PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 567 
Canada has therefore the highest mileage measured against population, 
and the lowest against territory. 
The earliest great railway system of Canada, the Grand Trunk, had 
its beginnings in 1845; in 1907 it was working about 3,600 miles within 
the Dominion. In association with the Government it is now engaged on 
the construction of the Grand Trunk Pacific Line, which will cross the 
Continent wholly in Canadian territory, and have a length of 3,600 miles, 
exclusive of branches. 
The story of the Canadian Pacific Railway is well known, and need not 
be repeated ; the influence which its existence and working have had upon 
the prosperity of the Dominion has been enormous and beneficial since its 
opening in 1885, and experience of its effect has led to the promotion of 
other Trans-Continental lines. In June 1907 the total length in operation 
was nearly 9,000 miles, and the company owned in addition great lines of 
steamships employed on Atlantic and Pacific services. 
The Canadian Northern Railway system represents one of the most 
striking examples of recent railway development in the Dominion. In 
1907 it was working nearly 2,600 miles in the North-Western provinces, 
about 150 miles in Ontario, 500 miles in the Province of Quebec, and 
439 miles in Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, making a total of nearly 
3,700 miles. In 1908 its mileage on the main system was reported to have 
increased to nearly 3,400 miles, and the total length in operation had 
become 4,800 miles. The North-Western Provinces have given substantial 
assistance to this great system, and its promoters are said to aim at a com- 
plete Trans-Continental route, as well as the development of railway com- 
munication to Hudson’s Bay and the establishment of a line of steamships 
therefrom to Great Britain. 
Besides these three great railway organisations, which in 1907 con- 
trolled about 75 per cent. of the mileage in operation, there are a large 
number of smaller companies, making up a total of about 80. Their 
total earnings in 1907 amounted to 29,350,000/., the total working expenses 
being 20,750,0001. Earnings from freight service were (in round figures) 
19,000,000/. ; from passenger service 7,837,000l.; from express services 
655,0007.; from mails 325,000/., the balance coming from miscellaneous 
items. The total number of persons employed by the railways was 124,000 ; 
their salaries and wages amounted to 11,750,000/. It was officially esti- 
mated that if to the railway employés were added persons employed in 
factories for rolling stock and railway materials, as well as those engaged 
in the casual service and shipping, with an allowance for their families, 
‘quite 25 per cent. of the population win their daily bread from the carry- 
ing trade’ of the Dominion. 
The equipment of the Canadian railways in 1907 included 3,504 loco- 
motives, 3,642 passenger cars, and 113,514 freight cars. In the opinion 
of the official reporter on railway statistics, based chiefly on a comparison 
of the proportion of rolling stock to mileage in Canada and the United 
States, a considerable increase of rolling stock is required, and there is a 
possibility of greater efficiency being obtained in the utilisation of existing 
freight cars. The manufacturing resources of the Dominion are declared 
to be fully capable of meeting all requirements, as in 1907 they produced 
227 locomotives, 397 passenger cars, and 13,350 freight cars. A reduction 
of grades and curvatures has been carried out on the principal railways 
in recent years, and this has permitted the hauling of heavier loads. It is 
estimated that in 1907 the average earnings per ton of freight hauled were 
$1.472, and the average earnings per passenger carried were $1.219. The 
earnings per train mile were $1.953, and the working expenses $1.381. 
The total earnings per mile of railway were $6,535.64, and the working 
expenses were $4,620.9, The working expenses were divided as follows in 
the official report ;— 
