Excerpts from the Press Conference

Q. Mr. President, Senator Overton says that the Missouri Valley Authority proposal would be dead, in his opinion, if the Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation plan, which he favors, is adopted. Would you care to comment on the acceptability of that plan as a substitute?

THE PRESIDENT: I am not really sufficiently in touch with the plans. I couldn't even tell you what is in them exactly.

The problem is this, in the Missouri Valley. Like other watersheds that contain a good many States, there are always two kinds of problems. The first is the problem of the States themselves. Each State wants everything, and the say in everything affecting, of course, its own State, but affecting incidentally the whole flow of the river from the top to the bottom, passing through a number of other States. Well, that is something that has to be reconciled.

In the Tennessee watershed, for example, there were, I think, seven States that were affected by the T.V.A., and there was a lot of feeling that they were going to give up some kind of a right; and that was a good many years ago, and it has been in operation for quite a while, and there isn't one of those States today that feels that State has been unfairly treated. It has been done for the benefit of all the States, and in proportion to the flow of the water, and the mileage, and the character of the land in the whole valley.

Well, there has been a feeling out there in the Missouri Valley, that there are two parts, the parts further back at the head of the tributaries of the Missouri, and the parts that are lower down and that are affected by floods and other things. And they think that by some other method they will be able to agree, but it's always been terribly hard to get them to agree, unless there is some- what might be called a central —authority to make the final decision.

Of course, they ought to be heard the whole length of the Missouri, which covers a tremendous territory, but there ought to be somebody-it's a question of speed—getting things done. So they would hear them all, and bring them together, and talk things over, and make a final decision.

Then the second part of it relates to a thing that goes way, way back. Who is to build the dam, the Department of the Interior or the War Department? Well, that is purely a jurisdictional thing, and it has never worried me very much. They each have a corps of dam builders, and they are very good. They built some very, very good dams. Some of them were built by the War Department engineers and some by the Reclamation Bureau.

Of course, the theory—that goes way, way back to 1860 something—is that irrigation was always turned over to the Interior Department to do, but that navigation was turned over to the Army engineers to do. Well, I don't much care who does the actual dam building. It probably is a good thing to have two different dam building agencies in the Government, because you get a certain amount of competition between two Government agencies.

Well, as it worked out, they are both pretty good. They are both awfully cocky about the good dams they build. Well, that's fine. That's all to the good. They will both bring in a plan on the same dam, which is part navigational in its purpose and part irrigational. And we get plans from both, and then decide which one will do it. Well, that's not bad. There's very little waste in the competition between the two Departments. I would say you would save money, on the whole. But that is a purely jurisdictional thing within the Government construction work.

Of course, the only real example that we have got in operations on a big scale is the T.V.A., and the people down there in all the seven States like it, and it seems to be working. There is no local dispute over the T.V.A. so far, because it has been fair as between the different States. So I can't tell you in that one particular case about the Missouri, because I am not sufficiently up to date on these different bills.

I still think there ought to be a Missouri Valley Authority. There are an awful lot of States—an awful lot of territory.

And of course, I hope that there will be an Authority, for instance, for the Arkansas River. Well, people in the East don't visualize it. The Arkansas River rises right on the Continental Divide in western Colorado, and it already has become a flood menace by the time it gets down to southeastern Colorado. Pueblo is on the Arkansas River. Well, Pueblo is way out in Colorado. And then it meanders down through a lot of States before it gets down to Arkansas and Louisiana to the Mississippi River. It's an ideal thing to put under an Authority.

Same way, we have talked about a Columbia River Authority and some people talked about an Ohio River Authority, so that I have drawn the thing out on a sheet of paper so many times I can do it in my sleep. A map of the United States-well, I divide it up roughly into seven different regions, one of them being the main stem of the Mississippi River itself, because that has been a separate entity for all time. There is the barge line on the Mississippi, and it is more of a unit than any other river, just a narrow strip from the top end of the country to the southern end of the country.

And I hope that in time we will get seven different Authorities, each one with a separate general location.

For instance, a good example, the Cumberland River, which starts up in northern Kentucky and wanders down into Tennessee. And it's almost parallel with the Tennessee, and actually as it gets west, just before the Ohio goes into the Mississippi, it turns north and goes into the Mississippi within ten or fifteen miles of where the Tennessee goes in. And yet it is an entirely different watershed. Well, in all probability, affecting in general terms the same States, it ought to be part of the Tennessee Valley Authority, to save time and trouble. And the construction work of the T.V.A., of course, will be completed pretty soon. I think it's fair to take on another valley basin.

When you come to the other problems, the little rivers to the south of it, like Tombigbee, which starts across a little watershed about 150 feet high and about 25 miles from the Tennessee—and the Tennessee, of course, running at that point northwest to the Tombigbee and due south to the Gulf of Mexico- well, there are half a dozen Tombigbees in the Gulf section. Probably, they should be put into a separate Authority, including rivers in Texas.

But it is awfully hard, because there is so much feeling, that no one State wants to join up with another State in the general policy or management of running a great watershed project. Mind you, it isn't only water power. That is one of the lesser things, on the whole ....

Q. Mr. President, can you tell us about your inauguration plans?

THE PRESIDENT: I saw it on the ticker. (Laughter)

Q. Can you confirm it?

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, it's all right. I had Ed Halsey and Dave Lynn, the Architect of the Capitol, down Saturday, and I said, "You know, I am terribly concerned about dollars and cents because I am afraid that a lot of people in the Senate—Senator Byrd is the Chairman of this Committee [Senator Byrd was also the Chairman of a Committee on Non-Essential Expenditures which frequently criticized the Administration for failure to economize sufficiently]—(much laughter)and what are you laughing at?—(more laughter)—and they have appropriated $25,000 for the inauguration. But, you know, I think I can save an awful lot of money." (More laughter)

And with that desire to save money, I said, "I think I can do it for less than ten percent of that cost. I think I can do it for less than $2,000. Give them a light buffet luncheon, that will be the only expense."

The ladies here are all fascinated over what a good housekeeper I am. (More laughter)

MAY CRAIG: (interjecting) That's not what fascinates me! (Loud laughter)

THE PRESIDENT: (continuing) So they were quite interested. They said, "How can you do it for less than $2,000?" A lot of that can go to consommé and chicken a la king, and a few sandwiches and coffee. "Well," I said, "I think I can do it."

The best architectural view, almost, in the Capital is the front of the White House that was originally meant to be the front door. There wasn't any north portico when the White House was built. And the main driveway was this one right here—(indicating)—that had these two curving stairways —steps, up to a perfectly charming porch- curving porch. And that was the front of the White House until about 1825, somewhere along there. And it really is lovely, the ironwork of those steps and the beautiful design. And there's a rail on top.

No. I tell you what we found. Up there., Dave Lynn has got an iron scaffold, and I have got down here a wooden scaffold, and by putting them both up, there will be room not only for the photographers but all of the press, so everybody will get a chance to see it. Now isn't that a happy thought? (Laughter)

Q. Are you going to parade any on inauguration day?

THE PRESIDENT: No. Who is there here to parade?...