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18 the works and control the flow of water in the canal, and take any other steps he may deem necessary to protect the interests of navigation. Sec- tion 6 of the bill provides that if at any time an international commission shall be duly created to investigate and report upon the maintenance of the levels of the navigable waters, between the United States and Canada, and in case such commission shall recommend rules and regulations which shall become operative, the secretary of war may require the power canal at the Sault and all works connected therewith, to be operated, main- tained or changed in accordance with such rules and regulations. As leg- islation on this subject was sought by the power company in order to give them a right to divert water from the St. Mary’s river into their canal, and was not in any way sought by the Lake Carriers’ Association, no effort on the part of the association has been made to press the passage of this bill, and as the power company appear to have given the matter no atten- tion at this session, the whole subject will probably go over to the next congress. In the meantime the officials of the power company will be obliged to operate the canal subject to the existing provisions of law, which give the secretary of war the fullest authority to prevent the impair- ment of the capacity of any navigable channels of the United States. In view of the costly government works at the Sault and the great importance of every inch of water in the channels above the locks, the rights of ves- sel owners and the paramount interests of navigation ought to be safe in the hands of the secretary of war. VISIT OF THE RIVER AND HARBOR COMMITTEE TO THE GREAT LAKES Probably the most important event in the past year, especially in view of practical results to be obtained therefrom, has been the tour of inspec- tion through the great lakes made by the river and harbor committee of the house of representatives, upon the invitation of the Lake Carriers’ Association. Thirteen of the seventeen members of the house committee made this trip, the party including Chairman Burton of the house com- mittee, and Representative Reeves of Illinois, Dovener of West Virginia, Bishop of Michigan, Acheson of Pennsylvania, Morris of Minnesota, Alexander of New York, Lawrence of Massachusetts, Davidson of Wis- consin, Lester of Georgia, Bankhead of Alabama, McCulloch of Arkansas and Sparkman of Florida. Gen. H. H. Bingham, a member of the house committee on appropriations, was also a member of the party, as was Senator Thomas S. Martin of Virginia, a member of the senate committee on commerce. The association. also invited Prof. Willis L. Moore, chief of the weather bureau, and Mr. Sharwcod, secretary of the Maritime Ex- change of Philadelphia, to make the trip, and both of these gentlemen accompanied the party. The United States engineers in charge of the river and harbor works along the lakes were present with the congressional party, while the tour of inspection covered the works under their special charge. The Lake Carriers’ Association’s committee on the trip consisted of Messrs. Harvey D. Goulder, James S. Dunham, A. W. Colton, G. W. Gardner and C. H. Keep. Capt. McKay, chairman of the committee on aids to navigation, accompanied the party from Cleveland to the Sault, and Representatives Weeks of Michigan and Sheldon of Michigan also joined the party while it was passing through the districts which they rep- resent. The entire party, numbering thirty-nine altogether, assembled at Buf- falo on the 6th of August. They made careful inspection of Buffalo har- bor and the Niagara river from Buffalo to Niagara Falls. After leaving Buffalo on the revenue cutter Fessenden, which was kindly placed at the disposal of the party by the secretary of the treasury, they visited the har- bors of Erie, Conneaut, Ashtabula, Fairport, Lorain and Cleveland. At Cleveland they took the revenue cutter to Detroit, making a careful in- spection of the lower Detroit river and the vicinity of the St. Clair Flats canal. Boarding the steamer North West at the St. Clair Flats, they pro- ceeded through the St. Mary’s river to Hancock, Mich., passing through the Portage canals, and making a short visit to the mines of the Calumet & Hecla Company near Hancock. The next point visited was the head of the lakes, where the harbors of Duluth and Superior were thoroughly looked over. Four days were spent at the head of the lakes, of which two and a half days were spent on a special train, placed at the disposal of the “arty by the presidents of the Duluth & Iron Range, Duluth, Mesaba & Northern and Great Northern railroad companies. All the principal iron tines on the Mesabi and Vermillion ranges were visited. From Duluth the party returned on the steamer North Land to Mackinac, where most of them took a special train, visiting the harbors of Sheboygan, Manitowoc ‘and Milwaukee. Two days were afterwards spent at Chicago, one in the inspection of the Chicago river and drainage canal, and one at South Chicago and Calumet. The party disbanded at the close of the Chicago visit. While the trip was undertaken upon the invitation of the Lake Car- riers’ Association and the plans therefor were made and carried out by the officers of the association, much of its success was due to the local boards of trade and business men’s associations which undertook the entertain- ment of the party at the various ports and harbors visited. A magnificent entertainment was provided for the committee and other members of the party at Cleveland, the home of Chairman Burton. The party was very handsomely entertained at other points on the route, notably at Buffalo. Erie, Detroit, Duluth, Superior and Chicago. The trip was a revelation to many members of the committee, es- pecially to those from distant parts of the country, who had entirely inade- quate ideas of the extent of the lake traffic and the gigantic proportions of the business enterprises dependent upon it. Every member of the com- mittee expressed himself as greatly impressed with the extent to which every government work on the lakes was now utilized, and as ready to join hands in bringing about necessary improvements to make the chan- nels and harbors adequate for the business in sight. The practical benefits of such a trip to the lake carrying interests are best shown by a brief summary of the principal provisions of the river and harbor bill now pending in congress, so far as the same relate to lake harbors and channels. Among the important projects provided for by this bill are the following: For improving the Middle and West Neebish channels, St. Mary’s river, Mich., so as to provide two channels for up bound and down bound vessels, from Hay lake to the Middle and West Neebish, $500,000 is pro- vided, and the secretary of war is authorized to enter into contracts not to exceed in the aggregate $4,000,000 in addition to the $500,000. General authority is given to the secretary of war to expend neces- sary amounts from funds now on hand, provided for by the appropriations MARINE REVIEW. [January 17, for the 20-ft. channel from Duluth to Chicago and Buffalo, in removing obstructions to navigation which may develop in the connecting waters O1 the great lakes. This provision is of great importance, as it places in the hands of the government engineers a considerable sum of money which they can use promptly where needed to remove minor obstructions as may be found in the rivers. ; : Three hundred and thirty thousand dollars is provided for an ad- ditional canal at the St. Clair Flats. : x : Five hundred thousand dollars is appropriated for improving the chan- nels in the lower Detroit river, and the secretary of war is authorized to contract further to the extent of $1,250,000 for this work. This will pro- vide for the widening and straightening of the channels at and near the Lime-Kiln crossing, making a minimum width of the channel of 600 ft. and low water depth of 21 ft. and eliminating the bends between the head of Lime-Kiln crossing and Bois Blanc island. : In addition to these three channel improvements, all of the first im- portance, very important provision is made for harbor improvements on the lakes. Among the principal items of this kind are $200,000 for break- water work at Buffalo; $200,000 for improving the entrance to Black Rock harbor behind the new northerly breakwater at Buffalo, with further pro- vision that the secretary of war may contract for the completion of this improvement at an expense not to. exceed $614,643, in addition to the $200,000 now appropriated; $257,000 for the improvement of Niagara river ‘rom Buffalo to Tonawanda; $75,000 for the improvement of Conneaut harbor, with provision that the secretary of war may contract for the completion of the existing project there, at an expense not to exceed $342 000 in addition; $150,000 for the improvement of Fairport harbor; $600,000 for a new breakwater at Cleveland, with provision that the secre- tary of war may contract for the completion of the project at an additional expense of not to exceed $2,200,000; for harbor improvement at Luding- ton, Mich., $36,000, with provision that the secretary of war may contract for the completion of the project at a further expenditure of not to exceed $185,000; for impreving the harbor of Milwaukee, Wis., two appropria- tions, aggregating $170,000; for improving the harbor at Sheboygan, Wis., two appropriations, aggregating $78,200; for improving Burlington bay, Two Harbors, 'Minn., $200,000, with provision that the secretary of war may contract for the completion of the project at an additional expense not to exceed $235,000. ae ; As the funds of the Lake Carriers’ Association would not allow the expense attendant upon this tour of inspection to be paid out of the regu- lar funds in the treasurer’s hands, a call for voluntary subscriptions of one cent. per net registered ton was issued. A generous response was made to this call, no less than 575,000 tons being at once pledged to the extent of one cent per ton. this subscription was made. On Sept. 17, after all expenses connected with the trip had been provided for, 30 per cent. of the amount called was returned to the subscribers. LEGISLATION NOW PENDING IN CONGRESS TO PROMOTE THE BUILDING UP OF AN AMERICAN MBERUHANT MAKINE IN THE FOREIGN TRADE, On Feb. 9, 1897, Frank J. Firth, Harvey D. Goulder and Charles H. Keep were appointed a committee to represent your association in the membership of a general ““Committee on the Restoration of the American Mercantile Marine.’ This general committee was organized upon the invitation of Senator W. P. Frye, for many years an intelligent and un- tiring advocate of the national interests in shipping. The committee included in its membership men of all political beliefs, senators, represen- tatives, merchants, manufacturers, ship builders and ship owners, and it was invited to consider and recommend legislation for the encouragement of ship building and ship owning, with particular reference to the foreign trade. It was a well known fact that our merchant flag had practically dis- appcared from the oceans in the foreign trade and that we were almost wholly: dependent upon other nations to carry our farm and factory products to foreign markets. It was also well known that the compara- . tively few ship building industries we had upon our extended sea coasts on tie Atlantic and Pacific owed their existence wholly to the demands of our naval establishment and our protected home and coastwise trade. And further, those in authority viewed with anxiety the recognized in- efficiency of our navy and army in event of war, because we had no mer- chant marine upon the oceans to call upon for the essential transport, supply and auxiliary service without which no modern defensive or offensive war can be conducted. Your committee gladly undertook to aid in this important work, because of its national claims, and because they deemed it prudent to see that in any proposed legislation no unintentional harm should be done to the navigation interests of the great lakes. As the result of the labors of the general committee, guided by ex- Senator Edmunds as counsel, a bill was prepared and submitted. It has been amended in many respects and is now before congress known as the Frye-Grosvenor shipping bill. If enacted into a law it is hoped by those who have devoted much time to its preparation and study, that it will oper- ate to encourage and increase our ship building industries, and to place our merchant ships upon the oceans carrying our products to the world’s markets in time of peace and available as essential auxiliaries for the national defense in time of war. _ Your committee continues in the membership of the general com- mittee and will make the -protection of the navigation interests of the great lakes its special care in any proposed legislation. PRIVATE LIGHTING MATTERS DURING 1900, _ . The treasurer’s report shows that $5,109.00 was expended for private lighting during the past year, as compared with an expenditure for this purpose in 1899 of $5,334.00. During the year the association has got rid of one set of private ranges in the Sault river by the establishment of a Canadian government range in their place. Another private range at Birch point in the upper St. Mary’s river, which has been for several years maintained by the Lake Carriers’ Association, will be replaced next sea- son by a set of ranges to be built and maintained by the United States government. Provision for these ranges was made by congress several years ago, but there has been much delay owing to difficulty in getting title to the site of one of the towers. Sites have now been procured and Major Handbury, in charge of the district, writes that he will begin the construction of the beacons immediately. On July 21 a call for two-thirds of the amount of —