354 



The Progrcb: of the Neio Dominion. 



Marcli 1S83. 





imperial niagnitiule. Its total 

 Icnotli, when completed, will be 

 ncarlv three tlionsand miles, and 

 Canada will liavc an unintcrrnptcd 

 rail communication from Halifax 

 to the Pacific coast. This is an 

 undertaliinij; whicli inijiht well have 

 obtained practical aid in some shape 

 from the imperial Government, since 

 it gives unity to the Dominion, de- 

 velops the liiiest wheat-region in 

 the world, and opens np the short- 

 est route between England and 

 China and Japan. ])Ut Canada, 

 a few years ago, assumed all the 

 onerous responsibilities which the 

 construction of so gigantic an en- 

 terprise necessarily entails. Iler 

 public men have felt the weight of 

 the obligation resting upon them 

 as Canadians and subjects of the 

 empire, and have resolutely set to 

 work to complete this national en- 

 terprise with great business tact 

 and energy. The plan on wliicli 

 the road is being built does not 

 severely tax the financial resources 

 of Canada for the time being, but, 

 on the contrary, is calculated to 

 develop the North-west, and bring 

 in capital and population, which 

 otherwise cannot be attracted into 

 the country. By a liberal grant of 

 money and land, capitalists of high 

 standing and prcat cnergv liavc 

 been induced to undertalce the con- 

 struction of the whole road, which 

 is approaching completion with re- 

 markable rapidity. The road, in 

 fact, is being built in a certain 

 sense on the principle of co-opera- 

 tion. The company and the Gov- 

 ernment are mutually interested 

 in the sale of the lands of the 

 North-west : every acre sold to 

 an immigrant is a positive gain to 

 both, since ho contributes to the 

 revenues of each. The great ob- 

 ject of the Dominion is to liavc tlie 

 road built with as little pecuniary 

 outlay as possible, and to have the 

 conntrv through which it runs 

 settled without delay ; and cer- 



tainly no more satisfactory scheme 

 could be devised than one which 

 makes the company equally inter- 

 ested with the Government in open- 

 ing up the wilderness of the North- 

 west. 



In fact, on the construction of 

 the I'aeitic Hallway depends the 

 development of that "Great West" 

 where now are centred the hopes 

 of the people of Canada. Ui) to 

 the present time the relatively 

 limited area of the agricultural 

 lands of the old provinces has 

 necessarily retarded their growth, 

 Though there is still a wide field 

 for the employment of capital and 

 enterprise in those provinces — 

 though agriculturists with more or 

 less means can procure all the good 

 land they want in Ontario on the 

 most satisfactory terms — yet it may 

 be conceded that those provinces 

 of themselves are not able to com- 

 pete with the Western States for 

 the emigration from Europe, and 

 that their prosperity must mainly 

 depend on the establishment of 

 manufactures and the development 

 of their commerce. The opening 

 up of the North-west at last places 

 Canada on a vantage-ground a? 

 compared even with the United 

 States, whose territorial resource.'- 

 arc now inferior to those of that 

 vast region as respects the produc 

 tion of wheat and other cereals, 

 The acquisition of that westeri 

 territory is one of the importan' 

 national results of the union of tlu 

 provinces in 1867. For ccnturie: 

 the Indian and the buffalo roamec , 

 over the wilderness of this " lorn 

 land ;" and the sole representative 

 of civilisation were, till very re 

 cently, the traders of the grea 

 company of adventurers, who ob 

 tained their charter from one o 

 the Stuart kings, always ready i 

 grant principalities to their favour 

 ites at one stroke of the pen. Her 

 and there, many hundred mile jj 

 apart, from Lake Superior to tin 



