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Show n A : a1 - 'am An artist picture how one of the two United States locks will look. Called the Eisenhower lock, it will be able to lift or lower 10,000-tograin, ore, and coal carriers 49 feet n For this lock alone, some 3,000.000 cubic yards of material were excavated, just a handful of the total. BY JACK RYAN in the Northeast, but tomorrow the St. Lawrence Seaway to 58 million people in Minnesota. Wisconsin, Illinois. Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Eight other states, as far west as Montana and as far south as Missouri, also will share the benefits. But among all the hosannas some catcalls persist. For 25 years the St. Lawrence project was blocked by American interests who believed it could become the costliest white elephant of our time. True, they say. the Seaway will mean more jobs for some industries; many coal miners, for example, may return to the pits to supply Europe with coal. But will the same ports used to export coal become a dumping ground for cheap New-York- . cheaply-transporte- South American farm products and European machinery? Whatever the answer, the Seaway will soon be with us, and to Canada must go the praise or blame. Desperately in need of greater access to the Atlantic, our northern neighbor, in effect, told us, "Either join us in building the Seaway and benefit by a new trade route, or we'll do it ourselves." Congress, bowing to the inevitable, okayed our part in opening the St. Lawrence to bigger ships. Our share in Seaway construction will cost more than $100 million borrowed from the United States TreasSeaway boosters ury but the loan is assure taxpayers that they will get their money back in about 50 years from tolls to be paid by vessels using the waterway. In replying to critics. Seaway advocates weigh down their dreams of a new prosperity with some concrete facts. Lewis G. Castle, administrator of the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, maintains that the needs of America's skyrocketing population three million persons added each year is reason enough for building extra shipping facilities. And by 1975, he adds, American workers will be turning out 50 percent more products than now; additional transportation is imperative to carry the vast new cargo to buyers here and abroad. The Seaway will not be a perilous drain on established ports and railroads. Castle predicts. For the will open a new world to 58 million Americans. most part, it will handle business created by our future economy and stimulated by a new. efficient transportation route. T Without the Seaway, America's dynamic growth nt o all-wat- er implements, small machinery, tractors, bulldozers, etc.. will be shipped at savings from 20 to 43 percent The reduced costs should increase the demand for American exports and eventually boost traffic in the I I s earth-movin- ( r-- JTk. St. L wrence Seaway route will ocean to eight states. A close up of the bottleneck area and current construction. Ontario -- die-ha- rd LONG SAULT SPILLWAY IROQUOIS ST. LAWREE RIVER in general terms The steel industry, for example, can he specific about its needs Ore deposits of the inland United States are being exhausted; the grea steel plants along the Great Lakes must find now sources of raw material. Newfoundland offers excellent prospects, and if the St Iwrence were not developed for large ore carriers, many steel mills might have to move closer to those fields This costly shift would send tremors through almost every household in the country But such moves are unlikely now; the St Lawrence will bring Newfoundland almost to the front door of Clary and Cleveland Boom or bust, there is no argument about the Seaway ranking among the giant engineering endeavors of the day Laboring 20 hours a day, through Winter g rain and Summer heat, workers with might even boomerang. Eventually we will produce more than we consume; that means mass layoffs and an inevitable depression. But the St. Lawrence project will open a cheap outlet to overseas markets which can buy much of our farm and factory surplus. industrial centers, for example, should reach wider markets through the St. Lawrence. The Chit-agAssociation of Commerce and route from the MidIndustry believes an west to Europe will mean that such products as farm Mid-contine- ot all arguments for the Seaway are stated LOCK DAM DAM Md rOWHHQUSI BI IROQUOIS CONTROL DAM IROQUOIS IRIDCE GRASS RIVER .d EISENHOWER LOCKS (U S.) mass en a NEW YORK improved Seaway to 52 million tons from the current machines 10 one-thi- rd federal tariffs will apply. York-Cana- million tons. Imports will increase, too, but Seaway experts argue that inland ports will no more become "dumping grounds" than any ocean port, since the same SOUTH CHANNEL CORNWALL IRIDCE high have completed more than the job Seven new locks. 27 feet deep and 7t8 feet long, already are eclipsing the 22 old canals, only 14 feet deep. While the dramatic work is in loosening the New bottleneck, the Seaway impact reaches of da Farnilu Weekly. Afinl 14. 1957 |