Water Resources People and Issues
What does that mean?
A: By that, I mean that he was still the old Corps of Engineers which looked on
itself as being engineer consultants to the Congress, and the Bureau of the
Budget was looked on as a kind of a Johnny-come-lately on water resources.
You realize that the Bureau of the Budget wasn't a part of the Executive Office
of the President until 1939.
Somehow, General Sturgis was a much more remote figure. When General
Itschner became chief, he seemed to be with us 100 percent and he was a very
methodical person. When we said something, he immediately took steps to
wholeheartedly put it into effect. He was methodical. Joe Tofani used to say
how he read every letter that went out of the Civil Works Division. General
Itschner was chief of Civil Works when we first started dealing with him and
had the feeling that he really understood the position of the Bureau of the
Budget much better than Sam Sturgis had.
Well, let me ask you this, though. Sturgis can't defend himself, so let me see
if I can try to defend him a little bit. I'm thinking about some of the material
I've seen in Sturgis's files, which are voluminous, which we have in our
archives.
There's an awful lot there, of course, in response to concerns that the Corps of
Engineers might lose the civil works functions. You have the second Hoover
Commission which, in the end, does not recommend that, but still and all,
there is this concern and also perceptions that the Bureau of the Budget is trying
to exert more control over the Corps' program than perhaps had been the case
before.
So in other words if, in fact, Sturgis was a bit paranoid about what might be
coming around the bend, particularly from other parts of the executive branch,
was there some justification for it?
A: Yes, I guess there was, and I'm sure I would have felt the same way, if I had
been the head of an agency in which I had a lot of pride. I hate to use the
word, but the Corps is a little bureaucracy, and it has enjoyed a very close
relationship with the Congress. In fact, the first few reorganization acts
specifically eliminated from consideration any change in the civil functions of
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