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Show DOLLARS INTO DUST 253 opposition had been based on economic and legal grounds. Yet, it could not be denied that California had lost a valuable ally and now stood alone on Capitol Hill. Watkins was taking no chances, however, and even though he thought California had been weakened to the point of ineffectiveness, he continued his attacks. Perhaps his fury overshadowed his rationality. The crsp was safely out of the Senate and there was little doubt that it would pass the House in time, yet Watkins continued to rail and rant on the Senate floor. Hosmer's Chinle shale story made him see red, and he waved his arms as he shouted: 307 "It appears that the next performance of this unabashed Southern Cali- fornia lobby will be an attempt to discredit the engi- neering study of the proposed Glen Canyon Dam. This promises to be the biggest lie yet essayed by this lobby in their sustained application of the 'big lie' technique of propaganda dissemination." The Reclamation Bureau, furious at the Hosmer claims, told the press: 308 ". . . the Bureau's geolo- gists have been aware of the Chinle shale formation for decades and find no cause for concern over its presence in the reservoir area. . . Even though this formation does develop landslides under certain conditions the possibility of a slide large enough to close the channel are practically nil." "California Slips On Mud," said the Arizona Re- public.308 Watkins' next target was Terrell, who had conducted the study showing that more than twenty million acres of good farm land was lying idle in the Southern and Midwestern states and could be brought into production at the small cost of $15 to $150 an acre. |