy the Bal
tmore sun independent Democraticl
and Brooklyn Daily Eagle tindepena-
enU.
Rejection of the measure appears 20
ne Admission Star tDemocraticl 10 be "a
continuation OF the old fight between
Hamilton and jefferson over the dis
trioution OF the national wealth." The
Omaha World-Herald independently
argaes. III at Muscle Shoals the Gov
srnment could devise methods OF pro-
ducing fertilizer at low cost. N II could
demonstrate that hydreelectric power
can probably be produced and mar
keted at much lower rates than now
prevail, that 1t would seem, wOYla
serve public purpose and do wrunS 10
NO legitimate enterprise,