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Show THE THREE-RING CIRCUS 217 the right to demand the same thing. The economy of the nation could not stand such burdens and would break under them. Downey called upon his vivid imagination. Adopting the style and technique of Alice in Wonderland, he gave the Senate an imaginative conversation between Commissioner Straus and a Mr. Ant, President of the Association of National Taxpayers. He called his creation "Alice's Uncle In Bureauland." 310 It was a devastating attack on Straus and it revealed how utterly ridiculous were the Bureau of Reclamation operations. Downey received many compliments for the statement from other senators, not all of whom were going to vote against S. 75. (See Appendix h.) February 21, 1950 This was the day of reckoning in the Senate for S. 75. Under the previous agreement, a vote on the bill had to be taken by four p.m. Time for debate on the floor - up to that hour, if necessary - was to be equally divided between the proponents and opponents. In charge of time for Arizona was McFarland; in charge of time for California was Downey. McFarland immediately yielded the floor to Senator O'Mahoney, chairman of the committee which had given S. 75 a favorable vote. It was O'Mahoney's con- sidered judgment that even though the project would cost a great deal it would pay for itself. He stressed that adjudication of the controversy was necessary, and main- tained that the bill would be the means of getting the controversy before the Supreme Court. If the court found against Arizona, the Congress would not appropri- ate money for the project. When O'Mahoney subsided, Senator Wiley presented |