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TheStopyof^G 
 
 THE 
 
 .•\ ■."■ 
 
 HARRIS LAND JOB 
 
 AND 
 
 ITS'i^ESUtTSr- 
 
 How the Leading Industry of Saint John 
 
 was Crushed Out of Existence 
 
 and the Public Money 
 
 Wasted. 
 
 SAINT JOHN, N. B. 
 1896. 
 
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THE STORY OF A CRIME. 
 
 In years past, one of the possible de- 
 fects of the maritime provinces as a 
 regio.'. to invite the touriet was itie 
 absence of old ruins. That thiis was a 
 defect common to most parts of the 
 American continent did not help the 
 noatter, for the tourists were chieliy from 
 the American people who came to Can- 
 ada and wandered down eat^t in search 
 of something more quaint and curious 
 than they could tind in their own 
 country. They were fairly eatiefied with 
 the oid-world aspect of Quebec, and 
 some times took a passing interest in the 
 remains of Fojt Cumberland, Port Royal 
 and Louisburg, but they wanted 
 more, and especially when they 
 reached Ht. John, which they 
 knew as the city of the Loyalists, and of 
 which they had read in their guide 
 books in connexion with the story of La 
 Tour. They expected at least to find 
 some ruins here. 
 
 They were disappointed in their 
 guest. They found merely a busy and 
 progressive city, rapidly advancing in 
 the number and extent of ifa industries 
 and with a population inci easing in a 
 proportionate ratio. There was no room 
 for ruins, and the minds of the people 
 were on the present and future rather 
 than on the past. St. John was enjoy- 
 ing a prosperity wh'"h promised much 
 for its future. Then had been no sud- 
 den accession of capital or enter- 
 prise, nor had the numerous industries 
 been put forward as experiments. The 
 position of the cUy as au industrial 
 centre was the result of a steady growth, 
 clearly to be seen in the statistics of its 
 trade and commerce from year to year. 
 During the preceding 20' yeare, the 
 amount of tonnage owned in the port 
 had more than doubled, untU 8t. John 
 was the fourth port in the British empire. 
 In those 20 years the population of the 
 city had increased at the rate of 33 per 
 cent and was steadily growing. Bt. John 
 had more than GOO manufacturing 
 eBtablishments, employing nearly 
 10,000 hands and paying out be- 
 tween three and four millions of 
 dollars every year. In the five years 
 preceding 1875 the figures of the manu- 
 facturing establishments had doubled 
 
 themselves, and it was the opinion of a 
 careful inquirer into the condition of our 
 industries that, with proper care, 
 the figures .vould be doubled in the fol- 
 lowing five years. 
 
 Then the fiie of 1S77 came, which was 
 had enough, and after it came the 
 National Policy, which was worse. 
 
 The Story of Twenty Years. 
 
 In the last 20 years some of the indus- 
 tries which then fiourisl.ed and prom- 
 ised to fiourish have become utterly ex- 
 tinct, while the population has not only 
 not increased, but hap not even held its 
 own. According.to the last obtainable 
 figures it has decreased about five per 
 cent, in the city of Ht. John. The natural 
 rate of increase is computed at two per 
 cent, a year, so that had the population 
 merely held its own without any immi- 
 gration, it should ha\e gained 40 per 
 cent. It not only failed to do that, but 
 actually sutlered a further reduction of 
 over five per cent. Was the fire respon- 
 sible for this? 
 
 That it was not, that there was another 
 and far reaching cause is found in the 
 fact ibat in the ten years between 1881 
 end 1891, the total decrease in popula- 
 tion in seven important counties of New 
 Brunswick, including St. John, was no 
 lees than 13,000. In only four of all the 
 counties of the province was there a gain 
 beyotd the natural increase, and these 
 were four with a large French population, 
 namely, Gloucester, Restigouche, Vic- 
 toria and Westmorland. Kings county, 
 with no allowance for natural increase, 
 lost a tenth of its people in the ten ytaia. 
 Charlotte, adjoining St. John on the west, 
 sufiered an equal loss. Even the great 
 farming county of Carleton had been 
 unable to hold it3 own. For 
 the first time in the history of 
 New Brunswick, the province 
 failed to make an advance in the course 
 of a given decade, and the population of 
 what had been the most progressive 
 counties showed a material decrease. 
 
 The national policy was inaugurated 
 in 1878, and from that da..e, according to 
 the census figures from 1881 to 1891, it 
 showed what it could do for the mari- 
 timo provinces. It is still showing 
 
6 
 
 THE STOttV OK A CRIME. 
 
 ^^ 
 
 what it can do to diecourage and depreaa 
 our indnatrieo. In 1H91, the total num- 
 ber of induBtries in the old city and 
 Portland waa 13 leaa than in the old city 
 alone in 1875. In theae only 3,680 banda 
 were employed, where in 1875 the old 
 city had given employment to 9,513, 
 while the annoal wages for St. John and 
 Portland were $1,1*J7,79G, as aeainat 
 $3,31.s.87-* jn theold city alone in 1875. 
 tiince 1801, the condition of affaire haa 
 grown Btill worae, by the killing out of 
 otaer induatriea, iacluding the Uarria 
 foanu/y and car works. 
 
 Thia ia not the blae ruin cry. It ia a 
 preaentation of facta too aerioaa to be ig- 
 nored, and it points to a condition of 
 things for which a remedy ia de- 
 manded. The city of St. John is 
 not on the verge of ruin, nor is it 
 likely to be, but it doea not hold the 
 place wbich it ahould hold, nor haa it 
 approached to anything like the posi- 
 tion which waa confic'ently predicted for 
 it a acore of years ago. That it has 
 tlourishiDg industries at the pi^aent time 
 and that itj people h{(ve faith ia what 
 they have undertaken in recent years, 
 does not prove that St. John haa been 
 aided by the national policy, but that 
 it has made a brave struggle U.> hold ita 
 own in apite of that policy. 
 
 And There are Ruins. 
 
 The tourist travel to the maritime 
 provinces haa increased within the laat 
 10 years, and the seeker for 
 curious sights may now find 
 all the ruins he desires. He 
 may see ruined farm-houaea on 
 abandoned farma as he travela 
 throuith the country, and he may find 
 once fiouriahing villagea now inhabited 
 ch'^ifly by women and children and men 
 who have passed the age for active work. 
 The young men have gone, and under 
 another flag are earning the bread de- 
 nied them by the workings of a protec- 
 tive policy in their native land. 
 
 Hot are the ruina confined to the coun- 
 try dietricta. Net a few arc in what 
 were once the buay parts of the city of 
 St. John. Most of them are of industrial 
 establishments which have been aimply 
 abandoned for want of work and are 
 gradually falling into decay. They are 
 not all of this kind. The mott notable 
 of all the ruins are those which have 
 been directly created by the act of the 
 Tory government in one ot the boldeat 
 and indefenaiblejoba to which the peo- 
 ple's money was ever diverted. These 
 ruins cover an art a of several acres 
 in the heait of the city, the grounds 
 
 once occupied by the New 
 Brunawick foundry and the tranaaction 
 by which they were made ruina ia known 
 aa "The Harria Land Job." 
 
 What the Phrase Means. 
 
 Despite of much that waa aaid at the 
 time of thia notorioua deal, the full atory 
 ot the tranc action and ita reeulta haa 
 never been told. It is a matter of much 
 greater impor'aace than the ordinary 
 elector haa been led to suppose. The 
 phraae "Harris Land Job," means more 
 than that the government supported by 
 Messrs. lUz^n, Skinner ani McLeod, aa 
 members from the city and county of St. 
 John, perpetrated a job at the expense 
 of the people. It meaoa more than that, 
 more than four yeara ago, $"00,000 of the 
 people'a money was appropriated with- 
 out warrant to buy a property which the 
 government did not need, and which it 
 has not yet used and cannot use with- 
 out an additional and enormous expense. 
 There would be scope enough for com- 
 ment if it meant only thia, but it means 
 much more. 
 
 It means that by a single touch of the 
 hand of a paternal government, aided 
 and abetted by J. 1) jugliis Hazen, M, P , 
 and his colleagues, a great industry m as 
 cloaed for all time. Thia industry had 
 flouiiahed for more than three-score 
 years, and had grown great in the years 
 when high tarifls were unknown in this 
 province. It waa one o' the few mdus- 
 tries which the national policy could not 
 kill Indeed, in a government blue book 
 prin'ed in 1885, Jainea Hariia & Co. are 
 quoted assaying: "The national policy 
 has been a benefit to our busineas." 
 They were ardent Conservativea who 
 enjoyed a large share of government 
 patronage, and probably believed what 
 they said. A few years later their 
 works were closed, cot having died the 
 slow natural death of many other local 
 industries under the national policy, but 
 having been alain at a blow by the gov- 
 ernment which makes that policy a part 
 of its platform. 
 
 This ia a part of what the term "The 
 Harria Land Job" means, but even this 
 ia not all. It meana the collapse of an 
 establishment which paid out ou an 
 average some $2,400 every week of the 
 year, equal to an annual anbaidy of 
 $125,000, which empl lyed an average of 
 300 men, and directly and indirectly 
 cmtributed to the aupport of a very 
 much larger number. With the closing 
 of the worka all this money waa with- 
 drawn from circulation, the hundreda of 
 empl yea were driven out of the city to 
 
TTHE STORY OF A CRIME. 
 
 
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8 
 
 THE STORY OK A CRIME. 
 
 -i 
 
 seek a livinK elsewhere, and the days of 
 
 Eroaperity become but a memory with 
 UDureds of small tradeemen over a 
 lar^e area of the northern Bection of the 
 city. 
 
 In other wordB, Mr. Uui'.en and his as- 
 Bociutes, by a secret barKain, which had 
 not even the aanctioo of a Tory parlia- 
 ment, deprived the city of its one moat 
 important induatry, and gave the people 
 in return only a heap of raina. Uow 
 this job waB carried to ita iniqnitova 
 completion will be ahown later. Before 
 thiB ia done, it will be well to find a 
 modern "aermon in stones" by a visit to 
 the ruina. 
 
 AMONG THE BUINS. 
 
 In the Path ot the Oestroyer of the 
 Proeperlty of the Ptople. 
 
 "The rulnb are easy of acceae, close to 
 the (government railway depot, and con- 
 veniently reached by electric cara from 
 all parte of the city. Ho mi^ht read a 
 teuide book for the information of via* 
 itors to St. John in the year of grace 
 lbU(). Five ^ears ago a guide book would 
 have described the place as the scene of 
 the largest industry in St. John, and the 
 Conaervative 01 ator would have quoted 
 it as en illnatration of how an industrial 
 eatabliahment which had been eatab- 
 liahed prior to the national policy had 
 been made atill more proaperous by the 
 operation of that policy. In thoee days 
 there waa a "No Admittance" eign at 
 the entrance; at this day one may freely 
 enter from front or rear, for even the 
 fences have ahared in the general ruin 
 and ofler no barrier to him who would 
 learn a lesaon cf the instability of the 
 work of man and the rottenneaa of the 
 Tory policy. 
 
 Approaching, by way of Mill atreet, 
 from the business portion of the city, 
 the first glimpse of the ruina ia had from 
 the street in front of the Intercolonial 
 railway depot, for they are on the rail- 
 way ground, or on what waa purchased 
 under the false pretence that it waa re- 
 quired for railway purposes. Perhaps 
 the contrast between the real railway 
 grounds and the bogus railway grounda 
 is the more vivid, from the fact that the 
 former are in auch order that they seem 
 of today, while the latter look aa though 
 the atorma of generationa had contribut- 
 ed to their desolation. The depot ia a 
 fair structure, aave for the one blemish 
 where rough boards cover the 
 place where a clock should be. 
 The depot waa built more than 
 11 yeara ago, and again and again 
 
 during ^hat time has the request come 
 from the people that a clock should be 
 put in the place designed for one. The 
 government, as if to show lis contempt 
 for St. John in amall aa well a« great 
 matters.Btillcortinuea to keep the black- 
 ened boarda where they were originally 
 put aa a temporary covering. The ex- 
 penditure cannot be made. It is one 
 thing to go to the extravagance of buy- 
 ing a clock, but quite another thing to 
 devote $200,000 to the killing of a big 
 industry and the making of ruins by 
 the acre. 
 
 Seen Ircm Foundry Lann. 
 
 One may easily reach the grounda 
 from the railway crossing, but to under- 
 stand the story the better mode of ap- 
 proach is by way of Paradise row and 
 Foundry lane. Half a century from 
 now, tho latter name, if retained, will be 
 a misnomer to provoke inquiry 
 from the younger generation, and 
 their fathers will tell them of how it was 
 once the main entrance to the great 
 Harris foundry, eatabuahed by James 
 Harria in 1831 and deatroyed hy a cor- 
 rupt government in 1892. For two gen- 
 erationa Foundry lane was the most 
 busy thoroughfare of its size in St. John 
 and Portland. Teams of all kinda 
 passed in and out durin*: the hours of 
 labor, while the hurrieu tread of au 
 army of wage-workers waa heard day 
 after day throughout the year at morn- 
 ing, noon and night. All ia alienee now, 
 and one who walka here treads in thb 
 footprints of decay. 
 
 A portion of a high fence, crazy-look- 
 ing and apparently ready to fall, but 
 held by atout poats, containa the gate- 
 way, and marka all that is left of the en- 
 closure at this part of the grounda. At 
 the top, a strip of the boarding, 
 differing in shade of paint from 
 the reet of the gateway, ahows that 
 something haa been removed. It was 
 here that for year after year was dis- 
 played the aign, "James Harris c^ Co., 
 New Brunswick Foundry." Securely 
 fattened there it weathered the storms 
 and gales of season after season and 
 seemed likely to stay for generations 
 to come. One night in January 1891, 
 while the works were still in operation, 
 this sign fell from ita place with a crash 
 and lay face downward on the ground, 
 as though its time had come. A week 
 later, the citizens of S^. John, learned 
 with anger and amazement that the 
 Harris Land Job transaction bad been 
 completed with the concurrence of Mr. 
 Hazen and his colleagues, and that the> 
 works were to be closed forever. 
 
THE 8TOKY UK A CIU.MK. 
 
 At the left of the entrance, before 
 paeaiiiK the ^ate, are the stone founda- 
 tion V al's of a houBe which haa alao 
 ahared in the {general deatruclion. 
 Entering the yard, a scene of 
 desolation is presented, which is with- 
 out a parallel in the city and county of 
 tit. John. Have that the destruction 
 baa been more complete, that the num- 
 ber of standin; walla ia proportionately 
 amhller, and that there are no siKna of 
 life, it ia a type r f Ht, John as it appebr- 
 ed on the morning of the Kfe^t tire. 
 There nre simply acres of ruins. The H ar- 
 ris property, lyiuR behind the lots owned 
 by other parties on Mill atreet and 
 Paradise row, occupied nearly the whole 
 of tlie largo blot;lf encloeed by Mill street 
 and Parailia» row, tiouthwark street and 
 the line of rail w ay close to the depot. It 
 aleo included bome lots on Paradise row. 
 At a rouf^b estimate the area occupied 
 the works was about five acres; on it 
 were no leas than -'2 buildings, chiedy 
 large structures. A portion of these, 
 near the railway line, have been 
 allowed to remain, their windows 
 roughly boarded up, and the buildings 
 themselves empty. Onlytne or tA-o of 
 them, cloee to the track, have been put 
 to any uae, and then only for the atirage 
 of a few cara and snow plougu?. These 
 dark, deaerted buildinga, once the scene 
 of busy toil, might well bear upon them 
 the inscription: — 
 
 • 
 
 : CLOSED : 
 
 • > 
 
 ; On Account of the Death ol ; 
 ; A GREAT INDUSTRY. ! 
 
 And over the entrance gate, where 
 stood the sign which fell as if in shame, 
 should be inscribed the words : "Icha- 
 bod — the glory is departed." 
 
 Acres of Land Lsid Waste. 
 
 A comprehensive glance showa a large 
 area of arid ground, the surface of which 
 is composed chiefly of coai ashes and 
 refuse from the foundries. Thia circum- 
 Btance tends tcj^ive a permanency to the 
 desolation, for on such a composition of 
 soil even the thistle will not flourish, and 
 kindly nature gives no mantle of green 
 to hide the barren prospect from the 
 eye. Even a goat could not gain a sup- 
 port from the five acres. Broken brick, 
 little heaps of mortar and other debris 
 from the wrecked buildings are seen on 
 every hand. Piles of ashes here and 
 
 there show where were once forges and 
 furnacea. The outlines of stone found- 
 ations can i)e seen liere and ther< , and 
 one foundation is fairly complete. lu 
 other places even the foundations h(>'. a 
 vanished, and only one who has some 
 memory of the jpliice as it was can real- 
 ize that on (uch npots stood buildinga 
 of large proportions. The place ia utter- 
 ly desertf'd. Even the boys who for a 
 time found profit in getting stray scraps 
 of iron no longer resoit here, f>r they 
 have cleare<l the ground of every loose 
 fragment of metal, while here and 
 there are traces of where they have diig 
 in search of further rewards. A lonely 
 and melancholy tree, which ought to he 
 a weeping willow, stands ttthe eastern 
 bourn ary of the yard and sfonia as 
 strangely out of place aa it would be in 
 an arid denert. Portions of a dismantled 
 trip-hammer, tof) heavy to be easily re- 
 moved and too fltont to be broken up by 
 ordinary meius, alone remain to show 
 that on thin ground once tt^od the 
 famous New IJrunswick foundry. 
 
 Not far from the gate is the 
 highest fart of the ground, which 
 falls awsy on the south and 
 weat with a considerable slope. Had 
 gove.-nmeut felt enouttti shame to clear 
 away the rubbish caused Vy its wrecking 
 of the br.ildinj^a, the yard would he 
 an ideal spot for an open air 
 meeting and an address to the 
 electora by the ii'beral candidatea. Few 
 words need be said, but volumes could 
 be comprehended in the simple sen- 
 tence: "If ye seek a monument of Tory- 
 ism, look around you." There may be 
 reaeons why J^iberala should not tres- 
 pass on this government preserve, but 
 there is no reason why the government 
 candidatea might not'addreas their con- 
 fctituenta were the rubbish tirat cleared 
 away. Their words, too, need be Jew. 
 They could repeat, as they will do else- 
 where, the promises and prophecies 
 rung over the land by Sir Charles Tup- 
 per and his followers at each election 
 R*nce 1878. Then, having recited the 
 promises, they too could ask the people to 
 look around and see the fulfilment. But 
 the rubbish should be first cleared away. 
 Many of the auditors would be the much 
 injured tradesmen of that part of tlie 
 city, to whom the closing of the works 
 meant a loss of honest money. They 
 are a patient and law-abiding people, 
 but the provocation would be great, and 
 there are altogether too many brokea 
 bricks lying loose around the ground. 
 
10 
 
 THE STOnV OF A CRIME. 
 
 BVIDBNOBS OF THE CBIMB 
 
 y ^ 
 
 Some of tbe Desolation TMrected oy a 
 VlBlt to tbe Ruins. 
 
 A comprehenBive view of the mine of 
 the Harris foundry, and of tbe (ground 
 made waste bv the Conaeivative govern- 
 munt, has already been given The 
 story of the rise and fall of this, tbe 
 greatest of Bt. John s induBtries, has yet 
 to ba told. In tbe meantime, it may be 
 well to see of what tbe ruins are com- 
 posed, and what fiey were before tbey 
 were sjaitten by tbe baud that would 
 smite yt. John today, by depriving it of 
 even tbe opportunity to compete with 
 Halifax as a winter port. 
 
 In tbe l&ct sketch, tbe visitor was left 
 standing at the outer gate, gaziog at l;he 
 desolation which meets tbe eye on every 
 hand. Thero is no sadder eight to be 
 found in St. John than this dreary desert 
 in tbe actual centre of tbe city. It 
 appeals to the ordinary sense, and needs 
 no words to point a moral to tbe most 
 careless observer. Tbere are thoee who 
 lament over the departed glories of bye- 
 gone centuries, but here are the ruins of 
 what gave bread to tbe people of our 
 own day and generation. He who seeks 
 a theme for sentiment needs not to chant 
 his "Ilium fuit" over the crumbled walls 
 of Louisburg, or to speculate on tbe fate 
 of ancient Norembega. Here are fallen 
 walls of greater import to us than the 
 ruins of France in Acadia, and here has 
 vanished a mmatiire city, well nigh as 
 completely as did that which the early 
 explorers sought in vain on the shores of 
 the Penobscot. 
 
 Tbe ruined fence sways with the windi 
 but it will not fall yet awhile. It stands 
 there, shattered and shaking, as if to 
 invite the passer by to enter and see 
 what vandal bands have made desolate. 
 A portion of one of the sliding doors, 
 hung from the top, pways to and fro in 
 the breeze, with now and then a dismal 
 groan. It is tbe only animated thing 
 around the premises. 
 
 Took tbe Money but Left tbe Safe. 
 
 At tbe left, close by the entrance gate 
 once stood the offices, the btain from 
 which the motions of tbe great industry 
 were directed. Nothing remains of these 
 except an oblong structure of brick, 
 strongly suggestive of a mausoleum fall- 
 ing into decay. It is about twelve feet 
 long, eight feet wide and with a height 
 of nine or ';en feet. In the front is a 
 rusted i»on door, ''ght shut, with the 
 knobs and fittings gone and the keyhole 
 
 choked with rust and dirt. This struc- 
 ture was tbe vault where tbe books and 
 money of tbe firm were kept, and it has 
 been lefc standing because it was so 
 solidly built that no small effort would 
 be required to demolish it. It seems to 
 have been built for protection against 
 robbery, as weU as against iire, 
 and even the Conserv\tive govern- 
 ment cannot easily get into it now, 
 though what might be accomplished 
 were any of tbe people's money known 
 to be tbere is quite another question. 
 
 Dean Swift was once pabsing through a 
 desolate perl of Ireland when he noticed 
 a new building, which proved to be a 
 powder magazine. Thereupon he re- 
 marked : 
 
 Behold a proof of Irish sense, 
 
 Here Irish wit is seen; 
 When nothing'a left that's worth defence 
 
 They build a magazlue. 
 
 In like manner, it may be said that 
 the government, having deprived the 
 community of the money that was once 
 so freely distributed from this source, 
 has left standing the empty treasure 
 vault as a mocking memorial of the 60 
 years of prosperity which the Harris 
 Foundry could shew as its noteworthy 
 record. 
 
 Only tbe Foundations Remain. 
 
 At tbe right, as one advances, are seen 
 the solid stone foundation walls of what 
 was evidently a building of considerable 
 importance. This was tbe wheel mould- 
 ing shop in which a score cf men were 
 kept busy turning out from 40 to 50 
 wheels a day. It was a high structure, 
 and from the substantial character of the 
 foundations it was evidently built with 
 the idea that it « a? to serve its purpose 
 for many generations. None of the 
 other moulding shops had such a solid 
 substructure, but this was of euch a 
 character that should the large build- 
 ing which it supported be destroyed, tbe 
 work of rebuilding could be carried on 
 with the least pcssible d«)lay. At the 
 south side of tbis was a fine engine room, 
 the foundations of which alone remain. 
 
 What happened to the wheel mould- 
 ing shop and engine room? Why, the 
 government simply tore them down, as it 
 did about ten other buildings on these 
 premises, to give the people an idea that 
 It intended to put the ground to some 
 other use. For weeks past, the residents 
 in tbe neighborhood have been expect- 
 ing to see a crowd of workmen sent 
 there to do duty in the same way again 
 in anticipation of tbe elections, 
 bat so far even this pretence h as not 
 been made. 
 
TJIi: STOHY OK A CRIMK. 
 
 11 
 
 WRECK OP T3E HARRIS MAOHmE SHOP. 
 
 This visw is from the south side to show what the structl're was like. Thk 
 
 CRACKED CHIMNEY AND SHATTERED WALL ABE ON THE NORTH HIDE. 
 
 The wreck of this machine shop is among the things defended by the c^ndidatm 
 
 OF the toby "machine" in ST. JOHN. 
 
12 
 
 THE STOKY OF A CRIMK. 
 
 % 
 
 i 
 
 West of this rain is a large wooden 
 building UBtsd as a wareroom, which has 
 not yet been torn down. The windows 
 are boarded up to protect the glasB. The 
 building has never been pat to any use 
 by the government. Near it once stood 
 a biiilding where the marbeliz'ng of 
 mantels, etc., was done, but not a trace 
 of it remains. 
 
 It is in this corner cf the yard that the 
 trip hammer frame, of which mention 
 has been made, is to be seen. To the 
 uninformed it might be taken for part of 
 the equipment of a modern great gun. 
 It appears to be in good condition, and 
 one naturally asks why it should be so 
 when everythini; else looks as thouiih 
 the Gothe and Vandals bad invaded the 
 land. The answer is that it belongs to 
 the Harris estate. The government did 
 not buy it, and therefore it has neither 
 been wrecked nor carried cut of the 
 country. 
 
 Near here stood a dry house, which 
 has vanished and left no trace behind, 
 tio much for the western siae of the 
 yard. 
 
 Standing on Historic Ground. 
 
 Advancing from the gate toward the 
 centre of the yard, one can scarcely rea- 
 lize tb at this utterly deeerted roadway 
 was once one of the busiest, and at times 
 most crowded parts of the city. There 
 were occasions when it was literally 
 choked with men, horses and teams busy 
 about the work cf the firm, for at one 
 time all the raw material used by the 
 firm, and all the manu|actared products, 
 had to come and go through this avenue. 
 In the chronicles of industries of St. 
 John, it is historic ground. 
 
 It is historic ground in another sense. 
 Here during the campaign of 1891, stood 
 Mr. Ezekiei McLeod, the Conservative 
 candidate for the City of St. John, and 
 declared to the workmen that, should 
 the government be returned to power, 
 ten care would be built in those works 
 where one was built at that time. Within 
 a year from that day the ruin of this 
 industry had been accomplished, and 
 the men who had voted for the govern- 
 ment candidate were looking for employ- 
 ment in distant fields of labor. Mr. 
 McLeod is out of politics eow, for he has 
 been rewarded with a judgeship, but Mr. 
 J. Douglas Hazen, his colleage and his 
 abettor in this transaction, comes bi*ck 
 with a smiling face and winning way 
 to ask the workingmen of St. John for 
 their votes. 
 
 TbeSaddettof AlltbeSigbts. 
 
 Th;3 is the highest part cf the ground 
 
 and on it stands the most conspicuous' 
 ruin, visible from all points of approach. 
 It is the wreck of the machine shop. It 
 is the most significant of all tho sad 
 sights on this slaughterground of human 
 industry, and it appeals to the people in 
 its hideous deformity as the damning 
 evidence of a great crime. A govern- 
 raent less reckless of public opinion, lees 
 indifllerent to the feelings of the city of 
 fit. John, would have had the decency to 
 tear it down, that it might not bean 
 eyesore to the citizens and a sight to 
 make the stranger think the country is 
 goicg tothe dogs. Aa it stands, close to 
 the depot, it is one of the first things to 
 catch the eye of the incoming passenger 
 as he nears his journey's end. 
 
 The machine shop was a very solidly 
 built brick structure, three stories in 
 height, with a slate roof. It was an 
 especially busy place where 60 men 
 were steadily kept at work. On the 
 ground floor or basement, are still seen 
 the heavy foundations of a powerful 
 steam press used in the fitting of car 
 wheels, for it was here that the wheels 
 were turned and finished. The floor 
 above was devoted to general machine 
 work, while the lighter work was done on 
 the floor above. The building still stands 
 firmly, though a fearful wreck. The 
 doors and windows with their casings 
 have been roughly torn away, leaving 
 ragged edged apertures, while the storms 
 of four seasons have taken off much of 
 the slate roof, leaving it open to the sky. 
 Most of the woodwork has been taken 
 away from the interior, and though there 
 still remain some plank they are as 
 shaky and rotten as any in the whole 
 Conservative platform. 
 
 Further Evidences of the Crime. 
 
 The northern end of the machine shop 
 presents a frightful appearance. Adjoin- 
 ing it stood the engine room, the only 
 trace of which is a pile of broken brick 
 and a deep hole where was once a well 
 for the supply of water. 8ome cf the 
 timbers of the engine room had their 
 ends held in the wall of the machine 
 shop, and in the work of demolition 
 these timbers were roughly torn out, 
 leaving great holes which look as though 
 the building had been the target of field 
 pieces during & siege. The upper part 
 of the chimney has tumbled down, and 
 in the lower part is a gaping fissure, 
 which gives the idea that the whole 
 chimney structure may fall at any mo- 
 ment. It would be a dangerous place 
 for children to play, but children never 
 seek these dreary grounds. £veu the 
 vagrant cats seem to shun the place. 
 
inapicuous 
 approach. 
 
 ehop. It 
 1 tbo sad 
 of human 
 I people in 
 
 damning 
 L govern- 
 inion, lees 
 ;he city of 
 leceacy to 
 Qot be an 
 . sight to 
 :ountry ia 
 s.cloae to 
 
 things to 
 passenger 
 
 7 solidly 
 
 stories in 
 
 b was an 
 
 60 men 
 
 On the 
 
 still seen 
 
 powerful 
 
 g of car 
 
 le wheels 
 
 rhe floor 
 
 machine 
 
 a done on 
 
 ill stands 
 
 ick. The 
 
 ' casings 
 
 leaving 
 
 le storms 
 
 much of 
 
 the sky. 
 
 n taken 
 
 gh there 
 
 are as 
 
 e whole 
 
 me. 
 
 ne ehop 
 
 Adjoin- 
 
 he only 
 
 n brick 
 
 a well 
 
 cf the 
 
 their 
 
 achine 
 
 lolition 
 
 )rn out, 
 
 though 
 
 of field 
 
 part 
 
 and 
 
 issure, 
 
 whole 
 
 )r 
 
 THE STORY OF A CRIME. 
 
 13 
 
 ly mo- 
 place- 
 never 
 
 m the 
 
 :e. 
 
 Next to the engine room, on the east, 
 wa<* the steel moulding shop, of which 
 only scattered brick mark the site. Still 
 further to the eastward was another 
 moulding shop in which some 40 men 
 were employed. It is still standing, bat 
 it is empty and has never been used for 
 any purpose since the government ao- 
 quired the land. The windows are 
 boarded up, and the once busy place is 
 BUflfgftstive of a tomb— the tomb of a dead 
 industry. 
 
 From the office at the gate a series of 
 buildings extended eastward, all of 
 which have been swept away. They 
 consisted of a store room, an oil rocn, an 
 iron rack and the blacksmith shop. 
 The latter term does not give the ordi- 
 nary reader an idea of what was done 
 there, for it was not a blacksmith shop 
 such as one nsnally has in mind. 
 Fourteen fires were kept going in it, 
 each requiring iwo men, so that with 
 other help tbis blacksmith shop had a 
 force of at least 30 active workers who 
 were masters of their trade. Nothing is 
 left of it but pome ashes and loose brick. 
 
 Returning to the machine shop, a 
 curious and instructive sight is seen. It 
 ia some undelivered stock, piled care- 
 fully on the ground, a ad it consists of 
 about a hundred immense car axles 
 intended fir the Chignecto Marine 
 Kaiiway, an enterprise to which the 
 government ha? given great concessions, 
 and to which it has sought to give even 
 more, whether they were merited or not. 
 The axles are rusting and are likely to 
 rust there for some time to come. 
 
 Spared by the Destroy Ingr Hand. 
 
 A number of buildings are still stand- 
 ing, most of them in good order, but shut 
 up and devoted to no u<3e, nor likely to 
 be devoted to any. The pattern and 
 scraping shop is still there, and there 
 are the larger buildings near the rail- 
 way line. These consist of the passenger 
 car shop, the snow plow shed^ erecting 
 shops and mill. 
 
 Another brick building yet standing, 
 but a wreck like the machine shop, is 
 the dry house. Only the brick work re- 
 mains, for even the flcors have been 
 taken away. In front of this is a fire 
 hydrant, which has been allowed to 
 share in the general ruin, though some 
 of the buildings remaining are certainly 
 worth protection. Near by is a very 
 dangerous hole, to step into which would 
 mean a fal) into the deep pit which once 
 contained the water metre. The govern- 
 ment evidently assumes that nobody has 
 any basiness to wander there, and there 
 
 is no danger of any of its own officials 
 walking over this nseless area of ground. 
 
 There is more to be told of these 
 grounds and of how they came to be 
 what they are. The story of what St. 
 John's greatest industry was and how it 
 was blotted out of existence, should be 
 
 ^e of no ordinary interest to all classes 
 ui readers, for all clesses were affected 
 by this monstrous and indefensible 
 wrong. For four years these acres of 
 ground, purchased with indecent haste, 
 have lain idle and are likely to so re- 
 main. A va^t sum was paid for a pro- 
 perty which has been rut to no use, and 
 a most important industry was crushed 
 for all time. 
 
 Perhaps, to be just, it should be stated 
 that one or two of the baildiogs close to 
 the track have been used. One of them 
 has had some cotton and other goods 
 stored in it, and half a dozan snow 
 ploughs find a safe shelter there from 
 the summer's heat. The building is 
 well adapted for them, but at a cost of 
 $200,000 it is the most expensive snow 
 plough shed on the face of the earth. 
 
 ONOB A GREAT INDUSTRY. 
 
 ThH 
 
 Early History of the Foundry, and 
 How It OrdW wltn the Yeara. 
 
 The reader who has carefully followed 
 the description of the ruina of the Harris 
 Foundry, and still better the citizen 
 who has visited the grounds and seen 
 the havoc wrought, can realize what a 
 fearful sweep has been made of what was 
 once a veritable hive of industry. He 
 will see the Harris grounds as they are 
 today, and if he knew them as they 
 were less than five yearn ago, he can 
 make his own comparisons and draw his 
 own conclusions. The ordinary citizen, 
 however, has but a slight idea of the 
 growth of the works from a small begin- 
 ning, 65 years ago, and their develop- 
 ment ibto the most important industry 
 in the city and county of St. John. 
 
 James Harris, the head of the firm 
 until bis death in 1888, was one of the 
 best known citizens of Ht. John, as well 
 as the largest employer of labor. He 
 was a native of Annapolis, N. S,, and 
 came to tit. lohn when a young man, 
 nearly 70 years ago. He had learned 
 the blacksmith and edge tool trade and 
 his first business venture here was as a 
 partner with Thomas Allan, a machinist, 
 for the carrying on of their several lines 
 of handicraft. Their shops were on 
 Mill street, then better known as Port- 
 land Bridge, on the site now occupied by 
 
14 
 
 THE STORY OF A CRIME. 
 
 
 J. McGoldrick & Co., and they condncted 
 a hardware store in connection with 
 their trade. This was the beginnng of 
 the afterwards famous firm of Uairis & 
 Allan. 
 
 As Complete ae Any In Canada. 
 
 Both being good workmen and prompt 
 in their dealings, it did not take them 
 long to acqaire the beginning of the 
 reputation thejr maintained .for the rest 
 of their career. Their business prospered, 
 an d in 1831 they started a small foundry 
 on the site of the present ruins, to which 
 they removed their blacksmith and 
 machine shop. They began according 
 to their means, not venturing beyond 
 their resources, and for the first half year 
 the blast for their furnace was by the 
 medium of bellows worked by relays of 
 men. In due time power was procured, 
 but it was several years later when they 
 introduced tho fan blast. In the mean- 
 time they were increasing their capacnty 
 as fast as circumstances would permit. 
 Year by year saw the enlarging of the 
 original buildings and the erection of 
 new ones, until there arose a village of 
 shops and warehouses connected with 
 the foundry, and the most approved 
 machinery was in use. For many years 
 the principal work was thb manufacture 
 of stoves, for whieh there was a greatde- 
 mand in ail parts of the province. They 
 were sent as far up the river as Wood- 
 etock and Honlton, as far west as ^t. 
 Stephen, and as far east as Shediac and 
 the Hoiiu Shore, while large quantities 
 were shipped to Nova Scotia and Prince 
 Edward Island. As the works grew, 
 however, heavier work was done in the 
 way of mill machinery and large cast- 
 iui^o tor other industries, includ- 
 ing fittings for veesels, etc. There was 
 also a fine trade in implements of agri- 
 culture. It was a busy and prosperous 
 place long before St. John had railway 
 connections, and the era of railn^ajs 
 brought the foundry a still greater 
 volume of business. The work of build- 
 ing cars began about 30 years ago and 
 developed into large proportions. When 
 Mr. Hazen and his colleague, Mr, 
 McLeod, were trying to justify the pay- 
 ment of such an extravagant sum for the 
 property, Mr. McLeod spoke of the 
 establishment as "the most complete car 
 works in Canada. Everything in con- 
 nect!'^' with a car was made there. I 
 thir e were not more complete, if 
 
 as ' '• .ote, works in Canada." 
 
 \ ... ^essrR. Uazen and McLeod had 
 not a word of protest against the most 
 complete car works in Canada being put 
 out of existence and an enormous sum 
 
 being paid for live acres of land, when 
 less than two acres had been considered 
 necessary in the first instance. 
 
 Prosperity Not Duo to Protection. 
 
 Harris & Allan prospered, and when 
 Mr. Allan died, in 18H0, Mr. Harris ac> 
 quired his interest in the business. At 
 a later date others became associated in 
 the enterprise and the firm was there- 
 after known as James Harris & Co. It io 
 worth noting that the prosperity was 
 established in an era of low tarifls. 
 Prior to 1867 the iron duties were very 
 light. For many years after the foundry 
 was established much of the iroc used 
 in tho industry was on the free list and 
 the duty on other kinds ranged from 10 
 to 15 per cent. Daring this period, too, 
 the owners of the foundry had to contend 
 with severe losses. Three times in one 
 period of about a quarter of a century 
 their premises were scourged by fire, 
 with a total loss of $100,000, on which 
 there was no insurance. Each time they 
 rebuilt and improved their works. All 
 this was before the days when a protec- 
 tive tarifi was deemed possiole in thi» 
 country. It was long before the exigen- 
 cies of a party, driven from power for its 
 corruption, inspired the idea of a Nation- 
 al Policy to again delude the people. 
 
 The Real Foundations of Succe.s. 
 
 It would be a long story, but one full of 
 interest, to trace the development of the 
 Harris works from the small hand powe- 
 foundry in 1S31 to the vast establishment 
 whi h flourished in 1801, complete in all 
 its departments, and ttuemirgly the one 
 industry that was destined lo continue 
 to thrive, whatever might happen to the 
 National Policy. It could produce any- 
 thing from the lightest and most perfect- 
 ly finished work to the heaviest castings. 
 It was identified with the interests of 
 our railways, our shipping, our agricul- 
 ture, and pU the varied machinery of 
 modern times. It made stationary and 
 marine engines. It male parlor mtintela, 
 which were the counterpart of marble. 
 It could and did equip a rolling mill, 
 and it could and did turu out the pas- 
 senger cars which make modern travel a 
 luxury. It did a vast amount of rail- 
 way work ot all kinds, including coal 
 cars complete, and trucks, axle's and 
 other fittings for all kinds of rolling 
 stock. Its contracts were for hundreds 
 of thousauds of dollars. Ihe fires burned 
 continually in its large cupola furnaces, 
 the forges gleamed, and the hammers 
 rang in its blacksmith shop, while ia 
 every building were skilled workers, 
 who knew not an idle moment. Mr. 
 
TUE STORY OF A CHIME. 
 
 land, when 
 I conaidered 
 
 9. 
 
 atection. 
 
 aad when 
 Harris ac- 
 ainess. At 
 Jociated in 
 waa there- 
 & Co. It is 
 •erity waa 
 >w tarifla. 
 were very 
 le foundry 
 iron need 
 96 liat and 
 Jd from 10 
 eriod, too, 
 ;o contend 
 lea in one 
 » century 
 hy fire, 
 on which 
 ime they 
 )rk8. All 
 a protec- 
 > in this 
 e exigen- 
 'er for ita 
 » Nation- 
 ople. 
 
 ;ce.-8. 
 
 36 full of 
 It of the 
 d powe* 
 ishment 
 te in ail 
 the one 
 iontinue 
 n to the 
 ice any- 
 periect- 
 aatinga. 
 reata of 
 »>!rioul- 
 Qery of 
 rj and 
 1 an tela, 
 narble. 
 i« mill, 
 6 pas- 
 ravel a 
 f rail- 
 i coal 
 9 and 
 rolling 
 id reds 
 urned 
 nacea, 
 amera 
 tie io 
 rkera, 
 Mr. 
 
 1& 
 
 7'xr\: 
 
 FROM TRACK LEVEL TO PQDNDRT YARD 
 
16 
 
 THE STOHV OK A GUI ME. 
 
 Harris was a thoroughly practical man, 
 who hai began at the root of the ladder 
 and learned every detail of the work. 
 His watchful eye could tell at a glance 
 whether this thing or that, from the 
 clinching of a rivet in a kettle 
 to the casting of tons of metal, 
 was in the least degree as it ought 
 not to be. He knew what each 
 man ought to do and saw that he did it, 
 and he exacted thorough discipline in 
 the army which he commanded. A 
 wrangle between two workmen meant 
 the discharge of one cf them, and more 
 than once an employe, arriving in the 
 morning with the grime of yesterday's 
 lab iron his hands or wrists, was sent 
 home to learn the lesson of keeping 
 himself clean. 
 
 Why It Was Bound to Succeed. 
 
 These things are worth stating as 
 showing the tTorough system on which 
 the works were conducted and the 
 snlendid order in which Mr. Harris kept 
 the business at the time of his death, in 
 1888. The only faint plea that is ever 
 raised in extenuation of the irovern- 
 ment's grett crime in destroying this in- 
 dustry ia that the death of Mr. Hariis 
 practically meant the decline and death 
 of the works, To say this is absurd in the 
 face of the actual conditions. Such an 
 establishment, built up and conducted 
 on the soundest principles, could not be 
 dependent on one man for its continued 
 existence. It flourished during the life 
 of Mr. Harris and it continued to enjoy a 
 splendid patronage from the govern- 
 ment and the general public after hia 
 death. It is true the estate became in- 
 volved after that event, but even were 
 the heirs unable to condnct the enter- 
 prise with profit, the works were there, 
 solidly established and for others to run. 
 Does any bed y think tbat they could 
 have lain idle or that they would not be 
 in operation at this day had the govern- 
 ment not laid its destroying hand upon 
 them? 
 
 Evidence From a Qood Quarter. 
 
 Juat here it may be well to quote a bit 
 of evidence from an accredited author- 
 ity on the government aide. In the St, 
 John Sun of April 3, 1889, nearly a year 
 after Mr. Harris died, the following 
 statement waa made: — 
 
 "Within the past two years Messrs. 
 Harris's car busineas has develop-dd 
 wonderfully— 80 much so, in fact, that 
 larger and more commodious v/orke are 
 required. A new mill expressly for cat- 
 ting aod preparing the lumber used in 
 the conatruction of cars has been erected 
 
 and on Saturday last the machinery in 
 this building was set in motion for the 
 first time. Other improvements have 
 been made for the purpose of giving ad- 
 ditional room and facilities in the 
 work of car construction. This branch 
 of Messrs. Harris' establishment was 
 extensive before these improvements 
 were made; now it is doubly so. About 
 282 men are given work all the year 
 round in the car works, and the wages 
 paid range from $7 to $10 per week. Of 
 the 282 men employed 152 are married. 
 The foremen and superintendents re- 
 ceive from $13 to $24 per week. Mesars. 
 Harris also conduct a large foundry and 
 machine shop and rolling-mills, and all 
 the car wheels required are made by 
 them." 
 
 What was true in 1889 was not to be 
 explained away in 1891, when the bar- 
 gain for the purchase was made. With 
 the car works alone, employing 282 men, 
 it will be seen that the estahliahment 
 bade fair to continue to increase, if not 
 in the hands of one concern, then in the 
 hands of another. Everything was there 
 and the taking hold of' an established 
 enterprise would have been a very dif- 
 ferent matter from the starting of a new 
 one. 
 
 CruBbintr Another Industry. 
 
 Fronting on Paradise Eow, and locat- 
 ed on a part of the land bought bv 
 the government, is a building which 
 bears the name of James Wales, 
 brass founder. Mr. Wales, senior, 
 now deceased, began to work for 
 Harris & Allen in 1833, and introduced 
 brass fo-mding into their enterprise. He 
 cast the first set of rudder braces made 
 in St John. Twenty years later he be- 
 gan the brass foundry business on his 
 own account, and in due time was suc- 
 ceeded by his son, James Wales, the 
 present proprietor. The Wales foundry, 
 despite of severe losses by fire, did a fine 
 general business, bat after the Harris 
 concern undertook car work, there were 
 enough orders from it to keep the brass 
 foundry busy, and other customers had 
 to go elsewhere. In this way Mr. Wales 
 sacrificed his general custom and relied 
 upon the Harris concern. When the lat- 
 ter wag killed out by tne government, 
 the brass fonndry found its businees 
 gone, for the lines of general custom had 
 gone elsewhere and could not be brought 
 back. It is doing little or no work at this 
 day. Thus did the government not only 
 kill the great industry of the Harris 
 foundry, but it crushed the brass foundry 
 as well. 
 
8UC- 
 
 , the 
 ndry, 
 fine 
 L arris 
 were 
 brass 
 had 
 ^ales 
 eiied 
 lat- 
 ent, 
 nees 
 had 
 ight 
 this 
 anly 
 rris 
 dry 
 
 I'lm 3T0RY OK A CRIME. 
 
 17 
 
 A Rallroeul Yard In the Air 
 
 The two lota occapie 1 by the Wales 
 house and foundry were part o( the 
 Harris property, though not in the 
 foundry enclosure, but wholly distinct 
 from it and f/onting on Paradise row. 
 Yet the government purchased these 
 also, though for what possible use it 
 would be hard for anybody to deter- 
 ::jine. The buildings, like the greater 
 portion of the five acres purchased, are 
 on much higher ground than the line of 
 railway. Anybody who visits the 
 place and stands on the track 
 below the ruins of the machine 
 shop or the snow plough shed, can 
 see at a glance that the foundry yard is 
 at least 15 feet higher than the railway 
 level.and that in order to use the greater 
 portion of the five acres of land for track 
 room they must eithpr mount extraor- 
 dinary grades, or that the hill must be 
 cut down at an enormous expense As a 
 prominent government official is re- 
 ported to have said when he visited the 
 scene after the purchase was made: 
 "What on earth do they want to use it 
 for.anywaj?" 
 
 Men of a Diabanded Army. 
 
 The Harris establishmetit employed, 
 on an average, 300 men within its works. 
 Sometimes there wore only 250, and at 
 other times there were nearly 400. Men 
 vreli qituuaed to speak give 300 as a fair 
 estimato. These, on an average, earned 
 $8 a week. Some earned $2 a day, and 
 many were on piece work where they 
 did still better. The weekly pay roll 
 ranged well up to $2,400. or $125,000 a 
 year. Every dollar of this was distri- 
 buted around Bt. John, for the workmen 
 were free buyers, so long as they had 
 the money. They were a benefit to all 
 classes of trade, but especially to the 
 small grocera of Portland, where most of 
 them lived. The homes of the workman 
 were found all along the line from Bheri '' 
 street to the further end cf the Ci y 
 road, while quite a number lived on F( rt 
 Uowe.where the many tanantlesc houses 
 raise their mute protest to this day 
 against the iniquity of the Harris Land 
 job. Ask the landlords of this and other 
 localities what they think of that job 
 and its results. 
 
 All epent AmonfiT the People. 
 
 The influence of this large output of 
 cash was felt in every branch of trade. 
 There were Saturday nights when the 
 proprietors of shops bad to go without 
 their supper to wait upon the crowd of 
 customers, though in these days they 
 
 can enjoy their evening meal at leisure 
 Smill groceries would find an increase 
 of from $150 to $250 in the extent of their 
 Saturday night trade with the Harris 
 employes, where now they sit waiting 
 for the buyers of petty purchases. The 
 expenditure was so widely distributed 
 that all classes of dealers sot a share, 
 and even the livery stables reaped a 
 rich harvest. Go and ask the people 
 around the foot of Portland what the 
 closing of the Harris works meant to 
 them, and you will realize in part what 
 an injury has been done by the govern- 
 ment to St. John. But this is not all. 
 
 At least 1,500 people, the workmen 
 and their families, were maintained 
 by the Harris establishment. These 
 not only circulated the $125,000 a year, 
 but their numbers helped to make the 
 census figures of 1891 less deplorable 
 than they then would have been had the 
 works been closed a year sooner. When 
 the Harris industry ceased the work- 
 men sought employment elsewhere, tak- 
 ing their families with them. Many of 
 them left the province. The census of 
 1891 showed that in the ten years pre- 
 ceding the population of the city and 
 county of St. John had decreased 3,:$90, 
 to such an extent, in fact, that it could 
 have only two representatives in parlia- 
 ment where for the past quaiter of a 
 century after confederation it bad 
 been allowed no less than three. With 
 a continued decline, aided by such a 
 wholesale exodns as that of the Harris 
 workmen and their families, what will 
 be the decrease if the Tories are allowed 
 to remain in power until the iiaxt cen- 
 sus is taken? 
 
 For of themeny that gi few return, 
 and the National Policy does nothing to 
 bring others to replace the loss. 
 
 The LoBB Amonir All Clasaes. 
 
 Apart from the army of workmen in 
 the Harris concern, the skilled artizans, 
 the painters and laborers, there were 
 many others who were in part main- 
 tained by the industry, in the way of 
 truckmen and those to whom the hand- 
 ling of material gave employment. Large 
 sums were paid out in this way which 
 were not on the employes' pay sheet, 
 and all classes feel the loss sustained by 
 the government's act. it is difl'ioultto 
 tell bow much the city has lost in actual 
 money as well as in population. 
 
 The Harris establishment was one 
 which more than any other distributed 
 its money at home instead of sending it 
 abroad. The bulk of its material was 
 produced at its own doorR. In the build- 
 ing of cars, for instance, little was 
 

 THE STORY OF A rill ME. 
 
 •4 
 1 
 
 SCaave Buoh material as oak wood, 
 which cannot be Kot in this part of the 
 world, la native prodnclB the pur- 
 chaaea were large, and the paint account 
 alone with one firm wae it the extent of 
 $^.,000 a year. Other material waa uaed 
 in proportion, and the revenue of many 
 a amali mill owner waa larfiely increas- 
 ed by the annual conaumption of woods. 
 Better atill, the claaaea chiefly benefit- 
 ted by the ezpenditutea were those who 
 moat needed it, and who now keenly 
 feel tta loaa. Bmall dealera who flour- 
 ished in thoae day a are novr either 
 driven out of buBiness or have been 
 forced to limit their exp^naea and make 
 every efiort to gain a mere livinfc. The 
 blow waa a cruel and wanton one to be 
 atruck by the hand of a paternal gov- 
 ernment. The transaction waa one 
 which even such a strong conservative 
 as Mr. Adams of N orthumterland felt 
 bound to denounce a? "a job unparalled 
 in the history of purcbaeea," and "a 
 crime against the people." He apoke 
 more wiaely than he knew. 
 
 Where Toryism Sinned Most. 
 
 Fov Mr. Adama waa merely condemn- 
 ing the government of which he waa a 
 Bupporter for paying an extravagant 
 price for a property which it did not re- 
 quire. He did not refer to the conee- 
 quences of the act, which he cha a ;ter- 
 izea aa "aimply a job," in the cruahing 
 of an industry, the driving out of work- 
 men, the withdrawal of $125,000 in 
 wagea and much more in other die- 
 bursemanta from a small community. 
 He did not speak from a St. John stand- 
 point, but from the standpoint that it 
 was an extravagant job which no man 
 could justify. 
 
 And what said Mr. Hazen, the man 
 who stated in the debate that he had 
 visited the works and canvassed the 
 votes of the workmen less than a year 
 before the sa!e7 He defended the 
 job. He attempted to justify the act of 
 the government, while ' e waxed indig- 
 nant at the inainuation that a part of the 
 purchaae money had been devoted to 
 tl.e repayment of election expenaea. It 
 was only on the iaaue of needleea ex- 
 travagance, coupled with the idea that 
 aomething unclean waa behind the tran- 
 aaction, that the matter was discussed in 
 parUament. 
 
 Yet, the mere purchase of this pro- 
 perty, of which more will be said later, 
 was only one feature in this story of a 
 crime, and not the feature which direct- 
 ly and vitally affects the people of 8K 
 John to this day. Far worse were the 
 
 results in the closing and detnolitlon of 
 the works, the scattering of the work- 
 men and their families, the withdraw- 
 ing of many thousands of dollars e ch 
 wePk fr< m the retail trade of St. John, 
 and the pinching of the nlaasps least 
 able to bear the burden. These quee- 
 tioDS did not arise in the debate, but 
 they are a part of the issue now. Mr. 
 Uazen has appeared as the defender of 
 the job Can be look at the results and 
 dare to defend it now 7 
 
 DONE5 WITH INDECENT HASTE. 
 
 How the 1 and Job wis Hurried In Spite 
 of Protests fron the Public. 
 
 The idea of having additional land 
 for railway purpoeea in connexion with 
 the Intercolonial station at Bt. John was 
 not a new one in 1891, nor was it then 
 for the first time that the purchase of a 
 portion of the Harris property was in 
 contemplation. The need of more track 
 room in the vicinity was conceded, and 
 the station master from time to time so 
 reported to the heads of his depar ment 
 What was needed was room enough foi 
 any spare freight cars that might be at 
 this point, and there were several 
 cbancea to obtain this outaide of the 
 Harris lands. As long ago as when Sir 
 Leonard Tilley waa a member of the 
 Coaaervative government, Mr. Harris 
 waa aaked if he was willing to sell a 
 narrow strip of the southern side of his 
 property for railway purposes. He 
 was averse to the proposition and point- 
 ed out that the government could do aa 
 well by taking land 'arther to the weat- 
 ward of the station. Clothing waa done 
 at the time, but after the completion of 
 the C. P. R. the need of a little more ac- 
 commodation was again urged by the 
 atation maater, and hia request was in- 
 dorsed by Mr. Pottinger, the general 
 manager at Moncton. Tiien attention 
 became again directed to the southern 
 side of the Harris property, 
 
 It is not probable the wildest flight of 
 fancy had up to that time ever pictured 
 the purchase of the whole of the Harris 
 property. All that was thought of was 
 a strip, 80 or 100 feet in width, alongside 
 of the track. Some years bafore. the 
 Moore property, having a front of 100 
 fe<jton Mill street and running back 160 
 feet had been purchased by the govern- 
 meut for railway purposes, but this lot 
 would not give the required space with- 
 out some of the ground in the rear. Had 
 the station master at St. John suggested 
 in his communications that the whole 
 
THE STOUV OF A fltlMF. 
 
 10 
 
 )d 
 
 6ve acreB were needed for track room, it 
 is probaViIe an official would have come 
 from MoDcton by the next train, with 
 power to suspend the station master 
 should the supposition that he was in- 
 sane prove to be true. Yet, because the 
 station master aufiKested tt at more 
 accommodation was needed, the Kovern- 
 ment acttial'iy did take the whole of 
 those five acres, including three lota out- 
 side of the limits of the foundry yard, 
 two of them on Paradise Row and one on 
 Foundry Lane. 
 
 All That Was Really Wanted. 
 
 The Moore property, fronting on Mill 
 street, was on ground level with the 
 track, and so was the strip running east 
 of it and included in the area ot a pro- 
 longation of the Moore noithern line 
 and the line of the railway track. There 
 was a ready some track laid on the level 
 portion of the Harris property, which 
 ran into some of the buildings useJ for 
 the construction of cars. This strip, in 
 connexion with the Moore property, 
 would give all the required accommoda- 
 tion to the railway. It comprised an 
 area of 78,000 superfic'al feet and was 
 already in shape to be uaad without addi- 
 tional expfnsebeyond the laying of such 
 extra tracks as might be required. It 
 was all the railway needed and gave 
 more track room than there was any 
 poBsibllity of using. 
 
 It happened that the northerly line of 
 this >4tiip ran through one or two of the 
 baildings erected by the Harris concern 
 in recent years, but even allowing these 
 buildings to remain and be used by the 
 concern under an arrargement with the 
 railway, there was still more track room 
 than was actually needed. Failirg such 
 an arrangement, the total value of the 
 buildings, at a very liberal valuation, 
 would still have made the ultimate coat 
 of the strio much less than half tbe sum 
 paid for the whole five acres, and the 
 Harris concern would still have had room 
 for the ibuildioKS to do the same 
 class of work. This interesting line, 
 however, was po^8ibly the foundation of 
 the Bug);estion that instead of buying 
 the strip alone the whole property should 
 be taken over, whether it could ever be 
 used or not. 
 
 In any case, there is no doubt the 
 railway oflicials were thoroughly inform- 
 ed on the question, and that all the 
 points in the case bad been placed be- 
 fore the government when the original 
 proposition to buy only the 78,000 f< et 
 was made. Everything appears to have 
 been carefully considered, and a price 
 
 satisfactory to the owners was agreed 
 upon. TLie amount named was $80,000, 
 a very large sum for the back end of a 
 lot, and relatively a larger sum than 
 was paid fur the Moore property, though 
 tbe Moore valuation was anquestionably 
 an excessive one. 
 
 A Fel e Standard of Value. 
 
 As the price paid for the Moore pro- 
 perty, a few years before, has been quot- 
 ed more or less as an argument to justify 
 the price paid to the Harris concern, it 
 is well to consider what relation the one 
 bears to the other. The Moore lot had a 
 large bciiding, or series of baildings, on 
 it, where there had been an extensive 
 nail factory. The lot contained about 
 Ki.OOO superficial feet, and had a front of 
 100 feet on Mill street, one of the most 
 important thoroughfares in St. John, the 
 great artery of the stream of travel be- 
 tnreen the North and South ends. Close 
 to the passenger depot and on the high- 
 way where public travel was constant 
 from early morning to late at night, the 
 frontage gave it a c}mmerciar value 
 which could not for a moment be consid- 
 ered as any index of the value of the 
 land in t he iLterior of the block, with 
 not even an entrance from Mill street. 
 The two properties were not in the same 
 class in respect to the mere value of the 
 land. 
 
 To illustrate this, let anybody consider 
 the value ot the land where the Masonic 
 temple stands fronting onGermain street 
 or that on Charlotte st.eet opposite the 
 Hotel Dufidrin. Then let him go from 
 one street to the other by tbe convenient 
 way of what was once known as Smith's 
 alley. There is a large unoccupied area 
 in tne middle of the block between the 
 two streets, but if it was wanted for any 
 purnose nobody would think of valuing 
 it at the rate of valuation of the proper- 
 ties with frontage on Germain and Char- 
 lotte streets. ladeed, about seven years 
 ago, when the 0))era Hou^e question was 
 new, the owner of a portion oi 
 this interior tf the block not oaly ofier- 
 ed to give it free of charge, but offered 
 other inducements to have it acc&pted 
 as a site for the proposed building. At 
 the same time, he held at a high value 
 his lots with a frontage on Charlotte 
 st eet. 
 
 Some months ago, the tearing down of 
 a building on (lermain street, opposite 
 the market, impressed many cit'zens 
 with the idea that then was the time to 
 run a street through to Chipman's Hill. 
 The idea was that, before more expens- 
 ive buildings were put up tbe right of 
 
20 
 
 TIIK STOKY OF A (^RIMK. 
 
 ^ 
 
 way could be had at a email coat. If 
 the city had proceeded to lay out the 
 proposed street, does anybody suppose 
 that arbitratoni would have valued the 
 land at fiK^reo io "Qy ^^7 (^D* 
 proachiDg the value of the properties 
 fronting on Kin(; street? As regards the 
 mere commercial value of land, there 
 was the same diflerence between the 
 Mo3re lot on Mill street and the Harris 
 property in the middle of the block. The 
 latter property was approached from 
 Paradise row, a street which had no 
 value as a business locality except that 
 given to it by the presence of the foun- 
 dry. 
 
 Premonitory Symptoms of a Job. 
 The decision having been reached to 
 buy the 78,000 feet for |80,000, the latter 
 sum was put in the parliamentary esti- 
 mates for 1891, for "additional railway 
 accommodation at St. John." Even then, 
 despite of this plain statement of what 
 was wanted, the idea was current that 
 something more was to be attempted, for 
 it was understood thnt the Harris con- 
 cern had no objection to unload- 
 ing its , whole property on the 
 government, while it wa? also 
 believed that political wireo were being 
 pulled for a bold deal, the inwardaess 
 of which could on^y be a matter of con- 
 jecture. On June 4, 1S91, Mr. Davies, of 
 P. E. I., from his placa in parliament 
 asked replies to ther^e questions :— 
 
 1. Wliatlstho addltioaal property accom- 
 modation at the St. John rallwav station, 
 for wliich a vote of $80,000 Is asked, wuat.d 
 for? 
 
 2. Wb^ the the necessity of this additlot.'>l 
 property accommodatl n reported upon by 
 any In»ereol'inl«l or other railway olllclal? 
 If »o. by whom? 
 
 3. How much land is at present being taken 
 for the $H0,000? Is It prmiosed to take any 
 more land adjoining? Has the land pro- 
 posed to he taken been valued by arultrators? 
 11 not, Is it to be .so valued? 
 
 4. Does tliiHand proposed to be t-ken be- 
 long to the Harris estate, Harris & (;o.. T td., 
 or James C. U ;bertson. or any or which of 
 them? 
 
 To these qneftions the following 
 answers were made by Mr. Bowell, on 
 behalf of the government: — 
 
 The 11(1(11(1 nal pr./perty proposed to bo 
 purchased Is to furnish lurther railway ac- 
 commodation for that station. The station 
 master at Bt. John c mplatns of thel ck of 
 station yard accommodation, and the chief 
 superintendent and district superintendent 
 concur in his views. The quantity of land to 
 be taken has not yet been defln d. The land 
 will be va'ued by arbitrators before b ing 
 purchased. The property, it is understood, 
 belongs to the estate of the late James 
 Harris. 
 
 Mr. Bowell'd Etatement that the qian- 
 tity of land to be taken bad not been de- 
 j^ned moat be taken in the limite i sense 
 
 that the exact metes and bounds had 
 not been fixed as regarded the narrow 
 strip. It may have been in contempla- 
 tion to except the land where some of 
 the structures were and so not interfere 
 with them. In any caie his words re- 
 ferred riiiiy to tlie level strip for which 
 the $80,000 had been aeked. 
 
 The assurance that the station master 
 had said extra accommodation was 
 needed at St. John, and that the oflio ala 
 concurred in his view, probably satisfied 
 the bonse that some land really wa'3 
 wanted, and so the subject was dropped. 
 Parliament was prorogued on October 1, 
 1891. 
 
 Wb n Was tbe Bargain Made? 
 
 Between the latter date and tbe end 
 of the year is an interesting r cord bpst 
 known to members of the Conservative 
 party, which has not yet been disclosed 
 to the world. In that period was con- 
 summated the crime of killing the lead- 
 ing industry of St. John. How long the 
 big deal had been in contemplation 
 cannot be known. It may have been 
 the original compact, and the estimate 
 fjr $80,000 may have baen introduced a^ 
 a weJge, merely to give the idea that 
 more land was required. It wouM Y&ve 
 been preposterous to lave then asked 
 I'or the $200,000, and the proposition to 
 purchase tbe whole Harris property 
 must have been defeated by the vet<)8 pi 
 honest men of both parties. Yut no ouo 
 not in the scheme can say wheu tbe 
 malice prepense had its birtb,aud at what 
 period the plot to purchase the whole 
 five acres was planned. If Mr. Ezekiel 
 McLeod is to be believed, there was no 
 thought of it in the spring of 1801, for 
 during the election campaign, as has 
 been narrated, he stood in the Harris 
 yard and told the workmen that if the 
 government was sustained there would 
 la the early future be ten cars built in 
 the works where one was built at that 
 time. It cannot be believed that there 
 was even then a bargain to take over 
 these works at the expense of the people 
 ani to destroy them to the great injury 
 of St John. There are people who tave 
 thought this, but there is no yroof of 
 anything of the kind. If there was 
 such a bargain Mr. McLeod, to judge by 
 his words, must have been innocent of 
 any knowledge of it. 
 
 Defying Law and Precedent. 
 
 Nor can it be thought that Mr. Hazen, 
 when he went through the shops in the 
 same campaign and asVed for the votes 
 Qf the workmen, had any idea that iq 
 
THK STORY OF A CRIMK. 
 
 21 
 
 |14 
 
 less than & year the works would bs 
 Bilenced forever and those workmen 
 driven from Ht. John. Mr. Hazen, bow- 
 ever, stoutly defended the job after it 
 ■man accomplished. Ko did Mr. McLeod. 
 
 The campaign of 181)1 was fou^iht, and 
 an expensive tight it proved in St. John 
 and elsewhere. The government were 
 returned to power, and then the first was 
 heard of the Harris Land Job. The elec- 
 tion took place in March, and the $80,000 
 was in the estimates of the session which 
 began on April 2!). The item provoked 
 the inqniry already quoted, the answer 
 was given and the item was passed, 
 along with the other eettmates. 
 When parliament was prorogued 
 in October, there wjb authority 
 to expend $80,000 for land actually need- 
 ed for railway accommodation. Beyond 
 this there was no authority whatever to 
 proceed in the matter. , 
 
 Yet before the first of the year the 
 agreement for the purchase of the whole 
 property for the sum of $200,000 was 
 made, without the sanction of parlia- 
 ment and in violation of the terms of the 
 audit act. The Tories were bold enoujih 
 to do anything. Intoxicated with suc- 
 cess in having again been returned to 
 power, they felt that they could safely 
 defy law, political morality and public 
 opinion, and trust to the next few years 
 to have the transaction hidden from 
 view by new issues to distract attention, 
 as the cry of loyalty to the old flag had 
 done in 1891. The day of reckoning 
 ssemed a long way off, and some who 
 had most to fear from the people might 
 by that time ba shelved beyond the 
 reach of their ballots. The job was com- 
 pleted. 
 
 Business Men Protest. 
 
 When the first rumors of the proposed 
 purchase reached 8t. John, it was stated 
 tbat the government intended to erect 
 freight shtds on part of the Harris land. 
 This idea did not commend itself to the 
 merchants, and a transportation com- 
 mittee of the board ol trade was appoint- 
 ed to inquire into the matter, in Ani^ust, 
 1891. Tnis committee consisted of W. 
 F. Hatheway, W. 8. Fisher and J.J. Mc- 
 Gafligan, Conservatives, John Bealey 
 and (i. Wetmore Merritt, Liberals, though 
 the party que&tion did not come up. 
 They reported that in view of the bulk 
 of the I. C. R. freight being handled by 
 merchants at oi near the North and 
 Bouth wharves, it would be unwise to 
 parc'iase any more propeity north of the 
 depot, except tbe strip necessary for 
 track room. They further suggested the 
 
 purchase of '^'ork Point Blip and the 
 property \u the vicinity, where the 
 government at that time, as now, owned 
 considerable land. This report was re- 
 ferred to the council of the Board of 
 Trade and was forwarded to < )ttawa, bat 
 the government paid no attention to the 
 protest. 
 
 Done W Itb Indecent Haste. 
 
 The deed transferring the whole of the 
 five acres of the Harris property was 
 executed on January 2, 1892, and put on 
 record on the 25th of the same month. 
 These dates are worth notina: when it is 
 remembered that parliament was called 
 to meet on February 25, a month later. 
 Had the transaction been one that could 
 stand criticism, the honest and obvious 
 course would have been to wait for the 
 few weeks that intervened and get the 
 sanction of parliament for the purchase. 
 There was no other straight course to 
 take. Authority had been given for the 
 purchase of a strip of land for $8(),000,but 
 during the recess, without a shadow of 
 authority, five acres had been purchased 
 for $200,000. If tbe bargain was a good 
 one, as Mr. Hazen afterwards claimed, 
 there was no reason why tbe promoters 
 ol it should not bring it to the attention 
 of the house in the first place. If it wa? 
 a bad one, as is now apparent, there was 
 every reason why it should not be rush- 
 ed through secretly when no voice could 
 be uttered in protest against it. The 
 straight course was not taken. On the 
 contrary, the matter was hurried along 
 with indecent haste to anticipate any 
 adverse action in parliament, and the 
 deed was made public just one month 
 before the meeting of the house 
 
 The conspirators knew what they were 
 about and that delay meant danger and 
 defeat. Tbe proposal to buy the Harris 
 property could not have been forced 
 through parliament, and they knew 
 it. With tbe transaction completed 
 however, they could unblushingly stand 
 up and say, in elfent: "Gentlemen, you 
 may eay what you please. It is true we 
 had no authority to do this, but we did 
 it. The deed has been signed and put 
 on record. We have the property, aid 
 what are you going to do about il?" 
 
 Tne Opportunity ot a Lifetime. 
 
 This was the opportunity of Mr. 
 Hazan's political career. It is not likely 
 that he will ever have such another. 
 Here was his chance to rise superior to 
 party or faction and speak for the inter- 
 ests of the people he represented, the 
 people who were literally robbed by this 
 
50 
 
 TIIK STOnV OF A CUIMK. 
 
 moBt notorious 
 that he folt 
 for defendinK 
 Hoect to the 
 did he not 
 resnlla that 
 oloainx of an 
 
 transaction. BapposinK 
 
 he had any ({rotwid 
 
 the purcha<e in re- 
 
 vahiH of the land, 
 
 realize the graver 
 
 werH BO inevitable — the 
 
 e^fah'ighed induatr;; the 
 
 drivinK away of artizinp; the distress to 
 shop iceepers nnd house-owners, ard the 
 withdrawal of tens of thoiisaniis of dol- 
 lais from nircul t on amouK all claeees 
 ofcitizf^nt? Why did he not de'y the 
 la'ty whi^ and stand up for the inter- 
 ests of tit Johii? He knows best. He 
 nitered no word of protest, but he (de- 
 fended the job, while as good a Conserva- 
 tive as he, and one who has done iiis 
 party intinitely K'^ater service, was not 
 afriid to denounce it as a public crime, 
 and sav there was no prir/.ciile on which 
 it could be justified. 
 
 CONDEMNED ON ALL SIDB-). 
 
 The Land Job LIbrubbbiI in Parliament 
 and Wbat wad Said of It. 
 
 it has already been told that a com- 
 nriittee of the tit. John Buard of Trade, of 
 whom a majority were CunerviitiViB, 
 protested against the purchase of any 
 1b n 1 north of the depot, except fuoh as 
 was absolutely needed for track room. 
 They did this as practical businesa men, 
 in the interest of the uommunity. Tlie 
 propositioa to have freight sheds there 
 met with their emphatic disapprovAl, 
 for the very siund reason that it would 
 increase the expense of truckage greatly 
 in excess of what would be neceseary 
 we/e the sheds in the vicinity of York 
 Point flip. Anybody who is familiar 
 with the locality will see that the latter 
 place is very easily reached from the 
 Market square, North and tiouth wharves. 
 A still broader view of the question was 
 taken by one of the Conservative mem- 
 bers of the committee, Mr. J. J. Mc 
 GafBgan, in his remarks before the 
 board. 
 
 The government o«n°d then, as it 
 does now, the wharf on tt e north side of 
 York Point slip and a 1 iru;e area to the 
 northward of that. Bj.ween the rail- 
 way land and the lots fronting on Main 
 street are what remain of some of the 
 old timber ponds and sliipbuilding sites. 
 'I heee ponds were once valuable proper- 
 ties, but changes in the conditions of our 
 commerce, as well as the disappearance 
 of mills from this locality long since put 
 an end to their business. In addition to 
 this the building of the railway line from 
 the depot to the cantilever bridge made 
 (be ponds near Mill street mere corners 
 
 of land covered by water, an eyesore, if 
 not a mena ;e to the heilth of the people 
 in thatnnlghborhood. 
 
 Mr. Mi.liatlivan's idea was that the 
 government should utiT/) the property 
 it already ha I, and add to it by tilling 
 in the waste area between the track and 
 the lower pait of Main street As the 
 pond owners had been awarded ample 
 damagfs when the railway extension 
 was built, the cott of acquiring the re* 
 mainder of the pond area could not bs 
 large. Even allowing a v^ry liberal 
 price for it, however, a splendid piece of 
 railway property could be made, extend- 
 ing fr im York Point slip to Main street, 
 and including the Uibinson warehouse 
 on tirayth street. This was what Mr. 
 Harris had pointed out when the 
 government wanted a strip of his 
 property, years before. The whole area 
 not already owned by the government 
 could have been secured for much less 
 tlian the Harris property cost, and then 
 there would have been ample railway 
 accommoJation for generations ti come. 
 There would have been room for all the 
 freight cars that could be gathered here, 
 and there wool 1 have baen freight 
 shuh close to the business centre of the 
 city, while in dee time might have come 
 the extension of the wharves atd the 
 harbor improvements a'ready ur^eil 
 upon the government by merchants, be- 
 fore St. John was comptUed to build an 
 elevator, at its own expense, on the west 
 side of the harbor. 
 
 Besides all tae advantages apparett 
 from the acquisition of the property not 
 already owned by. the railway at this 
 point, there would have been a wonder- 
 ful amount of benefit to the locality. In- 
 stead (.f the ponds being eyesores at the 
 foot of Main street, as they are today, 
 there would have been a change equal 
 to that, made years ago by tilling in the 
 Mill Pond west of Mill street. Land 
 would have been taken which is now 
 put to no use, the value of property In 
 the vicinity would have been greatly in- 
 creased, and the money expended would 
 have been of direct bent tit to the people. 
 The Harris foundry and car works 
 would have bien in operation to ttiis 
 day, instead of being crushed out 
 of existence and a desert lefo where 
 they ftood. The government had a great 
 chance t) build up this part of St. John. 
 Insti a 1 of that, they paid an ei o mous 
 price for a property which was oseleps 
 to the railway, killed the city's greatest 
 industry, and turned the pi ace into ruins 
 Some Big Fluures 
 
 When parliament met, in February, 
 1892, the Harris land job had become a 
 
 li 
 
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THK 8T0IIY OK A CUIMK. 
 
 23 
 
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 matter of history. The item of $120,- 
 000 for "aildltio; al property accomoda- 
 tion" at 8t. John station W48 put in the 
 estimateB, and the matter came np for 
 diecusBion on May 13. According to 
 the explanation of Mr. HatrKart, 
 mlniater of rail ayo, the Harris 
 estate bad n anted $175,000 for the 
 Bma'ler triangular block and $275,000 
 for the whole. The land had been pur- 
 chRBed for $200,000 bv private njiree- 
 ment. instead of aubmiUingit to arbitra- 
 tion or having it expropriat ad. The gov- 
 ernment had, however, had the property 
 valued by two citizenB of St. John, each 
 valuation being independent of the 
 other. Each of these gentlemen had 
 the :i99iBtance of an architect and build- 
 er in making up his estimate. The re- 
 sult of their calculatioDB wa? surprising. 
 Mr. Charles H. Fairweather vnlu^jd the 
 triangular block at $131,153, and the 
 whole property at $313,457. As the 
 citizens of St. John well know, the late 
 Mr. Fairweather was a man of high 
 character, and with an unblemished 
 reputation for probity. He was not, 
 and did not claim to be, an expert 
 in the valuation of property, but in this 
 instance he seems to have started on 
 the fdlse basis of sapposing that the 
 $25,000 paid for the Moore property waa 
 the standard by which to fix the value 
 of the Harris prnr«rt.y. That it was not, 
 and why it was not, has already been 
 shown, but Mr. Fairweather waq un- 
 doubtedly sincere in his etiort to fix a 
 value The estimate put on the build- 
 ings was $(11,318, and this must have 
 been on the calculation of the architect 
 as to what it would coet to replace them 
 wholly were a new establishment being 
 started. It could have no reference to 
 their value as they stood, for a detailed 
 estimate, made up by a former official of 
 the Harris company, had made their 
 value only $21,800 Admitting the latter 
 dgures to oe too low, there is no (lues- 
 tion that Mr. Fairweather's figures were 
 far too high. 
 
 > Still tileber Figuree. 
 Mr. Charles A. Everett, another gen- 
 tleman who was not an expert, was even 
 more liberal in bis allowance. He 
 valued the triangular lot at $.'U7,- 
 000 and the whole at $;;4i),<;59. Thus it 
 will be seen that these gentlemen dif- 
 fered to the large extett of more than 
 $30,000 in their calculations, and that 
 one of them thought the property worth 
 $109,000 more than the Harris concern 
 had asked for it when it tried to drive 
 the best possible bargain with the gov- 
 ernment. The only inference is that, 
 however conscientious these valuators 
 
 may have been, they started on the 
 wroig basis of the value of the Moore 
 proierty, and that they were not 
 otherwise conversant with the sub- 
 jeot on which their opinion was 
 asked. That no protest was made 
 by t le opposition when the Moore prop- 
 erty was bought at an exoesBive price 
 was due to several rraaons. The sum 
 total paid was much smaller than in the 
 Harris case, the old buildings on the 
 lot were unsightly and In danger of fire, 
 the land was poBsibly needed by the rail- 
 way, and not only was the t eighborhood 
 improved, but no industry wna killed 
 by the governmeit taking poHsession. 
 That no protest was made is no evidence 
 that the price was a fair one. 
 
 Though Mr. Fairweather thought the 
 Harris property worth more than $;U3,- 
 (K)0 and Mr. Everett scorns to have 
 considered it good value at nearlv 
 $350,000, Mr. Bowell informed 
 Parliament that the Harris con- 
 cern asked $230,000 or $240,- 
 000 for it, and, therefore, 
 the ;:overninent had offered V "^,000 for 
 it, which was accepted. It may be tba^ 
 the government in thus getting the pro- 
 perty at $150,000 less than one of it) sud- 
 porterrj said it waa worth, and $40,000 
 luHO than the oWLOrs claimed it was 
 worth, thought that it was doing a bril- 
 liant financial transaction, if not playing 
 a pretty sharp trick upon the unsuspect- 
 ing owners. There were some other 
 sources of information which the gov- 
 ernment failed to consult. 
 
 One of these was the assessment roll of 
 the city of St. John. There the property, 
 land, buildings and plant, were valued at 
 only $60,000, an amount less 
 than one-fifth of what Mr. F^ver- 
 ett thought the land and 
 buildings alone were worth, and less 
 til aa one-third of what the government 
 gave for it. Either the asseesors wre 
 tender-hearted or incompetent, or the 
 government paid twice,if not three tines 
 as much aa the property was worth. 
 
 There was another source of informa 
 tion now to be found in the records of 
 the courts, at; d earlier by consultation 
 with financial men. The Harris com- 
 pany had become involved in litigation 
 with the Halifax Banking Company ,and 
 the trial took place on January 12, 1892. 
 At that time Mr. J. (i. Taylor, manager 
 of the bank at St. John, swore that in a 
 bilaace sheet furnished him by the 
 Harris company during the previous 
 year, the foundry, including leased 
 property, waa valued at $93,401. 
 Mr. Pitcairt.ily, cashi« r of the bank, also 
 swore that James C Robertson had 
 
PT" 
 
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 THE STORY OF A CRIME. 
 
 repeatedly told him, that the value of the 
 rtal estate on the books of t>ie Harris 
 company was under $100,000, and that 
 Mr. Robertson had held tu^, as an in- 
 ducement for the bank to make advances, 
 the almost absolute certainty cf a sale 
 being eilected to the Intercolonial rail- 
 way, which sale Mr. Robertson was ex- 
 ceedingly desircua of effecting. 
 Other Land Values. 
 Apart from this evidence, there was 
 furtbet proof of the value of land in 
 the Harris propeity as shown by the 
 purchases in recent years. Though the 
 government paid $200,000 for 21(),0()0 feet 
 of land, the Harris concern had bought 
 5,000 feet of the Hizen property 
 for $2,000, and 3,200 feet of the Wales 
 property, with buildings, for $1,000. 
 T^iese purchases were of recent date. 
 Some years before 8,000 ft et of Moore 
 property had been purchased tn $3,000. 
 Ho much for the value of the land and 
 tbe bargain the government made, 
 which bargain Messrs. Uazen and Mc- 
 Leod defended with great zeal as a good 
 investment. In the heat of tbe debate 
 Mr. McLeod seems to have imagined the 
 property to be even more valuable than 
 had been claimed, for he asserted that 
 the construction shop was of brick and 
 within 15 or 17 feot of the railway wharf 
 whereas it is a wooden building and 
 several hundred feet away from any 
 wharf. 
 
 The attack on the land job was led in 
 parliament by Mr. Davies, who was fol- 
 'Ow:d by able speakers on the Liberal 
 side. The defence by the Conservative 
 side was made by the ministers and by 
 Messrs. Hazen and McLeod. They failed 
 to justify the government's act. The 
 most memorable denunciation came not 
 from the Liberals, but from Mr. Adams 
 of Northumberland, a firm believer in 
 the Conservative party, who had ex- 
 amined into the merits of the case and 
 heard both sides. No attempt to explain 
 ths job could satisfy him. Here are 
 some of the remarks he made :— 
 
 "I am quite clear that this property 
 has been purchased for three times its 
 value, beyond all question. * * * I am 
 not here simply because I atn a Conser- 
 vative, believing in and admiring the 
 policy of the Conservatives party. I do 
 not suppose there is a man who more 
 fully believes in the Conservative party 
 and its policy than 1 do. But if I have 
 to vote ill favor of grant of $200,000 for 
 the purchase of the Harris property in 
 St. John, then I want to go back to my 
 people and tender to them my resigna- 
 tion, saying to them: 1 cannot any 
 longer represent you in an honest way, 
 
 and you must select some other man to 
 carry out your ideas. I must do that be- 
 fore I can justify such a vote as my 
 friends are trying to justify tonight. 
 
 "You are tonight committing a public 
 crime against the people of our province. 
 You are attempting to force an opinion 
 on this legislature which is not tru'-. 
 There is no principle upon which it can 
 be justified. Yon cannot produce any 
 evidence to justify this legislature voting 
 $200,000 for the purchase of this pro- 
 perty. No practical man, from the chief 
 engineer down to any workman on the 
 railway, will say it is re(i lired for the 
 convenience of the railway or the pub. 
 lie." 
 
 Later in the debate Mr. Adams farther 
 said; — 
 
 * T^e government must stand at the 
 bar of public opinion to answer for their 
 action. The very price paid for this 
 land, stamps it in such that no man in 
 the dominion, be he a mioister or a citi- 
 zen, rau justify voting $200,000 for the 
 purpose. No Conservative, no Liberal, 
 no Grit or Tory can justify it. That 
 meanest Tory that aits here tonight can 
 not put out his hand and state that the 
 $200,000 paid for this land is an equit- 
 able price, by reason of common sense, 
 prudence or justice. It stands unparallel- 
 ed in the history of purchases nnder any 
 government. TherA can be no possible 
 reason submitted in the presence of 
 parliament nr in the presence of any rail- 
 way man in the country, to justify it." 
 
 This was all bad enough,but as regards 
 the people of St. John, the matter was 
 still more Eerious. Here are some of the 
 results :— 
 
 The government took a property 
 which it did not require, has not used, 
 and cannot use without a very great ad- 
 ditional expense. 
 
 In doing this it closed for ail time 
 the largest industry in St. John, 
 an establishment which had been 
 in operation for three-score years, and 
 woold have been in operation today. It 
 turned a busy place into a heap of ruins 
 and sent hundreds of workmen and their 
 families out of the country. 
 
 The government, like a destroying 
 army, swept away the whole work of 
 years, leaving only dust, ashes and ruins. 
 A scene of industry was blasted at its 
 touch and became a desert. 
 
 And all this in order to consummate 
 the notorious Harris land job, which 
 even partizan zeal canuot successfully 
 defend. 
 
 Is it any wonder that the narrative o' 
 what was done and how it was aone has 
 been entitled "The Story o' a Crime?"