492 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



necessarily aroused by a kind of pantophobia which may work a real 

 injustice to industrial progress. 



Except for that slender radical element of the community which 

 proudly avows its willingness to see the Falls wholly developed into 

 power all will agree that if danger is impending to the cataract it is 

 time now that the danger be measured and fully apprehended. 



The conservation of Niagara Falls is a question of public morals. 

 Every industrial enterprise of wide scope has as its foundation a 

 moral problem ; it can not be simply the producer of great wealth 

 regardless of the rights of others and of the higher claims of com- 

 munity life ; nor can it ignore the claims of spiritual excellence and of 

 the higher life which seeks something beyond the minted ideal. This 

 claim of the higher life, the demands of the finer emotions, the love 

 for the beautiful in nature, express themselves in part in the govern- 

 ment protection of natural wonders from defacement and destruction; 

 in organizations created to keep alive this sentiment and extend the 

 aegis of the state over natural glories which belong to mankind rather 

 than to men. No wise man confesses himself devoid of such emo- 

 tions. 



The violation of this moral principle in present practise offends 

 the best sentiments of the race. It is said that the classic Falls of 

 Lodore have been done to death by conversion into power. The far- 

 famed Falls of Montmorency at Quebec show only a tremulous and 

 weakened front to the traveler on the St. Lawrence, shorn of their 

 glories in order to light the City of Quebec. The City of Eochester, 

 seat of learning, refinement and industrial achievement, has exchanged 

 the beautiful cascades of the Genesee for a slimy canyon. These at- 

 tacks on natural phenomena have benefited the few, contributed to 

 their comfort and convenience; they have injured the many, robbed 

 them of a natural and proper heritage. 



Under the guidance of this principle the claim of the individual, 

 personal or corporate, must give way to the broadly founded rights 

 of the community and the race. Under whatever political control 

 such a majestic demonstration of nature's power may be, this control 

 must be looked upon as a trust rather than the possession of a mer- 

 chantable commodity or a commercial asset. States have not the 

 moral right to do as they please with such phenomena. In a final 

 analysis the individual or corporate claim to advantage from such a 

 source is wholly extinguished, howsoever expediency may qualify and 

 adjust the conflicting claims. 



Wherein does the danger to Niagara Falls from industrial de- 

 velopment lie? Simply in the drawing off of its waters from the 

 river above the cataract, carrying them around the cliff by some other 

 way or discharging them by tunnel into the face of the falls near 

 the base. 



