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<br /> <br />-:'t'~ - <br /> <br /> <br />12 <br /> <br />:~ <br /> <br />In 1921, following Carpenter's issuance of a model bill to be given to <br /> <br />each of the seven basin legislatures, these legislatures passed similar bills <br /> <br />that allO\fed their governo~s to appoint. cooroissioners to a Colorado River Compact <br /> <br />Commission. Carpenter was selected as Colorado's representative. The other <br /> <br />r <br /> <br />states all selected their corrrnissioners, as did the federal government. President <br /> <br />Harding appointed Secretary of Corrrnerce Herbert Hoover as the federal repre- <br />sentative to the corrrnission.45 <br /> <br />After the tumult of the World War I years, Harding and the Republican party <br /> <br />...ere determined to return America to a state of "normalcy." As Harding said in <br />.. 1920 "stabilize America first, prosper America first. ,,46 \'Ii Ison' s League of <br /> <br />.~ <br /> <br />Nations, internationalism, and the Democratic party all received strong opposi- <br /> <br />': <br /> <br />: tion. The Republican party's passive campaign for normalcy and a return to <br />~,; <br /> <br />danestic prosperity strucl, a chord Ifith Americans more than the messianic <br /> <br />impulses of a statesman such as Wilson. Herding convincingly defeated Cox in <br /> <br />:i <br /> <br />the 1920 Presidential election and the Republicans gained corrrnanding majorities <br /> <br /> <br />in the Senate and the House.47 The next ten years ,,(luld be a time of unregulated <br /> <br />. <br />, <br /> <br />business expansion and prosperity. Secretary of Commerce Hoover was determined to <br /> <br />'. <br /> <br />see that this prosperity ,muld also extend Ifest,;ard, and realized that this <br /> <br />...~' <br />, <br />, <br /> <br />~uld require a settlement of disputes over the Colorado River so that its <br /> <br />development could proceed. Hoover's chairmanship of the Colorado River Compact <br /> <br />., <br /> <br />'/,-', <br /> <br />~ission gave it a credibility that would eventually help to secure its <br /> <br />speedy ratification. Hcover also had developed a personal interest by this time <br /> <br />, <br />'..\' <br /> <br />.~. <br />, <br /> <br />in assuring that the dam at Boulder Canyon, "the greatest engineering l'lork of <br />48 <br />its character ever attempted by the hand of man", would be constructed. Further <br /> <br />,. <br />, <br /> <br />disputes and lengthy court proceedings over rights to the Colorado would delay <br /> <br />ooomencement of this magnificent project. <br /> <br />- ,-- "...".. - ,.:" <br /> <br />... <br />