Evening star., 1941-03-30

nN March 10, after five years of nego-
" tiations, representatives of the
United States and Canada signed at
Ottawa an agreement for the construc-
ton of a Great Lakes-St. Lawrence deep
waterway, and the development of the
hydroelectric resources Of the Interna-
tional Rapids section of that river. In
presenting this agreement to Congress
few days later, President Roosevelt an
nounced that he will soon ask authority
to start work on the project, which will
open the midcontinent of North America
to ocean shipping by building canal
over the course Of the st. Lawrence
River of sufficient depth to accommo-
date sea-going vessels.
The present agreement contemplates
two main projects both regarded by the
administration as essential parts of the
plans for Western Hemisphere defense.
One is the development of new sources
of hydroelectric power and the other is
the construction of a seaway, with min
imum depth of 27 feet. from Montreal
to the Great Lakes. The st. Lawrence
Channel now has a 14-foot minimum
and thus is not deep enough to permit
its use by large ocean freighters.
Though the navigation works will re-
quire six or seven years for their COM
pletion, engineers believe that the power
projects can be finished in three years.
Construction cost in the International
Rapids section, it is estimated would
amount to approximately S266, ITO 900, of
which the United States will pay about
S2O6 100000 Estimates of the total cost
of the project, including expenditures on
harbor improvements, run as high as
s1,2OOOOO,OOO
History of Project.
The proposal now before Congress has
| long history. In 1895, the governments
| of Canada and the United States ap-
| pointed a commission to survey the
| feasibility of building deep waterway
| connecting the Great Lakes with the
| Atlantic Ocean. In a report two years
later, the commission declared that such
seaway was practicable. Later the
United States War Department made
| more extended surveys. In 1909, the two
! governments set up the international
Joint Commission to consider all bound
ary disputes between Canada and the
United States.
Early in 1914, just before the outbreak
of the first World War, the United States
| Government asked the views of the Cana
dian government as to the advisability
| of requesting the International Joint
| Commission to make a survey of the
seaway project. Because of the war in
Europe, no further action was taken on
the matter.
Economic developments, during and
after the World War, increased public
support, particularly in the Middle West,
for the proposed seaway between the
Great Lakes and the Atlantic. One of
these developments was the emergence
of the Middle West as major industrial
area. Its competitive position, in rela-
ton to the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf
seaboards, had been threatened, however
by the Panama Canal which was opened
to commercial traffic in 1914
A large demand of foreign countries
for it's agricultural products was another
factor in the Middle Vests growing in
terest in the seaway project. Savings on
freight costs are estimated at approx
mately $4,000, 600 annually.
Technically Feasible.
After hearings held in 16 States and
Canadian Provinces, the Interna-
tional Joint Commission in 1921 recon-
mended that the United States and
Canada enter into treaty to improve
the ST. Lawrence between Montreal and
Lake Ontario. The feasibility of the
project is unquestioned, and its cost
compared with some other great engi-
neering works, would be small" Presi-
dent Harding said in transmitting the
commissions report to Congress in 1922
During the following 10 years, the
waterway project was studied by several
Joint Canadian-American commissions