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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mithode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 S 6 ¥ 3^\ b VI tru oe il Hht ilUt^b erst tru of 'iliritt.sli Ci'aUtutlrin I' CHIGNECTO IVIarine Jransport Railway Qompany, |_td. ^» ii:,-i-Mr - STATEMENT FOR THE Dominion Government anc' Parliament OTTA.WA : Printed at the olHce of TJioburn ic Co. , 'M Elgin St. 1895. ^<, H.r.jiS .V! -.f' : ; t i Chigneeto Marine Transpor Rail- way Company, umited. 1 To the Honorable the Members of the Canadian Senate and House of Commons. Genti.kmen, — As the Acts authorising the contract for the construction of this Railway have expired by limitation of time, I have come to Canada on behalf of the investors in the Company, to ask for their re-enactment, in order to enable the Company to proceed with and complete this notable Public Work on which, under the authority of the Acts now expired, they have already expended $3,500,000, and executed nearly three-fourths of the undertaking. For the information of members of both Houses, I have prepared the following statement in order to place before you, in a brief form, the chief facts and circumstances relating to the present position of the Works. I am, Honorable members of the Canadian Parliament, Your most obedient servant. A. D. PROVAND, A Director of the Chigneeto Marine Transport Railway Co., Limited. • 1:1 W;,^^.-t'»-..a- CHIGNECTO MARINE TRANSPORT RAILWAY CO., Limited. PRE-PARLIAMRNTARY HISTORY OF THE SCHEME. * In order to present a connected statement a brief notice of this is neces- sary. For many years before the orisinal Concession Act of the Railway was passed in 1882 successive Canadian (lovcrnments had considered it was neces- sary to make a Ship Canal across the Isthmus of Chignecto, between the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the liay of Fundy, in order to avoid the long journey by sea, around Nova Scotia, for vessels trading between ports on the St. Lawrence and ports in the Bay of Fundy and the United States. This idea, however, did not take any practical shape until November, 1870, when a Royal Commission was appointed, " To institute and make a thorough en(|iiiry as to the liest means of affording such access " to the seaboard as may best he calculated to attract a large and yearly increasing share of the *' trade of the North Western portion of North America through Canadian waters, as well as " a thorough and comprehensive improvement of the Canal System of our said Dominion, on " such a scale and of such a character as would best tend to afford ample facilities for the ex- •' pansion and due development of its growing trade and commerce ; and in such enquiry to " consider the whole subject in all its bearinr;s, as well in a commercial as in an engineering " point of view, with the object of obtaining such reliable information thereupon as may furnish " the necessary data on wliich to base a plan for the improvement of the Canal System of our " said Dominion of a comprehensive character, and such as will enable Canada to compete " successfully for the transit trade of the great Western C'ountry ; and especially to enquire into " the public works and improvements hereinafter enumerated, that is tosay, &c." The Chairman of the Commission was Sir Hugh Allan and all the Commis- sioners were selected on account of their knowledge of tlie Mercantile conditions and requirements of Canada ; their thorough acquaintance with shipjiing or of their excf^Dtional experience as engineers. Mr. Samuel Keefer, the well- known Civil Engineer, was appointed Secretary. A list of twelve canals was included in the reference to the Commission, and the Commissioners adopted a categorical method of enquiry. They divided the canals to be reported upon into classes, and amongst the works of the first class to be proceeded with, _• ^ , " As soon as the means could be granted for this purpose,'' was the Baie Verte Canal, and a survey and estimate of the cost was carried out at the instance and expense of the Dominion Government. The Royal Comtnissioners, in their rei>ort, said ;— " The eviiluncc sulmiitlcd |)(iinls oiil with remarkable forru ami unanimity the necessity of "openinf» a highway for commerce hetweeii the (lulf of St. Lawrence and the head waters of "the Bay of Fundy, through the Isthmus of Chinneclo dividiiis them," and so impressed were they with the* truth of this that they submitted a special report, prepared by the Secretary of the Commission and endorsed by one of Iheir own body, both of whom were civil engineers. There was doubt as to the cost of the undertaking, but in reference to this the Commissioners said : — " If the plan that is cheapest of accomplishment cannot he carried out hecaiise nature has "not ijiven the neces.sary facilities, the irilerest of commerce in this project is too (rrcat to he "haulked hy an expenditure we did not at tirst anticipate. It demands the speedy opening of "the channel, and will justify its construction almost at any cost. Many other ({notations could be given to show the great national value placed on this work, and the importance attached to it by leading public men. A report, with specifications and estimates, was thereafter prepared for the Government by Messrs. Keefer and (Jzowski, eminent Canadian engineers; and they placed the approximate cost at $5,31} ,000, The Government then intended to carry out the work, and Lord Dufferin, in his speech at the opening of the Session of 1873, at the time the above report was issued jd the following language : — « "I ar .0 inform you that plans and specifications for the enlargement of the Weliand, "and the I >M urtton of the Bate Vcrle Canal, have been completed, and that the works can now "he put under contract. The surveys for the St. Lawrence Canals will, I am assured, bo "finislied in time to commence the works at the beginning of next year. This will ensure "the completion o{ a/l t/n'sr qicai Tcorhs at the same period." The Government were thus pledged to carry out the Baic Verte Canal, and accordingly $r, 000,000 was included in the estimates of 1873-74 to commence the work. However, before expending any part of this money, the estimate was referred for revision to Mr. John Page, Chief Engineer of Public Works, and ai'ter a careful and exhaustive examination he reported that, in his opinion, Messrs. Keefer and Gzowski had under-estimated the cost, which he found would pro- bably amount to $7,100,000. As this was considerably in excess of the estimates upon which the Government intended to set aside the first $1,000,000 for the purpose of beginning operations, the work was for the time being postponed. According to further estimates afterwards prepared, the cost might have been as high as $9,000,003, or even $10,000,000. This suspension continued until 1880, when Mr. KetchUm, a Canadian civil engineer, placed before the Government proposals for a Ship Railway instead of a Canal, as being a cheaper and better method of supplying the necessary transportation requirements across the Isthmus. 1 Mr. Kc'tchiim's proposals for a Ship Railway were referred by the Ciovern- inent to the Chief I'lngineer of the l)c[)artnKnt, Mr. Collingwood Schrieber, C.M.G., who, after an examination of the proposal, made a report on 4th February, 1882, in which he said : — " After a most exhaustive enfiuiry they reported (vide paj^e 50, letter of Canal Commission) '■ that inscparal)ly connected with the growth of the Intercolonial trade is the constriictinn of the *' IJaie Vertc Canal across the Isthimis connecting; the Provinces of Nova Scotia and New " IJrunswick. The advantajjis ilial iniisi accrue, not merely to the Dominion as a whole, liiU to " the commerce of the Maritime I'rovinces, are so clearly pointed out hy the llcards of Tradeof " ail the leading cities of Canada and iiy men interested in our Commercial interests, not sim- " ply the merchants of St. John and other places in the locality of the proposed canal, hut nier- " chants of Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and (Quebec that it is superfluous for the " Commissioners to do more than |)oiiit hrielly to a few salient features of the scheme:— " On page 51 the Commissioners stale the distance from Shediac to St. John hy the *' present route via Ihe Gut of Cansoto he 600 miles. This distance woulil he reduced hy the *• construction of the liaie Verte Canal lo about 100 miles and freiyhts would he in their course " diminished by 25 per cent., y;reatly beiiolillinf; the coal trade and fisheries and increasing the " volume of general business. • •'• • • • • • "It is Canadian in design and must jjrove national in its results. • •••••• ' The Commission, after a most exhaustive en(|uiry. a|>pear to have concluded that Ihe " passage of ships through the Islhnuis of C!hignecto, without breaking hulk in their cargoes, is " a matter of very great importance. This object Mr. Ketchum proposes to .accomiilish by " means of a ship railway which he offers Ic construct, operate and maintain in consideration of " a s"bsidy of $150,000 a year for 25 years, which, capitalized, is e((ual to the sum of $2,- •• 343..ii2." Mr. Schrieber also recommended that if the government assisted the undertaking, it should be by an annual payment commencing with the opening of the ship railway for traffic and continuing so long as the railway is efficiently maintained and operated, not exceeding the specified term, and these re- commendations were afterwards embodied in the Company's Act. The foregoing shows that the different governments of that period considered that a channel for the accommodation of the commerce of the Maritime Provinces across the Isthmus of Chignecto was a pressing necessity and in this view they were fortified and sustained by the conclusion." come to by the Royal Commission expressly appointed to enquire into the subject. PARLIAMENTARY HISTORY OF THE SHIP RAILWAY. The public interest which had hitherto been so favorable to the Ship Canal \,as now transferred to the Ship Railway, and in 1882 the Government passed two Acts, one of them incorporating the Chignecto Marine Railway Company (Limited), and the other one granting a subsidy of $150,000 per annum for twenty-five years. In the prea'^-'^le of the former Act the necessity for the work was again confirmed in the foUovvuig passages : — " Whereas the construction of the said railway would be to the general advantage of ** Canada, and specially conducive to the development of the commercial interests and the " coasting tradeof the Maritime Provinces of the Dominion." And in clause i6 of the Act :— " It is licrcliy (IcclarLil ilui! tlic constniclion of the saiil Railway is of j;cncral im|X}rtancc, *' ami a wnrU foi llu' HLncr;il ailvaiil;ij;c of Ciinaila." In the Subsidy Act the case for tlic railway was more fully stated : — " In cdtisidiTalidii iif liic (;rual ailvaiilnj;c>. wliicli would acriiio lo the Mariliiiio rrovinccs *' ami till.' inlLr-coloiiial iradi' )r Canaila m'm'r:illy finm iliu i:oiistriiclion of a ship railway " across the Isthmus of vJliit;nfClo from Tij;iiisli to La I'l.iic X'crtc, in the (iiilf of St. Lawrence, " lo a point at the moiitli of tl.c River La I'lnnclie, on ihe Itay of l''imily, ami of the proposal " made liy Mr. II. (■. (-'. Ketcluini, on behalf ol a company lornud and to he incor|iorate(l as " ' The Chinnecio Marine Tr.msporl Uailway I'ompany ' (Limited), and approved liy the " (Jovernor in Council on the report of the Minister of Railways and (.'anals, after consultaliori " with the Chief Knjjineers of the l)epartment." ^ The general desire of Canada to see the work carried out was manifested in many ways. The province of Nova Scotia purchased from the owners and granted to the Ship Railway Comiiany without payment all the lands required for the purposes of the undertaking. Boards of Trade in important cities passed resolutions cordially supporting the enterprise on account of the commercial advantages that it would confer when completed. An amending Act was passed in 1883 and a lourth Act in 1886, altering the subsidy from $150,000 per annuir, for 25 years to $170,602 for 20 years and the Schedule to this Act is the Contract between the Minister of Railways and the Canadian promoters who formed the Company and who were named in the incorporating Act of 1882. As the time named by ilie Act of 18S6, to carry out the work, was largely occupied in preliminary surveys and estimates that were indispensable in a novel engineering enterprise of this character, Parliament psssed an Act in 1888, ex- tending the tinie for the completion of the work from the istjuly 1889 to the ist July 1892. The object of passing these Acts was to enable the Canadian pro. moters to obtain capital in London to build the Ship Railway, and this was stated in Parliament with the utmost plainness and had the approval of the Parliamentary Leaders and the Finance Minister of that day, as follows ; — Sir John Macdonald, then Premier of Canada, in speaking in the House of Commons on the nth May, 1882, when the first Act was before the House, said : — " The amount we are called upon to expend is comparatively small, and we are not called "upon to expend that until we have assurance of its success. I think the Governiuenl is to be "congratulated on taking up the matter in the way it has." On the same occasion, the Hon. Alexander Mackenzie, the Leader of the Opposition, in speaking of the principal promoter of the Ship Railway, said : — " He will be able, no doubt, to obtain the money in the English market with the guarantee " of the Canadian Government," And on the 19th April, 1888, when the final Act given to the promoters was passing through th§ House, Sir Charles Tupper, then Finance Minister, said : — " The Govrrnmci ' is not askoil to pay any iiiniuy hiil simply lo cm.iIiIc l'".iit;lish ca|)italists " lo furnish all the inni'y ropiircil, ami lo ^ivc us the work at half llii; cost wc coiihl tihiaiii " these a