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Sen. Stuart Symington (D-Mo), Democratic presidential aspirant, spoke in Huntington today and expressed his belief that West Virginia has a great potential for future progress.

In remarks prepared for delivery at a luncheon sponsored by the Cabell County Democratic Executive Committee at the hotel Frederick, the former Air Force chief said:

"You (West Virginians) have the location, the natural resources, the proximity to major markets and above all a skilled and hard-working people. In 120 communities throughout your state labor and management have joined hands to develop new industry. Surely, such courageous cooperation at the local level deserves more support from the federal government."

Symington is considered one of the top contenders for his party's presidential nomination. He assailed the Eisenhower administration's failure to reward West Virginia cities' efforts to bring in the new industry.

"This administration," he said, "seems more interested in retrenchment than investment; more concerned with the value of today's dollar than with the value of tomorrow's world.

"The next administration - a Democratic administration - will change this for the benefit of all people," he told the audience.

Commenting on the future potential of the coal industry, Symington said that "with adequate capital, we could develop new techniques of using power from coal at very low cost."

The Missouri senator called America's economic strength "the surety of freedom and world peace." He said the world is watching to see whether America will be able to achieve a better life for its people with freedom than the Communists can without freedom.

"On our performance, the hopes for peace may rest," he declared. "We must do more. Russia has already built up an economy as strong as ours was at the end of World War II. In recent years her rate of growth has been three times our own. Every day's production lost through unemployment is a default for the cause of freedom.

"This is why industrial development in areas such as West Virginia and the Ohio Valley is of strategic economic significance to our country."