DOMINION OF CANADA. 



265 



third annual meeting held at Ottawa, when it 

 was boldly enunciated that " the commercial 

 interests of the country, and especially of the 

 Saskatchewan region, demand that the road 

 should be constructed on the most direct line, 

 on that best adapted for commerce, even if 

 that line should pass through a portion of the 

 United States." Should the present Dominion 

 Government be defeated in the coming session 

 of Parliament, as it is judged from the result 

 of the general elections to the House of Com- 

 mons, held in August last, they may be, one 

 of the first changes will no doubt be, to give 

 practical effect to those enlightened views. Fol- 

 lowing this act, on the official list, are the titles 

 of several railway measures, proposing opera- 

 tions starting from various points between the 

 Dominion and the Pacific coast, all evidently 

 having in view connection with the grand in- 

 teroceanic company ; and it is noteworthy of 

 several of those, as well as of other projects, for 

 which charters have been sought at Ottawa, 

 that Pembina is their point of departure. 



The 3d day of May last will be long mem- 

 orable in Canada, as that upon which Sir 

 John A. Macdonald, acting as First Minister 

 of the Dominion, introduced a bill to give ef- 

 fect to those clauses of the Treaty of Washing- 

 ton, negotiated between the United States and 

 Great Britain in 1871, which affected the Do- 

 minion interests. Sir John's position, and that 

 of his colleagues, in this important affair of 

 state, was much exposed to attack. The act 

 of ceding fishery-rights of almost priceless 

 value, together with the sovereignty of the 

 St. Lawrence, without reciprocity of trade be- 

 ing secured, or even an acknowledgment by 

 the United States commissioners of the wrong 

 of the Fenian incursions, was, at first blush, 

 most distasteful throughout the length and 

 breadth of the Dominion; so much so, that, 

 although Sir John had, as joint high commis- 

 sioner, been a party to the cession, he ulti- 

 mately united with his colleagues in Council, 

 at Ottawa, in an earnest protest against a pol- 

 icy so hurtful to the amour propre, and so pre- 

 judicial, as it was believed, to the best interests 

 of his country. However, the timely guaran- 

 tee by the Imperial Government of a Pacific 

 Railway loan to the extent of 2,500,000 ster- 

 ling, equal to more than $12,000,000, had a 

 pacific effect. Sir John announced that the 

 Government had been favored with " a sober 

 second thought," and his personal and politi- 

 cal following in the House, boldly appealed to, 

 44 to accept the treaty for the sake of the peace 

 of the empire," rallied to his support, and the 

 bill was carried by a majority of 66, in an as- 

 semblage of 176 members. The debate was 

 marked by extraordinary ability ; the speech 

 of Sir John A. Macdonald displayed almost in- 

 comparable skill ; that of Mr. Blake, in. oppo- 

 sition, was not more remarkable for clearness 

 and force than for deep feeling to this hour 

 he denounces the treaty as an "appalling 

 transaction." 



Local railway enterprise was largely pro- 

 moted, especially in the older provinces of 

 Ontario and Quebec, during the past year. In 

 the former, the roads intended to traverse the 

 southern side of the peninsula are well ad- 

 vanced : the Wellington, Grey & Bruce Rail- 

 way has been opened to Lake Huron ; the nar- 

 row-gauge roads leading from Toronto have 

 also made progress; the municipalities inter- 

 ested have voted bonuses to the Credit Valley 

 Railway, a new Toronto enterprise, and to the 

 Hamilton & Northwestern Railway, the ob- 

 ject of which is to connect Hamilton with 

 Georgian Bay; and like assistance has been 

 promised to the Ontario & Quebec Railway. 

 In the Province of Quebec, the North Shore 

 & Northern Colonization scheme has just been 

 perfected; the grant of $1,000,000 in aid of it, 

 by the city of Montreal, which, owing to legal 

 difficulties, was not immediately available, has 

 been legalized by the Quebec Legislature. The 

 Intercolonial Railway is, despite many difficul- 

 ties, making good progress; it is confidently 

 expected that upward of 200 miles of it will be 

 completed before the close of this year. Not- 

 withstanding the gloomy prospect as to the 

 financial future of this route, it would appear 

 that the work of construction is done with 

 great care. The bridges are all to be of iron, 

 the material to be supplied by two eminent 

 firms, the Fairbairn Engineering Company, in 

 England, and the Phcenixville Bridge Compa- 

 ny, in Pennsylvania; the rails will be through- 

 out of steel, coming from the best rail-makers 

 in England. The rolling-stock is also of the 

 best description ; so far, it consists of 42 en- 

 gines ; 6 first-class, 2 second, 3 baggage, cars, 

 and a post-office. 



In introducing his budget on the 30th of 

 April last, the Minister of Finance, Sir Francis 

 Hincks, submitted a series of statements of 

 much interest: The debt of the Dominion was 

 shown to be, in round numbers, $80,000,000 ; 

 there had been expended since confederation, 

 $8,081,908, while the debt had only increased 

 $1,977,876; the revenue for the year was 

 $19,335,560 ; the expenditure, $15,623,081 ; in 

 two years the imports and exports had in- 

 creased 22 per cent. ; Canada had risen to the 

 sixth place among commercial nations. In 

 consequence of proposed large expenditure 

 for the widening of canals, etc., the only fiscal 

 relief granted was the abolition of the tax on 

 immigrants, and the tea and coffee duties, the 

 latter because of a similar resolution having 

 passed the United States Congress. The bank- 

 ing interests of the Dominion continue to in- 

 crease, proportionately, of course, with com- 

 merce. In June, 1871, the paid-up capital of 

 the chartered banks was upward of $86,000,- 

 000 ; in June, 1872, it was near $46,000,000 ; 

 the discounts show an increase from $82,199,- 

 708, in the first month of the fiscal year, to $107,- 

 354,114 in the last; the probable total deposits 

 are not less than $71,250,000, not taking into 

 account banks which decline to publish ac- 



