Imperial Valley Press

27 Civic Bodies Urge Passage of The Swing Bill
United Press Leased Wire
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 30.--As a climax to an enthusiastic meeting held last night under the auspices of the Municipal League of Los Angeles, representatives of 27 civic organizations adopted a resolution urging passage by congress of the Boulder Canyon dam bill.
The various representatives were pledged to stimulate their organizations to an active support of the project.
The importance of conservation of the resources of the Colorado River was stressed by speakers as a vital necessity for the future development of the southwest.
E. F. Scattergood, chief electrical engineer of the Los Angeles bureau of power and light, asserted that the Boulder dam project was the only possible course to which the city could turn to escape the pinch of private control.
John Kemp, of the public power league, in enumerating the natural resources of the southwest, was interrupted as he mentioned "oil."
Saying that some thing about the oil turmoil in Washington looked "funny", Kemp declared, "private interests apparently thought they could conserve the navy's oil supply better than the government. We stand to witness a similar occurrence if we allow the great natural resources of the Colorado River to slip into the hands of private interests."
"Whoever gains control of the Colorado River project will control the southwest. There can be no backward step in municipal ownership now," he said.
In a telegram received today at the Irrigation District from S. O. Buck, member of the valley delegation now at Washington in behalf of the Swing-Johnson bill, Mr. Buck advises that the delegation had a meeting Monday with members of the committee appointed by Secretary Work to investigate conditions pertinent to the development of the lower Colorado river.
Members of the committee were quite badly informed on points of vital interest to Imperial Valley, and the delegation proceeded to enlighten them so that there would be no doubt in their minds as to the true conditions.
Monday night the delegation entertained the members of the committee at dinner at which Congressman Swing presided. Prominent Farm Bureau executives, including Dr. W. H. Walker, president of the National Farm Bureau Association, were present and all pledged themselves to assist in the hearings which are to be held on the Swing-Johnson bill.
Things look good, Buck's telegram concluded, and hopes for success are predominant among members of the delegation.