Foods No. 50032
Page 2 University Daily Kansan Wednesday. April 28. 1954
100 Year History Surrounds St. Lawrence Seaway Bill
In the next few weeks, according to the whims of the Rules committee, the House will be considering legislation on the St. Lawrence Seaway, a project that has been discussed for more than 100 years but which never has progressed further than the halls of Congress
Briefly, the project calls for deepening the channel on the St. Lawrence river and building locks and canals to improve navigation between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic.
As the proposal now before Congress stands, it would create a St. Lawrence Seaway Development corporation with authority to sell bonds to pay for construction of canals, locks, and a 27-foot deep channel in the International Rapids section of the river and dredging in the Thousand Islands area.
Every president from Warren C. Harding to Dwight D. Eisenhower has favored such legislation, but the most progress the Seaway ever has made came in January when the Senate passed the bill. Sent to the House, which never before had acted on Seaway legislation, the bill was approved by the House Public Works committee Feb. 3. It is now in the hands of the Rules committee, which will determine when and if the bill will be brought to the House floor.
Support of the bill, as well as opposition to it, is generally organized on a sectional basis rather than on party lines. In the Senate 25 Republicans and 25 Democrats cast their ballots for the bill.
But it is the appeal for passage of the legislation as a boost to national security that apparently has been having the most effect in moving the bill through Congress after so many years of failure.
That has been the stand taken by President Eisenhower. Sen. Charles E. Potter (R.-Mich.), a senator whose home state adjoins the Great Lakes, said Congress should put aside local economic interests and consider the national security when it considers passing the bill.
For many years the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence association has lobbied for the Seaway. The group is composed of corporations, municipal, state, and county government officials, and other associations.
Opponents of the Seaway claim the project would have adverse affects on their own local economy.
Lobbying against the bill have been the Association of American Railroads, United Mine Workers, coal operators, and the Atlantic ports of Boston, New York, Baltimore, New Orleans, Houston, and Savannah.
Spokesmen for the railroads in 1951 hearings testified the Seaway would be "subsidized competition" not needed for defense because domestic supplies of iron ore were enough.
UMW officials testified the whole thing was promoted as a special privilege for five or six big steel companies, apparently referring to those in the Great Lakes area.
It remains to be seen if the House will pass the Seaway bill, thus leaving only the President's signature as a final step before the legislation becomes law.
If the bill does become law, after so many years of haggling, it may be primarily due to President Eisenhower's leadership. Sen. H. Alexander Smith (R.-N.J.) had opposed the bill for a long time but he decided to support it for the reason that the President had said it would benefit the national security.
In any event no one will be able to say passage of the bill, if it is passed, was not carefully considered.
In 1897 a commission appointed by President Grover Cleveland and the Canadian government recommended construction of a St. Lawrence Seaway as soon as possible. —Sam Teaford
A Topekan alleges he was served a glass of milk with a razor blade in it. Look sharp, feel sharp, be sharp.
Geneva Seen as Arena For Reds, Free World
There is much more at stake than a Korean peace treaty and settlement of the Indochina situation. Although these two things are of paramount importance and will be the main points of conflict, along with the question of whether or not to seat Red China, the ultimate effects of the conference could be far reaching.
The 19-nation conference at Geneva, which is going on at the present time, may well turn out to be a turning point in the struggle between Communism and the free nations of the world.
This conference could be a "do or die" attempt at some kind of reconciliation between the East and West. If the issues at stake can be settled with some kind of satisfaction for both sides, the way may be opened for further deliberations and agreements in the future.
But if these talks break down without any satisfactory solution, it could well be the last attempt for some time at trying to gain any progress by means of talk. If this happens, the only alternative left would be the use of force by one or both sides.
One thing that will hamper the conference is a prevailing attitude of pessimism among the delegates of both sides. No great satisfaction has, in the past, been reached through talking, and both sides seem to fear that this conference is going to end in the same vein.
But does it necessarily have to? One big factor that may work for a settlement of some kind—a factor that has been the cause for some optimism from some sources—is the very gravity of the situation.
The ramifications of a complete breakdown in negotiations between the East and West could, and probably would, be disastrous indeed.
The recent demonstrations of the vast power available for war, in the guise of the H-bomb, may well make the delegates from both sides of the issue consider carefully before attempting to break up the conference.
The future of mankind may well be resting in the hands of 19 nations at Geneva. —Don Tice
We propose some sort of medal be given on graduation day to women students who haven't been queen of something or other in their four-year career here.
Daily Hansan
University of Kansas Student Newspaper
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Member of the Kansas Press Assn., National Editor Assn., Inland Daily Press Assn., Assistant Secretary by the National Advertising Service, 420 Madison Avenue, N.Y. City. Mail Subscription rates: $3 a week (if in Lawrence). Published in Lawrence, Kan.; every afternoon during the University's semester holidays and examination periods. Entered second class matter Sept. 17, 1910 at Lawrence, Kan.; Post Office under act
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