Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-09-02
FOLLOWING Is the teri OF the

address OF President Roosevelt
at the Chickan,auod Dan, cele-
brdtion:
When I first passed this place,
after my selection but before my
Inauguration as President, there
flowed here a vagrant stream,
sometimes shallow and useless,
sometimes turbulent and in flood,
always dark with the soil 1t had
washed from the eroding hills.
This Chickamauga Dam, the
sixth in the series Of mammoth
structures built by the Tennessee
Valley Authority for the people
of the United States. Is helping
to give to all of us human control
of the watershed of the Tennes-
see River In order that 1t may
serve in full the purposes OF
men.
The chain OF man-made IN
land seas may well be named
1.-THE Great Lakes of the South"
Through them we are celebrating
the opening of a new artery Of
commerce, new opportunities for
recreation, relief from the desola-
ton of floods, and new low cost
energy which has begun to flow
to the homes and farms and in
dqstries in seven American
States.
This national holiday-Labor
Day-has been appropriately Sc
lected, because in the miracle
that man has wrought, labor has
played a vital role. In all these
seven years, in heat and in cold,
men have drilled and blasted
through solid rock, they have
poured ton after ton Of concrete
and they have moved mountains
of earth. They have worked with
the strength Of their hands, and
they have operated complicated
machinery with every modern
skill. Never once, In this the
biggest consolidated construction
job ever undertaken directly by
the National Government, has
there been a substantial inter-
ruption to the continuance Of
your labors. This dam, all the
dams built in this short space Of
years, stand as a monument to a
productive partnership between
management and labor, between
citizens of all kinds working to-
gether in the public veal. Col
lective bargaining and efficiency
have proceeded hand in hand.
1t is noteworthy that the splendid
new agreement between organ
lied labor and the Tennessee VAL
ley Authority begins with the
words 'The public interest in an
undertaking such as the T. v. A.
always being paramount :"
1t is appropriate, therefore.
that we recognize this signal
achievement on the day when the
whole Nation pays tribute to Ia
boris contribution to the democ-
racy which we are now preparing
to defend. To all Of you, there
fore-all Of you who have con-
tributed to make these structures
possible throughout this beautiful
valley-I extend the Nations
thanks.
Misplaced Emphasis"
OF Critics Deplored.
The only note Of sorrow that
can properly be sounded on q
great day like this lies in the
misplaced emphasis which so
many people have put on the
detectives Of the Government in
building up this great Tennessee
Valley project. 1t was at a press
conference which held at Warm
Springs, Ga, in January, 1893.
after visiting the valley with that
splendid fighting American, Sem
ator George Norris Of Nebraska,
that I put his vision and mine
into words. For many years, in
different parts Of the Nation,
have been interested in what I
called the problem of better land
use, a problem which necessarily
had to include existing facts Of
harmful land use.
In the watershed of the Ten
nessee River, therefore, had
come to consider the facts Of
devastating floods which had
existed for many generations
floods that washed away houses
and roads and factories; floods
that took great tolls of human
lives-floods which threatened
the very security of Chattanooga
itself and of many other COM
munities- on this river, on the
Ohio and on the Mississippi.
I had studied the washing
away of the wealth Of soil on the
main stem of the river, on its
many main tributaries, and up in
the creeks and hills in the higher
valleys. I had seen water COM
merce impeded by shoals and by
winding variable channels. I had
understood the waste Of potential
hydroelectric energy.
I had seen forests denuded or
burned-but worst Of all, had
seen the splendid people living
In parts Of seven States fighting
against nature instead Of with
nature.
Being of a practical turn Of
mind, I asked for figures relat-
ing to losses and figures to show
the cost Of stopping these losses.
My memory is that the engi-
neers told me that from floods
alone the average annual damage
in the Tennessee Valley was
about $25 100000; that the top
soil carried to the sea by annual
floods averaged another $685.
100000 worth; that better farm
ing and forestry could produce at
least $25 900 900 a year more, and,
finally, that q saving Of $25.-
100000 could be made by provid-
ing for and insisting on cheaper
electric rates and a wider dis
tribution of power. In other
, words, the complete development
of the detectives Of the Tennes-
see Valley Authority would save
~ ;p othar u,ordp oo}n for Tia