Evening star., 1940-09-11
Conference Indicates
New ST. Lawrence
Waterway Effort
President Sees Berle
And OIds; Treaty
Chance Held Good Now
By BLAIR BOLLES.

new effort to conclude the st. Law
renee Waterway Treaty appeared in
the offlng today, when President
Roosevelt conferred at the White
House with Assistant Secretary of
State Adolph Berle and Leland Olds,
member of the Federal Power Com
mission.
Neither Mr.. Berle nor Mr.. Olds
would comment when they departed
from the White House after the in
tervieWs with the President. How
ever. Stephen Early, White House
secretary, told the press earlier that
the two men were coming together
on st. Lawrence waterway business.
The rearmament effort and the
growing program for active friend
ship with Canada to defend the
North American sector of the West
ern Hemisphere provide the admin
lstration, it was said unoffcially in
other quarters, with the best pros
poets in history for Senate ratifica-
ton of the treaty.
FavOrite Roosevelt Project.
The Senate in 1894 turned down
treaty for joint Canadian -Ameri-
can development of the St. Law
renee. which has been a favorite
project of Mr.. Roosevelt's ever since
he was Governor of New York.
The President talked today also
on another vital aspect of North
American defense, with Admiral
Harold Stark, chief of naval opera
tions; Rear Admiral J. w. Green
slade, and members Of the American
Naval Mission just back from in
spection of the Bermuda site for
the American naval and air base
under 99-year lease from Great
Britain.
In support of optimism about
the present chances of Senate sane
ton for the st. Lawrence plan, it
was pointed out that the President
met with a general national &C
ceptance of the important part
played by power in national de-
fense which he stressed in his re-
cent talk at the dedication of the
Chickamauga Dam near Chatta-
nooga.
Whole Cost for U. S. Feared.
The plan calls for joint United
States-Canadian development of
the great st. Lawrence River and
the waters connecting 1t with the
Great Lakes for a major power de-
velopment and for improved ship
ping facilities.
Speculation arose whether, II the
treaty were sought now and rati-
fed, the United States would not
have to foot the whole bill for the
gigantic undertaking. Under pres
ent circumstances Canada's funds
are all devoted to paying the cost
of its part in the war against the
axis powers.
Some quarters considered the like
lihood that this country's payment
for CanadaS share in the develop
ment might be a part Of the quid
pro quo from Washington in return
for whatever things Canada makes
available to this country as its part
of the United States-Canada joint
defense program.
The visit of Mr.. Berle and Mr..
Olds to the White House comedies
with the meeting here of the Joint
Board for United States-Canadian
Defense, whose American chairman
is Mayor La Guardia of New York.
Berle in Earlier Discussion.
Mr.. Berle was the chief actor in
behind-the-scenes discussions of st.
Lawrence waterway action last win
ter and spring, when the proposal
met resistance not only in the
United States but also with compli-
cations in the form of the Canadian
political situation at the time. Plans
discussed then we're somewhat diff
ferent from the one rejected by the
Senate.
The earlier 1910 st. Lawrence
movement was launched when the
position of Prime Minister Macken-
zie King of Canada was under at
tack for his conduct of the Cana
dian war effort. The attack resulted
in Mr.. Kings going to the country
in April in Dominion election
which resulted in vote giving q
majority approval to the King policy
and insuring his continuance in Of
flee.
Among his chief opponents was
Michael Hepburn, Prime Minister
of Ontario, who opposes the water
way idea.