The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-05-15

from the Great Lakes to the seaboard is
question which Is row before the mem
hers of the Cabinet at ottawa. the route
under discussion being what IS known as
the Georgian Bay Canal scheme. which
has been more OF less prominent for many
years, but which has never received 50
much cOusiderat ton as-is now being given
it
The Georgian Bay Canal project is. in
a word, for the utilization of the old voy-
ayers route between Montreal and the
Great Lakes-up the St. Lawrence t. OF
Ia wa. up the Ottawa to Lake Nipissiug
across that stretch Of water to the French
River. and so on to the Georgian Bay and
Lake Huron. The present movement in
favor Of the development Of this route
which. it is asserted. would practically
draw all the foreign grain trade away
from Buffalo, the railways. the American
waterways and the American seaports
has been caused by the presence in Can
ada of Ernest z SAWYER. civil engineer.
Of London. England Mr.. Sawyer repre-
sents a strong English syndicate. which is
ready and willing 10 take up the building
and operation of the route. provided the
Dominion Government viii do what is
considered to be It's fair share.
Mr. Sawyer, who was chief engineer in
the building Of the Manchester Ship Ca
nal the harboT works at Buenos Ayres
and the DelagOa Bay Railway. comes 10
Canada with the best of recommended
tons He brings letters of introduction
from Lord StrathCona, the Canadian High
Commissioner in London. and is well
known to Lord Mimic. the Governor Cen
eraI- Back of Mr.. Sawyer in England are
the Walkers, builders of the Manchester
81
equal prominence. In a speech last Tues
day before the members Of the Montreal
Board Of Trade, Mr.. Sawyer said that aft
er careful investigation he had come to
the conclusion that the present St Law
renee Canal system, with its fourteen
foot waterway, from the Great Lakes to
Montreal, would never control the trade
expected Of it. The reason for this was
made clear to him when he went TO Chi
cage in the course Of his Investigations
He found that ships Of from 1905 to 1900
tons were passing through the SaUlt Ste
Marie Canal The St Lawrence canals
were projected thirty years ago for yes
sells not exceeding 1908 tons The present
Great Lake carriers could not go through
the locks OF the St Lawrence canals. nor
was fourteen feet of water sufficient for
them. These were the reasons why the
mission, and also the reason why Mon
treal was not getting more than per
cent of the export grain trade of the con-
tinent.
While in Chicago Mr. Sawyer had in
tervicwed the Aruours regarding the
Georgian Bay project and its relation To
the grain trade Of the continent They
had told him that the railways had about
reached the limit OF cheap freights, and
no great reductions could be expected
from them for many years to come The
present lowest tariff quoted from Chi
+ Cago east TO the seaboard. OF from Kan
Sas City south, was SC a bushel on grain;
! but even at IGc the Pr57t to the railways
v+zs only nominal The advantage the At
{ Iantic railways had ovEr'the Gulf railways
was the cheapness of the water carriage
from Chicago 10 Bunalo-o1llv ILsc lake
Superior iron ore was carried thousand
miles for Il-c, and the railways could not
carry it for SC
The fuIfllment Of the Georgian Bay
Canal project would enable grain to reach
Montreal from Chicago at &c a busheI. as
against fj2c from Chicago to Buffalo The
1 ATmoUrS had told him that &c or at
most i.c under the present prevailing rate
would divert all the traffic that could be
put through the Georgian Bay Canal ana,
further. there was no reason to fear com
petition from other routes In the dis
tTiCt tributary to the proposed Georgian
Bay Canal is grown 2.00gGa0.GJ5 bushels
Of grain yearly, OF which amount some 10
per cent is exported Then again. the iron
ore of the Lake Superior region and the
prospect Of its still more extensive use
means the expectation Of thousands Of
tons annually by the cheapest route.
Mr.. Sawyer's proposition is that this in
land waterway have depth of at least
twenty feet from The Georgian Bay
through to Montreal In this manner the
lake craft could be accommodated and
vessels Of from 400 to 1000 tons. Capacf-
ty could be brought straight through
from, say, Chicago to Montreal without
a change of bottom. and even straight on
to Liverpool with no detention The Eng
lish engineer says that the whole system
could be completed in five years, and al a
cost Of not more than So. 0)0.Q00- The locks
would be- 80 feet long, ca feet wide, and
. feet on the siIIs- It would require some
fifty locks to complete the system Mr.
Sa"yer's calculation IS that the trade
would not be less than S.g050)j tons the
first year after completion, and that with
in ten years this would increase by per
haps 80 per cent
a comparison Of the distances by the
Georgian Bay Canal system with the
present circuitous route by way Of he
Great Lakes is strikingly in favor of the
former The distance, according to sur
veys by Government engineers. from
Georgian Bay to Montreal is 451 miles.
and the water route from Montreal to
Liverpool, as most people are aware is
40 miles shorter than from New York to
Liverpool The distance from Chicago to
Montreal by the Georgian Bay route is
nearly $50 miles less than from Chicago to
New York by way Of the Erie Canal.
This means q total saving by the GeOr-
miles on the through trip to Liverpool
Practically. II Is equivalent to a thou
sand miles saved. for there are 800 miles of
canal on the Erie route and only twenty
nine miles on the other Suppose two
graiu-laden vessels leave Chicago, one for
each route The one tor New York has
Journey Of go miles to Buffalo. the other
only $50 miles to the French River To
reach New York the former vessel, even II
the Erie Canal were TO be enlarged To
such a capacity as TO render her cOntin-
uauCe by that route possible would nave
to pass through so miles OF canal and 10
miles Of the Hudson River 49, miles in all;
while the vessel proceeding by the norther-
~ route would have only twenty-nine
miles of canal and 4pp miles of open river
and lake 90 traverse before reaching
Montreal. Finally, the northern vessel
discharges her cargo on shipboard 40
miles nearer the European market than
advantage in every section of the journey
in favor Of the Georgian Bay route.
As early 1915 a young Frenchman as
Cpndcl the Ottawa. from where the city Of