4
$3
g g SUNDAY. JUNE 30. 1963 MEOFOHD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFOHD. OREGON ; .
Mid-West Waiting for St. Lawrence Seaway Dream To Come True
i i u-. ftf iho manv who re
By DAVID SMOTHERS
United Prwi International
Chicago - tlTO - The Mid
west is still waiting for the
St. Lawrence Seaway dream
to come true.
It was less than five yean
ago - in April, 1959 - that
the passage was breached and
the way cleared for salt water
vessels to tap the wealth of
the nation's heartland.
That was a time of superla
tives. There wbs talk of 35
million tons of cargo within
the Seaway's first year. 50
million annually within 10
years. Duluth and Toledo
were to become the harbor ri
vals of New York and New
Orleans. Who could tell?
Some day ocean liners might
be docking at Detroit and Chi
cago's harbor lights would be
as famous as Singapore's.
It hasn't happened yet. In
a few cities along the Seaway
route the channel to the At
lantic has been everything the
civic planners dreamed. In a
few others, the age of the
Seaway has been a bitter dis
appointment. In most, the po
tential Is still there. But it
could be years before it is re
alized. Beyond Projections
After four years on the Sea
way, Toledo Port Director
Louis C. Purdcy estimated the
city's annual income is $20 to
$25 million richer. Tonnage
passing through the Toledo
port has "gone far beyond the
original projections made pri
or to completion of the Sea
way," he said.
But at the twin ports of
Duluth, Minn., and Superior,
Wise, which had dreamed of
a new iron age of prosperity,
there were many who felt
they'd be better off if some
one filled in the St. Lawrence
river.
In Chicago, once touted as
the potential queen of the Sea
way cities, port director Capt.
John J. Manlcy took the hard
nosed view.
"The Seaway has more than
lived up to the expectations
of realistic people," he said,
"but not the dreamers."
In most Seaway ports there
was agreement that Die cities
which have made the chan
nel pay off for them are the
ones which worked hardest
at it.
Child of Planning
The St. Lawrence Seaway
is the child of a half cen
tury of planning and bicker
ing, dreaming and frustration.
It had many enemies and has
many still. Railroads, truck
ers and East Coast and Gulf
Harbor interests were gener
ally blamed for blocking con
struction of the Seaway until
the 1950's. That was when
Canada, which hoped to cash
in most, announced plans to
go ahead. Then the United
States joined in.
The deepening of the St.
Lawrence channel from Mon
treal to Lake Ontario-along
with the locks and dredging
necessary to open up the
Croat Lakes to the West -meant
deep draft ocean ves
sels could take on steel at Chi
cago, iron ore at Duluth, cars
at Detroit, grain at Toledo.
In return, the "sallies" could
bring the infinite variety of
international cargo to the
landlocked Middle West.
It sounded wonderful. Yet
today, the St. Lawrence Sea
way Corp., the federal agen
cy in charge on this side of
the border, can't pay the in
terest on its $150 million loan
from the U.S. government. .
Worried About Talk
Shippers are worried about
talk of raising tolls on the
Seaway. New labor problems
replace old ones. Congress
men are unhappy. Port facili
ties are inadequate in many
cities. Harbor plans which
were on the drawing boards
back in the 50s are still there.
These were some of the
voices - optimistic and oth
erwise - heard along the Sea
way and in the Great Lakes
ports:
"Buster" slaughter, boss 'of
the International Longshore
men's association (ILA) at Du
luth: "There was the time
when the first shipment of
beer was to go overseas from
here. They didn't count it in
cars or cases. They said so
many bottles were being ship-1
pcd. When I figured out how
much that was - it was only
about a quarter of a car - I
laughed. Hell, my men drink
that much beer during lunch
hour."
A 'Whit El.ptenf
Joseph H. McCann, hard
pressed administrator of the
Masscna, N.Y.-bascd Seaway
Development Corp., replying
to talk of the waterway as a
"white elephant:" "Forget
about our balance sheet and
look what we've done for the
Midwest. The Seaway made
it possible for the steel mills
to get iron ore at a low rate.
We've lowered the cost of
shipping grain overseas. The
Seaway makes it possible for
American products to com
pete in a tough overseas mar
ket. Why, I know one com
pany selling 20,000 cars in
Australia, only because the
Seaway helped them become
competitive."
William J. Rogers, director
of port control at Cleveland:
"I don't think performance
has lived up to expectations.
We have not had an educa
tional program in the hinter
lands. As a result, we haven't
taken the business from Bal
timore and Philadelphia that
we should. The business goes
elsewhere when we can't pro
vide enough shelter or have
to move cargo from pillar to
post to make room."
Future Looks Good
R. J. Rankin, president of
Canada's St. Lawrence Sea
way Authority: "Once the fi
nancial problem of the Sea
way Authority has been sat
isfactorily arranged the fu
ture of the Seaway looks very
good indeed. I don't think it
should be held over the Sea
way Authority that the water
way is lagging behind - we
are lagging behind the antici
pation, but with a net rev
enue of $3.5 million what's
the matter with that?"
Wesley Harkins, executive
of the Frazer - Nelson ship
yards at Superior, Wise: "It's
all well and good to look at
the foreign flags in the har
bor and feel it's so romantic
and exotic. But it's quite an
other thing to figure what
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those ships are doing to our
economy. I just can't see
where the Seaway is ever go
ing to help this area. And it's
a fairly safe prediction that
there won't be an American
ship on the lakes in five
years."
It is almost as easy to speak
gloomily of the Seaway as it
was to hail its coming five
years ago.
The first year the channel
opened, total tonnage was
about five million below ex
pectations. Latest figures
from the Senate Public Works
Appropriations subcommittee
have total tonnage 34 million
below anticipations since
1959.
Tonnage increased 10 per
cent last year to a total of
Just under 26 million. Mc
Cann rated that a "banner
year," but the original hole
had been for 37 million tons.
"It is improbable that we
can catch up for many years
to come," McCann told the
Senate subcommittee last
month.
Shippers have recited a lit
any of troubles - unwilling
ness of some cities to pro
mote their ports; Congress re
fusal to let the Seaway Devel
opment Corp. spend money to
toot its own horn; the need
for still further work on the
Seaway itself; inexperienced
longshoremen; docks which
should have been modernized
years ago; foreign competi
tion; international lab or
snarls.
Buffalo grain traffic since
the Seaway opened has drop
ped drastically because ships
which used to unload their
cargoes onto rail cars now
sail straight on through to the
Atlantic.
Duluth - Superior had hop
ed to grow rich shipping iron
ore. Instead, the twin ports
are hurting because of foreign
ore coming through the Sea
way. Lake Superior shipping
companies are likewise afraid
of a fleet of "superships" be
ing built by the Canadians
with the aid of government
subsidization.
Reasonably Satisfied
Most Chicago business lead
ers appeared reasonably sat
isfied with their port's prog
ress, even though the city's
1,146.112 tons of export and
import cargo last year hard
ly made it a lake leader. Yet
shippers complained of t h e
lack of a heavy crane at Navy
pier, off midtown Chicago,
and of the "iron curtain" of
31 rail and highway bridges
spanning the river entrance
to the south side Calumet harbor.
At Cleveland, ex-mayor An
thony Celcbrceze fought with
the city council for a year
over placement of a heavy lift
crane before he became a
member of President Kenne
dy's cabinet. Cleveland port
authorities ruefully admit the
quarrel became a standing
joke in European shipping cir
cles. But the crane is now in
operation and paying divi
dends. Detroit tonnage has increas
ed less than half a million
since the Seaway opened.
Many blamed the slow pace
on the fact that Detroit is the
only big port on the lakes
without a public port authori
ty. Port authority boosters
charge that private owners
won't spend money until they
are sure of increased business.
Appear Thoroughly Happy
Other cities appeared thor
oughly happy with life on the
Seaway. In most cases, these
were the cities which had
made sure they would be
ready when the "sallies" sail
ed in.
Toledo's story was the most
dramatic. Since the Seaway
was born, the city has become
the largest American tonnage
port on the lakes with a 1I -inly
respectable 4.6 million
tons handled last year. Grain
tonnage at Toledo was only
200,000 in 1958. Now it's 1.6
million. Bulk cargo is boom
ing. Port Manager Purdcy
sketched in some of the rea
sons. "We've spent about $22 mil
lion expanding port facilities,
anticipating the Seaway traf
fic," he said. "Only $6 mil
lion has been spent in pub
lic funds. The rest was sup
plied by private enterprise.
"But you can have the best
facilities and location in the
world and you still won't
have a booming port unless
you sell it. We set aside S41,
000 annually for port promo
tion and the total budect for
public relations, advertising
and promotion is S75.000."
Competing With Ntw York
In Canada. Toronto acquir
ed a 300-ton lift, kept deepen
ing its harbor, and is now
competing for business with
New York. Hamilton. Ont.,
posted total tonnage of 7.9
million last year to lead the
lake cities and Monteral was
second with 5.3 million.
M i 1 waukee's expanding
port is one of the most mod
ern on the Great Lakes and
Port Director H. C. Brockel
says "The Seaway has come
quite close to realizing its ex
pectations." Although there is criticism
that Chicago got off to a slow
start as a Seaway city, city
and private interests have
promised to spend more than
$22 million on the harbor by
the end of next year.
One of the many who re
fuses to give up on the Sea
way's future is Ransom Cros
by of Massena, N.Y., execu
tive secretary of the Northern
New York Trust company and
son of E. B. Crosby, an early
Seaway crusader.
"We have entered a period
of enlightenment," Crosby
said. "A few years back. Sea
way backers felt that industry
and big ports would magical
ly follow the deep draft navi
gation. Now we know that we
must work for these things,
and work together."
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