The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1931-12-17


: Great Lakes. thirds comp
and Of the Great Lakes are separ-
ated by a barrier that, under the
terms of the treaty now under con
sideration, is ours to remove.
The st. Lawrence River, from
Lake Ontario to Montreal, Is a deep.
wide, slow-moving body of wa1er
consisting essentially of a chain of
lakes connected by straits that Of
fer not the slightest obstacle to
ocean ships. From Lake Ontario
to Ogdensburg, a distance of sixty
seven miles, we have swept the ship
channel to sea-going depth but from
there on, to the point where the
river becomes exclusively Canadian,
a distance Of forty-eight miles, the
Lake Ontario portion Of the river
pours down over rock barriers more
than a mile wide into Lake st.
Francis, that again pours over the
barriers of the Southland into
Lake st. Louis, that in turn pours
over the Lachine into the deep,
quiet waters of the lower river.
Canada elects to care for the
by-passing of the Lachine and The
Soulanges.
It is our job under the terms Of
diplomatic correspondence to by
pass the rapids on that part of
the river that is American on the
one side and Canadian on the 9TH
er.
Because the shores on one side
are American and on the other side
Canadian there must be a treaty
before that part of the river can be
made passable for ocean-going
ships.
But the equities to be considered,
and the general terms of that trea-
ty, and easily understood:
Canada's Expenditures Heavy
Canada, to date, has shouldered
much more than her share of The
financial load of sweeping the
channels from the westerly end of
the Great Lakes to the ocean. 1t
may be remarked that nearly fifty
years ago she built and has since
maintained a ship canal-a series
of canals-that today carries from
the Great Lakes to Montreal, forth
and back, millions of tons of COM
merce. This great but out-dated
ship-way will be scrapped when
the seaway comes, and the ocean
carriers of the Atlantic and the
Great Lakes will ride past deserted
channels and locks that once cost
the Dominion, then young and rel
atively poor, more tnan fifty million
dollars.
We have shared the use Of these
all through the years, on
equal terms with those given to CIT
liens of Canada. We have had a
partners equality in the use of the
Weeland canal, without a partners
and in turn we have
given to Canada, freely, whatever
benefits have been ours from the
building of the locks at the $500"
and from the deepening Of the inter-
lakes channels-just as, with Can
ada, we have shared in the better
ments to navigation that have fol-
lowed her sweeping and charting
the lower st. Lawrence down to the
open sea.
BY taking over as our job and our
expense, the completion Of the task
Of uniting the two oceans-the
Great Lakes with the Atlantic-we
will balance the books somewhat
more equitably than they balance
at this moment-certainly we shall
bave done no more than our share.
The seaway, as we have come to
designate the proposed undertake
ing, will be ours to build and Can
ada's to share just as the Well and
was Canada's to build and ours to-
enjoy.
Under treaties already tested and
by the years, what we
have built, from the westerly end
Of the Great Lakes to the most east
erly end Of the Great Lakes to the
most easterly siren and beacon, the
two great nations and their PEG -ifs
share together, on equal terms.
And this sharing extends, also
under existing treaties, to any wat
empowers that may be developed
the Improvement Of 'iavi-
cation. And It is already agreed
that the waterpower that belongs
to Canada is for her to dispose OF
rs she sees At, and that it is for us
10 use the waterpower that comes
70 us as we may desire.
In the seaway there will be a
arge development of waterpower. A
mighty river, mile wide, will pour
,ver two great dams flung from riv-
n shore to river shore. Half of
his power viii belong to Canada
md half Of 1t viii belong to the
United States. Canada will build
Ter own power plants, when and as
The sees At. We will do the same.
Power is a domestic question, to be
individually by each ma
ion. Navigation is an information
il question, where the rights end
lsages are mingled and equal.
Such are the basic conditions un-
Ter which we approach the seaway
reaty.
There will be details to consider,
letails such as overflow damages.
for properties requir-
d costs, time of obstruction, meth |
ID of operation upon completion =
II matters properly belinging TO
he pending agreement.
But the engineering facts are