Evening star., 1938-08-15
WATERWAYSPLAN.
POSSIBILITIES BIG
lachine Canal May Carry
10000. Ton Ships When
Deepened.

Andrne Berding OF the Wash
ington staff of the Associated Press
has been travelling Through the
region OF the st. Laurence iodter-
Nnys project. In the tolloDing
story, first OF four. he describes
some OF the Waterways possibilities.
Ry ANDRUE BERDING.
Associated Press FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT.
MONTREAL, Canada, Aug. Is
Standing beside the locks of the
LAchine Canal here, you can dream.
As you see freighter after freighter
lining up for the lift through the locks
YOU can dream of ocean liners passing
through for great new ports of the
West like Chicago and Toronto.
Instead of 5000 or 6,O0O-ton cargo
vessels, you can envisage ships OF
$4,000 and 10000 tons.
The draft of the Great Lakes st
Lawrence waterway treaty recently
submitted to Canada by the State De-
partment in Washington proposes the
accomplishment of this dream Drawn
up on the suggestion Of President
Roosevelt, it might revolutionize inland
waterway traffic.
Rejected in 1884.
The project would include hydro
electric developments as we'll as a
deeper channel. The United States
Senate rejected the first proposal in
1884 after opposition arose from rail-
roads. persons interested in strictly
American inland waterways, and some
seaports.
Reconstruction of the Lachine Canal
would be the easternmost development
Of the new proposal The canal has
a depth Of only IA feet, which must
be increased to ~ feet, the minimum
set by the proposed treaty But even
with its present depth the amount Of
traff1c carried is amazing.
During the half-hour the writer
watched the first flight of twin locks
IN operation, fully $4,000 tons of
freighters passed through.
A small Nodwegian cargo ship en-
tered the locks with a load of Baltic
products, en- route to Duluth. A Ca
madam freighter squeezed into the
locks with bare 3 inches to spare on
each side. An American tanker moved
in with Buffalo as its destination. A
Canadian ore-carrier puffed in from
the Great Lakes destined for Quebec
You could begin to understand what
the st. Lawrence means as a link be-
tween the Great Lakes and the ocean
You could realize what the improve
ment of the river between Montreal
and Quebec has done for Montreal, now
the third busiest port in North Amer
lea. although lying 1000 miles inland
You could see the glamorous posi-
bilities sketched by proponents of the
Great Lakes-St. Lawrence deep water
ways.
The Canadians from early times have
been canal-minded people.
A century and a quarter ago they
built the first Lachine Canal, cutting
across a corner of the island on which
lies Montreal. 1t was just small
passageway for canoes Of traders, en-
abling them to avoid the Lachine
rapids.
In 1921 work was begun on a ship
canal to open the way to the Great
Lakes. but it soon proved inadequate.
In 1S43 1t was enlarged. With the
proposed 27-foot draft, the Lachine
would be able to handle 80 per cent
Of ocean-going vessels.
1t is a coincidence that President
Roosevelt will be talking to Canadian
Premier Mackenzie King in the fif-
tieth anniversary of the year 1888,
when the Dominion Government took
over from the province the work of
deepening the lower channel between
Montreal and Quebec.
Now it Is the Dominion govern
ment which must decide whether to
accept the treaty proposed by the
United States. and If the treaty is
eventually ratified, must carry out
the Canadian share of the work.