Coffeeville--Better Times Ahead!
The Coffeeville Lock and Dam, MM117 is the first lock we go through. For a safe trip we need it to be around 12' high. Extrapolating the forecast height, and assuming there's no appreciable precipitation, we'll be able to head north on Friday, 22 April.
Demopolis Dropping Fast
Upstream from Coffeeville is the Demopolis Lock and Dam at MM230. By Wednesday it'll be at 22', a safe height for us.
So, if all predictions hold, we should start up the river next Friday. The current should be on the order of 1-1/2 mph and decrease all the way to Demopolis.
So Many Flowers in Alabama
Bicki and I thoroughly enjoy learning by ambling about. Today that strategy took us into Fairhope's town museum. Were we in for a surprise.
Henry George
Fairhope was founded in 1894 as a utopian colony based on the economic principles of Henry George (1839-1897). George believed in the common ownership of land and that there should only be one tax. That tax should be based on the amount of land an individual uses. Taxes on labor and capital, he opined, led to less labor and less capital.
Engraving on H. George Obelisk
Then, like now, a long recession had divided Americans into haves and have nots; it was Wall Street against main street. Unlike now, the People's party, aka Populist Party, arose to compete with the Republican and Democratic Parties.
1892 Political Poster
Many Populists believed that the 1890's recession was caused by Wall Streets' stranglehold on money. Also, it didn't help that Congress had been flip flopping on the Reserve status of silver, because without silver there was less money in circulation. This manifested itself in deflation, most notably in crop prices. Not a good state of affairs when 50% of Americans are farmers.
By the 1896 Presidential election, the Populists had been absorbed into the Democratic Party. It was their standard bearer, William Jennings Bryan, that decried, "I will not help to crucify mankind upon a cross of gold." George's principals, which were front and center in the Populist's Party, had now taken a back seat.
Henry George did have one lasting change on America: the secret ballot. While traveling in Australia he saw it used and brought the idea back home.
George disavowed the Fairhope one tax experiment. Not enough land he said. The Corporation is still in existence today. They own all of the downtown and half of the City proper.
Waterfront Park and Rose Garden
Tree Lined Streets
Yup, we're still in Fairhope, Alabama and holding at 945nm for the trip. DBH
