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Show THE THREE-RING CIRCUS 135 Peterson has been regularly employed since January 19, 1949, in the information, or press, section of the Bureau of Reclamation" No more stories by Peterson appeared. An important sideshow of the three-ring circus was going on in the House Interior Committee, where HR, 1770, a bill to liberalize the reclamation laws, was being considered. Naturally, it had the full support of the Reclamation Bureau, and Bureau witnesses were advocating its speedy passage. California was doing nothing to enhance its popularity, among western states which wanted countless new projects, by its opposition to the measure. One California witness was State Engineer Hyatt, who told the committee: 151 "We believe that federal reclamation projects should be economically justified and financially feasible The feasibility of each project should be determined by specific and clearly expressed standards and criteria fixed by Congress in order to protect federal investments therein." California Assistant Attorney-general Shaw's testi- mony against HR. 1770 revealed once again the extent of the Bureau's plans to gain control of the West's economy.151 The proposed changes advocated by the Bureau, said Shaw, meant that construction debts on projects might not be repaid "for 120, 280, 440, or any number of years." That the "interest burden borne by the United States on funds advanced for irrigation works, which is now limited to interest on decreasing balances for a maximum of fifty years, might be multiplied as many times as that time period is multiplied." That the Secretary of the Interior, "by signing an executive re- |
