Evening star., 1925-01-16
CHICAGO ATTACKED
FOR WATER THEFT
Great Lakes Interests Pre-.
pare Protest to Congress
on Further Diversion.
By the Associated Press.

tenn OF sewage disposal in a resolution
adopted by the Great Lakes Harbor As
sociation here today. The resolution pro-
tests against any congressional ac-
tion diverting lake water for this
purpose, and condemned theft" of
water by Chicago.
Calls for Action.
The resolution, outlines the con-
ditions under which the water is
taken and calls for action by the
Federal Government to improve the
situation and avoid the danger to
lake navigation. The convention. at
tended by delegates from practically
every lake port, is closing today.
The resolution will be teIegraphed
to the Secretary OF War, Secretary Of
State, Representative s. Wallace
Dempsey, chairman Of the rivers and
harbors committee; Senator Medill
Mccormick of Illinois. chairman Of
the special Senate committee hear
ing the water question in Washing
ton, and other Senators and Repre-
sentatives.
Francis King, counsel for the Do
minion Marine Association of Canada,
and Hermann L. Ekern, attorney gen.
eral of Wisconsin. spoke this morn
ing. w. w. HiltZ, former mayor of
Toronto, prevented from speaking
yesterday on account OF illness, also
was scheduled to speak today.
Reelection of William George
Bruce of Milwaukee. as president and
choosing Detroit for the next con-
vention, were forecast.
Sees Rights Disregarded.
The protest is as follows:
With an astounding disregard for
the rights OF her neighbors and in
defiance of all precepts of law and
justice. under the pretext that the
sanitary welfare of that city made
the dilution system of sewage dis
posal necessary, Chicago has for 20
years been abstracting the waters of
the Great Lakes in colossal quantities.
This abstraction of water has, on
the one hand, caused the lowering
CT the levels of the lakes to the in
jury of commerce thereon, and on the
other, the raising of the levels of the
Illinois River to the injury of the
land owners OF that region. The
sewage which Chicago, by virtue of
Its sanitation system, Is thus, carry
ing into the Illinois River, is pollut-
ing the waters of that stream to an
alarming degree. Thus, in order to
gain an advantage for a single COM
munity. twofold injury is inflicted
which affects a wide area and mil
lions of people.
THE dilution system Of sewage dis
posal now employed by Chicago
which was at the time of it's intro
duction nearly 80 years ago deemed
both expedtent and practical, must to-
day be regarded as the most gigantic
engineering blunder of its time. It's
early projectors erred in that they
failed to anticipate the ultimate re-
suit of an indiscriminate raid upon
the waters of the Great Lakes and
the transmission of huge quantities
of sewage to the inland streams
They erred further in that they ig-
nored the rights of their neighbors
and the law of the land.
Called Bold Theft.
Chicago. now, however, presents
the braZen spectacle of undertaking
to induce the National Congress to
sanctify a bold theft into an honest
act. To commit a blunder is no sin,
but to defend a blunder and seek to
compel its perpetuation at the ex-
pense of others in objectionable sin,
more particularly so when such blum
der involves a gross injustice as well.
To defend such a blunder Is to de-
fend injustice. And that is exactly
what Chicago has been doing and
is now doing.
when the defenders Of the Chi
cago water diversion realized. that
the paramount question at issue was
one of navigation, and navigation
only. they Immediately maintained
the 10000 cubic feet per second for
merly demanded for sanitation are
necessary for the operation Of a pro-
posed nine-foot barge channel across
the State of Illinois. Anything in excess
Of 1000 feet is unnecessary for
channel navigation. The War De-
partment has repeatedly and consist
emily held that such a large volume
of water will create currents that will
render navigation on the channel
both difficult and dangerous. And to
hold that this volume of water is
necessary to- render the Mississippi
River navigable during the months
of low water stages is even less ten
able 1t raises the question whether.
in order to hold Mississippi River
navigation for two months, the
Great Lakes shall be robbed for IL
months in the year. Nor Is it clear
that the colossal flow of water that
will be an aid in the dry season will
not be a. curse during the flood sea-
son.
"The levels of the Great Lakes are
at lower stage today than they
have been since such levels have
been officially recorded. 1t is be-
yond dispute that the Chicago alb
straction has contributed greatly to
that lowering.
Court Ruling Cited.
1--WE point out that the United
States Supreme Court in it's recent
decision has held that any abstrac-
ton of water from the Great Lakes
affecting the natural level or flow
of boundary waters is expressly pro-
vided against by the international
treaty with Great Britain of January
II, 1909, without the APPROVAL Of the
international joint commission and
without the consent of Canada as
well as the United States within their
respective Jurisdictions
I'VE further call attention to the
fact that seven great States of this
Union have formally presented and
there is now pending before said tri-
bunal the question of whether Con-
gress has any power to grant or give
away any great natural resource to
benefit one section of this country to
the injury of another section.
1--WE further deny the propriety of
granting the right in perpetuity to
such abstraction on a mere assump-
tion that a legal treaty can be exc
cuted for the purpose by inaugural
ing compensating works of doubtful
expediency.
Curb on Navigation.
/ IF the several cities on the Great
Lakes were to divert the lake waters
in the degree that Is now being done
by the City of Chicago, the integrity
of the Great Lakes as a navigation
highway would be sadly impaired.
I'VE hold firmly to the belief that
| the waters of the Great Lakes are