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Ok the 20th April, 1534, Cartier .sailed from the port of St. Malo, in Trance on an exploring expedition to the shores of the iN^ew World, and in the folo-,ving August he discovered the river St. Lawrence, which he ascended as far as Hochelaga. In 1603, Champlain was dispatched bv a comi^ny of merchants in France to make a preliminary survey of "the bt. Lawi^nco with the view of opening up a trade along its banks, and to his energy and zeal Canada is indebted for its earliest se Cnents. In those days, however, the course of development and settlement was slow, and in 1C31, over thirty years after Champlain's ftrs v.s.t to the St. Lawrence, the whole white populatic n from Gaspc to Three Kners, was hnrdly one hundred and fifty ,,onl.s. The interior of the continent was yet to be explore,!, (,'hamplain had previouslv ascenued the Ottawa, and stood upon the shores of the Georgian Bay Jf Lake Huron, and he had received from western Indians numerous repm- s of distant inland regions, yet his knowledge of the great lakes in 1634 was exceedingly i.nited. Ho resolve.l to extend his explorations mthe hope of establishing friendly relations with the powerful tribes livnig, as he was told, beyond the northern shores of Lake Huron. His imagination also was fired with the idea that by means of the great inland waters, of which he had but slight information, he n.ight be able to discover a now highway to the East. The dream of Champlain has now, after a period of nearly three centuries, become a reality, and the now highway to the East across tho .Nortb American Continent is an accomplished fact. It is true that a great portion of the route is overland instead of being altogether tho water-way Champlain dreamt of, and the iron horse forms a very important factor in traversing it, while the great inland lakes are rele^rated to a secondary place. Yet tho dream of a route to tho Ea^t by >vay of the St. Lawrence, which tired the imagination of the old French navigator three hundred years ago, is practically fulfilled. Tho man chosen by Champlain to explore the region beyond Lake Huron was John Nicollet, who was the first white man to visit Sault St. Marie and who afterwards discovercl Lake Michigan and explored the shores and part of tho interior of what is now known as the State of Wisconsin To tho efforts of the Jesuit missionaries, however, is due the earl v explora- tion of Lake Superior, and thoir map of that greatest of inland lakes, in Hul, IS a monumont of thoir hardihoo.l and enterprise. To Robert Caveher, better known by the designation of La Salle, who, like Clmmpla.n, was inspired by (he thought of discovering a new route to the riches of China and Japan,is due the early exploration of a large portion of tlio country lying west and south-west of Lake Michigan, and Father Hennopm, l,is lieutenant, penetrated as far in a north-wostorly direction nstho Falls of St. Anthony noar the present site of Minnonp'oiis. This was m 1680. and about tho same time another French explorer, named Du Lhut, having roaohod the head of Lake Superic.r. eontiuuod hi- exidorat.on to the south-west of that poi.-.t, and when noar the Falls of St. Aiithon journeys southward / met Honnoiiin and joined his party in tl leir retina f These explorations, of which I have given a brief outline, attracted the attention of adventurous traders, who scon pushed their way beyond the farthest point reached by the explorers, and in the year 1700 fur traders from Franco arc known to have penetrated as far as the Assiniboino ^'alloy in the prosecution of their calling. In 1766 many traders from ]\Iontrcal pushed their enterprises throughout the whole of British America, even to the Pacific shores. In 1784 the Morth-West Company of Montreal was formed, and carried en trade through Canada via the lakes to the head of Lake Superior, and thence across the continent to the Tacific Coast. Although the Prince Rupert Charter was granted by King Charles II. in 1670, it was not till the beginning of the eighteenth century that th(* Hudson's ]5ay Company entered the tSaskatchcwan and Assiniboino country to trade, and not till 1814 did they set up their claim of exclusive rights under their charter. The effect of this latter act, however, Mas to arouse the animosity and resistance of rival fur companies, and it was not long ere the Hudson's Bay Company found themselves opposed by powerful organisations, such as the North-West and X. Y. Companies of Canada. So great then became the competition, and so bitter the rivalry between the three fur companies, that groat loss of property and life ensued ; and finally there was every prospect of ruin falling on them all. In 1820, however, a union of the companies was effected, which resulted in their trading together under the original charter of the Hudson's Bay Company. An Act of Parliament was passed in 1821, which gave the company, as reconstructed, the exclusive fur trade for 2 1 yeais throughout the whole British North-^W'st territory clear through to the Pacific. In 1838 a new arrangement was entered into by which the Canadian Companies, whoso interests had been before united, and the stockholders of the Hudson's Bay Company, became entitled as nearly as possible to equal shares. A renewal of the license granting the right of exclusive trade was then applied for and granted to the Company for a term of 21 years from the 30th May, 1838. The attention of the Canadian Government was first attracted to the country in 1816 by the conflict of interests between the Canadian Fur Companies and the Hudson's Bay Company, but no decided action was taken by Canada to acquire the North-West till 1868, although previous to that time negotiations on the subject had been going on between the Canadian and Imperial authorities. The first jittempt at settlement in the North-West was in 1811, when the Earl of Selkirk socured a tract of land from the Hudson's Bav Company for the purpose of planting thereon a colony of Scotch settlers, and in 1812 the first batch of these immigrants arrived in the country by way of Hudson's Bay and York Factory. The Scotch colonists at first met with many vicissitudes and trials in their new home, and it \vas not till 1827 that their settlement on the banks of the Bed RiA'er began to show real signs of prosperity. Lord Selkirk's colonisation scheme did not prove, so far as he was concerned, a financial success, and in 1835 the executors of his estate sold back the land to the Hudson's Bay Company for £84,111, although it had cost his lordshij) in the first place nearly £200,000. The Scotch settlers named their settlement Kildoiiaii. and at the time .when it passed into the hands of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1835, the population 8 is said to have nnmbored about 5,000 souls, since which time it hr.s gone on prospering, and is to-day ouo of the most flourishing districts iu the Province of Manitoba. I must now deal with another body of the early settlers, viz :— the Half-breeds. Of these there were two classes, the English and the French — the former being the offsprings of marriages contracted by Company officers and servants with Indian women, the latter being descended from the pioneer traders and hunters who came from Lower Canada. These Half-breeds, accustomed to roving habits on the prairie and in the woods, were not favourably disposed to the qniet life of a settler, and therefore devoted themselves more to hunting and trading than to the cultivation of the soil. Ihey Avero wont in those days to assemble in largo bands in the spring, and proceed in a great body to the bunt. To give an idea of the formation of these hunting bands, 1 may quote the one which left the lied River Settlement for the hunting grounds of the buffalo in 1840. The brigade consisted of 1,210 carts and harness, 655 cart horses, 586 draught oxen, 403 horses used for running, with saddles and bridles, and the number of persons in the band amounted to 1,630 souls — men, women and children. These bands framed a code of laws for their guidance on the plains, and were very strict in their enforcement. The plain hunters generally returned to the settlement in August, and bringing with thorn, as they did, an abun- dance of provisions, thoy were not apt to pay much attention to gathering in the harvest. The first missionaries to the North- West wore tho French Eoman Catholic priests, for we hoar of Father Dalmas, about the year 1690, engaged in the study of Indian languages to enable him to preach tho Gospel to the savages of Hudson's Bay, and in 1736 Father Arnaud was killed by tho Sioux in the vicinity of the Lake of the Woods while on a missionary tour. Tho coni^uest of Cnnada by England, however, intennpted the Catholic missions in the North- West, and it was not till 1818 that they wore again resumed. The Scotch settlers had their own Presbyterian missionaries from the first, and in 1820 the first minister of tho Church of England, Rev. John West, arrived in the North- West. While noting the early progress of settlement it may not bo amiss for me now to give some particulars concerning the Indian tribes. The original bands living to tho East of the Rocky Mountains as far as Lake ■\^''innipeg and Red River, within British territory, were as follows : — Slmnsliwap, Yellow Knife, Mountain, Dog Rib, Cree, AsBiniboine, Blood, Blackfeet, Beaver, Carrier, Saiilteaux, Takall, Naliany, Chipewnn, Strong Bow, Inland, Copper, Swampy. The population of the above in 1855 was, as near as it could be estimated, 47,000. A large proportion of the above bands, however, have become extinct since then, or they have become merged into other tribes, and according to the last census there were only 33,959 Indians in the North- West Territories. It is notable that the Indians of the British North-Wcst have ever \ V ^ «- St \ compnrod lavoiiriiMy with those of tlio United Statos, nnd wo have no wholesalo niassncros or i.rolongod Indian wars to chroniclo such as tho Anipiicnns have experienced at tho hands of their Savages. This ia owing to tho good treatment over extended to tho Indians ).jthe Hudson's Buy Company, and to tiie faithful performance of treaties and considcrato management of Indian afliiirs bv the Canadian Government. In 18,'»7 tiie Canadian (Jovernment titted out an exploring expedi- tion under tho charge of S. J. iJawson and Henry Youle Hind, M.A., for tho purpose of penetrating tho North-West Territory and obtaining some; definite information in regard to it. Thi.s step was probably taken nnder tho impression that, some immediate action vrouid be recommended by tho Imperial Government to bring about a transfer of tho country to Canada. • In 1858 an attempt was made to organise a mail sorvico between Canada aiul Red River Settlement, ria Lako Superior, but in ISfiO it was abandoned, having proved a failure. The United States, however, succeeded better, for in 1857 they established postal connnunication with Pembina on tho boundary line, ami a carrier from the settlement brought the mail from that place to Fort Garry. About this time the traders had to cart their goods some six hundred miles over the prairie from St. Paul, Minnesota, and the Hudson's Bay Company, in addition to using this route for bringing in supplies, brought a largo portion of their English goods into tho country rid Hudson's Bay and York Factory. In 1802 tho Hudson's Bay Company placed a steamer, called tho " International," on the Red River, for the purpose of bringing in supplies and taking out their furs, and after this tho steamboat gradually took the place of the Rod River ox cart. We now come to the time immediately preceding the transfer of the North-West to Canada. In 1S()8, Sir George E. Carlier, and Honourable Wni. McDongall were appointed a delegation to England to arrange the terms for tho acquisition of Rupert's Land by Canada. For some time previous to this, negotiations for the opening up of the country to settlement had been going on between the Canadian and Imperial authorities, and on the 1 0th August, 1805, Lord Monk forwarded copies of papers on the subject to Right Hon. E. Cardwell, Secretary of State. While, however, Canada was thus stirring herself in tho matter, others wore not asleep as to the im- portance and value of tho great North-West. In 1 858 a plan was sulimitted to Lord Stanley, then Sccrete.ry of State for the Colonies, for the purpose of opening communication with the Red River, in which it was proposed that a company should do the work with the aid of a land grant of forty million of acres in the neighbourhood of tho Saskatchewan River. It would seem from this that there were capitalists in those days wdio had some faith in the future of the North-West. Then, again, in 1860, an application was made to Sir Edmund Head by one Alex. McEwen, to know whether the Hudson's Bay Company were willing to dispose of its cultivable territory to a party of Anglo-American capitalists, who would settle and colonize the same, etc, etc. A favourable reply Avas given by the Hudson's Bay Company to Mr. McEwcn, but as the Canadian I overnmcnt and the Imperial authorities had held a conference in 1805 on tho subject of transferring the North-West, nothing could be done with Mr. McEwen's proposition pending further negotiations with Canada. 1 ^ Tho mission of Sir CJoorjre K. Cnrtiortnid Hon. William McDoiiKnII, of 1H))H, wns successful, iiml nn tlio result of it tl-(« ^riout North- West Itocnino a ju.rt of tho Dominion of Canada on tho lath .luly, iHTtl. Tho Hudson's I3ny Company su. "ndered their ri;,'hts to tho territory in con- Mderation of the payment to them by Caunda of .£;{()(),( 100, and a reservation for thohenelit of tho company :' ii twentieth part of all lands set out for settlement within fifty years after iho surrender. Tho transfer of the NortlnWest to Canada Miu unhappily accom- panied hy an uprising of tho French half-breeds, who felt that not only liad their interests been overlooked in the ne^'otiations between Ca-iada and th(! Hudson'o ]?ay Company, but that in the proposals for the future government of the country they were not likely to obt^iin just treatment at tho hands of Canadians. It is impossible within tho compass of this paper to deal with tho causes which led to such a spirit of misapprehen- sion on the part of tho half-breeds. The residt was a small rebellion, and Hon. Wm. McDougall, the newly appointed Lieut.-(Jovernor of tho Nortli-West, was refused admission into tho territory. For several months the country was in a state of turmoil, until finally the passing of tho Manitoba Act, and tho evident desire on tho part of tho Canadian Uovernment lo act fairly to all classes appeased the people. In tho meantime, however, Col. G. .1. Wolseley, now Lord Wolseley, had been s ; with an expedition composed of a detachment of tho (JOth JUflos, and two regiments of Canadian volunteers to the North-AVost, by way of Lake Superior, to bo in readiness to (piell tho rebollion by force if necessary. The troops for several weeks had to conieml against almost un.'urmountable ditHcultics of nature between Lake Superior and the Red River, but finally, liaving overcome all obstacles, they entered Fort Garry on the 2'lth August, 1870, and instead of resistance, they received a warm welcome from all classes of the people. From that time the rapid development of the Xorth-AVcst may be dated. Previous to 1870 the country had been regarded as a land fit only for the hunter and trapper; and tho fur traders knowing that the advent of civilisation meant tho destruction of tho fur trade, spared no pains to circulate tho idea that it was a cold, inhospitable, and barren country. This, combined with the imperfect means of comnuniication, was undoubtedly the cause of its remaining isolated and sparsely populated for so many yea'-s. In 1870 there were about thirty buildings in the vicinity of Fort (larry, where now stands the city of AVinnipeg, with its population of thirty thousand inhabitants. At that lime theiv was no settler away from the river. The line of settlement skirted the Hod and Assiniboine rivers T^•ith hero and there a few tidy farm houses and small patches of cultivated land adjoining, but the immense plains of fertile soil, covered with verdant pasture, away to tho west as far as the Rocky Mountains, were lying idle, only awaiting the coming of the husbandman to turn them into a very paradise of beauty, and a source of almost unlimited wealth. The creation of the province of Manitoba, tho establish..ien^t of a responsible and representative form of government in tho country, tho extinguishment of the Lidian title to the land by fair treaties with tho tribes, and the adoption of a .•system of survey to keep paco with settlement, and allow immigrants to locate and socnre claims, were all preparatory steps succeeding each other in quick succession, and paving i-,r tho way for the rapid dcvclopniont of tlio North-West which ahnost immediately foUowi'd. The year after the creation of tho Province of Manitoba, the British Cohimbia resohitions were moved in the Canadian House of Commons. This occurred on 28th March, 1871, and on the following IGth May the Pacific Province was incorporated in the DoUiinion, thus extending Canada's domain from Ocea?i to Ocean. Tho act providing for the admission of British Columbia into Confederation also provided for tho building of the Canadian Pacific Railway across the Continent, as it was considered, especially by the British Columbians, that without that iron band the union with Canada would never be complete. The first step taken by tho people of Manitoba, after its creation into a Province, wp.s to exercise their right of franchise, and the first general election of members to sit in tho Provincial Legislature took place on the 20th December, 1870. Tho formation of a Cabinet followed the elections, and this was the birth of representative institutions in the North-Wcst. The Province was soon afterwards divided into municipalities — school districts wero created, and the whole machinery of local self-government bocamo from year to year more and more perfect. Tho North-West was up to 1870 but little known and still losa understood by the general public of Canada, OAving in a large degree to tho imperfect means of connnunication then existing between it and the outside world. Its productiveness and adaptability to settle- ment only began to dawn upon tho minds of people after it became a recognised portion of the Dominion. The Canadian Volunteer?, then serving in the country with the Wolseley Expedition, wrote home glowing accounts of it to their friends in the Eastern Provinces— the Press sent correspondents to spy out the land— information regarding it was collected and published, both by the Government and private individuals, and all at once the Dominion of Canada found that in tho Great North-AVost they had secured an estate of inestimable value, the development of which would Ijring about an expansion of the resources of the whole Dominion such as had never been dreamt of I ; even the most sanguine, when Confederation was first comtemplated. From 1870 settlers began to pour info tho country ; some came overland in M-agons, via tho United States, M'hile others floated down tho Ued River in flat boats, tho railway having then only reached St. Cloud, a short distance beyond St. Paul, Minnesota. Communication with the outside world was kept up by means of an irregular lino of stage coaches until the 29th April, 1871, when the first regular passenger s.teamer on the Red River arrived at Winnipeg. The 20th November of tho same year saw the telegraph system of tho Uiiit.d States extended to Winnipeg, and on that day the first message— one of congraiulation— flashed across the wires from tho Lieut.-Governor of Manitoba (the Hon. Adams G. Archibald) to the Governor-General of Canada (Lord Lisgar). The sudden influx of settlers, to which I have already alluded, naturally gave an impetus to trade in tho country, but tho difliculty in those days was how to supply the wants of the incomers. Tho farmers of tho country were unprepared for so sudden a demand on their resources, for up to that time they had given little, if any, attyntion to extending the area of cultivation beyond their actual Jk needs, .simply because there was no market for surplus products, because of the absence of an outlet by Mbich to dispose of them. The result of this state of affairs proved a great boon to the merchants in St. Paul, Minneapolis and other trade centres in the State of Minnesota. Large quantities of flour, meat, butter, cheese, hams, bacon, and merchandise of every description were sent into Manitoba by our enterprising American brethren.' The means of transport chiefly used consisted of flat-boats, and during the summer the banks of the river at Winnipeg usually presented a lively appearance, as the numerous flat-boat men carried on their trade with the inhabitants. Indeed the river opposite the city at that time had a very Celestial sort of appearance, from the number of floating stores which, Chinese-like, did business on the Levee. As settlors arrived in the country, this trade with the United States assumed large proportions owing to the lack of direct communication with the Eastern provinces of Canada, and the result was that the flat-boats were soon superseded by a large fleet of steamers on tlio Hed River, plying between Winnipeg and points south of the American boundary line. The large trade carried on by these steamers resulted in the extension of the United States railway system to Manitoba, and on the -Ird December, 1878, the last spike was driven which connected the cities of St. Paul and Winnipeg by rail. I may hero remark that it was chiefly through the entcM-prise, energy, and perseveraiKo of Sir George Stephen and Sir Donald A. Smith, to whom Canada ha> since boon so much indelitcd for their untiring efforts in the great work of the Canadian Pacific Railway that the inhal)itants of the North-West were then provided with this, their first railway connection. In February, 1874, Winnipeg, which then contained noarly 1,000 buildings and an estimated population of about 5.00U inhabitants, was incorporated as a city, and in proportion as the chief tnide centre of Manitoba showed signs of progress so did the area of settlement through- out the province increase in every direction. While the North-West was thus budding into prominence and progressing slowly but surely, the gn\it question of a transcontinental railway to bind together all parts of the Dominion was not being lost sight of. Sir John A. Macdonald had almost concluded arrangements with a body of capitalists in 1871, to build the road when his Government was defeated and Hon. Alex. McKenzie succeeded to powei-. An attempt was then made to carry on the work as a Government undertaking. Extensive surveys were made, portions of the railway wore built and other parts placed under contract, but at the end of over six years" trial (that is in 1878) the actual completion of the road did not seem to the public of Canada to bo Avithin measural)le distance. It was then that Sir John A. Macdonald returned to power, and it was not long ere ho determined upon following out his policy of 1871, namely, to place the construction of the Pacific Railway in the hands of competent capitalists inslcad of continuing it as a Government work. The importance of opening up and developing the resources of the Xrrth-West had become one of the burning questions in the minds nf most (Canadians, and the speedy construction of Die Great National Highway an acknowledged necessity. Perhaps the most powerful factor in bringing about this state of feeling in the public mind .vas the visit of Lord Dufferiu to Manitoba in 1877. Tbo then Govcrnor-Gonoral met with a most cordial reception from the people of Winnipeg and surrounding country, and at a farewell dfijeuner given in his honour in that city on ho ?Cili September, the following remarkable passage forinetl part of the speech delivered by him on that occasion : — brought conviction to all who heard or read them. Lord Dufferin's words were as a tonic to whet the appetite, Lord Lome was enabled to furnish the repast to satisfy the hunger thus created. The journey of the Marquis of Lome on that occasion occupied from the 4th July to the 15th October, and on his return to Ottawa it was found that during that time he had travelled 5,561 miles by rail, 1,366 miles overland, and 1,127 miles by water, or a total of 8,054 miles altogether. On the 10th October, at a banquet given by the people of Winnipeg 11 his honour on his return from the West, Lord Lome delivered a speech full of eloquent descriptions of the vast country through which ho had just passed. That speech may be said to have gone from one end of the world to the other, and did more to establish confidence in the North- West, and promote the settlement of the country, than the ...1---. 1 • 1 1 I 1 ... ,1 1 ■ , 771 1 il • ,• There is no doubt that the speeches of Lord Duflterin, and the fnvourable opinions expressed by him, formed the keynote to the out5[iokcn cnthu/jiasni shown by the Canadian i)00ple, immediately after his memorable visit to the country, in regard to their North-Westorn possessions. In sympathy with this state of public opinion, ^ir John A. I\Iacdonald persevered in his efforts to secure a speedy completion of the railway Avhioh was to be the means of opening up that great country, and develo])ing the vast resources so ably referred to by Lord Dufiferin. In December, 1880, Sir Charles Tapper, the tlien Minister of Railways and Canals, presented to the rarliament of the Dominion the text of the Agreement between the Government and Jlr, (now Sir) George Stephen and his colleagues for the construction of the Canadian Pacific Itaihvay. The agreement was carried through the House, and ultimately ratified by Act of rarliament, which received the Koyal assent on February 16th, 1881. To the eloquence, power and untiring energy of our present High Commissioner in London, Sir Charles Tuppor, to whom is also so greatly due the success of Canada in our great Colonial Exhibition this year, Canada is mainly indebted for the successful carrying through of that great measure. In the sprin"- of 1881 the Canadian Pacific Railway Co. began work in earnest, and in the autumn of that year an event took place which not only gave a marked impetus to the undertaking itself, l)ut inspired confidence throughout the world in the vast resources of the country. I refer now to the visit of the Marquis of Lome, at that ti; .:) 'Movernor-General of Canada. Lord Lome arrived in Winnipeg on the 30th July, 1 881, and met with a most enthusiastic reception from the inhabitants living in and around the city. The p 'opie of ilanitoba recognised and appreciated the im- portance of his visit, and the high and generous motives that inspired it. Lord Dufierin had stood upon the threshold of the great prairies and spoken of the wonders beyond as they had been described to him ; Lord t# a Lome threw open the portals and entered to see for himielf tho wonderful land. When Lord Lome returned to Winnipeg in the following October, he was able to speak as one having authority for what he said. He spoke not of hearsay, he spoke of what he had himself seen, and his utterances brought conviction to all who heard or read them. Lord DufFerin's words were as a tonic to whet the appetite, Lord Lome was enabled to furnish the repast to satisfy the hunger thus created. The journey of the Marquis of Lome on that occasion occupied from the 4th July to the 15th October, and on his return to Ottawa it was found that during that time he had travelled 5,561 miles by rail, 1,366 miles overland, and 1,127 miles by water, or a total of 8,054 miles altogether. On the 10th October, at a banquet given by the people of Winnipeg n his honour on his return from the West, Lord Lome delivered a speech full of eloquent descriptions of the vast country through which ho had just passed. That speech may be said to have gone from one end of the world to the other, and did more to establish confidence in the North-West, and promote the settlement of the country, than the volumes which had been written upon the .subject. Even at this time, five years after the delivery of that speech, I have frequent inquiries for copies of it. At its close occurred the following passage which will commend itself to every patriotic Canadian : — " The country you call Canada, and whicliyour sons and your children's cliildren " will be proud to know by that name, is a land which will be a land of power among " the nations. Mistress of a zone of territory favourable for the maintenance of a " numerous and homogenous white population, Canada must, to judge from tiie " increase in her etrengtli during the past, and from the many and vast opportunities " for the growth of that strength in her new Provinces in the future, be great and " worthy her position on the earth. Affording the best and safest highway between " Asia and Europe, she will see traffic from both directed to her coasts, With a " hand upon either ocean she will gather f.om each for the benefit of her hardy " millions a large share of the couimercj of the world. To the east and to the west " she will pour forth of her abundance, her treasures of food and the riches of her " mines and of her forests, demanded of her by the less fortunate of mankind." The Marquis of Lome, in his journey westward from Winnipeg, was able to travel about 65 miles by rail to Portage la Prairie, the Canadian Pacific Railway being then built to that point, and by the close of 1881 the Company had completed altogether 165 miles to the westward of the Red River. In 1882 the Company completed a further distance of 119 miles ; and in December, 1883, the railway was finished to Calgary, a distance of 839 miles from Winnipeg. In the following May, 1884, it was finished to Stephen, the summit of the Hockios, being, altogether, a total of 961 miles, constructed in three years' time. The Clovernment had under- taken, by the terms of their agreement with the company, to transfer, when finished, the railway already under construction and that already built, in all some 710 miles ; and while the road Avestward from Winnipeg was being built, the line eastward to Port Arthur was completed in May, 18S3, and handed over to tho company to oporate. The railway was therefore open from Port Arthur, on Lake Superior, to Stephen, the summit of the Rockies, in tho month of May, 1884. In the meantime tho progress of the country was remarkable ; new settlements sprang into existence as if by magic. The opening of the 10 railway from St. Paul to Manitoba In 1878, gave a groat Impotiis to tlio tide of iniinigration, which, on reaching Winnipeg, seemed to spread itself in every direction over the land. The plains back from the river became studded with farm houses and fenced fields, and as a consequence, land, which only a few years before was regarded as almost worthless, owing to its distance from the river, became moro and more valual)lo as settlements increased. The population of Winnipeg had increased to over 20,000, and from a hamlet of some 30 houses in 1870, it became, in 1884, a city of well laid-out streets^ lit by electric light, with handsome public and private buildings, street railways, and all the principal characteristics of a metropolitan centre. To the west, towns of from 2,000 to 5,000 inhabitants, the centres of prosperous Bottlements, were to bo found at intervals along the lino of railway, and away to the north, on the great Saskatchewan Eiver, several prosperous communities were established. It used to bo a theory in the old days that good water would be difficult to find away from the river, and this gave rise to the opinion that settlements could never extend over the prairies ; but the theory did not happily hold good when put into practice, for it is now a well established fact that water can be found almost anywhere by digging wells from 10 to 40 feet deep. Wood in some parts is plentiful, in others only sufficient for the actual needs of the settlers, and in several parts of the North- West it is wanting altogether. But a wise Providence has provided in the latter case for the wants of the people — great coal beds having been discovered in almost every direction. It is estimated that the coal area of the North- West, between the 49th and 50th parallels of latitude, is, so far as known, nearly 65,000 square miles. The coal found has proved to be suitable, not only for domestic purposes, but also for use on locomotives, and this must prove to be a very important factor in the successful and profitable working of the Canadian Pacific Pailway across the continent. As settlement increased and the area of cultivation extended, the trade in the importation of food supplies from the United States became less and less, until finally' it ceased altogether and Manitoba found itself in a position to supply its own home demand. The continued influx of new settlers for some years created so great dc.nand for farm produce of every description that it was not till 1885 that there was any important surplus of breadstuffs to export, and last year it is estimated that the surplus of wheat alone was between three and four million bushels. There is but one opinion about the soil of the North-West— that it is good. In some parts of the country it is a deep black loam resting on a clay subsoil — in other districts it is lighter in character but extremely productive almost everywhere. The (,'anadian Pacific Hallway passes through no desert, but all along the line from the Red River to the Rockies, a distance of over 900 miles, the country is more or less suitable for successful settlement j and when I make that statement, what does it mean ? Nothing less than that over two million farms of IGO acres each are there capable of sustaining a farming po^'ilation of over ten million souls, and if devoted altogether to wheat g. ng of producing about 800 million bushels, or sufficient to supply threat Britain and Ireland four times over with all the bread they require. Such u M I 1 I ' t -4 M s U country is capable of sustaining fifty millions or more of an industrious population. This inimonso territory iu divided into the Province of Manilolm, 123,200 s(iuaro miles in extent, and the followin;,^ tiMritories :— Assiniboia ... Saskatchewan Alberta Athabasca ... 1)5,000 s(juaro miles 114,000 ,, 100,000 „ 122,000 „ 431,000 or, includin^r Manitoba, ')rj4,000 square miles, etjual to ;i54,.'» 60,000 acres, the greater portion of which is America? people, but the progress of vho Canadian North-West during the last fifteen years is the marvel of the nineteenth century. One of the chief arguments used by the fur traders of old against the suitability of the North-West for settlement, was the severity of its climate. The winters were represented to be long and intensely cold, the summers short and extremely Lot; while the delightful spring and aiilunui seasons were passed over and conveniently forgotten. Now what is the truth 'i The Avinter connnences in November and ends in March ; the spring months are April and May ; the summer June, July and August ; and the autumn, September and October. To better illustrate, however, the length of the seasons, the following table is given : — Winter Spring Summer AntuTnn 4^ months, 2 12 Tlio spring and autumn months are most enjoyable, the weathei being in the former bright and cheerful, and iu the latter balmy and «l M ji 12 Itlofiriant. Till' Muiiimcr U iit tiiiu'H v»>it liot ami HnUry, )tut tlio TTorlli- W'lvst posHOMscH OIK! peculiarity which doivi not helot, jr to the country lyiiiK f^outh of tho Amorieau houiidary lino. No matter how hot thn •ve-ither may ho in tho dav-timo, at Hun-down thoro iiivarial)Iy xprin^H up u cool hrcezo, invi;>()ratin;; and retVcMhinj; to wraried mankind, and at the HaiU" tim(« henefieial to tho ;ri()\vtli of the plants of the earth. Th(».so cool nights are imlceil a ^vout hlofsin;,', and I hey make the summer-time not only ens u by early frosts in the Nortb-West biive been very niucb exaggerated by parties, whose motives I will not hero discuss. In the next place, these frosts are of a local rather than of a general character, and, lastly, that as the country becomes more settled they will disappear altogether. I will leave it to my friend Professor Macoun, who has studied these frosts from a scientific and practical point of view, to explain their nature and extent, and I think the conclusion that will be arrived at after hearing him will be that they will never prove a serious drawback to the country. The North-West has had several visitations which, according to the wiseacres of the day, were destined to make the county valueless, and yet it has survived and prospered. For instance, there were the floods caused by the overflow of the river. The first flood took place in 1776, the second in 1790, the third in 1809, the fourth in 1826, and the last in 18'^2, and since then the nearest approach to a flood has beei; the overflow of a few acres of low-lying land here and there close to the river bank. At no time were the prairies flooded for any great distance from the river, yet in the old days the floods were freely f[Uoted as one of the chief reasons why the country would never be fit for settlement. I remember also, in the old days, we used to have grasshopper visitations^, and very destructive pests these were, but they also seem to disappear with settlement ; and although I have hean' them in times past freely quoted as another reason why the country could never be successfully settled, yet one never hears of grasshoppers now in the North-West. Minnesota and Dakota suftered in their earlier days in the same way from floods and grasshoppers ; but they too have survived Ihem. So will it bo with early frosts ; as the country becomes settled we will hear less and loss of this so-calleil drawback. One blessing, however, the Ciinadian North-West has ever enjoyed, and that is a freedom from the hurricanes which so frequently devastate the western and other parts of the United States. That this is a blessing which we Nortii- Western Canadians have reason to be thankful for may be "athered from the sad stories of havoc and sutt'ering of which we have recently read as taking place in ditterent parts of America. I need hardly refer to the different products of the No;'th-West. A glonce through the agricultural section of the Canadian Court will give yon a better idea of what the;- are, ani the excellence of their quality, than any description I can here give. That the wheat, oats and barley are unsurpassed, the potatoes and roots unrivalled, are points not disputed, and the wealth of wild nutritious grasses indicates how peculiarly suitable is the country for stock purposes. Indeed, it is now a fixed principle in the North-West that a I'arnierto be successful ought to follow mixed farming, and at the eastern base of the Rockies the wonderful success and increase of cattle ranches proclaim without a doubt that the future meat supply of Great Britain will be furnished in a very large measure by our Canadian North-West. So much for the productf? n;i(l the jtroductiveness of the country. That it is filling up rapidly with the best class of settlers is well known ; that there is plenty of room for more I have endeavoured to show, and that it is the duty of Great Britain in her own interests to send her surplus population to fill up our Canadian North-West will yet, I have no doubt, becoine apparent to her public men, who as yet do not, I fear, fully realize the fact. On the 2nd of November, 1885, the first through train to the Kocky i 1 J' !>' u Mountains left the city of Montreal, iind on the 7tli of the same month, in the same year, the last spike to complete the line from the Atlantic to the Pacitic was driven by Sir (^ihen the Hon.) Donald A. Smith, who has been throughout one of the warmest and strongest supporters of the great enterprise. The successful carrying out of this great enter- prise, so far as its physical features are concerned, is quite unparalleled in railway construction. It is in magnitude and difficulty of execution one of the greatest, if not the greatest, achievement of human labour that the world has ever seen, and Sir George Stephen and his col- leagues may justly congratulate themselves on the successful issue of their labour3. I look upon the completion of the Canadian Pacific Rjiilway as the welding of the last link in the chain of confed- eration in British North America. Without that link the elements of disunion would, I fear, have considerably developed. This is especially the case in so far as the North-West Territories and British Columbia are concerned, for without railway connection between the eastern and western portions of the Dominion, the latter would still occupy an isolated position, such as could not last long without danger of a disrup- tion of the union. The Canadian Pacific Railway not only strengthens confederation, but will be the means of devcloi)ing in a large degree the resources of the Dominion, and with that development the railway itself must become more and more important, and can hardly fail to attain a success beyond even the expectations of its warmest friends. The emigrant leaving Liverpool, we will say, can now, after reach- ing Quebec, take there the through train of the Canadian Pacific llailway, and in less than a fortnight from the time ho left the old country find himself in his new home in the North- West. The Dominion Government ofiers the liberal grant of 160 acres frc to each settler over 18 years of age, and has provided competent agents throughout the country to direct and assist the incomers to settle on these lands. As a result of this wise and liberal policy the country is filling up rapidly, and will continue to do so more and more as railway communication ie opened up throughout the land. The Canadian Pacific Railway runs for a distance of nearly 900 miles across the great prairies of the North- West from Winnipeg to Calgary at the base of the Rocky Mountains, a great plain of fertile land destined to become, ere long, the home of thousands, aye millions, of prosperous and contented settlers, then over the Rocky Mountains and right down to the Pacific, throuah suberb scenery. But this I will not attempt to describe, for at the close of my ))aper 1 intend to show a series of views taken in the Mountains, which must give a very nnich better idea of their beauty and grandeur than any description I could oft'er. 1 have omitted any mention of the game of our great North- West, of which an excellent idea may be formed by visiting the great game trophy in the Canadian Court, because 1 am in hopes that my friend Mr. Hubbard will favour us, ere long, with a paper on the subject, one with which i know no man living better able to deal than he. In conclusion, the mission on which 1 am engaged in this old mother- country of ours, with its dreadful climate, away from the clear, bright skies and bracing air of my native Canada, is one of which I am proudi The Canadian Pacitic Railway, with which I am connected, is ui my k 15 lm:r,l.le opinion the cord ^vhich is destined to bind together all the parts of the Bnhsh E,npiro. England vah.es India highly, ^nd justlv so. She IS also bog,nning to see through her spectaclL the in,po,an of gathenng her colonies „,ore under her wing. She has spen ^U.o^s towards acuiring an interest in . sWt route I I and Australasia by way of the Sue. Canal ; but a day ,nay come when an nniriendly po.ver will effectually block the Z and the ^portance ot the ("anadian Pacific Raihvay as a ort l' -cure route to the East must then be realised. The'^character o great national work is Imperial as much as Canadian. It Z Z accomphshed by the energy, perseverance and enterprise of Canadians • , I^ IS an undertabng n. which every Canadian has reason to take pride. My numble work on this side of the AtI-mt,V i. f. • . • 7 frm,-,! nf R.-+- 1 . ■ iitJ.mtic 13 to assist m placmg a gua,d of Bnt,sh subjects-of honest, sturdy settlers alon. hat iL he ^^ay open for England should she ever find it necessary t^ use it L aefWhngher rich possessions in the East, or to preserve hrit^i;