Show tight FIGHT LOOMS ON mm BILL OPPONENTS SAY ITS PURPOSE TO TAKE MORE WATER FROM LAKES suits cults pending against chicago most since slavery days hearings will begin in the supreme court in october washington Washing tom the most angrily contested question la in this congress will ill appear in the senate this week m when hen ithac body takes up the rivers and harbors bill among the hundred and sixty improvements authorized all lover the united states one is tor for the superficially innocuous purpose of deepening the illinois river back ot of that are industrial constitutional and international questions ot of extreme importance the advocates ot of the bill say its purpose is merely to make a more navigable passage for water borne freight from chicago to the gulf of mexico opponents say the additional purpose pose and certain result la 13 to enable chicago to io take more water out of the great lakes A condensed summary up to date would say that chicago twenty years lago ugo in order to get rid ot of sewerage lent cut through from the chicago river to the great lakes and abstracted aper from the latter about cubic feet per second which was turned down through the illinois river to the mis instead of going the normal iway way through niagara to the atlantic bocean ocean later chicago increased the amount of cubic feet the parti bisans sans of chicago say that only six inches of this tall fall Is due to chicago diversion and that the rest is due to what they call a ten year cycle ot of low water attended by abnormally small rainfalls rain falls and abnormally high evaporation several suits asked tor for an injunction against chicago the states of new york pennsylvania ohio indiana michigan wisconsin and minnesota joined in a second suit hearing of the suits will begin in fa the supreme court october 4 competent lawyers lave told the writer that these suits compose the most important question before the supreme court since the sectional suits arising out of slavery congressman theodore burton of ohio contends among other arguments that congress should postpone action about the illinois river until the supreme court decides the rending pending cults the advocates advocate of the deepening say they have done all that Is necessary by inserting a proviso that nothing in the act shall operate to change the existing status ot of diversion from lake michigan but the whole question of diversion shall remain and be unaffected hereby as it if this act had not been passed to this the answer ot of the opponents Is that exactly this language has the effect of legalizing what chicago had bad already done and the past acts of chicago are precisely what is in question before the supreme court as congressman charles A Alon monrieh of cleveland ohio put it the pending action would be recognition of diversion |