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Ret Proposed Sale of Water System at Las Vegas to the District Los Angeles, April 15* 1953 80-11 Mr. W. H. Hulsizen (ee - Mr* Wm. Reinhardt Mr* W. R. Rouse) I have been reviewing my files relating to the a- bove mentioned matter to see that all comments by in­terested departments are given consideration in com­pleting the final agreement. I find that in the cor­respondence passing between the Los Angeles officers and the Omaha officers there is no specific mention of the omission of the usual mineral reservation in docu­ments providing for the conveyance of 507 acres of land to the District. Our acceptance of the proposal of the District and the first draft of the final sale agreement were prepared in accordance with the understanding which I have had all along that the minerals would not be re­served by the Railroads. In order that there will be no misunderstanding con­cerning this subject I am bringing it to your attention so that it can be considered before we enter into a bind­ing agreement with the District. I have also brought it to the attention of Mr, Reinhardt, who agrees that the mineral reservation has been properly omitted, first,be­cause in the negotiations with the District no mention was made that the mineral rights would be reserved and, second, because he considers the possibility of the dis­covery of oil and other minerals in that area to be ex­tremely remote. I presume you will confirm Mr.Reinhardt’s statement that the mineral reservation was not discussed in the conferences with the District. If you have not already done so, I believe the ques­tion of the omission of the mineral reservation should be cleared with the other interested officers at Omaha, Will you please let me have your views promptly so I will know how to proceed in our forthcoming conferences with the attorneys for the District concerning the final draft of the contract. Although I have never discussed the matter