tion created and organized under the laws of the State of Illinois, its successors, and assigns, to erect, construct, operate, and maintain a dam, with its crest at an elevation of from thirty to thirty-five feet above standard low water, across the Mississippi River at or near the foot of the Des Moines Rapids, from Keokuk, Iowa, to Hamilton, Illinois, and to construct, operate, and maintain power stations on or in connection with the said dam, with suitable accessories for the development of water power, and the generation, use, and transmission therefrom of electric energy and power to be derived from the Des Moines Rapids on the Mississippi River: Provided, That in lieu of the three locks and the dry dock, with their appurtenances, now owned and operated by the United States, at the Des Moines Rapids Canal, the said Keokuk and Hamilton Water Power Company shall build, coincidentally with the construction of the said dam and appurtenances, at locations approved by the Secretary of War, a lock and dry dock with their appurtenances; the said lock shall be of such a kind and size and shall have such appurtenances and equipment as shall conveniently and safely accommodate the present and prospective commerce of the Mississippi River; the said dry dock and its appurtenances shall be such as to give space, facilities, and conveniences for the repair of vessels at least equal to those afforded by the existing Government dry dock and shops at the Des Moines Rapids Canal: And provided jurther, That the said dam and appurtenant works shall be so designed, located, constructed, maintained, and operated, and the said lock and dry dock, with their appurtenances, shall be so designed, located, constructed, and equipped, as to permit at all times during the season of navigation, and at any stage of water, the safe and convenient navigation of steamboats and other vessels, or of rafts and barges, through the portion of the Mississippi River now occupied by the Des Moines Rapids, as well as through the entire length of the pool formed by the said dam: And provided further, That detailed plans for the construction and operation of the said dam, lock, dry dock, and appurtenant works, shall be submitted to and approved by the Secretary of War before the commencement of any portion of the said works; and the said works shall be constructed under the supervision of some engineer officer of the Army designated for that purpose, and that after the approval of the said plans no deviation therefrom shall be made without the prior approval of the Secretary of War of any such deviation: And provided further, That compensation shall be made by the said Keokuk and Hamilton Water Power Company to all persons, firms, or corporations whose lands or other property may be taken, overflowed, or otherwise damaged by the construction, maintenance, and operation of the said works in accordance with the laws of the State where such lands or other property may be situated; but the United States shall not be held to have incurred any liability for such damages by the passage of this act: And provided further, That when the said dam, lock, dry dock, and appurtenant works shall have been completed to the satisfaction of the Secretary of War, the United States shall have the ownership and control of the said lock, dry dock, and their appurtenances, and operate and maintain the

same.

SEC. 2. That the withdrawal of water from the Mississippi River and the discharge of water into the said river, for the purpose of operating the said power stations and appurtenant works, shall be under the direction and control of the Secretary of War, and shall at no time be such as to impede or interfere with the safe and convenient navigation of the said river by means of steamboats or other vessels, or by rafts or barges: Provided, That the said company shall construct such suitable fishways as may be required from time to time by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor.

SEC. 3. That, except as provided for below in this section, the Keokuk and Hamilton Water Power Company shall bear the entire cost of locating, constructing, maintaining, and operating the structures and appurtenances provided for in this act: Provided, That the United States shall bear the cost of the supervision of the work by an engineer officer of the Army as provided for in section one of this act, and also the cost of maintaining and operating the lock and dry dock with their appurtenances, after their completion and due acceptance by the Secretary of War on behalf of the United States: And provided further, That the Keokuk and Hamilton Water Power Company shall provide, in connection with such lock, dry dock, and appurtenances, a suitable power plant for operating and lighting the same, according to plans and specifications submitted to and approved by the Secretary of War.

SEC. 4. That the act entitled "An act granting to the Keokuk and Hamilton Water Power Company right to construct and maintain wing dam, canal, and power station in the Mississippi River in Hancock County, Illinois," approved February eighth, nineteen hundred and one, is hereby repealed.

SEC. 5. That this act shall be null and void if actual construction of the works herein authorized be not commenced within five years and completed within ten years from the date hereof.

SEC. 6. That the right to alter, amend or repeal this act is hereby expressly reserved.

Approved, February 9, 1905.

PROPOSED BILL FOR CONGRESS.

A BILL To give effect to the treaty between the United States and Great Britain signed January 11, 1909.

Whereas it is stipulated in Article V of a treaty between the United States and Great Britain signed January 11, 1909, commonly known as the waterways treaty, that the United States may authorize and permit the diversion within the State of New York of the waters of the Niagara River above the Falls for power purposes, not exceeding in the aggregate a daily diversion at the rate of twenty thousand cubic feet per second, provided the level of Lake Erie and the flow of the Niagara River shall not be appreciably lowered; and Whereas the prohibitions of Article V do not apply to the diversion of water for sanitary and domestic purposes and for the service of canals for the purpose of navigation; and

Whereas it is stipulated in Article IV of said treaty that the boundary waters shall not be polluted on either side to the injury of health or property on the other; and

Whereas the cities bordering upon the Niagara River and situate in the district contiguous thereto are subjected to epidemics of typhoid fever caused by the polluted water taken from Niagara River, and considerations of public health demand the abatement of these dangers without delay; and

Whereas the Erie & Ontario Sanitary Canal Co. has been organized under the laws of the State of New York to construct, without State or Federal aid, a canal between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, beginning at a point at or near Smokes Creek, south of the city of Buffalo, on Lake Erie, and thence to the mouth of Eighteen Mile Creek on Lake Ontario, a distance of fifty miles, more or less; and

Whereas it is hereinafter provided that said canal shall be used free of cost by the cities of Lackawanna, Buffalo, Tonawanda, North Tonawanda, Niagara Falls, Lockport, and all other municipalities and communities situate upon the Niagara frontier, to carry off all the sewage and the sewage-polluted storm waters now flowing from said towns, cities, and municipalities into Lake Erie and the Niagara River, polluting the water thereof, to the great injury to the health of the persons living along the said Niagara frontier; and

Whereas the said canal will be of sufficient depth and width to enable boats, barges, and other water craft of large tonnange to navigate the same from its beginning on Lake Erie to a point intercepting the Erie Canal at or near the city of Lockport, in the State of New York, thereby increasing the efficiency and the value to the public of said Erie Canal; and

Whereas the level of Lake Erie will not be lowered by the building of said canal so as to interfere with or affect its navigability; and the waters flowing within the Niagara River, now under the control of the War Department, shall not be diverted so as to affect the beauty and grandeur of the volume thereof flowing over Niagara Falls: Therefore, to carry out conservation of health and power,

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representativs of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Erie & Ontario Sanitary Canal Co., a corporation organized under the laws of the State of New York, be, and the same is hereby, authorized to take six thousand (6,000) cubic feet of water per second from Lake Erie and Niagara River for sanitary purposes and canal navigation and power four thousand four hundred cubic feet thereof being the remaining part of the twenty thousand cubic feet allowed for power on the American side under said treaty and one thousand six hundred cubic feet thereof being an allowance under said treaty especially for sanitation and navigation, which volume of water shall be taken through three channels desig nated as Buffalo River, Smokes Creek, and Black Rock Harbor.

SEC. 2. That the company within two years after the passage of this act shall begin the construction of the aforesaid canal without seeking from State or Nation other aid than that afforded by such cooperation as may properly be effected between Federal and State authorities; and the said company shall thereafter with due diligence prosecute the work to completion.

SEC. 3. That in consideration of the aforesaid grant said company shall give to the cities of Lackawanna, Buffalo, Tonawanda, North Tonawanda, Niagara Falls, Lockport, and all other municipalities, public and private corporations and individuals situate or living in what is known as the Niagara frontier, the free use and perpetual right to use the said canal for sewage-disposal purposes and for the carrying off of flood waters caused by storms.

SEC. 4. That in consideration of the facilities which it will afford to the communities, municipalities, corporations, and individuals enumerated in section three of this act the company shall have and forever enjoy the right to and possession of all the water power which it is possible to develop from the volume of water which this act permits it to withdraw from Lake Erie and cause to flow through its proposed channels into Lake Ontario.

SEC. 5. That the company shall have the right, when Buffalo River shall have been sufficiently deepened and enlarged to a junction with the proposed canal, to make a proper connection of said river with said canal, and thereafter cause the waters of Lake Erie to flow through said Buffalo River into the said canal. And further, that the said company may make such changes and improvements in Smokes Creek, Ellicott Creek, and other streams in Erie and Niagara Counties as will permit water to enter the said streams from Lake Erie, and through them into the canal of the said company, and through the same into Lake Ontario.

And further, that the said company may build and maintain at the mouths of Smokes Creek and Eighteen Mile Creek such protecting piers and docks as may be necessary to carry out the purposes and operations of the company, all of which construction affecting navigation shall be done under the direction of the War Department.

SEC. 6. That the provisions of this law shall cease to be operative should it be judicially determined that said company has entered any conspiracy or unlawful combination or monopoly in restraint of trade.

SEC. 7. The Secretary of War shall extend the present permits for the diversion of the fifteen thousand six hundred cubic feet per second.

"THE ECONOMIC RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THIS IS MANIFEST."

Isham Randolph, M. A. S. C. E., Consulting Engineer.

Canadian laws prohibit pollution. The new international treaty declares that waters "shall not be polluted on either side to the injury of health or property on the other." The canal company will spend $30,000,000 of its own money in construction and buildings and will give the use of the canal perpetually to all the people of the Niagara frontier free, without taxation, for sewage disposal and flood abatement. Niagara River water can then be had pure without filtration and zymotic diseases will be decreased over 50 per cent, as has been proved in Chicago.

BRIEF OF MILLARD F. BOWEN, FOR ERIE & ONTARIO SANITARY CANAL CO.

All of international treaty should be covered in the bill and not Article V only. Jurisdiction of disposal of water should be retained by Congress absolutely, for purposes of stopping pollution of international waters, as well as for navigation.

A precedent for such a special grant as is asked for by us is that given to the Keokuk & Hamilton Water Power Co., February 9, 1905.

A national board of health should be formed to take full jurisdiction of interstate and international streams and lakes.

Conservation of both public health and power should be insisted upon.

This particular company that, without appropriations, will stop pollution by turning streams and sewers back from lake and river, should be given a grant equal to the existing permits, or at least to the extent of 6,000 cubic feet.

The hearing on January 6, 1911, on H. R. 26688, before the Committee on Rivers and Harbors, present our case quite fully.

If the Niagara Falls Power Co.'s 8,600 cubic feet were producing power at an efficiency of 80 per cent, at the rate of 15.4 gross horsepower per cubic foot, their production would be 105.952 horsepower.

With 6,000 feet we will produce 170.160 horsepower.

Independent competition should be insisted upon.

As a conservator of life and health, this company stands 100 per cent above any competitor.

New York State is interested from the standpoint that barge canal terminal facilities will be greatly increased, without appropriations.

Buffalo is interested because floods will be abated and sewage disposed of, without appropriations.

Other municipalities on the Niagara frontier petition for these things.

The status quo as to the other two companies will be maintained, and they testify that they are prosperous.

Medical societies and health officers of the frontier are clamoring for relief. Gen. Bixby testifies that the use of the balance of the 20,000 cubic feet on the American side will not unfavorably affect scenic beauty.

Industrial development to the fullest practicable extent is carried out by this plan.

STATEMENT OF OSCAR E. FLEMING.

Mr. FLEMING. I am from Windsor, Ontario. I am a barrister at law, counsel for the Electrical Distributing Co. of Ontario. They contemplate getting from the Hydro-Electric Commission, of Ontario, electric power from Niagara Falls to furnish Detroit, and in that way we are interested. I might remark in the first place that a great deal of what I had to say has been covered by the previous speakers. But I think it might be interesting to outline to you the scheme of the Hydro-Electric Commission of Ontario. It is a Government scheme originating with the municipalities to get for the people of Ontario electric power at cost. That is, the government makes nothing on the scheme and the people get it at actual cost. Now, they have a contract with the Ontario company for 20,000 horsepower. At the present time they are using 20,000 horsepower, and they are serving as far north as Toronto. It is about 180 miles from Niagara Falls to London and about 100 miles to Toronto. That is what they thought at first, but as the art of the uses for generation and distribution have developed they have found that they can send the power profitably 250 or 300 miles.

Now, the present municipalities in the scheme number about 20, and the thing has worked out very successfully. At our municipal elections on the 3d of January, 34 municipalities voted to buy power from the Hydro-Electric Commission with which to supply their people. In our district, between London and Windsor, on the Detroit River, 17 have voted to come with us. The Hydro-Electric Commission has made its figures, and the present consumption in that district would amount to five or six thousand horsepower. The cost of distribution in that district would be considerable, probably two million or two and a half million, which, added to the cost of the power at Niagara Falls and London, would make the price too high to serve this territory. So some parties the people of Windsor and the Detroiters-conceived the idea of taking from the commission part of the surplus to deliver in Detroit. It helps out the whole scheme to cheapen power. It enables the people in the district in which I live to get it at $30. That plan has been submitted to these municipalities and they have no objection to Detroit getting this benefit. As I understand it, there is an investment for distribution of several million dollars, and the more power that goes along the line cheapens the power for the consumers.

The contract was signed between our company and the commissioners, and at that time our company put up a guaranteed fund of

$250,000, and we have all the rights that we require, so far as Ontario and the Dominion of Canada are concerned. The only bar to our getting to Detroit is the Burton Act. We had in mind that the Burton Act was a temporary affair, to last until the treaty came into effect. Under that treaty we realized that we could do businessthat is, if there was no limitation put upon the export of power by that commission. Now, the commissioners are ready to go on with their work, and we take from the Government at Windsor 25,000 horsepower for Detroit use.

Mr. COOPER. Do the Canadian municipalities get it at cost?
Mr. FLEMING. Yes, sir.

Mr. COOPER. Detroit would not get it at cost?

Mr. FLEMING. No; because they charge us 10 per cent of our cost, because we are not interested locally. The Federal Power Co., of Detroit, is an organization associated with the Electrical Distributing Co., and we take the power and distribute it. The people are the same in the two companies, and it has got to be organized that way so as to distribute it in the two countries. They take the power there and sell it to the people in Detroit.

The CHAIRMAN. How long is this contract for?

Mr. FLEMING. For the full term of the contract with the Ontario Power Co. It expires in 1939.

The CHAIRMAN. How long, in your opinion do you think it would take to exhaust the power you are entitled to under the provisions of the treaty?

Mr. FLEMING. That is a difficult question. In taking this up what I want to say to the committee is this: It might get to a point where we could get the power from Detroit.

The CHAIRMAN. That is why I asked you that question. There is great industrial development in lower Canada?

Mr. FLEMING. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. And it is only a question of a very short time when the people of Canada will use all the water they are entitled to? Mr. FLEMING. I don't think there is any doubt about that. The CHAIRMAN. Would it be a year or two, or three years?

Mr. FLEMING. I wouldn't like to venture an opinion, but it is going to be pretty near that.

The CHAIRMAN. You are using now

Mr. GARNER. The Canadian side is using 11,000 and the American side is using 15,600 cubic feet.

Mr. DIFENDERFER. A little over 13,000, Mr. Garner.

The CHAIRMAN. You are using less than the American side?

Mr. FLEMING. Yes, sir; at the present moment. Now, as I said, we have all our plans made, but subject to the right to get into Detroit. I was about to say that in the ordinance the company was to sell the power at 20 per cent loss.

Mr.

What you want is the limitation taken off? Mr. FLEMING. Yes, sir.

Mr. COOPER. Why should Canada, if it can not use that which is there, be anxious to have the restriction taken off?

Mr. FLEMING. It helps out the scheme of giving the people in Detroit the cheap power; but we have other water power-the Niagara River and the Ottawa River-in the north country, so