24 Our North Land. 



Indeed the Federal Administration was forced into action by the 

 threatening attitude of Manitoba. True, their hands were already 

 more than full with a practically bankrupt railway company ; and 

 not only so, but, as it would seem, any action leading to the 

 immediate discovery of the practicability of the proposed Hudson's 

 Ba}' route might have a tendency to impair the already doubtful 

 credit of the Cauadian Pacific, and in that way embarrass the 

 country generally, which stood committed and re-committed to the 

 construction of the Pacific railway. Nevertheless, the people of 

 Manitoba would not be appeased short of prompt and decisive 

 action, and made a strong effort through their Provincial Govern- 

 ment to secure such Federal legislation as would bring the matter 

 within their own control. Hence Parliament voted the funds, and 

 an Expedition was fitted out to enquire into the navigability of the 

 waters of Hudson's Bay and Strait. 



I do not know how much, if any, faith the Federal Administra- 

 tion had in the possibility of establishing a commercial highway 

 over the waters of Hudson's Bay and Strait as a transportation line 

 for the carrying trade of the Canadian North-West ; but, supposing 

 they had none, they were all the same justified in yielding to the 

 importunities of Manitoba, to the extent of investigating the ques- 

 tion. In the North-West it was quite different ; there the people, 

 without a full knowledge of the character of the ice, which might 

 or might not wholly destroy the navigation of the Strait nine 

 months in the year, determined in their own minds that the Maker 

 of Hudson's Bay had created that vast inter-ocean and placed it in 

 the centre of the northern portion of the continent for purposes of 

 commercial intercourse between them and the countries of northern 

 Europe, and all ice arguments melted before their sanguine faith. 

 The trend of the mighty streams, including the Red and Saskat- 

 chewan systems, was toward Hudson's Bay, and the bent of the 

 people followed the rivers. They remembered that when the 

 Northern Pacific promoters launched that enterprise they were 

 ridiculed and laughed -at by the Union and Central Pacific people 

 and the Union and Central Pacific people's friends ; they remem- 

 ^ bered also that when this ridicule and this laughter died away 



