112 Timehri 



thus have the cost of living reduced. It seemed to him that the chief 

 advantage to come from the union would result from the sentimental con- 

 nection. 



Importance of the Tropics. 



When Mr. Garnett was up with him, at Ottawa with Sir George Foster, 

 the latter remarked that Canada needed a strip of tropical country which 

 she could consider her own and in which she could have not only a com- 

 mercial but a sentimental interest, so that as far as was possible every kind 

 of tropical product she required could be got out of it. Let Canada have 

 a big agricultural garden in the Tropics, and they could take it that she 

 would grow every possible thing she could in it. Canada had already 

 shown that she could find a market for all British Guiana sugar but that 

 was not all. Another thing the colony was producing was rice, and 

 Canada's needs in this respect were being supplied by Texas and Louisiana. 

 If they joined up with Canada they could develop the industry to its limit, 

 and Canada would find the market. In short it would be their ambition 

 to do whatever they could for British Guiana, because in developing the 

 colony they would be developing their own market. 



The Railway Project. 



Speaking individually and not on behalf of his Government, in con- 

 nection with the wish of the people here to have a hinterland railway he 

 understood that they had a territory of savannah land not equal to the 

 prairies of the Western States or the Argentine, but still of great value 

 capable of sustaining vast herds of cattle and a great population, and that 

 undeveloped country needed access to the sea. He thought that the Gov- 

 ernment of the colony could as the result of closer relations such as he 

 suggested go to the Government of Canada and request Canada because 

 of the fact that she was interested in Guiana to develop those lands, by 

 assisting in building the railway. If they came in politically with Canada 

 just as it was hoped to bring in Newfoundland, it would be a reasonable 

 proposition to ask Canada to build the whole of the railway but that 

 being out of the question at the present time, he had come to the conclu- 

 sion that if a commercial union was come to with Canada, it would be fair 

 to ask her to bear one-third of the cost by guaranteeing the bonds re- 

 quired for building it, and perhaps if it was said that the railway should 

 be built by Canadians the Government of Canada would be prepared to 

 go half-and-half. He, as a Canadian, would be prepared to go to the Gov- 

 ernment and recommend to the utmost of his capacity that she should 

 bear such a portion of the cost, and he did not think that the Govern- 

 ment would refuse. There would be between 300 and 400 miles of rail- 

 way to be built. He had seen various estimates of the cost per mile, but 

 he had a little experience of estimates in connection with railway buildiug, 

 and he thought they all seemed a bit low. Even for a metre-gauge rail- 

 way £5,000 per mile seemed too low. Estimating at $25,000 per mile, 

 5 per cent, interest on 400 miles would work out at $500,000 of 

 which £50,000 would bo Canada's share if Bhe agreed to pay one-half. 



