The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-01-19
THE LAKES AND OCEAN
May be Connected by a System
Of Deep Waterways.
SPECIAL COMMISSIONS REPORT.
u Is Entirely Feasible to Construct Canals
and Develop Channels That VIII Enable
SeabOard.

u Is Entirely Feasible to Construct Canals
and Develop Channels That viii Enable
Vessels to Sail from the Lakes to tho
seaboard.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 The president
yesterday sent to the house the report Of
the deep water ways commission consist
ing Of President Angel, of the University
Of Michigan John e. Russell andILyman
E~Cooley, which was appointed In 1896
under resolution introduced by Senator
Villas, Of Wisconsin, for preliminary In
quiry as to the practicability of wator
ways between the ocean and the great
lakes The conclusions Of tho commits
sion follow;
1t is entirely feasible 10 construct such
canals and develop such channels as will
be adequate Of any scale Of navigation
that may be desired between the great
lakes and the ssaboard, and to conduct
through the same domestic and foreign
commerce, and that 1t will be visa to pro-
vide for securing canal Of a navigable
depth Of not less than twenty eight feet
Starting from the heads Of Lakes Mich
tgan and Superior tho most eligible route
Is through the several great lakes and
their intermediats ,chanrels and the pro-
posed Niagara ship canal (Tonawanda to
Olcott) to Lake Ontario. The Canadian
seaboard may be reached from Lake On
tario by way Of the St Lawrence river
and tho American seaboard may be
reached from Lake Ontario by way Of the
St. Lawrence and Lake Champlain and
the Hudson river, or by way of the Oswe.
GO Oneida Mohawk valley and the Hud-
son river.
The alternative routes from Lake On
tArio to the Hudson river require complete
surveys and full development OF econ
pmic considerations to determine their
relative availability
A moderate control of the level Of
Lake Erie and of the Niagara river above
Tonawanda may be- justified in connection
with the Niagara ship canal, the determi-
nation in this matter to rest on a full ex-
animation Of thephysical conditions,
The policy should contemplate the ulti-
mate attainment Of the largest successfu ul
capacity, and all works should be planned
on this basis, and the actual execution
should conform thereto, in SO far as the
works may without prejudice be progress
hyely developed with the actual demands
OF commerce,
1t is practicable to develop the work in
separate sections and the several sections
In part by degrees, each step having its
economic justification, SO that the benefits
should follow closely on expenditures
without awaiting the completion OF the
system as whole. The completion of tho
sntire system as quickly as proper pro-
iects can be matured and economically ex-
ecuted is fully justified
The Niagara ship canal should be first
undertaken, and incidentally the broad
ening and further deepening Of the inter
mediate channels Of the lakes, the same
being in the logical order Of development
and also requiring the least time for con
Eideration.
The commission estimates that tho COM
plete surveys and investigations, with
measurements of the outflow of the sew
sral lakes and full investigation of col
lateral questions, will cost not less than
0eOO, ,O0O and require some years OF time