I laid on the table the other day a copy of this pamphlet, and if you will look at it at this place in here you will see the lines marked showing what has been cut off and the future effect on the Falls. REFERENDUM LEAGUE OF ERIE COUNTY, To the Hon. WM. SULZER, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: The city of Buffalo in November, 1905, voted to establish a municipal electric-lighting and power plant for the benefit of the city and its inhabitants. In order to get the electric current for its municipal distributing plant at a reasonable price, Buffalo must get electrical power from Niagara Falls by and through a State generating and transmission plant. Any further grant by the United States Government of the unused 4,400 cubic feet of water per second, which, under the present treaty, is permitted to be diverted on the American side of Niagara Falls, should be granted by the General Government to the State of New York. Electricity can be produced at Niagara Falls using the public waters at a cost not to exceed $6 for horsepower per year, and is actually sold to the Ontario Government for less than $10 per horsepower per year. Power poduced at the Falls and tansmitted to a much greater distance from the Falls than Buffalo is sold for less than the prices charged for like amounts of power in Buffalo. The distributing company in Buffalo charges the small consumer at the rate of $600 per horsepower per annum, as against the $6 per horsepower, cost of production at the Falls. The several companies which produce, transmit, and distribute electricity either have a community of interest or unite in a policy adverse to the small consumer. The Niagara Falls Power Co. sells 450,000,000 kilowatts per annum for one and a quarter millions of dollars. The Cataract Power & Conduit Co. sells one-third of this amount for $1,000,000. And the Buffalo General Electric Co. sells one-twentieth of the first amount for $1,000,000. The city of Buffalo can be lighted and heated at night, both publicly and privately, by less than 200,000 horsepower. The scenic beauty of Niagara Falls need not be considered at night, and 1,000,000 horsepower could be generated on the American side alone, at night. It is suggested that sufficient horsepower for heat and power uses in Buffalo can be generated and transmitted at night and stored by modern methods for day use in Buffalo. This organization, composed of over 5,000 citizens of Buffalo, and speaking for the small consumer of Buffalo, to whom light and heat at reasonable prices are necessaries, respectfully asks that action be taken to modify the existing treaty so that the full amount of water at Niagara Falls can be used at night; that the same be granted by the General Government to the State on condition that it be used for a State generating and transmitting plant, or controlled by the State in the interest of the general public or the small consumer. It is suggested that even if the State of New York will not establish a State hydroelectric, generation, and transmission plant that all future grants of power be made by the United States Government to the State of New York alone, upon the express condition that prices shall not be charged by the producing companies greater than prices now charged to the Government of Ontario, and that prices charged by transmission and distributing companies shall be fair and reasonable to the small consumer, based on the actual cost of the power to these companies and the actual cost of transmission and distribution, with a fair profit added thereto. All of which is respectfully submitted. REFERENDUM LEAGUE OF ERIE COUNTY, Consulting Engineer. 28305-12- -13 The following table was prepared by an American firm of manufacturers on making investigations for a Canadian location. Estimate is based on smallest business possible. Gas is the largest saving in Welland's favor, as our business requires much heat for forging; but for large users of power, that would be the greater factor. As your business increases, so, proportionately, do the advantages of Welland. N. B. Toronto three times as far from Niagara Falls as Buffalo. Mr. SPENCER. With regard to the total use of water, the Cataract Co. of Ontario, deriving its power from the Welland Canal, has an immense storage basin. From the reports of the lawsuit, it appears that the difference between an average consumption of water and that during the Peak Load may vary from 150 to 500 per cent. From all of these considerations, so far as general manufacturing, lighting, and electric railway purposes are concerned, there is no reasonable prospect of the Canadian limit being reached in the near future. If, on the other hand, the great alluminum, carbide, and similar works are to consume the Falls of Niagara, what will there be left for general manufacturing purposes, employing vast bodies of labor, and for domestic purposes? Gentlemen, I thank you for your attention. I can not begin to cover the scientific problems here, they are very complicated. But I am in a position to give you facts, because I myself have made many of the surveys and investigations of the Falls, covering years of work in the field, with the knowledge of what the engineers have measured, so that my work is not even an office compilation, and any further information that you desire from me will cheerfully be placed at your disposal, but I wish it to be remembered that I am not in hos tility to the vested rights of anyone, but some of the vested rights belong to the people. The CHAIRMAN. Are there any other gentlemen present who desire to be heard this afternoon? Mr. BROWN. One question Mr. Spencer knows about I might ask him. The CHAIRMAN. Yes. Mr. BROWN. Mr. Spencer, is it not true, or do you understand it to be true, that the unwatering of the Canadian end of the crest from the Horseshoe Falls prior to the time any diversions for power were made upon the Canadian side, had progressed so far that in 1902 the Canadian Park Commisioners caused 250 feet of the former crest, lying at that time unwatered, to be filled in for the purpose of improving the scenic effect of that part of the park? Mr. SPENCER. I will say that the diversion of the water by the New York compaines had affected the water on the Canadian sidethat is, two New York companies had so diverted, deflected the water from the Canadian side that the water had receded and they were compelled to fill that in. But before that the earlier photographs show it, and this diversion was done on account of the continued increase of the lowering of the water on the Canadian side. Mr. BROWN. Just a moment. Before 1902 there had been no substantial diversions upon the Canadian side? Mr. SPENCER. The lower end of the water at that time had risen from the diversion by the New York power companies. Mr. BROWN. But prior to 1902-I am speaking as to back in those times the erosion from the Falls causing a recession of the crest of the Falls? Mr. SPENCER. It was the diversion of the water. A great deal of the water on the upper rapids is now very thin. I have seen the time when during extremely low water one-fourth of the upper rapids have been bare. Mr. BROWN. I was trying to compare your statement with this one made in the Canadian reports of the American engineers. That is all. The CHAIRMAN. Is there a gentleman present who desires to be heard now in this matter? Mr. DIFENDERFER. I suggest, Mr. Chairman, that you call Mr. Barton, if he is here. Mr. BROWN. Let me say, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Barton went back to Niagara Falls last night. If you would like to hear from him I will ask him to come here and appear before your committee Tuesday. Mr. DIFENDERFER. He is manager for the Hydraulic Co., is he not? Mr. BROWN. Yes; for the Niagara Falls Co. Mr. Barton can give you any information you desire. Mr. DIFENDERFER. I would like to question Mr. Barton on some points I have in view, but I hardly think I will request his coming here. Mr. BROWN. Without any request, upon the statement of the committeeman, I will see that he is here. I am only too anxious to give them any figures. |