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Show 242 WAR FOR THE COLORADO RIVER the White House staff to put the heat on the House to bring the crsp to a floor vote. When the White House lieutenants had looked only briefly into the situation on Capitol Hill, they reported it far from encouraging. Every sign indicated there were a large number of "no" votes waiting to be cast. Adams was adamant. Dispatching his troops back to the Hill, he ordered them to mend broken fences and corral enough "yes'^ votes at any cost. The crsp had to go through before Congress adjourned. A Republican caucus was called, and the faithful were given the word: The General wanted the crsp passed, and no excuses would be accepted. The caucus was held behind locked doors. Each member was handed a memorandum. Nothing printed on it revealed its source, but the recipients were in- formed orally that it had been sent up from the White House. They also were told that it was confidential and must not be permitted to fall into the hands of the press. The memorandum recounted the reasons for the administration's support of the crsp. A copy of it was given to the author of this book less than an hour after the caucus had adjourned. He made it available at once to all Washington correspondents. (Appendix h.) Many of the House members attending the caucus - perhaps a majority - supported a proposal to postpone floor action on the crsp until the coming year, and in this way give the storm time to abate. The idea was not acceptable to the leaders. They had received their orders, and they intended to carry them out. Under-the- breath mutterings were heard against the sledge-hammer tactics of the White House gang, but to no avail. The House Rules Committee bore the brunt of the |