that has taken place and the fact that this section is doing something to help itself. This section is moving away from the one-crop agricultural economy to a diversified program of many crops, livestock and processing of farm products to add to their value before they are sold to the ultimate consumer. This section, also, has had a tremendous industrial growth within the past 10 years. This is not a mushroomed wareconomy type of development but a steady growth which is driving toward the goal of utilizing the products of our fields, forests, and mines and training the hands and minds of the people of our section. Construction of the Hartwell Dam will provide needed power for the development of new industries; it will provide recreation for more than half a million people of this area and yet hundreds of thousands who would come here in the event the dam is built; it will provide cheaper transportation from Savannah to August and this whole section by making it possible to develop navigation on the Savannah River, and, above all, will provide for flood control which will save valuable lands and property and will serve as an incentive to further the already well-advanced soil-conservation program which is being pushed in this area. Figures made available by engineers on this project reveal that it will be self-liquidating over a period of years. It will enable this section to lift its level of income more nearly to the national average. It is one of our great natural resources through development of which this whole section, the South and the Nation as a whole will benefit. We must sincerely urge that you gentlemen consider this proposal carefully and seriously. Give us, through this type of assistance, the ability to improve our whole economic status so that we may be able to change from the often-characterized "Economic Problem No. 1" section to an area which can and will be known as "Economic Opportunity No. 1." We sincerely and respectfully urge your favorable consideration of this proposed project. Mr. BROWN. Mr. Chairman, I have here a short statement by Hon. Carey Skelton, solcitor general, northern judicial circuit of Georgia. I would like to read it. The CHAIRMAN. Proceed, sir. Mr. BROWN (reading): In the interest of brevity I desire merely to endorse what has been said by the Army engineer and the other witnesses regarding the need for the Hartwell Reservoir. I have lived in this particular section of Georgia all of my life. I believe that I am familiar with the views and needs of the people who live in the Savannah River area, and I am of the opinion that they feel keenly the need for the construction of this reservoir and believe that this development as planned by the Corps of Engineers is essential to their economic development and social progress. Furthermore, we believe that this development would contribute materially to the national welfare and national defense. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Skelton, how far is Hart well from the proposed dam site! Mr. SKELTON. About 6 miles, I think, sir. The CHAIRMAN. What is your population? Mr. SKELTON. About 3,000. The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, sir. We are glad to have you. Mr. BROWN. Our next witness is the Honorable Clark Gaines, secretary, Georgia Department of Commerce. The CHAIRMAN. Before you begin, sir, is there any local opposition, or do the people generally favor it? Mr. GAINES. There is no opposition, and it has the Governor's un qualified support and approval. The CHAIRMAN. There is no local contribution? Mr. GAINES. No, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Very well, sir. STATEMENT OF HON. CLARK GAINES, SECRETARY, GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Mr. GAINES. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, my name is Clark Gaines. I am secretary of the Georgia Department of Commerce. I want to tell you briefly about some of the general benefits we feel will come to Georgia and South Carolina through the construction of the proposed Hartwell Dam on the Savannah River. The strip of territory lying along the Savannah River, in both Georgia and South Carolina, constitutes not only a highly productive agricultural area but one that is rapidly developing industrially. The natural and human resources are there to make it potentially a much greater economic area. The raw materials are varied and in abundance, and a great consumer market awaits their being processed into manufactured products to enrich the sector and make a considerable economic contribution to a much larger region. Electric power-relatively cheap, abundant and dependable-and river development in general are eagerly awaited by the section, the realization of whose great potentialities depends upon these improvements. This is the key to the larger prosperity that is the birthright of this area. With the provision of electric power in abundance and reasonably priced, new industries will spring up by the scores; the forests and farms will hum with the activity of providing raw materials for these plants; the wholesaler, merchant, and laborer will find business and employment that do not now exist. Rural electrification. will play a dramatic part in equipping and modernizing the farms. The industrial growth of 29 counties in the Savannah River region on the Georgia side during the last 8 years provides a graphic indication of the manufacturing progress made under the present available electric power and river development. In 1940 there were 587 plants in these counties, and last year the number had grown to 848, an increase of 261 or 45.8 percent. The value of their manufactures in 1948 was in excess of $4,000,000,000. I am attaching to this brief figures for the various counties in this regard. This compares well with the State total for 1948, when the sales of Georgia's manufactured products were placed at $2,809,700,000. However, with the extensive natural and other resources in the Savannah River area, the production figures for farm, forest, and factory could be vastly enlarged. The people in the territory have the intelligence and ingenuity, the energy and spirit to do it if given the public-utility facilities, mainly electric power. Highly important to the economy of the region is the establishment of flood control, such as contemplated in plans for the Hartwell project. About four times a year the Savannah River overflows a vast territory and renders useless large tracts of land which would usually be rich farm lands were it not for the fear of floods. Vitally important in this connection is soil-erosion control to prevent the natural wealth of these lands from being washed down into the sea. As you doubtless know, among the largest users of electric energy among the Nation's manufacturers are the paper and pulp, meatpacking, chemical, cement, rayon, cotton broad-woven, cotton yarn, bread, and bakery industries. Also tremendous users of fuels are the brick and tile people and the textile dyeing and finishing interests. Other users are those having to do with furniture making; food processing; canning; dehydration; prepared foods; quick freezing; dairy industries, such as milk, butter, and cheese; candy; feed for livestock and dairy use; plastics; and oils. All of these are, in more or less degree, industrial opportunities for the Savannah River area. Some of these plants are already well established in the 29 counties; others are just beginning or may be expected to expand; some are yet to be begun but are potential for the future economic development of the area. All of this development will be finely accelerated if the needed electric energy and other river improvements are provided by the proposed Hartwell Dam project being constructed in accordance with the economic demands and opportunities of the section. Georgia, being so largely a farming State, needs to give particular attention to agricultural prosperity. In the struggle to escape slavery to the one-crop system of cotton raising, which was delivered a sturdy blow by the boll weevil, our farmers have been increasingly turning to diversification and livestock production. Canning plants have sprung up throughout the 29 counties; operation of community canneries during the war emergency gave the average farmer some understanding of the problems of the canner and of growing for canning. Then, too, all counties in the area are suitable locations for quickfreezing plants. Most fruits and vegetables suitable for freezing can be produced if a contract market is provided. Poultry is generally available. Locker and dehydration plants also aid in preserving foods for the market, whereas in former years the farmer's produce was so highly perishable and, without preservation facilities, cotton was almost the only crop he could regard as a money producer. Now his fruits and vegetables find the processing and preserving as well as grading and labeling they lacked in years gone by. If electric energy were made more available for these operations on the farm and in the towns, a tremendous advance in rural and urban prosperity would be the prospect. The meat-packing industry is relatively further advanced in Georgia than is the production of beef cattle, pork, and lamb. But, beginning about 1950, it is believed that more of these plants will be in order, and this area would provide excellent location. But immediate opportunities exist in the field of specialties, such as sausages, bacon, ham, and meat spreads. Rural electrification and the establishment of many processing plants for farm and forestry products will defi nitely raise the standard of living for our agricultural population. Not only this, but the world food situation calls for such developments. Georgia has more than a dozen valuable species of wood growing in merchantable quantities, usable in the manufacture of furniture and numerous other articles. Many of these are in the Savannah River sector, and industrial possibilities in the connection are large. Very satisfactory conditions exist in the region for paper manufacture. The principal ceramic-industry possibilities include refractories, whiteware, glass, and heavy clay products such as brick and tile. Brick and building tile have been exported from the section to Florida and the east coast via barge. Development of the Savannah River would not only provide water transportation to Florida and east coast points but tend to lower the cost of bringing in coal or oil for fuel. With the expansion of the glass industry definitely headed toward the South, it is industrially important that two substantial deposits of glass sands exist in the area, one in Burke County, Ga., and the other in Barnwell County, S. C. Cotton yarns, knit fabrics, candy, and other types of manufacture have established themselves effectively in the sector. In fact, the range of industry that could prosper here and that should be given opportunity to do so is a large one. The vital importance of building up industry and other occupational opportunities in this territory is seen in the figures I am attaching which give the population trends in the various counties. Although the entire group shows a small gain, 26 of the counties have suffered a population loss, some quite substantial, since 1940, and only 3 indicate a gain. Mechanization of the farms and other rural changes have been responsible, and new job opportunities are greatly essential if population growth is to continue. Many chances for economic development and increased prosperity other than mentioned above exist in the Savannah River territory, and the Georgia Department of Commerce wishes to commend very highly the great economic value and necessity of the Hartwell project to the Federal Government. (The table referred to is as follows:) New industries in the Savannah River area (Georgia counties) New industries in the Savannah River area (Georgia counties)—Continued Population trends, Savannah River area (Georgia counties) Mr. BROWN. I have a statement of the Honorable L. S. Moody, secretary, chamber of commerce, Augusta, Ga., member of the Hartwell Dam steering committee. Mr. Moody's wife is seriously sick in the hospital, and he could not get here. I have his statement, and I will ask the clerk to pass around these copies of it. The CHAIRMAN. You may insert it in the record, Mr. Brown. Mr. BROWN. I would like permission for Hon. Fred West, mayor of Abbeville, a town of about 4,000 in South Carolina, to file a state ment. Also, the Honorable W. C. Johnson, mayor of Anderson, to file a statement. He will mail it in a day or two. I will file it with the clerk, 92329-49. -6 |