Evening star., 1936-04-12
BY CARLISLE BARGERON.

Senator George Norris, on the eve
Of adding another monument to his
career, is faced by the flank attack
Of counter MISUNDERSTANDING"
movement within the New Deal. 1t
threatens the Senator's own move
ment, which comes in the advanced
thinking" class itself.
The Senator's movement is to ex-
tend the vast sociological and power
experiment that is the Tennessee VAL
ley Authority, to embrace about three
fifths of the country. This he would
do through the establishment Of the
Mississippi Valley Authority, on which
hearings are now being held before a
subcommittee of the Senate Commit
tee on Agriculture and Forestry.
Norris was all ready to press for
action on the Mississippi Valley bill
after the Supreme Court ruled favor
ably on Norris Dam in the Tennessee
Valley experiment. Mr.. Roosevelt,
however, prevailed upon him to wait
until the elections on the ground that
the country was not yet ready for ex-
tension of the Tennessee Valley plan.
Norris purpose in having hearings on
the bill at this time is to build up sup
port for it, with a view to having it
Endorsed by plank in the Democratic
platform.
Enter Conservationists.
But in the midst Of his hearings
come the soil conservationists who
have been projected into the public
consciousness through a series of hap
penings. First, there were the dust
storms Of two years ago. Since this
the soil conservationistS have been as
siduously distributing pictures Of the
Cobb Desert and the arid lands of
Mesopotamia, and contending that if
this country didn't do something about
soil conservation it would come to
look just like the pictures. They are
most impressive pictures, resembling
q bald-headed man.
Even with these pictures, though, 1t
can't be said the soil conservationists
really broke through the maze that is
political Washington until the New
Dealers, desperate for something OF
which to base new payments to the
farmers, following the Supreme Courts
invalidation of the processing tax pay
ments, hit upon the slumbering soil
conservation law. It took up only a
pagaraph on the Nations statute books
but now the law on soil conservation
covers many pages. Soil conservation
is incidental to the payments to the
farmers in this law, but it gave the sol
conservationists a recognition they
had not Heretofore enjoyed.
Following closely upon this came
what the soil conservationists call the
best break they have had. 1t was the
recent floods which swept over tht
Eastern part of the country. From tht
editorials, magazine and newspaper
articles which have since appeared OF
soil conservation the impression is tha
| the country, or at least, the Eastern
part of it, is pretty much in soil con-
| servation mood.
Fortified by this situation. what d.
the soil conservationists do but appea,
before the subcommittee to oppos,
Senator Norris bill. What We need
they say, is not big dams, as We hav
been building in the past, like those a
Muscle Shoals and like those planned
| in the Norris bill, but little dams Il
control the little streams before the.
grow into big streams. The philosoph,
of the soil conservationists, or at least
those now holding the stage. Is ex
pressed In a book issued some time ag
under the auspices of Prof. Tugwell
resettlement administrator, and Norri
L. Cooke, head of the Rural Electrifica
| ton Service.
One of the things wrong now. the
| contend, after the millions that hav