CANADA'S TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM. 463 



under discussion in Canada for a number of years. It was first pro- 

 posed to build the canal as a private undertaking, a strong company 

 of Canadian and English capitalists having been formed for the pur- 

 pose. The company asked the federal government to guarantee their 

 bonds; but after some hesitation it was decided that if the work were 

 to be done it would be preferable to do it at the public expense, and 

 make it part of the great canal system of the country. 



Last session the Canadian parliament voted a generous sum to 

 provide for a thorough survey of the whole route, and most of this 

 preliminary work has already been completed. The original project 

 only contemplated an 8 or 10 foot channel; but as the discussion 

 dragged on from year to year, the rapid increase in draft of lake 

 shipping made it apparent that such a canal would be next to useless. 

 The proposed depth was accordingly increased to 12, and then to 15 

 feet. Finally the projectors came out boldly for a 20-foot ship chan- 

 nel, sufficient to accommodate all lake shipping, and making possible 

 the ambitious dream of shipping men for a route which would enable 

 ocean-going vessels to load their cargoes at Fort William, Duluth or 

 Chicago, and proceed to Liverpool without breaking bulk. The esti- 

 mated cost of such a channel runs all the way from $75,000,000 to 

 $100,000,000; but it is now realized that no smaller project would meet 

 the needs of the country, and it is understood that the Dominion gov- 

 ernment intends eventually to build the canal with a 20-foot channel. 

 One other Canadian water route must inevitably be opened up in 

 the next few years — that is the Hudson's Bay route. Several explora- 

 tion parties have at different times been sent out from Ottawa by the 

 government to examine into the possibilities and advantages of this 

 route, and especially the period of navigability of Hudson's straits. 

 The reports received have been rather conflicting, and as a matter of 

 fact none of the vessels have remained long enough in and around the 

 straits to finally decide the question. Mr. A. P. Low, on the Neptune 

 expedition of 1903-4, went fully into this matter, and although his 

 official report has not yet been made public, it is understood to be very 

 favorable. An examination of the earlier reports, taken in connection 

 with the favorable opinions of such authoritative men as Dr. Eobert 

 Bell, director of the Geological Survey, and Mr. A. P. Low, leads one 

 to the opinion that the straits are safely navigable for such a period 

 each year as would be quite sufficient to make the Hudson's Bay route 

 commercially successful. 



That the people of Manitoba have every confidence in the vast 

 possibilities of this route is proved by the significant fact that the 

 Manitoba government is now agitating for the extension of the pro- 

 vincial boundaries to the shores of Hudson's Bay, the intention being, 

 when this has been accomplished, to build a railway, out of the pro- 



