Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1949-06-20
Congress VS.. Straus, Mellett, ct al.
Star Columnist Attacked and Defended in Exchange
Between Two Principals in the Case

II Ia xxssss 81 Tss saas;
Nv appreciation Is expressed 10 Tr~ star
for It's fairness ard courtesy IN soliciting
from myself n comment ca Inc yaews vclgn.
teered by Frank Bow. general counsel tFw~
tiredi fer CONGRESSMAN PORES; A Harness
.rrtiredi rs chairman Of TIRE House Sub
committee On Publicity and rvcpax an6a q
the eosh Congress retired
Mr. Bows anguish over The record tia,
has been written in this matter tn undes-
xsandacae. Fortunately, II - no completely
documenied that II cannot BE- sxtlngusshed
even BY this cry from The pasz- The record
tx .rrefatAhle. THEREFOR 1t would be super
fiuous for me 70 offer unnecessary defense
Of Mr.. Lowell MeIietis accurate corcenSa-
ton Of the record
Mr.. Bows enceasors to justify the pre-
election extravasanEas Of the spring Of is<s
through the rear-vision mirror Of ls*s are
ambitious. He must be credited with the
effort And In the midst Of all his opinion
there Ia identinahle one .aetuai half truth,
That Is that Secretary kras. Mr., Boks and
myself were allowed 10 testify before The
committee On which Mr.. Bow served As gen
erai counsel as Mr.. Bows letter AYERS, Fur
understandable reasons. Mr.. Bow neglected
10 mention that the defendants prosfeFed
offers Of testimony were rejected until about
. month after the verdict was handed down.
printed hearing report compiled under Mr.,
Bows guiding genius.
Pair Trial" Before Execution.
There Is an old iynehing custom OF giving
the victim n fair trial" before you hang him
Unfortunately. these traditional amenities
were not observed by Mr.. Bow. MIR. Harness.
and their associate In this enoeayor. Sena-
tor Sheridan Downey, In the intriguing clos
ing days OF the soth Congress. II Is pretty
hard 20 explain TO the American public Why
such established lynehing protocol Is not
observed and its omission Is hacknring, The
former Harness Committee. under the guid-
ance Of its former general counsel Mr..
Bow. heralded Its approaching search for
the truth last spring by prehcarins proc
lamations about Impeachment" Of q lot o.
administration ofIicials. including the Secre-
tary Of the Interior and myself. for assorted
actions When the preconvicted victims
in person asked to be heard on the pre-
ordained conclusion last April n. the day
the hearing opened. IL was no surprise that
this request was rejected. The committee
reached It's verdict OF guilty" and handed
1t down on May II with q recopmendation
that q rider be placed In the Interior De-
psrtment Appropriation Bill preventing pay
ment Of salaries to Reclamation Regional
Director Richard L. Boke OF California and
myself. Then weeks later. tho former Har-
ness Committee gave It's victims their fair
trial" after the trap was sprung. This
chronology seems to have escaped Mr.. Bows
attention In his communication TO The Star
anent Mr.. Melletts column. which put the
spotlight right back on the real issue where
1t belongs.
Never has an issue been so thoughtfuliy.
thoroughly. and authoritatively documented
due to the energy and literary industry Of
Senator Sheridan nruney himself who
wrote an extraordinary volume publisher
non-disclosed) entitled They Would Rule
the Valley" Senator Downey eaptioned his
first chapter What is the Issue7" and In
paragraph / Of chapter I he answers his
own question and accurately defines the
issue to be 81. whether or not we should
apply TO the Central valley Project In Cali
fornia the provision In the Reclamation Act
Of 1907 which limits the delivery Of water
to . landowner on a federal reclamation
project to the amount needed for the
irrigation OF $50 acres - That anti land
monopoly principle has been inherited from
Abraham Lincoln's Homestead Act. Il has
been Reclamation statute for 81 years.
The Law Stin Stands.
Senator Downey has tried. with phenom-
email vigor but no success. for several years
to repeal II. When Congress refused 10
change the law, he undertook, with the aid
Of Bedfellows Bow. Harness. ct a.. TO change
the management Congress has given the
entire matter considerable attention Over
5000 pages Of testimony have been taken on
the subject during 81 days Of hearings in
the past few years. and some IL bills.
amendments resolutions and investigations
were referred to 10 committees Of the past
four Congresses with committee membership
aggrcgating some 81 Senators and lot Rep
resentatives. The anti-land-monopoly law still
stands although the Reclamation Commits
sioner and the California Regional Director
have been found guilty OF being not en-
gineers which profound Judgment was sim
plified by the fact that no one ever con-
tended that they were engineers.
There Is dissatisfaction In this case. One
measure Of the dissatisfaction Is that an
early act Of the House Of the Sist Congress
at the Presidents recommendation was 10
repudiate and vote repeal Of the Harness
Bow -Straus- Boke rider. But the un-
happiness seems to 20 further and be shared
by Senator Downey himself. The Senator
has now officially requested another inyesti-
CATION. Reclamation. as q Federal agency
will always be subject to examination even
when Its oflicials are accused Of complying
with the law. Reclamation nourishes and
prospers despite such treatment although o
maximum Of durability 10 q prerequisite for
its officials. MICHAEL w. STRAUE.
.rcoa,nt In ANYTHING I'm money. but the prin~