264 



DOMINION OF CANADA. 



Victoria). The outlying colonies are Prince 

 Edward's Island and Newfoundland, from 

 neither of which has yet coine any formal ap- 

 plication to unite the interests of the island- 

 ers, political, financial, and social, with those 

 of the larger provinces. A somewhat embar- 

 rassing amount of railway debt is said to exist 

 just now, in Prince Edward's Island, and Do- 

 minion politicians, favorable to the acquisition 

 of this crescent-shaped settlement (130 miles 

 long by 34 wide), are whispering that the idea 

 of the poet, u My poverty, and not my will, 

 consents," may soon again be realized in this 

 world's affairs. British Columbia having 

 stipulated, upon entering the union, that a rail- 

 way leading from Ontario to the Pacific coast 

 should be constructed within a stated period- 

 ten years preliminary steps to that end were 

 taken at the last session of the Dominion Par- 

 liament. A "Pacific Kailway" Act was 

 passed (Cap. 71), providing that the road shall 

 be built by a private company, to be subsi- 

 dized by the Government, and shall extend 

 from the south shore of Lake Nipissing 

 through Manitoba and the Northwest territo- 

 ries, to the Rocky Mountains, and thence to the 

 shore of the Pacific Ocean in British Colum- 

 bia, the route to be subject to the approval of 

 the Governor-General in Council. The com- 

 pany must be possessed of a capital of $10,- 

 000,000 ; the work must be commenced before 

 July 20, 1873, and completed on, or before 

 the same date in 1881. Together with $30,- 

 000,000 from the Dominion chest, land to 

 the extent of 50,000,000 acres, in alternate 

 blocks of 20 miles deep, in Manitoba, British 

 Columbia, and the Northwest territories, is to 

 bs granted to the chosen company, land and 

 money to be given in portions as the work 

 progresses. The name of the company under- 

 taking this, the grandest British colonial 

 work ever entered upon, shall thereafter be 

 u The Canadian Pacific Railway Company, "^ 

 and the capital of the Dominion, Ottawa, will 

 be their chief place of business. It is com- 

 puted that this railway, extending from the 

 Atlantic to the Pacific, through British terri- 

 tory, will shorten the distance between China 

 and the British possessions in the East and 

 Great Britain not less than a thousand miles, 

 thus, in all probability, making Canada the 

 great highway of the Eastern and Western na- 

 tions. The incidental advantages will, of 

 course, embrace extensive emigration to the 

 long line of country over which the road will 

 extend. The alternate blocks of land retained 

 by the Government, as well as those granted 

 to the company, will, no doubt, be available 

 for settlement on reasonable terms, and yet 

 such as will justify the calculations as to re- 

 munerative returns now so confidently put 

 forth. A measure so comprehensive, involv- 

 ing so many and such important interests as 

 the Pacific Railway Bill could not become 

 a law without opposition and debate. The 

 anti-ministerial party in Parliament took im- 



mediate exception to its main features. It 

 was contended that the large control given to 

 the Government was without parallel in the 

 legislation of any country ; was more extrava- 

 gant than was ever sought for by a British 

 ministry, or granted by a British Parliament; 

 that its practical effect would be to render or- 

 ders in Council superior to law ; that the will 

 of the Government would be substituted for 

 the sanction of the people's representatives; 

 and that a large amount of money, and an im- 

 mense extent of land, would be disposed of by 

 the administration of the day in secret and at 

 pleasure. It was further predicted that, it 

 being allowable under the bill for members 

 of Parliament to become shareholders in the 

 company, a certain risk of foul play fraudu- 

 lent expenditure, to be followed by further 

 subsidies was incurred. The proposed route 

 of the road was also objected to, and with a 

 force of argument that has met with much 

 popular acceptance. It is easy to understand 

 the desire of British statesmen to see such a 

 railway passing exclusively through "British 

 territory," but the question will and must 

 arise on this continent, In what direction do 

 the commercial advantages most abound ? 

 It is now scarcely denied that the English 

 Government erred gravely in insisting upon 

 what was deemed a "military line" for the 

 Intercolonial Railroad, between Halifax and 

 Quebec. The Canadian Governor-General of 

 the day, Lord Elgin, and his Council, pointed 

 out a different and shorter route, but the im- 

 perial authorities regarded it as too near the 

 United States, and stated in a dispatch that 

 they had in view a road that would be " pe- 

 culiarly available for military purposes." The 

 result of this policy has not only been, the im- 

 mediate loss of many millions of dollars, but 

 the burdening of the Dominion with a proper- 

 ty, the business value of which must be looked 

 for in the far-distant future. The opponents 

 of the Pacific line not only argue from this ex- 

 perience, but contend that the military ques- 

 tion has less application now than ever. The 

 colonial policy of the empire has undergone 

 an almost radical change : British troops have 

 been nearly all withdrawn ; and the forts of 

 Quebec, Isle aux Noix, and Fort Henry, at 

 Kingston, have been dismantled. It is fair to 

 presume from this, and from the entente cor- 

 diale now existing between Great Britain and 

 the United States, that all apprehension of an 

 attack upon Canada has ceased to exist, and 

 that military considerations no longer consti- 

 tute an element in the imperial policy tow- 

 ards her. Why, then, should not a Dominion 

 commercial policy have full and fair play ? 

 And, therefore, why should the commercial 

 value and usefulness of the Pacific Railway be 

 sacrificed to the sentimental desire of confin- 

 ing its route to the north side of Lake Superi- 

 or ? This question, and the general policy it 

 involves, has recently been under consider- 

 ation by the Dominion Board of Trade, at its 



