The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1941-06-09

The st. Lawrence enthusiasts
started off originally with the con-
tention that a navigable channel
for big boats, from the inland emo
of the Great Lakes down to salt
water and across it. without any
unloading and reloading, must be
a great thing as an outlet for an
enormous American farming area
and a considerable spread OF in
dustrial production. 1t not only
would be vastly more convenient,
said the schemes proponents, but
water transportation's a lot cheap
er than real shipments. Further
more, attention was called to the
plans power potentialities.
But a good many objections
were. raised. The railroads didn't
like the idea. Lake cities like Buf-
falo, doing a big business in I'M
loading cargoes from lake boats
and reloading 'em into freight
cars, didn't like 1t either. Such
1her cities as New York reckoned
that they'd be debated as seaports,
since shipments from oar interior
would go right out through the st.
Lawrence Gulf and on across the
ocean, ignoring them entirely. And
power generating concerns SHE'D
at the power item.
No Two-Thirds
The 4 enthusiasts nevertheless
cooked up a treaty with Canada,
indorsing the project. A treaty
however, has to be approved by
two-thirds OF our senate, and the
enthusiasts couldn't get that large
a majority. Licked, they dried up
for awhile. -
Then along came the present
war. whereupon they tore loose.
again.
In the first place, they insisted,
st. Lawrence facilities are impera-
lively needed to rush our mid
western stuff to Britain. In the
second place, we've got lake ship
yards equipped to turn out urgent
iy required ocean craft, if only we
could get 'em out of the lakes,
through the river and over the At
lantic. Also Chairman LELAND
Olds Of our Federal Power com
mission has served notice that
heap more electricity Is vital tt
our home defense and help-the-de.
mocracies activities. And the ST
Lawrence can generate coolies OF
it, IL effectively harnessed.
The enthusiasts made the most
Of all this reasoning. Their oppo'
nents came back at 'em, though,
with a hard problem to find an an
swer to. II can't but take. they
remarked irrefutably, several years
to do the necessary st. Lawrence
Harvesting. What good will sew
eral years hence be TO us, in oui
current immediate emergency!
Besides, tinkering with the ST
Lawrence will divert a deal OF
man-power that's in ferocious de-
mand for more pressing work.
The enthusiasts were rather
groggy for a bit. Yet finally they
bodied up with this counter
proposition:
After the War
When today's war ends, this
worlds going to be in awful shape
no matter who wins it. The rest
OF it isn't going to be much use to
Uncle Samuel. What he'll have to
do is to concentrate on internal
American development, as we did
a generation ago, when we had
Wild West to devote our attention
to, making US pretty independent
OF overseas countries. Now. where
is such a realm to be found, to
turn into and make the most Of?
Why it's Canada. That waterway
and power development Is the very
thing to tie those Canucks to US.
They'll be the same thing that our
trans-Miss.ssippi region used to be.
Well, the Pope said that, after
the war. "thickly inhabited coun-
tries will be relieved and their peo-
pies will acquire new friends in
foreign countries. EmiRrants will