From the Pacific- to Hudson's Bay. 317 



The total difference in favour of the northern route is 1,505 

 miles, but it will be observed that of this distance most of it is in 

 railway. 



But there is still another phase in which to view the advantages 

 of the northern route. It is that of trans-Pacific trade. The distance 

 from any central part of 



Japan to Port Simpson 3,865 miles. 



" Moody 4,374 " 



Difference 509 miles. 



This makes the entire distance between Japan and Liverpool via 

 Hudson's Bay 8,255 miles, and that from Japan to Liverpool via 

 the Central Pacific Railway 10,255 miles, or over 2,000 miles in 

 favour of the Hudson's Bay route. But there are other advantages. 

 The highest altitude attained by the Short Line is only 2,440 feet, 

 while the highest point reached in the Kicking Horse Pass (C.P.R.) 

 is nearly 2,000 feet higher. The question as to the length of the 

 navigable periods of the waters of Hudson's Bay and the St. 

 Lawrence River, must be decided in favour of the former, so that, 

 all things considered, I am justified in predicting a great future for 

 the Hudson's Bay route. As to the climate of the country through 

 which the road will pass from Port Simpson to Churchill, there is 

 no point on the line where it is worse than at Winnipeg, and if the 

 location of the routes be compared in this respect, the result will be 

 much in favour of the Short Line route. I am persuaded that the 

 projected line of transportation in question will not only become the 

 principal channel of transportation for all the districts that I have 

 indicated, but that it will be the highway by which most of the 

 immigration will reach the great plains of the Athabaska and Peace 

 Rivers from Europe. 



<*^zjj Hl^Sir 



