Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1930-05-22

we going to take our canal and play
with it ourselves? Or are we going
to allow the Canadians to play in our
yard? At present they do. and We
play in theirs. But if we are to be
so ultrapatriotic that we can not
cross over into Canadian waters, are
we going to carry our patriotism to
the extreme in that we will not allow
them to sail down our own private
ship canal?
The Herald editor continues:
Is it in order. on a plea of cheapness.
to turn over great commercial enter
prise to Americas chief commercial
rival overseas. and that rivals chief de-
tendency; would it be in order to con-
graduate ourselves because we should
be spending $500 200. 900 less by promot-
ing the prosperity of this rival and
competitor than we should spend if we
were to promote the prosperity of our
own people7
AS / read this, it infers that this
is exactly what we are going to do
play in our own yard and deny to
Canada it's use and its benefits. After
we have built an enormously eXpen-
sive waterway from the ocean to the
Great Lakes we must exclude Canada
from it's use, otherwise Canada will
benefit by it exactly as we benefit.
Then where are We? We will have
built a waterway exclusively on Amer
lean soil, exclusively with American
money, which under existing trea-
ties Canada will be allowed to
use exactly on the same terms as we
use it. Then if this substitute ship
channel is all it's advocates claim
for it, it will bring to the Canadian
northwest, pictured as being our
deadly trade rivals, the same advan-
tages that we will possess and at no
expense to Canada and with no re-
sponsibilty whatsoever on her part.
That may be good business from the
standpoint. of Manhattan Island and
Buffalo. but it does not look like
good business out in my country.
But there is something else to con-
slider. Canada might not fancy the
idea of ship canal in, which she
had no part or lot whatsoever,
especially if that canal is really 'all-
American" and really does go all the
way up to Lake Superior on American
her locks at the 500 and come down
through Canadian territory all the
way into the north channel of Lake
Huron. She does not have to go
around by Detroit and through Lake
Erie, for there is practical ship
channel route through Georgian Bay
and on to Lake Ontario; and, at any
rate, if she did decide to canalize her
portions of the st. Clair and Detroit
rivers, she could do it quite easily,
most part go at the present time.
Over in Canadian territory in these
rivers are channels built by American
dollars, and nobody remembers hav-
ing heard Congressman Dempsey or
the editor of the Herald seizing an
American flag and waving it over that
matter.
And remember this, that as between
the 179 miles between Oswego and
Albany, 159 miles of it narrow channel
and restricted navigation, and the 33
miles which must be improved on the
St. Lawrence between Ogdensburg and
Montreal, the Canadians have to
1 advantage over us on distance, and
if we start building ship canal
across New York Canada can have
one built up the ST. Lawrence and
have it open before we do. She has
already nearly completed her New
Welland ship canal and we have
only begun talking about ours. She
can have the New Welland ready in
two years, and even cOnceding our
marvellous superiority in everything.
including engineering, we must admit
that probably race that has built
the Makwar dam in Egypt, and that
has tunnelled the Rockies in Canada
again and again. can probably build
33 miles of ship canal almost as
quickly as it will take us to build
179 miles, to say nothing about the
Niagara gap and all the rest of the
construction absolutely nee essary to
make the wild dream of a so-called
all-American route of the gentleman
from Buffalo reality.
This we can depend on: If we start
out on our own hook to build a canal
from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic
ocean. no matter on what grounds we
do it-whether for economic reasons
or for that toll-gate patriotism for
which New York is becoming so justly
famous, Canada would be forced, by
reason of her economic need, to do
the same thing. She certainly would
have to do so if we are not going to
allow her use of her canal, and if We
allow her use of our canal. how do we
escape giving her it's benefits? And
if we do not allow her to use our
canal and force her to build one of
her own, how can We prevent her from
using her canal when il is built, and