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Show 236 WAR FOR THE COLORADO RIVER Jumping into the fight for the first time, the Oklahoma Public Expenditure Council sought to enlighten Congress as to the wastefulness of the project. It sent to members a paper belt, asking them to "give it a yank," and thereby tighten up on non-essential spending. One of the links in the belt was devoted to the Arizona project, and the Council implored Congress "to scrap all such Rube Goldberg proposals." Senator Downey had retired, and his place had been taken by a young California representative, Richard M. Nixon. He and Knowland launched a campaign for Senate approval of their court resolution. They might as well have saved their time and energy. As far as the Senate was concerned, every effort of theirs was wasted. They understood that, but they re- fused to subside, and carried on their fight as if they had a chance of succeeding. The secret society manner in which the Senate In- terior Committee passed out the project brought caustic criticism from many quarters. In a cartoon, the Los Angeles Mirror presented a pig in military uniform, waving a flag while its eyes reflected the words "Special Interest." 336 The Los Angeles Daily News termed the committee's action a "sleight-of-hand act." 336 Such reaction was to be expected from California newspapers, but it did not come from them alone. The Wall Street Journal denounced the spending.337 The same paper cheered the Federal Power Commission for granting a private power company the right to build a plant on the Roanoke River over the strenuous objections of the Reclamation Bureau. The issue was significant, for the basis of the Bureau's objection was that it might |
