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Show 54 moved the legislation through his committee and on to the unanimous consent calendar on the Senate floor, where it passed without dcbate. 135 Utah Congressman James H. Mays introduced Smoot's bill in the House. Although it was presented without amendment and placed on the unanimous consent calendar on the House floor , it faced debate. While Mays and fellow Utahn Milton Welling argued for the bill, others fought it. Joseph Walsh of Massachusetts and Thomas L. Blanton of Texas feared the financial burden the national park designation might place on the government. Blanton tried to stall the bill until those who owned lands inside the park transferred title to the federal government. Their attempts to stall or amend the legislation failed, but Welling, to appease the opposition, attached an amendment that limited to $5 the amount the federal government would pay per acre to landowners inside the park. 136 I lowever, this amendment was deleted by the six-member conference committee, where both Smoot and Mays held positions. 137 Both houses approved the conference committee report and President Woodrow Wilson signed the legislation on November 19, 1919. Remnants of the Frontier Booster Press Although the bill had a fairly smooth ride, neither the local nor the national press acknowledged the debate or discussion the bill initiated in Congress. While there was no news of debate, there was, however, news about the canyon and what a national park m The bill passed the Senate on June 20, 1919. l:16 Those holdings included 480 acres of state school lands granted by the federal government, an 80-acre private farm and some unsurveyed sections. m Zion Notional Park, Utah, llousc Report 464, 66'h Cong., 1" Sess., November 11, 1919. |
