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Show THE WESTERN WEB 85 trol of large blocks of land in the project area, in viola- tion of reclamation laws. "There are reports," he told Straus, "that big operators have gained title to large areas of land that would be brought into cultivation should this project be built." The questions Nixon asked Straus to answer: Were 150,000 acres of cheap land which would come under the project bought in large blocks by speculators during the war? Was a large part of this land bought by eastern capital? Did speculators pay as little as $10 an acre for this land that would be worth $300 an acre under the project? Are large corporations, which have no interest in farming, among the purchasers? Nixon was to get answers in time, but not from Straus, and they would show that he had grounds for his re- quested investigation. Jointly, Poulson and Congressman Gordon L. Mc- Donough 64 attacked project partisans for not registering as lobbyists, demanding: "Will the state of Colorado kindly explain the activities of Judge Clifford H. Stone, a Colorado attorney, and Royce Tipton, a Colorado engineer? Are they registered as lobbyists?" Poulson and McDonough quoted the Denver Post as saying, with regard to the controversy, "the fear of the Upper Basin States is that California will be able to start using the water while they are arguing over their shares." "If those states have this fear," declared Poulson and McDonough, "it is a false fear. The Colorado River Compact forever prohibits California from using any water apportioned to the Upper Basin. And California is demanding strict enforcement of the Compact." "Out of her dog-in-the-manger fight against Hoover |