The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1934-06-26

.Irbc iG.-tOn 20 ABOVE H'HH'i!A''
with ,o,a' estimated power Of
,torr $40, 900 horsepower, 70 cost
v,,-oc yC7. 100000, with the estI-
ra,cs not including anything for
chr Grrrcr@ o. these water DOW
err. which nevertheless have a
rroa, la.u".
The ; l-.il.c dam was prOpos-
,E IN .4o French Broad river at
q ros., six miles south Of Ashe-
vile. The dan 20 be l2i feet
high. - cost with power house
about four million dollars, 3d.
go acres Of land TO be flooded,
WIN cs,ir-atcd damage 20 lands
ard GuIld'.gs # about seven mil
Ion dollars and with large sums
Sor rebuilding roads and railway
track and bridges. the whole
.h.-" ~ cost q million dollars.
Tic construction Of this dam
would mean d disaster 10 Ashe-
vi.lc and Hcndcrsonville, and the
rwo counties, Of the first order.
Because. first. an estimated seven
million dollars worth of taxable
propcrtv would be taken by the
government and destroyed and
there would be seven million dol
lars less Of taxable property,
leaving the taxes thereafter TO be
raised by heavier assessment on
other property; second, this prop
cr,. being thereafter vacant Of
inhabitants, would cut down the
business Importance Of Ashevllle
and HcndcrsOnvillc, and their
business and profits and ability
% pay taxes; third. the object OF
the dam is 20 store flood waters
in The winter and spring and
draw the water out during the
summer and fall, so that al the
time Of year when a lake might
be some attraction 10 visitors,
there would be nothing but wide
cxpanses Of ill-smclling and un-
slightly mud flats: fourth, this
10000 acres Of valley IS one u
the finest tracts of land for flu
ture real estate development IN
the world, and 10 this land the
cities and counties must in large
measure look in the future for
that development and growth
which alone can again make this
region prosperous and able to
nav the obligations now existing.
\ city is like business: 1t may
20 ahead and prosper and Justify
the forward-looking plans and de-
on which it's present
position rests in part. or 1t may
get a setback at critical time,
which will eventually prove tol
have been fatal. In that respect,
this development, if it is carried
out, might easily prove a fatal
reverse TO local interests and as
pirations, all the more so, since
Ashcville, with abandonment of
railroad travel. is no longer more
easily accessible than a score of
other sites which make their
claims 10 attractions of nature.
There is no assurance, at least
| know Of none, that the water
power TO he developed here, that
is here now potentially. and a
local asset, will not be transmit
ted 20 Knoxville, for example, IN
some ambitious plan to make
knoxville a second Pittsburg. FIX
ccpt for the legal complications
created by the federal water
mower act and the Tennessee Val
lev act, dams might have been
built here by private interests, or
might be built, and these improve
ments in that case would be tax
able, and the power would sup
port industries which again would
improve the financial status and
prosperity Of the cities and coun-
ties. Truly there is much to lose.
These water powers have been
under state jurisdiction. The pow
crs are found in the state and
the state has the constitutional
right To their regulation and to
make provision for their develop