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Show THE IDES OF MARCH 105 that the public was readily willing to accept this belief "Romantic tripe," countered the Mormon - church - owned Deseret News, and called the Upper Basin groups to subscribe to a publicity fund with which to fight the conservationists' propaganda. William R. Lyons, a legislative expert for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, was sent to Washington to size up the situation and to give a hand wherever needed in California's opposition to the crsp. Lyons had a wide acquaintance in Congress among members in both camps. He moved back and forth con- ferring with old friends, and the fund of intelligence he gathered steadily increased. One important piece of news he unearthed was that the Senate would not act on the project until the House had moved. This strategy had been formulated by Watkins and the other nine senators sponsoring the crsp bill, S. 1555. The theory on which Watkins & Company had based their plans was logical. They felt certain that the Senate Interior Committee would quickly approve the bill after short hearings. How did they reach this con- clusion? Simple enough: three of the five members of the Senate subcommittee which would hold the hearings were authors of the bill. The names of ten influential senators also were on the bill, a good nucleus with which to start proceedings for its passage. Trading potential- ities were immense. There was little doubt in Watkins' mind that the crsp would slide through the Senate on greased ways, but he realized there was a definite hurdle before it in the House. California alone had thirty congressmen, and it was no secret that the conservationists had a number of determined supporters in the House. |