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Show THE THREE-RING CIRCUS 191 May 7, 1949 Murdock had saved Attorney Carson, Arizona's leading legal witness, for the final push of the pro- ponents. As he had done in previous hearings, Carson sought to avoid long cross-examination by placing a prepared statement in the record. Especially he did not wish to tangle with Rep. Engle, an expert on water law, but he was soon to learn that Engle did not propose to let him escape. One of the many documents Carson offered for the record was a report on the project written by the Doane Agricultural Service of St. Louis. It was signed by True D. Morse,259 who would be summoned as a witness. The service had been employed by Arizona to make the report, and in doing so it had relied almost completely on statements made by the Reclamation Bureau. Rep. A. L. Miller suddenly interrupted to say that he had been wondering if the committee was not getting the cart before the horse.260 Inasmuch as the feasibility of a project depends upon whether water is available, said Miller, "should not Congress have a determination on that point before we authorize the spending?" Carson did not think so, and Miller continued: "Would you as a businessman go out here and spend in this case hundreds of millions of dollars in building a project in which the main item in the whole proposition depended upon 'Do I have any water, and is it mine?' " Carson admitted he would not, but explained that the controversy could not be taken to court until the project was authorized, because there would otherwise be no justiciable issue. Miller shook his head in a manner which indicated he did not agree. |