50 feet. They connect with Mattawa River and Trout Lake, and Trout River and Lake Nippissing will be on the same level. The CHAIRMAN. So that there will be no discharge except from Lake Nippissing. Mr. CONNOLLY. The water will be discharged both ways, and one of the difficulties was to provide enough water to supply it, because Trout Lake was slightly higher than Lake Nippissing, but they decided to cut a straight canal across and connect the lakes, and bring Trout Lake down in level to Lake Nippissing. The Ottawa River has a lower elevation than the St. Lawrence River. The CHAIRMAN. The fall from Lake Nippissing to Ottawa is quite considerable? Mr. CONNOLLY. Yes; I think Lake Nippissing has an elevation of 620 feet. The CHAIRMAN. That would give a tremendous amount of water power? Mr. CONNOLLY. Yes; the Ottawa River is being improved as a water-power system. They have some dams and also a series of falls, and they are able to regulate the Ottawa very considerably. It varies a good deal. It is very much like the Susquehanna. The idea is to put in certain dams and regulate that. The CHAIRMAN. And this will develop a tremendous amount of water power as well as being of use as a canal. Mr. CONNOLLY. It really is a water-power project. As a canal project I don't think much of it. You can not run a steamer with sufficient speed to compete with the steamers running down the Great Lakes, where they have great open stretches. There are too many locks. The CHAIRMAN. But as a water-power project you think it is good. Mr. CONNOLLY. Yes; it is good for that. The CHAIRMAN. Is there any jealousy between the different Provinces? Mr. CONNOLLY. There is jealousy between the two Provinces there. The CHAIRMAN. Is there any statutory regulation for such things as boundary streams? We have the same difficulty on the Delaware and on the Susquehanna. Mr. CONNOLLY. There has been incessant friction between the Provinces, between each other, and between the Provinces and the Dominion Government. The CHAIRMAN. And it is not yet settled? Mr. CONNOLLY. No, sir; Sir Adam Beck can tell you more about that. The water-power bill proposed, now under consideration, is in my judgment a very desirable and necessary measure, and should, if enacted, be of great benefit to developers of water powers, and to the whole community. Thereupon the committee was addressed by Miss Jeanette Rankin, Member of Congress, after which the committee adjourned, to meet on call of the chairman. The statement of Miss Rankin will be published in a subsequent volume. |