Evening star., 1948-06-06
Supreme Court Decision
Held FIouted by House
Rider Aimed at Reclamation Chief
Called Both Illegal and Unfair
By Gerard d. Reilly

By Gerard D. Reilly
Notwithstanding the Supreme Courts pro-
rouncements, there Is still powerful group
in the House Of Representatives VINO appar-
entity believe that Congress can remove omcials
in the executive branch Of the Government By
the device Of tacking rider to an appgopria-
ton bill. As q result Of floor Amendment IN
the House to the Interior Department supply
bill. the Senate now has before 1t q proposal
which, unless eliminated, would have the effect
of ousting one of the Governments most ef-
fective administrators, Reclamation Commls.
sioner Michael w. Straus.
The last time the House took such action was
with respect to relatively minor employee
Robert M. Lovett OF Interior and Goodwin B.
Watson and William z. Dodd., Jr, OF the Conn
munications Commission. The Senate dis.
agreed but ultimately capitulated in confer
ence. Under the terms Of that rider, those ern-
ployes could not be paid. After remaining on
the Job for q few days, the trio Drought
an action for their salaries in the Court OF
Claims and obtained judgment, which was
affirmed by the Supreme Court.
One of the arguments which the proponents
of that rider used in putting 1t through the
House was that these employees were not of
ficers" of the Government and hence were not
subject to impeachment. OF course, In the
Straus case. even this tenuous argument was
not available. The Commissioner OF Reclana-
ton is a statutory of1cer appointed by the
President with the advice and consent OF the
Senate. Hence there Is no doubt that the
House could resort to the constitutional meth
cd OF impeachment, If it had any real evidence
OF misconduct in office.
An appropriation bill which touched on
the Lovett-Watson-Dodd controversy mem
toned the men by name and prohibited the
use Of any appropriation for the purpose OF
compensating them. The Supreme Court held
this amounted to . bill Of attainder. The
authors Of the Straus. amendment, in order
to get around this holding, did not specify
him or the other object Of their wrath, Richard
S. Boke, director Of the California Central
Valley project, In the text Of their draft.
Their proposal, adopted in the committee OF
the whole House without . roll call by Q
vote Of 1892, provides that the commissioner
Of reclamation, the assistant commissioners and
the regional directors must be qualified engi-
neers with at least 10 years Of engineering
and administrative experience The sponsors
Of the amendment, Representatives Elliott,
Democrat, of California and Harness, Repub-
lcan, of Indiana. in their statements support
ing the amendment openly referred to the
officials at whom it was directed. Because
Of the transparent character Of their tactics,
it is scarcely likely that any Federal court
would view this rider as being really dis
tinguishable from the one denounced In the
Lovett case as an invasion OF the powers Of
the executive branch.
Even more disturbing than the legal aspect
Of the matter, however, Is the implication 1t
carries to the continuation Of q sound agrarian
policy in the irrigated areas Of the Far West.
straus Is not one Of the self proclaimed lib
erals whose inept efforts at administration
and whose trucking to left-wing pressure
groups once they were placed In important
ONCE, afforded Congress legitimate grounds
for criticism. He is a former managing editor
Of metropolitan newspapers in Chicago. Be-
fore being appointed to his present post he
served successfully as director Of information
and Assistant Secretary of the Interior.
Next to Secretary Ickes, he was the strongest
man in the Interior Department for many
years and his grasp Of conservation policies
was an important factor in the fine record Of
the department. AS commissioner OF reclama-
ton, he has under his jurisdiction the whole
program Of the development Of flood control,
irrigation and hydroelectric projects In the
Rocky Mountain and Pacific States. One OF
his duties is to enforce a provision In the
basic reclamation statute passed in the ad-
ministration Of Theodore Roosevelt, which
limits the use of water from a reclamation
project to farms not exceeding l60 acres.
This limitation is the last remnant of the
central policy Of the homestead acts which
opened up the Western lands to settlement and
cultivation. During the Lincoln period. when
the first Homestead Act was passed. the mat
ter OF acreage limitation was the subject
OF extensive debate In Congress. A majority
decided in favor Of the 160-acre figure Is the
maximum holding for any individual patentes.
The wisdom Of the Congress which adopted
this provision has been justified by history II
fostered the essentially independent spirit Of
the West, for 1t made the new region . society
OF small farmers rather than one dominated BY
a few great planters.
In recent years, however, important land.
holding interests have been straining to elm.
mate this far-seeing limitation from the recla-
nation laws. Oil companies and ranchers who
bought large tracts Of arid land in the South.
west for prospecting or grazing see an oppor.
tunity to make killing If given access to the
water stored in the Shasta and Central Valley
reservoirs. Two years ago Senator Downey Of
California introduced bill to relax the acreage
Limitation but the measure was killed by the
Public Lands Committee after Straus had
testified against it.
Today the Senator Is one Of the most per.
sistent Of straus critics. The commissioner has
also incurred the enmity Of the powerful Pacific
Gas ds Electric Co. by his insistence that tbs
Central Valley project should control its own
transmission lines. He has consequently be-
come the target Of all the interests which can
usually be lined up in = night against public
power.
When the current appropriation bill was up.
,l.a> nI, A1
on the floor was proposed to the subcommittee
on Interior Department appropriations. The
committee was not impressed, however. and
voted 1t down. In the subsequent floor debate,
at which less than q fourth Of the House was
present, the proponents of the rider attempted