711.42157SA29/1041

The Canadian Minister (Herridge) to the Secretary of State

No. 8

Sir: I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your note of January 13th, 1933, relating to the effect of the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Deep Waterway Treaty upon the diversion of the waters of the St. Lawrence River at Massena.

My Government shares the views of the United States Government that it was not the purpose of the Treaty to fix, in any respect, the policy to be pursued in regard to the maintenance of such diversion. It is the view of the Canadian Government that the continuance or discontinuance of that diversion is a purely domestic matter for determination by competent authorities in the United States.

The Canadian Government, therefore, joins with the United States Government in a declaration of the following principles: [Page 100]

1.
The effect of the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Deep Waterway Treaty, signed at Washington July 18th, 1932, is not, in any respect, to recognize, confirm, or establish any rights or claims of any person or corporation, in respect to the diversion of water for power purposes through the Massena Canal and Grass River, or to limit the freedom of the United States or the State of New York, or other competent authority, to treat the question of the continuance, control or elimination of such diversion as a domestic question;
2.
The Canadian Government does hereby and will, upon request, formally consent to the modification or elimination of the works provided for in the report of the Joint Board of Engineers, in connection with the said diversion through the Massena Canal;
3.
The Canadian Government recognizes that the competent authorities in the United States are free to eliminate the diversion of water for power purposes through the Massena Canal and Grass River, and to use the water so released through the main river works in conformity with the provisions of Article IV of the said Treaty.

I have [etc.]

W. D. Herridge