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Show 186 WAR FOR THE COLORADO RIVER upon California and Texas in a speech before the con- vention to "stop spreading misleading propaganda" about the grsp.213 Just how and when Texas had spread any propaganda at all about the project was not made clear, and the Texas delgation at the convention was somewhat mystified by the charge. Texas had opposed only the San Juan-Chama unit of the project, not the whole project. But Dawson didn't bother to explain. He went blithely on, enjoying the opportunity of advocating a project before an association whose by- laws said that no individual project was to be endorsed by the organization. Attacking the foes of Echo Park, he charged that the opposition of the conservationists "originated principally in Southern California." This was another somewhat confusing statement, for the office of the Sierra Club was in San Francisco, and all the other conservationist organizations opposing Echo Park had their headquarters in Washington. But Dawson stuck to his course, declaring: "We have thousands of miles of scenery in the West. When another state like California, and Southern Cali- fornia at that, suddenly expresses intense interest in the scenic attractions of our state, we become suspicious, to say the least. "We know that water in our country runs down hill. They are using our water. Now we want to use it." The delegates at the meeting left Portland with their dreams intact, totally unaware that reclamation projects cost money, that somebody had to pay for them, and that such things as water rights and economics were in- volved. The Upper Basin delegates were tickled by the slamming California got. That would "learn" those Southern California water thieves something. |
