Mr. McCUE. It is the State rod and gun club that Francis Loth was speaking for.

The CHAIRMAN. And you are against this project?

Mr. McCUE. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. And you have a resolution to that effect?

Mr. McCUE. Yes, sir.

(The resolution referred to is as follows:

RESOLUTION OPPOSING THE CONSTRUCTION OF FALLING SPRING AND GATHRIGHT DAMS ON JACKSON RIVER IN BATH COUNTY, VA.

(Authorized and approved by the members of the Boiling Spring Rod and Gun Club, Inc., of Bath County, Va., April 20, 1946.)

Whereas the Federal Government proposes the development of multipurpose dams on Jackson River in Bath County, Va., known as the Falling Spring and Gathright Dams; and

Wheeras the results of flood control in the James River Basin as provided by the construction of the Falling Spring and Gathright Dams are, by the United States Army Engineers' own statements, practically negligible; and

Whereas the contemplated results of pollution abatement are of doubtful value; and

Whereas we are opposed to Government competition with the business and industry of citizens and taxpayers; and

Whereas the individual members of the Boiling Spring Rod and Gun Club, Inc., will be forced to accept the destruction and loss of valuable properties which have required many years to develop at considerable cost; now therefore be it

Resolved, That the Boiling Spring Rod and Gun Club, Inc., of Bath County, Va., respectfully requests the United States Government to defer approval of the construction of said dams until the committee appointed by Governor Colgate W. Darden for the express purpose of studying these projects has had ample opportunity to report its findings to the citizens of Virginia in order that they may be given an opportunity to express their views.

C. PURCELL MCCUE,

President.

The CHAIRMAN. Have you anything else you would like to suggest? Mr. McCUE. I would like to ask that action on this project be delayed until we hear from the committee of engineers that ex-Governor Darden appointed to study these projects in Virginia.

The CHAIRMAN. I would like to say this, with all deference; that this project was submitted on the 18th or 19th of April and before it was submitted to the committee, it had to be submitted for comment by he Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and he stated that it had been submitted to him and he had been glad to give consideration to it.

Mr. McCUE.I would also like to state that I am absolutely opposed to the Government going into any kind of business, in competition with private industry.

The CHAIRMAN. We are glad to have your statement.

Is there anyone else who wishes to speak?

Mr. GATHRIGHT. Mr. Chairman, I neglected to tell you that I have developed 55 miles of automobile road and 272 miles of horseback trail at a considerable outlay, and all that would be useless.

The CHAIRMAN. We are glad to have your further statement. I am sure if this dam is authorized you will want to be paid for the highway and trails.

Are there any other witnesses?

STATEMENT OF W. P. FARNSWORTH, MEMBER, BOARD OF SUPERVISORS, BATH COUNTY, VA.

The CHAIRMAN. State your name and the office you hold for the record and where you live.

Mr. FARNSWORTH. I am W. P. Farnsworth, of the Board of Supervisors of Bath County. I am not here testifying as a technical witness.

The CHAIRMAN. And where do you live?

Mr. FARNSWORTH. In Hot Springs, Bath County, Va.

The CHAIRMAN. How far is it from this proposed Gathright Dam? Mr. FARNSWORTH. Oh, about 4 miles.

The CHAIRMAN. Are you for or against it?

Mr. FARNSWORTH. I am for it.

The CHAIRMAN. What reasons, in addition to those assigned, without repeating any economic or other facts, do you desire to give for the construction of the dam, or what do you desire to say in response to those who are opposed to it?

Mr. FARNSWORTH. Well, sir, the reservoir of this dam as it is situated is in Bath County, and the board of supervisors whom I am representing today, have discussed this proposed reservoir with the citizens of the county and we find that practically all of them are in favor of it. In fact, I have only talked to two people who opposed it in Bath County.

We are a rural county. We have no industries at all.

The CHAIRMAN. What is the county seat?

Mr. FARNSWORTH. Warm Springs; we are a resort and recreational area. We have the finest resort hotel in the world, we claim, and I believe we have.

The CHAIRMAN. How far is that from this dam?

Mr. FARNSWORTH. Just a very few miles.

The CHAIRMAN. I see.

Mr. FARNSWORTH. And we get most of our income from that business in Bath County.

The CHAIRMAN. Is Mr. Bathright a citizen of your county?

Mr. FARNSWORTH. Yes, sir; and we feel-we have made postwar plans for expanding our facilities, for taking care of visitors in our county, and we feel that anything that would attract people to our county would be advantageous to us, and that is the reason the people of our county have decided this dam would be an asset to us.

The CHAIRMAN. I see.

Are there any further questions?

Do you wish to make any further statement?

Mr. FARNSWORTH. I would like to say, further, that I think the majority, the overwhelming majority of the people of that section of the State want to see this dam constructed.

The CHAIRMAN. We are glad to have your statement.

Mr. FARNSWORTH. Mr. S. A. Tankersley is president of the REA Cooperative up there which serves five of our strictly rural counties in that part of Virginia. He is here to speak on behalf of this project.

STATEMENT OF S. A. TANKERSLEY, PRESIDENT, B-A-R-C ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, MILLBORO, VA.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Tankersley, we are glad to hear you. If you have a statement I would be glad to have you submit it for the record. I would say that the committee understands that, in the event power is generated, all that power is given to REA and municipal corporations and other governmental subdivisions.

If you have a prepared statement you may submit it for the record. What points did you make in that prepared statement?

Mr. TANKERSLEY. We can use power. First we had three counties and now we have five.

The CHAIRMAN. Do you mean power generated at this dam?

Mr. TANKERSLEY. Yes, sir; we can use it. The CHAIRMAN. Is there a market for any power that may be available now or is there ample power available?

Mr. TANKERSLEY. At the present time we are now serving 2,400 rural families in Bath, Allegheny, Rockbridge, Augusta, and Highland Counties, and we hope to take on 1,500 more families in the future. We are expanding and we will need more power from time to time. We are close to this proposed Gathright Dam.

The CHAIRMAN. Where is your headquarters?

Mr. TANKERSLEY. In the center, at Millboro, in Bath County, where we have our construction now.

The CHAIRMAN. What is your second point in favor of this project? Mr. TANKERSLEY. First, I may say that I am a member of the planning board there.

The CHAIRMAN. Planning board of what?

Mr. TANKERSLEY. Bath County. We have gone on record as approving it. We think it would be good for the county and provide recreational areas, and would help to control floods.

The CHAIRMAN. You agree with the gentleman who preceded you? Mr. TANKERSLEY. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Now what is your next point?

Mr. TANKERSLEY. At the same time any way that we can get this current cheaper and use our resources so that it can be distributed around to the people throughout the country, to the average man, that is the duty of our cooperative.

The CHAIRMAN. You have got back to your first point. Give us your third one.

Mr. TANKERSLEY. We think it good business to use it and to develop our county, as our county is small; and naturally, as you were told before, we have nothing but the resources, in other words the income derived from tourists, and naturally we want to attract as many tourists and people up there as we can as that is our vocation.

The CHAIRMAN. We are glad to have your statement.

(The statement submitted by Mr. Tankersley is as follows:)

Hon. WILL M. WHITTINGTON,

B-A-R-C ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE,
Millboro, Va., May 2, 1946.

Chairman, Committee on Flood Control. GENTLEMEN: As president of the B-A-R-C Electric Corporative, and on behalf of its members, I respectfully submit the following information:

The B-A-R-C Electric Cooperative now serves 2,400 rural families in Bath, Alleghany, Rockbridge, Augusta, and Highland Counties, and funds have been made available to serve approximately 1,500 more families and small businesses in the area. When that construction is completed, our cooperative will have made service available to every rural rome in the area.

The rural-electrifiaction program in Virginia is seriously hampered by the unusually high wholesale power cost. For example, the average kilowatt-hour eost of power to the cooperatives in Virginia is something over 12 mills. The national average is 8 mills. We are told that this exorbitant charge is occasioned by the cost of coal for generating electricity. We assume this is true, as in our own power contract there is a coal clause which has in the past 4 years increased the cost of our purchased power from 1 cent to the 12 mills mentioned.

After considering these facts, it seems obvious to me that with the hydroelectric power that can be developed in the Gathright Basin, the wholesale cost of power should be reduced to the point that our farmers can afford to have the use of this power in practically unlimited quantities. If a 50-percent reduction in power costs could be made possible by judicious use of both primary and secondary power the members of our cooperative would save $15,000 a year immediately, and it is estimated that with low-cost power the farmers in the five counties immediately surrounding the proposed project would save from $30,000 to $50,000 a year. Certainly, the economic benefits and improved living standards, that can only be secured through the use of electricity, should be valued as highly as the actual cash saving to the farmers.

The flood control, pollution abatement, and recreational facilities that will be provided by the project have been endorsed before your committee by people who are more familiar with those phases of the project than I am. However, I would like to point out that practically without exception, the local people heartily endorse the construction, and, after all, they are the ones who will be affected most. The objections being raised are largely from nonresidents or visitors in the area, who are most interested in private hunting and fishing reserves than the economic development of our part of the State of Virginia and from a few resident landowners.

In conclusion, may I state that the directors of the B-A-R-C Electric Cooperative endorse the Gathright-Falling Spring development, and appreciate this opportunity to be heard before your committee. Respectfully submitted.

B-A-R-C ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, By S. A. TANKERSLEY, President.

STATEMENT OF M. R. SEABROOKE, MILLBORO, VA.

The CHAIRMAN. State your name and where you live.

Mr. SEABROOKE. I am M. R. Seabrooke and I live in Millboro, Bass County, Va.

The CHAIRMAN. Are you for or against this project?

Mr. SEABROOKE. Very definitely for.

The CHAIRMAN. And you are the general manager of the electric project there in that area?

Mr. SEABROOKE. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Have you a prepared statement you would like to submit?

Mr. SEABROOKE. No, sir; Mr. Tankersley had the prepared statement. First, I would like to submit a resolution from Mr. Brown, who is the secretary of the Virginia REA Association. This resolution was adopted at the meeting held in Richmond on February 25, 1946.

The CHAIRMAN. Without objection the resolution may be inserted in the record at this point. (The resolution is as follows:)

RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE VIRGINIA REA ASSOCIATION AT MEETING HELD IN RICHMOND, FEBRUARY 25, 1946

1. The Virginia REA Association hereby expresses its complete approval and appreciation for the recent action of the Congress in appropriating funds for commencement of construction of the Buggs Island Reservoir and Dam on the Roanoke River. The association favors vigorous prosecution and completion of the project at the earliest possible date so that the people of Virginia and North Carolina may, as soon as possible, enjoy the benefits from its development for flood control and production of hydroelectric power.

2. The Virginia REA Association endorses the recommendations of the district and division engineers of the War Department that the Gathright and Falling Springs Reservoirs and Dams on the Jackson River in the James River Basin be immediately developed for flood control, production of electric power, abatement of pollution, and provision for recreational areas. The association is hereby recorded as favoring immediate authorization of the construction of the Gathright and Falling Springs projects, and the appropriation of such funds as may be necessary to process with the developments as recommended by the War Department engineers.

3. The Virginia REA Association hereby states its intention and purpose to secure for its member cooperatives the fullest advantage and enjoyment of the preference granted by Federal law to public bodies and cooperatives in the disposition of power generated at Federal dams. To that end the association wishes to be recorded (a) as favoring the continuance of the preliminary power-market studies now being made by the Division of Power in the Department of Interior and by the Federal Power Commission; (b) as supporting the making of adequate appropriations to both agencies for the conduct of this work; and (c) as requesting the appropriation of such funds as may be required for the planning and construction by the Department of Interior of transmission lines over which to market power generated at Federal dams in this region.

4. Copies of the foregoing resolutions shall be transmitted by the secretary of this association to each of the Senators and Members of the House of Representatives from Virginia and North Carolina, to the Appropriations Committees of the Senate and House of Representatives, the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Interior, the Chairman of the Federal Power Commission, the Administrator of the Rural Electrification Administration, and to each municipality in the States of Virginia and North Carolina operating power systems.

The foregoing are true and correct copies of resolutions adopted by the Virginia REA Association at its meeting held at Richmond, Va., on February 25 and 26, 1946.

Attest:

W. H. BROWN, Secretary, Virginia REA Association.

Mr. SEABROOKE. Virginia is the most backward State in rural electrification in the United States possibly, and the average wholesale cost to us cooperatives is about 12.5 mills a kilowatt-hour.

The CHAIRMAN. Yes.

Mr. SEABROOKE. And the average cost to the United States is 8 mills or less. Certainly utilities have failed to electrify rural areas, and we should see to it that we get the benefit of every sort that we can get that is economically justifiable.

Now, in this area our cooperative serves the area entirely surrounding the dam, five counties. It is taking in Rockbridge County with about 2,500 farms, and less than 1,000 of them have electricity. I made a survey of all the territory recently, and there are about 3,000 farms that do not have electricity, and each of those then would have electricity.