New-York tribune., 1922-01-29
TO the Editor Of The Tribune

10 the E0icor OF The Tribune
Sir; am much interested in YOUR
editorial entitled "Thc st. Lawrence
Threat" 1t seems this is an unkind
'''le 10 apply to great public enter
prise and Improvement OF the char
actcr Of this undertaking.
You ask what New York and neigh
boring states are going to do about it.
FROM a fair business standpoint they
should help and encourage the PROPOSE
ticr.
GU say thIs state owns n competing
route from Oswcgo to Mohawk and
other points to tidcwatcr. Let us see
what kind Of competing route this is.
That we may judge intcllgcntly of the
competing route, it is we'll for us to
know the character of the st. Lawrence
and Great Lakes and how much canal
II is necessary for vessels to traverse
in going over this route.
We will start at Duluth. The dis
tance on Lake SUPERIOR which you
cannot term "a canal" is 3S3 miles:
on the St. Marys River and St. Marys
Falls canal, 2S.d miles open navigation,
improved channel, 33 miles and 1.6
miles in a canal; ON Lake Huron from
st. Mary's River to tho st. Clair River
220 miles; on the St Clair River, 27
miles, improved channel. 13 miles, on
La Tn lo, = Il
of canal; on the Detroit River, %
miles, improved channel 8 miles; from
the Detroit River, through Lake Erie
to the Welland Canal. 219 miles;
the Welland Canal, when completed
25 miles; from the Welland Canal to
the foot of Lake Ontario. 160 miles;
| through Lake Ontario by the St. Law
renee River to Montreal, open naviga
ton, III miles. improved channel, 40
miles. The canal, when completed, 20
miles, making total Of 1893 miles
to open navigation, 100 miles of i'm
proved channel and so miles canal.
No one will question the navigability
of the St. Lawrence or the improved
channel, which means dredging Of the
river bottom so as to make the chan
mel from 500 to 500 feet wide. Part of
this has already been done.
Strictly speaking, you are comparing
canal twenty miles in length with a
canal from Oswego to Albany, about
10 miles in length. through the Mo
hawk Valley. one Of the most populous
portions Of New York State outside Of
the large cities, and one in which it
would be difficult to provide sufficient
water to float a ship at certain periods
of the year. The cost of canal
through the Mohawk Valley to accom-
modstc ships from the Hudson River to
| Oswcgo would probably double the cost
OF the st. Lawrence improvement. SO.
your statement that the route is
shorter, comparing 20 miles with 40
miles is hardly correct
Your statement that the New York
State Canals period Of operation is
! longer than the other is also incorrect,
because data shows that the present
canal along the St. Lawrence and the
Barge Canal are opened and closed APP
proXimately on the same dates.
AS to the canals being wholly within
American territory, unless we consider
treaties as only scraps Of paper, the
Webster Ashburton treaty between
Great Britain and the United States. |
believe, provides that this great water
way shall forever be open and free TO
the commerce Of the world. Certainly
under these conditions. Il toll charge
cannot be made; therefore. the cost of
maintenance. operation and interest on
these developments must be borne BY
something other than tolls on trans
portation The st. Lawrence. however.
seems 10 be in position, BY reason of
what might be termed "a by-product,"
to take care of itself, without imposing
burden on the taxpayers of New York
City, the United States government or
Canada.
The engineers in charge of making
report to The International Joint
Commission state that l l.464O0O horse
power is possible Of development at the
international border in the neighbor-
hood OF Barnhart Island This means
100000 kilowatts, the output Of which