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Show 304 WAR FOR THE COLORADO RIVER with you at length some time. Unfortunately I'm in a hurry this morning. I have to see some senators about the Central Arizona Project, and . . ." "Don't waste breath!" Mr. Straus almost yelled. "That pro- ject is all written off. The treasury will get nothing . . ." Mr. Ant swallowed so hard that Mr. Straus stopped speaking. There was an awkward silence, during which Mr. Straus grabbed his pencil and wrote off a million dollars from a Colo- rado project. Mr. Ant regained his voice. "As I'm in a mood to pay a compliment," he said, "I may as well tell you that for sheer genius the write-offs of the Central Arizona Project are without equal." "We'll do better," murmured Mr. Straus. "It was a masterful performance/' Mr. Ant went on. "As a taxpayer I would give anything ... I have left . to learn how you arrived at this peak of perfection. No one but a pure fiscal artist could have thought up such clever ways to keep the treasury from being reimbursed. It's financial con- fusion of the highest order." "You are too kind," Mr. Straus still murmured. "Not at all," said Mr. Ant with some vehemence. "I be- lieve you have written off at least 73 million dollars for fish propagation and recreation and such things. That's a world's record." Mr. Straus only smiled, as if he was well aware of the fact. "But the interest which the treasury loses!" Mr. Ant said with rising admiration. "It's inconceivable! If my figures are cor- rect, the treasury will lose more than a billion dollars in interest alone." Mr. Straus frowned as if he were displeased. "Well, we had hoped to get more than that out of the treasury, but there was a slight slip some where, I guess. The project only costs one and a half billions to build." "And that's not paid back, either," said Mr. Ant with short breath. "We're not in the paying-back business," Mr. Strauss said firmly. "My point is, that we ought to be able to lose the treasury more interest on such an amount than a mere billion." |