The people's voice., 1959-06-12

when the House Appropriations Com
mittee approved 81 million to begin
construction of Clark Fork Dam in
the Beaverhead River near Dillon.
The appropriation would kick a
hole in President Eisenhower's bar
rier of no new starts on water re-
source projects.
Among other Montana items in the
big Public Works Appropriation Bill
are $2,902,000 for the Fort Peck
project, $2,182,OOO for the Helena
Valley unit and this significant Ian
guage in the Committee report on
the Bureau of Reclamation:
'The Committee has taken consid-
cradle testimony and has separately
investigated the possibility of consoli-
dating Regions (headquartered at
Billings) and (now at Denver) at
Billings. The information available
to date indicates that (this change)
would be particularly desirable. 1t
is urged that the Department con-
tinue to study these possibilities and
arrive at an early final decision.''
This was a switch. For years, Mon
tanans in Congress have been fend-
ing off a proposal that the two Bu-
reau regions be consolidated and
headquartered at Denver.
Soon Senator Murray will go be-
fore the Senate Appropriation Com
mittee to make the delegations big
pitch for having construction money
for Yellowtail Dam added to the bill.
FEED THE HUNGRY
There were some red faces among
Agriculture Department officials re-
Gently when Senator Humphrey of
Minnesota read them excerpts of a
Senate speech the day before by Sen
ator Murray, in support of the bill
to expand the domestic surplus food |
distribution program, and transfer
it from the Department of Agriculture
to the Department of Health, Educa-
tion and Welfare.
Murray had pointed out that Sec
retary of Agriculture Benson prev
iously opposed legislation to jack up
the food donation program because
his Department did not have direct
responsibility for welfare and relief
The current bill met that
by transferring the program
to the department that is responsible
for welfare and relief. Thus, Murray
said. zone would think that Mr.. Ben
son would appear at the forthcoming
hearings and support the bill"
Benson did not appear, but his
ieutenants did, to oppose all the bills
IS unavoidable and unnecessary.
When Senator Humphrey reminded
,he Agriculture spokesmen of the ;
previous Benson position there was
silence. All we can say, :
hey said, is what Mr.. Benson's posi-
ion is now. {.
NEW CITIZENSl :
Robert and Erna Aldinger and AL {
red Koppenstein, Fallon; Miroslaw b
md Wanda Kubik, Friedrich, Hans Y
md Marie Wilhelm, all of Miles City; A
Irs. Rose Hoffman, Richey; Mrs. h
Wagner, Circle; Helmut t,
Wolff, Sidney; Ted Herikstad, Oscar F
)lson. Mrs. Logeria Purvis and Re- P
ata Sorlie, Glendive. t,
fORE POWER TO YOU ii
Congressman Metcalf and Ander- t.
on have joined in calling for thor II
ugh study, aimed at eliminating c,
otential disputes between upper =
nd lower Basin States over waters o.
f the Missouri River. II
The immediate problem, they and al
i've other Democratic House mem m
ers wrote Chairman Cannon of the al
louise Appropriations Committee, is 81
le tentative ALLEGATION by the In az
,rior Department of publicly-gener- pi
ted hydroelectric power in the basin. ST
he ALLEGATION, they said, indicates M
lat the REA co-operatives, public re
over districts and municipalities in u
lie basin twill be required to obtain IS
substantial portion of their power &C
,quirements elsewhere. "
"This will impose severe hardships f'
oon them," they continued ''The 10
are too small to install at
enerating units with today's high 1u
,sts. which make small plants un- cl'
Many of the REA cooper
ives and power districts operate in
,ry thin territory. Often the density L
not more than one farm per mile. b
this power is denied them, they v