Mr. GATES. I do not know of anyone, either. Senator MCCLELLAN. I do not know of anyone now who regrets that we have the Norfork and Bull Shoals Dams. I think everybody is happy with them. Mr. GATES. I think, particularly in our part of the country, they can look in the area of Norfork and Bull Shoals and see a difference in the economy of the country generally. Our areas are similar. It is rocky hillsides and they have considerably more private investment over there that has been mentioned before-and the per capita income is higher and the prosperity is generally better than it is in our particular area which includes, Senator, as you are perhaps aware, Carroll, Boone, and Benton Counties. Senator MCCLELLAN. There has been tremendous progress up there and developments since these dams went in. I travel it every year or so at least, each year during the recess period of Congress, and you just marvel. It seems like it is blossoming forth. Mr. GATES. It certainly is. Naturally, our people look over to that area and hope for some of that in our area. I do not want to take a great deal of the committee's time, but I do want to impress on the committee that it is the desire of everyone living in our area that you give it favorable consideration. Thank you very much. PREPARED STATEMENT Senator MCCLELLAN. Thank you, Mr. Gates. You had a prepared Statement here. Mr. GATES. Yes, sir. Senator DWORSHAK. It will be inserted. (The statement referred to follows): I am Russel G. Gates. I am now, and have been for the past 11 years, manager of the Carroll Electric Cooperative Corp., whose main office is located at Berryville, Ark. The area that will be covered by the lake created by the construction of Table Rock Dam is located on the north boundary of the rural area that we serve with electricity. This area, geographically speaking, is ideally suited for the creation of this reservoir. It is, for the most part, a hilly, wooded section covered with scrub timber of very little commercial value, and rocky slopes. We are very interested in seeing this construction started and carried through to its completion. We can only look to the east of us in the area of Bull Shoals and Norfork Dams and see the difference in the general prosperity of that country compared to ours. For the past several years, we have been steadily losing our rural population, while that area shows an increase. The counties where the present lakes are now located had perhaps the lowest per capita income in the State of Arkansas before the creation of these dams and since that time, have risen from that position to near the top. Tourists being one of the greatest assets to our section of the country as it is now, the mountains that are located in the area will be far enhanced by the creation of this lake for recreation purposes. Power produced from the generators can do much toward attracting industries into the area. Agriculturally speaking, our country is poor. The last few years beef cattle and dairying, along with our poultry industry, have been the main agricultural crops. The small acreage that is adapted to farming is not large enough to be an economical unit and the industries that could be brought into the area by a plentiful supply of power would do a tremendous lot for the prosperity of the country. I would like to call the committee's attention to the fact that there is a shortage of power in this area; this was demonstrated by the fact that to locate an aluminum plant, which was so badly needed by the defense needs of our country, almost the entire output of Bull Shoals Dam was taken to supply their demands. At the time this was taken, the people in the area were promised the Table Rock Dam was to be completed as soon as possible. The people of this area are unanimous in their approval and join with me in our request to this committee to give favorable consideration for its construction. Due to the fact that this has been so near to the construction stage, many people have made investments in both land and planning for the development of the area surrounding this reservoir. It is my firm belief that this will do an immeasurable amount in helping to add to the general prosperity of the area. Senator MCCLELLAN. Mr. Yandell. STATEMENT OF HAROLD YANDELL, APPEARING ON BEHALF OF TABLE ROCK BOOSTERS ASSOCIATION AND THE BRANSON, MO., CHAMBER OF COMMERCE GENERAL STATEMENT Mr. YANDELL. My name is Harold Yandell. I live in Branson, Mo. I represent an organization known as the Table Rock Boosters Association with membership in 16 counties in northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri. I also represent the Branson, Mo., Chamber of Commerce. I also am a hillbilly from the Ozarks. My great-grandfather homesteaded river bottom in White River in the 1840's. My grandfather was born in Taney County, my father was born in Taney County, and I was born in Taney County. I can truthfully say that the facts that have been presented here today pertaining to Table Rock are accurate. I have a written statement I wish to be filed in the record. I wish to thank you, gentlemen, for the courtesy and the time that you have extended to us here today. We thank you for your interest. PREPARED STATEMENT Senator DwORSHAK. Thank you. Your statement will be inserted in the record. Senator MCCLELLAN. Thank you very much, Mr. Yandell. (The statement referred to follows:) STATEMENT OF HAROLD YANDELL My name is Harold Yandell. I represent the Table Rock Boosters Association, an organization with membership in 16 counties in northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri. I am also representing the Branson, Mo., Chamber of Commerce. 1. Table Rock Dam is not a controversial issue. Public opinion in the area is overwhelmingly in favor of its construction. This is widened by the large and enthusiastic attendance at public meetings, by wires, letters, and petitions to Members of Congress, and by support of the newspapers of the area. Leaders of both political parties have endorsed this project. The farmers who live in the area that will be covered by the Table Rock Reservoir want the dam built. They have lived for many years in a state of doubt and confusion. They have been unwilling to invest their money in farm improvements such as pasture-improvement programs, modern dairy barns, and new fences, because they expect that the dam will be built and their properties inundated. As a result, their farms are rundown and unproductive. 2. The topography of the land in the Table Rock Basin is largely mountains and valleys. Total acreage in the proposed reservoir area is 85,100 acres. Of this total only one-seventh is cultivatable. The remainder is pasture and meadow and brush woodlands. Six thousand acres of the best land is now owned by a public-utility company and is leased on an annual basis to tenant farmers. 42592-54- -102 It is readily seen that the construction of Table Rock Dam in the Ozark Mountains is quite a different matter than some of the dams which have been proposed in the prairie country. Table Rock will, along with Bull Shoals, provide flood-control protection for 1,064,000 acres of fertile farmlands downstream on the White River. 3. I respectfully urge that this committee act to release the funds for Table Rock Dam that are now frozen. I further urge that additional appropriations be made so that Table Rock can be finished. Senator MCCLELLAN. Colonel Kane, please. Mr. FAIN. Senator, Colonel Kane has not been able to arrive. We do have two other gentlemen here. PETITION Senator MCCLELLAN. Mr. Chairman, at this point I wish to file for the information of the committee a number of petitions that I have received. I have hurriedly checked and they contain around 50) names signed by people in that area. The petitions are addressed to me. I would like to have the body of the petition printed in the record with the notation that it is signed by some 500 citizens in that local area. I will not encumber the record with the printing of all of their names, but it shows the interest they have manifested in this project. Senator DwORSHAK. The body of the petition you referred to may go into the record at this point. (The petition referred to reads as follows:) Senator JOHN L. MCCLELLAN, Senate Office Building, Washington, D. C.: BRANSON, Mo., March 4, 1954. The citizens of Branson, Mo., are impatiently waiting for the Congress to discharge its moral obligation to provide the necessary funds for construction of Table Rock Dam, by releasing the $2,500,000 now frozen, and to make an ad iitional appropriation for new funds so that a contract may be signed. We thank you for your efforts in the past and now urge your aid in securing favorable consideration through the Senate Appropriations Committee for these funds. TELEGRAMS I also have, Mr. Chairman, a number of telegrams from that area and from other interests. They are comparatively short, and I would like to ask that they be printed in the record at this point. Senator DWORSHAK. The telegrams will be placed in the record. (The telegrams referred to follow :) Senator JOHN L. MCCLELLAN, JOPLIN, Mo., March 3, 1954. Senate Office Building, Washington, D. C.: Ninety-six representatives from 24 cities, towns, and communities of southwest Missouri, northwest Arkansas, and northeast Oklahoma, assembled at a planning meeting, unanimously urge the immediate continuance of construction of Table Rock Dam. The tourist industry now holds second place in the economy of this area and offers the most logical potential for development of small businesses and an increase in the per capita income of counties affected. Even though Ozark tourist business has helped stabilize, our economy greatly reduced because of the drought conditions. Employment factor vital at this time. Flood-control benefits from Bull Shoals inadequate without Table Rock. OZARK PLAYGROUNDS ASSOCIATION PLANNING COMMITTEE. Senator JOHN L. MCCLELLAN, Senate Office Building, Washington, D. C.: BRANSON, Mo., March 6, 1954. The citizens of Branson, Mo., are impatiently waiting for the Congress to discharge its moral obligation to provide the necessary funds for construction of Table Rock Dam by releasing the $22 million now frozen, and to make an additional appropriation for new funds so that a contract may be signed. We thank you for your efforts in the past and now urge your aid in securing favorable consideration through the Senate Appropriation Committee for these funds. Tom Epps, Roy Street, W. C. Magness, Oliver P. Jones, E. A. Stallcup, Senator JOHN L. MCCLELLAN, CRANE, Mo., March 5, 1954. Senate Office Building, Washington, D. C.: We, the undersigned citizens of Crane, Mo., and Stone County, urgently request the releasing of $21⁄2 million of funds now frozen and the appropriation of additional funds for the completion of Table Rock Dam. We appreciate your efforts thus far and urge your continued leadership in making this project a reality. W. W. Hayes, Paul M. Meyer, Maurice Wise, Floyd Edwards, Jess Senator JOHN L. MCCLELLAN, REEDS SPRING, Mo., March 6, 1954. Senate Office Building, Washington, D. C.: We, the citizens of Reeds Spring, Stone County, Mo., are seriously hoping that the $2 million Table Rock fund, now frozen, will be released and the additional appropriation will be made in order that a contract for Table Rock Dam can be negotiated. This drought-stricken region is badly in need of employment. We hope and trust that the Senate Appropriations Committee will give this needed project a fourfold favorable consideration-self-liquidating, flood control, power, and labor. It is also our wish to extend to you and your colleagues our thanks for your sincere efforts in the past. Frank Judah, Mayor; Floyd Eisenhour; A. D. Dewey; Mike Billings; Senator MCCLELLAN. Mr. Montgomery is the next witness. STATEMENT OF DONALD MONTGOMERY, DIRECTOR, WASHINGTON OFFICE, UNITED AUTOMOBILE WORKERS, CIO GENERAL STATEMENT Mr. MONTGOMERY. I am the Director of the Washington office of the UAW-CIO. I wanted to appear simply to read in the record a telegram I received from a member of the executive board of our union, a director of region 5, Russell Letner. That region includes Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado. The telegram reads as follows: Union labor in Missouri strongly in support of appropriations for Table Rock Dam project. Farmers need both power and flood control in this section of State also this public work can relieve acute unemployment in the area. Urge your placing this before Senator Knowland's committee with request for favorable action. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Senator MCCLELLAN. Thank you, Mr. Montgomery. Mr. Edelman is next. STATEMENT OF JOHN W. EDELMAN, WASHINGTON REPRESENTATIVE, TEXTILE WORKERS OF AMERICA GENERAL STATEMENT Mr. EDELMAN. My name is John W. Edelman. I am the Washington representative of the Textile Workers of America. I am representing on this occasion the Congress of Industrial Organizations. |