Pork imported from U.S.

A 1936 controversy in the United States has enormous relevance to the ongoing scandal over flood control projects in the country.

Following a skirmish in the US Senate, efforts were made to expand the omnibus Flood Control Bill, worth $320 million, into a pork barrel.

Senator Royal Samuel Copeland, chairman of the Committee on Commerce, declared that a proposed amendment to the bill would open the door to “pork barrel” insertions.

Safeguards against the use of the vast fund to enrich legislators included a provision requiring US Army engineers to approve projects and presidential authority to designate projects.

Those limits guaranteed that a nationally conceived flood control program would be undertaken scientifically instead of politically.

The proposal was for the construction of a water reservoir in the Big Horn River in Montana, which was having a hard time getting approval from the Board of Rivers and Harbors Engineers.

The proponents said the reservoir would help prevent floods around the Missouri River.

The senators who opposed the proposal wanted to leave the determination of priority to the army engineers.

The anecdote may prove that the despised pork barrel has a long history, and the foul tradition is likely another residue of colonialism.