Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-09-02
Roosevelt Raps
7. '. A. Critics
In Dedication
Chickomougo Dam
Hailed as Great
Social Achievement
BY JOHN c. HENRY,
Star STAFF Correspondent.

Star STAT Correspondent
CHICKAMAUGA DAM, Tenn,
Sept. Trapping at the misplaced
emphasis" of T. v. A. critics, Presi-
dent Roosevelt today hailed the
Tennessee Valley development as
lone of the great social and eco
nomic achievements of our time.
There were and are those who
maintain that the development OF
this enterprise is not a proper ac-
tivity of Government" he spoke
scornfully in the course of dedica-
ton services astride this S36,000000
barrier to the Tennessee River flow.
"As for me, I glory in it as one of
the great social and economic
achievements of our time"
AS head of the Commonwealth g.
Southern Utility Co., Wendell L.
Willkie, Republican presidential
nominee, has been the bitterest and
most persistent foe of the Tennessee
Valley Authority project. And al
though his name was not mentioned
in Mr.. RooSevelt's mon political"
dedicatory address today there was
little doubt as to who was the target
of the Presidents edged words.
THE only note of sorrow that can
properly be sounded on a great day
like this lies in the misplaced en-
phasis which so many people have
put on the objectives of the Gov
eminent in building up this great
Tennessee Valley project the
President declared in prefacing q
review of this initial New Deal ex-
pertinent in planning.
Crowds Pack Sidewalks.
Cheering crowds packed the side
walks of Chattanooga main streets
as the President rode to the dam site .
from the Chattanooga railroad sta
ton. Outside the city scattered
groups appeared throughout the en-
tire miles.
At the site of the ceremonies So
300 persons were standing and sitting
along the stone and earth banks of
the great project. In the 30-mile
lake backed up by the dam, dozens
of small boats idled close by.
Mrs. Roosevelt, Senator Mcclellan
and Gov. Prentice Cooper rode in
the open car with Mr.. Roosevelt.
A division of the 9Th Cavalry from
Fort Oglethorpe. Ga. greeted the
President at Chattanooga and stood
guard at various points along the
route.
Also to Dedicate Park.
Mr.. Roosevelts appearance at his
toric Chickamauga, miles up the
winding Tennessee from Chatta-
nooga, was the first of two scheduled
Labor Day dedication addresses.
Speaking at the gigantic dam in
midmorning, he was to leave imme-
diately for New Found Gap, Ten
nessee-North Carolina border town
high in the Great Smoky Noun
tains, for late afternoon dedica-
ton of the new national park.
In the fashion of campaign trips,
although this one is otherwise
labeled, the Presidents party in
cluded a number of eminent Demo-
cratic off1ceholders and candidates,
some making the entire journey and
others joining for portions of it.
Senator Mcclellan of Tennessee
introduced Mr.. Roosevelt at the
Chickamauga ceremony. and prom
inently present were Senator Stew
art and Gov. Cooper Of Tennessee.
Secretary of Interior Ickes, Federal
Security Administrator McNutt. Sem
ator Reynolds of North Carolina,
David E. Lilienthal of. the T. v. A.
and Representative Kefauver.
Another making the trip down
from New York was Bernard Ba-
ruch. financier and World War
Iowa, now member of the Valley
Authority, greeted the President at
the dam.
Confers With Hull.
Coming here from a four-day
visit to his family home at Hyde
Park, Mr.. Roosevelt picked up part
of this encourage in washington.
During the Capital stop also he
conferred briefly with Secretary Of
State Hull, but, except for a clipped
announcement that some British
matters" we're under consideration,
there was no news from their meet
ing. Whether the British mat
tiers" included destroyer transfers.
naval base leases or possibly the
tribulations of American shipping
touching at Bermuda was entirely
speculative.
A jab at Mr.. Willkie also was
tossed OF the train in Washington
by Secretary Stephen T. Early, re-
acting to the Republican nominees
quoting of excerpts from the I'M
published War Resources Board re-
port in his criticism of the Russell
Overton CONSUMPTION of industry
legislation.
"Mr. Willkie still is a private
citizen" Mr.. Early remarked. He
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