Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1948-01-30
Water Over The Dam
BY NJ. III. Hedges,
LPA COlumniSt

great deal of water go over dam
even before the dam is built. So it is with
the unbuilt dams of the st. Lawrence River
project. This project has been on the national
agenda for generation, and the waterway is
still undug, and the dams still unconStructed
Herbert Hoover, as President of the United
States back in the 20's, appointed a Water
ways Commission to study the problem. 1t
has been studied ever since. n
Now, strange to say, quite suddenly the
present free enterprise Congress has before it
a bill, backed by Senator Vandenberg of
Michigan, looking toward fulfillment.
The ST. Lawrence project has been poll
tical football 1t has been the subject of hot
debate and heavy controversy. 1t has reached
deep into national and international politics.
AS far west as Minneapolis, an association has
been formed to press for the measure. The
waterways question has agitated all Canada.
1t has aroused violent antagonism and violent
partisansnip.
GROUPS
One group sees an outlet to the sea for the
midwest land-locked cities. Another group
sees the project as an expensive pork barrel
enterprise designed to steal commerce away
from New York City.
One group sees it as new transportation
route to furnish cheap freight service to wesN
ern cities which need it. Another group sees IL
as a device to undercut railroads and to steal
precious freight haulage from them.
Another group sees it as new source OF
cheap electric power as great as IVA or Bon
neville. Another group sees it the conspr-
acy of public ownership advocates to dump
surplus power on the market.
The ST. Lawrence water power project has
been buffeted about by every wind of doc
trine for generation.
Now few persons in the first weeks of Con-
gressional debate have talked about the prob
able real causes arriving out of general need
for the temperance of this measure. The real
cause is doubtless power shortage in New
York State. Not long ago the Electrical World
reported that a large power company in the
ST. Lawrence region had asked several large
industrial establishments to curtail power
uses Not only in the northeast but power
shortages in the northwest have also reached J
alarming proportions. If public power de-
velopments in Oregon and Washington were
not returning millions of kilowatts to the
power pool, these states would be industrially
paralyzed.
The power houses proposed in the st, Lawr-
ence waterways project effronting the inter-
national rapids section would develop more
than IL billion klowatt hours of energy
year. Local labor unions have supported this
measure.
POWER NEED
The ST Lawrence proposal suggests sew
eral important principles:
Need, not ideology, usually settles most
economic and political questions.
There is colossal demand for power In
this country. This will continue. That power
must be supplied.
Labor has more than ordinary interest In
the st. Lawrence and other such projects
Full employment cannot b emaintained Wlt&
out two measures: (D adequate manpowerI5
and (2) adequate electrical and mechanical
power
There is no use talking about full en-
ployment without strong underpinning OF
power power, and more power American
workers are eminent in production be-
cause each worker commands about seven
horsepower of energy. "a British worker COM
mands only about three horsepower This
ratio must be increased. Labor has a respon.
sibility in seeing that its philosophy of full
employment is backed by sound technical
policies.