IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // ^/ 6' ^ ^ i.O ■^121 125 lu Uii 12.2 1.1 lU 110 mt^ III I.A 1^ <^ y] /. ^;; '/ Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 WBT MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14SS0 (716) 873-4503 CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHIVI/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques Tschnioal and BiMloflraphlc Notaa/Notaa taehniquaa at biMiooraphiquaa Tha toti Tha Inatituta haa attamptad to obtain tha baat orioinal copy availabia for fflmlng. Fi»''^turaa of thia copy which may ba MbHogrfiphlcaNy uniqua. which may aKar any of tha Imagaa In tha raproductton. or which may algnlficantly changa tha uaual mathod of filming, ara chaclcad i>alow. Coioiirad covara/ Couvartura da coulaur r~n Covara damagad/ D Couvartura andommagia Covara raKlorMl and/or laminatad/ Couvartura raataurAa at/ou palliculia □ Covar titia miaaing/ La titra da couvartura manqua □ Colourad mapa/ Cartaa giograph n n n giographlquaa an cci.iaur •d ink (i.a. otiiar than biua Encra da coulaur (I.a. autri qua biaua ou noira) [~n Colourad ink (i.a. othar than biua or black)/ |~n Colourad piataa and/or iiluttrationa/ Planchaa at/ou illi^atrationt an coulaur Bound with othar material/ RaliA avac d'autras documanta Tight binding may cauaa thadovva or diatortion along intarior margin/ La raliura aarrAa paut causar da I'ombra ou da la diatortion la long da la marga intiriaura Blank laavaa addad during raatoratlon may appaar within tha taxt. Whanavar poasibia, thaaa hava baan omittad from filming/ 11 aa paut qua cartainaa pagaa blanehaa aJoutAaa lora d'una raatau ration apparaiaaant dana la taxta, mais. iorsqua caia 4tait potsibia. cas pagaa n'ont paa At* f iimAaa. Additional commanta:/ Commantairas supplAmantairaa; L'Inatltut a mterofilmA la maiilaur axamplaira qu1l lui a AtA poaalbia da aa procurar. Laa dAtalla da oat axamplaira qui aont paut-ttra uniquaa du point da vua bibilographiqua. qui pauvant modlfiar una Imaga raprodulta, ou qui pauvant axigar una modification dana la mAthoda nonhala da filmaga aont IndiquAa d-daaaoua. r~n Colourad pagaa/ D Thia itam is filmed at tha reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est filmA au taux da rAduction indiquA ci-dassous. Pagaa da coulaur Pagaa damaged/ Pagaa andommagAaa Pagaa raatorad and/oi Pagaa reetaurAaa at/ou palllculAaa Pagaa diacolourad. atainad or foxa< Pagaa dAcolorAaa. tachatAaa ou piquAea Pagaa detached/ Pagaa dAtachAea Bhowthroughy Tranaparance Quality of prir QualltA InAgala de I'lmpreaaion Includaa aupplamentary matarli Comprend du matArlal aupplAmantaIra Only edition available/ Seule Adhitin dieponlble □ Pagae damaged/ Pagaa p~| Pagaa raatorad and/or laminated/ Pagaa diacolourad. atainad or foxed/ Pagae |~~1 Pagaa detached/ Pyj Bhowthrough/ |~n Quality of print variaa/ r~| Includaa aupplamentary material/ rn Only edition available/ Pagaa wholly or partially obacurad by errata aiipa. tiaauee. o'tc, hava been refllmed to eneure the beet poaalbia image/ Lee pegea totalament ou pertiellement obacurclea par un feuillet d'erreta, une pelure. etc., ont AtA fiimAea A nouveeu de fe^on A obtenir le meilleure imaga poeaible. 10X 14X lax 22X 2SX aox 7 12X 16X aOX a4X ' 28X 32X The poai of tl film Orig bagi the sion oths first sion oril The ahal TINl whic IMap diffa entir bogii right requ metl Th« copy flim«d h«r« h«« lM«n rtproducad thankt to tho gonoroaity of: Library off tha Public Archivaa of Canada L'axamplaira fiim4 fut raproduit grica A la g4n4ro«it4 da: La bibiiothAqua das Archivaa publiquas du Canada Tha imagaa appaaring hara ara tha baat quality poaaibia considaring tha condition and laglbillty of tha original copy and in kaaping with tha filming contract apaciffications. Original copiaa in printad papar covars ara filmad baginning with tha front covar and anding on tha last paga with a printad or iliuatratad impras- sion, or tha back covar whan appropriata. All othar original copias ara filmad baginning on tha first paga with a printad or illuatratad impraa- sion, and anding on tha last paga with a printad or illuatratad imprasslon. Tha last racordad frama on aach microflcha shall contain tha symbol — ^- (moaning "CON- TINUED"), or tha symbol ▼ (moaning "END"), whichavar applias. Laa imagas suhrantaa ont AtA raprodultas avac la plus grand soin, compta tanu da la condition at da la nattatA da l'axamplaira filmA, at an conformitA avac las conditions du contrat da ffilmaga. Las axamplairaa originaux dont la couvartura an paplar ast imprimAa sont ffilmAs an commanyant par la pramiar plat at mn tarminant soit par la darnlAra paga qui comporta una amprainta d'imprassion ou d'illustration, soit par la sacond plat, salon la cas. Tous las autras axamplairas originaux sont ffilmAs an commandant par la pramlAra paga qui comporta una amprainta d'imprassion ou d'illustration at an tarminant par la darnlAra paga qui comporta una talla amprainta. Un daa symbolas suivants apparaltra sur la darnlAra imaga da chaqua microfficha, salon la cac: la symbols — ► signiffia "A SUIVRE". la symbols V signiffia "FIN". Maps, platas, charts, ate, may ba ffllmad at diffffarant raduction ratios. Thosa too larga to ba antiraly includad in ona axposura ara ffllmad boglnnlng in tha uppar lafft hand cornar, lafft to right and top to bottom, aa many fframas as raquirad. Tha following diagrams illustrata tha mathod: Las cartas, planchas, tablaaux, ate, pauvant Atra ffilmAs A das taux da rAduction diffffArants. Lorsqua la documant ast trop grand pour Atra raproduit an un saul ciichA. il ast ffilmA A partir da I'angla supAriaur gaucha, da gaucha A droita, at da haut an baa, an pranant la nombra d'imagas nAcassaira. Las diagrammas suivants illustrant la mAthoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 SPEECH ov HON. A. W. McLELAN ON THE SECOND READING OF A BILL TO INCORPORATE THE PACIFIC RAILWAY COMPANY. IN THE SENATE, OTTAWA, WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY, FEB. 9 & 10, 1881. Reported by A. 4 GEO. C. HOLLAND, Sesate Kepobters. 1881'. »%b9 ). CANADA PACIFIC RAILWAY. ' SPEECH DELIVERED IN THE SENATE f ■ t: i;y tmk HON. A. W. McLELAN, On Wednesday & Thursday. Feb 9 & 10, 1881. lion. Wr. 31cLKLAN rcsuiiicd tlio debate on tbe I'acitic llailway Bill. Ho said : It is an ill wind indeed that blows no good. The weak little hur- ricane that has been raging round this building — that has been howling through puVjlic halls, aa the moaning of vexed spirits, ever since the opening of Parlia- ment — has not been an unmixed evil. Jt has brought a new experience, a new sensation, pleasant indeed and the better relished because of its great rarity. We liave positively had gentlemen — who form and lead the Opposition in Parlia- ment and in tlie country — lauding thuir own country. We have actually had them ])raising our territory, its soil and the extent of our resources, and sj)eak- ing in glowing terms of the great future that awaits this Dominion. They have — like all new and sudden converts -- gone a little beyond tlu? line ; they iiave Iwjen too glowing in tlieir descrip- tions of the value of these possessions, and of that great future; but it is infin- itely better that they should over-step in this line ; it is u thousand times better to over color the picture a little than that thc\\ speeches should form, as they have in the [last, the chief ccrtiticutes to th« value of the lands in Dacotah, Texas, and Kansas, and their portraits be found adorning the advertisements issued by the railway companies seeking to dis- pose of those lands. If I may use tha term applied by the ex-8ecrctary of State to his own speech, wo have had, also, in th« " feeble," dying murmur of the breeze, a pleasant surprise. The hon. gentleman was kind enough to say to us that, in the year in which the Bill introduced and advocated by him for the construction of the Escpiimalt and Nanaimo Kailwaj was thrown out by this Sena*^^, the Sen- at'O did right. The Senate itself consid- ers that it always does right. The trouble is that tlio hon. gentleman is always a few years behind that right ; he places himself in opposition to the majority of the Senate for the time being, but in the course of two or three years comes to admit that the Senate was right. Oa more than one occasion has this occurred. What a pity he could not overtake and live up to the spirit of right which pre- vails iii this body ! Why, hon. gentle- men, when he now asks you to throw out this Bill, the experience of the past in that, if you do not now tako Iuh advice, he will, in a few years, thunk you for refusing his counsel of to-day. In 1875 he asked you to pass the Esqui- malt Bill ; you threw it out, and you saved $200,000 a year at least to this country. Now he says you did right on that •ccasion. He asks you to-day to throw out this Bill, and, as a logical consequence, you should go in direct op- I>osition to the counsel which the hon. gentleman gives you. But I have said that the spirit of right has always pre- vailed in this Senate since my acquaint- ance has been formed with it. During the fivo years that the hon. gentleman and his ussociatcH ruled this country, n large majority of this body was opposed to the policy of that Government. We maintained that we were right. They went to the elections and the coun- try confirmed the right. The country declared that these gentlemen were no longer fit to be entrusted witli the man- agement of the afiairs of this young and growing Dominion ; and they passed it over to otlier hands, and apjKtinted them Her Majesty's ccnstitutional Opposition in Parliament. It was 8uj)posed that with five years of official training they would have been fitted to have exei'cised the duties of the position, and to have given that wholesome criticism to the acts of any administration which would tend to the public security. But, hon. gentlemen, the country has been disap- pointed ; its just exi>ectation has not been met. My hon. friend from Char- lottetown was good enough the other night to read to us, from the memoii-s of Napoleon T, his saying that " an error steadily adhered to becomes a virtue in the eyes of [Kisterity." Long ago did the hon. gentleman and his party read and ado])t this saying, with the slight misin- terpretation that they must be always in error, always wrong, to secure the ap- proval of posterity ; and, striving to win j)osthumou8 fame, they puimie the wrong, and on this great question they do wrong, not only to the countiy, but to them- selves. They have doubled on their track, gone back on their own record. African hunters tell us that, when the o.strich becomes weak and exhausted, it doubles and turns br "kward, but, growing weaker at every step, finally buries its head in the sand, to fall readily into the Northern Pacific Wo had hoped, the historv of hands of the hunter. So those hon. gentlemen, in their blind weak- ness, have doubled on their course, and, growing weaker at every step, final- ly, tottering and feeble, stick their heads into American soil at Sault Ste. Marie, to fall helplessly into the hands of the American Railway Company, looking back ufKin this great question, for a diflferent coui^se. I do not pro]>oHe to refer to this history in its details, but there are certain jioints that stand out prominently, clear and well defined, marking tlx- course of that his- tory, just as the higlu'r mountain peaks mark the line of that rocky ridge which, crowns this continent, and separates us from Btitish Columbia, through which the proposition is to construct this great highway. We have fii-st, the point that, all th(; public men of this Dominion, up- on the acquisition of the Jsortii-West Territoi-ies and the Union with British Columbia, were agry private enterprise, and not ly tho Doiuin- iun ; "And whercnn, by the legislation of this present session, in order to provide means of meeting tho obligations of the Dominion, tho rate of taxation has Iteen raised much boyond that existing at the data of the said resolution ; " And whereas it is proper to make provision for the construction of said work as rapidly as tho same can be accomplished without further increasing tho rate of taxation ; "Therefore, Her Majesty, by nnd with the ailvicc and consent of the Senate and House of 'Commons, enacts as follows : — " 1 St. A railway to be called tho Canadian Pacific Railway shall be mode from some point near to and south of Lake Nipissing to some point in ISritish Columbia on tlic Pacific Ocean." Then they go on by their Act to provide for the coiistriictiou by Government or by a company, or contractors for sec- tions, to be subsidized by $10,000 cash, 20,000 acres of land, and such fur- ther sum as may be agreed upon. If this Act means anything, if those men were not performing a solemn farce — a hollow cheatery of the country — they had determined on the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway through and unbroken. In the following year, in the conti-act with Mr. Foster, they repeat the declaration that the railway shall 1)6 built from Nipissing to the Pacific Ocean, twice solemnly placing on record their determination to do it. Having declared their intention, they immediately proceeded to the work, or more properly, to the expenditure of money. They purchased rails to the amount of several millions of dollars, they let contracts from Fort William running westward, they knew not whither ; found they were wrong and clianged the location. The Senator from Hamilton waxed unusually eloquent on what he was pleased to term the wonderful statesmanship of Mr. Mackenzie, in providing a great gate- way to the North-West from Lake Superior. The members of the late Government will be gratified to learn that one man, at Least, regai'ds their •ffortfl as statesmanship. Wo are all familiar with the style, form and archi- tecture of what the hon. gentleman is pleased to term a gateway : that mongrel system long since abandoned whenever possible, of mixed land and water, a route broken by eight or nine {Mirtages. We have had in this Chamber hon. gentle- men make it a subject of grave charge and inquiry that delays of a few hours by stress of weather or accident had occurred on the Government road (Intercolonial), but, on this journey it would be the delay of nearly a lifetime in getting over the numerous portages, and round the many falls on Rainy River, and then all frozen in winter. The mariner sings of his home on the deep, but here the song would be : — A life on the Rainy River wave A home on the rocky roaring shoals, Where tho cautious Captains rave And the pious pilots bless our souls. Commencing inland six miles from Prince Arthur's landing, they ])ut under con- tract two sections of railway running 114 miles into the wilderness ; thence skipping 185 miles, they let two other sections of 114 miles to Selkirk on Red River. They placed the grading of Pembina Branch 63 miles, subsidized Georgian Bay Branch and Canada Cen- tral ; erected telegraph lines over muskegs in winter, that could scarcely be reached in summer, and, to crown all, they had men employed at Fort Francis for four or five years digging a hole ; these woiks involving an expenditure and liabilities amounting to upwards of $20,000,000. In the meantime British Columbia be came restless, and in addition to having placed it in an Act of Parliament that they would build the road from Lake Nippissing to the Pacific Ocean, they solemidy engaged with the British Gov- ernment that they would build a railway on Vancouver Island at an expense ot from $3,000,000 to $4,000,000. Hon. Mr. MACDONALD — $2,000,- 000. Hon. Mr. McLELAN — I do not think the hon. gentleman will find anyone acquainted with the cost of constructing railways who will put it down at less than $3,000,000 to $4,000,000. Hon. Mr. MACDONALD — It was $30,000 per mile for a road 70 miles long. Hon. Mr. McI.EI.AN Tl.«>y enKnK«' Hub- ■idioH nHuuul in the Act of 1871. Thoy prepared plans lUid isHUod advertiKcnientM, oalling upon contractoi'H to tender for the work and tohtiy for how much, inaddition to 20,000 acres of land and * 10,000 permile, they wouhl tuidertak*) the work. In addition to Uuh, they K«uit Mr. San*l ford Fleming, thu ul>leHl nuin in thei;- employ, to Euroi>e to, if pcssible, intoicst capitaliHtH in thu work ; but all without success. This brings us to another pro- iiunent point, Iho elections ot 1878 — the Yellow Head I'ass, the turning-point in the history of the Canadian Pacific Rail- way — when the management of this and of all other affairs of the country w(!re taken out of the hunds of thone gentle- men, and ]>hiced in the hands of the men who now rule the Dominion, the men who, from the very inception of tliifi work, were of tl»o opinion that it should be oonstructed ])y a comj)any, siibsidized by the lands of the North-West, aiul by a small sum in cash. It may Ik; supf>osud, and it has been claimed by some g(;ntle- inen who have spoken on this question, that the members of the prf^sfnt Govern- ment, when they came into oflice, had changed their opinions, and .said it must be constructed as a Government work. I do not, for a moment, admit that thfn-e is anything in their administration to war- rant such a conclusion. I am sure I am right in saying that, from the beginning to the end, through good roj)ort and evil report, they held to the opinion that this work must be constructed by a comj>any, and that the lands of the North- West should be utilized to meet tlie cost of that •onstruction. When they came into ofiioe, it Avas no time to talk of a company ; it was no time to talk of a company wJicn they received the lieritage of confusion which had been bequeathed to ihcm by their j)redece.ssors. Their first great duty was to take up the tangled skein and unravel it, and bring order and sys- tem out of that wliich wjim only confu* sion. I^'t nu! for a mouu'nt glance at that heritage of confusion which they found. Wiiy, the hite (iovinininnt ha«l bjen expending money by the milliouH at every point of tho compass, almost. I'hey had bi)On expending money uj>on the road from Tiake Superior westward 11-1 u)ile« ; thoy had beenexpeiuling money fiom Selkirk eastward 114 miles ; then at right angles from tho line of connection of those sections 100 nnles sotith, they had expended hundreds of thousands ; they hud the Pembina Krauch partially graded for two years, b\it not u rail laid upon it, although there were thoufiands of tons of rails scatt(fred over almosi every section of Eastern British Amer- ic4», to bo eaten away by rust, and 5,000 tons in British Ooluml>iu undergoing the same process, whilst the sections in Bri- tish Columbia were only advertised a few months before the (dection. They had awr.y north fifty oi- sixty miles of rail- wny to Cantfin's Bay, involving a cost of one a half millions, whilst as much more was required to make tho French lliver nuvigal>le. They had thu telegrajili line under construction. All involving an expimditure of nearly i5!20,O00,00O $12,444,000 of which was actually paid out at tho close of the year in which they left oHice. But tliero was niore than this. The hon, the ex-Scoretary of State told us the other day that the North- West, \ip to that period, had cast say ^9,000,000 or .«! 10,000,000 in the purchase and organi/,ation,and in the pay- ment of Indian sul>sidies,and the mounted police, ouo way or another, at the time tljey left ofHce. And so it had, and still annuuUv tho expenditure was $1,000,- 000. With $12,r)00.000 ])aid out on tho (Canadian I'acific Bailway, and this enormous expenditure annually going ou in the North- West, with $12,400,000 cash actually jiaid out on the Canadian Pacific Hail way, with ten millions ex- jiended in the organization and protection of the territory, with contracts existing involving additional millions, it was no time to stop had the i)roposition ever piesented itself to them. Whatever opinions might have existed in the out- set, it had now become imperative to go forward and make as much of tho enor- mous expenditure of value as possible. If there ever was a time to turn back it n»M lietore thiM ei|>eiidiUn'e aikI iNsforo the CHrnat'vuu ternm. Wh«n tlio Mm. ken/ie Uovernment took office, no con- trnctM litul l)een made, no oxpondituro hc< yond i\ little over n million dollara on ex I flora tor/ surveys ; but, on the change of Govonunont, it wnH far diflbr- ent ; the duty of the hour wan to take up thia heritage of confuaion, Itring it to order, and see how far it waa poaaiblo to make the milliona cxpo!idud, and the lunda that wore lying there, pro- iitable to the whole Dominion. 1'he hon. gentlemen who administer the Oovern- luent of thia country did not ahrink from that duty, 'lliey had firm faith in the value of that territory, and they had lirm faith in their own ability to develop that value. The llrst act was to connect the two broken aections of railway Ije- twecn Lake Superior and the Iieublic sentiment in favor of that work and that territory lying north-west of us. They invited the tenant farmers of England to send ))roi)er delegates to examine that country, and to report upon it. The invitation was accepted ; the delegatas came, and returned pleased with the country they had seen, and their visit was attended by the hapjuost results. But there were other classes in Britain and Europe — whore we looked for the money to construct this work and the peojde to fill the vast territory — whom it was of the highest imj>ortance to leach and favorably inipre^ss : the moneyed and official classes. The right hon. gentle- man who leads tlse (iovernraent, with one or two of his associates, visited Eng- land, and, having a marvellous adapta- tion to the work the)' Iiad undertaken, the result was almost magical upon the public sentiment of that country, upon all classes, from the noble old lord, who then, as Premier of England, stood next in autliority to the Queen who sits upon n throne mightiest among the nations, down to the humklost Mnant farmer ee<>king to own broad aci< for his own hands to till and his own children to inherit. All, from Jxtrd Bcaconsiiold down to the humblest cotter whom; children cry for bread, w«re given t(» know that here in " this Conotla of ours, ' we have countless acres of soil rich as hand of man ever strewed with seed for grain, oi- plantcd with flowera for b(>ttuty ; euougli and moH) to give happy and |>rosporoiiH homes to the millions when they come to us, and who, yvo believe, und«'r tho pro- t>osition of this Bill, will bo brought to us, to find those homes. This was a great i>oint gained. This was laying deep and broad the foundation for future action. Tho delegates return- d to tliis country. They met Parliament, and, to further impress u|»on the worli ihe vast ness of this territory and tho value of it. they ask(Kl Parliament to appropriate to this undertaking 100,000,000 acres of land ; and, to ex))re8s, if f)Ossibl(>, more clearly and strongly their faith in the undertaking, they placeil under ccntract 127 miles of the road in Britiish (Joluni- bia, and 100 miles of the prairie section. Then they felt that the time for further action Iwid come. The time had come 1m seek for a company to undertake tin- construct i>n of tliis great work of build- ing the 2,000 miles of additional rnihvay and the working of the whole so as ti> make unbroken rail from ocean to ocean. It may bo said that (hey .should havf^ given public notice of their intention t<) seek a company. Hon, gentlemen know- that tho men who deal in such mighty undertaking.^ as this are few and far be- tween. They are not men who seek for their work in the coi'ners of country rews)>apers. It might have been advor- tiscd in every newsj)aptr in the Domin- ion for years, us Mr. Mackenzie had ad\ertiHed it, without a response. The men who deal in those uudeitakings have tlieni brought to them, pre- sent<*d and advocated, and they i»abs tlieii- opinion upc)n them. It is becoming the custom of the world to do business in this way. When towns and munici- palities want anything done by t'^>e Gov- ernment, they do not write or adveitiso, but send a delegate to present their case. So manufacturers and other producers, either b) themselves or through agents. 8 Isit those who are likely to purchase or consume what they produce, and Wv have commercial travellers throughont the Dominion seeking and finding customers. The late Grovemment tried the commer- cial agent plan. They kept Mr. Fleming in England and Europe a large part of 1878, endeavoring to influence capitalists to undertake the work, but without suc- cess — not from want of ability on his part, because there was no man in their employ better fitted for the task, but he failed because of the condition cf the work and of the men who were behind him ; men who had not Iiesitated to magnify the obstacles in the way of constructing that work ; men who had placed on record the statement that not all the resources of the British empire would be equal to building it in ten years ; men who, here, upon the hustings in Ottawa, declared that all the Chinamen in China could not complete it in ten years, and that it would take forty years, with all the appliances that could be brought to bear upon it, to accomplish the under- taking ; men who did not hesitate to belittle their own country, and to magnify that which lies across the border ; men who praised the lands of Texas and Kan- sas with all the zeal of paid hirelings of the colonization roads of those States. Is it to be wondered at that they were un- successful ] But the men who went from this Government to that task went in a different spirit, and reached a very diffe- rent result, and that result is now pre- sented to us in the Bill before the House. When I look at the proposition which is made to us to have 2,000 miles of railway constructed, 712 equipped, amd the whole line run and worked ; when I think that we are securing all this for $25,- 000,000 in cash, distributed over ten years, two and a-haif millions a year, or, as Sir Richard Cartwright admits, equal to, as cash down, fum 18 to 19 millions, and a little of our spare land, I fee', as some hon. gentlemen have said, more like offering wy congratulations than offering arguments to sustain the Bill. When I think of the past ten yeara, and the doubt, anxiety and apprehension which forced themselves upon men's minds regarding the cou»^ of this mighty undertaking ; when no man knew, in the .accidents of political life, into whose feeble hands the management might again fall, and where we might be driven by it; when I recall the five years in which we drifted helplessly towards destruc- tion upon a lee shore, with the cold hungry rocks of annual deficits baring all about the ship of State, and she manned by a crew who could or would do nothing but throw out signals of distress ; and, now, when I see that ship under other manage- ment, and another crew, brought away from the bi-eakers and reefs of annual deficits ; when I see her brought out from the mists and fog banks and into the clear water and blue sky, where we can ascertain our i*eckonings, and find out our exact financial latitude and longitude and know where we are, I think thw country should be congratulated, and the men, who, by clearheaded statesmanship, patriotism and indomitable persever- ance have brought about this result, deserve the thanks of the people. Had any company come to Mr. Mackenzie's Government when they were throwing out signals of distress, when theiv Finance Minister was declaring that he had exhausted everv means within his power to raise a revenue, and when the leader of that Government in this House was declaring that the country was too poor to build even 185 miles of railway to give us all rail from Lake Superior to Red River ; had a Syndicate come to that Government and said, give us $25,000,000 in cash distributed over ten years, $2,500,000 a year, and we will construct 2,000 miles of railway ; we will equip and work 712 miles of railway ; we will open up that vast ter- ritory to you, and bring into it such a population as will make the 25,000,000 acres you gmnt us and all the vast ter- ritory you have there of such value that you will receive in return the actual cash subsidy many fold and indirectly you will receive incalculable advantages to this country." I say, had any Syndicate come to that Government and made such a proposition as that, every man of that Government would, politically, have fal- len down and worahipped that Company, Now, when that result has been reached by another Government and other men, in their vexation of spirit they rise u}) and their feet are *' swift to shed the blood " of that Syndicate. The opposi- tion to this contract has taken different 9 ray; ts of ter- ^ch a ,000 ter- Ithat leash you b to late such Ithat fal- my. bhed len, UJ) the 5si- t-ent forms. In the outset it was declared that we gave entirely too much — that the land itself is worth more than the cost of the whole work that was to be done. If this had been tiue, why was the country subjected to anxiety and trotible with regard to the cost of the worki If in 1877 and 1878 they be- lieved what they utter now regarding the value of that land — if our wealth be so fabulous as they represent — why did they not go on with the work ? What need was there for hesitation and seek- ing for a company 1 But the opposition has now another form. We are too poor to build the line, and must be content with the Central section and connections with American lines. That is the policy they have announced, and to which they are committed. Every member of the Opposition in the House of Commons takes that ground, and votes for an amendment moved by Mr. Burpee de- claring that the Western end shall be cut off. I have the amendment in my hand, but I will not detain the House by read- ing it. Then another gentlemam, who was a member of the late Government ^Mr. Laurier), moves another amendment declaring that the Eastern end slmU be cut off, and the line to the Sault Ste. Marie constructed, to connect with Am- erican lines. All that is fixed cleai'ly and plainly on the public records of the country as the policy of the Opposition. Before this last step had been taken in the Commons ; before these amendments had been placed on record, but after the policy of the Opposition had been de- clared — had taken form and shape, and crystalized — and announced to their supporters all over the country, another company is formed, and proposes to build the Pacific Railway. Now, let us for a moment look at that second offer. The first proposition is made to the Government upon the policy that there shal' be unbroken rail com- munication from ocean to ocean ; that we shall construct the railway from Nipissing to the Pacific Ocean. Upon that policy, and to carry it into effect, the first Syndicate make their proposi- tion. After long negotiations, and satis- faction given that they are equal to the undertaking, a contract is made, and the Government is bound to it. The second Syndicate, having before them the policy of the Opposition, and having been suffi- ciently assured that it will be adhered to by those gentlemen whenever they should come into power, they make their offer, shaping it to meet that policy. Matters had reached the point which made it ab- solutely impossible to abandon the con- tract with the first Syndicate, unless by a government lost to all sense of per- sonal, public and political honor, and they could safely act upon the assumption that if the Government were so dishon- orable as to break their solemn obligation to the Syndicate, and if in Parliament a majority could be found so lost to a sense of honor as to sustain them, then such a Government and such sxipporters could be manipulated to adopt the policy for which the second ofier is framed — to do no work east or west except the branch to the Sault, and so reap a large profit from the Central section. But this is not the ground upon which they relied. Their hope rest,ed upon tlip Government honorably adhering to their solemn obli- gations ; that their offer, which bore ^ . the face of it an apparent saving of three millions in cash and the sar. i3 in land, might deceive the country and Parlia- ment, and lead to a change of Govern- ment and the placing in power the gentlemen who had announced as their policy the cutting off of the Eastern and Western ends of the road, and building only the praine section, and to the Sault ; and in their ofier they make the necessary provision therefor, as the fol- lowing extracts clearly show : — " 19. TheCompauy also hereby offers, in the event of the Government desiring to withdraw from the proposed construction of the Eastern Section of the said Railway, that the Companr shall reduce the said subsidy in money and land by the amount apportioned to the said Eastern Section of the llailway under the 9tU paragraph of this proposal . " 20. In the event of the Government desir- ing to withdraw the said Eastern Section from construction hereunder, the Company hereby offers to construct within three years, and equip, own and operate as a part of thft Canadian Pacific Railway, a branch line from South-East Bay, liako Nipissing, to Sault Ste. Marie and Goulais Bay, Juake Superior, esti- mated at 294 miles, at and for a sum of $3,500,000 ; and in all other respects the pro- visions of th 8 proposal shall apply to the said Branch Line so far as applicable thereto. "21. In the event of the Government de- siring to postpone or withdraw from construc- tion the Western Section of the said Railway, extending from Kamloops to Port Moody, they 10 hkall be at liberty to roviclp fbr cutting oli the eastern and wefltern iiectionH, even to stoj) the work actually going on. Leaving, as I said before, only the central .section to be con- structed. Hon. Mr. SCOTT — Depending alto- gether on the desire of the Governk.^ent. Hon. Mr. MILLER ~ What Govern- ment '/ Hon. Mr. SCOTT — The j)resent Gov- ernment. I Hon. Mr. McLELAN — No ; but the Government that they hoped would come into i)ower under that offer. It was to be the Government to be formed by the men who had announced it as their yiolicy, and who .subseqtiently ]>laced it on the public records that it Avas their intention, if ever tliey came into power, to drop both ends of the road, and build only the central section. Having ai-ranged it in thL way, great stress is laid upon the fact that their offer is $3,000,000 and 3,000,000 acres less than the offer of the first Syndicate. 2,400,000 of which are on central .section, and almost all the lion, gentlemen who have spoken in favor ot Syndicate No. 2, say that the acceptance of their offer would be a saving of from twelve to fif- teen millions of dol'ars. AVe must look att the second j>roposition as it really is, and as it is Teally intended to be — for t/he construction of the central .section — the eastern and western ends to be drop- ped. Hon. Mr. SCOTT— No ; it speaks for iteelf. Hon. Mr. McLELAN — It speaks for itself, and I have read the three clauses which s]jeak for themselves. I have read also the amendment moved in the House of Commons, and sustained by every member of the Opposition, which speak for themselves ; and I need not refer to other speeches which speak for them- selves — all declaring in the )/lainest terms what would be tho j)rocedure- whenever those gentlemen came into power. ' .'* ' ■ " . ■; m li '' Hon. Mr. MILLER leadership. Under the new Hon. Mr. McLELAN — Now, hon. gentlemen, let us look at that S3,000,000 which it is claimed they will save, and you will take this fact into consideration, that they were to cut off the western section — that means that they were to be saved the expense of equipping 217 miles of railway there, which I estimate at .$3,000 a mile — very much less than it cost to equip the Intercolonial. Having looked at the returns for the equipment of railways in the United States, I have seen that in sixteen or seventeen railways the returns give an average for equipment, rolling stock, etc., of $7,500 per mile. On the Inter- colonial we expended on 500 miles something like $2,000,000 on rolling stock alone ; and in addition to the rolling stock there is an enormous ex- penditure on what is called equipment. I have put it down at only $3,000 per mile, which is $651,000 they will save in the equipment of the western end, and then the saving of loss in the work- ing of 057 miles. They would not build 450 miles down from the Rocky Moimtains, which makes altogether 657 miles of railway, which it is admitted covdd not be worked for many years without loss. I put that loss at a very small figure — $1,000 a mile — making $057,000 a vear, or for five years $3,285,000. The two together will be a saving in the equipment and woi'king of that i)ortion of the road of $3,930,000^ But the period of loss in working that western section should be placed beyond five vear.s, and the loss very much move, and therefore the saving or escape from loss very much the greater-. Mr. Mac- kenzie, in I877,page 1,039 of Hansard, says, speaking of the whole line, includ- ing tho central section, which it is ad- mitted will be profitable : " The whole is an undertaking which for many years can yield no i»rofit." If you assume \ "'he ; 11 pry caU to em- nest lura into new hon. 1,000 and ition, stei'n re to 217 imate I than lonial. >r the Jnited ixteen s give stock, I Int€r- 1 miles oiling the ex- men t. )00 per 1 save end, work- not Kocky er 657 luitted years a very making years ill be a •king of 3G,00l\ .jg that beyond li more, lie from Mac- ansard, inclvid- is ad- 'hole is years assume us •n Id nj that l>oth propositions are to build thu wholo road, how does this matter stand ? Assuming, as the hon. gentleman, the ex- 8ecretarj|of State, wouhli ntimate,that the profiosition is to construct the whole road, which I deny, and which I always will deny Hon. Mr. SCOTT — Tlie offer speaks for itself. Hon. Mr. McLELA.N — And spaak- ing for itself it proclaims to the world that it was never inteJided otherwise. Hon. Mr. SOOTT — The hon. gontle- mau knows very well that the option is with the Government. Hon. Mr. McLELAN — And the gentlemen who made that i)roposition knew very well tiiat if it were ever ac- cepted aud ever acted upon, it would bo by the gentlemen who now form the Op. position in the House of Commons. Hon. Mr. SCOTT -- Then it was a farce submitting the other. Hon. Mr. McLELAN — Now, assuming that botli propositions were to build the whole line, how doed the matter stand ? As I have said before, the Government entered into that contract and were bound in honor to adhere to it. Tiie two syndicates stand in this position : that tlie Government made a contiact with certain capitalists, after it haa been assured that those capi- talists had suUIcicnt means and surticient connections formed abroad to raise the liwge amount of money that would bo neoe.ssary to comi)lete the undertaking. The second Syndicate, although composed of a number of veiy excellent gentlemen in mercantile life, do not claim that they had any foreign connections made wlioi-e- by they could raise the capital necessary to carry out this work. Hon. gentlemen who are now in Opposition will not deny, but all, excej)t the ex-Secretary of State, will admit that in order to complete this work a very large amount of money must be raised in some wny, in addition to what is provided under the Government subsidy of .f 25,000,000. The original Syndicate had all their connections made in New York and in London, and on the •ontinent of Europe, whereby they could raise almost any amount wf monev that might be neces- sary to eitrry on the luido*- taking ; and the Government had ascertaineci this before completing that contract, a-; it was necessary-and wise for them to d* . In 1871 we had the Allan contract ; we had gentlemen of large means in this country, far greater than those of the present new Syndicate, of great railway experience and of g>*e»t sagacity, who combined and deposited their millions and went abroad to seek the fimds necessary for their contract ; but having no connections made abroad, and having to meet the hostility of the stockholders of the Grand Trunk ]{ail- way in the foreign markets, they failed to float the scheme, and ten yeai-s have been lost ; and the lesson from the past was, that the first and main point was to know that the men who proposed to undertake this great work had their connections formed abroad whereby they could command the necessary cajntal and influence that would be instrumental in directing a large emigration to this country — an organization that would be prepared to send into the North-West the people that will be neced.sarv in order to make that road, or any road that is ever constructed there, i)roti table. The gentlemen who make the second proposition had no such connections, and do not i)rofess to have formed any connections whereby the means necessary to carry on the work may be raised. The Act of 1874, passed by the gentlemen now in Opposition, who approve this second Syndicate, declares that no section or sub-section of it shall Vh? given to any contractor or company wlio does not satisfy the Government that they have a cajtital of at least $4,000 a mile to cany on the work. Now, for 2,000 miles that means at least $8,000,00(1, and when you come to equip 712 miles it will require from .$2,000,000 to .1^3.000,000 more : so that it would take $8,000,000, or $10,000,000 at least according to the declaration of hon. gentlemen in Opposition when they passed the Act of 1874, as a capital to commence operations with. They may t-eli us that the second Syndicate, al though they do not claim to have that amount of money — do not claim to \ye worth that in themselves, taking their entire property — that they could raise it abroad ; but there is just the weak 12 ■jpoint in the proposition of the second Syndicate, that they have not made their connections in the money markets of the world, to float their bonds or in' any way raise the capital necessary. In addition to that, it may be claimed that they could make their connections ; but the moment that you dissolve the contract, the moment you violate th» public honor of this country and de- clai'e that the public men — the Govern- ment of Canada — cannot be trusted to enter into any contract ; that whenever it suits their whim, or the whims of their supporters, they can drop out, and will drop out of their agreement, you destroy all confidence in the money mar- kets of the world, and you would create in this instance such a hostility among the members of this Syndicate and their friends, as to render it impos- sible for the second Syndicate to raise the necessary funds abroad. I am free to say, in the construction of this work and in the running of the road for ten years at least, and in the organization necessary to bring into that territory the population that 'will eventually make it pay, irora $50,000,000 to $70,000,000 must be expended, from which we may deduct the subsidy of $25,000,000, leaving a very 'large amount to be provided for from abroad, and for which no provision has been made, or can be made, by the second Syndicate. The ex-Secretary of State tells us that this is all brought about from a want of notice, that if the notice had been given | there would have been abundance of offers made even more favoi'able than the offer of the second Syndicate. Now, if we turn to the his- tory of this undertaking, from 1871, 1877 and 1878, up to the present time, you will find it has been the declaration of every Government in this country that they were desirous to have a company undertake the whole of the work. The very fact, as I said before, of 100,- 000,000 acres being set apart in 1879 by the Government for the construction of the Pacific Railway, was an intimation to the world more plain and more forcible than any advertisement in any newspaper could have been, that that was to be utilized as a subsidy to a com- pany, or in some other way, in order to complete this work. If it were not so, what was the use of passing a resolution in Parliament, if a portion or the whole of it was not to be given over to some com- pany who would undertako, as previonsly provided by Act, its construction ; if Par- liamtnfe meant that the Government should go on and construct the whole railway as a Government work, why put apart 100,000,000 acres of lamdl The Government held that land before, and all they had to do was to go on and pay the money out of the public treasury when- ever it came in from loans, complete the work, and the proceeds of land sales go into the treasury. If there was one idea more clearly and firmly fixed on the public mind than another, it was that this work, to be least burdensome to the country and most successfully carried out, must be in the hands of a company largely sub- sidized. The resolution of Parliament in 1871, the Act of 1874, the declaration of the Government in 1877 and 1878, the labors of Mr. Fleming in Europe, the placing of 100,000,000 acres of lands ia the hands of this Government, were all standing declarations to capitalists that " we wish you to organize and undertake this work. " Then, we have the announce- ment of the leader of the Government at a public meeting at Bath {on the 29th June last that they were seeking a com- pany. His words were reported in every paper in the Dominion, and a wider and a clearer advertisement was never given. He said : — «• When he told his hearers that at this mo- ment there were a number of capitalists offer- ing to build the road, desirous of taking it off the hands of the Qovemment, and also of mak- ing their own fortunes by running it, and the settlement of the lands which had been set apart to pay for the construction, they would quite understand how false and absurd were the charges made against the Government, that the building of the line was overwhelm- ing the people. The Government at this mo- ment had the offers made under consideration, so that there was no danger regarding the road, and there was no room for doubting that the great western country would be opened up, not only for the young men of Canada, but for the world, to settle. The Government was pursuing a vigorous course regarding the rail- way. The policy of the late tiovernmcut was to construct it in disconnected sections. That absurd system the present Government had stopped, and the hope and the intention was to have, as speedily as possible, railway com- munication that would span the Dominion." Here we have it published *' far and go men. in of m- ar- mt ole |>Ut Che all the len- the 8 go idea iblic ork, intrr must kjub- int in on of 5, the I, the ids itt ive all 3 that jrtake )unce- ent at 29th com- everr and !^ Igiven. [lis mo- offer- it oft nfmak- Ind tbe lien set wowld Id were ^nment, vhelm- liis BOO- eration, ^ng the ag that Lned up. 1 but for Int waa tie rail- |nt was That, fcnt had ton wa* ty com- 18 lion. wide " that oflfers were being made and considered, and we have the policy of the Government for a through line de- clared. Following this we had the an- nouncement that members of the Gov- ernment would proceed to Europe to endeavor to secure the best company and the best terms from capitiilists. Months passed after these aunuuncements ; no ad- vertisement ever issued by the Govern- ment of Canada had a wider circu- lation, or attracted so general notice. But, notwithstanding that, wo do not Hud that a single man whose name is now upon the second Syndicate moved a linger or a pen, or uttered a woi-d in the way of forming a company to construct that work — even the central section. If we look at that second Syndicate, and at ita birth and history, and if we look at the men whose names are appended to that second offer we will see that it is dependent for its very existence upon the first Syndicate, and upon their contract having ber.i consummated, and the Government being bound to that contract. Why, hon. gentlemen, you turn to the names of the gentlemen com- posing this second company — I have the list of them here, and I have the rating that Bradstreet gives to all of these. I have here the statement, and what do you suppose is the amount of capital tlmt they are supposed in their persons — in their entire jiersons — to re- j>resent 1 Why, hon. gentlemen, it foots up to $2,671,000. Hon. Mr. SCOTT — Preposterou.s ! Hon. Mr. MoLELAN— I am only taking Bradstreet's figures and they are ac- cepted by the mercantile world ; they are the figures that would be looked at in England and on the continent, and wherever they might go in order to raise capital. It would Ije asked *' What is the standing of those men, and what capital do they rejjresent ill their persons I " and Bradstreet would be referred to for informa.*^'on. Hon. Mr. SCOTT — I know two them who are-worth a million each. of and Hon. Mr. McLELA.N — I know one gentleman who is put down here for a uuUion, and you take him out of it, and you would have only $1,671,000 to retnesent the rest. There are severaf names of very excellent mercantile busi- ness men down for very considerable sums, large comfortable sums to carry on the ordinary business engaged in by merchants, but one-half the members are rateid in the list I hold in my hand at under one hundred thousand dollars, some as low as five thousand dollars, and one at five hundred dollars. Two or three weeks ago, walking up to the Building with a gentleman not in poli- tics, he said to me, " here comes a mem- ber of the new Syndicate ;" he gave the name (it is not the lowest rated on the list) and added, '•' I had his note a short time ago for $250, and had very hard work indeed to get it discounted." The hon. ex -Secretary of State says there are millionaires on the list. I find one, and as he is so rated, I may, \vith- out offence, name him, Mr. Gibson, of New Brunswick, a most excellent man, the backbone of the company, but let us inquire a little how the company gets this backbone and whencn it draws its strength and vit:dity, giving to the whole its life and existence. Why, hon. gentle- men, it is from the first Syndicate. Mr. A. Gibson, who is down on this paper for .^1,000,000, is the man who deposited $500,000, nearly one half of the whole deposit — that $500,000 came from the ol(l Syndicate. It was the money i)aid to Mr. Gibson by members of the first Syndicate in the purchase of the Wood- stock and Riviere du Loup Railway. When the men of the contracting corn- pan)' were considering the proposition to take the Pacific Railway, they would naturally look to a through connection to the sea, and the facilities to distribute the great volume of traffic which it is hoped at no very distant day will come down that great highway. This Woodstock road attracted attention as presenting u link in the system, and was purcha.sed by men of tlie first Syndicate. Mr. Ciibson was a large stockholder in that road, which was yielding little returns. Excellent man as he is — millionaire as he is rated — it will be admitted, I think, that with over $800,000 locked up in that road, he was not in a position to make even a show of constructing the Pacific Railway. The purchase was made. Mr. Gibson was paid $840,000, and months afterwards joins the new II oompuuy forinitig on the 0|)i)08ition policy $500,000 of the very fi*om members of the the liau of and deposits casli received old Syndicate. We then reach the conclusion that tut for the money [mid by members of the old contracting Syndicate in completion of tli-nr system, the new comi)any could never have had existence, no matter liow great the political exigencies of the < Opposition, and we have also the fatal t-onclusion that although existing and iil>le to make the government deposit, it has not the strength at home or abroad for this great enterprise, and we may without hesitation put it aside as being unworthy of serious consideration, and (;ome down to the proposition " Js it a good or a bad contract that the Govern- ment have made ? " Now let us see whut it is that the Syndicate have nnuertakeu to do, and what is to be done. [ have already stated it, and need nob ie to i)lace very little reli- ance on the estimates of Government engineers as to the cost of this great work, especially when so much of it is thr;ugh an unbroken and untrodden forest. Consider the difference. The Intercolonial Kailway was through an old settled district, while many parts of the Canadian Pacific Ilailway will run through a country, as Mr. Mackenzie has told us, that was never trodden by the foot of a white man until the engi- neers went there. Therefore it is im- possible that so close an estimate can bo made for the Pacific Ilailway as was formed for the Intercolonial. Take for instance some of the work that ha* already been done. Take the section* that were let previous to the change of Government between Thunder Bay and Selkirk to the extent of 228 miles ; a great deal of that is almost a prairiv country for railway construction. Hon, Mr. SCOTT — Prairie country I Hon. Mr. McLELAN — A greal deal of it is not much heavier than prairie. There is comparatively little excavation in it except on Section 15. The 70 miles beyond is very light work indeed,as wer« the sections next to Thunder Bay. Now I take it that those sections of 228 miles will be about a fair average of all the work that is to be done on the 2,000 miles. You have got 450 miles througk the ilocky Mouiitiimilar position on this continent and with climates almost identical with the best wheat countries of the old world, the westernf northern, north-western and central ptirts oe Europe. It lies, too, in the valleys of the fjreat rivers of the northern half of the con- tinent — the Saskatchewan, Assiniboine, l{cd, Winnipeg, Peace, Arthabaska and Mackenzie, with probably a larger percentage of tillable soil than in any equal area in the old world.'" Well, hon. gentlemen, considering the enormous extent of territory that we have there, and with the small proportion represented in the land grant for the construction of this work, tliere is no room for complaint that we are giving too much land. 1 say the sooner we can get rid of that land on the same terms as this the better for the Dominion, and for the world at large, in which there are so many poor suffering for bread. If I understand the position of the Opposi- tion, it is that it would have been better to have held the lands and gone on and constructed this road as a Government work. That means that vou must take all the revenaes of the Dominion ant) concentrate them upon that work in the far West. What would the older pro- vinces say to such a course 1 They all have public woi^ks that must be attended to by the Dominion Government, and if you apply the whole revenue of the country to building the Pacific Railway, instead of making the public land con- tribute to it, you will have a rebellion in the older provinces, more especially when there is an opportunity of getting rid of the work on the terms contained in this Bill. The subsidy has been spoken of as a payment of $25,000,000 cash down, but it is distributed over ten years. Sir Richard Cartwright says : — "Our obligatidu was not to pay the Com- pany $25,000,000 on or before the Ist of Jjui- uary, 1882, hut $25,000,000 in instalments, the last of which will mature in January, 1891. Our cash obligations to the Company would he faiiiy computed to-day at something like $18,000,000 or $19,000,000, and not $25,000,000.'' The House will remember that the hon. ex-Secretary of State took the subsidy that the Government proposed to pay to the Syndicate, and by some mysterious, calculation of his own, which I am sure I failed to comprehend, he arrive'd at the conclu.sion that the Syndicate Avould build the whole road, and have about $19,000,000, and the 25,000,000 acres of land worth $75,000,000. Talk about the greenback system. It is wholly eclipsed. Talk about the rag baby, why the rag baby is dead, and the ex- Secretary of State has buried it out of siglit ! I do not pretend to equal the old Scotchman who was tisked if he could preach a sermon. " Yes/' he said. " And can you divide it up in its different heads?" " Yes," he replied. " And can you draw the inference V " Indeed, 1 can.' " Well, now, what inference would you draw from this text : ' The wild ass snuffeth up the east wind V " " Aye, replied the old man, " I wad just draw the inference that he wud no get verra fat." Well, hon. gentlemen, I draw the inference that the Syndicate that con- structs this Pacific Railway in ihe man- ner proposed by the ex-Secretary of State — the men who furnish the supplies, the navvies who do the hard work, the men who run the road, and every man tionj min( ofth of run capit will the a th Whili must The and w the a( interet dicate be givi as soo necessa can hi provide eastern and a. the p pro- ay all jnded and if f the ilway, d con- lion in ^ when ; rid of in this in of as down, %. Sir he Coiu- tof Jan- lents, the ary, layi- would ha [ling lik'- md not |the hon. svibsidy pay to ysterious am sure eel at the e would ve about 00 acros ilk about wholly baby, the ex- it out of jqual the led if he *< Yes/' divide lieads 1 " can you [l, 1 can.' rould you wild ' ass ' " Aye, Ijust draw 17 s aet vena draw the that con- . xhe man- [y of State pplies, the ;, the men ery man connected with it will be snuffing up the east wind, and " no get verra fat." Nothing but the expenditure of millions of hard cash will ever bring that work to completion, and no process by which the hon. gentleman can bring out on paper, a balance of $19,000,000, in favor of the Syndicate will ever accomplish it. Various propositions have been made for the construction of this work. I do not propose to detain the House with a comparison of all the various offers and propositions which have been made, but I do say this, that taking the ho ex-Hecretary of State's own line of argument, that money is 'cheaper now and easier raised than it was in 1871 and 1874, the facts become stronger against him. Taking the rate of interest that wo were paying in 1871 and the rate that we are paying now, it will not cost us more to raise $36,134,831 now than it did cost us when we offered the Allan Company $30,000,000. Or, if you take the reverse of it, the $25,000,000 at the rate we are paying for money now, would only be equal in reality to $20,755,000 as compared with the $30,000,000 in 1871. Taking the hon. gentleman's own line of argument, the comparison in all cases becomes more favorable to the present contract. Objections have been taken to the allotment to the central section being, as is claimed, oxit of pro- portion to the western and eastern sec- tions. Hon. gentlemen should bear in mind that the first expenditure almost of the Syndicate will be the equipment of 712 miles of railway ; this and to run it, will require a large amount of capital. Then, a large amount of capital will be necessary to provide plant for the whole undertaking, and to organize a thorough system of immigi'ation. Whilst constructing the central, they must proceed with the eastern section. The cash subsidy given to the eastern and western sections will fall far short of the actual cost, and it is both for the interest of the Dominion and the Syn- dicate that a large amount of land should be given to the Syndicate for settlement as soon as possible. Some time must necessarily elapse before the Syndicate can have a return from lands to help provide the cost of constructing the eastern and western sections. It is essential to the prosperity of tho North-West and the success of the whole that there shall be a large population put in there, and that you shall give over to the Company for that purpose, as soon as possible, as large an extent of territory as it is safe to do under the terms of the contract. All the land that the Syndicate can settle in the first years during the construction of the road will lie along the line, and the 000 miles over the prairie section will only give them sufticient land as laid down within the proper distance on each side of the line. But, if the gentlemen of the Opposition think that we should have held part of these lands and money and placed it directly upon the eastern and western portions of the road, what have they to say to their own Act of 1874 ? That Act di- vides the work into sections. It says " it shall be divided into sections," and it names them just as they are named in this contract. Then it goes on to say that $10,000 a mile shall be given to each and every mile, and in every sec- tion, and that 20,000 acres of land shall bo given to every mile of every section of the road. That Act declaring that this subsidy should be given in all cases would give to that central section $10,000 in cash and 20,000 acres of land per mile, and in addition to that they propose to guarantee four per cent, or any sum the contractors and the Government might agree upon. We will drop the four per cent. We will put any valuation that any gentleman who has spoken on that side will men- tion upon the land ; but $3 seems to be the figure about which they all cling. You have at that rate $60,000 worth of land, and $10,000 in cash, or $70,000 a mile for building the Central section. That is what they proposed to give under their Act of 1874. But somc! hon. gen- tlemen lay gi-eat stress upon the fact, or what they call a fact, that this measure will create a monopoly in the west — a monopoly which the hon. Sen- ator fi'om Charlottetown said would be like a malaria spreading over the land. I was, and am still, under the impr«i*jsion that the object of this Bill is to break up a monopoly that has existed in the North- West from time immemorial. The In- dians, the buffaloes, the prairie dogs and 2 18 the niuHkrata have had a mono|)oly of tliat country for ages, and the propoBition ia to break up the uionoi)oly of barbarism and to give that country civilization, prosperity and advancement in the world. They say it is a roonoix)ly because no other company can construct a railway to within fifteen miles of the boundary. The hon. gentleman opposite who spoke yesterday asked, " Would you give a river away 1" and some hon. gentlemen said, " hear, hear." Certainly not if the river wore open and free to the naviga- tion of the world. But if it wei-e ob- structed and any individual shoiild tit it for navigation by overcoming those ob- .structions, the country would give him a monopoly of it, and the privilege of exacting tolls for the use of it hj others. The Government itself constructs canals and charges tolls upon vessels passing through them, and in that way has a monopoly of our rivers. A tise occurred a few days ago, where one lumberman had made improvements on a river, and another lumberman passed Lis logs over the chutes of that river. The owner of the improvements sued him, and the Court decided that he had a monojKjly of the works on that river. But why should these hon. gentlemen talk about a m«nopoly being created be- cause of this clause ia the Bill ] Look at their own. Mr. Mills, while a mem- ber of the late Government, introduced a Bill in the other House for the construc- tion of railways in the North-West, by which he created the very kind of mono- poly that the same hon. gentleman now complains of. He says in that Bill : — " No company shall be incorporated, under the provisions of this Act, for the construction of any railway having the same general dii'ection asthe Canadian Pa- cific Railway, or any branch thereof, at a nearer mean distance than forty miles." People outside of ParliaiiieuJ. reading that would take up that word " mean " and say it was mean to complain of a bill that allows you to go within fifteen mil«s of the frontier, when these gentle- men declare themselves that no one should go within forty miles of the Pacific Railway. Then they complain of the ratts of freight, and contend that the road should be held by the Government in order that they might regulate those rates, and the ex-Secretary of State instanced the case of the Inter colonial Railway being held as a Government work, and that w« came to this House to complain of the rates, and they were reduced. Th« fact is, that till the groat railways of this continent : the syndicates, and companies, and individuals, tliat have been gathering in and strengthening their lines, have tended, under the manjigemont of the companies, to a reas hold by th« Government — held by the late Govern- ment — that we had to com* to this House to complain of the rates of freight. At that time all the railways held by privats companies on this continent were re- ducing their rates for freight and wert increasing the traffic ujjon their lines, whilst the late Government were increas- ing the charges for freight, and reducing the ti-aflic ui)on the Intercolonial. I remember bringing this matter to ths notice of this Chamber during the ad- ministration of the late Government, and of having cited numerous cases of re- ductions made by companies in ths rates for freight; and having pre- sented such a case as was unanswerable to the Government ; and that, I believe, had some little influence in bringing about a reduction of the rates ujxjn the Intercolonial. I say that, so far from being alarmed at the rates that railway companies may charge, we would have more cause for alarm if th« line were owned by the Government, because governments will not watch so closely the interests of a railway and the wants of traffic as a company will. The Government are not so easily reached as a company is, nor so easily affected in their own interest or in their pockets ; therefore, I claim that it is safer under a company that will carefully watch the pulse of traffic, and, in every possible way, seek to strengthen it ; besides, we can, when there is need, reach them un- der the clauses of the general Railway Act. But hon. gentlemen also assert that this Company will hold their lands, and they have cited the case of the " Canada Land Company," which has held lands for 20 or 30 years, but the cases are quite different. The main pro- fits of the Svndicate must arise from the 19 ter- I a w« lain Th« this nies, iring have [ the «B of I the r th« »vern- com* n. of time (rivate jre rc- , were lines, ncreas- iducing lial. I to the the ad- !nt, and » of re- in the ig pre- jwerable lat, I ifluence of the ly that, ^e rates irge, we if the iment, atch so ray and ny will, [reached ited in [ockets ; [r under ^tch the IpoBsible des, we lem un- ilway assert ^r lands, of the ich has lut the |ain pro- rom the iwttlenipnt of their lands. What in the ndvantnge of the Company iindei'taking to oonRtmct the Pacific Railway through that territory if thoy do not at the first |)088iblo moment sottlu the lands along the Hue. They must, in order tx) save themselveH, either settle our lands which are sandwiched in with theirs, or settle their own. I believe tin; Syndi- c&Ui cannot build that ruad for less than $50,000,000, and it would have cost the (Jovcrnrnent very much moir, as I have nttempt«d to Hhow. Now, all that the Government pa}8 is i?2r), 000,000, which will leave at Imst $25,000,000 to be pro- vided for by the Hyndicatt;. They are under bonds tiierefore to the extent of $1,250,000 a vear for the interest upon that sum at least, and they have also the expense of working the road of at least $6,000,000, so that the Syndicate is under bonds to the extent of $7,250,000 atthevery lowest calculation — to sell their land or to people ours. Whichever way you put it, if they sell their own lands, or if they people ours the advantages will accrue to the Dominion. The debate was adjourned until to- morrow. Mr. Mcljeelan still holding the floor. Thursday, Feh-uary 10th, 18S1. Kon. Mr. McLELAN said : Hon. gen- tlemen, I am sorry to trespass further upon the attention and time of the House, but I shall endeavor to limit my remarks and make them as brief as possible to- day. When the House fidjourned last evening, I was endeavoring to show that there need be no apprehension of a mo- nopoly in the North-West under the Bill transferring the construction of this work to a Syndicate. I had shown, I think, that it was the interest of the Syndicate to dispose of their lands as early as pos- sible and to settle that country in order that they might have a traffic whicih would pay the cost of running the rail- way and the interest upon the necessary capital that they would invest over and above the subsidy. This sum I place at $7,250,000, or for five years — the period for which I had made my other calcula- tions—it would iunouiit to .$3G,2:)0,000. Hon. gentlemen will see that, having the Syndicate under so heavy tmnds to dis pose of their lands and to settle the coun- try, then> need be no great alarm thftt they would hold them for an inoroased value. All that the lands, if held, wouUl increase in value would )>e lost in the annual deficit in the working of the roHd, and in the interest of the capital. With- out population, kion. gentlemen know that the railway cannot exist, that thoy can not meek the interest upon their bonds which they will have outstanding ; and the probabiliti«'«i arc that they would otherwise have to go into bankniptcy and Ih) sold out, as many other rail- ways in the United States have been during the past year. T have hero a statement showing that ."^l rail- ways in the United States, for the past year, with an aggregate length of 3,37i miles, with $166,000,000 bonds and $97,000,000 stocks, wei-e sold under foreclosure of mortgage. Hon. Mr. SCOTT — Between what years ? Hon. Mr. McLELAN — That was during the last year. In five years 228 roads,having a mileage of 20,000 — nearly 23 per cent, of the present total mileage of the United States — and a nominal in- vestment of $1 ,236,000,000, became bank- rupt, and bankrupt mainly and solely, as we all must infer, from the want of traffic upon the roads. If this Syndicate should follow the insane pra<;tice of with- holding their lands from settlement they must inevitably become bankrupt also ; but if they settle the lands of the Domi- nion, and thereby secure traffic, then the ends we desire will be accomplished. But how are they to lock up their lands 1 How are they to get increased price* when we have intermixed with all the lands that they can hold — good, bad and indifferent — lands of the same quality and the same quantity, acre for acre, mile for mile, and farm for farm, which will be sold at a dol- lar and a quarter an acre? Hon. gentlemen have claimed that the Com- pany yrill get the best lands. Why, under the system in which the lands are to be located — in alternate blocks of a mile square — if they get a good mile we will have an adjoining mile equally good, and the average price that we could get so for it, under tho land regulations which were publighed in October last, would be at the highest, one dollar and a quarter an acre. Taking tho homostimd lot for settlement and the pre-euiption lot, of IGO acres each — the one lot free and the other lot at two dollars and a half an acre — wo get in this way for the two lots an average of one dollar and a quarter an acre, from which deduct one- quarter as the cost of management, and the price obtained by tho Government as the net receipts for tho land, will, in tho best belt, Ixj ono dollar an acre. Assum- ing that the Company hold their own lands and settle ours, how will the mat- ter stand ] You see with the average ])rice of our lands, and with the facilities afforded by the railway, there can bo little doubt that the lands held by the Oovernme»t will be readily sold at the price I have named. What will bo tho result of tho settlement of an cipial quantity of land to that which we give the Syndicate — 25,000,000 acres 1 I go to the Census of th United States, and find that tho returns of tho quantity of land held by farnioi-s there, improved and uninproved, is given. Taking the State of Minnesota, the improved lands there amounted in 1870 to 2,322,000 acres, and unimproved to 4,161,000 acres ; making altogether 6,483,000 acres, the population is 439,000, which gives an average of 14| acres per head. I go to the State of Michigan, which had in the same year 10,000,000 acres of land in the hands of agriculturists, and a popula- tion of 1,184,000, and average of Sk acres a head. Take our 25,000,000 acres, and put them in the hands of agricul- turists, and you will have, at least, a population of 2,000,000. So that if the Syndicate does nothing more than settle the 25,000,000 of acres of land that we have intermixed with theirs, they will confer an incalculable benefit upon this Dominion. Then again, as a further guarantee, at the end of twenty years, if they are so disposed to hold their lands, the population there will have the power to impose taxation upon them ; and if the Railway Company carry into that country a population that will pay for the cost of working and running the railway, that j)opulation will be suffi- ciently strong to control the taxation of that territory, and will impose such taxes uiK)n those lands as will ensure their being thrown open for settlement. But, hon. gentlemen, it has l)een claimed by the Opposition, further, that although afttir twenty years, or upon tho sale of any of the Syndicate lands, the munici- palities will have the right to tax those lands, it is complained that they have no right to tax the roadbed and rolling- stock, or tho property of the Syndicate. Why, hon. gentlemen, the municipalities would not be in any worse position if the Government, as hon. gentlemen op- posite now advocate, should construct the road. No man supposes for a moment that if the Ctovernment were to build this road that it would give the munici- palities of the North-West tho right to tax th(i roadb'id and rolling-stock. To us of tho Maritime Provinces, it is a new proposition thus to tax the roadl)ed of a railway. We are more familiar, hon. gentlemen, in the Maritime Provinces — i speak njore j)articularly for the Pro- vince of Nova Scotia — with the hard- ships endured by the first settlers in their efforts to gain a footing in the country. We are familiar with the recitals thtieof, skewing that the pioneers of Nova Scotia, and I presume of all the older provinces, endured hard- ships, suffered privations, and over- came obstacles greater than many men have overcome whose names are recorded in history as heroes. When the men of the older provinces had undergone all those hardships, when they cleared their farms, established cities and towns, and made the wilderness to blossom, then companies came to them and proposed to build railways, and asked them to con- tribute something towards construction. In some cases the right of way was pro- vided, in others bonuses were given to the company. In the Province to which I belong the Government proposed to construct a railway, and in addition to the people of the counties through which that railway ran, bearing their share of the cost of construction, they were called upon and taxed to pay the right of way through those counties. And here, hon. gentlemen, a proposition is gravely made to us, the descendents of the people who endured all the hardships of settling this country, who have purchased and held the great North-West Territory at a cost, as the hon. Secretary of State says, of 21 leir tut, by ugh of fiici- llOHO lave ling- sate. ities ti if I op- it the tniMit build unici- fht to To It new d of a ', hon. cea — Pro- hard- n theiv (untry. •ecitals era of ne of hard- over • \y men ecorded men of ^one all 3d their ns, and H, then )08ed to to con- Tuction. vaa pro- riven to to which )osed to dition to rh which share of sre called of way lere, hon. ely made 'ople who tling this and held at a cost, says, of i $10,000,000, and an annual charge of one and a (|uartor inillionfi, (txrhiHive of the railway, and are now called upon to contribute twenty-tivo millions more to complete this undertaking, and are gravely told that wo should go further and ]>rovide that the people going into that country with nil tlio advantnges which we of the older provinces provide, should have the right to tax the railway. The Opposition have given various esti- nmt«!s of the value of the exemption, rating it ns worUi to the Syndicate from $6,000,000 U) $20,000,000. Take any of their figures and their asscrtiuuH, and it follows that no Syndicate! expecting to construct the I'oad would agree to bo taxed unless you add to the subsidy ju«y the American lines. Hon. Mr. SCOTT — You force thorn for ton years, at all events, to pass through the United States. Hon. Mr. McLELAN — But you ask us to force them for all time to travel through American territory. Hon. Mr. SCOTT — I never suggested anything of the kind. Hon. Mr. McLELAN — I say, if we reject this proposition, and act upon the sugg3Stion of the hon. gentleman, and construct the road to the Sault, it is tantamount to declarinc; that the route shall be for all time through the United States. Such a susirestion Hon. Mr. SCCTT xras never offered. Hon. Mr. McLELAN — It is nothing else. Suppose the hon. gentleman should succeed in getting two millions of people in the North-West, he does not mean to say that they, or any large proportion, would travel by land and water vid Thunder Bay and the Lake, even in summer ? The main portion of travel will be, and must of necesfiity be, through the United States lines, and I say, if you succeed in getting the number of settlers into the North-West that the hon. gentle- man expects (and it is not expected that this great railway shall pay working ex- penses until there are two or three millions of people there), you have that j)Opulation in the North-West, and four or tive millions in the older province's, and the means of communication betw(»en tlie two po{;ulations would be mainly through American territory. I say, so long as you have that, you never can bring about that feeling of homogenity — of oneness — tliaL is desirable in people living under th<3 same laws. Previous to the opening of the Intercolo- nial Railway, we of the Maritime Prov- inces knew something of that. We know that this passing through the United States to reach one part of the Dominion from another tends to keep us compara- tive strangers in sympathy and interest ; and it was not until the Intercolonial Kailway was built, and we travelled through our own territory from one point to another, that we felt that we were one people, and should work to accomplish one end. I say, therefore, that so long as you make the main thoroughfare of travel and traffic with the North-West through the United States, you will have the feelings and interests of the millions, who may go there to settle drawn and centred towards the United States. It has often been pointed out that the great leading railways which bound the North- ern and Western States together com- mercially, united them in patriotic sentiment ; and so with the South, — the sentiment of each following tiie lines of interest — the railways of the north, binding together I'le greater power, preserved the Union, f say that it is worthy an effort to get that great highway built, which shall bring about this oneness of sentiment throughout the- Dominion, more especially when the lands of the North-West can be made to bear at least half the cost of the undertaking. The hon. ex-Secretary of State has re- ferred to the amount that* we are giving to the Syndicate, and he has added to that the cost of the work alreadv coi;- structed or under contract, and he has taken the extreme figures, including the surveys — all expenditiires and all lia- bilities, amounting to iii?36,Gl9,000, from which he deducts $1,000,000, leaving §3.5,000,000. Now, that includes the cost of all the surveys that have been made. 1 do not think it is fair, under all the circumstances, to charge that against the Syndicate. Hon. Mr. SCOTT — That was the agreement with the Allan Company, that they w(;re to recoup the Government for the surveys made prior to the contract. Hon. Mr. McLELAN — I am only speaking ot the contract now, and what is the present position of tilings. The United States spent very large sums in exploratory surveys in the country over which the Union Pacific Hallway was built long before that line was construct- ed, and every railway that is run through a settled country has the advantage of the exj)enditure for surveys maae at the expense of the Government. I think it. 24 is entirely fair to deduct from the sum which the hon. gentleman puts down as the cost of the surveys. Hon. Mr. SCOTT ~- The Syndicate gets the benefit of it. Hon. Mr. McLELAN — So does every railway company that runs through a settled country get the benefit of the surveys made at the expense of the Government. Hon. Mr. SCOTT — But the line is actually located through the prairie sec- tion. Hon. Mr. McLELAN — Yes, and it was changed by the Government because it was considered that the location was xmwise and unsuited to the country. Would you charge against this Syndicate the cost of locating the line over the muskegs north of Lake Manitoba? If the hon. gentleman will not permit me to take from the amount the whole cost of the surveys, I think he will have generosity enough to allow me to take at least the cost of that location more especially, as we, in this Chamber, pro- tested in our strongest terms against it. We never could rightly understand why that location was made ; why it was taken away from the portion of the pro vi ace fit for settlement. Hon. gentlemen from Manitoba asked for a committee in the session of 1876, and we had an inquiry, and it was shown that, looking to the colonization of the country and the strengthening of our position, it was right and proper to take the line south of Lake Manitoba. It will be remembered by hon. gentle- men who were on that Committee, that tha position taken by the Government was that the northern route was shorter ; but there is another reason given later by the hon. gentleiua.u .'uo was Premier at that time, which will be found in the Commons Debates of 1877. It was that the right of way would be cheaper where located. He says : — " Advantages were no doubt to be gamed by running the road from Rat Portage in a more southerly route, and reaching Red River 20 miles further up. near the City of W innipeg. Then this route passed through a compara- tively settled portion of the country, some of it, at all events; and it would also pass through the centre of population. Apart from great at gentle- tho engineering difficulties which present- ed themselves, and to which he would refer presently, there were other disadvantages. One of these disadvantages was that the rout* would pass through a place where the price of land was very high. The Government found themselves, even at Thunder Bay — a place which was still more recently settled — obliged to pay for every inch of land, for two miles along the river bank, at a cost in the neigh, borhood of $50,000, On the line they bad adopted in Manitoba and the North- West very little of the land was in the hands of privals parties." Here we are in effect told that the road was carried away from the population and from the land fit for settlement and located over the swamps and muskegs north of Lake Manitoba, because the cost of right of way was so Thunder Bay ; because the hon man was incompetent to protect himself from the Philistines, his friends, and paid over $50,000 for what was not worth as many cents. When the hon. Senator, now Minister of Inland Revenue, was ventilating this matter before Parliament, we never supposed that we were doing an incalculable damage to this country, and to the Province of Manitoba by that exposure. We did not think that we were frightening the Government from the valuable lands of Manitoba, and driving them to locate the road where it could only be done in winter over muskegs "measureless to man," so that they might not fall again into the hands of the Phil- istines as they did at Kaministiquia. The hon. ex-Secretary of State has drawn me away from the position I was taking, that the cost of the surveys should be de- ducted from the gross cost. Then, taking oS the amount) that was estimated by the engineers for the equipment of the road, and included in the gross sum, and the Canada Central, and we will have, as given elsewhere, $28,000,000 as the cost of the road that is now being done. But, hon. gentlemen, when you give them that property, which has cost this country $28,000,000, it does not follow that it is worth that amount to the Syndicate, or that it would cost them anythmg like $28,000,000 to produce it — all of it that will be of utility when you figure up th« difierent items that have been wasted, and worse thf.n wasted. I see an hon. friend smile ; I know that he is thinking of the millions of dollars lost in the hasty purchase of steel rails — of the money 25 thrown avray at Fort Frances — of the purchase of the Neebing Hotel, and of the thousands expended on the Georgian Bay Branch ; and then we have the cost of forty miles of railway that the Syndi- cate would not build. The instructions of the late Government to their engi- neers was to locate the line on the straightest and shortest route to the Pacific. They were so hasty to get to the Pacific that they they took an air line for it, regardless of the obstacles in the way, and to do this, and, as I have shown in the extract I have read, to get away from the settle- ments — away from valuable lands of Manitoba — they made the crossing at Selkirk, necessitating the construction of 22 miles to Winnipeg and 18 more from Winnipeg to intersect the main line, making forty miles which could have been saved had they crossed at Winnipeg direct, throwing the line south of Lake Manitoba without the beud it now has when put south by the present Govern- ment. Then, in the location of the road up to Selkirk, it was given in evidence before a Committee of this House that, had the line been located more southerly and direct to Winnipeg, a saving of from $300,000 to $400,000 would ha-e been efiected. Estimates of both lines were made. The estimate for the southern line was about $300,000 less than the estimate for the line built. The actual expenditure on the line that was constructed was double the estimate. Now, doubling both estimates, you have a difference of $720,000, nearly three-quarters of a million, l>etween the two lines. Take off all these expendi- tures, and you have not left much more than $20,000,000, and I am quite satis- fied that, if you ask the Syndicate to do this work for $20,000,000, they would be only too glad to do it, instead of being charged $28,000,000. But, with all these deductions that must be made for useless expenditure, is it not amazing that the hon. gentlemen opposite who were guilty of this mismanagement should be desirous to continue the construction of the line by Government 1 They must be looking and hoping to come to the Trea- sury Benches, and to resume the manage- ment of public works. If they look at the hi&tory of the past, and at their mismanagement of this great work, they should see how fatal Canadian Pacific Railway construction would be to them. It has been said that the National Policy caused the death of the late Administra- tion. That is true, but if they had had another life, that would have been taken by the Pacific Railway. If they had had nine lives, eveiy life would have been forfeited by their mis- management of that great work. No word of warning or counsel would be accepted ; blindly and persistently they blundered on. The representatives of Manitoba protested against the location ; to a committee of Parliament they show- ed the injury it was doing to that Province and the whole North-West, and, therefore, to the Dominion, but without effect. Other works, the Georg- ian Bay Branch, and the Rainy River improvements, were shown as clear at sunlight to be, the first unnecessary, and the latter, utterly valueless. The hon. gentleman who presides at the head of this House made it as clear as possible that the construction of that work at Fort Frances was not worth the pajjcr upon which the order to go on with it had been written ; that even when it would be constructed there were eight or nine other portages on the route, over which freight coidd not possibly pass. Although all this was made as apparent and as clear as sun- light, wo had the Government persisting in that work ; year after year they voted additional thousands in spite of tho remonstrances of the country, and they went on determined at least to spend tho ))ublic money. Why, hon. gentlemen, Mark Twain's blue jay in its fi-antic at- tempts to fill with acorns a knot hole in the roof of a great empty house was mild- ness and moderation, aye, it was wisdom and provident statesmanship compared with Premier Mackenzie's determined and frantic efforts to construct the Pacific Railway by digging a hole at Fort Frances, one hundred miles away from the line of road. Ah, hon. gentlemen, it is not the money we think of ; it is not the hundreds of thousands of dollars that were wasted in this manner, but it is tho mortification attendant upon it, of being made the laughing stock of the world. You who have read that blue jay story in Twain's *' Tramp Abroad," will remember that when he finally aban- 26 doned the work and, exhausted, leaned up against the chimney and commenced swearing at his failure in the strongest l>lue jay vernacular, that all the blue jays in the neighborhood gathered round to ex- amine the mystery, and when one old jay, 1 lerched on the'half opened door, looking in, Maw a ton of acorns scattered over the floor the mystery was exploded, and for years the hard worked jay was laughed at by all the feathered tribe, except one owl irom the Maiitime Provinces that never oould see the joke. And so, hon. gentle- men, it is in this case ; the mortification attendant upon the blunders connected with the construction of this work is greater than our regret for tlie loss of the money. I am glad to know, hon. gentle- men, that some person, for some reason best known to himself, is filling that hole with sawdust. I am glad it will be put out of sight, and, I hope, forgotten. But there comes the thought that in the distant future someone may stumble upon it. What a mystery it will be then for the world. What wise opinions will be formed as to what that hole was excavated for. The scientific world will be deeply interested in it, and learned reports to societies will be made and many opinions given by savants as to what the hole was intended for ; and then comparisons will be drawn between the bole builders and the mound builders, and the conclusion pro- bably reached that they were in many ways closely identical. Is it any wonder that the Government was defeated and killed at the last election 1 If there had been no National Policy to engage public attention, I say they would have been killed outright by their railway misman- agement. The renmant that returned here from the elections must have known and felt that they were dead on every question to which public attention had been called, and with ungrateful hearts and hasty hands they laid away the old leader who for five years had labored as scarcely ever man worked for that party. They acknowledged by their act that the old Mackenzie party had ceased to exist, was dead and buried ; but, in their haste to form a new one, they forgot to give it a friendly epitaph. They left it to the •old charity of their opponents to record their misdeeds, each one to his fancy, just as the particular deed which took possession of his mind might lead. For example my hon. friend from Belleville who gave a good deal of attention to that hasty purchase of steel rails, that in- volved the country in millions of dollars of loss, would probably refer to that transaction in the epitaph. Then my hon. friend the Minister of Inland Rev- enue, who called our attention to that famous solitude on the far-oflF banks of that quiet, calm, slow-flowing river, that tortuous, ever winding, ever silting, ever sand-barred Kaministiquia, would bring in the transaction connected with the Neebing Hotel and town plot pur- chase. Or, if these two gentlemen would unite their powers in a kind of duet, they would give us something like this : — " Stark, stiff and coid as a rusty steel rail it lies, Where Kamimi stiquia jobbers helped outlay it, their stolen pennies on its eyes." And thus, one after another, would the huge blunders, the marvellous mistakes of that Administi'ation fall into line when given by an opponent's pen. They them- selves were in haste to form a new organ- ization and take a new leader. They have the leader, but the principles and policy are wanting. A leader without armor or uniform, nothing but a few old fig leaves, gathered at Aurora, in his hand, but so dry that on the first attempt to make them into a covering they crumbled into dust and left him politically naked — naked and not ashamed. Nevertheless, hon. gentle- men, they are proud of their leader, and so are we all ; proud of him as a great athlete in the in^^ollectual gymnasium ; proud of him as we are of any of Canada's sons who excel in any specialty ; proud of the man who wins in the physical gymnasium ; proud of the man ; promd we are of Hanlan, and perhaps the pride we have in this leader is something akin to it. But the man in the gymnasium who can out-leap his competitors, or can balance himself most adroitly on the tight-rope ; the man who scores the highest at billiards, or show the greatest science at lacrosse, are not the men who are foremost in contributing to the world's progress. Hanlan in his boat on the waters has not yet found his equal, but the Trade and Navigation « ) ing 27 um can the the teat vho the on his ion Returns do not mention his name. If the world depended upon these men it would go backwards ; if we waited for these men to sow the seed and gather the sheaves, there would be no " corn in Egypt ;" and because this leader may be able to out- vault others in the intellectual gymnasium, and balance him- self upon a sophism or a fallacy finer than a split hair, it does not follow that he is tlie best calculated for that legisla- tion and that administration of the gov- ernment that will tend to the happiness •rind security of the people, and the pros- perity and progress of this country. The South Sea islander, naked and astride of his catamaran is said to exhibit marvels of skill and dexterity as he dashes through the surf and rides upon the storm tossed waves ; but it does not follow that he should be given command of the Pacific squadron, or put in control of a valuable merchantman ; nor does it follow that, because this leader, when the storm of debate is highest and v/ildest, can fiing aside the surf and I'ido on the highest wave, that he should be put in charge of the ship of State. He has been placed in that ship as one of the crew, but all his labors are given to hinder her pro- gress. No matter upon what course the ship sails, he endeavors to create alarm in the mind of all ; always danger ahead. I remember hearing him in connection with this great Pacific Railway question a year ago, striving to create alarm, and have the ship headed for Kansas, and I could not help being reminded of one of our Nova Scotia captains, a very clever young man, but full of crotchets concerning the art of naviga- tion, who spent neaily all his time at sea trying to discover some better system of navigation than that which existed, leav- ing hLs ship in charge of the officers at [certain times, getting from them the coui-ses and distances that the ship had made, to extend it on his chart, which he kept open on Ids table. On doing so on one occasion, he rushed on deck shouting wildly, " Havd down your helm ! Hard down ! Ready about ! ! V/e are going to destruction — right on the reefs in amongst the islands ! ! " Quickly, the ship was put about, and stood ofi" and on, beating about for two days, with every man on board on the lookout for tlie danger. At the end of two days, the oflBcer went to the captain and said he thought there must be a mistake, and he had better put the ship on her course agan " Mistake," said the captain, " no miataJce ; we are in a very critical position, destruction right ahead ! Look at the chart ! Look at the dangerous reefs and the cluster of islands right in our course ! " The oflicer looked at the chart and replied : " Why, captain, there has been a fly on your chart, and that dangerous reef and cluster of islands is merely the tracks of the fly." So, hon. gentlemen, that pet fly of the late Government ; that fly, which for five years was sheltered and fattened on the wheel of Grit policy, but driven oft' in 1878, has settled upon the new leader's chart, and the dar; <^r that he fancies and alarms him, if aiy the track of the fly. If the hon. gentlemen form- ing the Opposition anticipate ever com- ing to ofiice ; if they hope ever to manage the public business of this country, they should surely assist to have this work taken out of Government hands ; for if Mr. Mackenzie with all his remark- able industry and doing " his incompet- ent best," lamentably failed, depend upon it therd will not be success under a leader with a fly on his chart. Before closing, I should refer to the charge that has been made, that in this contract the Government sacrifices the National Pol- icy ; that })olicy which the country de- clared should he adopted ; that policy which the Opposition so fought against. But I think it has been shown that there is no danger in this respect. I am sure that if I saw any danger of sacrificing that policy in the contract which is now before us, 1 should oppose that contract. 1 was one of the first who advocated that policy in this House. When the late Hon. George Brown returned, in 1875, from Washington with the preposition to throw open our country to the American manufacturer, free of duty — to have re- ciprocity in manufactures — I took the opportunity to express my strong disap- proval [of the proposition. Very few at that time were pre])ared to go so far as I did in the line of the policy adopted by the party, and accej)ted by the people in 1878, and strong as were my opinions then as to the value of such a policy to this young and growing country, they are, if possible, strengthened and confirmed by 28 the experience the country has had under that policy ; and, rather than have it sac- rificed, as it is claimed it is by this con- tract I should prefer to abandon the contract and postpone the work indefinitely. Anxious as I am for the success and prosperity of the North- West, I am more desirous of tho welfare of the older provinces. But, hon. gentlemen, the National Policy is not in danger. The amount of material admitted under the contract, duty free, is trifling com- pared to the enormous amount of work it will give to all our industries. The ex- penditure within the Dominion by the Syndicate will reach at least forty mil- lions for rolling stock, equipment,*mate- rial for construction, maintenance of workmen and the multitude of inciden- tals connected with so vast a work. The manufacturers and producers of the Dom- inion will be more certain to have all this general work than if the road was being built by Government directly, because the Government could at anv time order in as much of the rolling stock or other material, free of duty, as they chose, but the Syndicate must have all, except the few articles named, manufactured within the Dominion, which will help forward our own industries ai "kingly. And then the Government, relieved of all tho weight of care and anxiety which this work has imposed, engrossing all their time and attention, will be able to devote more thought to the general business of the country — to study the workings of this National Policy — to fit the garment to the growing shoulders, and the better ensure our succes ' But it does seem to me very curious, very marvellous, that the men who so stoutly opposed the pro- tection of home industries should now be so solicitous for them — so sensitive and fearful lest the National Policy should be sacrificed. It is not often that the boy is more careful of his garment than is the parent who, at great care, and toil and cost, provided it for him ; but so it seems to me in this case, and they such naughty boys. How they kicked, and struggled, and pouted, and wouldn't have it ; they declared the gar- ment old and second hand, out of style, out of date, thrown off by the Mother Coun- try, and they would be ashamed to wear it. Foolish lads ! they wished to rank with the advanced politicians of Britain; forgetting that a principle or policy which one country hiis outgrown may be of the utmost value to one younger and less developed, just as in this yonng country, where household economy is so closely studied, there are thousands of lads and lasses clad in garments laid aside by parent or older member of the family, remodelled to suit younger shoul- ders ; thousands thus clad receiving warmth, vitality and vigor of constitu- tion, and all the more worthy of tho manhood and the womanhood to which they aspire, and to which they are ad- vancing, because of no foolish shame of the garments which to them have proved so valuable. Often were we taunted with the cry that this mantle of Protection was old and unfit for use, but we have worn it, and its value and power are becoming known and appreciated. Senators, I read in ancient sacred history that when the chariot of fire and the horses of fire had removed the old prophet Elijah, that Elisha, knowing the value of his old mantle, did not hesitate to take it up. And I read, furthermore, that that man- tle, though worn by one and cast aside, and then taken up by another, had its old power. Elisba came to Kedron, and, with the mantle, smote upon its waters, and they parted hither and thither, and on dry, firm ground he passed to the other side. So with this mantle of pro- tection. Although worn by England, until she attained so high a state of perfection in the mechanical and man- ufacturing industries, and so great pros- perity, as no longer to require it ; yet now, in the hands of our Government, it has its old power, for they, smiting upon the stagnant waters of depression, which have so long overspread this land, they are parting hither and thither, and our people with this trade policy estab- lished, and this great national highway secured, shall henceforth tread on firoa ground, and pass over to pi'osperity. '/