During World War I, President Wilson built a dam on the Tennessee River to harness it to power two nitrate plants. Nitrate was used a ammunition for explosives. After the war, congress wrestled with what to do with the dams. Henry Ford and Thomas Edison offered to buy the land and transform the area into a metropolis. "I will employ one million workers at Shoals and I will build a city 75 miles long", stated Mr. Ford. But congress refused to sell the land at a substantial loss. Calvin Coolidge pleaded with congress year after year, to sell the land. It was a classic fight between capitalist limited government and liberal government expansion.
[1923] "Government is undertaking to develop a great water-power project known as Muscle Shoals, on which it has expended many million dollars. The work is still going on. Subject to the right to retake in time of war, I recommend that this property with a location for auxiliary steam plant and rights of way be sold. This would end the present burden of expense"
[1924] "Much costly experimentation is necessary to produce commercial nitrogen. For that reason it is a field better suited to private enterprise than to Government operation. I should favor a sale of this property, or long-time lease"
[1925] "If anything were needed to demonstrate the almost utter incapacity of the National Government to deal directly with an industrial and commercial problem, it has been provided by our experience with this property. We have expended vast fortunes, we have taxed everybody, but we are unable to secure results, which benefit anybody"
[1927] "The last year has seen considerable changes in the problem of Muscle Shoals. Development of other methods show that nitrates can probably be produced at less cost than by the use of hydroelectric power ...This leaves this project mostly concerned with power."
[1928] "The development of other methods of producing nitrates will probably render this plant less important for that purpose than formerly ... Nor do I think this property should be made a vehicle for putting the United States Government indiscriminately into the private and retail field of power distribution and nitrate sales."
Alas, Henry Ford pulled his offer, and liberal government expansion won, when FDR in 1933 FDR created the Tennessee Valley Authority. Under the "New Deal", Muscle Shoals and Wilson Dam would now be permanently under federal control Proving that government expansion that may be necessary during time of war, is almost impossible difficult to shed.
Silent Cal spoke it best when he said,
"The age of perfection is still in the somewhat distant future, but it is more in danger of being retarded by mistaken Government activity than it is from lack of legislation."
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