The Washington herald., 1922-02-27
.BLAMES new YORK
ATTITUDE TOWARD
LAKES CANAL PLAN
Director of Association
Asks Agreement on
known Facts.
Continued tron, Pane Que.


Continued from Page One.
plexity In one of the Brooklyn
papers. which concludes that may
be John Jarrett is right in say
ing that the West is jealous of
New York's prestige. So far as
any response from New York has
reached the public. that seems to
be ALL
There have been other manifes-
tations from New York which were
| not direct response to your appeal.
| same time, think few days
| earlier, the New York State water
ways conference committee, rep
! resentinS a number of organiza-
tions along tn barG canal and on
the Hudson, issued an appeal saying
as regards the St Lawrence ship
canal We are confronted with a
situation of imminent danger and
concluding. There Is real danger
that q resolution and an appropria-
ton favorinG this project will be
slipped over while New York
sleeps That Is not encouraging to
efforts to bring the East and West
together.
GoethaIs Gives Opinion.
"A few days after your appeal
for harmony was published, Gen.
Goethals gave an interview to the
newspapers in which he is quoted
as saying. I am New Yorker and
the Great Lakss-seaboard project
is impractical. | am a Now Yorker
and the idea that New York is OPP
posed to the project for selfish mo-
tives is all damn bosh. ! have
not seen the report but | know II
isn't practical There is not enough
| water to carry ocean going boats
to the head of the lakes and the
| expense of deepening the lakes
would be prohibitive.'
The opinion Of Gen. Gocthals SO
| expressed does not lead either 70
closer harmony or better under
standing. He dismisses as vision
airy a project on which he says
| he is not informed, for reasons
which are fantastic. and although
all New York is babblinG OF
| threat danger peril menace
| he asks us to believe, on the
strength of the fact that he is a
New Yorker. that New York has no
selfish interest.
81 do not know whether the
Merchants Association of New York
was one of those to which you
\ and fair investigation. nor whether
you have had a suitable reply. A
| few days after your appeal was
! published. the president OF the
| Merchants Association began in
the New York papers a long dis
! lance argument with Hon. w. l.
! Harding, former governor of Iowa
| 1t was published in several of the
! New York papers. Without debat-
| ing the contents of that letter, II
| asserts as fact a number of state
ments which have been challenged
Mr.. Whites analysis of rates is
the same as that placed before the
International Joint Commission last
| April and was then challenged
That is a matter of record. 1t is
one of the causes of difference be-
tween the East and West that
those gentlemen who are OPP
posing the st. Lawrence improve.
ment have never examined the rec
ord. They make certain statements
the statements are denied, perhaps
disproved. no matter. They are
from New York-which is different
from Missouri
Unwilling to he shown.
The Missouri attitude is. by ira
dition, you will have to show me
| I am from Missouri" The New
York attitude is simpler, II am
from New York"
1.-The bottom of the st. Lawrence
| is the graveyard of the Atlantic.
hn ~
! the Atlantic is known to all ma
rine history as being 500 miles or
more from the st. Lawrence. The
bottom OF the St. Lawrence is the
graveyard OF the Atlantic; I am
from New York
The st. Lawrence route is par
ticularly hazardous because Of fogs
and ice No matter that the rec
ords of the Hydrograph Office
show less frequent fogs. less per-
sistent fogs. less dense fogs in the
Gulf or the river than out in the
ocean in the common steamer track.
The St. Lawrence route is partic-
"'arly dangerous from fog and ice
IN from New York
Objections Are Answered.
Marine Insurance rates arc pro-
hibitive.' No matter that their own
witnesses testify the difference in
rates is negligible. No matter that.
whatever those rates are. they have
not prevented Montreal from be
coming the second port of the North
Atlantic. insurance rates are pro-
hibitive; I am from New York
"'All the lake channels would
have to be deepened.' No matter
that it has beer shown that most
OF the worlds ocean commerce is
carried on depths no greater than
those which limit the present lake
| passage. no matter that the In
ternational Joint Commission de-
clares that existing depths are sut-
ficient accommodation for ocean
traffic and that deeper channels
would be demanded sooner or later
to meet the requirements of lake
mind, all the lake channels will
New York. ".
Fails to Get Report.
About the same time. the Mer-
chants Association published its
request to Senator Calder to pro-
vide a copy Of the commissions re-
port. For a considerable time past
the letter said, we have urgently
sought but without avail from the
commission information indispensa-
able to intelligent action upon this
important subject Is 1t fair to
conclude that their opposition hith-
erto has not been intelligent? How
ever that may be. the findings of
the commission had at that time
been before Congress and available
to anyone who wished to see for a