The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-11-19
TO SAVE THE FALLS
AMERICAN CIVIC ASSOCIATION
 FIGHTS FOR NIAGARA.
President Mcfarland Calls Upon Those Who Wish Cataract Preserved t0 Make Personal Appliea-
 ttOn to SecRetnFy of
 War Taft.

Philadelphia, Nov 13.--(Speciai. )--- That there is imminent danger to Ni- agara Fals Is admitted at the head quarters of the American Civic Asso- citation, which has been fighting wig orously during the past year for the preservation of the falls.
 The Niagara campaign Of the Asse- citation first resulted in the passage by Congress of the Burton bill, approved by President Roosevelt, June 29. 1906, placing the custody of Niagara Falls under the Secretary of War, and thus dispossessing the State of New York The friends of the falls regarded this as great gain.
 The Burton hill contains & clause linn iting the amount of water which can be diverted from Niagara for power puPposea--the limitation permitting halG the amount which the engineers and the power companies had agreed to ask for st the beginning of the eff | fort for Congressional action which fol. lowed the public agitation of the mat. ter by the Civic Association.
 In July Secretary Taft gave hear ing to the various interests involved in the Niagara matter. and afterwards largely sustained the position of the Association by granting permits to the power companies, allowing them to use the quantity of water which they had been using but no more. The compa- nfes had not been satisfied with tfiis disposition of the matter. and recent ly renewed theIr light on a new line of attack. President Mcfarland of the American Civic Association today ex- plaaned the present situation as fol- lOwsl ete-
 Yes. the power companies have dis covered another way to get the water Shut out on the American side by the provisions of the Burton bill and the finn stand of the New York State Park Reservation at Niagara, they are plan ning to bring in great quantities of power from Canada. Under the Burton bill a total of 160.000 horse power at first may be brought from Canada, with possibility of $50, 900 horse DOW CT later All this would tend toward the depletion of the falls. ana toward the ruin of the great spectacle.
 secretary Taft assigned November 12 as date for a hearing, at which the power companies might present their demands for the admission of this pow CT. Under the act, the Secretary has authority to keep 1t all out Later, the hearing was postponed until November 20. and then until November 2s. AS the amount of water on the Canadian side alone would be equal to the com bined outflow at their mouths of the 0AAQHGAAAtAASs &OAouAdCs 1kuNHQns OGId~ ware and James Rivers, and the power companies think they. see a chance to get more than twice as much as this, the claim that such withdrawal of water win not harm Niagara Falls is absurd.
 There is one way to stop this as- sault upon the falls. at least temporar- fly, and that ia to convince Secretary Taft that the American people want Niagara Falls saved for it's scenic won- der and not diverted to the selfish in- terests of the power developing com panies. Nothing equals the personal statement in a matter like this, and ev- cry interested citizen who cares for Niagara to the extent of cents. the price of postage stamp. should write at once to Secretary Taft, urging that he restrict all diversion of Niagara water to the lowest possible limit. and leave the falls unharmed. or, at least, no more harmed than they are now.