43 



Wo havo already said that the existence of Ed'nuiidston, as a town, 

 dates hack only a lew years ; wo now see quite a populous quarter in 

 whi(;h five years ago there were only seven or eight houses. Its popula- 

 tion, three fourths of which consist of French Canadians, is nearly all 

 engaged in the lumber trade and is remarkably active, honest and 

 laborioixs. 



Tht^ town is built in a kind of irregular amphitheatre, above which 

 stands the Catholic Chiirch, the largest in the town, at whose feet lies the 

 beautiful and wide Saint John River, and opposite, on the other bank, is 

 the 8tat(^ of Maine. On the Canadian side, to the right and leit of the 

 parish of Miidawaska, there are four or live other large parishes, the most 

 imj)o.;;uit of which is Saint liasile, with a population of nearly two 

 thousand, then Saint Leonard, which extends as far as Grand Falls, and on 

 th(! otlier side that of Saint Fr.ancis, bounded by the river of tliat name 

 which jlows l)et\veen the counties of Temiscouala andlvamouraska and falls 

 into Saint John Iviver. These lour parishes cover a front of about seventy- 

 five miles l>etwi'en (rrand Falls and the moiith of the Ilivi'r Saint Francis. 

 A railway is now under consiruction between Fdmundston and the latter 

 river ; this railway will l)e thirty-six miles long and pass through a well 

 settled counlry covered with quantities of timber, esi)i'cially cedar. The 

 people of Fdmundston evi-n say that the Teniiscouata railway '"luld have 

 been built Irom Riviere Ouelle to the River Saint Francis, whos ourse it 

 would have luUoAved and th(>n that of the Saint John River to 

 Fdmundston. They alhrm that this line would have run through a 

 country mu('h more suita})le for colonization and of much easier access 

 than the present line, besides the fact that it would not have been any 

 longer and would have ;-aved the unnecessary run of thirty miles on the 

 Intercolonial between Riviere Ouelle and Riviere-du-Loup. They say 

 that the Teniiscouata Railway, owing to the eoniparativiily steril" region 

 thrcnigh which it j)asses, will contribute but little to the progress of colo- 

 nization and will not even ])ay its ex])t'nse,s. They say that it cost nearly 

 a million dollars which, as regards colonization, \vdvv been spent to no 

 purpose. This amount lias been paid partly by the I'ederal (JoV( rninent 

 which gave a subsidy of six thousand dt>llars per mile and partly by the 

 LocaKlovernmenl which redeemed, at a rate(»f seventy cents per acre, the 

 lands wlii<-li it had originally granted to the railway, making a sum of 

 seven thmisand dollars per mile and finally ])y the N"e\v Rrunswick 

 Government, which contri!)uted thirty six thousand dollars for twelve 

 miles within its territory from the parish of Notre-Dame du Degele. 



The peojile of Edinundston also say : " Politics, which are mixed up 

 " with everything, alone decided the construction of the line through the 

 " county ol Teniiscouata. No heed was paid to the recjuirements of the 

 '■ population nor to I he conditions necessary for the colonization move- 

 " ment, but the day is not far distant when the Provincial Government 

 " will open its eyes to the truth and construct a railway which will start 

 " from Riviere Ouelle and (!oiinect with th • railway we are no^v })uilding 

 " from Edmundsion to St. Francis." 



