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FINAL REPORT INTERNATIONAL JOINT COMMISSION.

Amendment of ref

erence.

In this report the term "boundary waters" shall have the meaning attached to it by the treaty. The reference as thus submitted is broad enough to require an investigation of all boundary waters as the same are defined in the treaty without regard to the present or future transboundary effect of their pollution on either side; but when it first came before the commission at its Ottawa meeting in October, 1912, a doubt arose as to whether or not the two Governments intended that pollution in all boundary waters was to be included in the investigation, and a letter was addressed to both Governments requesting an expression of their views in such manner as they might deem proper

As to whether or not the broad scope of the inquiry is to be circumscribed by construction so as to confine the same to cases of pollution of the boundary waters upon one side of the boundary which may extend to and affect the boundary waters upon the other side.

By letter under date of November 19, 1912, the commission was informed by Mr. Knox, Secretary of State, that the Governments of the United States and Great Britain had

reached an accord that the inquiry is to be confined to cases of pollution of boundary waters on one side of the boundary which extend to and affect the boundary waters upon the other side.

The original submission as modified by this limitation constitutes the reference under which the commission is acting.

Omission of pollution in rivers crossing the boundary.

The treaty, in addition to prohibiting such pollution of boundary waters as would have the effect of injuring health or property on the side of the boundary line opposite to that in which it originates, prohibits the pollution of rivers flowing across the boundary line which has an injurious transboundary effect. The first question omits entirely any reference to pollution in these rivers, although it is involved in the second question submitted. The facts connected with pollution in rivers crossing the boundary line, however, call for no special investigation; and the commission regards it as clear that the treatment prescribed in the case of rivers which are boundary waters should be made applicable to them.

Interests and territory affected.

The reference has imposed upon the commission grave responsibilities. From the language of the submission and this prohibitory clause of the treaty, it is evident that the object which the two Governments had in view in making the reference was to see that their reciprocal obligations with respect to the pollution of those waters should be fulfilled. By the traditions of each country a treaty obligation is of supreme sanctity and is the highest law of the State. Any conclusions the commission may reach and any recommendations it may make, may, if acted upon, affect

the physical health of millions of people who dwell along these waters, as well as the financial and other interests of eight States of the United States and three Provinces of the Dominion.

The people of both countries possess, in the splendid immensity of the series of waterways through which so much of their common boundary passes, a heritage of inestimable value. Millions of people dwell in their watersheds. Along the banks of the rivers and Great Lakes communities which a few years ago were mere villages are now in population, in social and industrial development, among the most important on the continent. Industries which have suddenly sprung up have an annual output of manufactured products aggregating in value $10,000,000,000. Agriculture and mining have kept pace with manufacturing in the line of expansion. According to official information the rural population of the watersheds cultivate to-day over 100,000,000 acres of land, and the yearly yield of the mines is valued at $300,000,000. The boundary waters are the natural channels of interstate and international commerce. The world possesses no other water thoroughfare comparable with the highway leading from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the head of Lake Superior. While nature left comparatively little for man to do in adapting these waters to commercial needs, canals had to be constructed at certain points, and rivers, channels, and harbors deepened or created. These works involved an expenditure on the part of Canada of $250,000,000 and on the part of the United States of $135,000,000. Vessels drawing 19 or 20 feet can now navigate the Great Lakes from Duluth or Chicago to Buffalo. Some idea of the magnitude of commerce on these waters may be gleaned from the fact that the vessel passages up and down the Detroit River in 1916 amounted to 37,852, the registered tonnage of the vessels reaching 76,677,264, their passengers, including ferry passengers, numbering 15,000,000 and their freight exceeding 100,000,000 tons, valued at something over $1,000,000,000.

The Thousand Islands and hundreds of other attractive spots along the St. Lawrence River, the Great Lakes, and their connecting waterways, as well as in that splendid chain of boundary waters still farther west which lie within the Lake of the Woods watershed, afford unexcelled opportunities for rest, recreation, and pleasure, which are taken advantage of by a very large floating population during the summer months.

The directness of the water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the head of Lake Superior, the adaptation to water carriage of the freight borne by the lake boats, and the cheapness with which this freight can be transported by them, the completion of the barge canal from Buffalo to New York, the proposed enlargement of the Welland and other canals along the boundary rivers permitting the

passage of vessels of 28 or 29 feet draft from the ocean to the heart of the continent, the future settlement of the great wheat belt of Canada, the fringe only of which has been touched, and the possible utilization of the 3,375,000 dependable horsepower of the boundary rivers, render the conclusion inevitable that the commerce and shipping on these waters and the wealth, the industries, and the population along their banks must in the near future reach dimensions far exceeding their present attainment, and may ultimately far surpass any area of similar extent in the world. In working out the enormous possibilities of this vast section of the continent the proper observance of international sanitary requirements will be a most essential factor.

The first branch of the reference expressly calls for an inquiry

into three subjects: (1) The location and extent of Scope of the Inquiry. the pollution of boundary waters, (2) the sources from which this pollution is derived, and (3) the localities, if any, in which the pollution has a transboundary effect injurious to health or property. Involved in this last subject is the determination of what is an injury to health or property within the meaning of the reference and of the treaty. The second branch of the reference calls for the recommendation of measures and methods for remedying or preventing existing or future evils.

II.-PLAN OF PROCEDURE IN THE INVESTIGATION.

Examination of exIsting pollution.

While the answer to the question in the first branch of the reference covers chiefly matters of fact, the proper procedure to be followed in the investigations required the most careful consideration of everything involved, of the geographical and experimental limitations that might with advantage be imposed on the scope of the work, of the most suitable form of organization for carrying out the necessarily extensive examinations thoroughly, expeditiously, and economically, and of the minor details of technique and general procedure. Many of the matters involved called for expert assistance, and the commission enlisted the sympathetic aid and cooperation of sanitary experts, health officials, and others interested in both the United States and Canada in the preparation and carrying out of a plan of procedure. A conference was held at Buffalo on December 17, 1912, at which, on the invitation of the commission, the following officials and experts were present and participated: Mr. John Thompson, K. C., representing the Dominion Government; Dr. Frederick Montizambert, director general of public health for the Dominion of Canada; Dr. Charles A. Hodgetts, medical advisor, commission of conservation, Ottawa; Dr. John A. Amyot, director of laboratories, provincial board of health, Toronto; Dr. J. W. S. McCullough, chief health officer for Ontario; Mr. F. A. Dallyn, C. E., provincial sanitary engineer for the Province of Ontario; Mr. Theodore J. Lafrenière, sanitary engineer, provincial board of health of Quebec; Dr. Allan J. McLaughlin, United States Public Health Service, Washington; Hon. George Clinton, Buffalo; Mr. A. H. Seymour, secretary State department of health, Albany; Mr. Theodore Horton, chief engineer, State department of health, Albany; Dr. Edward Clark, medical health officer, State board of health, Buffalo; Mr. George H. Norton, deputy engineer commissioner, department of public works, Buffalo; Dr. Francis E. Fronczak, health commissioner, Buffalo; Mr. H. A. Whittaker, assistant director, laboratory division, Minnesota State Board of Health; Mr. John W. Hill, State board of health, Cincinnati, Ohio; Dr. Edward Bartow, director State water survey, Urbana, Ill.; Mr. W. M. Mills, president Niagara Frontier Pure Water Conference, North Tonawanda, N. Y.; Dr. W. G. Palmer, member of the Niagara Pure Water Conference, North Tonawanda; and Mr. Irving L. Pruyn,

Oneonta, N. Y. Representatives from the health departments of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, although requested to do so, were unable to attend.

The conference was organized, Mr. A. H. Seymour, secretary of the New York Department of Health, being appointed chairman, and Dr. Allen J. McLaughlin, of the United States Public Health Service, secretary.

The commission requested the advice of the conference as to the points in boundary waters where investigations should be made, the general nature of the investigations at these points, and other matters of detail.

The conclusion was reached that the points of investigation should include Rainy River, St. Marys River, Lake St. Clair, Detroit River, Niagara River, the St. Lawrence River from Lake Ontario to a point as far below the international boundary line as should be thought necessary, the lake waters in the vicinity of Port Arthur, Fort William, and Duluth, the lower end of Lake Huron in the vicinity of Sarnia and Port Huron, the western end of Lake Erie in the vicinity of Cleveland and Port Stanley, the eastern and western ends of Lake Ontario, and sections of the latter lake at Rochester andToronto. It was contemplated that other points on the boundary outside of the Great Lakes system should be examined if subsequently deemed desirable.

The conference further advised the commission that the investigation should include a bacteriological examination of samples taken, including the bacterial count, the qualitative and quantitative estimation of B. coli according to standard methods, and such chemical examination as might subsequently be deemed necessary.

vestigation.

In February, 1913, a detailed plan for conducting the investigation in its entirety was adopted, and Dr. Allan J. Bacteriological in McLaughlin was employed as chief sanitary expert and director of field work. With him the commission associated Dr. J. W. S. McCullough, Dr. John A. Amyot, and Mr. F. A. Dallyn, C. E. For the sake of convenience these four gentlemen will hereinafter be referred to as "the sanitary experts."

The carrying out of the adopted plan involved what is probably the most extensive bacteriological examination of waters the world has ever known. It embraced Rainy River, parts of Rainy Lake, parts of Lake of the Woods, Thunder Bay in Lake Superior, St. Marys River, Mud Lake, Detour Passage, lower Lake Huron, St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, Detroit River, the western end of Lake Erie, the central portion of Lake Erie, the eastern end of Lake Erie, Niagara River, the western and eastern portions of Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence River from Lake Ontario to Cornwall, and the St. John River so far as it forms the international boundary. The num

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