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Show 24 DIXIE PROJECT, UTAH I have represented this county in the House of Representatives in the State legislature for the past 6 years. I want to report to you that all the people of Utah want the Dixie project. If my memory serves me right, both houses of the Utah Legislature at the last session unanimously passed a joint resolution, concurred in by the Governor, urging Congress to cooperate in building this great project. I came from central Utah in 1918 and made my home in La Verkin just under the present site of the proposed dam. At that early time people were talking about building a dam in the Virgin River. Two or three years ago when Vice President Johnson visited Utah, he spoke in Salt Lake City and I heard him say: I have just flown across the United States from the East to Utah, East of the Rocky Mountains the fields and lands are green with growing vegetation, while here in the arid West the valleys are dry and I am convinced that we must build dams in our rivers to hold the floodwaters in storage to be used to make the West prosper and grow. > We are growing rapidly in population but our present land is all in use and our young people have to leave to find homes. I am past president, and at present, secretary and treasurer of La Verkin Bench Canal Co. situated just under the proposed dam. I know our needs and can see a future of many happy family homes on small acreage if this water is stored and electrical power made available to promote small industries. We have a wonderful semitropical climate that never costs us a cent. I would like to stress the fact that any additional land put under cultivation in this area will not be used to grow agricultural products that are now being grown in excess of our needs, such as corn, wheat, cotton, tobacco, etc. It is hard for anyone to realize the great potential of the recreation possibilities of the lake so formed by backing up this river. Situated at the door of the famous Zion National Park with our mild sunshine winters it will become the winter playground for people living within several hundred miles. Fishing, boating, » water skiing, and green golf courses on its banks for winter play. Now I don't usually talk about my family, but in order to show you of the high productivity of this soil, I will use my experience to put over the point. I married a Dixie girl here in 1918 and we purchased a home and 7 acres of land and started to raise cane. I mean literally as we made many gallons of Dixie molasses at that time. Along with raising cane we also raised a large family. We had seven sons in a row. I usually finish this statement by saying that now each one of those seven sons have two sisters, anyway we reared this family of nine children on this 7- acre farm and we have sent all nine of them here to Dixie College. Our youngest and last just enrolled last week. When the boys became large enough to run the farm I worked for the State of Utah as a highway patrolman for 25 years to supplement our cash needs. Stop and think when those 9 children were at home along with my wife, made 10, so I had to supply 30 meals every day before I got my 3. This 7- acre farm provided most all of these meals. We grew all the fruit and vegetables we needed, enough hay to feed a couple of cows that kept us in milk and butter. A flock of chickens to provide our poultry needs and a couple hogs and a beef or two to supply our meat. All I needed to purchase was salt, pepper, and sugar from the store, a fewT bags of potatoes from northern potato growers and the flour for our |