Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-01-27
STATE SEEKS POWER
New York Wants to Control
the Niagara River.
UNITED STATES OPPOSES
Board Appointed by Secretary of
War to Report on Water Diver
sion Problem.

The board appointed by the Secretary
of War to report upon the problem OF
the diversion of water from Niagara
Falls. as we'll as the preservation of the
scenic beauty of the cataract, will visit
the falls this week to make a personal
investigation of the situation. This board
Col Francis j. Herman and Maj Charles
Keller.
The Burton act which controls the d.
version of water to the American side OF
the Niagara river and limits the amount
of horsepower which may be transmitted
into the United States from Canada. will
expire by limitation March f. siren
uous fight is afoot to wrest control of the
diversion of water from the federal gov
eminent and vest it in the New York
state government.
Opposed by Federal Authorities.
That proposition is as strenuously OPP
posed by the federal authorities, who
maintain that the problems involved lie
clearly within the jurisdiction of the War
Department which controls all navig-
able waters. The War Department meets
the argument sometimes put forward by
adherents to the idea of New York state
jurisdiction, that the section of the Mag
ara river involved is not navigable, and
therefore not under control of the War
Department, with the counter claim that
the Niagara river is an integral part OF
q great navigation system and cannot be
considered separately.
The Burton law was enacted in 1906
and last August it's life was extended tC
March 4. 1913. That act provides that
the Secretary of War may issue permits
for the diversion of an aggregate amount
of water not exceeding $4,000 cubic feet
per second. of which no one individual
or company may use more than S.6O(
cubic feet per second. The act likewise
authorizes the Secretary of War to issue
revocable permits for the transmission
into the United States of electrical power
generated in Canada to the limit OF
amount, with that generated and used in
Canada. shall not exceed an aggregate
of 100000 horsepower.
Custodian and Protector.
The authorization of the Secretary te
grant these permits, with power also tC
revoke them, makes him the custodian
of Niagara Falls as well as the protector
of the interests of navigation, for he is tc
allow the diversion Of the waters to such
amount las. in connection with the
amount diverted on the Canadian side
shall not injure or interfere with the
navigable capacity of the river. or its
integrity and proper volume as a bound
airy stream, or the scenic grandeur OF
Niagara Falls"
In 1910. four years after the first enact
ment of the Burton law, a boundary
water treaty affecting the situation was
negotiated between Great Britain and the
United States In agreeing that it was
expedient to limit the diversion Of waters
from Niagara river SO that the level OF
Lake Erie and the flow of the stream
should not be appreciably affected both
parties sought to accomplish their object
with the least possible injury to invest
ments which already had been made ir
the construction of power plants under
grants from the state of New York and
the Dominion of Canada. That treaty
authorized the United States to permit the
diversion of not mbre than 10000 cubic
feet of water per second, while the Cana.
dian government was empowered tC
authorize the diversion OF not more than
5000 cubic feet per second. The larger
concession was granted the Canadians as
an offset to the privilege then, as now
enjoyed by the United States through the
diversion of water from Lake Michigan
for the Chicago drainage plan.
Commercial Interests Want More.
Commercial interests repeatedly have