36 ADVANCEMENT OF MARINE SCIENCES 



Second, the United States is lagging behind the U.S.S.R. 

 in the important fields of oceanographic underwater re- 

 search * * *. Are we going to wait until Russia's scientific 

 achievements in inner space exploration pressure us into 

 action as happened in outer space exploration? 



From an industry which has made significant contributions of im- 

 portance to our security, the committee received a strong expression 

 on the need for enactment of S. 901. 



Dr. Asa E. Snyder, director of research, Pratt & Whitney, Inc., 

 West Hartford, Conn., wrote to the committee as follows: 



As director of research for the Pratt & Whitney Co., an 

 old New England manufacturing company which is now a 

 division of the Fairbanks Whitney Corp., that is continually 

 diversifying its activities, I would like to give you our opinion 

 of the need for a bill hke S. 901. 



We believe that the future of mankind depends upon the 

 ability of men to fully exploit and fully utihze the resources 

 of our planet, particularly those of the ocean. 



Believing this, the Faubanks-Whitney family of companies 

 has begun a series of planned, self-supported studies and 

 developments to: economically desalt sea water, extract 

 power from the ocean, explore and exploit the ocean's 

 resources. 



In these areas of marine and oceanographic activities, 

 there is considerable justification for private enterprise to 

 invest capital of its own, but in many other areas of marine 

 research there is little justification for the investment of 

 private funds and it is in these areas that S. 901 will serve a 

 much needed purpose. 



It is our belief, therefore, that S. 901 is a needed act of 

 legislation which is for the good and welfare of the Nation. 

 May we encourage you to continue your well-founded efforts 

 in its behalf. 



THE INLAND OCEAN 



The Great Lakes lie in giant basins sculptured from the heart of the 

 continent by successive ice sheets during the ice ages. 



The five lakes, four of which we share with Canada, have a surface 

 area of 92,280 square miles and a shoreline of 4,649 miles. 



Scientists assert that were it not for these lakes and others in the 

 area similarly created, Midwestern and Northeast States would be 

 semiarid and far colder than they are at present. 



Winds from the Pacific Ocean lose moisture as they blow across the 

 continent and rainfall lessens as they pass over the dr}^ Plains States. 

 They renew their moisture in the Great Lakes region with the result 

 that the area around them is one of the most fertile in the Nation. 



The Great Lakes are unduplicated in magnitude by any of earth's 

 fresh waters and are unparalleled in their importance to commerce. 



With their short connecting rivers they are navigable for 1,156 

 miles to the St. Lawrence River. To reach the oceans, ships must 

 proceed another 1,185 miles. 



