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Show 23 THE NATIONAL ENTERPRISE. SEPTEMBER 21, 1977 z Scaevolas false water doctrine I- Perhaps this piece should be entitled e for it seems that an imposter writing under the Scaevola has usurped this space during my recent temporary absence from these pages. The real counterpoint must therefore stand up on the issue of the County Attorneys role the Central Utah Project (CUP). The thesis of Scaevola ( National Enterprise, Aug. 3) seems to be that Salt Lake County Attorney Paul Van Dam should speak only when spoken to, and then only if requested to do so by other public officials particulary when his opinions run counter to sacrosanct boondoggles like CUP. The voters would be incensed to learn their elected officials were such mute figureheads. Nevertheless, Scaevola is plainly wrong. The County Attorney has the same inherent authority to act on matters within the scope of his office as any other public official. In that regard he is mandated to act on matters affecting the tax base of the county and with respect to water the county attorney is the legal advisor to the state engineer, has responsibilities concerning water availability, quality control, flood control, sewers and legal actions concerning any of them. "Scaevolas branding of Van Dam as "ignorant and his stand on the issue laughable is an example of poor taste but the bland declaration that "those who must actually produce water. . .must deliver year after year is a study in illogic. The fact is that every drop of additional water CUP will bring to Salt Counter-Counterpoin- t. by-lin- o vis-a-v- CL CL LU 8 0) Z 2 a I- I m o o is Lake Valley originates in the Great Basin, mainly on the upper Provo. So, if the object is delivery of water to Salt Lake County, why incur the staggering costs of transmountain diversions, aqueducts, etc. that CUP embodies? The answer, as Mr. Van Dam pointed out, is to benefit a few farmers in western Utah in preference to the Utes and a few farmers in eastern Utah who might use the water as well, but at less cost. The expense must be paid for by the water users on the project, including Salt Lake County. Therefore. CUP has a direct relationship to the tax base of Salt Lake County, which Mr. Van Dam is obligated under law to protect. If producing water for Salt Lake County is the issue, why not build Jordanelle Reservoir, Lampton Reservoir, and the Jordan Aqueduct, and forget about the 400 miles of costly tunnels, aqueducts and transmountain diversions extending from Flaming Gorge Reservoir to Delta? Better yet, why not develop Salt Lake Countys ground water, utilize the wasted runoff of Emigration Creek, Mill Creek, Parleys Canyon and many others, or the outflow' of the Jordan River and the various sewage treatment plants along its course which could be used for irrigation, thereby salvaging higher quality water. The popular fallicies of CUP which Van Dam addressed water waste, ecology, himself to involve many other issues the ecosystem of the Great Basin, the incredible cost of CUP and the availability of alternate supplies. Scaevola, whoever he or she may be. addressed none of those issues. So I say fie on you," Scaevola! Pick on another column next time. AU0O)IIO6 A ACC6PT1U6 imis A0CCTOUS TOTvepxe high CFOUeHfW-- MaoRxwp it) MFAlR. W0FAIR- M0XIS IS OUFAIR - Tnl Innl fqr ftrr Innl Pragmatic Dogmatics The sos your old man syndrome by Kent Shearer On September 13, White House Press Secretary Jody Powell called the Washington Sen. Bureau of the Chicago Charles H. Percy had, trumpted Powell, used Bell & How'ells airplane for political purposes while he was that concern's chief executive officer. Where did Percy get off, Powell asked, criticizing the embattled Bert Lance for identical usage of his banks aircraft? Sun-Time- (R-Ill- s. .) Bell & Howell, it The initiative back-firedeveloped, hadn't had an airship at all; therefore, Percy scarcely could misuse it. Powell, shame-faceapologized, and no doubt hopes the occurrence will quickly fade. d. d, The incident is, however, typical of an instinctive political maneuver, the sos your old mar." ploy. It is natural and human for one who is caught in some impropriety or another to respond that his accusers have done as badly, if no worse. Also characteristic of the sos your old man" syndrome is Victor Laskys book, It Didn t Start with Watergate, which has been on the best seller list for some time. The tome details with partisan glee the wire taps and other dirty tricks perpetrated by FDR, HST, JFK, and LBJ. "Granted, two wrongs don't make a right, Lasky proclaims, but, in law and politics, two wrongs can make a respectThus, Lasky forgives able precedent. Richard Nixon, although he concedes the fallen one some character defects. But that sort of rationale can get out of hand. Immediately after Pearl Harbor, two great American liberals, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Earl Warren, collaborated to in detention imprison Japancsc-American- s camps. Is this one of Lasky's respectable precedents? If so, it would justify a future American President, in the event of war with Poland, to do the same to Polish-American- s. No. guilt is individual and indivisible. Bert Lance apparently employed corporate aircraft for his own, and for his friend Jimmy Carter's, political endeavors. This arguably constituted a corporate campaign contribution, illegal under federal law. If so, Lance was wrong, and the fact that any or all one hundred senators had done the same thing would not make Lance less wrong. It is understandable that Jody Powell would defend his fellow Georgian, Lance. It is unfortunate that, to do so, he feels he must wield the only tactic Lasky could find to rchabiliate Nixon. "Sos your old man" will not do. |