Book Reviews and Notices : The Thirsty Land: The Story of the Central Valley Project. By ROBERT DE Roos. (Stanford University, California: Stanford University Press. 1948. Pp. xi, 265. $4.00.)

• Author: John C. Bollens
• Published date: 01 September 1949
• Date: 01 September 1949
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/106591294900200349
• Subject Matter: Articles

467

his

autobiography.

The

reviewer

is

angered

(politely,

to

be

sure)

by

Bloom’s

failure

to

concentrate

more

fully

on

the

vicissitudes

he

has

en-

countered

in

his

political

campaigns.

In

this

regard,

very

little

attention

is

given

to

the

matrix

of

factors

that

are

crucial

in

promoting

or

retarding

the

victories

of

political

parties.

While

Bloom’s

references

to

the

Repub-

lican

Party

are

couched

in

the

spirit

of

fairness,

he

doesn’t

intimate

why

the

party

has

been

repudiated

by

large

segments

of

the

population,

or

a

f ortiori,

whether

there

is

a

peril

in

the

disintegrative

tendencies

of

our

two-party

system.

Surely,

the

dangers

in

the

continuance

of

Democratic

control

in

the

White

House

cannot

be

dismissed

lightly

by

distinguished

stars

of

the

political

horizon.

Bloom

is

overly

cautious

and

narrowly

circumspect

in

his

discussion

of

the

Jewish

problem.

There

is

a

need

for

a

thorough

examination

of

the

psychological

implications

of

the

Jewish

problem

by

one

who

has

managed

to

transcend

the

obstacles

as

well

as

Bloom.

But,

all

in

all,

the

raison

d’6tre

of

the

book

has been

clearly

established,

and

we

should

be

grateful

to

the

Congressman

for

his

contribution.

Brooklyn,

N.

Y.

SAMUEL

ABRAHAMS.

The

Thirsty

Land:

The

Story

of

the

Central

Valley

Project.

By

ROBERT

DE

Roos.

(Stanford

University,

California:

Stanford

University

Press.

1948.

Pp.

xi,

265.

$4.00.)

Written

by

a

San

Francisco

newspaperman,

this

book

is

concerned

with

a

major

California

reclamation

project

which

aims

at

correcting

the

unequal

natural

distribution

of

water.

The

author

candidly

admits

several

biases

on

the

opening

prefatory

page:

(1)

his

belief

that

the

United

States

Bureau

of

Reclamation

is

following

the

right

policy;

(2)

his

lack

of

ob-

jection

to

state

management

and

operation

of

the

project

if

a

sensible

plan

can

be

determined

for

the

transfer

from

federal

to

state

jurisdiction;

and

(3)

his

opposition

to

the

efforts

of

the

Pacific

Gas

and

Electric

Company

to

obtain

control

of

the

electrical

energy

generated

by

the

project’s

power

plants.

There

is

overwhelming

agreement

that

the

Central

Valley

Project

is

needed,

that

the

physical

plan

and

design

are

good,

and

that

the

con.

struction

job

should

be

performed

by

the

national

government.

But

there

is

little

agreement

on

policy

matters.

Nevertheless,

the

basic

issue

is

clear:

Shall

the

federal

government,

through

the

Bureau

of

Reclamation,

maintain

control

over

the

use

of

irrigation

water

and

electrical

energy

produced

by

the

project?

Shall

the

federal

government,

in

short,

operate

the

project

under

federal

law

for

the

benefit

of

the

many

after

spending

hundreds

of

millions

in

the

construction?

Or

shall

the

federal

government

complete

the

project

and

bow

out,

leaving

its

operation

to

others,

without

regard

to

federal

law?