WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, January 24, 1944.
The SPEAKER, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
DEAR MR. SPEAKER: I am transmitting herewith a report dated September 8, 1943, from the Chief of Engineers, United States Army, together with accompanying papers and illustrations, on a preliminary examination and survey of Purgatoire (Picket Wire) River, including Long Canyon, Colo. This report was authorized by the Flood Control Acts approved on June 22, 1936, and June 28, 1938.
The Under Secretary of War advises that the project, if authorized, would require approximately 2,400 tons of steel, a substantial amount of construction equipment and manpower, without being essential to, or of any presently indicated value to the war effort. There is no objection to the submission of this report, but this Department does not approve of the submission of any estimate of appropriation or the initiation of any construction on this project until after the war.
The Bureau of the Budget has been consulted and advises that while there would be no objection to the submission of this proposed report to the Congress, in the absence of evidence showing that the proposed works are necessary to the prosecution of the war, the submission during the present emergency of any estimate of appropriation for the construction of the project would not be in accord with the program of the President.
Respectfully,
HENRY L. STIMSON,
Secretary of War.