2.0.8.9/12/27. WAR EXPENDITURES. SUBCOMMITTEE No. 5 (ORDNANCE) OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON EXPENDITURES IN THE WAR DEPARTMENT, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Friday, January 2, 1920. The committee met at 10.30 o'clock a. m., pursuant to call of the chairman, Hon. William J. Graham (chairman) presiding. Also present: Hon. Albert W. Jefferis and Hon. Finis J. Garrett. Mr. GRAHAM. Gentlemen, we want to start hearings on the nitrate matter and I have asked Mr. Johnson, one of the clerks of the committee, to prepare a history of the legislation in the matter of the establishment of nitrate plants, especially at Muscle Shoals, and other nitrate plants, to be established by the United States, and he has done so with considerable care. I thought it was advisable to start the hearings by having him detail the history of legislation along that line, leading up to the location of this plant, and what the objects were that were to be secured by so doing. TESTIMONY OF GEORGE WALTER JOHNSON. (The witness was duly sworn by Mr. Graham.) Mr. JOHNSON. George Walter Johnson. Mr. GRAHAM. You are now acting as one of the clerks of this committee? Mr. JOHNSON. Yes, sir. Mr. GRAHAM. How long have you been employed by the committee? Mr. JOHNSON. I came to the committee the latter part of June, 1919. Mr. GRAHAM. What is your profession? Mr. JOHNSON. I am a lawyer. Mr. GRAHAM. Admitted to the bar in what State? Mr. JOHNSON. I am admitted to the bar in Illinois. Mr. GRAHAM. Have you made an examination of the history of the legislation in the matter of the establishment of nitrate plants by the United States? Mr. JOHNSON. Yes, sir. Mr. GRAHAM. How long has it taken you to examine this matter? Mr. JOHNSON. Well, I have been working on it off and on since last September, and within the last week I have spent perhaps six or seven hours a day on it. Mr. GRAHAM. Now, have you prepared your history of this matter in writing, or will you give it orally? Mr. JOHNSON. I have rough notes in front of me. Mr. GRAHAM. So that you can testify from your notes about what you have been able to find? Mr. JOHNSON. Yes, sir. Mr. GRAHAM. Well, I think we will let you proceed and detail the history and legislation in this matter in your own way, and stopping you from time to time as we need, to inquire about particular matters. Start at the beginning of this matter now, the first notice of it that you found in any records, and tell us what the growth of the matter has been up to this time. Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. Chairman, I shall refer to the various bills, so that the reporter can give a heading to them in his notes. H. R. 24543, Fifty-ninth Congress, second session: The first efforts in the House of Representatives or in the Senate, according to the Congressional Record, to get the Federal Government to undertake the development of water power at Muscle Shoals, Ala., in the Tennessee River, which has often been referred to as the Muscle Shoals project, began in the Fifty-ninth Congress, second session, when Representative Richardson, of Alabama, on January 18, 1907, introduced H. R. 24543, for the purpose of improving the navigation of the Tennessee River over Elk River Shoals and the Big and Little Muscle Shoals, and for other purposes. Previous to this time the same Mr. Richardson had introduced bills in the House, and Senators had also done so in the Senate, authorizing the construction of dams and other power stations on the Tennessee River and Muscle Shoals. The language of H. R. 24543 was as follows: [H. R. 24543, Fifty-ninth Congress, second session.] In tre House of Representatives, January 18, 1907. Mr. Richardson, of Alabama, introduced the following bill, which was referred to the Committee on Rivers and Harbors and ordered to be printed. A BILL For the purpose of improving the navigation of the Tennessee River over the Elk River Shoals and the Big and Little Muscle Shoals, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That for the purpose of improving the navigation of the Tennessee River over the Elk River Shoals, in the State of Alabama, the Muscle Shoals Hydro-Electric Power Company, a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Alabama, be, and hereby is, by the terms of this act, authorized to erect and use perpetually three dams in and across the Tennessee River, in the State of Alabama, so designed as to incorporate the necessary conduits, gates, and other appurtenances necessary for the utilization of water power; the first of said dams to be located at the foot of the Little Muscle Shoals, the second of the said dams to be located about midway of and across the Big Muscle Shoals, and the third of the said dams to be located across the Big Muscle Shoals at or near lock numbered two of the United States canal, in such positions relative to each other and of such heights, respectively, as shall develop slack water covering the entire fall in the Tennessee River at ordinary low water from the beginning of the Elk River Shoals Rapids to the end of the Little Muscle Shoals Rapids, and to construct a lock in connection with each of said dams as a part of itself; and the said Muscle Shoals Hydro-Electric Power Company may erect, maintain, and operate in connection with each of said dams a power station for the development of water power, to be used and sold as such, or for the transformation and transmission of the same, electrically or otherwise, to such places where it may be sold to and used by the public, such construction being subject always to the provisions and requirements of this act and to such conditions and stipulations as may be imposed by the Chief of Engineers and the Secretary of War for the protection of navigation and the property and other interests of the United States: Provided, That at all times the said company in the operation of its power plants shall not disturb the levels of the slackwater pools created by the erection of said dams, above or below such limits not inconsistent with the rights herein granted as may be prescribed by the Chief of Engineers and Secretary of War: Provided, also, That said company shall grant to the United States free of cost, perpetually, the free use of water for water power for operating the said locks: And provided also, That the said company shall be liable for any damage that may be inflicted upon private property, by overflow or otherwise, as the same may be determined by a court of competent jurisdiction: And provided, That the said company shall make no claim against the United States at any time for failure of water power from any cause whatsoever. SEC. 2. That detailed plans and specifications for the construction and operation of the said dams, locks, power houses, and other appurtenant and necessary works shall be submitted by said company to the Chief of Engineers and the Secretary of War, together with a map showing the location of such dams and other structures, with such topographical and hydrographical data as may be necessary for a satisfactory understanding of the same, which must be approved by the Chief of Engineers and the Secretary of War before work can be commenced on either of said dams or other structures, and after such approval of said plans no departure whatsoever therefrom shall be made without first obtaining the approval of the Chief of Engineers and the Secretary of War, it being understood that the dams hereby authorized to be constructed will make practicable the entire abandonment of the present United States canals along the Big and Little Muscle Shoals and the Elk River Shoals. SEC. 3. That in consideration of receiving title to the said locks and of the land necessary in connection therewith, and of the benefits to be derived by the United States from the improvement of navigation, as contemplated by this act, the United States agrees to pay for the said locks and appurtenances thereof, together with one-half the cost of the first of said dams to be erected, in monthly installments, according to the estimate of the Chief of Engineers, as fast as the construction thereof proceeds, together with the necessary land constituting the sites of said locks and appurtenances, and also such lands as may be necessary for the convenient operation of said locks and for the maintenance of navigation, and to pay for the same the cost thereof as it may be determined by the Chief of Engineers and Secretary of War; and the United States further agrees to deed to the said company such of its lands and water rights as may be necessary for the improvements contemplated by the terms of this act, excepting, however, such lands as may be necessary for the occupation and operation of the said locks and appurtenances and for the maintenance of navigation. SEC. 4. That all the rights acquired under this act shall cease and be determined if the said company acquiring such rights shall at any time fail to comply with any of the provisions or requirements hereinbefore set forth or with any of the stipulations that may be prescribed by the Chief of Engineers and Secretary of War for the conduct of the construction operations herein contemplated; or in case the said company shall fail to begin the erection of the first of said dams and improvements within three years after being so authorized by the terms of this act, and shall fail to complete the same within three years thereafter; and shall fail to begin the erection of the second dam before the spill water over the first dam at ordinary low water shall be diminished by utilization for power purposes to the equivalent of five thousand horsepower, and shall fail to complete the same within three years thereafter; and shall fail to begin the erection of the third dam before the spill water over the second dam at ordinary low water shall be diminished by utilization for power purposes to the equivalent of five thousand horsepower, and shall fail to complete the same within three years thereafter: Provided, That the failure to exercise the authority hereby granted for the construction of the second or third dams, or both of them, shall not operate to terminate the rights pertaining to the first dam: And provided, That in the discretion of the Secretary of War, upon the recommendation of the Chief of Engineers, the time for the completion of either of the dams may be extended upon the |