SPOLIATION OF THE FALLS OF NIAGARA 3° 5 



Unfortunately in the Province of Ontario it has become a political 

 question, and there the government has adopted the Power Company 

 which is causing the greatest amount of damage, although they could 

 have obtained their supply from two other companies which are doing 

 relatively little harm. 



A prominent man at Niagara Falls, X. Y., has expressed himself 

 as follows : " The subject of the diversion for power purposes is a burn- 

 ing question here, and a great number of unreliable and misleading 

 statements have been made by interested parties to justify the diversion, 

 stating that no damage will be done, and the work of Spencer " (refer- 

 ring to my recent book on the Falls of Niagara 3 ) "is most timely in 

 giving the results of a scientific examination of the whole problem, with 

 the data on which the conclusions are based." In that work, the data 

 are brought down only to January, 1906, but this contribution is based 

 upon additional information extended to the present day, enabling 

 me to give fuller and more precise results than in the original work. 



The preservation of the falls now depends upon the governments 

 at Washington and Ottawa. In the United States, apart from those 

 interested in the diversion of the water, there is a wide-spread sentiment 

 in favor of saving the scenic wonders of Niagara. But now another 

 interest joins hands with this, which is economic and of great magni- 

 tude, namely, the protection of navigation. It is to be hoped that 

 the national governments will so control the matter that this unique 

 world-treasure will be preserved for all time. 



At the present time the commission recommends the use of 28,500 

 cubic feet per second for the two restricted American power companies 

 and for the Chicago drainage canal, while 36,000 cubic feet per second 

 are conceded to Canada. 



3 " The Falls of Niagara," by J. W. Spencer, Geological Survey of Canada, 

 1907. 



VOL. LXXII. — 20. 



