Evening star., 1936-04-18

a vast hydro
electric plant which would be the
heart of new completes of industries
First he tried to interest private capi-
tai, and failed. Then he tried to in
terest the Government The Presi-
dent turned the matter over to the
Department of the Interior and P. w.
A. The P. w. A. engineers made
survey and rejected the proposition.
They, and later the Federal Power
Commission, said that it would cost
more than twice as much to produce
electricity by this method as it would
with coal. And the industries which
would use it, the consumers, appar-
emily existed only in Mr.. Cooper's
hopes.
Cooper Haunted White House.
But Mr.. Cooper haunted the White
House, and the President had nearly
SIS 900 100000 appropriated to him
without any strings attached-money
appropriated for the relief of the un-
employed. Eventually a special COM
mittee of four was appointed to re-
consider the proposal. 1t approved
the project. Mr.. Cooper and one of
his associates were on it. Seven mil
lion dollars was taken out of relief
funds to start the work. In the fol-
lowing months s6,00),O00 was spent
building railroad spurs, shops, ware
houses, laboratories, making topo-
graphic and photographic surveys and
building a model village in the finest
New England manner to house engi-
neers and workmen. The village cost
in round figures a million. There's a
million left. BY July l this money
will be gone, and the work Of building
the dam has not yet begun. Mean
while, the little town of Eastport, Me,
has doubled in size, and up and down
the Maine coast Yankee farmers,
merchants and fishermen have been
sharing Mr.. Cooper's dream of the
moon and new riches.
A ship canal which would run 200
miles from Jacksonville to the Gulf
of Mexico has been dreamed and dis
cussed romantically for half a CEN
tury. And when money began to flow
from the Treasury Florida politicians
idea and asked the r. F. C. for funds.
The r. F. C. turned the matter over
to P. w. A. In August, 1888, the
President appointed a special Board
of Investigation who estimated that
at current prices, without interest. and
without highly probable complications,
the canal would cost $142 2,000, 900. P.
w. A. engineers rejected the project.
The Board of Rivers and Harbors
queried the 81 shipping firms engaged
In trade in Florida and Gulf waters
and found only nine who showed any
interest whatsoever. The Department
of Commerce likewise reported that
the consensus Of the shipping indus
tries was that the canal was not eco
nomically justified. But is was started,
just the same, with $5,000,000. Out of
relief funds.
Continuance Put Up to Congress.
By and by that money was exhaust
ed. Then both projects appeared-for
the first time-in Congress, in regular
appropriation bills. PaSsamaquoddy
claimed that it needed or 10 millions
to get it through the coming Winter.
The Florida Ship Canal asked for
another 20 millions. And for the first
time Congress was asked to consider
whether it wanted these projects at
all-on which $4,000 900 had already
been spent.
Congress, on the basis of all the
evidence, didn't want them. After all,
80 per cent Of the Governments own
advisers had decided that they we're
economically unsound. The support
for one was chiefly Mr. Cooper's faith
and the support for the other was
chiefly Senator Fletcher's not dis
interested constituency. Senator Van