216 



DOMINION OF CANADA. 



May 1, 1881. Both of these latter divisions 

 are to be built by the Government and deliv- 

 ered over. The subsidies, amounting to $25,- 

 000,000 and 25,000,000 acres of land altogeth- 

 er, apportioned to the different parts of the 

 road, are to be handed over in the following 

 amounts : for the first 900 miles of the Central 

 Section, $10,000 a mile and $1,000,000, and 

 12,500 acres of land for each mile ; for the 

 next 450 miles, $15,333 a mile and $6,000,000, 

 and 16,666-66 acres of land per mile ; making 

 the total money subsidy for this section, $15,- 

 000,000, and the land subsidy, 18,750,000 

 acres. For the Eastern Section the syndicate 

 is allowed a subsidy of land equal to 9,615J 

 acres per mile, or for the whole 650 miles, 

 6,250,000 acres. The company is to be called 

 the Canada Pacific Railway Company, and to 

 have its central place of business in Montreal. 

 The directors are to be George Stephen, Dun- 

 can Maclntyre, J. S. Kennedy, R. B. Angus, 

 J. J. Hill, H. Stafford Northcote, P. P. Gren- 

 fell, C. D. Rose, and Baron Reinach. Besides 

 the Lake Superior Section, already partly con- 

 structed, the Pembina branch, and the Yale- 

 Kamloops stretch under contract, the Govern- 

 ment agree to complete and hand over to the 

 company the 90 miles of road from Yale to 

 Port Moody, the cost of which is estimated 

 at $3,500,000. The materials to be used in the 

 construction of the permanent way are to be 

 admitted free of duty. The company may se- 

 lect their own route between the termini. No 

 other company shall have the right to con- 

 struct other lines in the Northwest to compete 

 with the road within a period of twenty years. 

 The road and all its appointments shall remain 

 free of taxation for ever, and no taxes shall 

 be collected from the company on the lands 

 included in tHe cession for twenty years. The 

 road-bed must be as good as that of the Union 

 Pacific when first built. The subsidy in money 

 and land belonging to each twenty-mile section 

 will be delivered upon the completion and 

 equipment of such section, save a drawback of 

 one fifth of the land, which will remain in the 

 possession of the Government as a security 

 for the maintenance of the railroad for ten 

 years after completion. The company is au- 

 thorized to raise money to build the road either 

 by selling the land to settlers, or by issuing 

 bonds secured by the land grant, or by mort- 

 gaging both the railway and the land ; $5,000,- 

 000 of the company's bonds may be held by 

 the Government as a pledge until the opera- 

 tion of the road for the stipulated ten years is 

 fulfilled. The grant of land consists of alter- 

 nate sections of 640 acres extending back 24 

 miles on each side of the line. When any of 

 this land is not fairly fit for settlement, the 

 company may choose instead an equal number 

 of sections lying within the same distance of 

 branch or side lines, which it shall locate any- 

 where within the fertile belt, or between the 

 forty-ninth and fifty-seventh parallels of lati- 

 tude. Upon the completion of the contract 



the railroad is to be the property of the com- 

 pany in perpetuity. 



The Dominion Parliament was convened on 

 the 9th of December, some two months earlier 

 than usual, in order that the Ministry might ob- 

 tain their ratification of the Pacific Railway 

 contract. The speech from the throne con- 

 tained the following references to this and 

 other subjects of public concern : 



During the recess my advisers thought the time 

 opportune for making another attempt to carry out 

 the declared preference of Parliament for the con- 

 struction and operation of the Canadian Pacific Kail- 

 way by means of an incorporated company, aided by 

 grants of money and land, rather than by the direct 

 action of the Government. Three of my Ministers, 

 therefore, proceeded to England for the purpose of 

 carrying on negotiations. I am pleased to be able to 

 inform you that their efforts were so far successful 

 that a contract has been entered into, subject to the 

 approval of Parliament, with men of high financial 

 standing in Europe, the United States, and Canada, 

 for the speedy construction and permanent working 

 of this great national enterprise. The contract and 

 the papers connected therewith will be submitted to 

 you without delay^, and I invoke for them your early 

 and earnest consideration. With this view I have 

 summoned you before the usual period, as no steps 

 can be taken by the contractors to prosecute the work, 

 and no permanent arrangement for the organization 

 of a systematic emigration from Europe to the North- 

 west Territories can be satisfactorily made till the pol- 

 icy of Parliament with respect to the railway has been 

 decided. 



Steady progress has been made in the construction 

 of those portions of the railway now under contract. 

 Two additional sections have been recently opened for 

 traffic one from Winnipeg to Portage La Prairie ; 

 the other from Cross Lake to Keewatin so that there 

 are now in all two hundred and sixty-four miles in 

 operation. 



You will be glad to learn that the measures adopted 

 to promote economy in the working of the Intercolo- 

 nial Eailway and Prince Edward Island Railways, 

 have resulted in a large reduction of the difference 

 between the revenue and expenditure, and that the 

 steadily increasing traffic warrants the expectation 

 that during the current year these railways will be 

 self-sustaining. 



I have the "gratification of informing you that her 

 Majesty's Government has generously presented to 

 Canada for training-school purposes the steam-cor- 

 vette Charybdis, lately returned from service in the 

 Chinese seas. The correspondence on this subject 

 will be laid before you. 



I have thought it well, in consideration of the in- 

 creasing duties thrown i>y the development of the 

 country upon the civil service, and for the more effi- 

 cient organization of the service, to issue a commis- 

 sion to examine and report on the whole question. 

 The report of the Commissioners will, I believe, be 

 ready to be laid before you at an early day, and I ask 

 for your consideration of such report and of the whole 

 subject of civil service reform. 



A measure for the enlargement of the boundaries 

 of the province of Manitoba will be submitted to you. 



I greatly regret being obliged to state that the entire 

 failure of the usual food supply of the Indians in the 

 Northwest Territories, to which I called your atten- 

 tion last session, has continued during the present 

 season, and has involved the necessity of a large ex- 

 penditure in order to save them from starvation. Sev- 

 eral of the bands have, however, already applied 

 themselves to the cultivation of their reserves and the 

 care of their cattle. No effort will be spared to induce 

 the whole of the aboriginal population to betake them- 

 selves to agricultural pursuits. 



Immigration from Europe into Canada is 



