THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE. 



473 



THE PEOGBESS OF SCIENCE 



THE NIAGARA PROBLEM UNDER 

 LEGISLATION. 

 The whirlwind of public expression 

 in regard to diversion of Niagara 

 waters, which has swept through the 

 daily and periodical press, probably con- 

 stitutes the most notable outburst of 

 recent times over an essentially senti- 

 mental proposition. Making allowance 

 for easy extravagances of statement 

 natural to semisensational news arti- 

 cles, the serious elements in the problem 

 have been agitated with so much force 

 and with such preponderance of pro- 

 tests against further encroachments 

 that the whole subject has found its 

 way to the tribunals where the people 

 have undoubtedly wished to get it. 



By legislation or treaty, or both, the 

 existing situation, which actually seems 

 to menace the perpetuity of Niagara's 

 natural beauties, can undoubtedly be 

 remedied, but it still remains to be seen 

 whether it will be. At the present 

 writing the remedial measures insti- 

 tuted and in progress at Washington 

 and Albany have created a situation 

 from which the public may, at least, ex- 

 pect some salutary results, but which 

 does not yet justify the rather noisy 

 claims of various civic organizations 

 that they have ' saved Niagara.' 



The president in his last message to 

 congress urged legislation and sug- 

 gested treaty relations with Great 

 Britain to the desired end. Governor 

 Higgins in his annual message earnestly 

 pressed the situation upon the New 

 York legislature. President Roosevelt 

 intimated that if New York could not 

 take care of her rights in Niagara she 

 might cede them to the federal govern- 

 ment, but New York has not been in- 

 clined to entertain this proposition. 

 Early in the present session of congress 

 Senator Piatt introduced a concurrent 

 resolution authorizing the president to 



invite the cooperation of Great Britain 

 in the appointment of an international 

 commission which should undertake to 

 make recommendations as to the solu- 

 tion of the problem and to appoint 

 the American members thereof. The 

 progress of this resolution, reported by 

 Senator Burton out of the committee 

 en foreign relations, was obstructed 

 by the objection of Senator Teller, who 

 thought that inasmuch as it was es- 

 sentially a New York matter it must 

 take its allotted place on the calendar, 

 to be reached at some indefinite period 

 in the future. It is understood that 

 in the meanwhile the president had re- 

 ferred the matter of possible treaty 

 relations to the secretary of state, but, 

 if the press reports are correct, the 

 efforts made by this official through 

 the usual diplomatic channels have not 

 yet borne fruit. 



Meanwhile the international water- 

 ways commission, authorized a few 

 years ago by the secretary of war to 

 consider all problems arising in regard 

 to the control of the boundary waters 

 between the United States and Canada, 

 after specially investigating the condi- 

 tions during protracted hearings held 

 at Niagara Falls last summer, has 

 made an ex parte report in regard to 

 diversion in the Niagara River, that is, 

 a report adopted only by the American 

 section of the commission. This is 

 very strongly condemnatory of the ex- 

 isting and impending situation, and 

 forcibly urges immediate legislation by 

 congress to limit abstraction, if the 

 beauty of the falls is to be preserved. 

 This report calls attention to the fact, 

 elicited by their inquiry, that the pres- 

 ent authorized diversion from the 

 Niagara River is 60,000 cubic feet per 

 second, 26,700 to be taken from the 

 American side and 34,200 from the 

 Canadian; that this amount is 27 per 



