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~. . . Colorado River Compact Symposium James S. Lochhead Page 16 31 be obtained from its water supply. Carpenter had experience in the vagaries of interstate Supreme Court litigation, and a fear of federal intrusion. He saw the mechanism of an interstate compact as a way to settle differences and avoid protracted and expensive litigation, both among the states and between the states and the federal government. A suit between the States is but a substitute for war. It is the last resort, and should not be resorted to until all avenues of settlement by compact have been exhausted. It has been suggested that the supreme Court should announce the principle that no suit between the States would be entertained without a preliminary showing that reasonable efforts had been made by the complaining State to compose the differences between it and the defeaaant State by mutual agreement or interstate compact. * * * The Colorado River Compact was conceived and concluded for the purpose of preserving the autonomy of the states, of defining the respective jurisdictions of the states and of the United States and of assuring the peace and future prosperity of an immense part of our national territory. with it there will be no overriding of state authority by national agencies. Otherwise, interstate and state-national conflict, strife, rivalry and interminable litigation will be inevitable. The Compact does in fact include as part of its purposes in Article I, "to promote interstate comity," and "to remove causes of present and future controversies. . ." A Vision for the Development of storaqe in the Upper Basin 31 Id. 32 33 Historical Memorandum. Statement for the Upper Colorado River States regarding Bill for Boulder Canon Dam, before Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation of the House of Representatives, Washington D.C., 1926.