The CHAIRMAN. Your point is that there is a market for power? Mr. SEABROOKE. Yes, sir; there is a market for the power.

The CHAIRMAN. What is your next point?

Mr. SEABROOKE. The next point is that all the people there-I assoiated with farmers day in and day out, and I think you will agree that there has been very little said about general farmers, the little fellows, and they all agree that this dam would be very beneficial for all the reasons set up, particularly the power. The Virginia Electric & Power Co. has owned the Gathright Basin for 18 years. Certainly if they intended to develop any hydroelectric power, it could have been done by them in the last 18 years.

The CHAIRMAN. You said they owned it in that county?

Mr. SEABROOKE. They owned the Gathright Basin. I do not know exactly the legal situation, but the Virginia Electric & Power Co. pay taxes on the Gathright Basin. They have, as I said, for 18 years, according to the county records.

The CHAIRMAN. Do they own the land there in that basin?

Mr. SEABROOKE. Well, I can only answer that by saying that I had to get an easement to build a line in that dame area to serve Mr. Gathright.

Mr. MOOMAW. Mr. Gathright owns the land and the Virginia Electrict & Power Co., they own the land under flood.

Mr. SEABROOKE. That is, to the extent contemplated by any electrical development such as is contemplated here, and the rights are unlimited. However, nothing has been done for 18 years, and we need the power. That is the main thing. I do not think I will go any further. I have one or two points which have been mentioned. The CHAIRMAN. State what those were.

Mr. SEABROOKE. One was the objection to the Government going into business. Nobody objects to the post office.

The CHAIRMAN. Have you any new points about the Government going into business?

Mr. SEABROOKE. The second was the general need for electricity in that neighborhood, and that power could be generated at that dam. I want to say further for the record that a utility in Arkansas puts out power at an average cost for power of 6 mills, and we are paying around 12.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you.

(The following letter was received by the chairman from Mr. M. R. Seabrooke, manager, B-A-R-C Electric Cooperative, Millboro, Va.:)

Hon. WILLIAM M. WHITTINGTON,

Chairman, Committee on Flood Control,

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

MAY 6, 1946.

DEAR MR. WHITTINGTON: Upon the conclusion of my testimony on May 2, 1946. before your committee, supporting the recommendations of the War Department with respect to the construction of the Cathright and Falling Springs Reservoirs on the Jackson River, Va., I realized that I had omitted to touch upon one aspect of the matter which I strongly wished to bring to the committee's attention. I am taking this occasion to refer to the matter I had in mind and trust that the following paragraph may be inserted in the record together with my remarks.

"I attended the hearings held by the War Department in connection with this development in company with many of my business associates and neighbors. I should like to state to this committee that we were unanimous

in our opinion that Col. R. E. Cruse, district engineer in charge, had conducted the hearings as efficiently and fairly as any person could expect. I wish to state our appreciation at having so competent an engineer assigned to our district. His having been in charge of the study justifies our having complete confidence in the proposals which were ultimately submitted. I also want to say that I heard not one word of criticism of the manner in which Colonel Cruse conducted the investigation of this project."

Your courtesy in acceding to my request will be most sincerely appreciated.
Respectively,
M. R. SEABROOKE,
Manager, B-A-R-C Electric Cooperative.

STATEMENT OF B. G. MOOMAW, JR., SECRETARY, CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE, COVINGTON, VA.

The CHAIRMAN. In what way would the flooding of say 12 percent, 10 or 12 percent of these holdings of Mr. Gathright, for instance, interfere with the propagation of game?

Mr. MOOMAW. I do not think it would interfere with the propagation of game, except the quail, which would work in the open fields; but I would like to make this clear, that it would completely destroy the hunting and fishing lodge which Mr. Gathright now has there. It would do that, and I do not know that it could be rebuilt economically, so I think you must consider that Mr. Gathright's very fine properties are going to be eliminated, just as you must consider that Mr. Kyle's (Mr. Stephenson's client) is going to be eliminated.

The CHAIRMAN. I do not understand how you can eliminate 38,000 acres of land when you only flood 4,000. Can you make that clear to the committee?

Mr. MOOMAW. I do not think that much of the value of the land would be left. We have a map over here and I can show you. Mr. Gathright's holdings are right in here [indicating], and further up are the holdings of Kyle and the others [indicating].

The CHAIRMAN. Yes, I see.

Mr. MOOMAW. Now it includes this mountain on this side and the mountain on the other side and takes in all this area up through here [indicating]. Now this area around here where I am drawing my pencil [indicating] would be included. Mr. Gathright's property is here [indicating] and he can correct me if I am in error. This area over here [indicating] would be included.

The CHAIRMAN. What do you mean by "included"?
Mr. MOOMAW. It would be difficult of access.

You could not get to this area up here [indicating on map] which is served by this road coming down through here [indicating]. Timber off this mountain could be brought down through here [indicating] on this side, so that this area here and this would be inaccessible. Now they have access through this road [indicating] and in regard to the game it would not be affected in any way, but there would be considerable inconvenience in the removal of timber because they would have to haul it a much longer distance to market.

The CHAIRMAN. What would happen to this land down here [indocating]-I mean Gathright's land?

Mr. MOOMAW. That would be flooded; that would be rendered practically inaccessible.

The CHAIRMAN. Is that mountain land?

Mr. MOOMAW. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. And it would be rendered inaccessible?

Mr. MOOMAW. Yes, sir; we are getting off Gathright's property here [indicating].

The CHAIRMAN. Any way when you get into here [indicating] now, this is the Falling Springs Dam down here?

Mr. MOOMAW. Yes, sir; that is the Falling Springs site.

The CHAIRMAN. And this is good valley land?

Mr. MOOMAW. Yes, sir; that is good valley land and the land in here [indicating] is good valley land too.

The CHAIRMAN. Where does the river come in here?

Mr. MOOмAW. Right along here [indicating]. That is the way it comes in.

The CHAIRMAN. And this is the dam site [indicating]?

Mr. MOOMAW. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. And the Gathright lodge is right here in the middle of the site [indicating]?

Mr. MOOMAW. Yes, sir in the center of it.

The CHAIRMAN. And this cultivated land is right down here [indicating]?

Mr. MOOMAW. This is cultivated land too [indicating].

Mr. GATHRIGHT. I have a little over 2,000 acres which I did cultivate. Mr. Williams had down there [indicating] at least 25 acres of cultivatable land.

Here [indicating] is my upper farm, right there and it adjoins the National Forest there [indicating] and I own down in West Virginia.

The CHAIRMAN. What rights does the Virginia Power Co. have? Mr. GATHRIGHT. I sold flood rights, and when they did that my property would be worth a million dollars to me, but with the Government putting a dam there [indicating]-the Government does not flood anybody else's land, and with all that it would not be worth 5 cents to me except this part in here [indicating] and the situation would be that I could not get to it, for the lake would cut me off.

The CHAIRMAN. Would it cut you off if the power company did it? Mr. GATHRIGHT. Yes; you could not get up there, and so that land would become absolutely useless to me-all this area [indicating on map] and everything here [indicating] down.

The CHAIRMAN. How would it be more useless by the Government constructing this dam than by the power company?

Mr. GATHRIGHT. Through the sale of the flood rights for $1,000,000. The CHAIRMAN. In other words, the dam would be yours when they built it?

Mr. GATHRIGHT. They would just have the right to the dam.
The CHAIRMAN. I see; thank you very much.

Mr. MOOMAW. Mr. Chairman, I am very anxious to make this further statement. We have employed no lawyers, we have employed no engineers. I am secretary of the chamber of commerce. They pay what salaries I get and what expenses are incurred on this proposition; and I particularly want to call your attention to the fact that in General Opie's statement and in other statements made here 4, 5, or 6 months ago I made a careful study of the plans of

the engineers and I wrote a series of articles which were submitted. to the engineers and were published in the local papers and so that everybody had an opportunity to know about these things, and so if General Opie does not have a clipping service that is his bad luck. We did everything possible to bring those plans to the attention of everybody that we felt had an interest in these projects.

I want to say I have not appeared before the town council or any board of supervisors or any planning board in behalf of these things. These resolutions that were passed by them have been done spontaneously and as a result of our own interest in this matter.

Now I should like to say, sir, that a good many things here that have come out in these hearings are based on lack of information. We have assumed that the engineer's statement is just exactly what it purports to be. It is a preliminary statement and they say so. All the matters in reference to the amount of flood control and the value of these other things which are benefits are clearly set forth and stated in the engineers' report and as a matter of fact almost nothing has been said in reference to this problem that would contravene the statements that the engineers have made.

Now I would like to say that the Staunton, Roanoke, and Waynesboro Chambers of Commerce have passed resolutions against this project, and they have been presented to you; but I want to say that not a single one of these chambers of commerce is in the James River Basin nor are they affected except in the most general way. They may benefit from the manufacture of electrical power because they are in the area which would be served by them, but these people are not talking about their own project, and their ox is not being gored. Let me say this also: The Roanoke Chamber of Commerce, in the resolution which was read here, made the statement positively they were against these multiple-purpose dams in principle and asked for a delay until the Governor's commission will make a report. They will be just as much against them then as now, and I submit my distinguished cousin from Roanoke is indulging in delaying tactics. There is no purpose in having this delay as they will be just as much against it then as now.

Now I will say this that the Gathright-Falling Springs project has been endorsed and approved by the Governor of Virginia and various interests that I have mentioned.

The CHAIRMAN. You need not repeat them.

Mr. MOOMAW. Now this project has been approved and endorsed by the Governor of Virginia, by the Honorable J. Lindsay Almond, Jr., Congressman from the Sixth District of Virginia, in which the dam and part of the lake are located, and this is the district which gets most of the down-stream benefit.

This project has been endorsed and approved also by the Board of Supervisors of Bath County, Alleghany County, and Botetourt County; by the Town Council of Covington, Va.; by the Town Council of Bedford, Va.; and I have a telegram which I will file from the Town Council and Chamber of Commerce of Bedford.

The CHAIRMAN. Without objection, the telegram may be inserted. in the record at this point.

Will you please address the hearing officials with reference to the Jackson River Dam project, and advise the Bedford Chamber of Commerce and the town of Bedford give full support to the proposed Jackson River Dam on the grounds that it will eliminate or remedy low-water extremes on the James River near Big Island, where the Bedford municipal power plant is located. We also believe the project will largely eliminate stream pollution along the James River contiguous to Bedford County.

W. L. LYLE, Mayor.
BEDFORD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,
BOLLING LAMBETH, Secretary.

Mr. MOOMAW. Others who have endorsed and approved the Gathright-Falling Springs project are:

The Post War Planning Commissions of Bath County, Alleghany County, and the town of Covington, Va.; the Chambers of Commerce of Covington and Alleghany Counties and the town of Bedford, Va.; the Retail Merchants Association of Covington; the American Legion of Covington and the Veterans of Foreign Wars; the newsapapers of Covington and Alleghany County and of Bath County. All I have listed are in the James River Basin and their interests would be vitally affected by this development.

The CHAIRMAN. We are glad to have your statement.

Mr. GATHRIGHT. You live in Mr. Robertson's district, and he is against it?

Mr. MOOMAW. Mr. Robertson has not appeared in opposition to the project.

The CHAIRMAN. We have the records, and we will keep in mind what they show.

I am inserting in the record a telegram from Mr. J. L. Teaford, chairman, Board of Supervisors, Botetourt County, and Mr. E. W. Dodd, member of the general assembly of Botetourt County. (The telegram is as follows:)

Hon. W. M. WHITTINGTON,

BUCHANAN, VA., May 1, 1946.

Chairman, Flood Control Committee House of Representatives,

Washington, D. C.

We believe we speak almost unanimously for Botetourt County when we urgently request favorable action at this time on Gathright and Falling Springs Dams. Botetourt has 54 miles of James River watershed within her boundary. Pollution is very bad. Especially at low water. Fish practically extinct. Farmers cannot use river to water stock. Rather frequent destructive floods. Board of supervisors are on record as approving these projects.

J. L. TEAFORD,

Chairman, Board of Supervisors, of General Assembly for Botetourt County. E. W. DODD,

Member.

The CHAIRMAN. Are there any other witnesses who desire to appear with respect to the Jackson River or Rappahannock River projects? If not, the committee stands adjourned until 10 o'clock tomorrow morning.

(Thereupon, at 6 p. m., the committee adjourned, to meet on Friday, May 3, 1946, at 10 a. m.)