Muscle Shoals Progress

For an entire week, the Senate struggled with Muscle Shoals and almost nothing else. And it was on this wise:

The bill before the Senate was the Norris Bill for Government ownership of Muscle Shoals--a bill drawn and supported by Senator Norris, Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture. But the bill discussed was the Underwood Bill for leasing the Shoals to private operators (TIME, Dec. 15)--a bill proposed and supported by Senator Underwood in whose domain (Alabama) the disputed project lies.

The Underwood Bill had the floor as an amendment by substitution for the Norris Bill. While things were so disposed, no less than 35 amendments were proposed to the Underwood Bill which was itself an amendment. All these had to be disposed of before a vote could be taken on the Underwood Bill to determine whether it would supplant the Norris Bill. If the Underwood Bill should be voted in as an entire substitute for the Norris Bill, then Senator Norris threatened he would offer another bill as an entire substitute for the Underwood Bill. All this had to be settled before the Underwood Bill could come to a final vote.

Meanwhile, the debate raged as one after another, the 35 amendments to the Underwood Bill were acted upon. Mr. Underwood intimated that he believed a mild sort of filibuster was going on in order that the opponents of his bill might gain time to rally their forces and, perhaps, in order to keep the Postal Pay Bill off the floor for a similar reason.

Sooner or later, the Senate will have to settle the Muscle Shoals question if only in order to dispose of the appropriation bills which are beginning to come through from the House and clog up the calendar.