The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1946-03-15


cellent piece of testimony on the
zens from such a development, is 6
I am Left Erickson Of Montana.
appear here today at the request 0
the Montana Division of National Edu
cational and Cooperative Union o
America, and l appear personally, also
tana because it will be one of my prin
cipal purposes to assure the commit
tee that the overwhelming majority O.
Montana people favor this resolution
1t may be well to give you a little
more of my own personal background
| was reared on a dry land, wheat
and cattle ranch on the boundary be-
tween North Dakota and Montana
Every speaker at every farmers meet
ing | attended as boy at sometime
in his speech urged the development
of this Seaway project. 1t has had the
support of farmers of Montana with
out exception, since the first home
steader settled there. l own an irri-
gated and dry land ranch in the area
where we produce beets, corn, wheat
and lambs. l served six years as a
member of the Montana Supreme
Court which is the court of last re-
sort in my state l was the Democrat
ic nominee for the office of governor
at the last general election. I have
been active in civic, social and politi-
cal groups in the state for many years
past
Represent a Cross-Section
The Montana Farmers Union, for
whom I speak today, is the major farm
organization of my state. It's 10000
members represent cross-section of
the men and women who earn their
living from the SOIL Affiliated with
the Farmers Union are number of
farm co-operatives. A large portion of
our grain and of our meat is market
ed through these Farmers Union Co.
operative associations.
1t will not be my purpose here to
repeat at length the statistics already
in the record covering this great prof.
ect. Experts and engineers have pre-
sented to you most convincing state
ments showing the feasibility of the
project, its great benefit to the people
of the entire nation and its relatively
low cost They have pointed out to
you that development of navigation
on this great inland waterway so as
to permit ocean-going vessels to enter |
the Great Lakes would inaugurate an
entire new industrial and agricultural |
era in the heart of America. They have
explained to you the benefits that |
would result to so million people liv-
ing in the 20 states directly affected.
Experts on power have pointed out
to the members of this committee the
great benefit that would accrue
through the development of many mil
lions of kilowatt-hours Of low cost
hydro-electric energy. Reference has
been made to other public power prof.
ects by way of comparison, and you
have been told of the benefit accruing
not only to the state but to the ma
ton by these developments.
Can No Longer Afford the Luxury
1t may not be amiss to emphasize
once again that the time has come
when this nation can no longer af-
ford the luxury of leaving undeveloped
any of its great natural resources.
the Tennessee Valley Author
ty and without Bonneville the atom
bomb could not have been developed.
Without the vast power resources of
Shasta, Bonneville, Boulder dam and
he Tennessee Valley could we have
lad the production that spelled the
difference between victory and defeat
n the last conflict We confidently ex-
,ect that through the United Nations
we can avert any future
var, but can we in reliance upon that \
Lfford to leave undeveloped any single,
lydro-electric resource? Certainly we 0
,amble with the future when we leave d
such vast potential e
ources of electric energy in the heart u
f the industrial East as that to be
ound in connection with the Great "
.akes-St. Lawrence Seaway project. e
What is true of the value of this en- o
rgy in time of war is as true in time d
f peace a
Now let me address myself to the u
articular relationship between this u
evelopment and my own state. Much n
as been said by citizens from various Y
ections of the United States as to the Y
effect of discriminatory u
MUST and excessive transportation 81
ost so far as each individual area is u
oncerned. Certainly no state is in II
-orse condition in that regard than N
ly own. D.
a.
Production Peculiarly Suited for m
Water Transportation h,
Montanans for 40 years have been
lvocating any and all measures
hich might contribute in some de-
rec to reducing transportation costs pl
our products Most of the production re
our state is bulky, heavy commodi- OIL
es, like grain, ore and meat, pecul- IL
rly suited for transportation by wa OF
r. Transportation cost is limiting CT
ctor in the production of many of III
II bulky mineral resources. In spite &c
these handicaps, Montana leads all tl'
ates today in the production of ar lie
,nious oxide, chromite, manganese al
Id vermiculite. In the production of na
llcite we are second in the states tn
the nation, and in the production do
"copper" graphite, phosphate rock en-
i'd silver we rank third. We have vast nj
1n;no on