Evening star., 1940-12-06
War Breaks Deadlock
On s., Lawrence
Power Project
Test Drilling Started
For Proposed Dam to
Serve Two Countries
BY the Associated Press.


MASSENA. N. Y, Dec. 6.-The
tramp of marching armies, echoing
across the ocean, has broken a
uuarter-century deadlock and start
ed test drills probing toward an.
chorage for a projected two-natior
dam to harness the racing st.
Lawrence River.
Man has coveted the power of the
beautiful, treacherouS st. Lawrence
for years. The exploring French,
who first pushed frail craft against
the torrent and found the Great
Lakes and the center of conti-
nent, marveled at the force of the
water speeding to the sea.
Industrial New York, home of the
old Erie Canal. New York Harbor,
the Hudson River and potent Nj
agara Falls, was alive early to the
possibilities of waterpower and
waterways.
With the issue growing in i'm
portance. not only in the United
States but on the other side Of the
st. Lawrence, in Canada, first steps
toward a joint effort at power de-
velopment and navigation improve
ment came in 1909.
Treaty Proposed in 1921.
In 1921 the first international
commission to seek solution of the
problem recommended a treaty be-
tween the countries to speed the de-
velopment.
In 1929 New York seated a new
Governor, an avowed public power
man-Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
He favored the Government har-
Messing the st. Lawrence as means
of restricting private power monop-
oily and providing cheap" electricity
for heavily industrialized New York.
He created the New York Power
Authority, State agency, in 1881.
Two years later, in 1884. as Presi-
dent, he renewed his battle of the
st, Lawrence" from the White
House, but failed to win Senate rat
ifieation of a treaty with Canada
for international cooperation in
power and navigation development.
This called for a 27-foot channel
from Great Lake cities to the At
lantic Ocean, with New York to re-
ceive the United States share OF
100000 horsepower OF electricity
generated through an international
dam. New York was to contribute
S89OOO,O00 toward construction cost.
The President dropped the sub
iect for the time being, but he did
not forget.
Stresses Defense.
Last October, he told press con-
ference engineering Investigations
preliminary to a hydro-electric prof.
ect were about to be started. A few
days later he allocated $1,000, 900
from special defense fund to
finance the work and told Congress:
ut is urgent that this project
be undertaken at the present time
not only from the point of view of
our own defense, but also in terms
of our neighbor, Canada
Less than two months later. near
this United States-Canadian border
town where big plant of the Alum
mum Company of America operates
"a hours a day on defense orders,
United States Army engineers brave
the winters first SHOWS and bitter
cold in core borings, soil analyses
and land surveys.
But the drills hardly had started
pounding when there arose opposi-
ton that may reach a crescendo
long before plans go to the United
States Congress and the Canadian
Parliament for final approval.
What Project Emissions.
Public power advocates hope for
fruition of the project by l945. 1t
envisages:
l. An 85-foot, semi-circular- shaped
dam, probably running from this
town of 10000 population across the
tip of Long Sault Island to the head
of Barnhard Island near the middle
of the Continental Waterway, dis
tance of three-quarters of mile.
2. Two great powerhouses, one on
each end of the dam, each to gen.
crate 100000 hydro-electric horse
power-a total exceeded only by
Grand Coulee's 2,52O000 and great
er than the Tennessee Valley Au-