162 FOURTH EXPLORATION, 1880 



1879-80" and I was his assistant. That winter, there were a 

 great many discussions in Parliament and I was constantly correct- 

 ing mistakes made by the Opposition and lecturing in various 

 places when called upon by the people. On this account, I had 

 the whole question at my finger ends and had no difficulty in over- 

 coming opposition from every quarter. The debates in the House 

 were very acrimonious and brought out the animus of the speakers 

 so plainly that you could see that the statements of the Opposition 

 were for opposition only, not having any regard for the facts. 



Like all new countries, many conflicting accounts were given 

 of Manitoba and the North West. Travellers and others, whose 

 names, out of deference to their standing in society, I will not 

 mention, wrote strong stories about the country. Manitoba was 

 declared to be little else than a bog or marsh. The great plain 

 was shown conclusively to be a desert. The sandy, barren waste 

 declared by those men to be useless, but still rich by nature. 

 Others, passing hurriedly over its trails and seeing sand or gravel 

 in the ruts or around the badger holes wrote: "The whole region 

 passed over today possesses the sandy or gravelly soil and an arid 

 climate and is worthless for agricultural purposes." In the hands 

 of practical farmers, the latter has so changed its appearance that 

 another class of writers see and write of its unequalled qualities 

 for farming purposes in the North West. 



My work, now passed, has been to refute false statements 

 regarding the country, its climate, soil, capabilities and resources. 

 By whomsoever misleading statements were made, I met it with 

 prompt denial and have always given my reasons for doing so. 

 There is one class of speakers, however, to whom I have made no 

 answer. This class comprise the representatives of the people 

 and, if they make statements at variance with known facts, it is 

 not my province to dispute them 



As I have said, I remained in Ottawa during the winter of 

 1879 and '80. I worked in the office of Mr. Fleming and was 

 acquainted with all the discussions and squabbles that were going 

 on in the House and country. My reports of previous years had 

 caused quite a ferment amongst the people and the Members 

 naturally took sides with Sir John or Mr. Mackenzie. I attended 



