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 n,.< 
 

 ROYAL COLONIAL INSTITUTE. 
 
 The Institute an a body is not respoyisible either for tJie statements made or for 
 the opiriions expressed by Authors of Papers, dc. 
 
 ■w 
 
 To he read at a Meeting of the Boyal Colonial Institute, to he held 
 ai the Whitehall Rooms, Hotel Mdtropole, Whitehall Place, on 
 Tuesday, May 8, at 8 p.m., the Right Hon. the Makquis op 
 LoRNE, K.T., G.C.M.G., in the Chair. 
 
 CANADA IN RELATION TO THE UNITY OF 
 THE EMPIRE. , 
 
 By the Hon. Sir Charles Tupper, Bart., G.C.M.G., C.B. 
 
 The most imnortant event of recent years conducive to the unity 
 of the British Empire was, in my opinion, the Confederation of 
 Canada. Dovi'n to that period British North America was com- 
 posed of five isolated provinces, and the great Rupert's Land was a 
 howUng wilderness, occupied hy 25,000 savages, and the home of 
 the hufTalo, The provinces were separated by hostile tariffs, with 
 no common interests and no means of inter-communication by 
 railway. The Great North-West, declared by Lord Dufferin to be 
 capable of providing happy homos for 40 millions of people, was 
 separated from the older provinces by a thousand miles of wilderness 
 and by the Rocky Mountains from the Province of British Columbia. 
 All this has been changed. These isolated provinces, separated 
 from the Republic to the south by an invisible line of from 8,000 
 to 4,000 miles in extei't, have been united under one strong Federal 
 Government, and bound together by a great trans-continental rail- 
 way from Halifax on the Atlantic Ocean to Vancouver on the 
 Pacific. 
 
 Another important event conducing to the unity of the Empire 
 
 A 
 
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A 
 
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 ig about to take place. A Conference i? to be held at Ottawa, oil 
 June 21 next, which will be attcncloJ by representatives of the 
 Governments of Australia and New Zealand, and of the Imperial 
 Government, and possibly of the South African Governments, for 
 the purpose of considering the best means of drawing tliose great ' 
 outlying possessions of the Crown into closer trade relations with ' 
 each other and with Great Britain. A deputation of the reprejon- 
 tativea of Australasia, South Africa, and Canada recently had the 
 honour of an interview with the Earl of Rosebery and the Marquis 
 of Ripon on this subject. They stated that Canada had agreed to- 
 give a subsidy of £175,000 a year to a fast steamship service between 
 England and Australasia vid Canada, and would give substantial ' 
 supp irt to a cable from Vancouver to Australia, and that these sub- 
 sidies would be largely supplemented by the Governments of Aus- 
 tralasia; and they asked for the co-operation and aid of her Majesty's 
 Government to these services, on the ground of their great political, 
 strategical, commercial, and defensive value. 
 
 The deputation was assured that their representations would 
 receive the most careful consideration of the Government, and that 
 a representative would be sent to attend the Conference at Ottawa. 
 This movement has received, as might naturally be expected, the 
 hearty support of a large portion of the Press of this country. 
 
 Many persons have been surprised to find that Sir John Colomb, 
 who has professed to be a friend of the unity of the Empire, has 
 assumed a position of hostility to these proposals. I confess that I 
 did not share that surprise, as I had long since learned that that 
 gentleman was apparently not well-informed of the extent to which 
 the great Colonies have rendered yeoman service to the defence of 
 the Empire — unless, as Sir John Colomb seems to think, the term 
 Empire applies only to Great Britain. As this is a question of much 
 moment, permit me to draw attention briefly to some of these 
 services. 
 
 A few years ago every important town in British North America 
 was garrisoned by British troops. To-day not one of them is to be 
 found in that country, except at Halifax, where a small force is 
 kept for strategical purposes. 
 
 When Canada purchased the North-West Territory from the 
 Hudson Bay Company, Lord Wolseley was sent with Imperial troops 
 to put down a rebellion. When a subsequent rising, under the 
 same half-breed leader, Riel, took place, it was suppressed by 
 Canado, without the cost of a shilling to Great Britain. 
 
 The Government of Canada has expended on — 
 
■ ; 
 
& 
 
 An Inter-Oceanic Railway 
 Canals .... 
 Deepening the St. Lawrence 
 Graving Docks. 
 North -West and Lands . 
 Indians (20 years) . 
 North-Westllebellion . 
 British Columbia Fortifications 
 
 And expends annually on — 
 
 Militia . . . . 
 
 Mounted Police 
 
 British Columbia Garrison .... 
 Eight steamers coast service 
 Subsidy China and Austral, steam service . 
 Subsidy pledged to Atlantic steam service . 
 Interest at 4 per cent, on ^213,840,000 
 
 Or about £2,Zd%,\A0 per annum. 
 
 120,00u,000 
 
 60,000,100 
 
 3,384,000 
 
 2,700,000 
 
 7,000,000 
 
 13,500,000 
 
 7,000,000 
 
 256,000 
 
 213,840,000 
 
 1,340,000 
 625,000 
 47,500 
 172,000 
 200,000 
 750,000 
 
 8,5$«,«00 
 
 ll,6fe,#00 
 
 9g ,1 
 
 This is irrespective of the annual cost of maintenance of 741 light- 
 houses, ;^450,O0O ; immigration expenses, ^200,000 ; and expenditure 
 connected with Indians, ^959,804. 
 
 This expenditure secured the construction of a great trans-conti- 
 nental line of railway, bringing England twenty days nearer to Japan 
 than by the Suez Canal. It has provided an alternative line to India, 
 upon which Great Britain may have to depend for the security 
 of her possessions in the East. It enables her ships of war to reach 
 Montreal, and her gun-boats to go to the heart of the continent 
 at the head waters of Lake Superior. It provides graving docks at 
 HaUfax, Quebec, and Victoria ; extinguishes the title of the Indians, 
 and provides for their civilisation at a cost of nearly a million 
 dollars a year ; opens to British settlement the great North-West, 
 where every eligible immigrant is entitled to a free grant of IGO 
 acres of land ; maintains a permanent defensive force, and trains 
 38,000 volunteers, and provides a garrison for the fortifications of 
 British Columbia. Included in this are the subsidies for the 
 Atlantic and Pacific steamers, available for the use anywhere of her 
 Majesty's Government as war cruisers and transports at a moment's 
 notice. Canada also supports a Royal Military College at Kingston, 
 seventy or eighty of whose cadets are now officers in the British 
 Army. 
 
 Before confederation the fisheries of the British Provinces were 
 protected by her Majesty's navy. Now that service is performed 
 
> 
 
 1 . .;.. V. 
 
by eight armed steamers owned and maintained by Canada. This 
 expenditure of £2,33VV0lO per annum is cheerfully borne by the Y^ Z> 
 people of Canada for services vital to the strength, defence, and unity 
 of the Empire. Yet, at a meeting at the London Working Men's 
 College, on March 11, 1893, Sir John Colomb said, " England paid 
 19s. Gd. out of every pound of the cost of defending the Empire, 
 Australia Id., and Canada not a brass farthing ! " I may say that 
 in addition to the large capital expenditure made by Australasia and 
 South Africa for naval and harbour defensive purposes, I find the 
 annual expenditure for naval and military defence in those Colonies 
 at the last dates available to be as follows : — 
 
 Colony 
 
 New South Wales 
 
 Victoria .... 
 
 Queensland .... 
 
 South Australia . 
 
 Tasmania .... 
 
 Western Australia 
 
 New Zealand 
 
 Cape of Good Hope 
 
 Natal 
 
 Year 
 
 Amount 
 
 £ 
 368,227 
 
 1892 
 
 1892-3 . 
 
 193,651 ' 
 
 1893-4 . 
 
 56,499 ' 
 
 1893-4 . 
 
 . 40,068 ' 
 
 1892 
 
 19,282 
 
 1893 
 
 12,699 
 
 1892-3 . 
 
 87,865 
 
 1891-2 . 
 
 275,096 ' 
 
 1893-4 . 
 
 . 60,384 ' 
 
 Total 
 
 1,113,771 
 
 ' Estimated Expenditure. 
 
 ' Including £124,415 expended on Cape Police available for defence. 
 
 ' Including £34,366 expended on Natal Mounted Police. 
 
 Then again. Sir John Colomb in his address to Mr. Gladstone 
 on April 13, 1893, said, " The United Kingdom bears the whole 
 burthen of the Diplomatic and Consular Services." He ought to 
 have known that, independent of the Governors, whose salaries are 
 paid by the autonomous Colonies, Canada paid one-half the cost of the 
 survey of the international boundary between the United States 
 and Canada from the Lake of the Woods to the foot of the Rocky 
 Mountains, over £68,000 ; the whole of the cost of the Halifax Arbi- 
 tration between Great Britain and the United States, arising out of 
 the Washington Treaty of 1871 ; half the expenditure connected 
 with the Treaty of Washington of 1888, to determine the construc- 
 tion of the Treaty of 1818 between Great Britain and the United 
 States ; and that Canada is now engaged in settling the Alaskan 
 boundary at her own expense, and pays one half of the expenses, 
 some £'20,000, of the Arbitration at Paris of 1893, when the 
 question at issue between Great Britain and the United States was 
 described by Sir Charles Russell to be : 
 
 The principle of freedom of the seas; the principlo that upon the sea 
 
 / 
 
I 
 
 i 
 
ships of all nations are e.^niil, whether it is a ship of a f,'rcat or insif,'iiifi- 
 CRiit Power ; the principle that iipon the high seas sliips are part of the 
 territory of the nation ; the principle that upon the high seas subjects of 
 every nation can take at tlieir will, according to their ability, of the 
 products of the sea. 
 
 It is interesting to turn from views of this kind to those held by the 
 statesmen of both the great parties in this country. About two 
 years ago Lord Salisbury thus expressed his opinion of the import- 
 ance of the outlying portions of the Empire : — 
 
 What is it that gives to this little island its commanding position ? It 
 is the fact that every nation from every quarter of the globe can enter 
 your ports with the products of countless regions, and supply your indus- 
 tries and manufactures, so that those industries and manufactures may 
 compete with every corner of the globe. And why should you occupy this 
 privileged position ? Because your flag floats over regions far wider than 
 any other, and because upon the dominion of your Sovereign the sun 
 never sets. 
 
 Mr. Gladstone, in terms equally emphatic, in the House of 
 Commons last year paid the following tribute to the Colonies : — 
 
 An absolute revolution has taken place in the entire system of govern- 
 ing the vast dependencies of this Empire, and the consequence is that, 
 instead of being as before a source of grievance and discredit, they had 
 become one of the chief glories of Great Britain and one of the main 
 sources of our moral strength. 
 
 The vital importance to England of hor Colonial trade ..s 
 forcibly illustrated in a speech at Leeds a few years ago bv the 
 Earl of Rosebery, whose views upon the subject of the unity of 
 the Empire are too well-known to need repetition. Who that is 
 interested in this great question can doubt the wisdom of the 
 following utterance of the Marquis of Salisbury in 1892 ? — 
 
 We know that every bit of the world's surface which is not under the 
 British flag is a country which may be, and probably will be, closed to us 
 by a hostile tariff, and therefore it is that we are anxious above all things 
 to conserve, to unify, to strengthen the Empire of the Queen, because it is 
 to the trade that is carried on within the Em]nre of the Queen that we 
 look for the vital force of the commerce of this country. 
 
 The maxim "that trade follows the flag" is proved beyond 
 question by the Trade Returns, which show that the self-governing 
 Colonies and West Indies take of British exports £'2 18s. del. per 
 head, as against 8s. 5d. per head of the population of the United 
 States, or seven times as much. 
 
 Six of the Colonies importing the largest quantity of British 
 
«., '. i 
 
 ""^^••'^" 
 
produce — the Capo, Cauada, New South Wales, Victoria, New 
 Zealand, and Queensland -took in 1891 £'3 lis. lOd. per head, as 
 against 5s. dd. per liead of the populations of the United States, 
 (lermany, France, Spain, Brazil, and Kussia together, or a little over 
 twelve times as nuich. 
 
 In 1892 the- same Colonies took British goods to the extent of 
 13 Is. lid. per capita, as against 5s. 5(/. in tiro foreign countries 
 already mentioned, or a little over eleven times as much. 
 
 Exports to Self-governing Colonics and to the West Indies, 1892. 
 
 Colony ••- 
 
 Canada 6,8(59,808 
 
 Newfoundland .... 558, ()74 
 
 West Australia .... 524,'2'19 
 
 ►.outh Australia . . • 1,717,492 
 
 Victoria 4,72(),.S(')1 
 
 New South Wales . . . 6,5(1(5,352 
 
 Queensland .... 1,798,391 
 
 Tasmania ..... 477,790 
 
 New Zealnnd .... 3,450,537 
 
 Cape and Natal .... 7,929,484 
 
 West Indies and British Guiana 2,936,624 
 
 Totals . . 37,550,7(52 
 
 ropulatiou 
 
 4,833,000 
 
 197,000 
 
 50,000 
 
 315,000 
 
 1,140,000 
 
 1,134,000 
 
 394,000 
 
 147,000 
 
 ()27,000 
 
 f 1,527,000 
 
 \ 544.000 
 
 1,8(50,000 
 
 12,768,000 
 
 ' Or £2 18s. M. per head. 
 
 Exports to United States, £26,547,234 ; population, 62,622,000; or 8s. 5d. per 
 
 head. 
 
 Exjiorts to ccrtai7i Colonics, 1891 and 1892. 
 
 Colony 
 
 Cape 
 
 Canada . 
 
 New Soutli Wales 
 
 Victoria . 
 
 New Zealand . 
 
 Queensland . 
 
 Totals . 
 
 1892 
 £ 
 7,92i»,484 
 6,869,808 
 6,56(5,352 
 4,726,361 
 3,450,537 
 1,793,391 
 
 31,335,938 ' 
 
 1891 
 
 7,957,878 , 
 
 6,820,990 
 
 8,999,9159 
 
 7,249,224 
 
 3,369,177 
 
 2,224,316 
 
 36,62M54 » 
 
 ropuliition 
 
 2,071,000 
 ^,833,000 
 1,134,000 
 1,140,000 
 (527,000 
 394,000 
 
 "10^1997600 
 
 Equal to £3 Is, 5rf. per head. 
 
 '■' Equal to £3 11a. lOd. per head. 
 
 United States 
 Germany . 
 Franco . 
 Spain . 
 
 Hra/il ■ 
 lluB'<ia . 
 
 Exports to certain Foreign Countries, 
 
 1891 
 £ 
 
 . 27,544,553 , • . 
 
 , , 18,804,329 ,- w 
 
 . 16,429,6(55 . » 
 
 . 4,977,473 . 
 
 . 8,290,0;v,) . 
 
 . 5,407,402 . 
 
 Totals 
 
 81,458,461 
 
 ropulation 
 
 (•>2,622,000 
 49,428,000 
 88,343,000 
 17,550,000 
 14,002,000 
 97,506,000 
 
 279,451~000 
 
 ' Eijual to us. 9(/. per head. 
 
 M 
 
n 
 
United States 
 
 Germany . 
 
 France 
 
 Spain 
 
 Brazil 
 
 Russia 
 
 i: 
 2t5,u47,'2a I 
 
 14,G8(),.s<l4 
 4,»J7'2,9;W 
 7,910,3'2() 
 5,357,0^1 
 
 Totals 
 
 . 70,757,885 ' . 
 ' Equal to 5s. 5d. per head. 
 
 I'lifiuliitioii 
 
 (52,r)'22,00(» 
 4'),42.s,0U() 
 38,34:1,000 
 17,550,000 
 14,002,000 
 97,50(;,'.)00 
 
 279,451,000 
 
 Who, with such evidence before them, can question from an 
 Imperial standpoint the importance of developing the commerce 
 between the Colonies and between thorn and the jMother Country ? 
 
 All the self-governing Colonies have united in asking her 
 Majesty's Government to take measures to so modify the treaties 
 with Belgium and Germany as to enable closer trade arrangements 
 to be made between the United Kingdom and her Colonies than 
 with foreign countries. All these Colonies equally desire and have 
 requested thv) Government to submit to Parliament an amendment 
 of the Imperial Act of 1873, 3G Vic. cap. 22, to enable the Colonies 
 of Australasia to make the same trade arrangements with Canada 
 and South Africa as under that Act any of the Australian Colonies 
 can now make with each other and with New Zealand. This pro- 
 posal embodies no new principle, but simply extends tin; power 
 already conferred by the Act in question ; and considering the 
 Imperial importance of drawing the great Colonies into more intimate 
 commercial relations with each other as well as with England, wo may 
 confidently anticipate the hearty support of her Majesty's Govern- 
 ment and Parliament. The Parliament of Canada some time since 
 passed a resolution pledging itself to give preferential tariif conces- 
 sions to this country when tlio products of the Colonies are ad- 
 mitted into Great Britain on more favourable terms than are 
 accorded to foreign countries. In the same spirit, now that the 
 financial position of Canada enables the Government to reduce taxa- 
 tion, they have adopted a tarifT during the present so.ssion which 
 effects reductions in the duties upon many of the staple exports of 
 England. 
 
 To pass on to another branch of the subject, it may be well for 
 me to state what is, as I understand it, in the minds of the 
 promoters of the Anglo-Canadian-Australian steamshij) service, in 
 respect to the stean\ship connection between Great Britain and 
 Australasia by way of Canada. 
 
 At tlio outset it is interesting to know the average time occupied 
 
I 
 
8 
 
 in the conveyanct- of mails to and from Sydney and London by 
 the present Sue/, route. The latest Rlne-l)Ook that I Jiavo been 
 al)le to obtain is that of the Report of the Postmaster-General of 
 New South Wales for the year 1892, issued in 18f);-3. There I find 
 that the returns of the mail service of the Orient Steamship Navi- 
 f^ation Company during the year 1892 give the average time between 
 London and Sydney as 33 and 11-13 days, and between Sydney 
 and London as 33 and 11-20 days; while in the case of the 
 Peninsular and Oriental Navigation Company during the year 1892 
 the average time occupied in the conveyance of mails to and from 
 Sydney and London was as follows : — London to Sydney, 33 and 
 19-2G days ; Sydney to London, 34 and 0-13 days. 
 
 The consideration paid by the British and Australasian Govern- 
 ments for the above mail service is £85,000 per annum to each 
 Company, or £170,000 together ; and out of this contribution of 
 £170,000 the United Kingdom pays £95,000. 
 
 The present intention of the proposed Steamship Company is to 
 have upon the Atlantic a Aveekly service of 20 knots speed all the 
 year round, and to maintain it by the building of four exception- 
 ally large, swift, completely equipped, express passenger steamships. 
 
 On the Pacific, at present, it is only proposed to have three 
 steamships, thus adding one steamship to those now performing the 
 monthly service between Sydney and Vancouver. The presence of 
 a third steamship on the Pacific has enabled the promoters of the 
 new service to suggest two propositions : — 
 
 1. That there shall bo during the summer months a three- 
 weekly service between Sydney, Moreton J5ay, Fiji, Honolulu, 
 Victoria, and Vancouver, and during the winter season a four- 
 weekly service by the same route. It may be said at the outset 
 that the moils by that route can bo easily delivered in the time 
 now occupied by the Suez route ; but it will be observed that it is 
 only, in tlie one case, a three-weekly service, and in the other a 
 four-weekly service. 
 
 2. If it shall bo hereafter decided to call at a New Zealand port 
 in preference to ^loreton Bay, Queensland, then, with three steam- 
 ships on the Pacific, the service can easily and regularly, all the 
 year round, maintain the four-weekly service between Sydney, 
 Auckland, Fiji, Honolulu, Victoria, and Vancouver. 
 
 The drawback to calling at a Now Zealand port instead of a 
 Queensland port would be tho lengthening of the voyage between 
 the last Australian port of call (i.e. of Sydney) and England by 
 liO hours each way ; but oven allowing an additional 30 hours 
 
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 for the extra mileage by the New Zealand route, the promoters of the 
 ■service state that they would be able to deliver the Sydney mails, 
 from the date of the establishment of the fast Atlantic service, 
 in about the same time that is notv occupied by the steamships of 
 the Peninsular and Oriental and Orient Companies from Sydney to 
 London by the Suez route, while the New Zealand service 
 (Auckland to London) would be reduced to within 31 days. 
 
 It is stated that the current contracts between the British and 
 Australian Governments and the Peninsular and Oriental Company 
 and the Orient Company have been extended for an additional year, 
 and expire in January 1896. 
 
 At the Ottawa Conference, to be held in June next, one of the 
 most important subjects for consideration will be whether the time 
 has arrived for Great Britain and the Australasian Colonies to 
 recognise Canada as an Imperial highway for an Australasian mail 
 service, affording the Empire an important alternate route, and 
 I venture to hope that a favourable decision will be arrived at. 
 
 At the present moment the only Australian subsidy actually 
 being paid to the Vancouver service is £10,000 sterling per annum 
 by the Government of New South Wales. If that subsidy were 
 increased to at least £'50,000 sterling per annum from Australasia, 
 and if the British Government will give the minimum subsidy 
 a,sked for the Atlantic service of £75,000 sterling per annum, 
 Australasia will secure in 189G an alternate fortnightly route by way 
 of Canada. 
 
 As to the time to be occupied by the mail service between Sydney 
 •and London, the promoters of the new company are prepared to 
 iiame thirty-one days as the period for the first term of years ; but, 
 in any event, to do it a« quickly as can possibly be done by the Suez 
 route. 
 
 It is interesting to note from the Blue-book above referred to 
 that the net cost to New South Wales of its joint service via Suez 
 was in 1892 only £13,274 8s. 5d. It is reasonable to assume* 
 therefore, that the amount collected for stamps would go a long 
 way towards paying the subsidy for the proposed mail service. 
 
 As to the possibilities of the proposed line of fast steamers between 
 England and Canada, I can give no higher authority than Mr. Van 
 Home, the able President of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. 
 His thorough investigation of the subject is shown in the following 
 speech made by him at Toronto in January 1893 : — 
 
 The (liaiancG from Quebec to Holyhoad is 2,580 miles, and with stoam- 
 
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10 
 
 fillips of the speed of the Teutohir or the City of Paris the time will be 
 luade in iive days and five hours. The time from Holyhead to London is 
 less than six liours, and, allowing' an hour for transfer, the time from tlio 
 wharf at Quebec to Euston Station in London will bo made in five days 
 and twelve hours, and only three days and eleven hours will be in the opeit 
 Atlantic. While the voyage from Sandy Hook to Quoenstown is some- 
 times made in five days and a half, the time from the wharf in New York 
 to the railway station in London is hardly ever made in less than seven 
 days — so seldom tliat seven days ma^- be taken as the best working result 
 that way. Let two passengers start from London on a Wednesday at 12 
 o'clock noon, one by the fastest New York steamship, and the other by an 
 equally fast Canadian steL iship. The one will reach New York at best at 
 7 o'clock the following Wednesday morning, local time ; the other will 
 have reached Quebec nt 7 o'clock Monday evening, local time. Tlie New 
 York passenger may reach Montreal at 7.30 Thursday morning, or Toronto 
 at 10 o'clock Thursday morning. The passenger by the Canadian line 
 will reach Montreal at midnight Monday, or Toronto at 10 o'clock Tuesday 
 morning, two whole days ahead of the New York man. The Canadian 
 passenger will reach Chicago at 11.30 Tuesday night ; while the New York 
 man cannot reach there before 9.30 Thursday morning. It is no idle 
 boast that such a Canadian line could take a passenger at London and 
 deliver him in Chicago before the New York line could land him on the 
 wharf in New York. Lideed, Ave have a margin of ten hours, and the 
 statement might be made to apply to Cincinnati, St. Louis, St. Paul, and 
 Minneapolis. A Boston passenger may reach his home thirty-two hours 
 quicker by the way of Quebec than by the \vay of New York ; and a passenger 
 by the Canadian line will reach New York itself at 7 o'clock Tuesday 
 morning, twenty-four hours ahead of the quickest direct line to New York • 
 and this will be the mininuun saving of time to I'hiladelphia, Washington, 
 and all points in the United States, and as we come northward our advantage 
 becomes greater. In the winter our advantage by tlio way of Halifax 
 would be ten hours less, but our saving in time would still be great enough 
 to take the business. It is only necessary to provide an attractive service 
 both by land and sea, and to make the railway and steamship services fit 
 together perfectly, to make sure of the business. There are no difficulties 
 of navigation that cannot readily be overcome— a few more lights, a few 
 more fog signals, and a few whistling buoys at the entrance to Straits of 
 Belle Isle. 
 
 But again we are met by ths difficulty propounded apparently in 
 all seriousness by Sir John Colonib : — 
 
 Now let me ask who is to jiay and to be responsible for the protectio'. ni' 
 Avar of the new trade line and new submaiine cable we are asked to 
 help to establish V 
 
 I hope to be able to show him tl;e highest authority for the 
 opinion that the naval strength provided by these fast steamers on 
 
11 
 
 the Atlantic and Paciiic Oceans, and the proposed cable from 
 Vancouver to Australia, form the strongest claims for Imperial 
 support 
 
 The contract entered into by the Government of Canada with Mr. 
 
 James Huddart requires the four Atlantic steamsliips to be capable 
 
 of steaming 20 knots, under favourable conditions, at sea, and this 
 
 will involve a trial-trip speed of 21 knots, or equal to 24 statute 
 
 ^ miles per hour. 
 
 The steamships will be upwards of 10,000 tons register, and will be 
 built in compliance with the usual conditions necessary to secure the 
 
 « subvention for mercantile armed cruisers from the British Admiralty. 
 The Lords of the Admiralty in 1887, after giving this question 
 the fullest consideration, made the following report to the Treasury, 
 which was adopted and is now in force : — 
 
 My Lords would desire to state that the experience derived from the 
 events of 1885 has led thein to believe that true economy and real 
 efficiency would be best promoted by securing the use to the Admiralty 
 in times of peace of the fastest and most serviceable mercantile vessels. 
 It will be remembered that in 1885 a sum approximating to t600,000 
 was expended in retaining the services of several fast merchant steamers 
 so as to prevent their being available for the service of any Power inimical 
 to the interests of the United Kingdom. Had arrangements existed 
 "similar to those now contemplated, their Lordships believe that a very 
 considerable jtortion of this expenditure would have been averted, and a 
 degree of confidence felt by the nation on which it is very difficult to place 
 41 money value. 
 
 Their Lordships consider tliat subventions or annual payments for pre- 
 emption in the use or purchase of these steamers should only be made 
 with those vessels already existing which have an exceptionally high sea- 
 going speed, or for vessels which may bo built possessing great speed and 
 adaptable in their construction as armed cruisers. 
 H As to the standai-d of speed, the Admiralty consider that no vessel of 
 less than 17 or 18 knots at sea would fully meet the object they have in 
 view. They would add fui'ther that existing vessels, even with this speed, 
 but which have not been built specially to Admiralty designs, would not 
 be so valuable to the country as vessels which meet these requirements. 
 The trades which can, from a mercantile aspect, support vessels of the 
 type and character that their Ijordships desire to see included in the 
 " lleserve Fleet of the Navy" are very limited. Such steaniers are only 
 likely to find a profitable mercantile employment in the passenger and 
 mail service, and particularly in the service to America. Vessels con- 
 structed to meet the views of the Admiralty would be at a disadvantage 
 in respect to their cargo-carrying powers ; and therefore it would be a 
 distinct adxantage to the country if every reasonable encom'agement wero 
 

 
 
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 given to shipowners to build and maintain this dcscri))tion of steamer hi 
 the trades that may be expected to support them. The retention of a 
 fleet of " Royal Naval Reserve Cruisers " would be obviously of great 
 national advantage. In a pecuniary sense they would serve to limit the 
 necessity felt by their Lordships for the construction of ftist war vessels 
 to protect the commerce of the country. Not only would the nation be a 
 pecuniary gainer in respecS to the first cost of such vessels, but their 
 annual maintenance, which amounts to a large sum, would be saved were 
 such vessels maintained whilst not recpiired for Admiralty purposes ia 
 mercantile trading. 
 
 The Government of Cauatia applied to her Majesty's '"overnment 
 to join in a subsidy for three steamers for the Pacific service Ijetween 
 Vancouver and Hong Kong. This proposal was carefully considered 
 by the Governments of both parties in this country. It was referred 
 to a departmental committee, on which the Colonial Oflfice, Treasury, 
 Post Office, and Army and Navy were represented, with the following 
 results. Lord Granville said in the House of Lords : " It appeared 
 by a minute from his predecessor, Col. F. Stanley (now Earl of 
 Derby), that the late Government had come to the conclusion on 
 principle to approve of this project." And again, on April 29, 1887, 
 Lord Granville said, " He had come to the conclusion that it was 
 a most desirable thing from both the naval and mihtary point of 
 view." On June 23 the Right Hon. Mr. Goschen said in the House 
 of Commons that it was " an extremely valuable and important 
 service," and subsequently carried a vote of £45,000 per annum 
 for ten years for these three steamers, which with the £^15,000 peir 
 annum paid by Canada makes a subsidy of £'00,000 a year. I 
 think I am correct in saying that this vote passed nem. cun. in the 
 House of Commons, of Avhich Sir John Colomb was a member. 
 
 The following extracts from a Paper recently placed on record by 
 Gen. Sir A. Clarke, show conclusively the opinions of this high 
 authority on the defence of the Empire. 
 
 On all grounds, therefore, continuous maintenance of a trade route 
 through the Mediterranean at the outset of war cannot be counted upon. It 
 follows, therefore, that the transport of troops and stores to the East will 
 be equally hazardous, at least for a time. 
 
 Of all routes, those Oi the Atlantic and Pacific will bo safest in war 
 with a naval power. 
 
 Fast ships on these routes cannot well be captured, except by mere 
 m ischance, on the ocean. 
 
 No probable enemy, no nation, except the United States, is likely in the 
 immediate future to develop any considerable naval streng'ih in the 
 
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 Pacific ; while the niaintonance of stronj,' squadrons on the western verg-e 
 of the Atlantic wiH be clillicult to any Power not in alliance with tho 
 United States. 
 
 Again, these ocean routes pass near no naval bases of European 
 Powers, which, especially at the outset of war, will confer on thoni prac- 
 tical imnumity from raids. On the Cape route there is the menace of 
 Dakkar, of lleunion, and possibly of Diego S|,»riez, which cannot bo 
 ignored, and which would unquestionably raise insurance rates to a 
 high figure. 
 
 An accustomed trade route, regularly used in peace time, will invariably 
 offer inestimable advantages as a connnunication m war. Along it 
 troops and stores could at once be smoothly conveyed without delays or 
 confusion. 
 
 I therefore consider that, from the purely military point of view, any 
 steps taken to develop the ocean route would add greatly to the potential 
 strength of the Empire in war. 
 
 At buch a time the first necessity will bo connnunication between tho 
 scattered members of the Empire. Thus only can its vast resources be 
 brought into play. Thus only can its existence be assured. 
 
 I have preferred to dwell on the military advantages of developing the 
 Western route, and thus providing an alternative line of comnmnication, 
 rather than on the political and economical advantages. The latter must, 
 however, be important and far-rer.ching. 
 
 Politically, the ell'ect will bo to bring the memlers of the Empire into 
 closer i;nion. Economically, the opening up of new avenues of trade will 
 indubitably bring about a wider distribution of products, and reduce the 
 stagnation which is now heavily felt by all classes. 
 
 On all these grounds I strongly support the policy urged. 
 
 It is iVr the Imperial (jovernment a primary duty to aid a project by 
 which national advantages in peace time, and security, as well as striking 
 power, in war, will bo unquestionably attained. 
 
 As to the cable, I may say the following resolution was i)assed 
 unanimously by the Colonial Conference, called and presided over 
 by the Secretary of State for the ('olonies in 1H87, and after the 
 siiV)jcct had been fully discussed and all the objections urged by 
 those interested in existing routes considered : — 
 
 First. That tho connection recently formed through Canada from the 
 Atlanf- ho Pacific by railway and telegraph opens a new ahernative 
 
 lino of Imperial connnunication over the high sens and through Hritish 
 poBsessions, which promises to bo of groat value alike in naval, military, 
 commercial, find political as])ect8. 
 
 Second. That the connection of Canadp. with Australia by direct tub- 
 
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 II 
 
 marine telegraph across the Pacific is a project of hif,'h importance to the 
 Empire, and every donbt as to its practicability should without delay bo 
 set at rest by a thorough and exhaustive survey. 
 
 The recent visit of the Hon. Mr. Bowell, the Canadian Minister 
 of Trade and Commerce, and Mr. Handford Flemin'^, who has given 
 so much attention to the question of a Pacific cable, has excited 
 increased interest in that question in 'Vustralasia. It has been 
 followed by a visit to Canada from Sir Thomas Mcllwraitli from 
 Queensland, and the Hon. Robert Reid from Victoria, and, as 
 already stated, a Conference is to be held at Ottawa on June 21 
 next. The Australasian Postal and Telegraph Conference, recently 
 held at Wellington in New Zealand, heartily endorsed the proposal 
 for a cable from Vancouver to Australia with the same unanimity 
 that characterised the Intercolonial Conference held at London in 
 1887. Of course those who have long enjoyed a monopoly may 
 be expected to oppose competition, and I am not surprised at the 
 protest made by those interested parties to her Majesty's Govern- 
 ment, and published in the Times of April ID, 1894. In that 
 protest the statement of the Wellington Confercmce, that a guarantee 
 of 4 per cent, for fourteen years w'ould probably induce the company 
 to undertake the work, is treated as an admission that the cable 
 must be renewed at the end of that period. No reason is shown in 
 the article why fourteen years should be determined on as the life of 
 a cable, and it is contrary to the experience of the existing cable 
 companies. Mr. Handford Fleming took twenty-five years as a basis 
 for calculation ; and that this period se(>nis a fair one ia shown 
 by the fact that some 5,950 miles (or about 80 per cent.) of the 
 18,000 miles of cable now forming tlio system of the Eastern 
 Extension Telegraph Company is more than twenty years old, 
 and is still in working condition— the balance of about 12,(150 miles 
 being duplications and extensions laid since 1874. Mr. iSandford 
 Fleming's suggestion that a j(jint guarantee of 8 per cent, would 
 bo snrticient was made on the suppcsition tiiat tlie Pacific cable 
 would be undertaken by the Goveriiments concerned, who could 
 obtain money at that rate : not, as would appear from the article, 
 on the assumi)ti(m that the scheme is to be undertaken by a 
 company — an alternative which he has also dealt with. 
 
 The cable companies which control the existing linos between 
 the United Kingdom and Australasia " urge that the existing service 
 was established solely by private enterprise," and without Govern- 
 ment aid. These lines, however, had the advantage of being tiio 
 first lines established, and thus had no opposition to contend with. 
 
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16 
 
 The Pacific cable would, however, now have to compete with these 
 very existing lines ; which, whatever ihe case may have been when 
 
 II they were initiated, are now, and for many years past have been, 
 assisted by annual sulxsidies, a fact not touched upon in the article 
 in the Times. Altogether the existing companies which would 
 compete directly or indirectly with the Pacific cable have received 
 in subsidies from various sources up to the present time more than 
 
 ;^ £2,100,000, an amount much iu excess of the capital required for 
 a Pacific cable. Of the above amount the Eastern Extension 
 Company alone have received about £048,000, and the African lines, 
 which form an alternative route, .il,8-)7,000. 
 
 Then, taking the present traffic between Europe and Austra- 
 lasia to be 1,300,000 words, as given in the Times article, and 
 looking on one-half this traffic as going to a Pacific cable, at 
 the sum lately mentioned by jMr. Sandford Fleming — viz. 2s. per 
 Word -as the rate for the Pacific cable (after outpayments of Is. 3(/. 
 have been deducted) it would give for the first year's traffic £05,000 ; 
 but the reduction of the rates from Australasia to Europe (from the 
 present 4s. dd. per Avord to 8s. Sd. per word) would naturally bring 
 about a large increase of traffic. Taking this increase as an 
 additional 25 per cent, on the estimated number of wo/ds passing 
 over this cable between Australasia and Europe the amount would 
 come to £^1,250. As, however, the tariff for the Canadian and 
 American traffic to and from Australia would be cheaper by the 
 Pacific than by the existing routes (by about 1 9. per word), this 
 traffic would certainly pass through tlie Pacific cable. Besides, the 
 traffic from and between the islands at which a Pacific cable 
 touched should be added. Estimating the traffic from these 
 sources at £15,000 for the first year, a total traffic of £90,250 
 may reasonably be looked for in the first year's working. 
 
 Mr. Sandford Fleming states that the normal increase of traffic 
 under the old \)s. id. rate between I'juropc and Australia was 14 
 per cent, per annum ; but taking it only as 121 per cent., we have 
 for the second year the amount of £108,280, and so on progres- 
 sively in each succeeding year, as long as tne rate of increase of 
 traffic remains the same. 
 
 It is therefore obvious that the protest against the proposed cable 
 is largely basisd upon fallacies. If the reasons urged by those who 
 have so long enjoyed a monopoly should result in her Majosty'.g 
 Government not giving the assistance required, the ccmipetition 
 dreaded would not bo prevented but transferred to a company under 
 
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 the control of a foreign power, and England will have lost itsoppor- 
 
 tunity. 
 
 In conclusion, permit me to say that Australasia and Canada 
 make no " demand " upon the taxpayers of this country, but on 
 the contrary propose to unite with her Majesty's Government in 
 providing an alternative line of steam and cable communication 
 between England and Australasia and Canada, uniting those great 
 possessions of the Crown more closely to each other and to the 
 Mother Country, and furnishing in the best manner possible the 
 means of expanding the trade and strengthening the unity and 
 defence of the Empire.