The Washington herald., 1922-01-02
st. Lawrence Seaway and
Merchant Ship Subsidy
Close Together,
WESTERN STATES
FIGHT FOR TRADE
New York Antagonizing
Own Welfare, Says Rep
resentative Nelson.

to become closely interrelated be-
fore consideration of them has
progressed very far, soon will be
before Congress. They are:
I. The construction, in co-opera-
tion with Canada, of the projected
st. Lawrence seaway which would
enable ocean ships to reach Great
Lakes ports and would cheaper
the transportation OF grain and
other western products for export
.. Some form of subsidy or other
government financial aid to the
development of the American mer-
chant marine. now being formulat-
ed by the shipping Board for sub
mission to Congress by the Presi-
dent.
The international joint commits
sion is completing its report ad-
vocating the St Lawrence project
and expects to submit the plans
and estimates of cost to Congress
about the middle of January.
The proposal has the solid back
ing of the Middle West and~the Far
West. The legislatures of score
of States In this great agrarian EN-
pire have memorialized Congress to
sanction the project which would
make ocean ports Of Chicago and
other great trading centers for
farm products situated on the
Great Lakes.
The opposition to The seaway
emanates from the North Atlantic
seaboard, but mainly from the New
York delegation in Congress w"ich
is intent upon pr,secvinS the DOM
-
porting center and the monopoly
of the New York barE. anal in
water transportation from the
Great Lakes to the Eastern sea-
board.
Seaboard interests are actively
advocating a ship subsidy for the
development of the American mer-
chant marine. Opinion in the West
does not appear to have crystallized
on this project up to date. lndiCa-
| tions are. not wautfng.. however,
that IL the East persists IN Fighting
the st. Lawrence seaway a degree
of bitterness will be engender cd
which is not unlikely to manifest
itself in inland resistance to the
subsidiary proposal.
As soon as the report of the in
ternational joint commission is
made, Representative A. p. Nelson
| OF Wisconsin, who has repeatedly
urged the Importance of such ar
inland waterway as a matter OF
national Importance, is prepared tc
introduce a bill to carry those
recommendations into effect.
There is no question:" said Mr.
Nelson today, that the greatest
and most important problem In
the economy of our national life
today is the problem of adequate
transportation at reasonable cost
both to the producer and the con,
sumer, and the contention of the
| eighteen States. members of the
Great Lakes-St. Lawrence TidewateI
Association. Is that this inland ses
shall no longer continue bottled VI
but be unbottled and utilized fol
the benefit of the great interior
States Of the nation. and that nc
one State or seaport should by mere
local or selfish interest stand in the
way of its development for the IN
terest of the entire nation"
Representative Nelson Is opti
mistic of successful issue. The re
port of both the American and Can
adian engineers has been made
vs. It Oh IHelf
of the engineering features Of tn,
proposed ship channel from Lake
Ontario to Montreal, the engineer:
representing the United States ant
Canada have submitted to the in
tcrnational joint commission theil
conclusions and recomme ndations
briefly summarized as follows:
THE physical conditions are fav
1 hlH for inn n tn rr,n Mt
for navigation which will be per
Inanent and will have very low up
keep costs. The improvement fol
navigation alone is feasible. but i
will be more economical to co-ordi
nate navigation with water power
limiting the latter development
however. 10 the amount which cal
be readily marketed. The projec
proposed contemplates improve
ment, for navigation alone wher'
side canals and locks can mos
economically be used, and to pro
vide for power development in tina
part of the river where the con
struction of locks and dams offer
the most feasible means OF pro
noting navigation"
The international joint commits
sion authorized by Congress anc
the Canadian parliament, consists
of Obadiah Gardner. Rockland
Maine; Clarence d. Clark. Evan
ston. Wyoming, and Marcus A
Smith, Tucson, Arizona, represent
ing the United States. and Charles
A. Magrath, Ottawa, Ontario: Henr,
A. Powell, K. c.. st. Johns, New
Brunswick. and Sir william Hearst
K. c., NJ. G., Toronto, Ontario, rep
resenting Canada.
According to Representative Mel
sons outline of the propositions i
is proposed to make seaports ou
of such lake ports as Chicago
Toledo, Cleveland. Milwaukee, De
troit, Superior and Duluth.
His arguments follow closely GER
tain suggestions and recommends
tions made by President Harding
in his message to Congress, notabl!
| with reference to the American
merchant marine. In this connec
| ton Representative Nelson said
1 Our interest should not be con
fined to making appropriations fol
improvements of rivers and har,
bors, but that other and NOR,
drastic remedies should be applied
| to effect a better distribution o.
commerce through the ports Of tn,
l country, to the end that we may b,
freed, in part at least, from tn,
| tremendous burdens that have beer
placed upon our commerce beeaus,