The State Department at Washington has published papers with reference
to the diversion of the waters of the Great Lakes for the purposes of drainage and sanita- tion at Chicago. The papers also deal with the project of a canal between Chicago and the Mississippi, which would provide a waterway for vessels drawing not more than 9 feet, from Lake Michigan to the Gulf of Mexico. The conflicting arguments between the United States and Canada are a vivid illustration of the old truth that flowing water is everybody's property. You cannot check or divert a stream without injuring somebody further up or lower down. The level of Lake Michigan has already been considerably lowered by the use made of its waters to carry away the drainage of Chicago. This lowering of the lake has also lowered the levels of several Canadian harbours. Even the Ocean Shipping Canal between Montreal and the sea has been affected. The Canadians naturally say that the district of Chicago should dispose of its sewage in some more scientific way than that of carrying it off by a prodigal flush of water. The Washington correspondent of the Times points out that the United States Federal Government has taken pro- ceedings against the sanitary district of Chicago, but that the whole matter is still sub judice. No decision is expected for some months.
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