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Show 272 WAR FOR THE COLORADO RIVER Straus himself. It is the wild spending of the Bureau under Mr. Straus's direction, and the proposals for fantastic, infeasible projects that have influenced Con- gress to cut the Bureau appropriations. "Congress is tired of being hoodwinked into making a small initial appropriation and then finding that it has signed a blank check. Jumping into the fray, Rep. Harrison of Wyoming, a major reclamation state, declared that under Straus' leadership the Bureau "has created a fiscal and eco- nomic monster which the defenders of sound business and fair taxation are girding to destroy." 393 Next voice to be heard was that of Rep. Wharton of New York, who declared that the "seeds of an eastern- state revolt against reclamation and power projects were being sown by the Bureau of Reclamation. The unhinged policies of the Bureau can no longer be toler- ated. The present-day proposals of the Bureau are nothing short of socialistic, or even communistic. They would place in the hands of a few bureaucrats in Wash- ington absolute control of the economy of the West." 394 As the spring of 1952 merged into early summer, the guards were still standing at the door of the bedroom in which the Central Arizona Project was sleeping. There had been no sign that it would awaken. The onslaught against Straus and the Bureau con- tinued without abatement. "In the United States," said the United States Chamber of Commerce,395 "those who believe in estab- lishing a socialist state by encroachment have seized upon control of natural resources in the name of con- servation, as one tool to be used. More particularly, conservation of water resources and water resources |
