It is most desirable that this question should be disposed of. Under
present conditions the income from these plants is less than could
otherwise be secured for its use, and more especially the public is not
securing the full benefits which could be obtained from them.
It is my belief that such parts of these plants as would be useful and the
revenues from the remainder should be dedicated for all time to the farmers
of the United States for investigation and experimentation on a commercial
scale in agricultural chemistry. By such means advancing discoveries of
science can be systematically applied to agricultural need, and development
of the chemical industry of the Tennessee Valley can be assured.
I do not favor the operation by the Government of either power or
manufacturing business except as an unavoidable by-product of some other
major public purpose.
Any form of settlement of this question will imply entering upon a contract
or contracts for the lease of the plants either as a whole or in parts and
the reservation of facilities, products, or income for agricultural
purposes. The extremely technical and involved nature of such contracts
dealing with chemical and electrical enterprises, added to the unusual
difficulties surrounding these special plants, and the rapid commercial
changes now in progress in power and synthetic nitrogen manufacture, lead
me to suggest that Congress create a special commission, not to investigate
and report as in the past, but with authority to negotiate and complete
some sort of contract or contracts on behalf of the Government, subject, of
course, to such general requirements as Congress may stipulate.