Watergate Trial Conversations Page #2

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believe it, I don't believe it.

UNIDENTIFIED:
I'll, I'll

CONNALLY:
They just raised and paid twenty thousand

dollars for a meeting in Brownsville not too

long ago. And this means -they've got

security. And, uh, they're doing some

things that I think are a little strongarmed

tactics, perhaps, in, uh, the

organizing, uh. But, uh, I don't criticize

that unless we are prepared to take on

business and labor and all at the same time.

There's no point in denying the farmer

what's the practice for labor. And, uh, so

I'm not, I wouldn't judge it on a moral

basis. I judge it on the basis of, uh

HARDIN:
You've heard all the rest of it

CONNALLY:
I'm addressing myself to the narrow aspects,

to the political aspects of it. I don't

think there's a better organization in the

United States. If you can get it, uh, you

can get more help from, that, uh, will be,

uh, be more loyal to you. And, uh, and I

think they've got a worthy case to begin

with. And uh, that being true, I just think

you ought to stretch the point. I wouldn't

wait till next year, so that -- I know that

there's been some advice given to you, to

wait till next year. Uh, that's -- I will

differ with that, simply because they're

going to make their association and -their

alliances this year and they're going to

spend a lot of money this year in various

Congressional and Senatorial races all over

this United States. And, you don't want to

be in a position -- as you well know better

than I -- you got no questions when people

think they forced you into doing something

for them. And they're not now in that

position. If, if you do something for them

this year, they think you've done it because

they got a good case and because you're

their friend. If you wait till next year, I

don't care what you do for them. They're

going to say, "Well, we put enough pressure

on them this election year, they had to do

it." And you, you get no credit for it. So

it's still going to cost you an enormous

amount of money next year, and you get no

political advantage out of it. And, I just

think that, uh, that unless you just, uh --

the economics of it are just beyond reach,

or beyond question that, uh, if you ought to

really seriously think about doing it this

year.

PRESIDENT:
That's the problem. I have two problems --

is that you have it in the House and the

Senate.

CONNALLY:
What you are going -to do on that?

UNIDENTIFIED:
[Unintelligible]

PRESIDENT:
What I mean is, that if you don't do it,

they're going to do it anyway.

CONNALLY:
I think if you don't do it

PRESIDENT:
If they do,

CONNALLY:
they're going to pass it.

PRESIDENT:
I think they do.

HARDIN:
I think it's

PRESIDENT:
We have a damn near insoluble problem.

HARDIN:
I think it's, as it stands today, it's

almost certain to pass.

CONNALLY:
Uh, I think -that's right.

EHRLICHMAN:
Is that what Belcher told you?

HARDIN:
Yes, yes, I think they got a hundred and

fifty names on the bill.

UNIDENTIFIED:
You sure?

HARDIN:
And, uh,

UNIDENTIFIED:
What is it?

HARDIN:
and, uh, the Speaker's all out for it.

CONNALLY:
Absolutely. Wilbur's all out for it.

UNIDENTIFIED:
Yeah.

CONNALLY:
Well, they're going to pass it through the

House. Beyond any question in the world.

HARDIN:
And, uh, and, uh, they'll pull the liberals

on this one, uh, because they're, they'll

say they're going to embarrass the

President,

PRESIDENT:
That's right.

HARDIN:
Uh, the liberals might attract the consumers

in any other situation. But they won't do

it now.

PRESIDENT:
That'll raise the price, you see. I mean,

that's the way they'll cut the liberals off.

They'll say: No, they're going to -- we

guarantee, we won't -- like they told us

this morning, we won't raise the price;

we'll cut back on production -- we'll have a

voluntary --

HARDIN:
Uh, I spoke, I spoke a little bit with them,

this morning, uh, but 1 just don't quite know --

UNIDENTIFIED:
[Unintelligible]

CONNALLY:
Now they've already figured out and how --

They're circulating -- I've had it for days

they're circulating how they're going to cut

you up this year. And that's what they're

going to do. They got it all figured out.

They're passing this out on the Hill, just

exactly how many electoral votes they're

going to cost you if you veto the 85% bill -

- which they think they're going to pass.

And I think they're going to pass it. And

they say that it'll cost you Missouri,

Wisconsin, South Dakota for sure. Veto will

probably cost you Ohio, Kentucky and Iowa.

And, then they go on down and they take the

states and they figure what percentage of

the states it's going to cost you and

they're going to [unintelligible]

HARDIN:
Well, if it does pass, I don't think the

President has any choice but to sign it.

PRESIDENT:
Well-, all right.

CONNALLY:
Well, then, what do you do? If you do,

you've cost yourself the money -- you've

lost your political advantage. You, you're,

you're infinitely worse off.

PRESIDENT:
Probably.

CONNALLY:
That's where you are.

HARDIN:
I think so.

PRESIDENT:
What's the cost?

HARDIN:
Oh, it's just a wild guess. They said

thirty-five million and I would suggest that

it's, uh, nearer a hundred.

PRESIDENT:
You would?

HARDIN:
Now if they could get, if they need to we

had a little talk after you left and

UNIDENTIFIED:
Right.

HARDIN:
uh, about whether they really could

influence production. And they could, if

they went all out to do it. And what they

would do, a year from now, would be end up

with a hundred and twenty million -- billion

pounds of milk produced. Uh, they'd be a

mature enough organization that they could,

uh, recognize that they had made a mistake

and could go out and tell their members they

had to survive. Uh, well, they're -- maybe

we won't talk about that. Uh, it's a fact

of life. Uh

PRESIDENT:
Uh, it seems to me that the problem we have,

Cliff, is this. That, uh, and as you know

we have decided on a different course of

action in the cheese business and all the

other --

HARDIN:
Well that has to be done. That has, has to

be done anyhow.

PRESIDENT:
Oh, what I mean isn't that what we decided

that, and that was all we could do.

UNIDENTIFIED:
Yeah.

SHULTZ:
The higher you raise the price, the more

certain it is that you have to be strict

about the imports, otherwise, all we're

doing is paying the money to the foreigners.

UNIDENTIFIED:
Yeah.

SHULTZ:
You have to make a judgment on the import

business.

UNIDENTIFIED:
Yeah.

PRESIDENT:
Uh, I see your

SHULTZ:
See that high price here throughout the

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