March 



piirohascd 



I at liome, 

 make tlio 

 (^It'-rcliaiit, 

 countries. 



II alic'a<ly 

 oles tlian 



use, ami 

 inarlvots a 

 wn iiiaiiu- 

 iiiiotiiit, it 



show the 

 energies. 



point out 

 le fallacies 

 t nevci'the- 

 tion in a 

 to be the 

 a time to 

 jood deal 



action of 

 protection 

 )rohil)ition 

 classes of 

 1 probably 

 itain com- 

 :)vernnient, 

 1 be in the 

 rm rather 

 ide as un- 



riie New 

 itial organ 

 ty, s[)eak3 



says that 

 gilt in the 

 •atic party 

 tying and 



disregard 

 diich have 

 ent tariff." 



will give 



inanufac- 



olicv to be 



And as 



ts in any 



es, Canada 



alter what 



" national 

 resent dia- 

 it party in 

 under any 

 such a 

 ida as ia- 



1883. 



T/ic I ')•<)(/ rcss of the Neic Dominion. 



;353 



dependent as possible of her wealthy 

 neighbour. A [)olicy of free traile 

 in inamifacturi's would prai'tic:iilly 

 make Canada one of the States 

 llicmselvos. 



Statistics of revenue ami trade 

 very clearly show the luitioiial <le- 

 velopment of Canada. The annual 

 value of tliO exports and imports 

 — now about equal — is fi)rty-tive 

 juillion pounds sterling, or four 

 millions more than the aggregate 

 trade of lira/.il, or of Xorway and 

 Sweden; one -third Ihat of the 

 empire of Austria; and greater 

 than that of Spain, still a Power 

 wit' rich colonial [)osscssions. The 

 revcn,. of ('anada, mostly derived 

 from customs recei[)ts, may be esti- 

 mated at seven million pounds 

 sterling, o." three times greater than 

 the revenue of Denmark, fifteen 

 per cent greater than the revenue 

 of Portugal, and equal to the reve- 

 nue fof Sweden and Norway. The 

 expenditures of Canada are annu- 

 ally large, and a very considerable 

 debt has been created ; but the ex- 

 pen liture is now several millions 

 below the revenue, and the debt is 

 represented by public works, abso- 

 hitely necessary to the development 

 of the internal resources of the 

 Dominion. The debt of Canada 

 may well be paid to a large extent 

 by future generations, since it is 

 For their benelit that Canada is 

 oerfecting a system of canals and 

 "ailways which, year by year, is 

 jpening up new sections and add- 

 ng to the wealth of the country. 

 [n the early days of their political 

 aistory, when the Canadian prov- 

 inces were poor struggling com- 

 munities, they commenced the 

 Wclland and St. Lawrence Canals, 

 Id essential to the commerce of the 

 alvcs and the rich country to their 

 aorth and south. By the aid of 

 ijiis fine canal system, that noble 

 jrtery of Canada, the St. Lawrence 

 river, has become navigable for 



VOL. OXXXIII. NO. DCCCIX. 



over two thousand miles, and now 

 gives millions of pc(){)l(; in the W'e^t 

 direct water-communication with 

 the markets of i^urope. 'I'his river 

 is controlled by ('anada, and the 

 enterprise that has improved its 

 facilities for commerce is an exam- 

 [»le of the national spirit that ani- 

 mates (Canadian statesmen. 



The same liberal {)r(,'scient spirit 

 has been shown in connection with 

 the railway system. Thirty years 

 ago there were fudy some forty 

 miles of railway in l^ritish North 

 America. The (!rand Truidi Kail- 

 way, so fatal to the origiiuil bond- 

 holders, but now a prolitable, well- 

 managed undertaking, was most 

 liberally assisted, year after year, 

 by the Canadian Legislature, which 

 recognised its value to the internal 

 development of Caimda. Nearly 

 fifty years ago, the importance of 

 the Intercolonial Hail way, from an 

 imperial as well as a [)rovincial 

 point of view, was acknowledged 

 by Lord Durham and other Eng- 

 lish statesmen; but it was not until 

 the provinces were united in a con- 

 federation that this decidedly na- 

 tional project was successfully car- 

 ried out: and now the people of 

 the Dominion have a continuous 

 rail comnv.inication from the upper 

 lakes to the Atlantivj seaboard — 

 that is, a communication for at 

 least two thousand miles. Railways, 

 very important as feeders to the 

 trunk lines, have also received 

 liberal subsidies from the several 

 legislatures ; and now there are 

 about eight thousand miles of rail- 

 way constructed throughout Can- 

 ada, and some two thousand five 

 hundred more in course of building. 

 That is, the Dominion of Canada 

 has already in operation double the 

 mileage of Sweden and Norway, 

 some two thousand more than Italy, 

 and one-half the mileage of France. 

 The Canadian Pacific Railway, now 

 under construction, is a work of 



2 A 



