13 AUGUST 1932, Page 2

The Welland Canal Canada is to be congratulated on the

completion of the new Welland Canal, uniting Lakes Erie and Ontario and avoiding the Niagara Falls. The canal, which was opened last Saturday by the Governor- General, Lord Bessborough, in the presence of many delegates from the Ottawa Conference, is one of the greatest engineering works of its kind in the world. It is 25 miles long and its eight locks are. each 820 feet long, 80 feet wide and 80 feet deep, so that great ships can pass from one lake to another. The total cost has been g26,000,000. The importance of the route to Canada, especially for her wheat trade, is shown by the fact that this is the fourth Welland canal to be con- structed since 1829. The first was only 8 feet deep and 22 feet wide, but ships have expanded in size since those early days. The largest wheat carriers can now steam from Fort William at the head of Lake Superior direct to Montreal. If, as we hope, British imports into the Dominion are to be increased as a result of the Conference, the Welland Canal will give them easier and cheaper access to the prairie provinces than they have had before. * * *