Evening star., 1959-06-26

GctdI opening OF the ST. LdU-
renee Sedwdy.'
Mr.. President:
I am delighted that this oc-
casion which marks the inaug-
uration Of q great joint enter
prise between our two coun-
tries should afford me the first
opportunity Of welcoming you
and Mrs. Eisenhower to Can
ada. 1t is with the warmest
feelings Of friendship that !
do so on behalf Of the Canadian
people, myself and my husband.
The President of the United
States will always be welcome.
here, but today there is an
added pleasure and a special
warmth in our greeting.
You will always be remem-
bered as one of the great mill
tary leaders who brought the
free world through the most
severe crisis Of modern times.
The soldiers, sailors and air.
men of the Commonwealth, in
cluding many thousands of
Canadians, were proud to serve
under your leadership until the
ultimate victory was won.
We welcome you here as
President of a great and
friendly neighboring state, but
we have a special welcome for
you as Gen. Eisenhower.
Another Victory
Today. Canada and the
United States are celebrating a
victory Of another kind. This
distinguished company has
come together from the two
great countries that border this
waterway to mark the compile
ton Of a combined operation
that ranks as one of the out
standing engineering accom-
plishments of modern times.
We can say in truth that this
occasion deserves a place in
history.
This is nothing new to the
st. Lawrence River which, from
the times of Cartier and La
Sale, Of Wolfe and Montcalm,
has been the scene of so much
Of North Americas history.
Since the day when the in
trepid explorers and French
colonists established bases in
Canada on the shores Of this
river. far-seeing men have
dreamed of a navigable, deep
water route from Montreal to
the head Of the Great Lakes.
Many generations of Cana
dians. as many French-speak-
ing as English-speaking. have
worked toward the realization
Of the grandiose project.
18th Century Vision
Even in the 18th century
there already were far seeing
projects to surmount the
Lachine Rapids. incidentally,
those rapids owe their name
to the general belief Of that
epoch that they blocked the
route to China. Dollier de
Casson, back in 1880, already
had envisaged the possibility
Of surmounting that obstacle.
His early daring was doomed
to failure, for he was well
beyond his century. Neverthe-
less he remains a pioneer
In the canaling of the st.
Lawrence and we owe him q
sign Of our thanks today.
(The preceding two para
graphs are translated from The
French in which they were
deliveredD
Men have dreamed and
worked for two and q half
centuries to make this river
navigable, and now at last it
is a reality. This waterway
will carry ocean shipping from
tidewater to the very heart Of
the continent. q distance of
more than 1000 miles. 1t will
affect the lives Of many gen.
erations of our people; and it
is bound to exercise a profound
influence on the maritime
trading nations of the world.
1t is right we should acknowl-
edge the foresight Of those who
first conceived this great plan.
But we should also acknowledge
the courage and persistence of
those men in public life, in both
countries, who brought about
the political agreement essen
tial to putting the project in
hand. When their work was
done, it rested on the engineers
to design these vast and COM
pick works, which finally began
to take shape in the hands of
the men who drove the trucks.
poured the concrete and per-
formed all the other tasks TO
complete the Seaway. To each
and every one Of them ! offer
my congratulations and the
congratulations Of their fellow
citizens.
1860 Bridge Dedication
Just 80 years ago my great
grandfather, King Edward VII,
then Prince of Wales, came to
open the Victoria Bridge. In
those days that bridge was re-
garded as a tremendous feat of
engineering. 1t was obviously
a good bridge because nearly
100 years later it is still in
use. In fact I shall sail under
1t shortly. 1t was also the final
link in a new railway line more
than 1000 miles long. So in
1850 people thought of the VIC
toria Bridge as a striking SYM
Dol Of Canadian progress and
achievement.
Today, within sight of the
spot where the Prince OF Wales
stood in 1860, we are opening
a project with exactly the same
significance for our own age.
In the context of much larger