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Show THE IDES OF MARCH 103 The job of the agents of California was neither as indefinite nor as complicated. They were not opposing inspired mobs of nature lovers nor the sincere and dedicated associations formed to preserve America's natural resources and wonderlands for posterity. But California's opponents were powerful, and California did not underestimate their power. The Colorado River Association had been given the order by the Colorado River Board of California to fight the project as it was served up on a cracked platter by the Bureau. The association was a citizen's organi- zation , but it accepted no private contributions. It was financed by the six water and power agencies which comprised the membership of the Colorado River Board. These were agencies with rights to the waters of the Colorado River, and they were public bodies, municipal corporations or districts chartered by the California State Legislature. President of the association was Ben P. Griffith, con- tractor and builder and prominent civic leader. General Manager was Don J. Kinsey, whose experience in public relations work went back to the days of the Boulder Dam bills. His lieutenants were Robert Lee, in Los Angeles, and John U. Terrell, a veteran newspaperman and correspondent, in Washington. The orders which Terrell received were to oppose the Upper Basin projects on three grounds - ( a ) engineer- ing infeasibility, (b) financial unsoundness, and (c) economic insanity. Neither the California nor the conservationist forces sought an alliance. Neither wanted it. The Colorado River Association based its attack on the three premises established for it by the Board, and throughout all the |