NOTES. 



A BEMINISCKNCK OF 1878. 



Tlie first public utterances in favour of a railway, of whieli a 

 jecord lias been jtreserved, occurred in a lecture on " This New- 

 foundlauil of Ours," (klivcicil liv tlie Rev. M. Harvey before the 

 St. .John's Athenanuu on Fcl)niarv 11th, 1878, and afterwards 

 jniblishcd. Tlie following are a few sentences from this lecture : 

 "What we want is a grand trunk railway with branches radiating 

 to all the jirincijial districts. My firm conviction is that New- 

 foumlland has reached tliat stage in which a railway has become 

 iin absolute necessity if she is to make further jirogress ; and that 

 we ought to strain every nerve and submit to almost any sacri- 

 fii'e in oi'iler to olitain tliis gi-nnd necessity of moilern civilization. 



Look at our iut el ual condition as suggesting the 



necessity of a railway. What are we going to do with this huge 

 territory of forty-tw(j thousand square miles ? Are we going to 

 leave the interior forever to the wolves and tlie deer ? Are the 

 fine agricultural districts to remain sdlitudes when our own 

 people and the jieojde of other cniintries, who are in need of 

 bread, Avould occupy tliem if they were made accessible, and 

 transform them into smiling farms ? Must our noble forests 

 be left to rot or burn '. Our rn;\] beds and mineral deposits to 

 sleep forever Avlieie bountiful nature has stored them? Shall 

 .our peo^ile cling forever to the rocky shores, and content them- 

 selves ■\\'ith a precarious existence derived from the stormy deep ? 

 Shame on us if we do not rise to a nobler cimception of our des- 

 tiny as a people, and utilize the gifts of a bountiful Providence. 



"To me it seems that the jiresent generation are brought face 

 to face with the task of constructing a railwav across the island, 

 and that they will prove untrue to their duty if tliey do not lay 

 aside all ])arty consideratioiH ami unitedly and valiantly gird 

 themselves for the work. Think for a moment wliat the con- 

 :fitruction of such a railway means 1 It means the opening up 



