Show senator 1 thomas thom a s makes ma kes statement on echo ech 0 P park ork in reply to a wire sent by the vernal express t to 0 S senator elbert D thomas last week asking for a statement to assure the people of oi the uintah basin that tha t the echo park project would be given a favorable favorable favo raEle decision b by the interior depart feht tn time me to get action on the measure this session of congress a lengthy wire received which is a copy of dwire wire sent to the chamber of commerce mmerle in part the message said in spite of rumors which we continue to receive from home I 1 know of no further developments which w would lead me to believe that we are not going to receive a favorable decision within a reasonable time secretary chapman stated to me that he is anxious to clear up all the problems involved so that we can have a bill which the president can approve when it is presented to him this does not mean that matters are being delayed there are some of us who are trying to avoid a repetition of the trouble that confronted us in connection with the weber basin ruin project which we rescued from a presidential veto only at the last moment this project was nearly vetoed because some of the important details had bad not been thoroughly worked out chapman is trying to avoid these thes difficulties he I 1 has assured us that we could ex expect a favorable decision and I 1 am relying on the assurance until reliable information to the contrary is received who do you feel would be bene fitted by an unfavorable decision on tail this project prole ct we would all lose you state that I 1 have ed a statement saying that chapman denied stating that he found the people of utah were divided over this issue I 1 nave have never made such a statement the transcript A ot the hearing shows that he did make this statement but that he subsequently modified it by stating t that at he felt that the majority of our people were in favor of it it let lehme me repeat that I 1 sincerely believe that the hysteria which has been aroused by your committee and others who are working with you is entirely unwarranted by the facts as they have been presented to me by secretary chapman ahse tactics are not conduct conductive ivo to unity or harmoney han noney and th they have not been helpful either to the majority of our delegation or the agency of the government trying to solve this problem and the efforts which all of us are making to bring to on pace page 81 senator thomas continued from pace page 1 fruition this great project which we need go 0 o badly in lit reply to the wire frank ward chamber of commerce seret secretary nry said 1 I am concerned over your remark that we can expect a fa favorable answer in a reasonable length of time you compare this present problem to the colorado big thompson it took just 3 year years to get a favorable answer on that project D do 0 you mean that it will t take ke 3 years for ui us to get an answer 0 on n dinosaur monument who Is ls to decide v what constitutes utes a reasonable time the weber bill waa was nearl nearly vetoed because of uio the same reasons that the new mexico project did get vetoed it was not because it was located in a it national monument the weber project Is also purely a 9 one state project whereas the colorado river control project effects ell all the states of the colorado basin there Is no comparison between the weber and the dino ziaur vs echo park dam problem chapman has appointed a committee that committee will make reco recommendations M mend atio na to him lie will frame his decision upon these recommend recommendation a tio n we know that an attempt is being made to work out a compromise within this committee the proposed plan would eliminate echo park dam this Is the reason we are fearful you charge that we are causing the people of utah to become hysterical there Is no hysteria herf do you mean by this charge that the people have no longer a right to voice their opinions na that we no longer have the right to tell our congressional people how we feel on questions that are vital to our well being does this mean that you are re admitting we are in a state of of government control wherein we no longer have the right of free speech 11 1 I repeat there is no hysteria in attah there has been to much effort expended by bureaus and our representatives in washington to quiet us down it just makes us all the more determined 1 I would just like one reasonable answer as to why we do not have the right to send telegrams and or letters to ington ton 1 I believe this right is set forth by the constitution of the united states or am I 1 20 years to locate late we are entirely satisfied that our project will be killed this vear it Is too plain to us that the dinosaur national monument problem la to being used as an ex cuse the record shows that all the states of 0 the west have sur passed utah in reclamation project even though irrigation I 1 began in utah i we have slept too long it Is time the people were told the truth about why we are always left holding the empty bag of reclamation there must be a reason neiping orders tibet to send a mission to negotiate status |