Science and Colonial Development 



the colonial Universities are to be found admir- 

 able schools of forestry, agriculture, engineering, 

 and mineralogy. The most noteworthy case is 

 M'Gill University at Montreal, which has benefited 

 from the generosity of Sir William Macdonald to 

 the amount of .700,000. In others, the State 

 has contributed ; but if, as is no doubt true, many 

 of them are still insufficiently equipped, it must 

 not be forgotten that young communities have to 

 build up the entire fabric of government and 

 administration. This consideration alone suffices 

 to invalidate any comparison between a British 

 Colony and an old-established country in Europe, 

 and to enjoin a chariness in criticism. The writer 

 has been asked whether he can quote an achieve- 

 ment similar to that of Sweden, where the amount 

 of power obtainable from every stream is believed 

 to have been determined. Certainly not ; for 

 Canada, while it has complete scope for its 

 energies in the development of regions within 

 easy reach of means of communication, would be 

 foolish to go beyond the area of proximate settle- 

 ment, except so far as the adventurous in every 

 clime are always seeking out new fields. But the 

 authorities are constantly engaged in improving 

 the navigability of the St. Lawrence, while, fifty 

 years ago, they constructed the Welland Canal, 

 which enabled navigation to turn the flank of 

 the Niagara Falls. Large vessels now proceed 

 uninterruptedly through a series of canals from 

 Lake Superior to the ocean, and surveys are 

 completed for a canal to connect Georgian Bay 



