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When the Gteneral Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Hanada met in Winnipeg a mouth, ago, many of its members expressed a desire to obtain in a concise form some of the informa- tion supplied to them verbally relating to the question of disallow- mce by the Dominion Government of charters granted by the Bgislaturc of Manitoba to railroad companies to construct railway lines within the original Province of Manitoba. Since tlien many LpplicatioDS have V)een made from other quarters of a similar nature, Lnd it is to meet the demand that this pamphlet has been prepared. [t is hoped that the facts submitted will give to persons residinjj [utside Manitoba a fair and clear understanding of the true poBition which our people are placed regarding this question, and will Ixplain the unanimous action taken by our Provincial Legislature to Issert our constitutional lights as a Province having every privilege [nd right possessed by the sister Provinces that constitute the )ominion of Canada. THE LEGAL QUESTION. ' The letters of Mr. F. Beverley Robertson in the Mail (dated [rtr.uary 29th and February 7th, 1887) proved clearly that, when he Canadian racitlc Railway contract was made, it was understood |y both parties to th() contract that thf> ProNince of Manitoba was lot aflcoted more than the Provinces of Ontario or (juebec, and Imt there was no intention to create a monopoly in Manitoba. this position was admitted to be correct by the Minister of Justice A\ky\\ waited upon by the Manitoba dcilogutes May .'^, 1887, in the )llowing wX)rd8 : " There is no legal or constitutional reason to invent the Proviwe cfuirtering railways to the boundary ; it is a Disallowance of Manitoba Railway Charters. ' ^ question simply of the Government's trade policy" and it hal never been disputed by the Canadian Pacific Railway Co., or by an)| member of Parliament on the floor of the House. We havfl consequently been at a lo:-;s to understand why a portion of tin press and a great many otherwise well-informed people in' the East] continually refer to the " monopoly clause " as if it applied to, or iij any way affected, the old Province of Manitoba, or as if we wislu to repudiate any part or portion of the contract with the Canadiaij Pacific Railway Company. As is well known, prominent member] of the Cabinet stated on the floor of the House, when recommendiiij further aid to the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, that thi disallowance of Manitoba railway charters would cease as soon aj the Canadian Pacific Railway was completed, and this was used LJ their supporters here as a reason why they should put up with thi J injustice to the Province and still continue to vote for and eleij Government candidates. At the last election every candidate whJ was opposed agreed to vote and do everything in his power to m away with disallowance. Amongst the pledges so given by thd above-mentionetl candidates were the following, first formulated li the most influential supporters of tlie Dominion Government in tin city of Winnipeg ; " We feel bound, as Conservatives, and we hereby pledge our| selves, not to support any candidate for election to the House Commons of Canada who will not pledge himself to oppose thai policy to the extent of voting want of confidence in any GovernmenI that hereafter persists in it, and otherwise by every means in hil power." "These views have been adopted by the whole Conservativj party throughout Manitoba, and every Conservative candidate foj election in Manitoba pledged himself thereto." Some of the reasons given for this action are as follows : " The policy of disallowance of local charters for the constru(| tion of railways within the limits of the old Province of Manitoli retards the natural progress, not only of Manitoba and the NorLl,| west Torritoi '<8, but of the Dominion at large. *' It discourager immigration. " It prevents the Ttatural devolopmoiit of trade between tlil Northwest and th« other Provinces of the Dou)iiiion, and in tl)| Disallowance of Manitoba Railway Charters. [orthvvest itself; to which natural development of trade competition railway carriage between all the Provinces is essentially necessary. " It is, therefore, not a policy of progress, but a policy of kardation, injurious alike to the Northwest and to the rest of the wminion, and, as such, it is inconsistent with the principles of lonservatism." Under these circumstances it is pretty'hard to be told now that le Province having returned a majority of Government supporters, [e have thereby endorsed the policy of disallowance. The next points to be considered are : 1st. If the Canadian Pacific Railway is charging excessive rntes and between places in the Province of Manitoba ; and, 2d. What effect a competing line to the international )undary will have on inter-provincial trade. RATES. Wheat, lumber and fuel are, as everyone knows, the most iportant articles in the settler's economy. Wheat is the staple I'oduct ; lumber is used for the construction of his house and farm iildings ; coal is an urgent necessary of life in a severe climate and treeless plains. It is evident that, other things being equal, if ^e railroad rates for these three articles in Manitoba are exhorbit- itly high in comparison with similar rates elsewhere, farming in ir Northwest cannot pay simply because it cannot compete. Mr. VanHorne assured the Board of Trade, voluntarily, in 582, in the most solemn words, that our fuel and lumber would be trried at cost * ^(. * ^t while wheat would be Lrricd at a bare margin over cost to assist the settlers ; and that we lust expect to pay fair rates for our merchandise. The following ;t8 will show how far this promise has been kept. WHEAT. Mr. VanHorne lays stress upon a wheat rate of 33 cents from ;j;ary to Port Arthur, a distance of 1,209 '.r.iles, and relies on this Ue for comparisous- with other roads having a monopoly in their jrritory. But as a matter of fact that rate is given from all points \st of Indian Head, which is only 741 miles from Port Arthur. ie explanation is that no wheat is shipped from Calgary ; Regina, ^6 miles west of Popt Arthur, being practically the most westerly DvsalUmance of Manitoba Railway Charters. V point from which grain \z shipped eastward. A true and fair com- parison is to compare the wheat rates in force on the Canadian I Pacific between Winnipeg and Port Arthur with those between St. Paul and Chicago, Port Arthur standing in the same relation to I Winnipeg and other Manitoba points as Chicago does to St. Paul and Minneapolis : MUes. Per 100 lbs, Winnipeg to Port Arthur 430 28 cents St. Paul to Chicago 420 74 m So that the Manitoba settler shipping from Winnipeg has to pay four times as much to get his wheat to the Lake as the Minne- sota or Dakota settler shipping from St. Paul. It was stated in the House of Commons, and is still asserted in Ministerial papers, that farmers in the northern parts of Minnesota and Dakota have teamed their wheat across the boundary to Emerson or Gretna, paying the Canadian duty, and have then shipped it by the Canadian Pacific to Port Arthur with more profit to themselves than if they had shipped it direct to Duluth from the place of growth. This is not the whole truth, Mr. Van Home has admitted that only three carloads of vrheat were dealt with in this way ; and that he allowed the shippersi an exceptional rate of 15 cents per 100 pounds to Port Arthur, thus virtually paying the duty for them. The customs returns show that during the year ending June 30th, 1885, only 1,798 bushels of wheat crossed the international line at Gretna and Emerson, and for thf year ending June 30th, 1886, but 74 bushels crossed it. Turnint: to the all-rail rates for carloads, the rate from Winnipeg to Montreal! by the Canadian Pacific, a distance of 1,423 miles, is 50 cents per 100 pounds. From St. Paul to New York, a distance of from 1,420 to 1,500 miles, according to the rail route taken, the rate is 321 cents ; from Council Bluffs, la., to New York, 1,440 miles, 25 centt per 100 pounds. That is to flay, the Manitoba settler shipping from Winnipeg gets 17i^ cents per 100 pounds or ten ceiUa per bushel leas for his whealy in consequence of the higher railroad rate, tftan the Minnesota or Dakota settler , shipping from St. Paul ; and iid <:vnU per 100 pounds or 15 cents per bushel less than the Iowa settler ship T^fm /^ow» Council Bluffs. The through rail-and-boat rates for carloads hit him quite as hard. The rate per 100 pounds from Winnipeg to Fort William is 28 cents, and from there to Montren by Canadian Pacific boats 15 cents, or 13 cents in all. The propell xrs. Disallowance of Manitoba Railway CI tar tern I and fair com- the Canadian I )8e between St, Lme relation to I 38 to St. Paul I • Per 100 lbs. 28 cents 7i .. innipeg has to e as the Minne-I as stated in the I ial papers, that )ta have teamed ina, paying the adian Pacific to hey had shipped I IS not the whole ree carloads oil «red theshippersi )rt Arthur, thus! turns show that! )U8hels of wheat! tn, and for thol ed it Turnint;| peg to Montreal is 50 cents perl ceof from 1,4:20| ;he rate is 32) miles, 25 cental }r shipping frotil < per bushel lem rate^ than thi\ I ; and i36 cenl-^ owa settler shiji l-boat rates fori )0 pouiulsi fronl Bre to Montren'l The propellc rate from Port Arthur to Montreal is 10 cents, making the through rate from Winnipeg 38 cents, as against 13 cents by the Canadian Pacific boats. On the other hand, the rate from St. Paul to Duluth by rail is seven cents and the rate from Duluth to Montreal or New York tea cents, the through rate being thus 17 cents, or less than half that imposed on the Manitoba settler. The through rate from Minneapolis to Liverpool, via Duluth, including harbor dues, etc., is 29 cents per 100 pounds. The through rate from Winnipeg to Liverpool, via Port Arthur and Montreal, is 55 cents. So that the Canadian settler is handicapped in the Liverpool market to the extent of 26 cents per 100 pounds, or 15^ cents per bushel. It must be borne in mind, however, that this does not represent the full extent of his disability. He is much further from Winnipeg, as a rule, than the Minnesota or Dakota settler is from St. Paul or Minneapolis ; and as his local wheat rate is much higher thaii that in force ov» the American side of the line, he loses heavily at that end of the shipn. mt. The following table, compiled from the Cana- dian Pacific tariff, No. 61, which went into effect on April 25 last and from the St Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba tariff N o. 2, which took effect on April 5 last, will show the difficulty under which the Canadian settler labors as regards local wheat rates in carloads : C.P.R.fromM.&M.from Winnipeff. St. Paul, Miles. 20 9 cents 4 cents. 30. 60. 100. 200. 300. 525. 11 13 m 24 29 39 5 7i 10 17 21 30 Now compare the local and through wheat rates on the Grand i Trunk Railway in Ontario and Quebec and those prevailing on the I Canadian Pacific Railway in Manitoba and the Northwest as shown by C. P.R. Western Division Tariff No. 61, April 25th, 1887, and |G. T. R. Tariff No. 14, April 25th, 1887 : ... LOCAL RAVES. Mites. Per 100 llm. C. P. R., Brandon to Winnipeg 133 20 cents G. T. R., Stratford to Bowinanville 131 C. P. R. , Moose .Jaw to Winnipeg. G. T. R., Braatford to Montreal. . ,.398 .403 13 34 17i 6 Disalloioance o1 Manitoba Railway Chartfirt. TUR0U6U RATES. Mikn. PerlOOlha. C. P. R. , Winnipeg to Toronto 1287 50 cents G. T. R., IngersoU to Halifax 1283 31i n LUMBER. The rate from Rat Portage, the shipping point for the Lake of the Woodo Mills, to Winnipeg, a distance of 133 miles, is for green lumber $4.G5 per thousand feet ; for dry lumber 15^ cents per 100 lbs. Hull is to Montreal what Rat Portage is to Winnipeg, as regards the lumber supply. The rate from Hull to Montreal, a distance of 120 miles, is for green lumber $1 per thousand ; for dry lumber 5 cents per 100 pounds. , COAL. ^ The rate from Fort William to Winnepeg, 423 miles, is $5 per ton or one and one-fith cents ton per mile. A rebate reducing the rate to $3.01 per ton is allowed to dealers importing 10,000 tons or upwards. This makes the rate for large shipments seven-tenths of a cent per ton per mile. The rajte on the Intercolonial, which the Maritime members say is too high, is three-tenths of a cent per ton per mile. If the Manitobans were granted the Intercolonial rate, imported coal could be sold in Winnipeg for $1.75 per ton less than at present : and at Portage la Prairie, Brandon and other points at a proportionate reduction ; whilst domestic coal from the Northwest mines could be laid down at Winnipeg for $2.00 per ton below the present price. Having seen how greviously the Manitoba settler is handi- capped by the tolls collected on his grain, fuel and lumber, it is well also to show the freij^ht rates chaiged on his general merchandise by the Canadian Pacific Railway: Disallowance of Manitoba Railway Charters. CICUHS. , ' > Miles. 1 2345 C. P. R, Port Arthur to Winnipeg 430 f 1 33 112 90 69 63 G. T. R., Montreal to Stratford, Ont 421 44 39 33 28 22 C. P. R.,PortArthur to Portage la Prairie. 486 141 118 94 71 64 G. T. R. , luontreal to Gloncoe, Ont. 483 44 39 33 28 22 C. P. R., Port Arthur to Brandon 562 1 58 1 32 1 05 79 71 C; . T. R. , Montreal to Windsor 562 48 42 36 30 24 C. P. R., Port Arthur to Emerson 496 133 112 90 69 63 G. T. R. , Montreal to Sarnia : 501 48 42 36 30 24 C. P. R., Winnipeg to Oak Lake, Man. .166 78 66 53 41 37 *C. P. R., Winnipeg to Oak Lake, Man. . . 166 67 57 46 36 32 G. T. R., Montreal to Kingston, Ont 163 22 19 17 U H C. P. R., Winnipeg to McLean, N.W.T. 332 115 97 78 60 54 *C. P. R., Winnipeg to McLean, N.W.T..'i32 99 83 67 52 47 G. T. R., Montreal to Toronto 333 28 25 21 18 14 C. P. R., VVinnipegloPense, N.W.T....373 123 103 84 64 58 *C. P. R., Winnipeg to Pense, N.W.T... 373 105 88 72 55 50 G. T. R,, Montreal to Hamilton, Ont.... 373 30 26 23 19 15 s . ■ *NoTE. — This is a special rate given only to wholesale houses on freight shipped to retail merchants in the country. C. P. R. Western Division Tarfflf, Nos. 61 and 62, April 25 and May 1, 1887. G. T. R. TariflF No. ]04, April 23, 1887. ^ I 8 Disallowance of Manitoba Railway Charters, i If the people of Ontario and Quebec consider the freight rates paid by them to be excessive, let them calmly and dispassionately ponder ovt^ the position of the settler in Manitoba who is starting anew in life to make a home for himself and his family, taking the above comparisons as a key to the situation. Having compared the rates of the Grand Trunk with those of the Canadian Pacific, it is but just that the rates of the latter should also bo given, ko that it may be seen how that road deals with the freights of the farmers on either side of Lake Superior. The Canadian Pacific, as compared with itself, is as follows : • -. .V C, p. R. LOCAL MERCHANDISE RATES. ' Class. , • N Miha. 1 2 3 4 6 Montreal to Ottawa 120 $0 15 13 Oil 10 09 Winnipeg to Douglas 122 67 57 40 36 32 Winnipeg to Douglas (special wholesale). 122 58 49 40 31 2S Ottawa to Toronto 260 36 32 27 23 18 Winnipegtc Broadview '. 264 1 00 84 68 62 47 Winnipeg to Broa(1view(8pec'l wholesale )264 | 86 72 59 46 41 C, P. R. Western Division Tariffs 14 (June, 1886), and No. 61, April 25, 1887. C. P. R. Eastern Division Tariffs 4 (Nov., 1886) and No. 24, May 2nd, 1887. How deeply the management of the Canadian Pacific Railway are inter psted in preserving their monopoly and the above extortionate rates, may be estimated fiom the fact that the company pay to the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway Company twelve per cent, of the gross freight earnings between Port Arthur and Winni- p«!g, and the latt" t company's line being the only one in the United States which has hitherto had a connection at the southern boundary of Manitoba. In return for this bribe, extorted from Canadian pockets, this foreign corporation effectually chokes ofl all competition b(!tween the Province and the East bv a southern route. How much this bribe amounts to annually is a secret well hidden from the Canadian public, but we can state on good authority, that for the past year it oggregated in the neighborhood of ^400,000. INTER PROVINCIAL TRADE. • Following is part of a re.solution pasKeH by the Winnipeg Board of Tr.vle, on the Ist Fj'hruary, 1887 . ' Disallowance of Manilolia Railwav Chortnrs 9 " Your Board is desirous of impressing upon the people of tlie [older Provinces that its efforts to get free from railway monopoly are not dictated by any desire to make the markets of this Province in the United States. On the contrary, its sole aim is to secure [railway competition between Manitoba and these older Provinc(\s, where the ties of Confederation and a system of national tariUs point to us our natural markets. The Board adheres to the princilpe that transportation between the Northwest and the East, facilitiited [and cheapened, must necessarily increase the trad<^ intercourse [ between the two." The money saved by the pepple of this Province on freight rates give: just that much more cash to pay for merchandise in Eastern I Canada, where, apart from the all-powerful considt^ration that our liusiuess connections are already established, the high Customs tariff now in force compels us to purchase our goods, if goods were [carried from the United States markets lo Manitoba free of freight charges it would fail to counterbalance the Customs duties imposed [on imports from those markets. This etfectually answers the mis- k'ading statements made by Mr. VanHorne and other interested [persons that a connection with the American system of railways at [the lK>undary line would make the market of this Province in the United States, instead of in Eastern Canada. 'I'he lower the. freight [rates enjoyed by the Manitoba settltir the greater will In? the Ijcnelit [to the business community of Ontario and (.Quebec. The whole matter has resolved itself into the (juestion as to [whether this Province has or has not tin; full rights enjoyed by thr other Provinces. Would the Oouiinion Covernment ever dream of [forbidding the people of Ontaiio to build lines from the Canadian Pacitic Railway to the frontier ] Wc believe we are the eijual of [the other Provinces of the i>ominion of Canada, and will iuHist on l»eing rccogni/(id as such ; and knowing that we have a constitutional [right to build a railroad to the boundary, our Legislature, consisting of .*ir> members, unanimously determined on doing so, and th*? ly tlie foolish threats of (he President of the Canadian Pacitic Railway Company and his bubbidizud press. 10 Disallowance of Manitoba Rail way Charters. ^ P i As to the justice or injustice of the exercise of the power of disallowance by the Dominion Government in connection with this united citort of the peopl .• of Manitoba, we quote the following article from the Winnipeg Sun of July 13th, 1887 : " New interest has been created in the alleged ri;2[ht of the Dorainion Gi irnment to veto legislation within the constitutional po^vcrs of a province, by the opinions upon that point recently ex- pressed by Messrs. Blake and Mowat, These gentlemen say that the technical right exists, but not a constitutional right : inasmuch as the technical right has been used for the purpose of accomplishing a constitutional wrong. It is, therefore, proposed at the approaching luterprovincial Conferencf to seek [mperip.l legislation, witR a view to removing entirely a power that has been so grossly abused. The facts in connection with this veto power have been fre(juently presented to our readers, but reiteration at the present time can do no harm. The veto power of tiie Governor General-in-Couucil is found in the lifty-sixth, tifty-sevcnth and ninetieth paragraphs of the British North America Act, which in effect say that any bill passed by tilic genenil parliament shall be subject to disallowance by Her Majesty within two years, as in the case of bills passed in the legislatures of the provinces before the Confederation, and in like; manner any bill passed by a local legislature shall be subject to disallowance by the Governor-({onerul-in-Council within one year after the passw^e thereof It has frequently been pointed out that it was never th* intention of the frainers of the (Confederation Act to give the Federal Authority pow«r to legislate in respect of those matters on which the provincial legislatures had been given power to legislate. To \eto a particular local act would be to legislate it, because it would remove from the provinces the exercise of a power that, undiT tli< mutual agreement which b(;cam(! the basis of Confederation, wus to be conferred upon thi'm. it is thenifore in order to intjuire why a power was vested in the Federal Authority that seems cahulati'd, on the face of it, to deprive the provinces oi the rights which the Confederation Act was ijitciided to secure to them and thereby to destroy the very basis of the union. Wo have already explained that a veto }»ower had liitlu^rtc exinittil ovur culuhial Iv^ulatiun, in the imperial authonticu, but had "■I ■iff DisaJlowame of Manitoba Raihrajj Charters. It [been seldom exercised. To prevent the provincial le should !>•• recognized. Any such interference would cU'arly b« an infringement of the right of self-government enjoyed by the provinces prior tc Confederation. Sir John Macdonald, himsiilf, dearly stttt«Hl that within its I Disallowance of Manitoba Haihoay Chartws. 13 the rights of self-government enjoyed by the provinces were not to be impaired by the Federal Union and thereby shows that no justification exists for the course pursu'^d by the Government towards Manitoba. It certainly, therefore, is time that steps were taken to secure the necessary Imperial legislation for the removal of a power that has been unconstitutionally exercised." Nothing but competing lines of railway in this Province will secure settlers and induce capitalists to invest in the Northwest. Mr. VanHorne has been interviewed time and again by deputa- tions asking for reductions in freight rates, but he only rebuffed the deputations. Within a week the 0. P. R. has found it expedient to reduce the local fieight rates on their line in British Columbia from FIFTY TO NINETY PER CENT., and yet the organs of the company in Eastern Canada had previously the audacity to state that they were not too high, and that up to the day the reduction went into force. These same journals are informing their readers that the Manitobans have simply to request the Canadian Pacific Railway Company to lower the rates^ and, if refused, to appeal to the Dominion Govern- ment for relief. The fact is well known to be that the Covoniment practically has no control over the C. P. R. rates until that company is earning 10 per cent, on the capital invested in the road, bntli by the railway company and the people of Canada. If the people of this province have to submit to the monopoly until that occurs the present generation will never get relief. That the farmers of the Northwest have managed to exist during the past few years under the oppressive burdens thus loaded upon them, furnishes a strong proof of the natural advantages in sojl, climate, and othe*- details which they have found in this great hroad prairie land ; and let them only have the competition in rail- ways which is now guaranteed to ihe older Provinces of the Dominion, and the Nortliwest will soon develop a cure for every evil which now rests upon it, and become in a very short titiie one of the most prosperous agricultural countries in the world. Resting our case upon the foregoing (collection of incontrover- tible facts and figures, as Canadians as well as Manitobans, we ai>p<>al to the free people of (knada at large, assured that in the minds uiul hearts of the c'tiaens of every other province of the Dominion there exists tlie feeling that from Atlantic to Pacific all shall enjoy u Disallovmncf of Manitoba Railway Charters. i '! (! the same freedom as themseVes ; and in first appealing on grouiuls of justice, we do not fear to test our appeal by justice in its sternest sense. We ask for no injustice to be placed upon any person, cor- poration or community. We ask for the cancellation of no contract or agreement which has been assented to by the Dominion of Canada or any portion thereof. We ask for the abolition of no privilege or advantafjje guaranteed by the Dominion or any portion thereof to any indiviflual corporation or community. W^e ask for no aid from the tax-payer of the Dominion in our efforts to free oureelves from the withering monopoly with which we are unjustly burdened. But we ask for the privileges guaranteed to every province in Confeder aticii by the British North America Act ; for the guarantees mado to Manitoba by the Dominion Act, creating the very corporation which now holds the grasp of monopoly upon our province and its people ; for the cessation of the abuse of the Vice-Regal veto power, in direct contradiction of the statements and pledges of the leader and other members of the present Government, made by them wheji the veto power was first entrusted to Canada ; and lastly, we ask for a redemption of the pledges made by members of the same Govornment, but faithlessly broken in order that one hundred thousand struggling pioneers of this prairie province may be crushed and trampled upon to secure a purely imaginary financial gain to one soulless corporation But we appeal to our fellow-citizens of Canada on national trade grounds, where the financial interests of all Canadians are concerned. A system of national tariffs has made the large cities and manufacturing centres of Old Canada the purchase markets of the whole Dominion, and no portion of the Dominion has had to bear more of tlu; burden and reap less of the benefits of this tarill' system, than the Northwest. Yet its people have supported this very tarifl system in a desire to secure unity rf Canadian trade Now they and the people of the east are told, that there shall be but one common carjinr of ujerchandise between the East and thr Northwest, which shall tn\ with impunity the trade intercourse lietwcen the new and the old portions of the Dominion, and out ot tho exhorbitaut rates thus extorted from the people of Canada at largo, pay to a foreign railway corporation a heavy pe root it age of th<' ohar^es on the supplies shipped by the eastern manufacturer to the y Disalloicancfi of }Jaidtoba Jiai/way Charters, 15 t't'stern pioneer. It seems almost folly to ask : Can trade be free Intl prosper between its scattered elements throughout the Dominion .icn their intercourse is in the grasp of a n)onopoly, which thus plunders them to pay tribute or hush money to a foreign corporation 1 To you we appeal to assist us by your moral support, in one effort, break this iniquitous compact, which taxes the Canadian to Urich the foreigner; to assist us in facilitating and cheapening trans- [lortation between all portions of our Dominion, and thus making iJanadian trade what it ought to be — one ccucentrated whole. Lastly we appeal upon grounds of Confederation. Our con- Icderation of provinces never was intended to, never can, and never n\\ be, with the consent of the free people composing them, a union bf conquered and consequently oppressed petty states, but a union \i free and representative peoples' unitedly possessing all thr lecessaries to become in time a great nation. Only upon grounds ^f equality can these members of our Confederation grow up in liarmony and prosperity, and wherever a departura is made from liiis principle of equality, as has been with the railway rights of |kIanitoba, the seeds of discord are sown, and Confederation exists j)nly in name, and upon the power of the strong to oppress the weak. ^e cannot believe that the people of Canada desire a policy likr Ihis, which will naturally produce discontent, if not a stronger [eeling, in a portion of the Dominion to which they belong, and in lie prosperity of which they are so deeply interested. Much less lo we believe that they will favor such a policy, to secure an imaginary advantage to a solitary corporation, a policy the poniinion Government seeks to enforce with the sacrifice of every )ririciplc of good faith on its part, -iiid under tlu; gauzy bubt(!»fug<' bf a trade policy. With this appeal we rest our case with the 'ople of Canada, with the ooutidence that with them our rights 'ill be respected. S ,^. ^