The Powder River County examiner and the Broadus independent. [volume] (Broadus, Mont.) 1919-1935, 1922-06-30

SssSOV S@sAs0AASsAS VSe0OCt0p Win COTT0Os
ponding advantage to American busi..
ness In general.
MOVING sBACOAsT INLAND. NEXT
SOD-GRnAT LAKES ROUTE TO
OCHAN 10 READY ron CoN0Rns.
SIGNAL o. X. AND FUNDS.
BY CHARLES P. CRAIG.
(Edftor's Note.-The following 10 by
Charles p. Craig, vice president ana
executive director for the Great Lakes
81. Lawrence Tidewater Association.
an Organization pledged to making Of
waterways from the Great Lakes
ports to the Atlantic ocean. Mr.. Craig
knows his subject from every angle,
and while an enthusiast over the pos.
stbilities he keeps carefully to mod.
eraticn in his printed word. The ben
ehts from such q waterway are vast,
the opposition not great and there 10
every reason to believe work on the
project win socn be under Way
1.-THE west seeks the way to the sea.
It 10 the age-long desire Of handbook
ed people."-Hon. w. b. Mckinley.
This movement to give the middle
west q dirct outlet to the sea by way
OF the Great Lakes and the st. Law.
/ renee. has been under way for more
than a generation. Indeed, there has
been on time since the fur traders
first began goingu p through the lakes
and the rivers to the northwest but
that some project was mooted for
broadening and smoothing the chan
nels by which their traffic moved. The
f0A1fah tknt oV~s
nat Canadian fat boat with its less
than two feet Of yater; Clinton's ditch.
ccnnecting the port Of New York with
the lakes one hundred years ago; the
Canadian channels thrice deepened,
and the progressive deepining of the
passages between the upper lakes.
have all been steps toward the long
sought purpose OF way from the
west tc the sea large enough for ships
Today boats come UP from the
ocean a thousand miles as far as Mon
treal. which has become in tonnag. the
board. During this last season Mon
treal handled twice as much grain as
ever before in its history and approx
| imately as much as all over Ameri-
can ports. Even with the handicap
Of the present obsolete canals between
| Lake Erie and the head Of ocean nav
igation. the st. Lawrence route is the
most economical from the middle west
and the northwest tc, the ocean.
From the head of the lakes to the
foot Of Lake Erie vessels go thou
sand miles. the cheapest water car
riage in the world. When Canada has
finished building the Welland Canal
connecting Lake Erie with Lake On
torio. they will add two hundred and
fifty miles between the western lake
ports and the deep sea channel.
To pass the rapids IN this one hum
dred miles it needs only one dam to
make the upper reaches of the river
into a level pool and two short canals,
thirty-three miles Of canal in all. to
connect the natural pools Of Lake st.
Francis and Lake st. Louis above Mon
treal. The cost has been estimated by
the engineers fer the two governments
as $25o.o00.ooo or $270.0o0.0oo. and the
proposed dam will develop 1.464,ooo
horse power Of electric energy. which
will yield revenue great enough to
pay fer the whole cost Of the under.
taking.
Eighteen states and any number OF
Organisations within these states rave
associated themselves to gain fulfill
ment Of this age-long desire to And
the way to the sea. The fnternatfona
joint commission to which 1t was re
ferred by the two governments ha,
declared unequivocally that the pro
ject is economically sound and feast
BILE. 1t was referred to the Interna
tional Joint Commission because. a
the major part Of the proposed i'm
provements lie along the boundary. l
, Ia necessarily an affair fer interna
, tional Jurisdiction.
President Harding and several mem
bers Of his cabinet. notably Secretar
Hoover. are as definitely committed t
the Improvement and conversation
, have already begun, looking to a
, agreement between the United State
: and Canada as to the steps to be take
by the two countries in concert 70
? making this Improvement Wheneve
> such an agreement is perfected. upo
. its ratification by Congress and by tn
4 Dominion Parliament, work may pre-
coed.
!, It is needed. 1t IN desperately need
!. ed. Two years ago the transportatto
system Of the United States hrols
down. Two years or four years henc
!. when business comes to somethin
like ito normal volume, the transports
). ton system Of the United States
}. Iccnfronted by another catastroph
" "The volume Of railroad business
!. says Elisha Lee. vice president Of IL
N Pennsylvania. 'pract'cally doubles e.
- cry ten years." The railroads fav
!. made no provision. can make no pr
). vision. for carrying double l"a
!. Within the decade every pssible trsn
:. portation facility will be screly nee
:. ed. No scheme OF railroad constru
:. ton II possible that will meet Il
" need without the help Of waterwa
and there II nc other waterway pr
40 ject that can ease the railroads
nr much Of their burden. and especial
|. the burden Of the peak load. ~ Il
:, improvement which win admit oce
"A going commerce to the lakes.
~. by the need Ct forty million peoI
Ne this remedy 70 to be sought. This II
!. provement 70 to be authorised a
A. completed at the earliest possible m