IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 f/ 
 
 .fk 
 
 jS^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 1.0 
 
 1.1 
 
 
 25 
 22 
 
 2.0 
 
 m 
 
 
 |tj25|U|j^ 
 
 
 
 
 6" 
 
 
 V • 
 
 :i][|tj>jii 
 
 ScMices 
 CorpoiBtirai 
 
 M WMT MAM STIHT 
 
 «MMVIR,N.Y. 14SM 
 
 (71*)t79'4M» 
 
 

 i^ 
 
 CIHM/ICMH 
 
 Microfiche 
 
 Series. 
 
 CIHIVI/ICI\/IH 
 Collection de 
 microfiches. 
 
 Ctm^tm, Kotum Kk Htototicl Mlcto«i.r<Hluc«i<». / InMltut c>mdl*n d* mlcn«|w<K'"«"on» htotoriqiM. 
 
Tachnical and Bibliogri>phlc NotM/NotM tcehniqiMt M bibliographiquM 
 
 Th« Inktitutc hat attamptad to obtain tha boat 
 original copy available for fUming. Faaturaa of this, 
 copy whicli may ba bililioaraphically uniqiia. 
 whicli may altar any of tlia imagaa in tlM 
 raproduction, or which may aignlficantiy changa 
 tha usual mathod of fifmlng. ara ehaeltad balow. 
 
 □ Colourad covars/ 
 Couvartura da coulaur 
 
 I I Covars damagad/ 
 
 D 
 
 D 
 
 □ 
 
 D 
 
 D 
 
 Couvartura andommag^a 
 
 Covars rastorad and/or laminatad/ 
 Couvartura rastauria at/ou palHculAa 
 
 |~~| Covar titia missing/ 
 
 La titra da couvartura manqua 
 
 I I Colourad maps/ 
 
 Cartas giographiquas an coulaur 
 
 Coloured ink (i.a. othar than bhia or blacic)/ 
 Encra da coulaur (i.a. autra qua blaua ou noira) 
 
 I — I Colourad platas and/or illustrations/ 
 
 Planchas at/ou illustrations an coulaur 
 
 Bound with othar matarial/ 
 Rali4 avac d'autras documanta 
 
 Tight binding may causa shadows or distortion 
 along intarior margin/ 
 
 Laraliura sarrte paut causar da I'ombra ou da la 
 distortion la long da la marga intMaura 
 
 Blank laavas addad during raatoration may 
 appaar within tha taxt. Whanavar posslbia, thaaa 
 hava baan omittad from filming/ 
 II sa paut qua cartainas pagas blanchaa ajoutiaa 
 lors d'una raatauration apparaisaant dana la taxia. 
 maia. iorsqua cala Atait poaaOMa. eaa pagaa n'ont 
 pas *ti filmias. 
 
 Additional comments:/ 
 Commantairas supplAmantalraa: 
 
 Th 
 to 
 
 L'tnstitut a microfilm^ la malNaur axamplaire 
 qu'il lui a At* poaaiMa dt aa procurer. Las dAtails 
 de cat exempMre qui simt peut-itre uniques du 
 point de vue MMiographicnie, qui pe«iveni modifier 
 une image reproduite. ou qui peuvent exiger une 
 mocHficatien dans la mithoda normale de f Hmege 
 aont indiquAs d-dassous. 
 
 r~l Coloured pages/ 
 
 D 
 D 
 
 Pagaa de couleur 
 
 Pages damaged/ 
 Pages endommagAea 
 
 □ Pages restored end/or laminated/ 
 Pages reatauriaa at/ou pelllcuMes 
 
 Pagaa discolourad. stained or foxed/ 
 Pagaa <Meok>r4es, tachatAes ou pk|u4es 
 
 □ Pages detached/ 
 Pages dAtachias 
 
 HShowtfirough/ 
 Transparence 
 
 □ Quality of |>rint variea/ 
 QuaNt* InAgala de rimpression 
 
 □ Includes aupplem e ntiwry material/ 
 Comprend du matlrlel suppMmentaire 
 
 Th 
 
 pa 
 
 of 
 fHi 
 
 Oi 
 be 
 lh 
 ak 
 o« 
 fir 
 sl« 
 or 
 
 Til 
 
 ah 
 Til 
 
 wl 
 
 M 
 
 m 
 
 en 
 be 
 rtfl 
 
 Only edition aveHable/ 
 Seule Mition disponlMe 
 
 Pagaa wholly or partly obscured by errete 
 sNpe. tlMuee, etc., have been refMmed to 
 ensure the best poealMe image/ 
 Lee pagaa toialiment ou pertieNament 
 obseurdea par un latiillai d'etran. une pelure. 
 etc., ont 41* fNmAea * nouveeu de ta^on A 
 obtenir la meflkNira Image poeslbki. 
 
 This item is filmed at the redutskm ratio cheeked betow/ 
 Ce document est fNm* au taux de rMuetion bidh|ui 
 
 Wi 
 
 
 IBK 
 
 M 
 
 J 
 
 12X 
 
 WX 
 
 mi 
 
2 
 
 Tlw copy flbiMd har* Hit bMn riproduoMl thwika 
 to tho QwiMMity of: 
 
 Library of tho Public 
 Arehlvos of Canodo 
 
 Tha Imagaa appa a rfcig hava ara tha baat quality 
 peaa lb ia eonaidarliio tha oondMon and lafllbHIty 
 of tha original copy and In icaaping with tha 
 filming contract apaciflcationa. 
 
 Original coplaa in printad papar covara ara fllmad 
 ba^mring wMi tha front eovar and andkig on 
 tha (aat paga whh a printad or INuatratad impraa- 
 alon, or ttw back cover whan appropriate. M 
 othar orlgl Ml copiaa ara fHmad baglnning on tho 
 firat paga imMi a prbilad or INuatratad bnpraa- 
 alon, and andbig on tha laat paga with a printad 
 or NhMtralad Impraaalon. 
 
 Tha laat racordad frama on aach mIcrofMia 
 ahaH contain tha aymbd -^ (moaning "CON- 
 TINUfO"K or tha aymbol ▼ (moaning "END"). 
 
 fMapa. platia. charta. ate., may ba fllmad at 
 dNfa^ant reduction ratioa. Thoea Mo large to be 
 entirely fciehided in one ORpoeure ere filmed 
 beginn i ng In the upper hift hMid comer, left to 
 right end top to bottom, ee meny frMnee ea 
 nfequbed. The foNowrbig diegieme Hhietrete the 
 method: 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 L'exempleire film* f ut reproduit grice A le 
 giniroait* do: 
 
 La bibiiothAque dec Archlvat 
 publiquaa du Cenede 
 
 Lee Imegea auhrantee ont 4ti reprodultee evec ie 
 piua grend aoin, compte tenu da le condition et 
 do le netteti do rexempleire film*, et en 
 conf ormhi evec lea condMona du contret da 
 flimage. 
 
 Lee exempielree orlglneux dont la eouvartura an 
 papier eat Imprlmte aont fllmie an commandant 
 par la premier plot et en terminent salt per la 
 darnlAre pege qui comporte une emprdme 
 d'impreealon ou dlliuatraiion, aoit per le second 
 plat, aelon le cos. Toua let eutrat exemplairat 
 Orlglneux aont fllmAa an comman^ent per la 
 pramMfo pege qui comporte une empreinte 
 d'lmpriwaion ou dIHuatratlon at an tarminant par 
 la dernMre pege qui comporte una tftlla 
 empreinte. 
 
 Un dee aymbolaa sulvantt appareltra sur la 
 danMre imege de cheque microfiche, aelon la 
 caa: la aymbda "-^ algnifia "A SUiVRE". ia 
 aymbda ▼ signifle "FIN". 
 
 Lea carlea. planches. teMeeux. etc.. peuvant Atra 
 fNmAa A dee taux de riductlon diffArenta. 
 Lorsque le document eat trap grand pour itra 
 raprochdt en un aeul oiich*, II eat fHm* i partir 
 da Tangle eupMeur geuche. de ge*>ehe A droite. 
 at da haut en bee. an prenent le nombra 
 d'Imagee nteeaaeire. Lea diagremmes suivanta 
 muatrent le mithode. 
 
 
 
 ^flP 
 
 i: 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
H 
 
71^ 
 
 ON THE NATIONAL, POLITICAL, AND 
 COMMERCIAL IMPOETANCE 
 
 or 
 
 A RAILWAY 
 
 FROM 
 
 HALIFAX TO QUEBEC. 
 
 WITH 
 
 AN APPENDIX, 
 
 EXTiCACTS FROM IMPORTANT DESPATCHES AND ACTS OF 
 PARLIAMENT RELATING THERETO, 
 
 MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS AT MEETINGS, 
 
 .-,. &o. &c. &0. 
 
 "WITH A. J^J^F. 
 
 
 ' 
 
 LONDON: 
 WILLIAM PENNY, 67, LINCOLN'S-INN FIELDS. 
 
 1858. 
 
c 
 
 i 
 
 f( 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 t 
 
 c 
 
wm 
 
 ON THE 
 
 NATIONAL, POLITICAL, AND COMMERCIiL IMPORTANCE 
 
 OF 
 
 A RAILWAY 
 
 FROM 
 
 HALIFAX TO QUEBEC. 
 
 On glancing over the vast expanse of the North American 
 continent, the eye is directed to the immense extent of 
 British possessions, measuring 4,000,000 square miles, and 
 forming nearly one-eighth of the habitable globe, an extent 
 of country one-fourth larger than the whole territory of the 
 United States. And when we find that throughout the 
 whole of this vast extent of British territory, bordering on 
 the Atlantic Ocean for upwards of 5,000 miles, there is but 
 one safe open seaport accessible at all seasons, and that port 
 ^he finest in the world, and the nearest to England and to 
 iilurope, all the rest being closed by ice for six months of the 
 year, it becomes of the utmost importance, both in a political, 
 and commercial point of view, that this port should be con- 
 nected with the interior by railway. But when we discover 
 that from four to five hundred miles of British territory, of the 
 "ichest possible description in natural wealth, must be traversed 
 oefore we arrive at the commencement of railway communi- 
 cation, and for the want of such connection by railway, we 
 are compelled to travel and send our mails and merchandise 
 by a circuitous route through the United States, we come to the 
 conclusion, that a link in the great chain of England's com- 
 munication with her vast western territory is wanting. 
 
 Halifax, in Nova Scotia, is the finest harbour on the whole 
 continent of America, and is nearer to Europe hy 400 miles 
 .than any other open port in that vast area of the New World. 
 It is England's great naval station in the Atlantic Ocean, 
 the packet station of the British and North American royal 
 mail service. It is accessible at all seasons, and, as a 
 harbour, stands unrivalled. For, whilst the Atlantic seaports 
 
are sometimes frozen as far south as Charleston, in South 
 Carolina, the harbour of Halifax is never closed ; and such 
 an eminent authority as the Honourable Samuel Canard 
 has stated that during twenty years his steamers have never 
 once been kept out of Halifax, but that they have been out 
 of Boston many times. 
 
 Halifax is distant from Gal way 3,184 miles, and from 
 Liverpool 3,466 miles ; being about 600 miles nearer than 
 New York, and 400 miles nearer than Boston or Portland. 
 If a straight line be drawn from Cape Clear in Ireland to 
 New York, it will cut through or pass close to Halifax. 
 From Halifax to Quebec, by an easy and practicable route for 
 a railwav, is about 600 miles. Of this line from Halifax to 
 Truro 60 miles is already constructed, and from Trois 
 Pistoles to Quebec 1 14 miles is in course of construction ; 
 thus leaving a link of about 450 miles to be constructed, 
 and which runs through a fine fertile country, rich in all the 
 sources of agricultural, mineral, and commercial wealth, 
 and where there is abundant room for all the surplus popu- 
 lation of the mother-country, there being in the counties 
 through which the railway would pass upwards of 14,000,000 
 acres of ungranted Crown lands. 
 
 Quebec, the natural capital of British North America, the 
 key of the river Saint Lawrence and great American lakes, 
 is a focus of commerce not only to the vast British posses- 
 sions, but also the great northern and western territories of 
 the United States ; and from this city extends the greatest 
 and most important internal navigation and railway com- 
 munication in the world. 
 
 But Quebec, during six months of the year, has no outlet 
 to the sea, being closed by ice, and communication with 
 England and with the important provinces of Nova Scotia 
 and New Brunswick is, in consequence, carried through the 
 United States, solely for the want of this railway connection 
 with Halifax. The English mails are conveyed through that 
 country at an annual expense of more than £20,000. But 
 if the port of Halifax was made the terminus of the voyage 
 of the ocean steamers, fully £50,000 per annum might be 
 saved in the Atlantic Mail service, independent of the saving 
 of the sum now paid to the United States for carrying the 
 Canada mails. Instead of the British mails being carried 
 over the American railways, it must be obvious that the 
 mails and passengers destined for New York, Boston, and 
 other American cities, would be carried over a great section 
 of the railway from Halifax. 
 
 But even the large sum now paid to the United States 
 
^ 
 
 is but one of the smallest inconveniences that we suffer. Our 
 postal treaty with them is such that they can terminate it at 
 six weeks' notice ; and they did so in the following instance : — 
 When the Collin's line of steamers were put on by the United 
 States in opposition to Mr. Cunard's line, they wanted to 
 have all the English letters sent by their ships j and when 
 the demand was refused, they gave notice to terminate the 
 treaty; which caused the greatest confusion and alarm to 
 the mercantile world. 
 
 But if the proposed line of railway were made, we should 
 be enabled to turn the tables upon the United States, not by 
 any foolish attempt to shut them out, — because Halifax was 
 open when Boston was closed, — but by carrying their mails to | 
 their great flourishing cities of th e far west nearly two days in ; 
 advance of the route by Portland, Boston, or New York ; ' 
 for the mails would have arrived at Quebec before the 
 steamer could reach a port in the United States, and be nearly 
 at Chicago before she arrived at New York. Even the mails 
 for New York, by being landed at Halifax and conveyed over 
 the branch line by St. John's, would reach that city twenty 
 hours earlier than at present. 
 
 The importance of this railway to the British empire in a 
 political and military point of view is immense. The United 
 States has one vast network of railways, extending from the 
 shores of the Atlantic almost to the Rocky Mountains, and 
 from the banks of the Missouri and Mississippi to the shores 
 of the great lakes of the St. Lawrence. She could in the 
 course of three days concentrate an army on the Canadian 
 frontier, and if this should ever occur in the winter, she 
 could lay siege to Quebec, without the possibility of our 
 transporting troops to its relief. By cutting oflF our postal 
 communications through her own territory, she would leave 
 us to the only resort of an overland route through Nova 
 Scotia and New Brunswick to Quebec, at a time of the year 
 when the roads are impassable, for the Gulph of the St. Law- 
 rence is then closed by ice, and its navigation, even in the 
 spring and autumn, is considered so dangerous, that the rates 
 of insurance on shipping are higher than those on vessels to 
 any other part of the world. 
 
 We may be told that Quebec is impregnable ; but scientific 
 advancement in the art of warfare has demonstrated that the 
 strongest fortifications cannot withstand a continued and 
 determined siege. With the loss of Quebec, England's vast 
 American possessions are gone for ever, and the British 
 empire is shorn of more than one-half of her fair proportions. 
 A little war with the United States would cost more than 
 

 
 II 
 
 I 
 
 the construction of this railway ten times over ; and from 
 the immense military advantages that the formation of it 
 would secure to England, all probability of war would in 
 future be lessened, if not destroyed. 
 
 The present position of Canada is calculated to invite 
 aggression; — nay, so utterly are we at the mercy of the 
 United States, through the want of this communication, that 
 Canada may be truly said not to be worth fourteen days' 
 purchase in the event of a war breaking out with that 
 country in the winter season ; but if this railway were made, 
 troops could be transported at any season of the year from 
 Galway to Halifax in five or six days. After landing 
 there, they could be conveyed over this railway to Quebec, 
 without the possibility of interruption, in twenty-four hours 
 more. 
 
 And it is also at times equally as important that we should 
 be able to bring troops and stores from Canada at all seasons. 
 And this occurred during the late Eussian war. We had an 
 immense store of war material in the citadel of Quebec, and 
 an army in Canada, which we wished to bring down to the 
 seaboard and send out to the Crimea, in the middle of 
 winter; but it was impossible to accomplish it; for the law 
 officers of the Crown being consulted, they declared it would 
 be a violation of the neutrality laws to send them through 
 the United States. 
 
 This railway would therefore be to Great Britain a means 
 whereby she could bring her strength to bear in any contest 
 with her growing neighbour ; and it is the one great medium 
 alone by which she can on that side of the Atlantic counter- 
 balance the preponderating power of the United States. We 
 cannot shut our eyes to the fact, that the territory of the 
 United States, vast as it is, is becoming too circumscribed for 
 her enterprising citizens ; for they have gone so far south, 
 until there has ceased to be a public domain; and it is 
 scarcely reasonable to suppose that their desire for annexa- 
 tion has abated ; nay, we have it on the most respectable 
 authority stated, and often repeated, that the people who 
 have adopted the comprehensive motto of — 
 
 •' No pent-up Utica contracts our powers,— 
 The whole unbounded continent is ours," 
 
 are looking with eager eyes to that vast virgin domain in 
 the adjoining British territory, the future possessors of 
 which are yet destined to command and govern the whole 
 continent of North America. 
 
 It therefore becomes imperative that certain railway com- 
 
munications be established and kept opcu in British North 
 America, at all times and in all seasons. England, be it 
 borne in mind, possesses the two moat important maritime 
 positions in North America — Nova Scotia on the Atlantic, and 
 Vancouver's Island on the Pacific Ocean, and these it is abso- 
 lutely essential for her to retain, if she would maintain her 
 supremacy as " mistress of the seas." 
 
 More than twenty years ago, the Imperial Government 
 considered the connection between Quebec and the Atlantic, 
 by way of Halifax, of such immense political importance, 
 that they instructed Lord Durham, whilst Lord High Com- 
 missioner of Canada, to turn his attention to the formation 
 of his great intercolonial railway (see Appendix) ; but his 
 Lordship's sudden return to this country prevented the 
 accomplishment of this most important work, even at that 
 early date of railway enterprise. In 1847, the Imperial and 
 Provincial governments, at an expense of £30,000, caused 
 a survey for the line to be made by royal engineers. Major 
 Robinson and Captain Henderson, whose report thereon was 
 printed and presented to both houses of Parliament, by 
 command of her Majesty, in February, 1849.* That report 
 is of the most favourable description, and has k'eceived the 
 highest approval from Earl Grey and other statesmen of 
 great colonial experience. Upon that report, the colonial 
 legislature passed the necessary Acts of Parliament, making 
 a free grant of all the Crown lands for ten miles on each 
 side of the line, estimated at 4,000,000 acres, and an annual 
 grant of j£20,000 from each of the three provinces, towards 
 making good the interest of the capital.f In a public 
 despatch from Earl Grey, dated the 14M day of March, 
 1851, the Imperial Government proposed to guarantee the 
 amount necessary for its construction, or to advance the money 
 from the British treasury ; but on the provinces wishing to 
 press upon the colonial minister the necessity of the imperial 
 guarantee to other projects besides the great trunk line, 
 a delay was caused, and before any satisfactory terms were 
 settled, a change of government took place, and Lord Derby 
 came into power, when the matter had to be re-discussed 
 with him and Sir John Pakington, and by delegates from 
 the three provinces. The result was, that the guarantee was 
 refused to any portion except the Halifax and Quebec line, 
 as laid down in Major Robinson and Captain Henderson's 
 8urvey.§ A difference, however, arose, which brought the 
 negotiations to an abrupt termination ; and the result was, 
 the great national interests of the colonies ani the British 
 
 * See Appendix, f See Appendix. t See Appendix. § See Appendix. 
 
 , 
 
8 
 
 I 
 
 II 
 
 empire were allowed to suffer, and tlie Canadian terminus 
 was carried to the Atlantic, by constructing a railway, with 
 British capital and assistance from the provincial treasury of 
 Canada, through a foreign state to a foreign port. 
 
 The question now arises, is it prudent that we should longer 
 delay the completion of this great and national undertaking ? 
 and, after the vast amount of blood and treasure which we 
 have expended in founding and maintaining this great colony, 
 is it worth keeping ? The country for which a Durham 
 
 E leaded and a Wolfe died, shall we, after a success more 
 rilliant than was ever contemplated by the most enthusiastic 
 colonial statesmen, cease to care about ? Shall we still leave 
 undone this one little link, which would ensure her safety and 
 inestimably enhance her greatness and our own profit ? 
 
 A union of the whole British North American provinces 
 has long been talked of; but recent events have rendered 
 such union absolutely indispensable to preserve their cohe- 
 sion. It was a favourite project of his late Royal Highness 
 the Duke of Kent, and Lord Durham advocated it with an 
 ability almost prophetic, and strongly recommended its 
 adoption in his celebrated report on Canada. To the want of 
 such a union Adam Smith attributed the alienation of the 
 provinces which now form the United States. No form of 
 union appears so generally acceptable as a federal one, by 
 which each province will have the control, not only of its 
 own internal affairs, but also all matters affecting the general 
 government of the whole. But without railway communi- 
 cation with one another, it would be a mockery and a 
 delusion ; for as they at present stand, it would be much 
 more reasonable to unite Nova Scotia with Ireland than 
 with Canada ; for with the former she can communicate at 
 all seasons, but with the latter she can not. The railway, 
 therefore, becomes indispensable ; and the provinces of Nova 
 Scotia and New Brunswick are not likely to consent to the 
 union without it. 
 
 Major Kobinson, at the conclusion of his very able report 
 to the Imperial Government, says — 
 
 " And if, for great political objects, it erer became necessary or advisable to 
 unite all the British provinoes under one legislative government, then there will 
 be found on this side of the Atlantic one powerfal British state, which, supported 
 by the Imperial power of the mother-country, may bid defiance to all the United 
 States of America. 
 
 " The means to the end, the first great step to its accomplishment, is the con- 
 struction of the Halifax and Quebec Railway." 
 
 It is admitted by all the ablest luthorities on the subject, 
 that such a time has now arrived. The Governor-General 
 of British North America, in proroguing the Canadian 
 
9 
 
 Ti'jgislaturc, stated that, during tlic recess, the necessary 
 steps would be taken for commuuicuting with the Imperial 
 Government, and with the Governments of the Lower 
 Provinces, with the object of attaining its nccompUshment. 
 
 The Legislatures of the three provinces, during the lute 
 session of the Provincial Parliaments, passed resolutions for 
 addresses to the Imperial Government for the necessary 
 assistance to secure the construction of the trunk line of 
 railway from Halifax to Quebec. 
 
 It is somewhat remarkable that the Halifax and Quebec 
 Railway was the first ever contemplated in British North 
 America ; but which still remains uncompleted. This arises, 
 no doubt, from these causes: first, that Lord Durham's 
 recommendations for a general legislative union of the 
 whole North American provinces was not carried out ; and 
 secondly, that the provinces always looked upon the under- 
 taking more as an imperial and national work than a colonial 
 one, and the Imperial Government have always acknowledged 
 it to be such ; for Canada has, within the last eight years, 
 constructed 2,000 miles of railway westward of Quebec, at 
 an expense of 20 millions sterling ; yet we are still in the 
 humiliating situation of being dependent upon the will of 
 the United States for access to or from Canada for six 
 months of the year, solely through the line of railway from 
 Halifax to Quebec not being completed. 
 
 It is almost impossible to magnify the importance of this 
 line of railway in a national point of view ; fur it must be 
 considered not merely as affecting the preservation of 
 British North America, but as being the link in that great 
 chain of communication which is destined shortly to be the 
 great high road from the Eastern to the Western world. 
 In the first place, let us consider the importance of Canada^ 
 New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. They already comprise 
 about 500,000 square miles politically organized ; they num- 
 ber a population of from three to four millions of the most 
 industrious and enterprising people on the face of the globe ; 
 their rate of increase is such, that by the end of the present 
 century it will equal that of Great Britain. The assessed 
 property, exclusive of the public lands and minerals, amounts 
 to about £150,000,000, or £40 to each man, woman, and 
 child. They own vessels measuring 600,000 tons; their 
 annual imports and exports have increased from a total of 
 8 millions to 24 millions sterling within the last seven years ; 
 the exports from the mother-country are nearly equal to half 
 of the exports to British India; they have only a small 
 public debt, not exceeding 10 millions, and a surplus 
 
 B 
 
 fj 
 
10 
 
 ^):i;. 
 
 II 
 
 ffevenue. As some test of their integrity and credit, the 
 Government bonds range on the London Stock !^xchange 
 at a premium varying from £10 to £17 per cent. 
 
 The climate of this immense country is favourable; the 
 rate of mortality is lower than in any ovher known country. 
 The soil is extremely fertile, and not surpassed by the most 
 favoured counties of England ; and as a wheat-producing 
 country, it is fast becoming one of the most important in the 
 world, the growth of wheat having increased 400 per cent, 
 during the last ten years : they produce upwards of 
 35 millions of bushels annually. 
 
 The city of Toronto, with its stately cathedrals and 
 universities, was, in 1793, occupied by one single Indian 
 wigwam j in 1857 its population had risen to 50,000 souls j 
 the rateable value of property in the city being six millions 
 and a half. The city of Hamilton, which was a few years 
 ago a small village, now contains a population of 30,000, 
 the rateable property exceeding four millions. The site upon 
 which the city of Ottowa stands, with its present population 
 of 14,000, was, thirty years ago, sold for eighty pounds. 
 
 This exhibits a rate of progress as an agricultural country 
 unparalleled in the history of nations. 
 
 The territory is adorned with inexhaustibh forests of the 
 finest timber, of which she exports annually from four to 
 five millions sterling. Immense beds of copper are found on 
 the shores of Laket Huron and Superior. The coal-fields 
 and iron-ore of Nova ;:;cotia and New Brunswick are stated, 
 by competent authorities, to be equal in richness to Wales ; 
 and when we consider that they are the only ones on the 
 Atlantic side of the Alleghany Mountains, their value 
 becomes inestimable. 
 
 They have, undoubtedly, the most magnificent internal 
 navigation in the world. It is farther from the Gulf of 
 St. Lawrence to the head of Lake Superior ':han it is to 
 England ; yet ships of 300 tons can come from the head of 
 Lake Superic/ to England ; yet the navigation does not stop 
 with Lake Superior, but may be extended to the foot of the 
 Rocky Mountains, 1,000 miles farther, by an outlay not 
 exceeding half the amount that has been expended in im- 
 proving the navigation of the St. Lawrence. 
 
 The river St. Lawrence, which may be said to rise with 
 Lake Superior, flows through Lakes Huron, Erie, and 
 Ontario to the ocean, a distance of 3,200 miles. Those lakes 
 embrace an area of 100,000 square miles; the river and 
 lakes, including Lake Michigan, wash a coast of 5,000 miles. 
 The total annual value of the imports and exports of the 
 
^mi 
 
 ^ 
 
 11 
 
 lake basin is estimated at 45 millions sterling ; the natural 
 outlet and inlet for which is through British territory, and 
 for six months cf the year entirely on the Halifax and 
 Quebec Railway. 
 
 The many noble rivers, tributaries of the St. Lawrence, 
 are too numerous to describe in this condensed form ; one of 
 them, however, — the Ottawa, — is 780 miles long, as large 
 and as beautiful as the Rhine, and drains a country of 
 80,000 square miles. Mr. Hogan, in his Prize Essay on 
 Canada, says, — " Looking at the St. Lawrence in connection 
 with the regions named, and of which it is the natural outlet 
 to the ocean, it is impossible not to see that Nature has 
 apportioned its magnitude to the necessities of the vast 
 territories which it waters." 
 
 These colonies possess all the wealth of the fisheries 
 fronting upon a seacoast of 5,000 miles ; and it is no exag- 
 geration to state that they are the richest in the world. 
 
 This is but a brief summary of the progress and natural 
 advantages of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia; 
 but beyond these flourishing colonies, extending westward 
 to the Pacific Ocean, there is an immense region, as large 
 as Europe, belonging to the British Crown. The whole 
 of this territory adapted for settlement, from the bound- 
 aries of Canada to the Rocky Mountains, is about to be 
 annexed to Canada, or formed into a separate colony, and 
 is estimated to embrace 250,000 square miles. A great 
 portion of this is prairie land, admirably adapted for agri- 
 culture. From, the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean 
 extends the new colony of British Columbia, embracing an 
 area of 250,000 square miles, with an auriferous soil, sur- 
 passing even the marvels of Australia and California. 
 
 British North America may be summed up in few words. 
 Its natural advantages have left little to desire; it possesses 
 a climate peculiarly adapted for the perpetuation of the 
 Anglo-Saxon race; a vast interior admirably adapted for 
 agriculture ; natural internal navigation, unparalleled in the 
 world for magnitude ; dense forests of timber, scarcely 
 possible of exhaustion; immense mineral wealth in coal, iron, 
 copper, and gold; a seaboard on the Atlantic and Pacific 
 oceans, with harbours, for capacity and safety, unequalled j 
 immense coal-mines on both the Atlantic and Pacific shores, 
 situate in the direct parallel from the western shores of 
 Europe to the eastern shores of Asia, and on the only direct 
 practicable route for a railway across the continent of 
 America. 
 
12 
 
 
 As we before stated, the only outlet to the sea for the mag- 
 nificent internal navigation with this great and prosperous 
 country is by Quebec, and the Atlantic terminus to this 
 immense railway communication (except through the United 
 States) is Quebec ; and had she but a free and uninterrupted 
 course to the sea at all seasons, she would enjoy the most fa- 
 vourable and important position of any city in the world. 
 But for six months she becomes closed bv ice, and there is 
 but one mode of obviating this great difficulty, and that is by 
 tlie construction of the railwav to Halifax. 
 
 Now, as Halifax holds the key to the Atlantic seaboard at 
 all seasons, the construction of this railway to Quebec, to 
 connect it with the great lines of the interior, is the first, and 
 by far the most important, step in the accomplishment of 
 the Great Atlantic and Pacific Railway. There is at the 
 present time a trunk line of railway from Quebec to 
 St. Paul's, in the territory of Minesota, a distance of 1,600 
 miles, being half across the vast continent of America. In 
 fact, nearly one-half of the Great Atlantic and Pacific 
 Railway is made, and the remaining portion can only be 
 carried through British territory. The line is projected to 
 run from the north-west shore of Lake Superior, through 
 the Red River settlement (about to be formed into a new 
 colony), and by the valley of Saskatchewan, which affords 
 great natural facilities for its construction, and passes the 
 Rocky Mountains at a very low altitude, strikes the head- 
 waters of Frazer River, which it follows to the Georgian 
 Gulf, having its terminus within fifty miles of the harbour 
 of Esquimalt, in Vancouver's Island. In the valley of the 
 Saskatchewan the railway will intersect a coal-field 1,000 
 miles long by 150 miles broad. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to state that the railway would 
 have, at its terminus in the Pacific, what the Halifax and 
 Quebec Railway has in the Atlantic, — one of the finest 
 harbours in the worM. 
 
 It may seem strange, independent of the importance of 
 the Halifax and Quebec as a great trunk line, that the 
 provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have not had 
 their share of railways ; yet, from their geographical position, 
 the fertility of their soil, and the richness of their forests 
 and minerals, no one would doubt that, had they belonged 
 to the United States, they would, many years ago, have 
 been intersected by railways, their lands settled, and 
 their resources developed. Nova Scotia has constructed 
 sixty miles of the trunk line from Halifax to Truro from her 
 own unaided resources: but until the main trunk line is 
 
mmmmmm 
 
 m 
 
 ;ed 
 ;ed 
 
 a- 
 Id. 
 
 is 
 
 18 
 
 completed, will not yield any return. New Brunswick also 
 has constracted a portion of the branch lines, to connect 
 the city of St. John and the state of Maine, but which 
 is equally dependent on the trunk line being completed. 
 Canada, on the other hand, has also, by rendering liberal 
 assistance to the Grand Trunk Railway, secured the con- 
 struction of that portion of the trunk line from Quebec to 
 Trois Pistoles, 114 miles, but which is equally dependent 
 upon the main link in the Halifax and Quebec being com- 
 pleted ; and when that is completed, the Grand Trunk Line 
 of Railway will fast become one of the most important and 
 profitable undertakings in America ; but at the present it is a 
 cul-de-sac. 
 
 The distance from Truro to Trois Pistoles is 461 miles, 
 two-thirds of which is level, or under gradients of twenty 
 feet per mile. There is no tunnelling; there is, in the utmost 
 abundance, every material on the ground to construct a good 
 railroad, — stone, ballast, and timber, coal and iron-stone. 
 
 Major Robinson estimated the construction at £7,000 
 per mile ; and to his very able report thereon we particularly 
 wish to direct attention.* 
 
 The railway embraces within its area a population of 
 500,000, and estimating it by analogy with the great Western 
 of Canada, will produce a revenue of more than £500,000 per 
 annum. Independent of its importance as the first step in the 
 trunk line from the Atlantic to the Pacific, it intersects 
 boundless fields of coal and iron-stone, — Halifax at one termi- 
 nus, with its present imports and exports of three millions, and 
 Quebec at the other, with its ten millions ; and as Halifax 
 has the advantage of a lower rate of insurance on shipping, 
 equal at some seasons to eight per cent., and an open port, 
 vessels from England would make three voyages there in 
 place of two to Quebec; and as a barrel of fiour can be 
 conveyed through the lakes and over this line to Halifax 
 at a cheaper rate than to New York, an immense traffic 
 would therefore be attracted over this railway, and which, 
 in the event of any interruption with the United States, 
 would become enormous. 
 
 * See Appendix. 
 
 IS 
 

 14 
 
 This railway, therefore, presents all these important fea- 
 tures: — 
 
 A work of the utmost national, military, and commercial 
 importance : 
 
 The pledged support and pecuniary assistance of the Im- 
 perial Govemment. And assuming that they would pay the 
 railway what it would save in the Atlantic Mail service, and 
 conveyance of mails through the United States, would be at 
 least £80,000 per annum : 
 
 The grant of £60,000 annually from the three provinces 
 of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia: 
 
 The free grant of from four to five million acres of land 
 to aid its construction, and the gift of all private lands neces- 
 sary for the railway and termini : 
 
 The finest seaport in the Atlantic for its terminus, and 
 which is nearer to Europe by 400 miles than any other safe 
 open port on the continent of America : 
 
 Intersecting immense mineral, agricultural, and commer- 
 cial resources, and a numerous and enterprising population : 
 
 Linking together the three noble provinces of Canada, 
 New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia : 
 
 And forming the most important part of the great line of 
 railway which is to stretch from the shores of the Atlantic to 
 the Pacific, and which is destined at no very distant day to 
 become the great high road to China and the East Indies. 
 
 Extracts from reports, despatches. Acts of Parliament, 
 addresses, minutes of deputations to the Government, &c. 
 &c., relating to the railway, will be found in the Appendix. 
 
t' % 
 
 ! 
 
 t 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
■■■1 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Extract from Lord Durham's Report on Canada, dated 31st 
 January, 1839, presented to Parliament 11th February, 
 J 839;— 
 
 ** We must remove from the colonies the cause to which the sagacity of Adam 
 Smith traced the alienation of the provinces which now form the United States ; 
 we must provide some scope for whiit he calls ' the importance ' of the leading 
 men in the colony, beyond what he forcibly terms the present ' petty prizes of 
 the paltry raffle of colonial faction.' A general legislative union would elevatrt 
 and gratify the hopes of able and aspiring men ; they would no longer look with 
 envy and wonder at the great arena of the boniering federation, but see the 
 means of satisfying every legitimate ambition in the high offices of the judicature 
 and executive government of their own union. Nor would a union of the 
 various provinces be less advantugeous in facilitating a co-operation for vailous 
 common purposes, of which the want is now very seriously felt. There is hardly 
 a department of the business of government which does not require, or would 
 not be better performed, by being carried on under the superintendence of a 
 general government ; but when we consider the political and commercial interests 
 that are common to these provinces, it appears difficult to account for their 
 having ever been divided into separate governments, since they have all been 
 portions of the same empire, subject to the same crown, governed by nearly the 
 sam. laws and constitutional customs, inhabited, with one exception, by the 
 same race, contiguous and immediately adjacent to each other, and bounded along 
 their whole frontier by the territories of the same powerful and rival state. It 
 would appear that every motive that lias induced the union of various provinces 
 into a single state exists for the consolidation of these colonies under a common 
 legislature and executive. They have the same common relation to the mother 
 country, the tame relation to foreign nations. When one is at war the others 
 arc at war ; and the hostilities that are caused by an attack on one must seriously 
 compromise the welfare of the rest. Thus the dispute between Great Britain 
 aqd the State of Maine appears immediately to involve the interests of none of 
 the colonies except New Brunswick or Lower Canada, to one of which the 
 territory claimed by us must belong ; but if a war was to ciuimence on this 
 ground, it is most probable that the American Government would select Upper 
 Canada as the most vulnerable, or, at any rate, the easiest point of attack. A 
 dispute respecting the fisheries of Nova Scotia would involve precisely the samo 
 consequences. A union for common defence against foreign enemies is the 
 natural bond of connection that holds together the great communities of tho 
 world ; and between no parts of any kingdom or state is the necessity for such 
 a union more obvious than between the whole of these colonics. 
 
 " Their internal relations furnish quite as strong motives for union. Tha 
 post-office is at the present moment under the management of the same imperial 
 establishment. If, in compliance with the reasonable demands of the colonics, 
 the regulation of a matter so entirely of internal concern, and the revenue 
 derived from it, were placed under the control of the provincial legislature, it 
 would still be advisable that the management of the post-office throughout the 
 whole of British North America should be conducted by one general establish' 
 
 C 
 
18 
 
 t 
 
 , s 
 ; t 
 
 ment. In the same way, so great is the influence on the other provinces of the 
 arrangement adopted with re-pect to the disposal of public lands and colonization 
 in any one, that it is ubsolmely essential tliat this department of goveinmeut 
 should be conducted on one system and by one authority. The necessity of 
 common fiscal regulations is strongly felt by all the colonies ; and a custom-house 
 establishment would relieve them from the hinderanccs to their trade caused by the 
 duties now levied on all commercial intercourse between them. The monetary and 
 banking system of all is subject to the same influence, and ought to be regulated by 
 the same laws. The establishment of a common colonial currenr.y is very generally 
 desired ; indeed, I know of no department of government that would not greatly 
 gain, both in economy and effi(;iency, by being placed under a common manage- 
 ment. I should not propose, at fir;t, to alter the existing public establishments 
 of the diflerent provinces, because the necessary changes had l)etter be left to be 
 made by the united government ; and the judicial establishments should cer- 
 tainly not be disturbed until the future legislature shall provide for their 
 re-construction on a uniform and permanent footing. But even in the admi- 
 nistration of justice, a union would immediately supply a remedy for one of the 
 most serious wants under which all the provinces labour, by facilitating the 
 formation of a general nppellate tribunal for all the North American colonies. 
 
 " But the interests which are already in common between all these provinces 
 are small in comparison with those which, the consequences of such a union, 
 might, and I think I may say assuredly would, calNnto existence ; and the great 
 discoveries of modern art, which have throughout the world, and nowhere more 
 than in America, entirely altered the character and channels of communication 
 between different countries, will bring all the North American colonies into 
 constant and speedy intercourse with one another. The success of the great 
 oxperinicnt of steam navigation across the Atlantic opens a prospect of a speedy 
 commnnication with Europe, which will materially afl'ect the future state of all 
 these provinces. In a despatch which arrived in Canada after my departure, the 
 Secretary of State informed me of the determination of your Majesty's Govern- 
 ment to establish a steam communication between Great Britain and Halifax ; and 
 instructed me to turn my attention to theformaiion of a road between that port 
 and Quebec. It would indeed have given me sincere satisfaction, had I remained 
 in the province, to promote, by any means in my power, so highly desirable an 
 object ; and the removal of the usual restrictions on my authority as Governor- 
 General having given me the means of effectually acting in concert with the various 
 Provincial Governments, I might have been able to make some progress in the work. 
 But I cannot point out more strikingly the evils of the present want of a general 
 government for these provinces, than by adverting to the difficulty which would 
 practically occur, under the previous and present arrangements of both executive 
 and legislative authorities in the various provinces, in attempting to carry such a 
 plan into eff"ect. For the various colonies have no more means of concerting 
 such common works with each other, than with the neighbouring States of the 
 Union. They stand to one another in the position of foreign states, and of 
 foreign states without diplomatic relations. The Governors may correspond 
 with each other ; the legislators may enact laws, carrying the common purposes 
 into effect in their respective jurisdictions ; but there is no means by which the 
 various details may speedily and satisfactorily be settled with the concurrence of 
 the different parties. And, in this instance, it must be recollected that the 
 communication and the final settlement would have to be made between, not two, 
 but several of the provinces. The road would run through three of them ; and 
 Upper Canada, into which it would not enter, would, in fact, be more inte- 
 rested in the completion of such a work than any even of the provinces through 
 which it would pass. The colonies, indeed, have no common centre in which 
 the airangement coxild be made, except in the Colonial Office at home: and the 
 details of such a plan would have to be discussed just where the interest of all 
 parties would have the least means of being fairly and fully represented, and 
 where the minute local knowledge necessary for such a matter would be least 
 likely to be found. 
 
 " The completion of any satisfactory communication between Halifax and 
 Quebec would in fact produce relations between these provinces that would 
 
19 
 
 ^ 
 
 render a general union absolutely necessary. Several aurveya have proved that 
 a railway would be perfectly practicable the whole way. Indeed, in North 
 America, the expense and difficulty of making a railway bears by no means the 
 excessive propoi lion to those of a common road that it does in Europe. It 
 appears to be a general opinion in the United States, that the severe snows and 
 frosts of that continent very slightly impede, and do not prevent, tlie travelling 
 on railroads ; and if I am rightly informed, the Utica Railroad, in the northern 
 part of the State of New York, is used throughout the winter. If this opinion 
 be correct, the formation of a railroad from Halifax to Qucliec Wnuld entirely 
 avoid some of the leading characteristics of the CanHdas. Instead of being 
 shut out from all direct intercourse with England during half of the year, they 
 would possess afar more certain and speedy communication throughout the winter 
 than they now possess in summer. The passage from Ireland to Quebec would 
 be a matter of ten or twelve days, and Halifax would be the great port by which 
 a large portion of the trade and all the conveyance of passengers to the whole of 
 British North America would be carried on. But even supposing these brilliant 
 prospects to be such as we could not reckon on seeing realized, I may assume 
 that it is not intended to make this road without a well-founded belief that it 
 will become an important channel of communication between the upper and 
 lower provinces. In either case, would not the maintenance of such a road, and 
 the mode in which the governmeat is administered in the different provinces, be 
 matters of common interest to r.ll ? If the great natural channel of the St. Law- 
 rence gives all the people who dwell in any part of its basin such an interest in 
 the government of the whole as renders it wise to incorporate tlie two Canadas, 
 the artificial work — which would in fact supersede the lower part of the St. Law- 
 rence, as the outlet of a great part of the Canadian trade, and would make 
 Halifax in a great measure an outpost to Quebec, — would surely in the same 
 way render it advisable tliat the corporation should be extended to provinces 
 through which such a road would pass. 
 
 " Vi'ith respect to the two smaller colonies of Prince Edward's Island and 
 Newfoundland, I am of opinion that, not only would most of the reasons which I 
 have given for a union of the others apply to them, but that tht-ir smallness 
 makes it absolutely necessary as the only moans of securing any proper attention 
 to tht-ir interests, and investing them with that con^ideration the deficiency of 
 which they have so much reason to lament in all the disputes which yearly occur 
 between them and the citizens of the United States, with regard to the encroach- 
 ments made by the latter on their coasts and fisheries. 
 
 " The views on which I found my support of a comprehensive union have long 
 been enteriained by many persons in these colonies whose opinion is entitled to 
 the highest consideration. I cannot, however, refrain from mentioning the 
 sanction of such views by one whose authority your Majesty will, I venture to 
 say, receive with the utmost respect, — Mr. Sewell, the late Chief Justice of 
 Quebec, who laid before me an autograph letter addressed to himself by your 
 Majesty's illustrious and lamented father, in which his Royal Highness nas 
 pleased to express his approbation of a similar plan then proposed by that 
 gentleman. No one better understood the interest and character of thesie 
 colonies than his Royal Highness; and it is with peculiar satisfaction that I 
 submit to your Majesty's perusal the important document which contains his 
 Royal Highness's opinion in favour of such a scheme : — 
 
 "'Kensington Palace, 30lh Nov. 1814. 
 " ' My dear Sewell, 
 
 " I have this day had the pleasure of receiving your note of yes- 
 terday, with its interesting inclosure. Nothing can be better arranged than the 
 whole thing is, or more perfectly I cannot wish ; and when I see an opening, it 
 is fully my intention to hint the matter to Lord Bathurst and put the paper into 
 his hands, — without, however, telling him from whom I have it, though I shall 
 urge him to have some conversation with you relative to it. Permit me, however, 
 just to ask you whether it was not an oversight in you to state that there arc five 
 Houses of Assembly in the British Colonies in North America ? — for, if I am 
 not under an error, there are six, viz. Upper and Lower Canada, Nova Scotia, 
 and New Brunswick, the islands of Prince Edward, and Cape Breton. Allow 
 
20 
 
 ['It.; 
 
 me also to beg of you to put down the proportionfi in wliioh you tliink the thirty 
 members of the rcpre*entalivc assembly ought to be fumislied hy each pro- 
 vince ; and finally, to sujrg^'st whethor you would not think two Lieutenant- 
 Governors, with two executive councils, guffiirient for tlio executive govern- 
 ment of the whole, viz. one for the two Canndas and one for Nova Sootia and 
 New Brunswick, comprt-hending the small dependencies of Cape Breton and 
 Prince Edward's Island, the former to reside at Montreal, and iho latter at 
 wh'chever of the two situations may be considered most central for the two 
 provinces, whether Annapolis Royal or Windsor. But af all events, should you 
 even consider four executive governments and four exeentivc councils requisite, 
 I presume there cannot be a question of the expediency of comprehending the 
 two small islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence with Nova Scotia. 
 
 " ' Believe me ever to remain, with the most friendly regard, 
 " ' My dear Sfwell, yours faithfully, 
 
 "•(Signed) EDWARD.'" 
 
 !:f 
 
 Extract from the Speech of the Earl of Lincoln, in the 
 House of Commons, July, 1848 : — 
 
 " It must be within the knowledge of the honourable Secretary for the 
 Colonics, and, notwithstanding the pressure of other affuira, within that of the 
 noble lord at the head of the Government, that a project has existed for some 
 time for constructing a railroad from Halifax to Quebec. 
 
 " That road commences at Halifax, passes through the centre of the province 
 of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. There is ttiis broad distinction between 
 New Brunswick and Canada : — there exists in the former a tract of 10,000,000 
 acres of fertile land in the possession of the Government ; this road passes 
 through that hnd, intersects a portion of Lower Canada to a point in the 
 St. Lawrence (River du Loup), and thence to Quebec. 
 
 " I hope I am not departing from my object in alluding to this line of road, but 
 it bears maleriHlIy on the question. 
 
 " It appears to me that this railroad may not only bo made of great importance 
 to the colonics, but an object of great national interest, both in a milttary, a 
 commercial, and every other point of view. As to the commercial consideration, 
 everybody is aware how circuitous is the navigation from England to Quebec by 
 the St. Lawrence, and it, is also a most datigerous one. On the coast and in the 
 vicinity of Cape Breton there are constant shipwrecks, and anything that rendered 
 the route safe, would benefit the commercial interests both of this country and 
 the colonies. In that country a railroad may be formed at little cost ; the land 
 may be had for nothing, and at any rate the sleepers for the line can be got for 
 taking down, and the cuttings can be made at a cheap rate. 
 
 " if it should be in the contemplation of Government, after an investigation of 
 this schemp, to sanction it, I cannot help thinking an early decision, by which 
 the proceedings of the railway may be facilitated, should be given." 
 
 Extract from the Speech of Earl Grey, in Parliament, 
 July, 1848 :— 
 
 " He (Lord Grey) confessed he had great anxiety to see the railroad system 
 carried to the greatest extent in America. There was one projected undertaking of 
 that kind which he thought of the greatest national importance ; it was projected 
 to run from Quebec to Halifax. He could not conceive anything more important 
 than the establishment of a communication by which they might have access from 
 Canada to one of the nearest colonial ports to this country in all seasons of the 
 year, and at the same time of course equally of easy accc.-s from Halifax to 
 Canada. This he believed to lie an object of the highest national importance. 
 In the construction of such a railroad, there was no doubt a great extent of land 
 which might be made available, but which was at the present time to a great 
 
 W'v 
 
31 
 
 -xtent innccCTsiblc ; lis convic^tion was that that railroad might he effected tit 
 a eo!)t wliicii would be covered by the increased value which it would confer in the 
 lund througli wliich it ran. 
 
 " No man was more anxious than himself that that work should go forward. 
 His noble friend the Governor'General of Canada (Lord Elgin), was rqually 
 impressed willi the eume opinion that it was a work most desirable to be 
 accomplished." 
 
 Extract from Despatch of Earl Grc}' to the Earl of 
 
 Elgin and Kincardine, Governor-General of British North 
 
 America : — 
 
 •' Downing Street, Nov. 17, 1848. 
 '• Mv Lord, 
 
 "The commissioners appointed by Her Majesty's Government to 
 explore and survey the line of country affording the greatest advantages for the 
 formation of a railway from Halifax through New Brunswick to Quebec, having 
 completed the duties with which they were charged, I have now the honour to 
 transmit to your lordship the final report of Major Robinson. 
 
 " I have perused this able document with the interest and attention it so well 
 merits, and I have to convey to you the assunmce of her Majesty's Government 
 that we fully appreciate the importance of tho proposed undertaking, and enter- 
 tain no doubt of tho great advantages which would result, not only to tho pro- 
 vinces interested in the work, but to the empire at large, from the construction 
 of such a railway." 
 
 Extracts from Major Robinson's Report to the Imperial 
 Government on the Survey of the Line of Railway from 
 Halifax to Quebec, dated 31st August, 1848 : — 
 
 "The state of Massachusetts affords the best materials for accurate informa- 
 tion as to the cost of railways in the United States. 
 
 " The average cost per mile of 830 miles has been j£'7,950 sterling. 
 
 " The climate and nature of the country bears a strong resemblance to that 
 through which the Halifax and Quebec Lino will pass, and in this respect the 
 analogy of the two cases is extremely favourable. 
 
 '* On some of the lines upwards of jf 15 per ton for rails have been paid. In 
 England rails can now be bought at £^ or j£'9 a ton. 
 
 "The advantage which Halifax and Quebec will possess over the lines in 
 Massachusetts in respect of iron alone, may be calculated at ^'500 per mile. 
 
 "When these lines were constructed, also, the demand for labour was ex- 
 tremely great, and wages much higher than in the present day. 
 
 "The Halifax and Quebec Line will have nLo many advantages which the 
 American lines have not. 
 
 " The land for the greater portion will not have to be purchased; timber and 
 stone will be bad nearly along the whole line for cutting and quarrying. 
 
 " Halifax may be considered the nearest great senport to England. 
 
 " The mails, troops, munitions of war, commissariat supplies, and all public 
 stores, would naturally pass by it, as the safest, speediest, and cheapest means of 
 conveyance. 
 
 " If a straight line be drawn from Cape Clear, in Ireland, to New York, it 
 will cut through a pass close to Halifax: the latter, therefore, is the direct route; 
 and as tlie sea-voyago across the Atlantic to New York may be shortened by 
 three days nearly in steamers, it is not improbable that, on that account, when 
 the branch railroad to St. John's is completed, and other lines to connect it with 
 the United States, the whole or greater portion of the passenger traffic between 
 the Old and New World would pass through Halifax, and over a great section of 
 the proposed railway. 
 
 " But the great object for the railway to attain, and which, if it should be able 
 
 I 
 
 «l 
 
I> 
 
 22 
 
 . 1 
 
 ! ;; 
 
 u 
 
 ' t 
 
 i! 
 
 to BcrompUiih, its capability to pay tho interest on tho capital expended would be 
 undoubted, is to supersedo the long and dangerous passage to Quebec by tho 
 Gulf of St. Lawrence. 
 
 " To make two voyages in a year, vessels are obliged to leave England earlier, 
 and encounter the dangers of the ico in the gulf, much sooner than it is safe 
 and prudent for them to do. The loss of life and property which has occurred 
 from this cause has been enormous. It cannot be ascertained, but probably it 
 would have more than paid for the railway. 
 
 "An opinion, however, may be formed of it from the rates of insurance, which 
 in the spring and autumn are as high as 10 per cent. — a much higher rate than 
 to any other part of thj world. For six months of tho year, then, the St. Law> 
 rence would cease to be a competitor with the railway, and large quantities of 
 produce would be certain to be forwarded by it. For the other six months of the 
 year it would have also the following strong claims to preference : rapidity of 
 transport, the saving of heavy insurance, and cheaper rate of freight from Halifax. 
 Vessels engaged in the Canadian trade would make three voyages to Halifax for 
 tno to Quebec. 
 
 The trade which is now crowded into six months, to the great inconvenience of 
 every one concerned, rendering large stocks necessary to be kept in hand, would 
 be dift'used equally over tho whole year. It is most probable that these advan- 
 tages will be found so great that only the bulky and weighty articles of commerce, 
 such as the very heavy timber and a few other goods, will continue to be sent 
 round by the Gulf of tst. Lawrence. 
 
 •'The enterprise is of general interest, it concerns the prosperity ond welfare of 
 the three provinces, and the honour as well as the interests of the whole British 
 empire may be affected by it. It is the one great means by which alone the 
 power of the mother country can be brought to bear on this side of the Atlantic, 
 and restore the balance of power, fast turning to the side of the United States. 
 Every new line of railway adds to their power, enabling them to concentrate their 
 forces almost wherever thoy please ; and by the lines, of which there are already 
 some, and there will soon be more, n'i.:;hing to their northern frontier, they can 
 choose at their own time any point of attack on their long extending Canadian 
 frontier, and direct their whole strength against it. The provinces, therefore, 
 and the empire, having such interest in tho formation of the Halifax and Quebec 
 Line, it should be undertaken by thorn in common as a great public work for the 
 public weal. 
 
 " The ordinary price for an acre of wild, uncleared land is about 2». 6d. to 3«. 
 per acre ; but where public roads are made through them, the value immediately 
 increases, and it will not be considered an extravagant estimate to suppose that 
 the land along it or in the immediate vicinity of the railway will be worth £1 
 per acre. 
 
 " But to look at this great work only as a commercial speculation and yielding 
 merely interest for the expenditure incurred, would be to take a very limited 
 view of the objects it is capable of claiming. 
 
 "In the United States they are well aware of the increased value which 
 internal improvements and communications give to property of every kind. 
 
 " In those countries, works have been undertaken for that object alone, not 
 for the mere return which the work, whether railway, road, or canal, would make 
 of itself. The indebtedness of the several states has been incurred almost entirely 
 in making great internal improvements ; and in the boldness and unhesitating 
 way in which they have incurred debts and responsiblities for the purpose of 
 developing their resources may be seen the secret of their unrivalled prosperity. 
 
 "The state is in debt, but its inhabitants have been enriched beyond all 
 proportion. Most unfavourable comparisons are made by travellers who visit 
 the British provinces and the United States ; and some have gone as fur as to 
 state, that travelling along where the boundary is a mere conventional liue, they 
 could at once tell whether they were in the States or not. 
 
 "The creative or productive power of canals, railways, &c., may be traced 
 in the history and progress of New York. The Erie Canal was commenced in 
 1817, and completed in 1825, and cost £1,400,000 sterling. The canal was 
 found so inadequate to the traffic, that, between the years 1825 and 1835, a 
 
28 
 
 further «um of ,£'2,700,000 wan expended in f nlarging it. And on tlic Ist of July 
 IH'M'i, there Imd accumulated in tho hands of tlio comniifliionpr* an amount 
 sufficient to cxiinguiHh the whole of the standing debt incurred in its coiibtruction. 
 
 " For tho States of New York :— 
 
 " In 1817, the official value of real and personal pro- 
 perty was .. .. .. .. £03,308,000 
 
 " In 1835, the official value of real and personal pro- 
 perty was .. .. .. .. ;eilO,120,000, 
 
 or, an increase of nearly ;£47,O00,OOO sterling in tho value of property, attributed 
 chiefly, if not entirely, to the formation of the canals. 
 
 *' It is not too much to say, that between the Bay of Fundy and the St. 
 Lawrence, in the country to be traversed by the proposed railway, there is 
 abundant room for all the surplus population of the mother country. 
 
 " Of the climate, soil, and capabilities of New Brunswick, it is impossible to 
 spenk too highly. There is no country so beautifully wooded and watered. An 
 inspection of the map will show that there is scarcely a section of it without its 
 streams, from the running brook up to the navigable river ; two-thirds of its 
 boundary aiu washed by tlij sea, the remainder is embraced by the large rivers, 
 the St. John and the Rcstigouche. For beauty and richness of scenery, this, 
 latter river and its branches are not surpassed by anything in Great Britain. 
 Its lakes are numerous and most beauliful. its surface is undulating, hill and dale 
 varying to mountain and valley. It is every wh^re, except a few peaks of the 
 highest mountains, covered with a dense forest of the finest growth. The country 
 can everywhere be penetrated by its streams ; in some parts o( the interior, for a 
 postage of three or four miles, a canoe oan float away either to the Bay of 
 Chaleurs and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, or down to St. John's, in the Bay of 
 Fundy. The labours of the season over or suspended upon the railway, they 
 could most advantageously employ themselves in clearing, logging, and improving 
 their own lots. 
 
 " Another great effect of the railway would be to enhance almost immediately 
 the value of all real and personal pr()i)erty. Villages and towns would no doubt 
 spring up in its course, the same as in the Erie Canal. The railway would give them 
 birth, agriculture and external commerce would support and enrich them. But 
 if by its means the navigation of tho Gulf of St. Lawrence is spared, what un 
 amount of human suffering and loss of life will it not save ! 
 
 " Embarking and disembarking at Halifax, all danger and inconvenience from 
 the Gulf navigation would be avoided, time and expense would be saved, and 
 the season might be disregarded. Troops are annually moved to and from 
 Canada ; about the close of the navigation in 1843, a transport having the 1st 
 royal regiment on board, was wrecked in the mouth of the St. Lawrence. The 
 men got safely on shore, but there were no roads or means of getting away from 
 the place. By the personal exertions of one of the officers, who made his way 
 through the woods in sun-shoes to the nearest settlement, and thence to Quebec, 
 information was given of the wreck, and a steamer sent down to take them off; 
 but for this, the consequence must have been that the regiment would have had 
 to winter there in the best manner they could. 
 
 " The mails to and from Canada would pass over British territories exclusively, 
 and they would be received at Quebec before the steamer reached Boston, and at 
 Montreal, about the same time as its arrival at that port. 
 
 " Its agricultural capabilities and its climate are described in Bouchette's 
 works, in Martin's ' British Colonies,' and other authors. The country is by 
 them, and most deservedly, so highly praised, that, for any great plan of 
 emigration or colonization, there is not another so well formed for the trial as 
 New Brunswick. 
 
 •' To 17,000,000 productive acres there are only 208,000 inhabitants. 
 
 " Of these, 11,000,000 acres are still public property. On the surface is an 
 abundant stock of the finest timber, which in the markets of England realizes 
 large sums annually, and affords an unlimited supply cf fuel to the settlers. If 
 this should ever become- exhausted, there are the coals underneath. 
 
24 
 
 F'fii 
 
 'I 
 
 W' 
 
 ** The ittkes and sea-coasts abound with fish ; along the Bay of Clialeiirs it is 
 so abundant that the land smells of it ; it is usi'd as manure, and while the 
 olfactory nerves of the traveller arc offended by it on the land, he sees out at 
 sea immense shoals, darkening the surface of the water. 
 
 " For about the same expense, five emigrants could be landed in New 
 Brunswick for one in the Antipodes. 
 
 "The present limited population being so generally engaged in the timber 
 trade and the fisheries, there is the ricliest opening for agriculturists. 
 
 ** New Brunswick annually pays to the United States upwards of ^200,000 
 for provisions and other articles, which she can raise upon her own soil. 
 
 " Nova Scotia does nearly the same tbing. 
 
 '* There exists, therefore, a good market already on the spot for agricultural 
 produce, and it would be a strange anomaly indeed if a country, situated within 
 three or four weeks' sail of the markets of England, could not compete with the 
 growers of produce in the valley of the Mississippi, and the countries round the 
 great lakes in the far west. 
 
 " In a political and military point of view, the proposed railway must be 
 regarded as becoming a work of necessity. 
 
 " The increasing population and wealth of the United States, and the diffusion 
 of railways over their territory, especially in the direction of the Canadian 
 frontier, renders it absolutely necessary to counterbalance, by some corre- 
 sponding means, their otherwise preponderating power. 
 
 " Their railway communication will enable them to select their own time, 
 and their own point of attack, and will entail upon the British the necessity of 
 being prepared at all points to meet them. 
 
 *• It is most essential, therefore, that the mother country should be able to 
 keep up the communication with the Cani:.das at all times and all seasons. 
 However powerful EtigLnd may be at sea, no navy could save Canada from a 
 land force. 
 
 " Its conquest and annexation are freely spoken of in the United States, even 
 on the floors of Congress. 
 
 " Weakness invites aggression, and as tb-? railway would be a lever of power, 
 by which Great Britain could bring her strb^gth to bear in the contest, it is not 
 improbable that its construction would be the means of preventing a war at some 
 no distant period. 
 
 " The expense of one year's war would pay for a railway two or three times 
 over. And if, for great political objects, it ever became necessary or advisable 
 to unite all the British provinces under one Legislative Government, then there 
 will be found, on this side of the Atlantic, one powerful British state, which, 
 supported by the imperial power of the mother country, may bid defiance to all 
 the United States of America. The means to the end, the first great step to its 
 accomplishmenc, is the construction of the Halifax and Quebec Railway." 
 
 ''1 
 i I 
 
 Extract from Captain Henderson's Report to the Imperial 
 Government, accompanying Major Robinson's Report : — 
 
 " Table of gradients on the whole line from Halifax to Quebec ; — 
 
 '* Level, and under 20 feet per mile 439 miles. 
 
 20 to 40 150 „ 
 
 40 to 50 23 „ 
 
 50 to 60 10 „ 
 
 60 to 70 4 „ 
 
 635" 
 
Extract from the Report of Major Robinson, dated 
 March 30th, 1819:— 
 
 *' I have the greatest hope and belief that a very large portion of the traffic 
 from the United Kingdom to Quebec will pass to that railway, and that it will 
 command nearly the whole passenger tratiic, not only to Can>ida, but also, in 
 course of time, a very large portion of that between Europe and tiie continent of 
 North America. 
 
 '* The punctuality and shortness of the voyagC'i made by the Cunard steamers 
 from Liverpool to Halifax, as compared with all otiiers running between England 
 and the United States, will, I conceive, insure this result. 
 
 " What the Erie Canal has accomplished for the State of New York, this may 
 possibly do for the British provinces. 
 
 •' In the former case, it has doubled the population of this state, increased by 
 1,231,G83 souls, and added about £50,000,006 sterling to the value of real and 
 perso.tal property. 
 
 " It will not be too much, I think, to estimate that within the same period 
 one-third of that number, or about 400,000 settlers might by the mtans of the 
 works afforded by the construction of the railway and the opening out of such a 
 wide field for agriculture, he added to the population of the three provinces. 
 
 '•The balance of trade paid by the British North American colonies to the 
 United States for four years, from 1844 to 1847 inclusive, was j£'4,248,835. 
 
 " New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have paid the largest portion of this to 
 supply their lumbermen and fishermen with provisions ; buc what proportion is 
 due to Canada I am unable to ascertain. 
 
 " The latter is an exjrarting country for provisions, and could well supply 
 the two sister provinces. 
 
 " I cannot conceive, either, in the list of exported articles of their domestic 
 produce, that there is any one but which could, if it met with due encouragement, 
 be produced in some portion or other of the British North Amerioan possessions. 
 
 •' The railway is the one thing needful to iiff'H-d the means of distributing the 
 produce from one province to another. 
 
 " From the foregoing, I think it may be said that the British colonies of North 
 America pay for their want of enterprise and neglect in developing their intcrnul 
 communications and resources au annual fine of i:l,000,000 sterling to the 
 United States of America." 
 
 Extract from a Despatch from the Earl of Elgin to Earl 
 Grey, dated 20th of December, 1848:— 
 
 " Af3 regards the probability of the work proving ultimately remunerative, T 
 cnnnot but expiuss my belief, that under the arrangement suggested by the 
 Canadian Government its cost to the British Government will be found to fall 
 within Major Robinson's estimate. He has based his calculations, it would 
 appear, on the expense of railways constructed in the state of Mas:>achusctts, 
 where large prices are frequently paid for land, and where tlie cost of the principal 
 materials employed is enhanced by the operation of a highly protective tariff. 
 As the land to be occupied by the line will cost the Government nothinx, and hh 
 a considerable sum mf>y be realized by the alienation of that portion of the public 
 domain which will be placed at itj disposal, a large deduction may, it is to be 
 hoped, be made fur these estimates, whilst the almost invariable productivenei^a 
 of the railw-iys in America, which ve frequently pushed, in the face of great 
 engineering difficulties, into distiiets whose present resources and population 
 would not appear to justify the outlay, or warrant the expectation of a return on 
 the capital expended. 
 
 " I have chiefly insisted on the advantages which the mother country is likely 
 to derive from the execution of this work, believing that the benofit« which it 
 will confer on the colonies are too manifest to require elucidation. I would, 
 however, venture to offer an observation on this head. It is ubviouB that as soon 
 
 as railway communication is 
 
 extended throughout 
 I> 
 
 the provinces, a smaller 
 
26 
 
 military force than is now requisite will suHicc for their protection. Bat loolciiig 
 to (he anxiety which your lordship has reppatediy expressed, that a diminution 
 in the expenditure incurred by Great Britain on this a'^count should be effected 
 at the earliest period, I am prepared to go a step further in this direction, so 
 confident am 1 that the mere undertaking of the work in question will tend to 
 raise the colonists from the despondency into which lecent changes in the 
 commercial policy of the empire have plunged them ; to unite the provinces to 
 one another, and to the mother country ; to inspire them with the consciousness 
 of their own strength, and of the value of the connection with Great Britain, 
 which is their best security against aggression ; that I would not hesitate to 
 recommend that an immediate and considerable reduction should take place 
 in the fores stationed in Canada in the event of the execution of the Quebec 
 and Halifax Raiiway being determined on." 
 
 
 !i i 
 
 Extracts from Minutes of Legislative Council of New 
 Brunswick, January 6th, 1849 : — 
 
 " The Council having considered these documents with great attention and 
 satisfaction, fully concur with the opinion expressed by Major Robinson in his 
 very able Report, that, while the projected railway will be of great advantage to 
 provincial interests, it is at the same time a work of imperative necessity, in a 
 national point of view, for the preservation and integrity of this portion of her 
 Majesty's dominions. Were the available resources of the province equal to our 
 desires for the permanency of our connection with the empire and the stability of 
 British institutions in this continent, we would at once take upon ourselves our 
 proportion of this good work, asking aid from no quarter. No question of 
 greater importance to British colonial interests could be presented for the 
 consideration of the Government ; upon it hangs the destiny of these pro- 
 vinces as portions of the empire ; in its favourable termination we view 
 the only guarantee of colonial unity and British supremacy in British North 
 America," &c. 
 
 On the 30th May, 1849, the Legislature of Canada passed 
 an Act of Parliament containing the following clause : — 
 
 " And whereas the proposed railway between Halifax and Quebec will be a 
 great national work, bringing together tlie several portions of the British Empire 
 on the continent of North America, and facilitating the adoption of an extensive, 
 wholesome, and effective system of emigration and colonization ; and it is right 
 that Canada should render such assistance as her means will admit towards the 
 accomplishment of a work so important, and promising results so beneficial. Be 
 it therefore enacted, that if her Majesty's Government shall undertake the con- 
 struction of the said railway, either directly or through the instrumentality of a 
 private company, it shall be lawful for the Governor in Council, on behalf of this 
 province, to undertake to pay yearly, in proportion as the work advances, a sum 
 not exceeding j£f20,000 sterling, towards making good the deficiency (if an;) in 
 the income from the railway, to meet the interest of the sum expended upon it, 
 and to place at the disposal of the Imperial Government all the ungranted lands 
 within the province lying in the line of railway, to the extent of ten miles on each 
 side thereof; and to undertake to obtain, pay for, and place at the disposal of the 
 Imperial Government all the land required within the province for the line of 
 railway, and for proper stations and termini." 
 
 Sir John Harvey, Lieut.-Governor of Nova Scotia, in a 
 despatch to Earl Grey, dated 6th April, 1849, sent the follow- 
 ing address from the Legislative Council, for presentation to 
 the Queen : — 
 
 "May it flkasb your Majesty, 
 "We, your Majesty's faithful 
 
 ..-, , — — j^^.j _ ._ and loyal subjects, the Legislative 
 
 Council of Nova Scotia, approach your Majesty with warm attachment to your 
 
27 
 
 lew 
 
 Mfijpsty's person and Government, to express our grateful feeling to your 
 Majesty for having submitted the surveys and plans of the contemplated railroad 
 from Quebec to Halifax for the deliberate consideration of the Legislative Council. 
 
 " The able report of yuur Majesty's engineers employed in this survey confirms 
 the views entertained by the Legislative Council, thut the accompli^hmf nr of this 
 undertaking will develop the resources nf your Majesty's noble possessions on 
 tliis continent, create new elements of prosperity, promote internal improvement, 
 and become a national and indisj>oluble bond of union vith the parent state. 
 
 " Impressed with these sentiments, the legislature of this province has passed a 
 Ian' granting, free of espense, a right of way for the railroad, togethir with all 
 public lands for ten miles of either side thereof; and charging iipon the provincial 
 and local revenues of Nova Scotia an annual contribution of ^£20,000 sterling 
 towards the payment of the interest of the sum required to be expended upon the 
 construction of the work, of which sum a fifth part has been voluntarily tenderi'd 
 by the citizens uf Halifax, and the whole will be annually paid to such comrnis- 
 siuners as your Majtsty may be pleased to a|>poiiit after the completion, or satis- 
 factory security for the completion, of such railway, until the traffic thereon shall 
 be sufficient to relieve the provincial government from further contribution. 
 
 " Your Majesty's subjects, in this part of your empire, have made preparations 
 to erect an electric telegraph across Nova Scotia, to unite with the lines already 
 established from Metis to Quebec, and Saint John, New Brunswick, to Boston, 
 and thus information will be transmitted in the most rapid manner to the interior 
 of Canada and the United States ; and the speedy construction of this projected 
 railway will turn the passenger travelling in the same direction as the most 
 speedy and safe route to the heart of America. 
 
 '* The projected railway will furnish a safe military road through the centre of 
 British America, open a boundless tract of fertile soil fur colonization, facilitate 
 the transport of your Majesty's mails and troops, and will create a new inter- 
 course with Western America through the lakes of the Saint Lawranceto Halifax, 
 a feat surpassed by none on the continent of America. 
 
 •' May it please your Majesty to give to the subject of this address your gracious 
 consideration, and extend your royal favour to the construction of this national 
 highway through your Majesty's splendid provinces, knitting tliem together by 
 tl e strongest tiss, and uniting them to the parent state by the bonds of loyalty, 
 affection, and interest. 
 
 (Signed) ♦' Mich. Tobin, President." 
 
 The House of Representatives sent a similar address to 
 the above. 
 
 Sir Edmund Head, Bart., Lieutenant-Governor of New 
 Brunswick, in a despatch to Earl Grey, dated March 31st, 
 1849, says : — 
 
 " My Lord, 
 
 " I have the honour to enclose a copy of a joint address to her Majesty 
 on the subject of railways, adopted by the Legislative Council and the House of 
 Assembly of this province, together with copies of two reports on she same sub- 
 ject, made by the committees of the Legislative Council and Assembly respectively. 
 
 " I propose to address ^our lordship at some le-.igth on the matter of the 
 address and the reports, because I think the terms in which the latter are couched 
 are liable to be misunderstood, and because the invportance of the subject itself, 
 in relation to the future pro<;ress of this colony and to its capability for immi- 
 gration, requires at my hands some explanation. 
 
 " The language of the reports of the committees may appear to be somewhat 
 strong, but I think I can conscientiously assure you that the persons comprising 
 the committees are deeply ai'tached to her Majesty's Government, and if they 
 have erred in the manner of expressing what they meant, it has been from their 
 anxiety on the subject to which the reports relate, &c., &c. 
 
 \ 
 
28 
 
 The address to her Majesty is as follows : — 
 
 " May it vhKxaa your Majesty, 
 
 " We, the Legislative Council and Assembly of your Majesty's Pro- 
 vince of New Brunswick, beg leave to approach your Majesty with renewed 
 assurance of our attachment and fidelity to your Majesty's person and Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 " In common wi:h all yonr Majesty's subjects in these North American 
 Colonics, we are deeply impressed with the paramount iraporta^'ie of the con- 
 templated line of railway from Halifax to Quebec for the ctmsolidation of these 
 portions of your Majesty's dominions, and for the preservation of British inter- 
 ests on this continent. 
 
 " Strongly attached to our country and its institutions, we beg leave to sub- 
 mit to your Majesty our humble offering in aid of this great national uuder- 
 ttkiiig. 
 
 " Anticij)atini5 that the railway will be constructed by the aid of the Imperial 
 Government, we offer, in consideration tliei eof, to secure to your Majesty all the 
 ungranted linds through which the road may pass to the extent of ten miles on 
 eitch side, to be disposed of in such manner as may be deemed most advisable 
 by your Majesty's Government. And also to secure, at the expense of the pro- 
 vince, a sutHcient breadth of way and the ueuessurj'^ stations over and upon 
 private property for the use of the said road. 
 
 *' And we further pledge ourselves that we will citarge upon the general rcve- 
 nups of the jiroviijce a sum not exceeding ^20,000 currency per annum, towards 
 paying the interest upon the capital invested in the said road, to be paid 
 yearly from and after the completion of the said road, and while the same is 
 kept in operation, and to be continued for a term not exceeding twenty years. 
 
 " We would respectfully impress upon your Majesty's consideration that the 
 quality of the land pledged by us, and its easy access from the United Kingdom, 
 present it as one of the most eligible fields for emigration in any of your Ma- 
 jesty's dominions. 
 
 " Whenever we shall be advised of tlie favourable determination of your 
 Majesty's Government in this matter, we will immediately pass such legislative 
 c.iaotment* as may be ni'cessary to carry into effect the pledges made in this our 
 humble nnd dutiful addnss. 
 
 (Signed) «' William Black, P. L. C. 
 
 '• J. W. Wellton, Speaker, House of Assembly." 
 
 The following arc extracts from the Report of the Select 
 Coiiimittee of the Legislative Assembly, referred to in Sir E. 
 Head's despatch : — 
 
 
 " Viewing the relative positions of the North American Colonies, and the 
 great importance, in a national point of view, of improving the facilities for 
 mutual intercourse, we consider it a matter of the greatest moment for the per- 
 mancncy of British interests in this continent, that a railway should be laid down 
 to connect tlie lower provinces with the interior of Canada. 
 
 " We believe that no other meaaure can be devised which will so certainly 
 consolidate the colonies, ai\d perpetuate our connection with Great Britain ; 
 while without it, we fear that our position as colonies will be of short 
 duration. 
 
 " Wo think the plain broad question on this subject is — do the people of 
 England wish to retain the North American colonies, or not ? If they do, the 
 Trunk Railway in indispensable, and should be completed at any cost." 
 
 Sir John Harvey, Lieut.-Governor of Nova Scotia, in a 
 despatch to Earl Grey, dated the 2ud May, 1850, says ; — 
 
 / 
 
29 
 
 " My Lord, 
 
 •' I hiive the honour to enclose, for your lordship's consideration, a reso- 
 lution adopted by the Legislative Council of this province on the subject of the 
 projected railway from Halifax to Quebec. 
 
 ♦' The people of this province are very anxious that this great public work 
 should be immediately commenced : and I beg to draw your lordship's attention 
 to the law passed on the 31>t of March, 1849, enacting that it should be lawful 
 for her Majesty to cause five commissioners to be appointed for establishing and 
 omstmcting such railroad from Halifax to the boundary line of New Brunswick 
 to meet a railroad from Lower Canada through New Brunswick, and also giving 
 power to the Governor, by and with the advise of the Executive Council, to 
 vest in hrr Majesty ten miles of the Crown lands on each side of the line f.r the 
 benefit of the railroad, and to raisJO funds for the construction thereof. And 
 lastly, that the railroad should be U'lder such rules and recantations as shall be 
 established by her Majesty's Government. 
 
 " A pleJge has likewise been given for the sum of jt20,000 sterling, to pay 
 the interest on the capital to be expended for the accomplishment of this work. 
 
 " The opinion is very strongly entertained here, my lord, that the construction 
 of this railroad would bo one of the most effectual means of defending these 
 possessions of her Majesty, and would assist in preserving the connection with 
 each other and the mother-country, and would develope the resources, and 
 invigorate trade and commerce, and promote the permanent prosperity and hap- 
 piness of her Majesty's subjects in these portions of the realm. 
 
 (Signed) "J.Harvey." 
 
 The resolution above referred to is as follows : — 
 
 I 
 
 " Legislative Council Chamber, 26th March, 1850. 
 
 " Resolved, that an address be presented to his Excellency the Lieutenant- 
 Governor, requesting him to call the attention of her Majesty's Government to 
 the subject of tlie proposed railroad from Halifax to Quebec, and to urge the 
 gre It importance of that undertaking to the welfare and prosperity of the pro- 
 vince, and to use all the constitutional means in his power to expedite its com- 
 mencement. 
 
 (Signed) *• John C. Halliburton, C.L.C." 
 
 On the 25th April, 1850, the House of Assembly of New 
 Brunswick again addressed her Majesty, from which the 
 following are extracts : — 
 
 " Although we have on a farmer occasion brought this subject to your Ma- 
 jesty's notice, yet on such a momentous question, involving, cs we sincerely 
 believe it docs, the stability and permanency of British interests on this continent, 
 it is our duty to be importunate, and not let the subject rest while there remains 
 any prospect of its success. 
 
 ** We have already afforded the best possible proof of our own sincerity, by 
 pledging ourselves to grant a sum of .£^20,000 a year for twenty years, together 
 with at least 2,000,000 of arres of superior land available for settlement 
 and colonization. 
 
 *' Believing your Majesty's Government sincere in the declaration that these 
 colonies will be retained at all hazards, and that they are viewed as part of the 
 strength of the empire, it is sunly a question worthy of the best consideration 
 of your Majesty's Government, What can he done for the ??orth American 
 Colonies, to prevent their declension, to give them strength and consistency, and 
 thereby retain confidence in the Imperial Government ? " 
 
 " To this important question we are prepared to answer, that no other measure 
 will so certainly produce the desired efl'ects as the railway from Halifax to 
 Quebec. 
 
 " The sum oi ^'60,000 being already guaranteed by Canada, Nova Scotia, 
 
so 
 
 and this province, we are led to hope that if jonr Majesty's GoTernmeiit would 
 procure from the Imperial Parliament a grant of ,£"1,000,000 sterling in aid of 
 the undertaking, tlie work would be shortly commenced and successfully pro- 
 secuted, &c. &c. 
 
 (Signed) " J. W. Weldon, Speaker of Assembly." 
 
 
 }f 
 
 :* Jf, 
 
 ff' 
 
 Extract from a Letter of the Honourable Joseph Howe to 
 Earl Grey, dated 25th November, 1850: — 
 
 "This route would, therefore, save, in the communication between Europe 
 and America, tifty-six hours to every individual in all times to come who 
 passed between the two continents, the sea risks to life and property being 
 tiiininished by one-third of the whole. . . . 
 
 " The Briiish Government now pay for the conveyance of the North American 
 mails between England and New York ^145,000 sterling per annum. By this 
 arrangement 1,107 miles of sea are traversed more than are necessary. The 
 correspondence of all Europe with all America is deliiyed fifty-six hours beyond 
 tliu time which will be actually required for its cuuveyance when the railroads 
 ucruss Ireland and Nova Scotia are completed. 
 
 " One set of these British mail steimers pass by our provinces, and to the 
 mortification of their inhabitants, carry their letters, and even the public 
 despatches of their Government, to the United States, to be sent back some 800 
 niiies, if they came by land ; at least 500 if sent by sea. 
 
 "While the nearest land to Europe is British territory, — while a harbour, 
 almost matchless for security and capacity, invites Englishmen to build up within 
 the empire a fitting rival to the great commercial cities which are rising beyond 
 it, your Lordship will readily comprehend the depth and earnestness of our 
 impatience to be rescued from a position which wounds our pride as British 
 bubjects, and is calculated rapidly to generate the belief, that the commanding 
 position of our country is either not understood, or our interests but lightly 
 valued. 
 
 " A very common idea prevails in this country that nearly the whole continent 
 of North America was lost to England at the time of the revolution, and that 
 only a few insignificant and almost worthless provinces remain. This is a great, 
 and if the error extensively prevails, may be a fatal mistake. Great Britain, your 
 lordship is well aware, owns up to this moment one-half the continent ; and, 
 taking the example of Europe to guide us, I believe the best half. I'^ot the best 
 for slavery, or for growing cotton and tobacco, but the best for raismg men and 
 women, the most congenial to the northern European, the most ])rovocative 
 of steady industry, and, all things else being equal, the most impregnable and 
 secure. . . . 
 
 " Tlie balance of power in Europe is watched with intense interest by British 
 statesmen. The slightest movement, or the smallest state, that '.s calculated to 
 cause vibration, animates the Foreign Office, and adds to its perplexities and 
 labours. But is not the balance of power in America worth retaining ? Suppose 
 it lo.st, how would it affect that of Europe ! " 
 
 On the 10th March, 1851, the following letter was ad- 
 dressed to ' e Hon. Joseph Howe, who had been selected by 
 the Govci icnt of Nova Scotia to impress the importance of 
 the Halifa. ^d Quebec Railway upon the Imperial Govern- 
 ment: — 
 
 " Downing-atreet, March 10/A, 1851. 
 •• Sir, 
 
 " I am directed by Earl Grey to inform you that he is at length 
 enabled to commu'iicate to you the decie'on of her Majesty's Government on 
 
31 
 
 [.urope 
 
 who 
 
 being 
 
 the application for assistance towards t!i<5 construction of the projected railway 
 through Nova Scotia, contained in youi letters of the 25th of November aitd the 
 ICth of January last. 
 
 *' You are already aware, from the repeated conversations which you have had 
 with Lord Grey, of the strong sense entertained by his lordship and his colleages, 
 of the extreme importance, not only to the colonies directly interested, but to 
 the empire at lar(?e, of providing for the construction of a railway by which a 
 line of communication may be established on the British territory between the 
 provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Canada, and that various ])lana 
 which have been suggested for the accomplishment of this object have undergone 
 the most attentive consideration. 
 
 " It appears from Sir John Harvey's despatch of August 29th, 1850, as well 
 as from your letters and the verbal communications you have made to Lord Grey, 
 that the Provincial Government of Nova Scotia, fully relying on the concurrence 
 of the Legislature, is desirous of undertaking the construction of that part of the 
 projected line which would pass through that province, and proposes to obtain 
 for that purpose a loan of ^800,000, which is the estimated expense of the work. 
 The assistance which Lord Grey understands you to apply for, in behalf of the 
 province, is that the payment of the interest of a loan to this amount should be 
 guaranteed by the Imperial Parliament, the eflffct of which would be that the 
 money might be v.ised on terms much more favourable than would be otherwise 
 required by the lenders. 
 
 " I am directed to inform you that her Majesty's Government are prepared 
 to recommend to Parliament that this guarantee should be granted, or that tlie 
 money required should be advanced from the British Treasury on the conditions 
 which I will now proceed to state. 
 
 " In the first place, as her Majesty's Government are of opinion that they 
 would not be justified in asking Parliament to allow the credit of this country to 
 be pledged for any object not of great importance to the British Empire as a 
 whole (and they do not consider that the projected railway would answer this 
 description, unless it should establish a line of communication between the three 
 British Provinces), it must be distinctly understood that the work is not to be 
 commenced, nor is any part of the loan, for the interest of which the British 
 Treasury is to be responsible, to be raised, until arrangements are made with the 
 provinces of Canada and New Brunswick, by which the construction of a line 
 of railway parsing wholly through British territory, from Halifax or Quebec or 
 Montreal, shall be provided for to the satisfaction of her Majesty's Govern« 
 ment. 
 
 " In order that such arrangements may be made, her Majesty's Government 
 will undertake to recommend to Parliament that the like assistance shall be ren- 
 dered to those provinces as to Nova Scotia, in obtaining loans for the construction 
 of their respective portions of the work. If it should appear that by leaving it 
 to each province to make that part of the line passing through its own territory, 
 the proportion of the whole cost of the work which would fall upon any one 
 province would exceed its proportion of the advantage to be gained by it, then 
 the question is to remain open for future consideration, whether some contribu- 
 tion should not be made by the other provinces towards that part of the line : 
 but it is to be clearly understood that the whole cost of the line is to be provided 
 for by loans raised by the provinces in such proportions as may be agreed upon 
 with the guarantee of the Imperial Parliament. 
 
 " The manner in which the profits to be derived from the railway, when com- 
 pleted, are to be divided between the provinces, will also remain for future 
 consideration. 
 
 " You will obsrrve, that I have stated that the line is to pass entirely through 
 British territory ; but her Majesty's Government do not require that the line 
 should necessarily be that recommended by Major Robinson and Captain Hen- 
 derson. If the opinion which is maintained by many persons well qualified to 
 form a judgment is correct, that a shorter and better line may be formed through 
 New Brunswick, it will of course be preferred, and there will be sufficient time 
 fur determining this question while the earlier part of the line is in progress. 
 
 " It is also to be understood that her Majesty's Government will by no means 
 
32 
 
 I 
 
 ?;i 
 
 object to i'a forming part of the jtlan which may be tietcrmincd upon, that it 
 should include n provisinn for cstabli.ihing a contnuini(Mtion between the jiro. 
 jected railways and the ruilways of the United States. Any deviation from the 
 line recommended by Major Robinson and Captain Henderson must, however, 
 be subject to the approval of her Majesty's Government. 
 
 " It will further be required that the several provincial legislatures should pass 
 laws, making the loans which they are to raise a first char;j[e upon thi; provincial 
 revenues, after any existing debts and payments on account of the. civil lists 
 seitled on her Majesty by laws now in force: and also that permanent taxes 
 shall be imposed (or tuxes to continue in force till the debt shall be extin^lli^hed) 
 sufficient to provide for the payment of the interests and sinking fund of the 
 loans proposed to be raised after discharging the above i)rior claims. It will 
 further be neces-'sary that the expenditure of the money nised under the 
 guarantee of the Imperial Parliament shall take place under the superintendence 
 of commissioners appointed by her Majesty's Government, and armed with 
 sufliiuent power to secure the due application of the funds so raised to ihcir 
 inteuiled object. Theconimisiiioner.-i so appoinicd are not, however, to interfere 
 with the arrangement of the provincial governments, except for the above 
 purpose. 
 
 " The right of sending troops, stores, and mails along the line, at reasonable 
 rates, must likewise be secured. 
 
 " If, on the part of the Government of Nova Scotia, you should express your 
 concnrrenre in the above proposal, Lon: Grey will immediat>^-ly direct the 
 Governor- General of the British North American Provinces to commurdcate 
 with the Lieutenant-Governors of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, v\ho will 
 also be directed to bring the subject under the consideration of tht-ir respective 
 Executive Councils, in order that, if they should be prepared to join in carrying 
 the undertaking into effect on the terms proposed, the details of tho arrange- 
 ments between the provinces mr.y be settled, and the sanction of the legislatures 
 obtained for the plan, so that it may with as little delay as possible be submitted 
 for the approval of Parliament. 
 
 "Before, however, the ^iroposed measures can be so submitted to ParliamenS 
 it is proper to obs;;rve there are some of the questions affecting the pecuniary 
 relations between the mother-country and the colonies which will roquirt; to 
 be considered ; but as these questions have little, if any, reference to Nova 
 Scotia, it is not necessary that they should be further adverted to in this 
 letter. 
 
 " I am directed to add that Lord Grey thinks it unnecessary that any mea- 
 sures should be taken by her Majesty's Government to encourage the establish- 
 ment of steam-vessels for the accommodation of the emigrants of the humbler 
 classes, which is one of the subjects to which you have called his attention. 
 
 " If there should be a demand for such vessels, Lord Grey has no doubt that 
 they will speedily be supplied by private enterprize ; indeed, he has been in- 
 formed that ships of large size, intended for the conveyance of emigrants, and 
 furnished with auxiliary steam-power, are already building, both in this country 
 and in America ; and if by undertaking the projected railway a demand for 
 labour is created in the British provinces, and a large extent of fertile land is 
 opened for the occupation of settlers, these circumstances cannot fail to lead to 
 an extension and improvement of the means now afforded for the conveyance of 
 emigrants to these provinces [a further reference is made as to convict labour]. 
 
 (Signed) " B. Hawes." 
 
 ii 
 
 Extract from a Despatch from Earl Grey to - Lord Elgin, 
 dated 14th March, 1851. Presented to Parliament 8th 
 April, 1851. 
 
 " Under these circumstances it appears to her Majesty's Government, that 
 no more favourable opportunity could be found for placing the fiscal relations of 
 the mother country and the colony on a permanent and equitable footing. They 
 
33 
 
 it 
 ro- 
 the 
 rer, 
 
 IS5 
 
 cial 
 ists 
 txe8 
 
 are the more induced to adopt this view of the suhjert, because they are pre- 
 pared to recommend to Parliament that assistance of the same kind with that 
 which has proved so eminently useful to Canada in the construction of the St. 
 Lawrence canals, should be extended to her in respect of another public work, 
 ciilculntpd to be liardly less beneficial to her than these canals. In another de« 
 spati^h I will explain to your lordship the views of her Majesty's Government 
 with regard to the means by which it is hoped tliat the construction of the 
 Quebec and Halifax Railway may be accomplished. I only advert to this sub- 
 ject at present for the purpose of observing that while the credit of this country 
 is exerted to enable Canada to extend her public works and to develop her 
 resources, I feel confident that the Parliament of Canada will readily co-ope>at(t 
 with her Mcyesty^a Government in adopting measures for diminishing the chatge 
 on the British Treasury for the defence of the province. 
 
 "N.B. — Uptm the faith of the pledge given as above, of assistance to the 
 proposed line of railway, Canada took upon herself a large share of the military 
 expenses theretofore borne by the British Treasury for the protection of the 
 province." 
 
 On the 14th March, 1851, Earl Grey sent the following 
 despatch to the Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, Governor- 
 General of the British North American Provinces. 
 
 " Downing Street, \4th March, 1851. 
 '* My Lord, 
 
 " From the corresfiondence which I have already had with your lord- 
 ship on the subject of the projected railroad from Halifax to Quebec, you are 
 well aware that, although her Majesty's Governmtnt have not hitherto been 
 enabled to take any steps towards the execution of that work, it is an imder- 
 taking which they have long earnestly desired to see accomplished, as they 
 believe it to be one cdculated very greatly to advance the commercial and 
 political interests, both uf the British provinces in North America, and of the 
 mother-country. It is therefore with greut satisfaction that I have now to 
 acquaint your lordship that I have reason to hope that the time is at length 
 come when this great national enterprize may be undertaken with advantage, if 
 there still exists (as I am assured there does) as strong a desire to promote it on 
 the part of the inhabitants of Canada and New Brunswick as they formerly 
 expressed, and as the people of Nova Scotia have again recently manifested. 
 
 " 2. 1 encloiie fur your lordship's information a copy of a despatch, addressed 
 to me in the course of the last autumn, by Sir John Harvey, introducing to me 
 Mr. Howe, a member of the Government of Nova Scotia ; and also copies of 
 two letters I have received from that gentleman, and of the answer which has 
 by my direction been returned to him. Your lordship will perceive from these 
 papers, that the proposal made by Mr. Howe, on behalf of the province of 
 Nova Scotia, and to which her Majesty's Government have thought it their duty 
 so far to accede as to undertake, on certain conditions, to recommend it for the 
 sanction of Parliament, is to the effect that the credit of this country should be 
 employed to enable the Provinces of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, 
 to raise, upon advantageous terms, the funds necessary for the construction of the 
 proposed railway, just as Canarla has alroaily been enabled by similar assistances, 
 to construct the canals by which she has lately completed the moat extensive and 
 perfect system of inland navigation which exists in the world. Although her 
 Majesty's Government are of opinion that great caution ought to be observed in 
 pledging the credit of the British Treasury in aid of loans raised by the colonies, 
 they regard the work now in contemplation as being (like the Saint- Lawrence 
 Canals) of so much importance to the whole empire as to justify them in recom- 
 mending to Parliament that some assistance should be given towards its con- 
 struction ; nor is there any mode of affording such assistance which has been 
 hitherto suggested, which appears on the whole so little burthensome to the 
 mother-country, and at the same time of so much real service to the colonies, as 
 that which is now proposed. 
 
 1 3 
 
31 
 
 * 
 
 % 
 
 "3. Ill coming to the decision tlint Fni-limnciit should be invited to give thin 
 support to tlie projected railway, her Majesty's Government have not failed to 
 bear in mind that, by en»bling tho North American |irovinces to open this greut 
 line of communication, it moy fairly be assumed that a powerful stimulus will be 
 given to their advance in wealth and population; niid that the consequent in- 
 crease in their resources will render it possible for them to relieve the mother- 
 country sooner, and more completely than would otherwise be practicable, fr.im 
 cliftiges notv borne by it on account of these colonies. In another de^pntch of 
 this date, I have informed your lordship th«t, in the judgment of her Majosty'a 
 Government, the British colonies ought to be required, as they become capable 
 of doing 80, to take upon th>'mselves not only the expense.i of their civil go- 
 vernment, but a portion at all events of those incurred for their protection ; and 
 1 huve pointed out to you, that the British North American Provinces, and 
 especially Canada, have now reached such a stage in their progress, that the 
 charges for which Parliament is called upon to provide on their account ought 
 to be rapidly diminished. The construction of the proposed railway would greatly 
 contribute (o promote this important object. By opening new districts for set- 
 tlement, and by the demand for labour which will be created during tho progress 
 of the work, the projected raiU'ay cannot fail to increase the wealth and p >pula- 
 tion of these provinces, while, by affording a rapid and easy communication 
 between them, it will enable them to afford to iiach other far greater mutual 
 sup^iort and assistance Chan they now can in any difficulty or danger to which 
 they may be exposed. 
 
 "4. Your lordship will not fail to observe, from the letter which has been 
 addressed to Mr. Howe, that the assistance which it is proposed to grant to the 
 provinces towards the construction oF the proposed railway is to be contingent on 
 provision being made for opening a complete line of communication from Halifax 
 to Quebec, or Montreal; it is necessary, th'-refore, to ascertain whether Canada 
 and New Brunswick are ready to join with Nova Scotia in raising the capital 
 required for the work in the manner proposed, and if so, in what proportion each 
 province is to become responsible for the expense incurred. The question 
 whether it will be a Ivisablc for these two provinces to join in the construction of 
 the projected railway, if they should be enabled, by the assistance of Parliament, 
 to raise the required capitil at a low rate of interest, is one for tne consideration 
 of their respecttive legislatures ; but, so far as I have the means of forming a judg- 
 ment on the subject, I should anticipate that their deciMon would be in favour of 
 doing so. I infer that this is probable, not less from what I have learned of tho 
 actual state of public opinion on this suliject in the provinces, than from the view 
 which 1 take of' their interest in the work. Though I can well believe that there 
 would he much room for doubting whether the railway would pay as a mercantile 
 speimlatinn to a company looking to traffic only for its remuneration, the case is 
 very different when it is regarded as a public undertaking. When viewed in this 
 light, the various indirect advantages which cannot fail to arise to the provinces 
 from possessing sucli improved means of communication mv^t be considered, as 
 well as the very great addi'ional value which would be conferred on a vast extent 
 of public Innds whivii are now comparatively worthless. This is p. source of profit 
 from which no advantage can in general Hccrue to the contractors of railways in 
 countries where the soil has been appropriated by individuals ; on the contrary, 
 in these countries the purciiase of land is not one of the least important items of 
 the expense to be incurred in such undertakings ; but where, as in parts of 
 Canada and New Brunswick, a great part of the territory to be traversed by a 
 railway is still unaporopriated, and the land may be sold by the public, the in- 
 creased v;due given to it by being thus rendered accessible may render it advan- 
 tageous to construct a railway, though the traffic is not expected to do more at 
 fiist than pay the working expenses. 
 
 " 5. if these considerations should induce the legislatures of the three provinces 
 to combine in undertaking the projected railway, the terms on which they are to 
 co-operate with each other for that object will have to be settled ; and in coming 
 to such an arrangement, various questions of great difficulty and importance will 
 require to be considered. For instance, it is probable that when the line is com- 
 pleted, the traffic will be far more remunerative at the two extremities than in the 
 
35 
 
 more cpntrul portion of it ; while, at the same time, the expense of construct'on 
 would, fiom the nature of the country, be prccisfly higher where the traffic return:! 
 would be lowest; so that if each province were required to pay for the formation 
 of the line through its own territory, mid to receive the returns from the trtttic 
 through the same, it would follow, thnt while the expen^e tn New Brunswick 
 would be iho greatest, its receipts would be the sinalletit. On the other hand, as 
 I have jui-t observed, one of the most important s.iurces of profit from the con- 
 struction of such a^'dway as that now in lontrmplution would ari^efrom the M\e 
 of land, of which the value would be increased by the work : and it appears from 
 the papers before me, that New Brunswick would probably derive a greater profit 
 from that source than the two sister provinces. Whether the result upon the 
 whole would be, that each province, coniiidering these various circumstances, 
 ouifht to take upon itself the construction of the railway through its owa territory, 
 or whether, on the contrary, any one should be assisted by the others, is a point 
 on which I have not the means of forming a judgtm nt ; and I would suggest to 
 you, that the best course, with a view of arriving at some pract'cal result, would 
 be, that a deputotion from the Executivu Councils of the two lower provinces 
 should proceed to the sext of Uoveriimeiit in Canada, in order to confer with 
 your lordship and with your Council, for the purpose of coming to some agree, 
 ment upon the subject; which, aftrr being appioved by the legislatures of the 
 severHl provinceti, might be submitted for the sanction of Parliament. 
 
 " 6. It does not u)«pear to me that if such a conference hhould be held, it need 
 occupy any very great length of time, or that much difficulty would arise m coming 
 to an arrangement for the construction and working of the projected railway, by 
 which the expense of the undertaking on the one hand, and the advantages to be 
 derived from it on the other, might be fairly apportioned between the different 
 provinces. Hereafter 1 may, probably, be enabled to offer some suggestions us 
 to the manner in which this niight be accomplished ; but, at present, 1 have oidy 
 to add that I shall transmit copies of this despatch to Sir Edmund Head and to 
 •Sir John Harvey, with instruciions to them to communicate with your lordship, 
 without delay, on the important subject to which it relates ; and it will give me 
 the highest satisfaction if the rt-sult of these communications should be the under- 
 taking of a work which, if completed, cunnot, I believe, fail to add greatly to the 
 prosperity of the British provinces in North America, and, at the same time, to 
 give adilitioHHl strength to the ties which connect them wi h each o:her, and with 
 the British empire. — I am, &c., 
 
 (Signed) " Grey." 
 
 Extract from a Letter from Earl Grey to the Honourable 
 Joseph Howe, dated 12th June, 1851 : — 
 
 " I feel very sanguine of the ultimate assent of New Brunswick to the mea- 
 sure as proposed, and that we shall succeed in getting this most important work, 
 destined, as I believe, to effect a change in the civilized world, accomplished." 
 
 Extract from a Letter from Earl Cathcart, late Governor- 
 General of Canada, dated 31st March, 1851 : — 
 
 " The very warm interest I naturally feel for the prosperity and welfare of 
 the British possessions in North America, arising from the personal knowledge 
 and experience I had the opportunity of acquiring during the period of my 
 official residence in Canada, fully enables me to appreciate the inestimable advan- 
 tages, both to themselves and the mother-country, of thus uniting Canadx with 
 tlie Lower Provinces, and by this means securing to the former a direct commu- 
 nication, perfectly independent of the United States, with England, through the 
 port of Halifax, which is accessible at all seasons." 
 
36 
 
 Extract from a Letter of C. D. Archibald, Esq., to the Earl 
 of Elgin, dated gist June, 1851 : — 
 
 " A great arc of the globe pasiiing through Halifax and Toronto, if projected 
 on tho one hand into Asia, on the other into Europe, will bisect the richeiit, 
 most populous, and most civilized countries under the sun. On the other side 
 are the countless millions of the Indian Archipelago, China, and Hinduptan ; 
 on tho other the over-crowded busy maps of Europe. The interchange of the 
 commodities of Europe and Asia has in all ages constituted tho most lucrative 
 of the world. Since tho days of Solomon, if not before, it has been the desire 
 of nations to possess or control this trade, with which the highest state of pros- 
 perity and great power have ever been associated. Thv. tract of this commerco 
 has built up cities of palaces in the desert ; its desertion has markod the decline 
 of empires. Once lost, it has never been regained ; and although the great 
 nation we most affect now controls the trade of the far west, it is deserving of 
 serious consideration, whether the route is not yet capable of one further chunge. 
 We have the authority of the spirited and intelligent originator of the Atlantic 
 and Pa 'ific railroads, who, more than any other man, has studied tho intercom- 
 munications of the globe, for the fact that there is a practicable line across the 
 continent of North America which shall shorten the distance between England 
 and the East Indies by more than 5,000 miles, iu comparison with the route by 
 the Isthmus of Panama. The British possessions in North America lie midway 
 between these great countries, occupying that zone of tho earth upon which, in 
 the other continents, three-fourth:', or more, of thewiiole human family are con- 
 gregated. Within our borders there is a vast unoccupied food-producing terri- 
 tory, capable of absorbing a population equal to that of the whole of Europe. 
 In addition, I believe that we hold the keys of the track of the future commu- 
 nication bptwecn the two grand divisions of the human race ; and who shall »ay 
 that a large share of that enriching traffic, which has gilded every former path, 
 shall not, ere many years, glide along those very channels which it is our present 
 business to open up ? 
 
 " The day is not far distant when this great highway of nations will traverse 
 our now neglected territorry, as surely as a straight line is the shortest distance 
 between two given points." 
 
 Extract froiu a Letter of the Hon. F. Hincks to the 
 
 Right Hon. Sir John Pakington, dated 31st March, 1852, 
 
 and asking for imperial assistance for the construction of 
 
 the Halifax and Quebec Railway, to run by the Valley of 
 
 the St. John River instead of by the Bay of Chaleurs : — 
 
 "Sir, 
 
 " Having been honoured with the commands of his Excellency the 
 Governor-General of British North America to proceed to London to ei . 
 deavour to make final arrangements with regard to the terms on which a loan 
 ran be effected for the construction of a line of railway in the provinces of 
 Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, with the guarantee of the Imperial 
 Parliament * * * * The scheme of uniting the three principal provinces 
 of British America, by means of a railway, originated with the late Earl of 
 Durham, who formed a strong opinion that imperial interests would be largely 
 promoted by such a work. No action, however, was taken in the matter for 
 some years, nor until it was proposed to construct a great military road through 
 New Brunswick at the expense of the mother-country. The scheme of substi- 
 tuting a railway was then revived, on the supposition that the necessity for a 
 military road being superseded, imperial assistance would be given in aid of such 
 a work to a considerable extent. The Secretary of State for the Colonies pro- 
 posed that a survey of the line should be made by the officers of the Royal 
 Engineers, and that the expenses of such survey should be borne by the three 
 
.'ir 
 
 I* >* 
 
 provinces. ' ' ' It i» pmper to ntuio, that in the expectation that the 
 work wouM be constructed by the Imperial Government, the three provinces 
 agreed to secure the right of way, the land requisite for stations, ten miles in 
 extent, of all ungriinted land on each side of the line, and jttiO.OOU sterling per 
 annum to cover any deficiency in revenue. ♦ * ♦ * 
 
 " I believe that the importance to imperial interests of this great work is not 
 sufficiently nppreciated. 
 
 *• / have rea»on to believe that were a line qf railway completed from Halifax:, 
 and that made the terminus of the voyage of the ocean tteamers, fully i.50,00() 
 per annum might be saved in the Atlantic mail service, independent of the saving 
 qfthe sum now paid to the United States for carrying the Canada mails,— a 
 service most unsatisfactorily performed, and most extravugamly churged for. 
 Instead of the British mails being carried over the American railways, it must be 
 obvious that the mails nnd passengers destined for New York, Boston, and other 
 American cities, would be carried over a great section of the Halifax and Quebec 
 line. 
 
 Extracts from a Despatch of Sir John Pakington to the 
 Karl of Elgin, Governor-General of Canada, dated 20th May, 
 1852, in reply to Mr. Hincks's proposal asking for an im- 
 perial guarantee for the Halifax and Quebec Railway by the 
 Valley of the St. John, instead of the route as laid down in 
 Major Robinson's survey : — 
 
 '* 2. Her Majesty's Government are not only anxious to act with the most 
 perfect good faith towards the legislatures and people of the provinces, and 
 to fulfil every just expectation which may have been held out by their 
 predecessors, but they also sincerely desire to adopt all measures by which the 
 welfare of the British colonies in North America can be promoted, as far as they 
 can do so consistently with their duties to the empire at large. 
 
 ** 3. But on a reference to the correspondence which has already taken place 
 on this subject, and especially to the letters addressed by direction of Earl Grey 
 to Mr. Howe, on the 10th March, 1851, and Mr. Hiitcks on 20th February 
 last, it will appear evident that no pledge had been given of assistance to any 
 line, except that originally proposed. 
 
 * « * ID >» * 
 
 " Among the peculiar advantages in this point of view, which it was thought 
 that the line selected on the report qf' Major Robinson and Captain Henderson 
 would realize, were the opening up of a new tract of maritime country, easily 
 accessible with the railroad, but almost unapproachable without it, to emigration 
 from these islands ; and the Reeling a safe and continuous route through the 
 province, which, both by its distance from the Americun frontier, and its 
 proximity to the sea, might be peculiarly available for military purposes. 
 
 " N.B. — The line selected by Major Robinson and Captain Henderson is 
 that a^topted by the Halifax and Quebec Railway Company, Limited, in its 
 integrity." __^ ^ 
 
 From the close of this despatch the matter of imperial 
 assistance remained in abeyance until the summer of 1857, 
 when the three provinces again united, and sent delegates to 
 this country to confer with the Imperial Government. The 
 following is* copy of a Letter from the Hon. J. A. Macdonald, 
 Premier of the Canadian Government, and one of the delegates, 
 addressed to the Provincial Secretary of Canada : — 
 
 * This survey cost the provinces i,30,000. 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
38 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Toronto, Isl February, 1858. 
 
 Having been authorized by the minute of Council of the 9th July 
 last to urge on tlu; Imperial Government the reas;)ns whieh should induce the 
 immediate construction of an inter-colonial railway to Halifax, I have the honour 
 to report for the information of his Excellency, that, under the authority con- 
 tained in that minute, I sought the assistance and obtained the valuable aid of 
 the present Solicitor-General for Lower Canada, -vho acted with me accordingly 
 on this service. 
 
 " At the time of our arrival in England, events in India had assumed a most 
 threatening aspect, and in consequence, the attention i»t her Majesty's Govern- 
 ment was very much occui)ied witli matters of a more imminent nature. 
 
 *' We proceeded, however, to cnuimunicate as well with the Secretary of State 
 for the Colonies, as with Lord Palmerston, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and 
 the Secretary of State for War, and other members of her Majesty's Government, 
 and explaindd verbally and at length our views on the subject of our mission. 
 
 " The importance of the work to imperial interests was fully acknowledged, 
 and the means by which its execution could best be accomplished were fully 
 discussed. 
 
 '* After these communications, we deemed it advisable to embody our views 
 in a written memorandum, which we laid before the Colonial Sc retary. Tliat 
 memorandum fully states the arguments pressed on the consideration of the 
 Home Government, and is now submitted for the approval of Council. 
 
 *' The Canadian delegates had the advantage of communicating, while in 
 London, with Mr. Johnson and Mr. Archibald, from Neva Scotia, who were also 
 urging the same subject in the interests of that province. The propositions 
 advanced by these gentlemen were nearly identical with those submitted on the 
 part of Canada, 
 
 " Being apprised that the prorogation of Parliament, the absence of some of 
 her Majesty's advisers, and the pressing nature of the Indian difficulties, w(mld 
 preclude any immediate conclusion being come to on the propositions of either 
 Canada or Nova Scotia, I considered that a more prolonged attendance would 
 be followed with no advantage, and the question was left under the consideration 
 of the Government. 
 
 '* The despatch of the Secretary of State for the Colonies of the ISth January, 
 IP 'S, containing the reply of her Majesty's Government, having i.ow arrived, I 
 deem it a fitting time formally to report the action which was t.'ken on the 
 mission intrusted to me. 
 
 " I would state in conclusion that the Colonial Governments of flova Scotia 
 and New Brunswick, as well as her Majesty's advisers, seem deeply impressed 
 with the necessity of this work on imperial as well as colonial grounds. My 
 conviction is, that its construction is only a question of time, and I would 
 respectfully urge that the early attention of the Legislature should be directed 
 to it. 
 
 •' I have the honour to be. Sir, 
 
 *' Your obedient servant, 
 " The Hon. T. J. J. Loranger, (Signed) ** John A. Macdonald." 
 
 " Provincial Secretary." 
 
 Extracts from Memorandum above referred to, and which 
 was submitted to the Imperial Government : — 
 
 •* The necessity of constructing a military road between Halifax and duebec, 
 80 as to render Canada accessible to her Majesty's forces nt all seasons of the 
 year, seems long to have engaged the attention of the British Government. 
 
 " In 1838 and 1839, when Canada was invaded by organized parties of 
 m? mders from the neighbouring country, with the cvowed intention of conquest, 
 troops were transported by that route in winter, when the St. Lawrence was 
 closed, with much ('ifficulty, at an enormous expense, and with great Buflering 
 
39 
 
 to the soldiery ; and the impossibility of carrying military stores in sufficient 
 (jiinntitie»i was then also fully provc^d. 
 
 " Several explorations wore consequently made by the military authorities, 
 with a view to the construction of a military road as part of the system of defence 
 of tlie British North American colonies. It was then sui^gested that a railway, 
 besides being of more utility for this purpose than an ordinary road, would be of 
 groat commercial benefit to those provinces, and at the same time confer the 
 political advantage of cormectin^ them more intimately with the mother country 
 and with each other. 
 
 " As this scheme would cost much more than the road originally intended, 
 and as the colonies would be so much more benefited thereby, it was thought 
 right that they should contribute to the expense of construction. 
 
 •' A survey wa? accordingly made in the year 1848, by Major Robinson and 
 other officers selected by the Imperial Government, but at the expense of the 
 coloides. 
 
 " Misapprehension arose between Lord Grey and Mr. Howe, of Nova vScotia, 
 then conducting the negotiation, as to whether, in case Major Robinson's line 
 were adopted, the imperial guarantee would not also be extended to a lateral 
 ruilway running from the main line through New Brunswick westward to the 
 frontier of the United States. 
 
 *' This side line, if constructed, would have much improved the commercial 
 character of Majnr Robinson's line, as it would have formed a valuable feeder, 
 and connected it with the general railway system of the United States. Acting, 
 therefore, under the b. lief that the guarantee was to be so extended, the three 
 provinces of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia made an agreement to 
 construct the railway from Halifax to Quebec in equal proportions, and proceeded 
 to legislate upon it with a view to the immediate execution of the work. 
 
 " On its being ascertained that it had not been intended by the British 
 Government to grant the guarantee to the local line above referred to, all the 
 objections to Major Robinson's route revived, and the arrangements between the 
 provinces fell to the ground. 
 
 *' Anxiously desiring the construction of the railway, the Province, although 
 much disappointed at the frustration of their expectations, entered into a new 
 arrangement. 
 
 •' "They agreed, if the railway was built along the valley of the river St. John, 
 Nova Scotia would advance throe-twelfths, Canada four-twelfths, and New 
 Brunswick five-twelfths of the cost of construction. 
 
 " This line promised great commercial rdvantages, and a fair pecuniary 
 return, and at the ^ame time satisfied the condition imposed by the Imperial 
 Government, that it should pass exclusively through British territory. The 
 agreement thus altered was submitted to the Imperial Government for approval ; 
 but Sir John Pakington, then Colordal Secretary, in a despatch, dated 2()th May, 
 1852, intimated his disapproval of the proposed deviation from the Eastern line, 
 and that he therefore did not fool warranted in recommending the guarantee to 
 Parliament. He, however, at the same time stated, that the Imperial Govern- 
 ment was by no means insensible to the great national objects involved in the 
 construction of the line, and that the most favourable attention woxild be given 
 to any modification of the proposals then before him. The negotiations thus 
 fell a second time to the ground, the Provinces are without their inter-coloniul 
 railway, and En:>land has yet no military road to Canada. 
 
 '* The three Provinces have been driven, from the failure of tliese negotiations, 
 to undertake, within their several territorie.'*, without concert, and on their own 
 unaided credit and icsponsibility, the construction of railways, no doubt of local 
 advantage, but not of general or national importance. 
 
 " It vras not thought in Canada a fitting time to press this subject again on the 
 British Government, when all its energies were directed to the vigorous prosecu- 
 tion of the Russian war, a struggle in which Canada fuHy sympathized, and was 
 ready to make its own. But now that peace ha.i been restored, it would seem 
 that no time should be lost in undertaking this great work. Circumstances have 
 arisen duiing the progress of the war, — the enlistment and Nicaraguan (juestions 
 with the United States for instance, — which show that the necessity for such u 
 
40 
 
 I .', 
 
 road has not decreased. Whether as a means of pouring into Candida a sufiiciont 
 force, or of withdrawing it therefrom, without delay, and at all reasons, in case 
 of sudden exigency, it is equally culled for. 
 
 " The only bar to its construction up to 1852 was the difference of opinion as 
 to route ; and that difference, it is believed, is not irreconcilable. 
 
 " While imperial interests require as imperatively as ever the completion of 
 this project, the position of Cannda with respect to it has materially altered. 
 
 '• In 1852, there were no railways in operation in Canada (with two tinim* 
 portant exceptions), and she had no winter route to the Atlantic ; but since that 
 time ten lines, extending over about 1,600 miles, have been constructed, at an 
 aggregate cost of about nineteen millions sterling, by private companies, chartered 
 and aided by money grants from the Provincial Government to the extent of 
 nearly five millions and a hall. This sum has been raised partly by the bonds of 
 Canada, on the immedate credit of her consolidated revenue, bearing six per cent, 
 interest, and partly by her bonds, isisued on the credit of a general municipal 
 fund, established in the province by legislative authority. Preparations are now 
 also in progress for the construction of an interior line of communication, far 
 removed from the Americnn frontier, by a combined system of railway and canal 
 between the river Ottawa and Lake Huron. 
 
 " Canada has, therefore, already assumed the full measure of pecuniary 
 obligation which her resources render prudent ; but as access to the ocean, and 
 communication with England, can only be hud in winter through the United 
 States, it is manifest that, in so far as imperal interests are concerned, the railway 
 facilities are in a great measure incomplete. 
 
 '* Canada is fully alive to the importance of providing for the maintenance of 
 her connection with England ; and she has sought opportunity, and availed her ■ 
 self of every occasion, practically to cement that relation. 
 
 " For the p.irpose of establishing a direct postal communication with England, 
 which should not only put a stop to a large contribution to the revenue of the 
 United States, but also attract to the colony a share of that trade and that emi- 
 gration which was being diverted to that country, she has established, by the 
 payment of an annuul subsidy of £50,000, a direct weekly line of ocean 
 steamers between the colony and England. In this enterprise she is not only 
 undded by England, but has to combit a line plying to the ports of the United 
 S'ates, supported by a subsidy from the Imperial Government exceeding 
 j^lSO.OOO per annum. 
 
 " The Province has also enrolled, drilled, and armed, at her own expense, a 
 large and available volunteer force, consisting already of sixteen troops of 
 cavalry, seven field batteries of artillery, five companies of foot artillery, and 
 fifty companies of riflemen ; all provided with the most modern and effective 
 arms. This force is maintained at a heavy cost to the Colonial treasury, and, 
 being well disciplined, would be of essential and immediate service, should occa- 
 sion arise for their active employment. 
 
 " In aildition to this, Canada has been divided into military districts ; and the 
 whole sedentary militia, consisting of every man capable of bearing arms, bat 
 been organized. 
 
 "In so far as the commercial wants of the province are concerned, they are 
 amply supplied by the existing railway communications to the American seaports, 
 New Y(,rk and Boston, and by the railway from Montreal to Portland, over 
 which a Canadian company has complete control ; but this entire dependence on, 
 and exclusive reUtions with a foreign country, cannot but exercise an important 
 ami unwholesome influence on the status of Canada as a portion of the empire, 
 and tend to establish elsewhere that identity of interest which ought to exist 
 between the mother country and the ccdony. 
 
 " We are sensible that we need not dwell on the grave and possibly disastrous 
 consequences which, if a rupture should unhappily ari?e with the United States, 
 may result from the want of communication in winter between England and the 
 interior of the province; but it is evident that the safety of the colony can only 
 be secured either by keeping, from the moment of the first apprehension of 
 danger, a military power within it of such magnitude as would repel any invading 
 fi»rce, during the five months when rci iforuemonts or supplies could not b« 
 
41 
 
 L'llt 
 
 ase 
 as 
 of 
 
 m- 
 lat 
 an 
 
 red 
 of 
 of 
 
 3nt. 
 
 obtained by sea ; or the means mnst bo created of throwing in tlmt force, and 
 transporting them to those points which are assailable. 
 
 " We would further mention some facts which show tliat while the means of 
 resisting invasinn wre ir. no way incieasul, llie fac lities for accomplishinetit are 
 daily becoming grt-uter. There are now no less than seven American railways 
 terminating directly at the Canadian boundary, and a far greater nnraber touching 
 the waters of the river St. Lawrence and the Likes Ontario and Erie, which 
 divide Canada from the United Statts. All these roads may be said to form 
 together a continuous line, running parallel with, or in easy proximity to, the 
 provincial boundary ; and by their means, America would be enabled to concen- 
 trate, with the utmost expedition and ease, all her forces upon any quarter, and 
 to choose her own point of attack. 
 
 " It may be urged that war with America is impossible, or at least an event 
 so unlikely and remote as to justify no expenditure in anticipation of it. Ad- 
 mitting that the character and moderation of the Federal Government afford 
 assurances of continued amity, it is not to be forgotten that there arc other ele- 
 ntents, not subordinate, whose influence may at any time become too poweiful 
 for control. The best safeguard against aggression is the power of repelling it. 
 The knowledge of our wcakne&s and exposure to attack may do much to preci- 
 pitate that which, were our strength understood, would never be undertaken. It 
 is now well known that, being cut off from England, the province cannot make 
 her resources and strength available, should the necessity for their exercise un> 
 happily come to pass ; and when the occasion does arise, it will be too late to 
 provide the means. The road cannot be constructed with a due regard to 
 reasonable economy for . , < ral years, and experience shows how impossible it is 
 to foresee what event;- vi* ! .>. hat period may interrupt the friendly relations with 
 a country the peculiar constitution of which vests so much power in a class whose 
 interests or passions may, at any time, prompt them to acts which would neces- 
 sarily lead to a rupture. While, therefore, the commercial or material advantages 
 to Canada which would follow the construction of the roaJ are comparatively 
 unimportant, she feels it her duty to urge the high national considei ations whi<^h 
 demand that the work should be undertaken. 
 
 '• There can be little fear of any causes of difference I'tweenthe colonies and 
 the United States. The danger hitherto has cprung from subjects wherein, as a 
 colony, Canada had no interest, but which (such as the Central American, the 
 Oregon, and enlistment questions) were purely of imperial coi^Ccrn ; so that, 
 should hostilities arise, Canada would (as she was during the last war) be made 
 the battle-ground in a quarrel which she did not cause, and in which sh*^ bad no 
 special concern. The colony has received the solemn assurance of the Imperial 
 Government, a promise on which she implicitly relies, that while she is expected 
 to assume her share of the burden of any force which her own internal wants 
 may require in time of peace, yet that the whole power of the empire will be 
 put forth for her protection and .uu'ty against foreign aggrrssion. Canada 
 has acted on this assurance, and ..c^'formtd her part of the obligation ; but we 
 would respectfully urge that, with . ■: ( 6<ins of communication with Great Britain, 
 the Imperial Government is powt i < . ., ' perform its share ; and that the very 
 first stfp towards the fulfilment of th. ; iOmise is to provide proper access to the 
 country. 
 
 " But, apologizing for presenting at perhaps too great length arguments whose 
 weight may be fully admitted, we proi;. vd to suggest a mode by which we propose 
 that the work should be constructed. 
 
 " The question of route is one which, in so far as Canada is conc« rnwl, mi^ht 
 be left to the Imperial Governr.ient and the Lower Provinces ; but the distance of 
 that which would probably be chosen may be assumed at 600 mihs. By Major 
 ilobinson's report, the coat of the hmgest or coast route of 635 miles i.' jfc^'',000 
 sterling per mile, to which ten per cent, is added fur contingencies ; making the 
 cost in round numbers jf5,G.* ' 000. 
 
 " Now Canada has aliea ; inilt, or has in progress, 110, and Nova Scotia 60 
 miles, available for any route i iccted for the intercolonial road ; leaving 420 
 to be constructed. Allowing one million sterling to be added to Major Robin- 
 son's estimate for the rise in the cost of labour and materials, since 1848, the 
 
43 
 
 balance to be provided for is ^^5,000,000. This would include the cost of the 
 whole section apportioned to and now in process of construction by Nova Scotia, 
 but does not include the cost of the 1 \0 miles in Canada, on which a million, 
 raised from other sources, will be expended. * * ♦ * 
 
 *' Canada and New Brunswick have already appropriated all their ungrantcd 
 public lands, for ten miles on each side of the hne, in aid of the undertaking. 
 It is assumed that these lands amount to about four millions of acres. 
 
 " The system of land grants to aid the construction of railways has been 
 followed with the most entire success in the United States of America, whore 
 lands from being almost worthless and unsalable, have risen in value with a 
 rapidity Car exceeding the most hopeful anticipations. * * * 
 
 (Signed) " John A. Macdonald. 
 
 " John Rosk." 
 
 
 Copy of a Despatch fiom the Earl of Mulgrave, Lieu- 
 tenant-Governor of Nova Scotia, to the Governor-General of 
 Canada : — 
 
 " Government House, Halifax, N.S , "^Tav 29<A, 1858. 
 
 " Sir, — 1 have the honour to transmit a copy of a repi " 'he Executive 
 Council of this province, of which I have approved, on the su. , t of an inter- 
 colonial railroad between Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scctia, a duplicate 
 of which I have forwarded to the Lieutenant-Governor of Now Brunswick. 
 
 " I have, &c. 
 (Signed) " Mulgrave." 
 
 " His Excellency Sir Edmund Head, Bart., &c." 
 
 Report of the Execntive Council to the Lieutenant- 
 Governor of Nova Scotia, dated 7th May, 1858, relating to 
 an intercolonial railroad : — 
 
 " The Council, having had their attention drawn to the despatches of 1 he 
 Governor-General of Canada, dated 23rd of February last, and of the Lieutenant- 
 Governor of New Brunswick of the 10th of March last, with their inclosures, 
 upon the important subject of an intercolonial railroad, desire your Excellency 
 to convey to the Governor-General of Canada and the Lieutenant-Governor of 
 New Brunswick respectively, the satisfaction with which the Executive Council 
 of Nova Scotia have joined the sister provinces in pressing the consideration of 
 this great enterprise upon the British Government, by forwarding an address from 
 the legislature of this province to her Majesty, a copy of which is herewith 
 inclosed. 
 
 •* The Council advise your Excellency to convey to the Governor-General the 
 entire willingness of your Government to confer by delegation with Canada and 
 New Brunswick, at Fredericton, or elsewhero, at any time that his Excellency 
 tiie Governor-General may think best calculated to promote the advancement of 
 a project in which the three provinces are so deeply inferi-sted. 
 
 "Approved by his Excrllency in Council, 25th May, 1858. 
 
 (Signed) " Charles Tupper, C.E.C." 
 
 To the Queen* s Most Excellent Majesty. 
 
 The humble Address of the Legislative Council and 
 Assembly of Nova Scotia : — 
 
 " May it plkask Vour Majesty : 
 
 "We, the loyal and devoted subjects of your Majesty, the Legislative 
 Ctuncil and House of Assembly of Nova Scotia, now in provincial parliament 
 
43 
 
 the 
 lotia, 
 I lion, 
 
 Lntcd 
 king. 
 
 I been 
 
 hh a 
 
 convened, approach your Majesty to renew an oxprcr'sion of the unabated 
 interest which tlie L(;gi»iiature and people of this province continue to take in the 
 iong-agitated pr.jject of an intercolonial railroad, by which the colonies of 
 Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, with the sister colony of Prince 
 Edward's Island, may be bound more closely together, and their intercourse and 
 union facilitated, and the communication from the parent state and your 
 Majesty's North -American empire be improved by a rapid and efficient mode of 
 transport from the seaboard to itc distant borders, independently of jiassai/e 
 through foreign territory. 
 
 " This great enterprise, of national no less than colonial importance, has been 
 through many years pressed upon the consideration of jour Majesty's Govern- 
 ment. During the last season delegates from the Governments of Canada and 
 this province, in person, urged the undertaking on the attention of your 
 Majesty's ministers. 
 
 "The benefits of the measure, both in its national and colonial relations, are 
 acknowledged ; and we abstain from repeating arguments so recently presented 
 and so familiar, further than humbly to beg your Majesty's consideration of the 
 statements contained in the letter of the delegates from this province, addressed 
 to the Right Hon. the Colonial Secretary, dated in London on the 20th August, 
 1857, a copy of which accompanies this address. 
 
 " The gigantic work we advocate has been facilitated by the efforts and ex- 
 penditures of the provinces ; but its accomplishment is beyond their unaided 
 resources; and on the efficient assistance of your Majesty's Government depends 
 this great result. 
 
 " In urging our prayer on your Majesty, we are assured that it will not be its 
 least recommendation to your royal consideration, that, while it has in view the 
 consolidation of national power, it affords to your Majesty another occasion of 
 manifesting your benignity and regards towards your loyal colonial subjects in 
 this portion of your extended empire, by aiding an undertaking in which their 
 feelings and interests are deeply engaged, 
 
 "We humbly pray that your Mqjesty will be graciously pleased to extend 
 imperial aid to this important mecswe, and to cause measures to be taken for 
 ascertaining the views and ability of the several provinces with respect to it, and 
 the nature and extent of the assistance they respectively require, and of the aid 
 your Majesty's Government will be disposed to afford ,- that arrangements may 
 be matured for the early commencement and the completion of this work by the 
 united efforts of the three provinces of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nora 
 Scotia, wtth such co-operation and aid from your Majesty's Imperial Govern- 
 ment as may be commensurate with the greatness of the object and the mayniludc 
 of the national interests which it promotes. 
 
 " Edward Kknny, President of Legislative Council. 
 
 " Stewart Campbell, Speaker of the House of Assembly. 
 
 " Halifae, N.S., May I, 1858." 
 
 Extract from Captain Galton's Report on flic Railways of 
 the United States, dated 8tli December, 185(5, presented to 
 Parliament in 1857 : — 
 
 " In addition to these eastern and western routes of the United States, must be 
 mentioned the communication by water along tlie lakes, a connnunicutinn which 
 is continued by the Erie Canal to New York, and by the St. Lawrence through 
 Canada to the Atlantic ; tind the line of Canadian railways, which since the 
 opening of the Grand Trunk Railway has assumed considertble importance. 
 This line commences with the Great Western of Canada at Detroit, and, passing 
 through Toronto, is continued by the Grand Trunk Railway, which, when the 
 Victoria Bridge shall have been completed, will afford an intenupted line of 
 railway communication through Montreid to Quebec, and to Portland in the 
 State of Maine. But it cannot be considered that this line of communication 
 
1(11";; 
 
 44 
 
 ia completed, or that a proper outlet has been qffbrded to the trade of the British 
 North-American possessions, until the line of railway through Canada shall 
 have been continued on to Haltfax. 
 
 (Signed) "Douglas Galton, Captain R.E. 
 
 Extract from " Martin's British Colonies : " — 
 
 ** The harbours of Nova Scotia, for number, capacity, and safety, are un- 
 paralleled in any other port of the world. Between Htilifax and Cape Corso are 
 twelve ports capable of receiving ships of the line, and there are fourteeo others 
 of sufficient depth for merchantmen. 
 
 " The harbour of Halifax has not perhaps a superior in the world : from its 
 situation being directly open to the Atlantic, it is scarcely interrupted with. It is 
 our chief naval station in North America, and affords safe anchorage for one 
 thousand ships. 
 
 " New Brunswick is generally composed of bold eminences, sometimes swell- 
 ing into mountuns, and again subsiding into vale and lowlands, covered with 
 noble forests and intersected by numerious rivers and lakes, affording water com- 
 munications in every direction to the pleasing settlements scattered throughout 
 the fertile alluvial spots termed intervales. The greater part of the territory, 
 namely about 14,000,000 acres, is still in a state of nature, adorned with abun- 
 dance of timber and fine extending prairies. New Brunswick is healthy." 
 
 1^ 
 
 h 
 
 r : 
 1 
 
 Copy of Resolutions passed by both branches of the Cana- 
 dian Legislature, August 16, 1858, and upon which addresses 
 have been forwarded and presented to her Majesty : — 
 
 " Rksolved : — 
 
 "1. That the construction of an intercolonial railway, connecting the 
 provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia with Canada, has long been 
 regarded as a matter of national concern, and ought earnestly to be pressed on 
 the consideration of the Imperial Government. 
 
 " 2. That during several months of the year, intercourbe between the United 
 Kingdom and Canaida can only be carried on through the territory of the United 
 States of America, and that such dependence on, and exclusive relations with, a 
 foreign country cannot, even in time of peace, l)ut exercise an ior portant and 
 unwholesome influence on the status of Cnnada as a portion of the empire, and 
 may tend to establish elsewhere that identity of interest which ought to exist 
 between the mother country and her colonies. 
 
 " 3. That while this House implicitly relies on the repeated assurances of the 
 Imperial Government that the strength of the empire would be put forth to 
 secure this province against external aggression, it is convinced that such strength 
 cannot be efficiently exerted during a large portion of the year, from the absence 
 of sufficient means of communication, and that should the amicable relations 
 which at present so happily exist between Great Britain and the United States 
 be ever disturbed, the difficulty of access to the ocean during the winter months 
 might seriously endanger the safety of the province. 
 
 "4. That in view of the speedy opening up of the territories now occupied by 
 the Hudson's Bay Company, and of the development and settlement of the vast 
 regions between Canada and the Pacific Ocean, it is essential to *>;< interests of 
 the empire at large that a highway extending from the Atlantic Ocean westward 
 should exist, which would at once place the whole British possessions in America 
 within the ready access and easy protection of Great Britain, whilst by the 
 facilities for internal communication thus afforded, the prosperity of those great 
 dependencies would be promoted, their strength consolidated and added to the 
 
45 
 
 n^r 
 
 fish 
 hall 
 
 lun- 
 
 lare 
 liera 
 
 its 
 [tis 
 lone 
 
 strength of the empirfc, and their permanent union with tlie mother country 
 secured. 
 
 "5. That Canada has already nearly completed the construction witliin the 
 province of a chain of railways over 1,600 miles in length, extending from the 
 eastern frontier of the province towards its western boundary, which is of the 
 greatest importance to its commercial and materirJ prosperity, and forming part 
 of the great proposed highway, but which, without completion to the ocean, is 
 comparatively useless in a national point of view, either as bringing the sister 
 colonies together, or as connecting those olonies with the parent state. 
 
 " 6. That this House, under these circumstances, is deeply impressed with 
 the importance of an intercolonial railway, and the necessity for its immediate 
 construction ; and desiring to co-operate with the Imperial Government and the 
 provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in securing its speedy completion, 
 this House approves of the memorandum addressed to her Majesty's Secretary 
 of State for the Colonieo by the Canadian delegates, and laid before Parliament 
 by bis Excellency the Governor-General in his gracious message communicated 
 on the thirty-first day of May last, and recommends that the future negotiations 
 should be conducted as nearly as may be on the basis thereby submitted. 
 
 " 7. That in the opinion of this House it is expedient that his Excellency the 
 Governor- General should cause all communication with the other provinces, 
 necessary for common action on the subject, to be entered into. 
 
 " 8. That an humble address be presented to Her Majesty embodying the 
 foregoing resolution, and that the Honourable the Legislative Council be asked 
 to concur in the said address." 
 
Minutes of Puoceedings at a Meeting held at 
 
 the Thatched House Tavern^ St. Jameses Street^ 
 
 on Saturday i the hth Juue^ 185S, relating to the 
 
 formation of the Halifax and Qukbec Railway. 
 
 Present:— VISCOUNT BURY, M.P., in the Chair. 
 
 TheRt.Hon.SoTHKRONEsTcouRT.M.P. 
 Capt. the Hon. John Vivian, M.P. 
 The Hon. Sir A. Napier Macnab, Bart. 
 Viscount GoDERicH, M.P. 
 The Hon. Samukl Cunard. 
 Colonel BoLDERo, M.P. 
 James Wyld, Esq., M.P. 
 
 The Hon. Chas. Fitzwilliah, M.P. 
 
 R. P. NisBKT, Esq., M.P. 
 
 The Hon. Justice Hamburton. 
 
 John Neeld, Esq., M.P. 
 
 Fras. S. Head, Esq. 
 
 Alfred Roche, Esq., and Others. 
 
 The Chairman. — Gentlemen, before opening the proceedings, I 
 have to read two or three letters from gentlemen who have expressed 
 their interest in the cause, but who have been unable from various 
 circumstances to attend here to-day. The first is from Mr. Cum- 
 mins, a director of the British North- American Bank. He " regrets 
 " that it will not be in his power to be present at the Meeting to be 
 " held to-morrow, having, previously to the receipt of your letter, 
 " made another engagement." He then says, " I am strongly con- 
 " vinced of the expediency of the object you have in view." I will 
 not read the whole letter. The next is from Mr. Terrell, chairman 
 of the Bristol Chamber of Commerce. He regrets it is not in his 
 power to be present at the Meeting, but he says " he considers that 
 " the completion of the railway is of great importance to the country 
 " generally, and to this locality (Bristol). Should our relations with 
 '• the United States become unsettled, it would be absolutely neces- 
 " sary that there should be an uninterrupted railway communication 
 " between Halifax and the interior of Canada." I will not take up 
 the time of the Meeting by reading the remainder of the letter. 
 What I have already quoted is sufficient to show Mr. Terrell's 
 interest in the matter. There is another letter, from Mr. Samue 
 Gurney, M.P. He regrets that his absence from London will pre- 
 vent his attending the Meeting. 
 
 I may also say I have had conversations with Mr. Headlam, M.P.; 
 Mr. Schneider, M.P.; Mr. George G. Glyn, M.P.; Mr. Ackroyd, 
 M.P.; and Mr. CoUins, M.P. They state that they are perfectly 
 ready, if this Meeting resolves on any course of action, to further 
 that course of action to the best of their power. 
 
 Now, gentlemen, it will be my duty, in as few words as possible, 
 to state the objects of this Meeting. (Hear, hear.) We all know 
 that we are met in the interest of a railroad, having for its termini 
 
47 
 
 fie 
 
 Halifax on the Atlantic seaboard and Quebec on tho St. Lawrence. 
 It will there meet a chain of railroads already constructed or in 
 process of construction, which will carry it far into the West. That 
 is the object of the Meeting, to which I will recur in a moment. 
 
 But I must first say why I am in the chair. I know that in 
 the presence of a great many gentlemen connected with the colonies, 
 both by birth, by trade, and by intimate acquaintance with the 
 subject, it may seem to be an act of impertinence on my part 
 to come here and take the chair. I must, however, throw myself 
 on your indulgence. I have at least not done so without some 
 hesitation, and without having been fully convinced of the importance 
 of the meeting. I was for a considerable time in an official position 
 in Canada, and there 1 had full opportunity of appreciating the 
 absolute necessity which exists for the construction of a railroad of 
 this description. From that time to this I have been very much 
 interested in the success of the undertaking. I hope, therefore, I 
 shall be absolved from the charge of impertinence in presiding here 
 to day. (Hear, hear.) 
 
 The Meeting, I need hardly say, is of an entirely preliminary 
 character, and commits no one to any course of action by anything 
 which may take place at it. We have simply met to ask the advice 
 of gentlemen interested in this matter, and to consult as to the 
 best means of carrying out an object which I believe we all have at 
 heart. 
 
 The first thing to which I will advert is the very great political 
 importance of this undertaking. Although its commercial import- 
 ance is not, I believe, second to that of any railway that could be con- 
 structed, I am not competent to treat the subject from a commercial 
 point of view. I confess that I myself regard it almost entirely with 
 reference to its political advantages (Hear, hear), and it is principally 
 on that account that I am interested about it. If any one looks at the 
 position in which we now are with regard to our communication 
 with British North America, he will see that we depend almost 
 entirely for that communication on the United States. That ano- 
 malous position is partly owing, as 1 believe my friend Mr. Justice 
 Haliburton will confirm, to some very bungling diplomacy which took 
 place a few years ago, and to which he so well alluded in a very able 
 lecture of his at Glasgow. (Hear, hear.) Some millions of the best 
 acres of timber-land in New Brunswick, and the navigation of Saint 
 John's river, were ceded, by the treaty to which I allude, to the 
 United States, 'i'he fact is indisputable that we are almost entirely 
 dependent for our communication with our greatest colony upon the 
 United States. When you once get into the interior of Canada, you 
 find railroads running from every direction, far away into the west ; 
 and it certainly is a very great mistake, in a political point of view, 
 that the principal link of the chain is wanting, and that we have not 
 already connected the most important sea-port of our North-Ameri- 
 can possessions with the interior of our colonies. Halifax presents 
 advantages which; I believe, are not enjoyed by any other port north 
 
48 
 
 S,] 
 
 I 
 
 
 of New York that of being open all the year. Steamers (as a\y hon. 
 friend Mr. Cunard will tell us) can always run into Halifax, and it 
 will be a saving of 600 miles between London and New York if we 
 had the terminus of the line of steamers at Halifax, and a railroad 
 running from Halifax to Quebec. J he line would ultimately become 
 part of a vast chain of communication between the Atlantic and the 
 Pacific (Hear, hear), for, I believe, our trade in the Pacific Ocean 
 with China and with India, must utlimately be carried on through 
 our North- American possessions; at any rate, our political and 
 commercial supremacy will have utterly departed from us, if we 
 neglect that very great and important consideration, and if we fail 
 to carry out to its fullest extent the physical advantages which the 
 country offers to us, and which we only have to stretch out our 
 hands to take advantage of. My friend Mr. Fitzwilliara will tell 
 us all about that. He has travelled more than once or twice over 
 the whole of the line of country between Vancouver's Island and 
 Canada, and he consequently knows a very great portion of that 
 country. I may observe in passing, although it hardly bears 
 directly upon the point which we are now. discussing, that the land 
 between Lake Superior and the Uocky Mountains, is exceedingly 
 favourable for the continuing of our communication, and that a very 
 little trouble will make the Saskatchenan, which runs from the 
 Rocky Mountains to Lake Superior, navigable for ships of consider- 
 able size. The Columbia would afford another outlet to the sea ; 
 although, by another system of blundering diplomacy, the navigation 
 of the lower part of the Columbia has been lost to us. On taking a 
 bird's-eye view of the whole continent, we find that steam commu- 
 nication exists between St. Lawrence and the head of Lake Superior; 
 that steam communication may be very easily made between the 
 head of Lake Superior and Vancouver's Island ; and the only thing 
 we want to complete the chain will be this railway that we are 
 talking of between Halifax and Quebec. I think I need only add 
 one thing more before dismissing this portion of the subject, in order 
 to prove its extreme importance in a political point of view. Suppose 
 any difficulty should occur with the United States, suppose that 
 difficulty occurred in winter, the Americans could march a force 
 upon Quebecand we should be utterly incapacitated from sending any 
 relief from England to raise the siege of that fortress. Our only 
 way of getting to Quebec is through Portland and the State of 
 Maine ; we should be debarred from going through Maine if we 
 were at war with the United States, and Quebec must fall before 
 any assistance could come to it from our side of the water ; but, if 
 on the contrary, this railway were made, a state of war with the 
 United States would increase the resources of the railway, and 
 increase our commercial supremacy, by sending over it all the trade 
 which has hitherto been forced to go by way of Portland — not, of 
 course, that I wish for war — I wish to deprecate war, especially one 
 with people of our own race and language. But the best way to 
 preserve peace is to be prepared for its infraction, and I mean to say 
 
49 
 
 n. 
 
 it 
 
 ve 
 
 ud 
 
 that war, if this railway were constructed, instead of being absolute 
 ruin to us, would cut the other way. It would be actually in our 
 favour instead of against us. 
 
 I will now pass from that part of the subject and touch upon the 
 facilities which exist for carrying out the railway. I have before me 
 a report which was maue by a great friend of mine, Major (now 
 Colonel) Robinson, who surveyed the whole line at the instance of 
 the Imperial Government. He sent his report to the Governor- 
 General of Canada, who transmitted it home with a very flattering 
 despatch, in which he satisfactorily proves not only that the line is 
 perfectly practicable, but that it would be one of the cheapest lines 
 which could by any possibility be constructed. He estimates the 
 total cost of its construction at £3,000,000 (as this pamphlet which 
 my friend Mr. Fitzwilliam has before him mentions),or about £7,000 
 per mile ; and as the best proof that this estimate was ample, a line 
 of railway from St. Andrew's to Woodstock, on the western border 
 of new Brunswick, similar in all respects, has been constructed and 
 pronounced to be the best-finished line in America, much under that 
 estimate." Now, that is the estimate that Major Robinson, in his 
 report, laid before the Imperial Government ; probably, therefore, 
 Major Robinson's estimate would be ample. But, as I said before, 
 I do not feel myself com])etent to enter into the commercial view of 
 the question ; I only wish to point to Major Robinson's report as 
 affording very good evidence that the difficulties offered by the 
 ])hysical construction and lay of the land are not by any means 
 insurmountable, l)ut, on the contrary, every facility is offered to the 
 line. 
 
 Now, in a political point of view, the facilities afforded are very 
 considerable. On the 30th of May, 1849, Mr. Hincks, in the House 
 of Assembly of Canada, moved a series of resolutions, the last of 
 which, if you will allow me, I will read to this meeting, — " That if 
 Her Majesty's Government should undertake the construction of 
 the said railway, either directly or through the instrumentality of 
 a private company, it shall be lawful for the Governor in Council, 
 on behalf of this province, to undertake to pay yearly, in proportion 
 as the work advances, a sum not exceeding £20,000 sterling, to- 
 wards making good the deficiency (if any) in the income from the 
 railway, to meet the interest of the sum expended upon it ; and to 
 place at the disposal of the Imperial Government all the ungranted 
 lands within the province lying in the line of railway, to the extent 
 of ten miles on each side thereof ; and to undertake to obtain, pay 
 for, and place at the disposal of the Imperial Government, all the 
 land required within the province for the line of railway proper, 
 stations, and termini." An Act of Parliament was passed upon that 
 resolution being carried (and I believe it was carried unanimously), 
 granting to Her Majesty £'20,000 a year if she should undertake 
 the construction of this railway, either by herself or through the 
 instrumentality of a private company. Now, I will not read the 
 other resolutions which bear upon this subject, but I will merely 
 
 o 
 
no 
 
 :'?5i; 
 
 ,S 
 
 advert to them. The Nova Scotia General Assembly passed n resolu- 
 tion in almost identical terms ; at any rate, in identical sense, votinjj^ 
 also Crown lands for ten miles on each side of the railway, and 
 £20,000 a year towards the expenses of the railway ; and binding 
 itself to purchase and place at the disposal of the company all private 
 lands required for stations, and so on, free of charge. I will not 
 trouble the meeting with the resolutions which were passed at Nova 
 Scotia and New Brunswick, but I may say they were substantially 
 the same as that passed by Canada. 
 
 The Canadian resolutions were passed in May, 1849. Those of 
 Nova Scotia in April, 1849, and the New Brunswick resolutions in 
 March, 1849 ; and there was another series of resolutions passed by 
 New Brunswick on the £5th April, 1850, insisting even more 
 strongly on the construction of the work, and even going so far as 
 to say, that if Great Britain wishes to keep up her connection with 
 her North-American provinces and her imperial supremacy over 
 these colonies, the only way to do it is to construct this railroad. 
 They stated in diplomatic language that their political connection 
 with the mother country was not worth very much unless this rail- 
 way were constructed. They felt strongly on the subject, and they 
 saw its political importance in a way which you, living on this side 
 of the Atlantic, can hardly appreciate, but which, no doubt, my 
 friend Mr. Justice Halliburton will advert to and confirm. Upon 
 the receipt of the report of Major Robinson and the resolutions of 
 Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, Lord Grey wrote a des- 
 patch, of which I will venture to quote an extract ; he says, — 
 " Although her Majesty's Government are of opinion that great 
 caution ought to be observed in pledging the credit of the British 
 Treasury in aid of loans raised by the colonies, they regard the work 
 now in contemplation as being (like the Saint Lawrence Canals) of 
 so much importance to the whole empire as to justify them in recom- 
 mending to Parliament that some assistance should be given towards 
 its construction ; nor is there any mode of affording such assistance 
 which has been hitherto suggested which appears on the whole so 
 little burthensome to the mother country, and, at the same time, 
 of so much real service to the colonies as that which is now 
 proposed." 
 
 The words " that which is now proposed" refer to a proposal which 
 he notices in the former part of his despatch, that a minimum rate 
 of interest on the whole amount to be expended in the construction 
 of the railroad should be guaranteed by the British Government. 
 That shows the very high estimation in which Her Majesty's 
 Government at that time held the construction of this railway. I 
 might quote the authority of Lord Cathcart and Lord Elgin, who 
 was the Governor- General of Canada, and many other distinguished 
 statesmen, who have had political or other connection with the North- 
 American provinces. I might adduce their authority to prove that 
 this railroad is absolutely indispensable. After Lord Grey's expres- 
 sion of opinion some little time was allowed to elapse, during which 
 
51 
 
 1- 
 
 ly 
 
 time the question of an imperial guarnntcc wns re-n])cne(l and re- 
 discuascd. Lord Grey went out of office, I believe, in 1H5'2, and 
 then Sir Jolin Pakington succeeded to the Colonial Office, and a 
 deputation was sent, I think, from the three provinces, to wait upon 
 him and represent to him the state in which the matter had been 
 left by his predecessor. My friend Mr. Hincks, the Governor of 
 Barbadoes, represented Canada on that occasion, and we all know 
 that he is as good a fellow as ever lived, but he was rather ])eppery 
 and choleric. I understand that the interview with Sir John Paking* 
 ton terminated in rather an unexpected and stormy manner, and the 
 interests of the colony and of tiiis railroad have suffered in conse- 
 quence ; inasmuch as nothing has been done from that day to this, 
 and the matter now remains in the state in which I have endeavoured 
 to sketch it. 
 
 I think I have pointed out, as far as it has gone, the condition in 
 which we now are. There is but one thing further to mention. 
 Since the time that Canada offered a guarantee of £'20,000 a year, 
 she has incurred debts almost to the full extent of her credit, almost 
 as much as she can expend upon public works, in the construction of 
 the Grand Trunk Railway, Upper Canada. I do not know what 
 effect that large expenditure of her money would have if we ask now 
 for the £20,000 a year which she guaranteed then. It is only fair 
 to mention that, but I do not know how it would be regarded ; 
 the subject has not en mooted, and we cannot tell in what way 
 the Government o 'ada would look upon the matter : but we 
 
 know the present s^ .tents of the Governments of Nova Scotia and 
 
 New Brunswick. 
 
 I hold in my hand a Toronto paper called. The Toronto Leader, 
 in which is an article headed, " The Intercolonial Railway," which 
 contains the following statement : — 
 
 " Resolved — 'That a conference be requested with the Legislative 
 Council, by committee, on the general state of the Province; and 
 that at such conference the Committee of this House request that 
 the Legislative Council will unite with this House in an address to 
 the Queen on the subject of the Intercolonial Railroad between 
 Janada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, and inviting the assist- 
 ance of Her Majesty's Government in that great project.' " 
 
 Now I merely quote that to prove that the sentiments of New 
 Brunswick and Nova Scotia remain unchanged upon the subject. 
 A paper has been this moment put into my hands, showing that 
 Canada also still feels very greatly interested in it ; perhaps, there- 
 fore, my observation with regard to the possible unwillingness of 
 Canada still to grant the £20,000 goes for nothing ; it says, *• So 
 deeply did Canada feel interested in the project, that during last 
 autumn she sent home the Hon. Mr. MacDonald, attorney-general 
 of Canada West, and Mr. Rose, to co-operate with the Nova Scotia 
 Delegates." So that I suppose Canada remains in the same position 
 as the others I have described. 
 
 It now remains for this meeting to decide what course will be 
 
I I'll' 
 
 52 
 
 adopted towards securing for the company, which we hope to form, 
 the advantages which I have mentioned. It is for this meeting to 
 decide whether it would nit be advisable that a deputation should 
 wait upon the Colonial Secretary, asking him to recognize the 
 company intended to be formed as the instruments of Her Majesty in 
 carrying out the railroad, and thereby securing to that company the 
 advantJiges which I have enumerated. The Act of Parliament which 
 was passed by the Legislature of Canada contains the following 
 clause : — " Be it therefore enacted, that if Her Majesty's Government 
 shall undertake tlie construction of the said railway, either directly or 
 through the instrumentality of a private company, it shall be lawful 
 for the Governor in Council, on behalf of the province, to undertike 
 to pay yearly, in proportion as the work advances, a sum, not exceed- 
 ing £20,000 sterling, towards making good the deficiency (if any)," 
 and so on. If, therefore. Her Majesty's Government are willing to 
 recognize the company, which we hope to form, as tb ^ir instruments 
 in carrying out this railway, it will immediately place the company 
 in the position of claiming from all these various Legislatures the 
 £^0,000 a year which they have each promised, the crown lands 
 they promised, and '^he private lands which they intend to buy o.:id 
 ])lace at the disposal of the company. If we could also, in addition, 
 obtain from the Imperial Government a guarantee for a minimum 
 iu;.i. of interest on the expe^tditure of the work, such as Lord Grey, 
 in Khe despatch I iiave quoted, showed himseii ready to give the 
 company, as it appears to me (although that is again trenching 
 upon the commercial j)art of the matter), the company would be in 
 rather a prosperous condition, and very well able to go forward with 
 its work. 
 
 This meeting, therefore, has to consider, and such a resolution 
 will be proposed to this Meeting, that a deputation be requested to 
 wait upon the Colonial Secretary to ask him to recognize such com- 
 pany as the company to carry out the work. If the Meeting 
 decides upon sending such a deputation, I need hardly observe that 
 it will be advantageous to select the very strongest names we can 
 influence, so as to send up as good a deputation as we possibly cau 
 upon the subject. 
 
 I have already quoted Major Robinson's estimate of the total cost, 
 and on the 20th page of this pamphlet, which is in everybody's 
 hands, there is a very able summary, based, I have no doubt, on 
 ;ery good authority, of the probable pecuniary advaijtages which 
 would ensue from the construction of this railway. I leave in 
 other hands the exposition of the probable financial condition and 
 prospects of the company. 
 
 I have ventured, in as few words r j I could, to lay before you the 
 political and ])hysicial difficulties and advantages in the way of the 
 construction of this Railway, and I beg to conclude by calling upon 
 the Right Hon. Sotheron Estcourt, M.P., to move the first 
 resolution. 
 
 The Right Hon. Sotuekon EsxcouftT, M.P. — My Lord Bury and 
 
 4?_ 
 
53 
 
 Gentlemen, — If you, my lord, who have passed some time in 
 Canada, and are intimately acquainted, both with the country and 
 all those matters which concern it, have thought it necessary to 
 make some apology for occupying the place in which I am very glad 
 to see you. in consequence of there being present in this meeting 
 gentlemen of known character, name, and distinction connected 
 with Canada and Nova Scotia, much more, I am sure, have I need to 
 « lar an apology, who know of this magnificent country only by 
 information, and from what I have read. I came into this room, 
 my lord, to-day, not having the least idea that 1 should be expected 
 to take any part in the proceedings. At the same time, since you 
 have been so good as to desire it, I am not reluctant at all to offer 
 such humble assistance as I can, towards putting our proceeding in 
 course of operation, which I look upon, in a national point of view, 
 as being of manifest advantage (hear, hear), not only to Canada, 
 and the other parts of America, but also, I must say, to the mother- 
 country itself. (Ki^ar, hear."* 
 
 I will just in a few word;! say what it is that first gave me an 
 interest in this matter. A dear brother of mine, a gallant officer 
 who lost his life in the Crimea, was the officer appointed to the 
 command of an expedition (I hardly know whether I ought to call 
 it by that name) ; but, however, he superintended the drawing of 
 that line, wliich is at this moment the boundary between Canada 
 and the United States. He, of course, had nothing more to do than 
 strictly to follow out the line, according to arrangements which had 
 been entered into between the two countries by authorized and 
 diplomatic agents. Therefore, whatever may be thought concerning 
 the line itself, he was in no way responsible (hear, hear) ; but still, 
 during the two years that he passed there, being in constant com- 
 munication with him, I could not avoid obtaining a much more 
 intimate knowledge of the magnificent prospects which I think 
 surround that country ; that circumstance has always made me feel 
 a particular interest in the matter, and that really is, my lord, the 
 chief reason of my coming here to-day. 
 
 I am not going to trouble this Meeting with offering, from my 
 total absence of experience and my only crude information, any 
 suggestions which I could hope to be of any real value, but I will 
 just say this : it seems to me that, as matters now stand, there is for 
 half a year an absolute separation between the three provinces of 
 New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Canada. (Hear, hear.) Now 
 that that is of some importance in times of difficulty, I bear in mind 
 a recollection which J think is a proof. At the time when what was 
 called the rebellion in Canada broke out, I was well acquainted with 
 the movements of the 43rd Regiment. That regiment was stationed 
 on the seaboard of New Brunswick ; it was of the greatest import- 
 ance that all succour that couiu be afforded should be marched with 
 every rapidity that was possible to the places where operations were 
 go.ng on in Canada. That regiment made a most magnificent and 
 difficult passage through the midst of the country, which had 
 
 
64. 
 
 li 
 
 scarcely been explored before they cut their way through — in short, 
 it was one of the most brilliant operations, which is as deserving to 
 be recorded by a historian as the famous expedition of Cyrus, 
 which was so fortunate as to receive a place in history, and an 
 historian in Xenophon ; it was something that could not fail to 
 make an impression upon a non-military as well as a military mind. 
 I know it did upon mine. They took, if I am not mistaken, pretty 
 nearly the course along which you propose to carry this railway ; 
 they underwent great difficulties ; they could not avoid leaving 
 behind them a great many of those accessories which were, in fact, 
 indispensible to the full development of the power they had to bring 
 to bear upon the scene of action. All that could be done was done 
 in their personal and individual capacity — they contrived to make 
 their way through the forests. Now, if there had been then such 
 a railway as you are proposing to establish, instead of its being an 
 operation of difficulty, it would have been one of great facility ; in- 
 stead of cutting their way through at a slow rate, which still was 
 very creditable to them, for they did it at twenty miles a day, they 
 would have been wafted within twenty-four hours from Halifax to 
 Quebec, and thus have produced, b7 the rapidity of communication, 
 an impression that would have more than doubled any amount of 
 imperial force that might have been brought. 
 
 My lord, with regard to the mode in which this Meeting should 
 proceed, I beg to say, and it is hardly necessary for me to do so, 
 that 1 attend here only as a private individual member of Parliament ; 
 it is not in my power to state anything here on the part of the 
 Government, of which I pm a very humble member, and cannot 
 certainly in any way venture to take upon myself to say what their 
 views will be ; but havirg taken part in similar operations before, it 
 seems to mc that the course you have delineated is very much the 
 sort of course that it would be prudent for us, as well-wishers of the 
 cause, to adopt, which would be likely to make an impression ; and, 
 really, if there is to be any confidence placed 'n these figures, I do 
 not think you will be calling upon the Government to incur any 
 prodigious risk. (Hear, hear.) I must say, I think that the cause 
 is one of such great importance, since it would enable us during one- 
 half of the year, during which at present communication is totally 
 intercepted, to establish, by means of a railway, facilities of con- 
 veyance and communication between these three provinces. That in 
 a national point of view you might fairly ask of the Government to 
 make some pecuraary sacrifice, in order to achieve it (hear, hear) ; 
 but it seems to 'ne, also, if these figures have any weight, you might 
 go to the Government and say, you gain this great imperial advantage 
 without any risk at all, (Hear, hear.) 
 
 Now, my lord, I will leave it to those who are far abler than I 
 am myself to enter into the details, and I only beg leave to move 
 the resolution which has been put into my hands, in every word of 
 which I must say for myself I not only cordially concur, but I cannot 
 doubt that every person who knows anything of what is likely to be 
 
mmm 
 
 55 
 
 beneficial to our colonial interests and the imperial interests of 
 Great Britain will be certain to concur. 
 
 Captain the Hon. John Vivian, M.P. — My Lord Bury and 
 Gentlemen. — It was only five minutes before I came into this room 
 that I had any knowledge of the Meeting that was about to take 
 place, or its object ; but, however, as I happened to be in Canada 
 at a very interesting period of the fortunes of that colony, I hope I 
 shall not be thought intruding if I refer for one moment to the prac- 
 tical advantages that would be derived from such a line of railway 
 as that which is now proposed. ]\Iy right honourable friend has 
 alluded to a circumstance with which I was connected. I happened 
 lo have marched with the 43rd regiment on *he occasion he referred 
 to. (Hear, hear, and applause.) I was on the staiFof the Governor- 
 General, Lord Gosford, at the time when the Canadian rebellion 
 broke out. The rebels were clever enough to take care that their 
 proceedings should not come to light until after the first snow had 
 fallen, when the roads were thought impracticable : it was unfor- 
 tunately at that time that there was but a comparatively small por- 
 tion of troops in the two Canadas. I think, if I recollect right, two 
 regiments at Quebec and two at Montreal. Sir John Colborne, who 
 was in command of the troops, was anxious for the result. The 
 rebels were in great force. Down the whole bank of the St. Law- 
 rence, from Quebec to Montreal and upwards, they were in a state of 
 rebellion, and there were njreat doubts as to whether the rebellion 
 had not spread lower down the banks. Lord Gosford was anxious 
 for reinforcements, and sent to New Brunswick for the 43rd, and to 
 Halifax for the 83rd, and I was sent down by the Governor- General 
 to feel the pulse of the people on the banks of the St. Lawrence, to 
 see whether there was any risk in the 43rd being stopped in their 
 march upwards, and in one or two villages where it was thought 
 there was a strong feeling against them. There was one part in 
 particular, where the road passage was excessively narrow, and there 
 was great danger in case the troops should be there stopped ; and, 
 as my right honourable friend said, the march of the 43rd was, per- 
 haps, one of the most extraordinary that ever was made by a regiment. 
 For two days they marched in snow-shoes, with relieving men in 
 front six abreast, to beat the way for the rest of the regiment ; and 
 much to the credit of the colonel, be it said, notwithstanding the 
 great difficulties they had to contend with, they marched on without 
 leaving one single man behind them. (Hear, hear, and applause.) 
 There was not a misfortune of any kind — there was not a man 
 drunk upon the march, and there was not a man left behind on the 
 march ; but the danger and difficulty that those two regiments had 
 to contend with were extraordinary, and the length of time that they 
 took to complete the march was of very serious consequence at that 
 moment. Now, if there had been a railway, as my honourable 
 friend has stated in a strategical point of view, it would have been of 
 great importance ; and the only thing that surprises me is, that, con- 
 sidering the necessity of the communication between these three 
 
 1 ! 
 
56 
 
 i I 
 
 great countries of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Canada, so 
 many years should be permitted to have elapsed since they came 
 into our possession without any suggestion of this sort being brought 
 before the public. (Hear, hear.) 
 
 The Chairman, — It has been moved by the Right Hon. S. 
 Estcourt, M.P., and seconded by Capt. the Hon. John Vivian, 
 M.P. :— 
 
 " That the extraordinary advance which has been made 
 within the last few years in the trade and population of the 
 British North Amerian colonies renders it imperatively 
 necessary that Great Britain should no longer be dependent 
 upon the United States for railway communication with these 
 important colonies especially, when a cheaper and more 
 expeditious route cun be obtained through the British pos- 
 sessions. 
 The resolution was put to the meeting and carried unanimously. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 The Hon. Sir Allan Napier McNab, Baronet. — My Lord Bury 
 and Gentlemen, — I have been requested to move the following 
 resolution. I have great pleasure in doing so, because, as you may 
 naturally infer, I feel a detp interest in everything connected with 
 the British North- American provinces, and particularly with regard 
 to Canada. So much has been already said, and well said, by the 
 noble chairman and the hon. gentlemen who have preceded me, 
 that very little indeed remains for me to say. I shall not there- 
 fore trespass long upon your time, but I think I may venture to 
 assure this meeting that, from my connection with Canada for a great 
 many years in different capacities, I am in a position to answer 
 any question that may be put to me with respect to it. The 
 time has certainly arrived when we should no longer be dependent 
 upon a foreign power for access to the ocean at all seasons of the 
 year, and for our communication with the mother country. The 
 prosperity of Canada, and particularly of Western Canada, for- 
 merly called Upper Canada, has no parallel on the continent of 
 America. I believe this has been the language of some of the most 
 distinguished statesmen in the neighbouring republic, and in proof 
 of which I would mention the following facts : — 
 
 I''. 1824, there was but one steamer on Lake Ontario; we have 
 now not less than fifty large steamers. We had not then a railway, 
 a canal, nor even a macadamized road in the province ; whereas now 
 we have three canals, the Welland canal (connecting Lake Ontario 
 with Lake Erie), the St. Lawrence canal, and the Rideau canal, 
 perfecting the water communication between Kingston and Mon- 
 treal. The last was built by the British government at a cost of 
 upwards of a million, and, with that national generosity which 
 characterizes this country, was given to the province ; the Welland 
 canal, the importance of which cannot be too highly estimated, was 
 built through the great energy and perseverance of the Hon. Wm. 
 H. Merrit, a member of our legislature for the last five-and- twenty 
 
57 
 
 years. We have now macadamized and plank roads, and railways 
 in every part of the country ; upwards of £'20,000,000 sterling has 
 been expended upon railways in tliat country. The Great Western 
 Railway, which connects the head of Lake Ontario with the foot 
 of Lake Huron, is now completed, and may be considered one of the 
 best paying lines on the continent, unless, indeed, they allow a rival 
 line to be built under the control of other parties, which, now that it 
 has been sanctioned by the Government, they ought to build them- 
 selves. From the termination of the Great Western at Toronto, the 
 Grank Trunk is now finished to Quebec. You have, therefore, a 
 perfect communication both by land and water to Quebec, and what 
 we now require is, that the rail should be continued to Halifax, 
 which will give us at all seasons of the year access to tlie ocean, 
 without being compelled to go through a foreign country ; and this 
 contemplated railway will accomplish that desirable object, and as a 
 consequence, will be a most valuable feeder to the Grand Trunk now 
 constructed to Quebec. 
 
 The people of the colonies have done all that could be expected 
 of them. The province of Canada has given £20,000 a year, and all 
 the land necessary for the railway, and they have also given ten miles 
 on either side of the track. The provinces of New Brunswick and 
 Nova Scotia have done the same, and you learn by the report just 
 read by the Chairman that this railway is estimated to cost about 
 £3,000,000. You will therefore have money sufficient to pay the 
 interest on more than one- third of the amount, and a grant of land 
 that will, in my opinion, shortly realize all the money required. 
 You cannot expect the colonies to do more than they have done, and 
 surely the Government of this country ought to be prepared to give 
 them the assistance they require. 
 
 My friend Mr. Cunard, who sits on the other side of the table, 
 will tell you that the port of Halifax is one of the finest ports in the 
 world, that the communication between Halifax and Quebec will not 
 occupy more than twenty-four hours, and that a large portion of the 
 land is good and will be available after the completion of the rail- 
 way. The exports and imports of Canada alone are now about 
 £20,000,000. 
 
 I am hai)py in being able to tell this Meeting that a good feeling 
 now exists among all parties in Canada. No doubt we have had great 
 political differences, but by common consent we may consider all the 
 great questions which have agitated the public mind for years past 
 have been settled, and the country is now subsiding into that peace- 
 ful, happy state which I hope may long continue ; for I believe 
 British America to be one of the brightest jewels in the British 
 crown, and I trust that good feeling and attachment to this country 
 which now exists may ever continue, and my fervent wish is that the 
 British provinces in America may ever remain an integral portion of 
 this noble empire. (Hear, hear, and applause.) 
 
 Mr. NisBET, M.P. — My Lord Bury and Gentlemen — I ought 
 perhaps to make some apology for presenting myself on this occa- 
 
 H 
 
 i 
 
58 
 
 I if, J 
 
 I' 
 
 i 
 
 sion ; but having been requested to second this resolution, I venture 
 to do so. Local knowledge of Canada I have none ; yet, having 
 read this book, I feel I need not hesitate in gladly seconding this 
 resolution ; for I see it says, •* Quebec, during six months of the 
 year, has no outlet to the sea, being closed by ice, and communi- 
 casion with England, and with the important provinces of Nova 
 Scotia and New Brunswick, is in consequence carried through the 
 United States." This alone shows how very necessary the railway 
 is. But I see it says further, — " The United States has one vast 
 network of railways, extending from the shores of the Atlantic 
 almost to the Rocky Mountains, and from the banks of the Missouri 
 and Mississippi to the shores of the great lakes of the St. Lawrence. 
 She could in the course of three days concentrate an army on the 
 Canadian frontier ; and, if this should ever occur in the winter, she 
 could lay siege to Quebec without the possibility of our transportine; 
 troops to its relief." This is quite sutiicient to convince me, and I 
 should think everybody else, that the proposed railway is, in a 
 military and physical point of view, of immense importance. I have 
 therefore great pleasure in seconding the resolution, and only wish I 
 could furnish some information on the subject. 
 
 The Chairman. — It has been moved by the Honourable Sir 
 
 Allan McNab, Bart., and seconded by H. P. Nisbet, Esq., M.P. : — 
 
 " That the importance of a line of railway from Halifax to 
 
 Quebec in a national point of view having been repeatedly 
 
 acknowledged by the Imperial Governments and by the 
 
 Legislatures of the various colonies through which the 
 
 said line of railway is intended to pass, it is desirable that 
 
 measures be forthwith adopted to carry out the views 
 
 expressed by such high authority." 
 
 Lord GooERicfl. — My Lord Bury and Gentlemen — As I shall be 
 
 obliged to leave this Meeting in a few moments, you will perhaps 
 
 allow me to say one or two words, feeling, as I do, a very deep 
 
 interest in all that concerns the colonies of England. I was very 
 
 happy to avail myself of your invitation to attend this Meeting 
 
 to-day ; but, as I told you then, and stated to other gentlemen in 
 
 the room, I came here more as a learner than in any other capacity. 
 
 Before I go I am anxious to state, that all that I have heard has 
 
 convinced me that the assertions contained in those two resolutions 
 
 that have just been moved and carried are fully borne out, as far as 
 
 I am able to judge of the matter. There can be no doubt of the 
 
 great importance to the colonies, and of the great importance to the 
 
 mother- country, of such a railway as is proposed to be made. For 
 
 my own part, with regard to the other resolutions, I am not a great 
 
 friend in the abstract to Government guarantees or Government 
 
 assistance to Railways. I am always more glad to see undertakings 
 
 of this kind carried out by the unassisted efforts of capitalists. But 
 
 I can understand that a work of this description, which may be truly 
 
 called a national work, tending to bind together three colonies, and 
 
 to confer great and manifest advantages upon the mother country, 
 
■^ 
 
 59 
 
 re 
 ing 
 is 
 he 
 i- 
 va 
 he 
 ay 
 ast 
 tic 
 uri 
 ce. 
 the 
 she 
 ing 
 id I 
 a 
 ave 
 shI 
 
 may require »ome assistance of that description. (Hear, hear.) In 
 tlie present state of my information, I do not pledge myself to what 
 is the proper course to pursue in that respect; but if you determine, 
 as no doubt you will, to have a deputation to the Colonial Secretary 
 upon the subject, I shall be happy to attend, and to further 
 your endeavours. I am only sorry that I am obliged to go away 
 now. 
 
 The resolution was put to the Meeting, and carried unani- 
 mously. 
 
 The Chaihbian. — The Honourable Samuel Cunard will move 
 the third resolution. 
 
 The Hon. S. Cunard. — My Lord and Gentlemen, I do not think 
 it is necessary for me to say much to you upon the subject, as I 
 think you have pointed out yourselves the proper course to he 
 adopted. I think that a committee should be appointed to wait 
 upon the Goveniment, and I think the Government are fully sensible 
 of the importance of this measure. I have had a great deal to do 
 with it myself. I had managed with Lord Grey at one time to carry 
 it out, and the Government were very much disposed to come 
 forward, and to do anything almost that was required, they knowing 
 the importance of the measure. (Hear, hear.) Anybody who knows 
 Halifax will admit it is one of the first harbours in the world, and 
 that a railway there would be a link which would connect together 
 the three provinces of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, 
 and without that connecting link they are completely separated. It 
 is something remarkable that for six months of the year there is no 
 access to Quebec, and neither is there any outlet from Quebec. If 
 you have, in a Government point of view, troops in Halifax, you can 
 send them wherever they are required. If you wish to take them 
 from Canada, you can take them down to Halifax. Last year I had 
 to bring troops from Quebec to Halifax, when they were wanted in 
 the Crimea, and I could not do it for want of proper communication. 
 I want to show the importance of the railway not existing at that 
 time, and what I could have done with it. I pointed out to the 
 Government that they could do with three regiments less in Canada 
 by means of this railway than they could do without it. I did not 
 at that time think that they would find it necessary to bring troops 
 from Canada to assist in other parts of the world where we might 
 want them. I think the Government would be glad to aid and 
 assist this as a great national undertaking, and as measure of very 
 great importance. I think the Chairman has pointed out that 
 a deputation should wait upon the Government, and I think it would 
 not wait upon them in vain. I think they would not only get the 
 countenance of the Government, but they would get as large an 
 annual sum of money as the provinces are willing to give for the 
 advantages the Government would receive from it. The Government 
 would receive much greater advantages than the provinces by the 
 sum they would give. The Government did j)ropo8e to allow me a 
 very large sum of money annually, and also to guarantee the pay- 
 
 % 
 
 V 
 
60 
 
 
 ll 
 
 ment of a loan in this country, at a low rate of interest, which we 
 could now get and could have got at that time ; and the sum the 
 provinces were to pay tad the sum the Government M'ere to pay 
 would meet the interest altogether, so that they could go on and 
 work the railway by that means. (Hear, hear.) 
 
 I do not think it necessary to occupy more of your time than I 
 have done — it is a great measure and of importance both to the 
 colonies and to the country at large. 
 
 Colonel BoLDERO, M.P. — My Lord and Gentlemen, I attend here 
 to-day, feeling a strong desire to give any humble assistance I can 
 in carrying out an undertaking of such importance as this is (Hear, 
 hear) ; and I must confess, although I had a strong feeling when I 
 entered the room, it has been greatly increased by what I liave heard. 
 Now, your lordship's speech and those of the gentlemen who have 
 followed, have made a more powerful impression upon me, as show- 
 ing the necessity of it, than I had when I entered this room. I am 
 greatly astonished by the speech of the honourable member (Sir. A. 
 Macnab) at the magnitude of the exports and imports of that 
 country. I was in Halifax myself two or three years, carrying on 
 important works, building forts and barracks for the Government ; 
 and of course I could not exist and mix with the inhabitants of 
 Halifax, without conversing with commercial men and getting some 
 knowledge of what was the nature of your trade with that country. 
 (Hear, hear.) I observe now with the greatest pleasure, not only 
 from what has been stated in this room, but what I have seen from 
 public despatches, that your trade increases in proportion far beyond 
 what I thought it would have done in the time. My lord, I think 
 you are quite right in recommending the subscribers to this great 
 work to ask for an interview with the Government. I think you 
 are quite right in asking them to give you advantages and 
 privileges the same as they have done to others of their colonies ; 
 and there is a strong reason why they should do it, because the 
 Colonial Parliaments have sanctioned, I think, very extensive sup- 
 port to it. Now, the point which has been prominently put forward 
 is very important, of giving in breadth ten miles on each side of the 
 line in a country well adapted for colonization, and a country well 
 adapted for being the means of large productions of every kind, 
 increasing naturally the trade carrying capital away from this 
 country. It is of the utmost importance to the home Government 
 that they should encourage emigration. I think the encouragement 
 given by British North- American colonies for emigration to the 
 colonies is such as to tempt families perhaps of a very different 
 description to what we have hitherto had. (Hear, hear.) I had 
 no intention of taking a part in the proceedings of this Meeting, 
 and therefore you will excuse anything in which I have been remiss ; 
 but I cordially support this resolution, and look upon it in a com- 
 mercial, political, and military sense, to be an object worthy the 
 consideration of her Majesty's Government. (Hear, hear.) 
 
61 
 
 ire 
 lie 
 
 »y 
 
 I 
 
 le 
 
 fre 
 in 
 »r. 
 
 The Chairman — It has been moved by the Hon. Samuel Cunard. 
 and seconded by Colonel Boldero, M.P. : — 
 
 " That, in the opinion of this meeting, the Halifax and 
 Quebec Railway will aiford a safe and profitable means of 
 investment for a large amount of unemployed capital in the 
 United Kingdom, provided that the Imperial Government 
 be willing to confer upon the subscribers such privileges and 
 advantages as are commensurate with the importance of this 
 great national undertaking, and with the advantages already 
 accorded by the Colonial Governments." 
 The resolution was put to the Meeting, and carried unanimously. 
 The Chairman. — The Hon. Charles Fitzwilliam, M.P., will now 
 move the fourth resolution. 
 
 The Hon, Charles Fitzwilliam, M.P. — My Lord and Gentle- 
 men, — I am very glad to avail myself of this opportunity of showing 
 what interest I take in everything that concerns her Majesty's 
 dominions in North America, and more particularly am I anxious to 
 do all in my power to further the completion of a communication 
 from Halifax, the most important seaport on the coast of North 
 America, with the more central portions of her dominions, because I 
 think that is only the commencing link which will connect the 
 Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific (Hear, hear) — an object which I 
 think every person ought to have in view who wishes to keep her 
 Majesty's dominions in their utmost integrity. On the Pacific, we 
 are fortunate enough to possess the most important harbours on the 
 whole ocean. I think I may safely say that. (Hear, hear.) The 
 harbour of Esquimault on Vancouver's Island is, 1 believe, the finest in 
 the world ; and along the whole coast, from there to Valparaiso, you 
 will hardly find a safe and convenient harbour. Even the harbour of 
 St. Francisco is so excessively large that it cannot be said to be safe 
 at all times. Great opposition has been made to any communication 
 between the east and west, but I think, from the last report 
 which we have had of the riches of that country, those efforts to 
 frustrate any undertaking to communicate with the two sides of the 
 continent would be futile. 
 
 Besides that, the country through which I should propose to make 
 a railway from Lake Superior to Puget's Sound, is exceedingly rich 
 as an agricultural country. The knowledge that we have lately had 
 of the enormous discovery of gold on the banks of Thompson's and 
 Frazer's River, will naturally induce people to flock to that country ; 
 and in no way would they be better able to arrive at the acquisition 
 of wealth than by some communication between Lake Superior and 
 the west. Of course we shall have to wait some time for that ; 
 but I think the commencing link will be this railway from Halifax 
 to Quebec. I have, therefore, the greatest pleasure in proposing 
 this resolution, f^r I really think " That it is advisable that appli- 
 cation be forthwith be made to her Majesty's Government upon the 
 eubjeci* of the proposed railway from Halifax to Quebec, with a 
 view to ascertain what encouragement and assistance they are 
 
 Jt 
 
62 
 
 
 I< ^ 
 
 f 
 
 f ■■^, 
 
 i-l 
 
 prepared to afford to the promoters of the undertaking." I think 
 that the completion of such a scheme has been delayed too long. 
 
 Mr. Wyld, M.P. — My Lord Bury and Gentlemen, — I must 
 confess I feel a very great privilege in being allowed to take part in 
 to'day's proceedings; for, although the matter has been before me 
 as a matter of theory for some time, yet I now think that this great 
 and important project under your lordship's an$>pices, and by the 
 assistance of gentlemen round the table, will, I have no doubt, be 
 carried to a successful issue, becaui^e it seems to me that the Grand 
 Trunk Railway wants a terminus to the sea. Sir Allan Macnab 
 has stated that some portions of the Grand Trunk Railway do nut 
 at this moment yield an ample return. Why is it ? Because you 
 are compelled to pass through a portion of the United States, or to 
 use the waters of St. Lawrence, for a portion of your trade. That 
 river, during a certain portion of the year, is completely closed, and 
 trade is entirely excluded. 
 
 Now, my lord, you want this railway as a terminus upon your 
 sea-board ; and I have watched the observations that have fallen 
 from the ditferent hon. gentlemen who have addressed your lordship 
 to-day, and I find alt have abstained from pointing out what are the 
 great commercial and paying advantages of this line to Nova Scotia 
 itself. I have some acquaintance with that country, and I know its 
 vast mineral riches, its forests, its mines, both of coal and iron- 
 stone, and other materials, which, I feel assured, in itself would 
 yield a very ample return for the capital that might be outlaid upon 
 it. (Hear, hear.) Your lordship has spoken of the matter in 
 a military point of view, which is an important one no doubt ; but I 
 I am a man of peace, and I look upon this railway as perhaps one of 
 the most important links in our communications, not for the purpose 
 of war, but for the purpose of cementing us eternally in the bonds of 
 peace, not only with Canada, but with the United States ; for what 
 has been our position with the United States ? We have been 
 absolutely dependent for our communications, for a large portion of 
 the year, upon the railway communication with the United States ; 
 but this railway will give us an independent communication, and I 
 have not she slightest doubt will in itself yield a very ample return 
 for the capital that will be outlaid upon it. Now, the resolution 
 that I am to speak to is, " That it is advisable that an application 
 be made forthwith to her Majesty's Government." From the tenor 
 of the letter of Lord Grey of March 1 0th, 1851, I think we have a 
 right to go to her Majesty's Government and ask them to carry out 
 the promise mj.de by Lord Grey in that letter, for, although the 
 personnel of the Government has changed since that time, yet I think 
 the policy of her Majesty's present Government should not change. 
 I think that the promise contained in Lord Grey's letter is such, 
 that at this moment if an organization is made to curry out this 
 railway, we have a right to ask the presv<;nt occupant of the Colonial 
 Office to carry out the terms contained in Lord Grev's letter of the 
 lOthof March. 1851. 
 
I 
 
 link 
 
 kust 
 
 in 
 
 me 
 
 reat 
 
 the 
 
 |> be 
 
 land 
 
 [nab 
 
 not 
 
 J you 
 
 jr to 
 
 'hat 
 
 land 
 
 The Honourable S. Cunard.— You will not ask in vain. 
 
 Mr. Wyld, M.P. — And I have no doubt, as my hon. friend says, 
 we shall not ask in vain. The communication between this country 
 and Canada hns not been so extensively developed to the extent it 
 ought to have been. When this line is completed it will not only o,)en 
 the whole Canadian communication, but you will be enabled to pay 
 interest at no very far distant period from the return which will be 
 made for the outlaid capital, not only by the Government grants, but 
 by the working of the railway itself; and you will so far extend 
 your railway system to the ports of New Brunswick and Nova 
 Scotia, that your port at Halifax will not simply be a port for the 
 Canadian produce, but will be the port for the vast Atlantic sea-board 
 also ; and all those who have studied the subject will know the vast 
 and important trade that will be carried on with the Pacific through 
 that line, which can be constructed very cheaply and economically; 
 and then we shall have a link of communication from Lake Superior 
 to the Pacific, and that day is not very far distant. (Hear, hear.) 
 The present advantages offered to this railway are an ample 
 compensation for the capital required, looking at it, not only 
 in a military, but in a commercial point of view. I speak to 
 the commercial point of view particularly, and any assistance that I can 
 render your lordship, I shall be most happy to place at your disposal; 
 and I believe we shall only have to ask Government in order to get 
 their consent. 
 
 The Chairmax. — It has been moved by the Honourable Charles 
 Fitzwilliam, M.P., and seconded by Mr. Wyld, M.P. 
 
 " I'hat it is advisable that application be forthwith made 
 to her Majesty's Government upon the subject of the pro- 
 posed Railway from Halifax to Quebec, with a view to ascer- 
 tain what arrangement and assistance they are prepared to 
 afford to the promoters of the undertaking." 
 
 The Resolution was put to the Meeting and carried unanimously. 
 
 The Chairman. — I shall have now to call upon the Hon. Justice 
 Haliburton to move the dth Resolution. 
 
 The Hon. Justice Haliburton. — My Lord and Gentlemen, I was 
 not aware until I entered this room what the precise object of the 
 Meeting was, or that I should be called upon to take any part in it ; 
 and I regret that the more, because as I have spoken and written 
 more frequently upon the subject of the colonial communications 
 than most men. I have committed to paper at various times certain 
 facts, which, if I had known that I should have addressed you, I 
 should have been glad to have put into a condensed form and laid 
 before this Meeting. (Hear, hear.) " But he who trusts to paper 
 generally injures his memory," and therefore I cannot call figures 
 to mind just at this moment ; but I will mention one or two cir- 
 cumstances which will show you the importance of this object, as 
 well as one or two historical facts connected with it. 
 
 In the first place we are totally dependent upon the United 
 States for the transmission of the English mails to Canada; we 
 
G4 
 
 31 ,' / 
 il , it 
 
 I > 1 
 
 1 !■• 
 
 have to carry them by the magnificent line of steamers of Mr. 
 Cunard, either to Boston, and then send them up to the province 
 of Canada, or by that equally magnificent line of his to New York, 
 and send them thence to Canada, through the States. (Applause.) 
 
 Now, those who have as much knowledge of the Americans as I 
 have, I believe will be constrained to say that they are either not able 
 to carry out their treaties, or that they are not willing to do so ; but 
 whether they carry them out or whether they fail to do so, it is 
 always accompanied with very great impertinence and insolence. 
 (Laughter.) Now, in the present postal arrangement between 
 this country and the United States there is a clause, granting per- 
 mission for the mails to travel through their country, and a very large 
 sum of money is paid for it. But that arrangement is terminable at 
 a very short notice. I think it is a month or six weeks, and the 
 consequence of that clause is, that when the CoUins's line was put 
 on, they wanted to have all the English letters sent by their ships, 
 and when the demand was refused, notice was given to terminate 
 the treaty, which caused the greatest confusion and alarm to the 
 mercantile world : for you could not get a letter except through the 
 United States without infinite delay. Now I have lived I will not 
 say the greater part of my life, but all my life in Nova Scotia, and 
 am a native of the country. Quebec is practically as far distant to 
 me, and infinitely more dirticult to get at, than Dresden is from here. 
 (Hear, hear.) I can go to Dresden with a good deal more comfort 
 and a vast deal more ease than I can go from Halifax to Quebec, and 
 I believe a great deal cheaper. I have got, in the first place, to ship 
 on board one of Mr. Cunard's vessels and to go to Boston, and 
 perhaps 1 have to wait a fortnight for the arrival of his steamer. 
 Then I have to go through that very conciliatory country and polite 
 people, the Yankees, until I can get up to the border, and then I 
 have to go to such a point in Canada as I want to go to. You heard 
 about those troops, that were sent to Canada from Halifax in the 
 winter. I recollect it well, for I was riding on horseback on the 
 Halifax road at the time these men were coming up. It was in 
 the month of December — the month of December at Halifax and 
 the month of December at Quebec are two very different things. It 
 is something like the Polar Sea at Quebec; it is very cold at Halifax, 
 but God knows how much colder it is at Quebec — it would take the 
 hair off a man's head. The march of those troops was, even by the 
 j)eople of that country, who understand the use of the snow-shoes 
 and all that sort of thing, thought a most marvellous undertaking. 
 
 Mr. CuNARD. — It was. 
 
 The Honourable Justice Halibubton. — And it was thought a 
 most marvellous undertaking, even by the colonists themselves, and 
 I believe the commissariat ofiUcer's name was Inglis, who was a 
 colonist, and therefore had a knowledge of these modes of conveying 
 troops which an English commissariat officer would not have. He 
 was a host in himself ; and there would have been very different work 
 in the Crimea if he had lived to have gone there. The St. Lawrence 
 
f)5 
 
 is closed for a great part of the year, and a road through the 
 wildernesf* does not exist. To send or withdraw troops at all 
 times, to forward warlike stores or militia to assailed or ossailnble 
 ])oint9, is of the first importance — where means of transport exist to 
 the sea, the militHry force may be reduced greatly, in eleven days 
 troops can reach Canada froni England — weakness invites attack. 
 Now, Halifax is situate at the nearest point to England in America. 
 Most of you, gentlemen, have been there. It is the most magnificent 
 harbour in the world. It is not only one harbour, but it is a double 
 harbour. After you go up about ten miles of magnificent harbour, 
 you pass through a smalt narrow passage of about 1,100 to 1,200 
 feet — perhaps not so much — and then you get up to Bedford 
 Harbour, which is the best, if there can be two bests. 
 
 Mr. CuNARD. — Halifax is the best, and the other is the better. 
 The Honourable Justice Haliburton. — That is, that Halifax is a 
 double first. It is an extraordinary fact, and difficult to account for, 
 that the hnrbour of Halifax is only once in many years frozen over, 
 and the further south you go upon that continent the oftener the 
 harbours are frozen over. For instance, if you go further south to 
 Boston, it is twice as often frozen over as Halifax. 
 
 Mr.CuNARO. — I have been twenty years with steamers, and have 
 not been kept out of Halifax once, but I have out of Boston many 
 times. 
 
 The Honourable Justice Haliburton. — During the winter, a 
 few years ago, there were a hundred vessels frozen up in 
 Charleston, South Carolina, and had to stop there six weeks at a 
 time ; but that does not often occur. If you go north of Halifax, 
 then it is entirely closed. But I have no doubt that the magnificent 
 harbour of Halifax was intended for this railway. 
 Mr. Cunard. — Nothing happens by accident. 
 The Honourable Justice Haliburton. — No doubt Providence 
 intended this, for this particular object. (A laugh.) 
 
 Now, I will just mention one thing that has been omitted. When 
 it was first started, it was considered a monstrous undertaking and 
 alarmed everybody, because you were to begin at Halifax and run to 
 Quebec. But the distance is lessened at both ends now. Nova 
 Scotia has already made its railway from Halifax very near to the 
 New Brunswick border. Canada has done the same thing ; it has 
 run down the St. Lawrence as far as Trois Pistoles, and I believe 
 is willing to do what lies within its own border ; but there is a large 
 piece of vacant ground between Nova Scotia and Canada, lying in 
 New Brunswick. They have not anybody who seems to take any 
 interest in that which is the key to the whole. When you come 
 to consider with reference to this particular resolution that you are 
 at the mercy of the Americans for your postal communication; 
 that you have not a road from these Lower Provinces, that they are 
 totally detached, that they are unconnected, that there are five sets 
 of laws in consequence of their being in that way, that there is no 
 general public feeling got up amongst them, it is manifestly an object 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
66 
 
 IF 
 
 i- 
 
 of the first importance to unite them. I think the Government ought 
 to take into consideration another view, which is, that in all the pos- 
 sessions of England in the wide world (where the sun never sets upon 
 her possessions) and especially on the A.nerican continent, if there 
 are loyal subjects it is in British North America, and they have 
 lately given a proof of it (Hear, hear), for a regiment has been 
 formed, and it is not only now oflFered, hut it has been offered 
 and rather superciliously rejected on one or two c?{.a 'ions before, 
 but at this time they could not well refuse it, because they could 
 not do without it, and if the regiment does not give a good 
 account of itself, I shall be greatly mistnken. They sent General 
 Inglis to defend Lucknow and General Williams to defend Kars, and 
 also sent the Admiral who brought the Yankee Chesapeake into 
 Halifax (laughter), who was also a native of our country ; and it 
 sent to the Redan some of the very first victims who fell there. 
 Therefore, I think, in considering this : — it is a truly English posses- 
 sion—that it is larger than all Europe — it is connected with the 
 East, and it is of importance in every way, I should certainly think 
 it a very extraordinary thing if tlie Government does not, at all 
 events, give a guarantee. British America is the only possession 
 we have where the climate svits European constitutions; in this 
 respect it is far before the States, as is evinced in the health, vigour, 
 and stature of the population. 
 
 Now, as to the pledge given by Lord Grey there has been some 
 dispute, which I do not enter into now. I do not know who is 
 right or who is wrong. One of the delegates who came from the 
 colonies, asserts that a guarantee was given, which I believe is denied 
 on ths other side, but if that guarantee at that time had been given, 
 this railway would have been made, because the money then could 
 have been borrjwed upon an imperial guarantee at 3^ per cent., 
 M'hen it could not be from a provincial government at 6 per cent. ; 
 therefore it makes a difference of one half of the expense of the 
 whole undertaking, and an important measure that is unquestionably. 
 
 Now, I will just look at the map for one moment. Part of the 
 Nova Scotia Railway is finished, Canada is completing one toTrois 
 Pistoles ; it is t>nly that part through New Brunswick now required, 
 and New Brunswick is very anxious to go on with it. I may state 
 that xhere have been some negotiations which have not been men- 
 tioned here. Lately there were delegates from Canada here, from 
 New Brunswick, and froir Nova Scotia, who had an interview with 
 the Right Honourable Mr. Labouchere. Whut the result of 
 that was I d<» not know. X look upon everything connected with 
 the Colonia'. OHlce with such utter despair and hopelessness, 
 that I am really quite discourapcid. I hardly read, talk, or have any 
 intercourse with anybody about: the subject, when you have got such 
 sleepy officials in Downing Street, — when they get men in that 
 office, not one of whom ever saw a colony, and one of whom spelt it 
 even with two n'». Happily, at the same time, there is a change 
 coming over the legislHture People are obliged to be civil in these 
 
G7 
 
 times of change of Governments, and they are uncommonly polite to 
 what they used to be, and perhaps we may get an agreeable answer 
 to our application. 
 
 The Chairman. — Mr. Neeld, M.P., will second the resolution. 
 Mr. Nerld, M.P. — My Lord and Gentlemen, — I will not detain 
 your time for more than one minute. I came here merely to evince 
 by my presence the very sjieat interest I take in this undertaking. 
 My knowledge is confined entirely t) what is contained in this 
 yellow book and the map which is before me, with the addition of 
 the observations and information that i have derived from the 
 sjjeeches to-day, and I can only say that I have the very greatest 
 satiiifaction in acting with those gentlemen, who think with me that 
 the carrying out of this railway will be of the greatest advantage to 
 the colony. I have, therefore, great satisfaction in seconding this 
 resolution. I conceive that the best mode of bringing this before the 
 Government, will be that a deputation should wait on the Colonial 
 Secretary and place the matter before him, and then we shall proceed 
 in the usual way. 
 
 The CiiAiKMAX. — It has been moved by the Honourable Justice 
 HaliburtOQ, and seconded by Mr. Neeld, M.P., 
 
 '* That the undermentioned noblemen and gentlemen, 
 together with such others as may wish to unite them, agree 
 t«i form a deputation for the purpose of applying to her 
 Majesty's Government upon the subject of the proposed 
 railway from Halifax to Quebec, and that the Chairman be 
 requested to ascertain when her Majesty's Secretary of 
 State for the Colonies will be prepared to receive the depu- 
 tation, and to communicate the result to them." 
 The resolution was put to the Meeting and carried unanimously. 
 The Hon. Justice Haliburton. — There is one thing, perhaps, 
 which every person is not aware of, and that is, the 'ine of internal 
 navigation in Canada, from the moutti of St. Lawrence to the head 
 of Lake Superior, is longer than it is from Liverpool to New York. 
 
 The Chairman. — We have now carried this resolution, " That 
 the undermentioned noblemen and gentlemen be requested to form 
 a deputation;" but there are no undermentioned noblemen and 
 gentlemen, and I wish to put it to the Meeting how these noblemen 
 and gentlemen are to be a])pointed. Perhaps some gentleman will 
 suggest a better course than I can. It might be left to some of the 
 gentlemen who are interested in the undertaking to get their names 
 attached. 
 
 Mr. Neeld, M.P. — That would be the best way. 
 Sir Allan Macnab. — Perhaps it will be as well to delegpte the 
 power to the Chairman and such gentlemen as may assist him in 
 promoting the undertaking. 
 
 T)- • Chairman. —I may state that Lord Goderich, M.P. ; the 
 Hon. John Vivian, M.P. ; Mr. Headlam, M.P. ; Mr. George 
 GrenfcU Glyn, M.P. : Mr. Ackroyd, M.P. ; Mr. Collins, M.P ; Mr. 
 Samuel Gurney, M.P. ; Mr. Terrell, Mr. Cummins, and Mr. 
 
68 
 
 I,:, I 
 
 ¥4 ■ 
 
 \m 
 
 Schneider, M.P., signify their concurrence in the objects of the 
 Meeting, and are willing to form part of the deputation. 
 
 Mr. Wyld, M.P. — We had better add our own names who are 
 present. 
 
 The Chmrmax. — Yes ; and perhaps it might be as well to men- 
 tion that in all probability the Company will be registered under the 
 Limited Liability Act before we proceed with the deputation to the 
 Colonial Secretary ; because, when we wait upon the Colonial Secre- 
 tary, he will very naturally say, " Gentlemen, whom am I dealing 
 with? A„n I to put you in possession of a large sum, and a 
 quantity of Crown land — whom am I to give it to ? " If we could 
 go to him, and say, " Here are seven gentlemen (I believe under the 
 Limited Liability Act seven gentlemen may register themselves into 
 an association) ; these are the persons you are to deal with ;" if those 
 gentlemen carried great weight with their names and distinction, 
 independently of others, no doubt the Colonial Secretary would be 
 perfectly ready to listen to what we had to say, and so any gentle- 
 men who wishes to put down his name now can do so. 
 
 The Honourable S. Cunard. — My Lord — I think when you go to 
 the Colonial Minister you will find he will be disposed to listen to 
 anything you propose in this tangible form. It is upon the plan 
 I suggested to the Government, and which they were willing to 
 adopt ; we should be enabled to get a guarantee upon the best terms, 
 because the money from the colonies was to be paid here ; we had 
 nothing to do with the colonies, and I propose that we should have 
 nothing to do with the colonies ; that the £20,000 from each of the 
 colonies should be paid to the British Government. These sums 
 together will be quite sufficient to pay the interest on the guarantee 
 of the Government, therefore you could not lose anything. The 
 first question Lord Grey asked me was, " What do you mean to do 
 for the Government ?" I said, " Do ! I will soon tell you what 1 will 
 do." I said " I will save you three regiments. Canada will do with 
 three regiments less, having them brought as you want. I am 
 perfectly willing," I said, "to carry your troops up free." They were 
 willing to give me a certain consideration, and therefore the sum 
 from the three colonies and the Government wilt be sufficient to 
 meet the interest of the whole sum to be expended on this railway. 
 Therefore everybody who comes forward to subscribe will be sure to 
 get their interest. There will be interest paid to all the subscribers, 
 so that anything that you get beyond that will be profit. 
 
 Mr. Wyld, M.P. — Was this a late conversation, or some time 
 
 ago? 
 
 It 
 
 The Hon. S. Cunard. — It took place only a few years ago. 
 was so far arranged that they were anxious to do it. 
 
 Mr. Wyld, M.P. — Do you think they still remain of the same 
 opinion. 
 
 The Hon. S. Cunard.— I am sure they do. I know the present 
 head of the Colonial Office was of that opinion, and I am sure they 
 will carry it out. Huw I came to give it up was, that some person 
 
69 
 
 the 
 
 are 
 
 ien- 
 
 the 
 
 the 
 
 ;re- 
 
 iHng 
 
 Id a 
 
 mid 
 
 the 
 
 linto 
 
 lose 
 
 came home which interrupted it. This was a plan of my own. All 
 this took place before Colonel Hobinson revived it. This gentleman 
 was an old acquaintance of mine ; he was commandinp- at Ports- 
 mouth, and he took great pleasure in pointing out to no that there 
 were no great engineering diifculties in the way. That was one 
 important thing I got done. I had got everything arranged so far 
 that when Parliament adjourned on the 12th of August, I asked 
 Lord Grey to write a letter to the different Colonial Goverr .rents, 
 to ask them to confer special assistance to carry this out, ano x was 
 going to carry out an Act, framed by the Attorney- General here, to 
 be in conformity with those of the different provinces, and Lord 
 Grey said it was a very good thing, and they were wishing it was 
 done; and he said although he was willing to accede to it, yet he was 
 going further than he thought he was justified. Soon after a 
 delegate came home from the provinces, who was duly authorized by 
 the Provincial Government to carry on the Nova Scotia road, and I 
 was very glad to back it. That delegate and Lord Grey had a 
 quarrel. Afterwards they made up their quarrel, and then they had 
 a quarrel again. That was just the way it stood ; otherwise, if I 
 had remained and felt anxious to carry it out, I am quite sure long 
 before this the railroad would have been completed. I am sure you 
 will get from the Government and the different provinces quite suffi- 
 cient to pay the whole interest. 
 
 Mr. Roche. — My Lord Bury and Gentlemen, — You will perhaps 
 allow me to mention one circumstance which came under my obser- 
 vation, which shows in a very remarkable manner the impolicy of 
 allowing our communications with the Atlantic to be dependent upon 
 a foreign power. During the late war, and at one of the most critical 
 periods of that war, the British Government were desirous of re- 
 moving from Quebec to Halifax the large munitions that they had 
 in store ; and a question was put to the law officers of the Crown of 
 this country, if the munitions were carried along the railway from 
 Quebec to Portland to be embarked, it could be done without giving 
 offence to the United States. The law officers of the Crown having 
 pending before them the question of the Foreign Enlistment, gave 
 it as their opinion that it would be a violation of the international 
 law of the United States ; that we should get into another compli- 
 cation ; and the consequence was, that these stores were carried, in 
 the depth of winter, on sledges, to Halifax, and shipped to the 
 Crimea. This is a circumstance showing the grounds on which 
 we should not be dependent upon a foreign power. (Hear, hear.) 
 
 It was moved by the Hon. Sir Allan McNab, and seconded by 
 the Hon. Charles Fitzwilliam, M.P., " that the Chairman do vacate 
 the chair," which was carried unanimously. 
 
 The HONOURABLE MR. CUNARD in the Chair. 
 
 Mr. Neeld, M.P. — Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, — I have the 
 honour of asking you to record with me a vote of thanks to the 
 noble lord who has occupied the chair with such great ability, and 
 
M 
 i: 
 
 70 
 
 i 
 
 who has with so much clearness expressed the views of this Meeting, 
 and shown us the advantage which is likely to accrue from the 
 project which we are assembled here to- day to form. I am quite sure all 
 the gentlemen who have heard that noble lord perform the duties of 
 that chair will agree with me that he has placed the whole of our 
 proceedings with extreme lucidity before us. I have the greatest 
 satisfaction, and I ask you to join with me in thanking that noble 
 lord for the office that he has undertaken, and for performing its 
 duties so admirably. (Applause.) 
 
 The Hon. Charles Fitzwilliam, M.P. — I beg leave to second 
 the proposition, and likewise to express my great satisfaction at the 
 manner in which Lord Bury has presided at this Meeting. (Hear, 
 hear.) 
 
 Carried unanimously. 
 
 Lord Bury. — Gentlemen, I am much obliged to you for your 
 vote of thanks for my conduct in the chair. There is one thing 
 that you will allow me to make an observation upon before we 
 separate ; it is this, that I think we had better arrange to hold a 
 further Meeting when the time shall arrive for the Colonial Secretary 
 to receive the deputation that has been decided upon, in order that 
 we may know exactly what we are to say to the Colonial Secretary, 
 so that the Meeting may put the deputation in the possession of the 
 exact opinion that they entertain previous to their interview with 
 the Colonial Secretary. 
 
 T'. J Hon. Sir Allan Macnab. — Will it be necessary to put that 
 upon our proceedings? The Chairman will see the Colonial 
 Secretary, and will after that communicate with Mr. Masterman, 
 who will give notice to all the parties to attend here. 
 
 Lord Burt. — We must either adjourn this Meeting, or else 
 appoint another. 
 
 The Hon. Sir Allan Mcanab. — Anything you please. Then let 
 us adjourn this Meeting. 
 
 Lord Bury- — I beg leave to move that this Meeting be adjourned 
 till we find out when the Colonial Secretary will receive the deputa- 
 tion. 
 
 Mr. Masterman. — Notice will be sent round to every person. 
 
 Adjourned. 
 
'8 
 
 Deputation to the Bight Honourable Sir Edward 
 Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, Bart.i M.F.^ her 
 Majeaty^s Principal Secretary of State for the 
 Colonies, on Monday, the X^th day of June, 1858. 
 
 The Deputation consisted of the following Noblemen and Gentlemen 
 
 Viscount Bdrt, M.P., Chairman. 
 
 Viscount GoDRBicH, M.P. 
 
 The Hon. Sir Allan N. Macnab, 
 
 Bart. 
 Capt. the Hon. John Vivian, M.P. 
 The Hon. C. W. W. Fitzwilliam, M.P. 
 The Hon. S. Cdnard. 
 G. G. Glyn, Esq., M.P. 
 J. A. Roebuck, Esq., M.P. 
 John Neeld, Esq., M.P. 
 R. P. N18BET, Esq., M.P. 
 Colonel BoLDEBO, M.P. 
 
 The Rt.Hon. Sothebon Estcourt, M.P. 
 
 The Hon. F. Bebkeley, M.P. 
 
 The Hon. Justice Halibubton. 
 
 W. H. GoBE Langton, Esq., M.P. 
 
 Samuel Chbisty, Esq., M.P. 
 
 Jambs Wyld, Esq., M.P. 
 
 Mr. Collins, M.P. 
 
 Mr. Nelson. 
 
 Mr. Bbothebhood. 
 
 Mr. H. Mastebman. 
 
 Mr. Stevens. 
 
 Mr. Sswell. 
 
 Lord Burt. — Sir, I attend here to-day to present this influential 
 Deputation to you, as the Chairman of Meetings which were held at 
 the Thatched-house Tavern on last Saturday week, and also on last 
 Saturday. 
 
 The object of the meeting is to urge upon her Majesty's Govern- 
 ment the ad' disability of assisting, in some manner, the construction 
 of a railroad between Halifax and Quebec. Vou. sir, are aware, 
 from the papers which have been submitted to you, that the Govern- 
 ments of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Canada, have each of 
 them guaranteed £20,000 per annum towards the completion of this 
 work, together with certain crown lands lying within each of tlieir 
 jurisdictions, and they engage to place at the disposal of any Com- 
 
|.v 
 
 72 
 
 pany who may undertake the railway, or rather of her Majesty's 
 Government, such private lands as may be i .'quired for making the 
 stations and other works on the line. TV ; conditions upon which 
 they guarantee this to her Majesty are, chat her Majesty shall, 
 either by herself, or through the instrumentality of a private 
 company, undertake the construction of the line. Lord Grey was 
 very favourably disposed towards the project, and, in a despatch to 
 Lord Elgin, dated the 14th March, 1851, he stated that her Ma- 
 jesty's Government would be prepared to recommend to Parliament 
 that a minimum interest on the amount to be expended in construct- 
 ing the line, should be guaranteed to them. We should like to put 
 it to her Majesty's Government whether they would not be equally 
 prepared to assist in this undertaking. 
 
 I need not urge upon you, sir, the extreme importance, in a 
 political point of view, of the construction of this line ; but I only 
 allude to it now because I know that the view which will have most 
 weight with you will, of course, be that the undertaking is great in 
 a national and political point of view. You, of course, will not 
 enter with such care into the circumstances whether it would be 
 likely to be pecuniarily remunerative to the shareholders of the un- 
 dertaking. I shall only allude to that part of it in order to sliow 
 that her Majesty's Government will not incur any very great risk if 
 they, in accordance with our request, guarantee the sum required 
 for the construction of the line. 
 
 With regard to the first point, namely, the national importance, 
 the map which I see before you will immediately show you the 
 manner in which the communication at present takes place with 
 Canada, and which involves a very considerable circuitous route, besides 
 going through the territories of another power. By our proposed 
 route you will land at Halifax, and then go from Halifax to Quebec ; 
 you will not only go through the British territory the whole way, 
 but you will save 400 miles as regards going by steamer to Boston, 
 and 600 miles as regards going by steamer to New York. You 
 now have to go across the state of Maine from Boston, and from the 
 port of New York through the state of New York, to the Canadian 
 frontier ; consequently, this our route involves not only a very great 
 saving of time as regards the transit, but it would allow us to com- 
 plete your communications through the British territory. I need only 
 cite one instance — I am sure you are already aware of that one 
 point to which I will avert — that during the last war, when it was 
 desirable to convey stores which were in the arsenal of Quebec for 
 use in the Crimea, the law officers of the crown were consulted as 
 to the possibility of conveying these stores over the railroads of the 
 United States ; it was decided by the law officers that it would be 
 A contravention of the neutrality laws to do so, and, in consequence 
 of that opinion, the stores were locked up in Canada, and they were 
 ultimately, I believe, conveyed on sleighs over the very line through 
 which this railway will pass which we wish to undertake. / vnll 
 not advert any further to the political aspect of the matter. 
 
 hi I 
 
';5 
 
 But with regard to the commercial point of view. Colonel Ilohinson 
 and Major Henderson made a very valuable report, at the instance of 
 the Imperial Government. The report of these gentlemen was very 
 favourable, and Lord Elgin was very much in favour of the scheme 
 they proposed. It was in consequence of their scheme that the 
 Legislatures of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia voted a 
 suj)ply, together equal to £60.000 a year. Lord Grey wrote his 
 despatch to Lord Elgin, intimating that the Government would lie 
 prepared to guarantee a minimum rate of interest on the construction 
 of the line. What we ask her Majesty's Government now to do is 
 this : These Legislatures having aire uly voted £ciO,000 a year to her 
 Majesty's Government, and certain crown lands — that her Majesty's 
 Government would consent to propose to Parliament to guarantee us 
 an equal sum of £G0,000 a year, together with the £60,000 a year 
 that has been voted by these colonies, and the crown lands they have 
 voted. That would form a guarantee equal to £4 per cent, on the 
 estimated amount of the capital to be expended, which is £3,000,000 
 sterling. 
 
 Sir E. Bulwer-Lytton. — 1 think it is estimated, in some of the 
 papers I have seen, at £5,000,000. 
 
 The Hon. Mr. Justice Haliburton. — The reason of that is this : 
 The original estimate included the province of Nova Scotia, which 
 railway is now nearly comi)leted through half tlie length of that 
 province ; and also the estimate of a certain porticm on the banks of 
 the St. Lawrence, in the province of Canada, which is already in 
 process of completion from Quebec to Trois Pistoles ; and therefore 
 it merely leaves the part from thence through New Brunswick to the 
 borders of Nova Scotia to be constructed. 
 
 Lord Bury. — These amounts will make £120,000 a year guaran- 
 teed by her Majesty's Government, for which they will have as assets 
 £60,000 a year guaranteed by the Legislatures of Nova Scotia, New 
 Brunswick, and Canada, and for the remaining £60,000 a year the 
 company will undertake to convey her Majesty's mails, stores, and 
 troops free of cost. The mails throughout the year, the warlike 
 stores, or any other stores her Majesty might choose to send, and 
 the conveyance of the troops free of cost, whenever her Majesty may 
 choose to send them. That, sir, is the proposal which we wish to 
 make to her Majesty's Government. 
 
 I may say that the meeting appointed a financial committee to 
 confer with you in case her Majesty's Government should feel 
 generally disposed to afford us any guarantee, and should wish to 
 confer with respect to the amount of that guarantee, and the details 
 of it ; and that committee would wait upon you at your convenience 
 in case you feel favourably disposed to entertain the proposals. 
 
 I may add to this, that a memorial has been prepared for presen- 
 tation to you, embodying the resolutions of the first meeting, whicli 
 was held at the Thatched-housc Tavern, on Saturday week, aad also 
 embodying the resolutions of the adjourned meeting, held on Saturday 
 last, touching the financial part of it. I will hand this to you, but 
 
 K. 
 
74 
 
 1^ 
 
 li'> 
 
 II 
 
 h 
 
 it is subject to a slight alteration in the latter part of it, so that 
 perhaps you will not consider it as quite complete. 
 
 I omitted to state a very important fact touching the political 
 aspect of this railway^ and that is this : The harbour of Halifax is 
 the only harbour, even so far south as New York, which is never 
 closed by ice ; you can enter the harbour of Halifax at all seasons of 
 the year. The map before you, sir, wi show it satisfactorily to you. 
 The distance from Halifax to Boston is 400 miles, and by the 
 route from Liverpool as shown on that map, you will land at 
 Halifax and proceed upon British territory, thus effecting a savin;; of 
 400 miles by sea. New York is 200 miles futher than Boston, and 
 then you would have to come up to Montreal. The part down to 
 St. Thomas's is completed, and the part from Halifax to Truro is 
 completed, and it is in the course of construction from St. Thomas 
 to Trois Pistoles, and that makes the difference in the estimate of 
 the £5,000,000 and the £3,000,000. 
 
 Sir E. Bulwer-Lytton. — I think the question divides itself into 
 two great divisions : one is the political and the other is the financial. 
 So far as the political is concerned, which more immediately comes 
 under my notice, I have given the best consideration I can to the 
 subject, and I think that the imperial advantages are not exaggerated. 
 I think that there is a sufficient degree of imperial advantage to be 
 derived from the proposed line to justify, to my mind, the Govern- 
 ment in giving assistance to the colonies ; and the more I look at 
 the great importance of it, the more favourable I think the pro- 
 posed course is. 
 
 But then there comes the other question, which clearly does not 
 come into my department, which is the financial, and that is really 
 a question for the Chancellor of the Exchequer. It is a question 
 for him to consider whether he thinks the financial state of the 
 country would justify it, and he also has to consider how far he 
 thinks there would be a sufficient degree of Parliamentary support 
 for such a purpose. All I can say is, if he will agree, I should be 
 myself exceedingly proud and excessively happy to assist in carrying 
 it out. (Hear, hear.) But I cannot say anything upon that. That 
 is not at all in my department. I think that there are difficulties. 
 You know very well the great difficulties there are in obtaining 
 through Parliament anything like guarantees for loans for colonial 
 purposes ; and in order to carry that out you. must make out a very 
 strong case, not as to the colonial advantages only, but as to the 
 imperial advantages. As far as I have been able to look at it, 
 which is only within a short time, I must say it appears to me that 
 there are very good grounds for stating there are imperial advantages. 
 
 With regard to the speculation, so far as it is a speculation, I 
 have only been able to see a good deal of contradictory evidence, 
 and I cannot pronounce an opinion upon it. A good deal will, of 
 course, depend upon what is the population through which the 
 railway will have to pass. There is a large tract of land, which is 
 
75 
 
 stated in one of these reports to be a kind of extended village, in 
 which there is a good deal of scattered population. 
 
 Mr. RoKBUcK, M.P. — Sir Edward, you ought to bear in mind 
 that at the present moment we do incur a certain amount of expense. 
 We transmit our post, we transmit our warlike stores, and also our 
 troops to Canada — that united makes up an annual sum. Now, the 
 post alone makes up an annual sum of £25,000. That is a matter 
 which annually occurs. That would be done away with entirely by 
 the proposed plan, as I understand the noble lord. (Hear, hear.) 
 The railway company undertakes to convey the post of her Majesty 
 from Halifax to Quebec — that is included in the grant of 
 £60,000 a year. Besides that, they undertake to transmit all the 
 stores that her Majesty may choose to send to Quebec, and also all 
 the troops that her Majesty may chose to send to Quebec : so that 
 all those three items together ought to be considered as diminishing 
 the expenses of our guarantee. I'hat is, we are, by a sort of fore- 
 thought, making a contract to conduct our troops, our post, and 
 our stores for £60,000 a year across that portion of the territory. 
 (Hear, hear.) 
 
 The Hon. Mr. Justice Hahburton. — Sir, there is one thing I 
 must beg leave to mention : This is to be distinguished from almost 
 all other railways. This is not a colonial railway as affects Canada, 
 New Brunswick, or Nova Scotia individually, but as affecting the 
 whole of them, and as affecting their intercourse with this country. 
 Mr. Roebuck has put that in a very forcible way. With respect to 
 the carriage of the mails, which is an actual expenditure at the 
 present moment in the shape of a charge on the revenue, you will 
 observe that the mail goes to Boston, it is carried to New York, and 
 in either case, whether it goes to Boston or New York, before it 
 can reach Canada and the British possessions there, it has to pass 
 through the United States. The treaty by which that right is given 
 to England contains within it a clause that it can be annulled on six 
 weeks' notice being given by either party. At the time when Mr. 
 Collins put on his rival steamships to that magnificent line, that 
 marvellous line of Mr. Cunard's, they wanted, as they usually do in 
 the States, to get some advantage under the contract ; that was 
 refused, and the very moment it was refused there was an abrupt 
 notice given which terminated the postal arrangement, in conse- 
 quence of which the whole country was thrown into the greatest 
 possible confusion. For six months in the year Canada is shut up, 
 relying on this line sending the mails through the United States. 
 No means have been taken for making a practical carriage wheel- 
 road into Canada. It would occasion interminable delay, to 
 go all the way round the Pacific, and send the mail through 
 Vancouver's Island. We ought not to be at the mercy of 
 a foreign power for carrying the mails to our own possessions. I 
 want further to state — this is something which perhaps neither you 
 aor myself may live to see carried out ; but, beyond all manner of 
 
i ! 
 
 
 doubt, it is the destiny of this country to have a complete inter- 
 colonial communication nil the way, from the Atlantic to the Pacific 
 ocean by Vancouver's Island ; and there is now, from the entrance 
 of the St. Lawrence to the head of Lake Superior, a larger inland 
 navigation than from Liverpool to New York (which is upwards 
 of 3,700 miles). From the embouchure of that river in British 
 territory up to the head of Lake Superior in British territory, it would 
 take a vessel with the same power a longer time to go up through 
 that natural canal than it would to go from Liverpool to that 
 country. After this is dune, you will iiave an outlet for all the 
 western waters ; all the j)roduce that they have in that part of 
 world must come by this railway to the nearest port of Halifax 
 on the Atlantic, between England and America. Then comes the 
 Hudson's Bay Company on the other side, and it is not saying too 
 niuch, after the evidence that has been recently given by gentlemen 
 who have gone over there — and there is one gentleman in this room 
 who lins, I understand, been twice there — that the land there is 
 capital. From Vancouver's Island you have access across to the 
 Pacific and our Indian possessions, and which you will thus reach 
 through British colonies without any interruption. We have no 
 Filibusters there. We have no story of Niearaguan Canal, or the 
 Suez Canal, or any other canals which cannot be cut. Here are 
 things that are practicable —they begin piece by jiiece. Through 
 Canada there are locks to connect the lakes and railways at cer- 
 tain points. There is a railway through Nova Scotia, and now it 
 wants but this little bit, and then you get a communication all the 
 way from Halifax to the head of Lake Superior, and thence to Van- 
 couver's Island through open country. 
 
 But there is another fact : This is not a grant or a guarantee ; it 
 is, in fact, a contract to a certain extent. You are to pay this 
 company what you are now paying the American government for the 
 transmission of yotu* mails. It is a company which you can con- 
 strain by courts of law and by means of which you can reach them 
 as British subjects. You cannot constrain the Americans to the 
 fulfilment of any treaty (I do not think it is in their power to fulfil 
 a treaty, and I do not think they have the disposition to do it if they 
 had the power), but this is a company that can be constrained to do 
 it. But there are considerations far beyond all that. There are 
 ramifications and consequences which cannot be easily foreseen in 
 the first instance, — one is the reduction of her Majesty's expen- 
 diture. If you have a railway from Halifax you need not keep troops 
 in Canada for its defence ; for in eleven days they can be sent from 
 Chatham to any point of Canada ; they would get to Halifax in nine 
 days, and in two days the greater portion of Canada would be under 
 protection, and that is as soon as the Americans could discipline, em- 
 body, and march their troops. Therefore you do not want to keep 
 such a military force, and all the saving tliat is constituted out 
 of that state of things must be put also to the credit of this rail- 
 way. Now, during the last war it was the disposition of the Go- 
 
 I' 
 
77 
 
 ler- 
 
 fific 
 
 ICO 
 
 Imd 
 Irds 
 nsh 
 juld 
 igh 
 lliat 
 [the 
 of 
 
 {the 
 too 
 
 vcnuncnt to withdrnw tho troo|)s. They wanted a rc{:^imcnt ; they 
 put it off for too long a time, and tliey hnd to wiiit for six months, na 
 they could not come out ; tlioy wanted to get the stores, and they 
 could not hring them through the United States, because it would 
 be contravening the neutrality treaty. 
 
 Vou should look at it as a national and intercolonial question, 
 and not as colonial merely ; and you should look at it for tlie postal 
 communication, and also that it will (which is highly desirable) 
 connect those colonies in a way that there shall l;e the same com- 
 munion and the same confederation. You have now live dilFerent 
 colonies there, and those five dilFerent colonics have live different sets 
 of customs, five different tariffs, and five different sets of laws. We 
 know as little of what goes on in Nova Scotia, at Toronto, or at King- 
 ston, as we do of what goes on at Dantzic or Hongkong. I can 
 much easier go now from here to St. Petersburg than I can go from 
 Halifax to Quebec. 
 
 Sir E. Bulwer-Lytton. — Indeed ! 
 
 The Hon. Justice Halibuhton. — I can do so much more comfort- 
 ably and at half the cost. 
 
 Loud Bury. — There is no road between the two — not even a 
 track. 
 
 Sir E. Bulwer-Lytton. — Where is the part of the railroad that 
 has been already laid down ? 
 
 Lord Bury. — There is a part from Halifax to Truro, and a part 
 from Quebec to St. Thomas, and from St. Thomas to Trois Pistoles, 
 that which is dotted on the map. 
 
 Sir E. Bulwer-Lytton. — Is that all the railway ? 
 
 Lord Bury. — As soon as you get into Canada there arc 2,000 miles 
 of railway. 
 
 Sir E. Bulwer-Lytton. — Mr. Cunard, I think you have some 
 property in Prince Edward's Island ? 
 
 Mr. CuNARn. — Yes. 
 
 Sir E. Bulw^er-Lytton. — Would that feed this railway at all ? 
 
 Mr. Cunard. — It would be a great facility to the island. It 
 would pass very near, and would benefit it. You remarked just now 
 that the Government were indisposed to make grants for colonial 
 railways. Now, this is not a colonial railway, nor an intercolonial 
 one, but it is a great national road — it is a great military road, and 
 it should be viewed in this country as such, and not as a colonial 
 one. 
 
 Sir E. Bulwer-Lytton. — There are various ways of putting 
 it ; I should think it was a great national road. 
 
 Mr. Cunard. — It really is so. For six months in the year you 
 can have no access to Canada in a military point of view ; you cannot 
 bring troops from Canada, neither can you take troops to aid and 
 assist them. That we saw during the last year or two ; and there- 
 fore I think that we should view it as a military road, and as a great 
 national road. You pay nothing for it. You become liable to pay 
 £60,000 a year, and you get it back before you pay it. You 
 
78 
 
 I; r 
 
 
 actually get it back as a saving before you spend the money. Some- 
 body has said that it cost £25,000 a year for the postage. I believe 
 it is so. Then, if you would have to convey troops, see what you 
 would save ! You would save three regiments in Canada and the 
 provinces, because you could have them where you pleased at any 
 one point. You might have troops at Halifax, and send them up 
 the country if you wanted, or you might bring them home. You 
 would save more than £60,000 a year in those different items which 
 were mentioned. 
 
 Lord Bury. — Sir, would you recommend this deputation, then, to 
 wait upon the Chancellor of the Exchequer with the view of hearing 
 his opinion upon the subject ? 
 
 Sir E. BuiiWER-LvTToy. — It would be a very wise thing to do. 
 
 Lord Bury. — And we may say to him, as far as you are con- 
 cerned — 
 
 Sir E. Bulwer-Lytton. — Tuat it has received my most 
 
 FAVOURABLE ATTENTION. 
 
 Lord Bury. — We are much obliged to you, sir, for the courtesy 
 and kindness with which you have received us. 
 The deputation then withdrew. 
 
 
le- 
 
 |ve 
 
 )U 
 
 Ihe 
 ^7 
 
 )U 
 
 Ich 
 
 I to 
 
 bn- 
 
 Deputation to the Bight Ilonotirahle Benjamin 
 Disraeli, Chancellor of the Exchequer, on Tues- 
 day , the 15/A day June, 1858. 
 
 ) 
 
 Tlie Deputation conMiated of the following Noblemen and Gentlemen :- 
 
 Viscount Bury, M.P. 
 
 Viscount GoDEUiCH, M.P. 
 
 The Hon. Sir Allan N. Macnab, Bart, 
 
 The Hon. C. W. W. Fitzwilliam, M.P. 
 
 Capt. the Hon. John Vivian, M.P. 
 
 The Hon. S. Cunard. 
 
 The Hon. F. Berkeley, M.P. 
 
 The Hon. Justice Haliburton. 
 
 J. A. Roebuck, Esq., M.P. 
 
 Colonel Boldero, M.P. 
 
 G. G. Glyn Esq., M.P. 
 
 Thos. Luce, Esq., M.P. 
 
 William Roupell, Esq., M.P. 
 
 TheRt.Hon.SoTHERONEsTcouRT.M.P. 
 
 W. H. Gore Langton, Esq., M.P. 
 
 H. W. Schneider, Esq., M.P. 
 
 John Neeld, Esq., M.P. 
 
 R. P. Nisbet, Esq., M.P. 
 
 Ja8. Wyld, Esq., M.P. 
 
 H. P. Roche, Esq. 
 
 Pascoe Glyn, Esq. 
 
 Mr. Nelson. 
 
 Mr. Brotherhood. 
 
 Mr. Sewell. 
 
 Mr. H. Mastebman. 
 
 Mr. Stevens. 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer. — My Lord Bury, I have 
 got your papers, but I have not been able to look at them much. 
 What I know, is what everybody knows who takes a popular view of 
 the subject. You thought it of importance for the convenience of 
 several gentlemen that I should see you to>day. It was only 
 yesterday that you intimated your wish, and therefore I am not 
 prepared to enter into all the details laid down, which otherwise I 
 should have been very glad to have done ; but I will now listen with 
 the greatest pleasure to what you or any other gentleman may wish 
 to say on the subject. 
 
 Lord Bury. — Sir, I am here to state to you the object of this 
 deputation. The parties who are here represent a large body who 
 are very much interested in all ways, both by knowledge of the 
 

 80 
 
 country and connection with (/ivnada, and tlicy have seen witli very 
 sjtcat displeasure, and great anxiety, that wo arc entirely v'ejiendoiit 
 upon a foreign country for comnuniication with that province, whicli 
 at any moment may be cut otF if we are at hostility with the United 
 States. We have met together to discuss whetlier it will not he 
 ])ossihle to obtain some communication entirely through a British 
 territory from Halifax to Quebec. This deputation met, as you are 
 awf're, by appointment, the Colonial Secretary yesterday, and he 
 received us with the greatest courtesy, and with expressions of 
 sy: ipathy in our views which were very cheering to us. We laid 
 before him the position of matters ; and in doing so, and as the 
 spokesman of the deputation, I thought it ray duty rather to 
 urge upon him the political value of this line and its extreme 
 importance in a naticuil point of view, than to enlarge upon 
 the conmicrciai part of the undertu'^ing. He perfectly agreed in 
 the political importance of the line ; but he said, as we 
 asked for a Government guanMitce or Government assistance, it 
 would come within your province, aad he dismissed us with a 
 general expression of sympathy with the objects of the meeting, 
 and, of course, carefully guarding himself against expressing any 
 opinion as to whether her Majesty's Government would feel it to be 
 their duty to recommend any such guarantee. 
 
 Perhaps, as you have been so kind as to inform us that you have 
 not had time to look through the papers, I may be permitted to 
 mention one : r two of the prominent matters which render this im- 
 portant in a national point of view. In the first place we are now, 
 as I have already said, entirely 'dependent upon the United States for 
 our communication? with the most ivnportant colonies. We have 
 cither to go to Portland in the State of Maine^ and to traverse that 
 State in order to reach the Missouri, or, if we have to go to New 
 York, which is 200 miles further, we have to traverse the State of 
 New York in order to get to the same point. Portland is from 
 Liverpool, as compared with Halifax, 400 miles greater distance, 
 and New York is 600 miles ; and even when we have arrived at New 
 York or Portland, we have to traverse a great extent of forcigu 
 territory. That that is a very great inconvenience I need not point 
 out ; and it would still be a greater inconvenience if any diihculty 
 should arise with the United States. A diHiculty of that sort did 
 occur during the late war, although not in a hostile point of view, 
 wheii ' was desirable, as I mentioned to the Coloiral Secretary 
 yesterday, to convey stores which were at Quebec, for the assist- 
 ance of the army in the Criniea. The law officers of the Crown 
 gave it as their opinion that it would be a contravention of the neu- 
 trality laws to carry those stores over a neutral territory; conse- 
 quently the stores which were urgently wanted in the Crun''a were, 
 by the freezing of the St. Lawrence, unable to obtain an exit liom 
 Canada to the Crimea, and were shut up there when very much 
 wanted elsewhere. You are aware that for si.x and somctim'-s seven 
 months in the year, the gulf of St. Lawrence is absolutely impene- 
 
 ' 
 
81 
 
 ch 
 
 C(l 
 
 'oo 
 
 sli 
 
 ire 
 
 he 
 
 of 
 
 lid 
 
 the 
 
 to 
 
 me 
 
 on 
 
 ill 
 
 we 
 
 , it 
 
 trable on account of the ice, and for those months the British colo- 
 nies are entirely shut out from communication with England. 
 
 Then there is another thing ; When once we get into Canada we 
 find lines running away to the west in every direction, and, I believe, 
 as Sir Allan Macnab will inform us, 2,000 miles of railway are 
 already in active operation in Canada towards the west. 
 
 Sir Allan Macnab. — There are railways in Canada from Quebec 
 to the Detroit river, and the Great Western Railway, nearly finished 
 to Port Sarnia, and from Lake Ontario to Lake Simcoe. 
 
 Lord BuKY. — And that, with the navigation of Lake Superior, will 
 form an uninterrupted communication from the easternmost part of 
 Canada to the westernmost, longer in point of fact than that from 
 Liverpool to America. A very great amount of traffic passes over 
 that. The Valley of the Saskatchewan, which lies between Lake 
 Superior and the Rocky Mountains, and the Valley of the Columbia, 
 which runs from the Rocky Mountains into the Pacific, affords the 
 very greatest facilities for the subsequent formation of steam com- 
 munication from that point, and for the intervening communication 
 between the Atlantic and the Pacific ; and the one link of that chain 
 which is wonting is that from Halifax to Quebec. I think any- 
 body who examines the subject, cannot but feel some astonishment 
 that it should have been left unattended to. If this railway were 
 constructed, the post, which now goes through the State of Main 
 and the State of New York, would be conveyed through British 
 territory. The treaty by which that post is now conveyed is ter- 
 minable at the option of either party on giving six weeks' notice ; 
 and at the f.ime that the Collins' line of steamers was estab- 
 lished to compete with Mr. Cunard's steam communication, the 
 American people, wishing to obtain some advantage which we did 
 not consider consistent with our national welfare, gave notice 
 that in si.x weeks the postal communication with Canada would be 
 eatirely suspended ; and as that occurred in the winter, we had 
 either to patch up the differences with the United States at some 
 cost to ourselves, or otherwise we should have had to send it round 
 by way of the Pacific. We were absolutely dependent upon them. 
 That I think is an argument in favour of the national imj)ortance 
 of this line. I am informed that the amount which the British 
 Government pay for the conveyance of the mails to the United States 
 is between £25,000 and £30,000 a year ; and if we obtain these 
 terms, which 1 will proceed to state to you, we should be happy to 
 convey her Majesty's mails, and not only her mails, but her troops 
 and stores, free of charge. That sum would be a sort of set-off 
 against the sum which we would ask her Majesty's Government to 
 grant to us, 
 
 Now, having touched upon itie political importance of this line, 
 which, of course, as a statesman, will have more value with you 
 than any other, I will proceed to touch tipon the commercial interests 
 of the line. The legislatures of Canada, New Brunswick, antl Nova 
 Scotia, as you will see by the papers whicli are before you, have 
 
 L 
 
83 
 
 I.'' >; 
 
 
 feach of them guaranteed to her Majesty's Government £20,000, 
 making in all £60,000, towards the completion of this line. And 
 they have also guaranteed to her Majesty all crown lands within 
 ten miles of the proposed route — I mean the crown lands in the 
 hands of the colonies; they call them crown lands — and all private 
 lands requisite for the construction, not only of this line, but for the 
 stations and buildings : that is £60,000 granted to her Majesty's 
 Government. 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer. — Annually ? 
 
 Lord Bury. — Yes, and the land, with the line itself when con- 
 structed, would be extremely valuable, and would probably repay 
 the expense of its construction. The estimated amount of the 
 cupilal required for the construction of the whole line is about 
 £3.000,000 sterling ; so that this £60,000 granted by the Colonial 
 Legislatures amounts to a guarantee of about £2 per cent, upon the 
 whole capital. V7e do not presume to lay down any positive terms 
 on which we will treat with her Majesty's Government, but as her 
 Majesty's Government cannot be expected to take the initiative in a 
 matter of this sort, we wish to state what would be satisfactory to 
 the company. The Deputation which is hero, have appointed a 
 Finance Committee to discuss w^ith you the details of this matter, if 
 you should intimate your readiness to enter into the subject at all, 
 and I hope such may be the case. We would ask, as the first pro- 
 posal, that her Majesty's Government should, in consideration of 
 the conveyance of the mails, troops, and stores, as I have said 
 before, propose to Parliament to give us another annual sum of 
 £60,000, equal to the annual sum of £60,000 guaranteed by the 
 Colonial Legislature, and the crown lands granted by them, making 
 in ail £120,000, which is £4 per cent, upon the required capital, 
 estimated for the construction of the line. I may otate that, out 
 of that £60,000, there is a quid pro quo, and I would rather wish to 
 insist upon that point; so that the remaining portion would be about 
 £30,000 a year, and the asset that I would put against that would 
 be the conveyance of the troops and stores, and the extreme national 
 importance of our being connected, and having the facility of com- 
 taunicating with the Canadas ; and I submit to you whether that 
 altogether would not form a reason why her Majesty's Government 
 should, at least, entertain the proposal in the beginning. The 
 harbour of Halifax, I should have mentioned, enjoys the advantage 
 which I believe is not shared by any of the harbours south of 
 New York, nor even Charleston in south Carolina, of being open at 
 all seasons of the year. Halifax is never closed up. The harbours 
 south of Halifax are closed up. Boston and New York are very 
 often closed, and Halifax is the only port which is always open. 
 
 The Hor. C. W. W. Fitzwilliam, M.P.— I think Lord Bury 
 has forgotten to point out that, supposing the line is made, the 
 £25,000 that are annually paid to the United States are no longer 
 necessary. 
 
 Lord BuRV. — I pointed that out. 
 
83 
 
 The Chancellor op the Exchequer. — That is for postage. 
 That is under a treaty. What is the distance from Halifax to Quebec ? 
 
 Lord Bury. — Nearly 700 miles. 
 
 Mr. Nelson. — 635 miles. 
 
 Lord Burt. — But 1 70 miles are already constructed, or in course 
 of construction, and the line that we shall have to construct will be 
 about 460 miles. 
 
 Mr. Nelson. — The distance from Halifax to Quebec is 635 miles, 
 1 70 miles of that are in the course of construction at the present 
 time, so that the distance is reduced to 465. 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer. — Constructed by this 
 company ? 
 
 The Hon. Sir Allan Macnab.---No. The Grand Trunk Railway 
 Company is constructing; the line from Quebec to Trois Pistoles, 
 and the Government of Nova Scotia the line from Hahfax to Truro. 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer.— Is this company just 
 formed ? 
 
 Mr. Wyld. M.P.— Yes. 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer. — For the specific purpose 
 of forming a line from Halifax to Quebec ? 
 
 Mr. Nelson. — More properly speaking that part of it which is 
 not already made, from Truro to Trois Pistoles. 
 
 Lord Bury. — I forgot to mention that when the Colonial legisla- 
 tures granted the £60,000 to lier Majesty they granted it on condition 
 that her Majesty would undertake the work, either by the Govern- 
 ment or by a private company. What we want is to be recognized 
 as that private company, to carry out, as her Majesty's instrument, 
 the work. If we are so recognized we instantly become possessed 
 of those advantages that are held out. 
 
 The Chancellor of tuk Exchequer. — There has been no attempt 
 to raise capital for this company? 
 
 Mr. Wyld, M.P, — None sir. First of all they must ask whether 
 her Majesty's Government would entertain this proposition, and if 
 her Majesty's Government will entertain it, then immediately the 
 capital will be raised. 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchqeuer. — What is the date of form- 
 ing this company? 
 
 Lord Bury. — The project was submitted to Lord Grey in 1849. 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer. — I remember that, but that 
 was not a compiuiy. Wlien was this company first projected. 
 
 Lord Bury. — A few days ago. 
 
 Mr. Wyld, M.P. — Lord Bury lias omitted to state to you a 
 most important advantage which will aj)pear to you as a statesman, 
 that if this railway were completed, and war should occur, England 
 would be the base of its operations, and Chatham would be only 
 thirteen days from Canada. You could run in nine days from 
 Chatham to Halifax. 
 
 The Chancellor of the Excuequeh. — Have you submitted any 
 memorial to the Secretary of State. 
 
84 
 
 Lord Bury. — Yes, explaining the resolutions that were passed at 
 a meeting held at the Thatched-house Tavern on Saturday week. 
 That is a copy of it [handing it to the Chancellor of the Exchequer] . 
 There may he a slight alteration to make in it of a few words at the 
 end. 
 
 The Chancellok of the Exchequer. — I understand from you, 
 Lord Bury, that besides the 60,000/. which you require from the 
 parliamentary grant, there is another sum of 30,000/. I did not 
 exactly (mdersiand that. 
 
 Lord Bury. — No, sir. 60,000/. from her Majesty's Government 
 and 60,000/. from the Colonial Legislatures and the crown lands to be 
 voted, making in all 120,000/. 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer. — You mentioned another 
 .sum. 
 
 Lord Bury.— No, I said 60,000/. That 60.000/. that we should 
 ask of her Majesty's Government would be reduced by 30,000/. which 
 is now paid for the carriage of the mails across the United States. 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer. — I quite understand. I 
 have no hesitation in saying as everybody must feel, that this is an 
 object of ^% greatest importance and most desirable to be accomplished. 
 I should like very much to go into the financial part of it before I 
 could speak with any precision upon the recommendation that I 
 •should give. You say there are gentlemen in this room who can 
 communicate with me upon it. 
 
 Mr. Schneider, M.P. — Sir, there is one thing you should bear 
 in mind — that is, the present state of railway enterprise in this 
 country, and especially after what has occurred with regard to the 
 Grand Trunk Railway. If her Majesty's Government do not feel it 
 their duty to grant this £60,000, the line would be practically hope- 
 less, autl you will not find a class of shareholders to subscribe shares 
 without there is a certain guarantee from Government. This 
 guarantee would be £4 per cent., which would be little enough. A 
 £4 per cent, guarantee upon the original estimate would induce any 
 body to embark in it ; and, therefore, in this case it is not a question 
 of getting a guarantee of £4 per cent, for the sake of making a line 
 pay, but really as the foundation on which the line itself can be 
 made. You would never raise the money without there was a certain 
 guarantee of £4 per cent, upon the original capital, 
 
 The Hon. Sir Allan Macnab. — I think the estimate made of the 
 quantity of land is 4,000,000 of acres. 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer. — Have you a real estimate 
 of the probable expenses ? 
 
 Lord Bury. — There is a detailed estimate of Colonel Robinson, 
 and there is a copy of a report of Captain Henderson. 
 
 Mr. Nelson. — Sir, you have before you the plans and sections 
 which are in the possession of the Colonial Secretary, which are most 
 elaborate. 
 
 Lord Bury. — You asked whether there was any gentleman in this 
 country who would be prcjiaied to rnter into that. Colonel Robinson 
 
85 
 
 lat 
 k. 
 
 b- 
 
 le 
 
 J)U, 
 
 he 
 lot 
 
 bnt 
 
 I be 
 
 ler 
 
 is himself here, and he surveyed the whole line. He would be the 
 best man to rater to. 
 
 Mr. Nelson. — He has gone very fully into the financial part of 
 the subject. 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchequbb. — It is not an unfavour- 
 able PERIOD /or undertaking these b^EAX works, if you can agree 
 upon any arrangement. I can only say thai I am duly impressed 
 with the great importance of it ; and your (Lord Bury's) very clear 
 and lucid statement has revived my recollection. I remember a 
 great deal on this point when Iiord Orey was in oitice. It certainly 
 is, in every point of view, a matter of the highest consideration, and 
 I will confer with Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton immediately upon it. 
 I will not lose any time. Perhaps I had better communicate with 
 you, Lord Bury ? 
 
 Lord Bury. — If you please, sir. 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer. — ^This resolution is signed, 
 and I see the direction of this company will be formed chiefly «?f, 
 persons in this country. 
 
 Lord Bury. — The directors are not appointed ; but seven gentle- 
 men have signed the deed of association. 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer. — Have you any deputation 
 from Canada here ? 
 
 Lord Bury. — A deputation has been here, but the company was 
 not then formed. Mr. Cunard's name is amongst them. 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer. — Is Mr. Cunard here ? 
 
 Lord Bury. — No ; he is so unwell that he could not attend to-day, 
 and also Lord Ooderiuh and other gentlemen have expressed their 
 regret that they could not attend. 
 
 Mr. Nelson. — Mr. Cunard is unfortunately too unwell to attend 
 to-day. He attended yesterday at the Colonial Office, and he is 
 only very sorry he cannot attend here to-day. 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer. — I am sorry I have not 
 h'jard him. 
 
 Lord Bury. — I thought Mr. Haliburton would have been here 
 to-day, — he is also absent. 
 
 The Hon. Sir Allan Macnab. — He would have been here to-day, 
 but he was not quite certain whether you could receive us. 
 
 Mr. Nelson. — I may state that Mr. Cunard v^ill be one of the 
 directors of the company. 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchec;'er. — Does the Collins's line of 
 packets run now ? 
 
 Mr. Nelson. — No, they have ceased. 
 
 Mr. Wyld, M.P. — The United States have withdrawn them. 
 
 The Chancellor of vuk Exchrquer. — Well, gentlemen, all I 
 can say is that I will give this undertaking an early and atten- 
 tive consideration, and will communicate with Lord Bury. 
 
 The Deputation, having thanked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, 
 then withdrew. 
 
X i 
 
 / 
 
MP 
 
 / 
 
 '.-^^'.. 
 ^s^ 
 

 m 
 
 
 ^im^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 BMfbuy^ 
 
 BRITISH N.A 
 
ftmli ^gjif S|iIft*M 
 
 < AS SURVEYED BY MAJOR ROBINSON « CAPTAIN HENDERSON, ROYAL ENGINEERS, 
 AND APPROVED BY THE IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT: 
 
 BRITISH N.A COLONIES, THE UNITED STATES £ EUROPE.