Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-10-25

cent of the ton miles of our railroads
Connection with the Atlantic is made
by the Erie and St. Lawrence canals
the former with a 12-foot depth and
the latter IA feet. which means that
ocean-going vessels cannot be used
and that imports and exports via the
Great Lakes must be reloaded twice.
Opening Is Inevitable.
THAT the Great Lakes shall be
opened to the sea, and their ports take
a direct part in the ocean trade of
the world Is absolutely inevitable"
said Mr.. Hoover. 1T IL demanded by
100000 people in the tributary
region. and cannot be resisted.
Our engineers have long since
demonstrated that 30foot canals are
feasible from the lakes to the ocean.
There are two possible alternative
routes-the st. Lawrence and the Erie
Canal The st. Lawrence is an in.
ternattional route; we can only en-
gage in 1t with the cooperation Of
Canada. Before any right conclusions
can be reached as to which of these
routes should be undertaken we must
know the attitude of Canada. and we
must determine all of the engineering
and economic factors.
"One thing we do know already is
, that a shipway can be built. And
can say empha tically that the needs
of our farmers, our manufa cturers
and. indeed, the whole of the people
in Is of our States adjacent to the
lakes today urgently require that
we provide an outlet for deep-sea
vessels from the lakes to the ports
of the world. And l may add that
what benefits IS States benefits all
the States
Location of Industries.
In addition to providing cheaper
transportation and relieving the rail-
roads of share of the traffic burden
which is rapidly becoming more than
they can handle, the Secretary of
Commerce sees another great benefit
to come from the development of the
Nations great water systems. He
points out that industry in it's efforts
to find locations where there is equal
| ity of advantage in transportation
has been forced to congregate un-
duly around a few great terminals,
and as a result we already have over
grown cities. One of the great social
problems of the day is this over
growth.
Through the improvement Of wa
| terways, he says, 1T will be possible
to distribute industry and population
better, because the waterway tends
to place many towns and cities upon
, an equality in transportation. Proper
development Of waterways should
contribute to move industry closer to
, the agricultural consumer, give a
nearer market to agriculture, and a
greater diversification of occupation
between agriculture and industry to
| their mutual benefit.
| we are competing with the whole
world today in our export trade and
our agriculture and our manufactures
are supporting higher standard of
living than any of our world COM
petitors." concluded Mr.. Hoover. 1.-The
most vital thing in our economic life
Is to maintain these standards. We
can only maintain them IL we pro-
vide the cheapest channels of trans
portation outward for our farmers to
the worlds market. and of we pro-
vide our manufacturers and their
workmen with the most economic as
| sembly of those materials which thew
must receive from all parts of the
world and the cheapest access to the
world for their finished goods"