IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) l!i.O i.l i.25 l||!!M liiitt M 1.4 111.6 6' ''^• %J' ^iji- o 7 W Photographic Sciences Coiporation w^ '<^\^^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ^ # 1 V L signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as rviany frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre film^s & des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour §tre reproduit en un seul cliche,' il est f ilm^ d partir de Tangle supdrieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n6cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 ,.;. 1 ' 2 3 4 5 6 1^ ^m I O0/''T) FlC ^^ii,w;^Y, CANADA. BRITANNICUS LETTERS, &C., THEREON, -uv — — ivE- ivroii.r_soiZ) "A iiDineiitous .-uhject i.s now brought to the notico of tlic people of (Irciit FJriiuii!— it I cu-lii not to lmne-le(!te empire on vvhicli the solar orb never sefH,' will have passed away for ever."— Pamphlet by Major Unhe.rt Carmichnel Smytlu R. E., 1S4'.>. ,»,|*tt«'itlM.,ll,,M,,M,,ll,,l<,^l(,tl,,|t,,,,,ji ; " f hope lo see, or at least that my children will see, a Haiiwiy, wholly on Britisi, territory ' from Atlantie tu I'aeiiic."— /l«.v«?e,- of Hon. Chief Jnsflfe Draper, as Spe.-iai Comnnssloiwr nf CiiitaJa, to the Commons of EiKjland, IHoT. I'liiNTKi) iiv A. S. \V()o»UiTRN', Ei.oi.v Stuket, Ottvwa. € (fr M PACIFIC EAILWAT, CANADA. Selection from Series of Letters by '' Britannicus " (from 1869 to 1878) on the Subject, ' WITH ADDITIONAL REMARKS. t. , PREFA^CK 1 4 Thib littlo pamphlet may, eHjieoially to the Legislative mind more immotliatoly appealed to, appear an obtrusion. In the way of excuse (if called for), I have hut to refer to its own pages in ex- planation of the position and act of the hurnbic writer, in this matter of British P«cilio Uailway, The Hubjoct, in ilb vital importance urd extended bearings, is one which, I have ever felt, and now, more than ever, feel, should bo taken up and dealt with — Juli/ dealt with — by abler minds than myself, tind in a manner worthy of the subject and the emergency. As explaintHi in my Britannicus letters of 1869, and in ray work " Peace River ", (of 1872), and also as appears from Mr. Fleming's Pacific Railway Survey Report of 1874 (page 13), it is to the accident of i ly 82)ecial knowledge of the vast wilds to be traversed — wilds yet unshown by blue book or authentic record — that I have a^K poared in this connection. If, in the course of my writing on the subject I have seemingly taken a part against any f'so-callcd) "political party" of the day, I beg to say that such was not, and is not, my intent. I know no "political parties" of the day in Canada, save in this: On this Empire Field ofCaniula, 1 see two Camps — one British; the other, "AmjJRIcan." The former, disorganize*! by unsuspicion of danger; the latter, covertly most aggressive. As to myself, let me say. A more unit, humble — a "nobody " — in the four mil- lion mass of Canadians more immediately concerned, 1. under Providence, arihc in the new scene as but a " leather-stocking" guide ("as it were) through the jiathloss forest to be traversed, to meet the lurking foe, and — as my brave old father and gj-andlhtbf i- did — forwsird, westward, the path of empire in emprise boldly dare to cleave. Pionc ers in adventure of the fur trade — keenly militant in ilt> early struggles — the "Flag" ill their case, but '■ followed Trade." M. MoLEOl). AvLMEa, Co. Ottawa, Q., 4th February, 187-^. Tu Note. — The matter within brackets, in the following pages, is now, and, in mo.-st instances, is thus introduced to avoid the inconvenience of foot notes. — M. M. PACIFTC RATT.W.AY, CANADA. {The Ottawa T'lmps, .Vwy 27, ISGO.) HKITISII RAILWAY TO THl' I'ACIFIC- AN IMI'KIIIAL NKCKSSITV. T.KTTER I. To the Editor of the Tiinea. SiK, — " I hope to see, or, at least, tliat my childi-eii will soo," saiil Chief Justi^-o Draper, before the Coinnions t'ominittee of 1H57, on tlio question of the "Hudson's Hay Territories," "a railway, wholly on Hritiah tfiiitory, from Atlantic to Pa- cifie." The answer was in bold and noble ilollanco to antagonistic interrogation on the part of the lion. Edward HUice and other Hudson's Bay magnates on that /^reat eoinmittee of twenty and two, (^hiof Justice Draper, as our delegate, was th(3n fighting the battle of Canada in the enemy's stronghold — an enemy that, most prudently, declined the gage, then and there (or, rather, nearly a month before) formally given by him, of a judicial test of their charter. The same body, or in- fluence, tried, in earnest self-defence, to balk our high mandatory; but in vain. The report of thr.t committee is on© worthy of a British Parliament. Ten 3'ears before that, another, of some authority, spoke, and earnestly wrote on the same theme, viz: British railway from Atlantic to Pacific. In 184!>, Major (v. c, then Major,but subsequently of higher grade) A'obert Carmichad Smyth wrote a book — a brochure of 08 pages — in which ho thus discourses: "A momentous subject is now brought to the notice oi. the people of Gi-eat Britain— it ought not to bo ne- glected, until, perhaps, a voice from her (^olonial chiUlron may go forth proclaiming 'Jt is too late' — for then, the opportunity of uniting, in firm and friendly bonds of union, 'this wondrous empire on which Ihe solar orli never sets,' will have passed awaj'^ for ^ver." Such was the heart-cry of a true British officer of the Royal Engineers, twenty 3'ears ago, when ho had seen part, at least, of our grand land, and had returned to tho "Mother Isle." The took is full, not of argument only, l)ut of indisputable fiic'. and proposition, always true, and given, as might be expected from such a mind, and one so trained, with almost tho force of mathematical demonstration. No doubt Bome allowance is 1o 1)0 made for the in- spiration fever strong) of his ^'compagnonn de voyage" (Haliburton anil Howe) he so gratefully speaks of; but still they could onh' have lent a word, con amore, on tho subject, and given their own thoughts smd as])iration8, approvingly on it, in chimo with tho old "Clockinakor" of 1838. As to the ftasibility of such a railway, at a time when such works were of the level plain, and tl^e iron horse had not yet dared the mountain leap, none but a strong and daring mind, and one master of its mystery — none, it may be said but a British (or ^/uen'co-British) civil engineer — one of that body of intellectual men who span the deep, and make straight the crooked, and smooth, the rugged places of the earth, would have so spoken ; and, moreover, have written a book on the, to tho world then, so wild a theme. Hear him ! He speaks from purest philanthropy —not only for the conservation of British right, and power, and glory, but for the amelioration of her overcrowded pooi-, and the happiness of her varied millions of our common humanity: "Between tho north-eastern and north- western shores of America, and Through our loyal, long-tri:>d and devoted American Colonies, there might," says he, " bo under- taken a great, a noble and a most import- ant work, that would give remunerative employment to tho population, to the wealth and to the inventive genius of England. Did his Grace," — he is speak- ing of the Duke of Wellington as Premier in 1830, and when, witjj great foresight, he held to Oregon against American pro- ; tension, and thereby secured to us (not- withstanding the lamentable treaty, subse- quently, of 1846) sufficient of tho Pacific coast for a harbour — " Did his Grace " i I ! I Hays ho, " in siiort, lu(»k forward to a fjraiui fellow-countrymen re(iuiro). But the u»i- national riiUway from the Atlantic to the ; dortaking proposed haH even a higher Pacific? If not, let his Grace" (N. B. — iclrum to our attention. It ia the great fink That was in 1848-4!)) "do ho now!" '^1joI[ required to unite in one power fv I chain the the people of Great Britain do sol hei whole English race." her Colonial Minister, startling as it may j And ho on, in intelligent and high })a- at first appear. A little reflection will \ triotic appeal, he putH the caHO in all itH show that England and her childi'on have phahCK', physical, political and social, the power to make it: that it must be 1 And, further citing Cobden, he says- — done, and will become valuable jn'operty — ' " The exportation of labouroi's and capitji! for it would increase our conimeroo and j from the old to the now countries, from a trade to an extent not easy to calculate." I place where their productive power is Iosk, And hero ho cites i'voiw J. .S'. Mi//, on poli- to a place where it is greater, increases, by tical tvonomy : " Considering," says Mill, ; so much, the aggregate produce of the " all the natural and acquired advantages labour and capital of the world." And that wo possess for this purpose, it should > then, citing jifi/l again, ho says : — " The rather create surprise and regret that our ' question of Government intervention in commerce is so small, than engender pride the world of colonization involves the that it 18 so largo. We may conclude, then, that improve- future and permanent interests of colon- ization ilsoh', and far outstretches the com- ments in production and emigration of paratively narrow limits of purely econo'- capital to the more fertile soils and un- 1 mical considerations alone. The removal worked mines of the uninhabited or thinly ' of population from the overcrowded to the peopled parts of the globe, do not, as it j unoccupied parts of the earth's surface ii; ajjpoara to a superficial view, diminish the one of those works of eminent social use- gross produce and demand for labour at ' fulness which most require, and which, at home; but, on the contrary, are what wo ' tho same time, will best repay, the inter- h..ve chiefly to depend on for the increasing | vontion of Government. No individua/ or of both, and are even the necessary condi- 1 body of individuals could reimburse thom- tions of any groat or prolonged augmenta- 1 selves for those expenses." " Govern- tions of either; nor is it an}- exaggeration ment," continues Major Smyth, "on the to say that, within limits, the more capital contrary, roidd take from the increasing a country like England expends in these two ways, the more she. will have left." wealth caused hi/ the vonstruction of tins Railway and consequent great emigration, the Then proceeds ^r.TJor Smyth — " But such a ' /-mc^io/j which v;ould suffice to repay with noble work must not be looked upon I interest the money advanced.^' merely as a money question; although, if; Such, and such like citation and argn- only considered in that light, England j meut docs i\\& author earnestly and must reflect, that if she wishes and intends strongly advance on the subject. Jlc to retain her high pre-eminence amongst ' proposes a " National Eaihvay," fiviii the nations of the earth, she must, most assuredly, pay for it. No (country can have all tho blessings and advantages of England, and have them for nothing, nor can she retain them without great exer- llalifax to the Pacific by the shortest line possible, which ho estimates at 3,025 mile.'^i — the work to be begun simultaneously in different sections, and the convict labour of England, say 20,000, to be utilized at dif- tion. Her accumulated wealth can not bo i ferent points wliei'o local population may allowed to remain idle; ncu- will it. No I not he available. On this head, and as to one will deny for a moment that every { feasibility, cost and immediate Imperial economy that will make the poor man j as well as Dominion necessity, more anon richer and happier ought to bo practis^ed; | — in my next. but let us take care that we do not, from too strong a desire to retain that wea th Your's, BRITANNICUS. which Piovidenc^ has thrown into ihe lip, Ottawa, 25th May, 1869. of England, even in the midst of wur, j deprive her labouring children of legiti- mate employment and just remuneration Letters 2 tc 7, inclusive, give, in do- (all that the industrious classes of our ! scriptive detail as to physical features. But the uii- 1 a higher h« great link vl chain the. 1(1 high J>a- se in all itH and social, he sayp • — and capitid ;ri08, from a ower is Iohh, ncreasos, by lure of the )rld." And ayft :— " The rvoniiou in nvolvBH the ta of colon- ics the com- iirely econo'- ^he removal ivvded to the 'a surface in t social u«c- 1(1 which, at y, the intor- 'ndividua/ or burso thom- " Govern - \i, "on the increasing tioii, of this liijration, the repay with 1 aiid argil- iicstly and ilyect. Jin vay," fn»m hortofit line :;,025 raile.'i ancoHsly in ct labou'* oi /.od at dif- ation may 1, and aa to te Tinperiol more anon rKicus. :jive, in dc- x\ features, ,'* heights and dirttancos, a feasible line of route for railway from Montreal to BoUa- cooia, I'acific tide water at the head of the North Jientwick Arm, via Lake Nipis.sing (north Hide), Lake Nepigoii (south side), Fire Steel rivci- (summit source), Rat Port age (N. of Lake of the Woods), Stone Fort (head of sloop navigation of liake Wiiini- jieg — Eeiost,and in every resjiect the best possible, fj-om sea port to j-ea port, north of Mexico. Its leading points, deter- mining it, are the north shore of J^ipissing, the Routi' one of Neopigon, the north one of the Lake of the VVoods, the vlilton Pass, and, finally, that Pacitic water-gate, the remarkable gorge of Bollacoola. No tun- neling is necessary ; and, if at all, only some ten miles of snow cover. The only bridging of any extent will be that across the two branches of the Saskatchewan ; unless, as may, most wisely (for fuel and safety from the "Plain Indians),'" be done, the line be sliglitly diverted, so as to strike the main Saskatchewan below the "forks," and follow the north shed of the N. — the woody — branch of that noble stream The Fraser River presents less difficulty. The most formidable obstacle to an Atlantic and Pacitic Railway through British terri- tory was, undoubtedly, the bridging of the St. Lav.-rence. That ("eighth wonder") has, by the geniu.i and talent oi' a Keefer (Thomas C.) C. E. of Canada, Avho first personally gauged the problem, and by his elaborate and thoroughly practical plans and specifications for the purpose won the faith of even Stephenson of England, been overcome. And so, I feel assured, will it ever be with every seeming difficulty in the way. There is native skill and practical ability in the country to copo with every i 6 « phyuicul obritAcIo incidont to tho Kpocinl pliynical churncter tiiul climatic Jigciiciei* of Nortliorn Amorica. However, an it must. oMcntially, l»o nn EngliHl) road — the solo international lirUisk highway across this (Continent ; one for all human time, it must bo laid as such, at any necessary coBt. More than half a century ago, England spent, in war alone, one hun- dred and lifty million pounds sterling, (£150,000,000) in a single year ! and within twenty years, over three thousand millions of dollars in a fight alone!! She has tripled her wealth since ; and coramensur- ately stand her responsibililios to human progress in the comity of nations ; for, "to whoini much is given, of him much shall he required." '• So the notes ring"— ever ring, ever ring. Before proceeding, however, to the con- sideration of "ways and means" on which, by the way, I shall say as little as possible at present, for utitil thorough exploration ad hoc ]ie had, all estimate must, to some degree, be necessarily arbitrary — lot us take a glance at the relative merits and demerits of tho route proposed with the American one now established, and also, so far as may bo, with the others in progress. 1. From sea port to sea port, tho Britan- nia ilailway Line, as proposed, is nearest to air lino between mid-England and mid- Japan and China, is shorter, by more than eight hundred miles than the present one from New York to San Francisco, or than an}' possible line of railway from Atlantic to Pacific, across United States territorj'. 2. Liverpool, Milton Pass, Cariboo Centre, and Bellacoola are on the same line of latitude, viz. : 53^^ degrees N. or nearly so; not varying thirty minutes : and Nan- kin (mid-China) and Jeddo (mid-Japan) are nearly on the same isothermal line. 3. The altitude of the Britannia summit is less, by one-half, than that of tho present "American" one; or, 1 believe, than any American one that may be hereafter tried. Moreover, from that fact, tho latter, though farther South, will ever have more snow and mountain storm to contend vith, than tho comparatively low and ever sheltered British line, with its mile breadth (or two) of wood (a fuel preserve) all along, save, ot course, in the open prairie, where unwooded. 4. Tho Britannia line hss every material and element necessary ibr construction, maintenanco, and working in exhaustless abundance along its whole length ; for even in the prairio to bo traversed, tho lino verging on tho wooil lands, touches out growths here and there, and local supply of fuel is assured throughout. On part of tho route, viz.: liotween tho N. Si'skatchewan water shed to near the Milton Pass, coal, highly bituminous, >ind Bupjiosod to bo lit for loconiotivo fuel, is abundant — cropping out on the river banks near tho surface, and showing strata oC from fifteen to twenty feet in thickness. Tho American line, on the other hand, is totally ilostitute of coal, and oven of wood through half its length, and oven of water in tho alkaline desert wastes, extending over »2)aces varying from one hundred ami fifty miles downwards, throughout tho high plateaux traversed by it. 5. Tho American line, for about one thousand milos, is on Indian bat'.le ground, with Indian hostility, tho fiercest — for the Indian of tho Northern American plain is born, and lives, and dies in fight — besetting the way, while, on the other hand, the British lino is eniirely fi*ce from such molestation. (J. The extreme and sudden vicissitudes of climate on tho American route, especially from the hot valleys of California to the immediate Know heights of Nevada C' snow range ") forbid, in a measure, Sleasuro travel ; whereas tho equable lorthern one, by which one might travel from Pckin to London in the same gar- ments, would, in this respect, attract it. That in point of scenery, the British offers, infinitely, more pleasing features, and that, oven in winter; the route being largely pine-clad. 7. From mid-China and Japan to Now York is over one thousand miles shorter via Bellacoola and Montreal, than by Saa Francisco. 8. From England toAufif ralia the British line is over one thousani miles shorter than by any possible American one; and to China is from two to three thousand miles shorter, according to port to be reached. 9. The American road is, it is authentic- ally reported, of cheap and hurried con- struction and scai'cely saf [Note.— January, IfiT.'i — Even yet the Government of the United States, it is re- ported in the American Press, hesitates to \ \ exhnuHtlefls length ; I'or rsoil, llio lino toiioiieB out l()( ill supply bolwecn Iho to near the iininous, nnd otivo fuel, is a river bunUrt ig ptrata ol' thickness, ither hnnd, is 3ven of wood jvon of water 8, extending hundred and hout the high r about ono at'.lo ground, cest — for the rican plain is it— besetting or hand, the a from such n vicissitudes ^te, especially California ts of Nevada a ineasure, the equable miffht travel le same gar- attract it. the British ng features, i-oute being pan to Now niles shorter than 1>y Saa ia the British niles shorter one ; and to )U8and milei< )c reached, is authentic- hurried con- en yet the ates, it is re- hesitates to •ccopt much of the work, ha being in^uffl- cioiit, in construction, i'or the land subsidy.] The Britannia would, <»r eoiirso, bo n thorough English road; substantial, well amioinled, and i)(ri'ring every security and efficiency. Such are some of the relative excol- lencps of the Hritish road and route. The no.\t point I would touch on is as to " ways and n>eans," to piovide not only the $100,00(1,000 i)foresai(t ibr construction, but ibr the running of the road, a cost, probably, of nearly ten millions of dollars per annum, in the case of a large tiafflc. The maijnitudr of the cost necessary, is a gmund of Imperial assumption, in consi- (ierable part, in measure, at least, ol' obvious im])orial ii'terost in the matler. On this point, Mr. Editor, 1 hold a very strong opinion. The gigantic task is beyond the power of this nascent Dominion. Already its debt is considerable, and it has vet much to exjiend, and that, forthwith, in the es- tablishment of internal moans of develop- ment, and more especially in the opening and utilization of lui- water ways. Iler staple prod-cts are ol ;i nature to call for the cheapest transport. Why should the produce of the Far West be subjected to railway rates, high and destructive of its legitimate commerce ? It wants outlet — canals and channels. But neither for these, nor for railways, nor for any object whatever, lot there be /At/id yrunts, I would say. Land — onr "mother earth" — is for '.'wltivatiot! ; not for speculation in the marts of Mammon. We have had enough of that already. The wild is the heritage of every son of Adam who. by the law of his nature, first seeks to till it. By the "sweat of his brow " ho consecrates it as hiti, and as his, his nations. 'Tis thus that British free- men in America live, and alone can live. Every man is, in a sense, his own sove- reign in this Iree, broad, uncftstled land of our's. No "lordship" is sufFernble with US. As is our God-given " free-will," so, with co-ordinate responsibility do wo desire to live. In this, as proved, is the cure, the specitic for all political discontent, dis- loyalty or oven Fenianism itself. The Irishmen of Canada — freeholders — resisted, to a man, every attempt to tamper with their loyalty. All in our untrammelled economic navigation — life worklield arc loyal. Kven with the savage of the wild, the " King fJeorgo man" as he, with child-like confidence, calls him- self, l(.)yalty to tlu* British Cmvvn has the force of an instinct — is a holy thing with him. Touch it not I Foster it, I would say to England; and no less si» to her young fiduciary, tl>e Dominion of ('unada. Peiiple the fertile waste with husband- men — freehold husbandinon — Fijee Land (trants — MuNiciPAi/ Institutions, of Upper Canadian mould — A Fhef Poll — A Free 1'armament — These are the bases we desire to build on — build on, into na- tion homl ; and so, under Providence, will it be, else faith deceives. But. to take up the last head of our sub- ject. The Roman of old, when ho con- quered a country, bound his spoil with a JRoad — a "military road" — till, at last, he had one thiee thousand miles in length. It was so with the ancient Peruvian ; it is so with modern Ilussia; it is so with all national powers; concentration, i. e., the power thereof, is tho mea.sure of military force; for that, the rail is supreme. What, without tho precious " bit ' of railroad through the sloughs of Iklaclava gorge, would have availed all the niijrht oi Eng- land against Sebastopol ? " Stuck in a mud-hole !" Ignoble verdict I The Bail is the sceptre, as wel i.s the plough and ^word of the day. By it alone can national power hold its oAvn, or even rule its owu internally. In this sense — in both senses — it is an imperial nocessitj- in all countries. Tho proposition requires no special illustration; it is obvious every- wh i. It is on this political axiom that evei ' civilized country, of every physical aspect — on the heights of the Swiss, as on the flats of the Dutch ; on the steppes of Bussia, as on the apices of Sjjain and Italy the rail runs and rules as a dominant realt}-. But the cost, say some. What of that ? 1 answer thus : Suppose that not a ton of freight, not a single passenger on pleasure or business, nought but mails, guns and ammunition, and navy and army sto'-as should pass over that road, it would pr.y ; at least, there is reason to believe it would. A saving of one-tenth in navy and arniy ex- penditure would yield, even now, $7,000,- 000 (seven millions of dollars) per annum. Mail service would yield, say, one million. Four millions of dollars per annum would 8 Wk' run the road for such limited purposes, leaving, for interest on coat, four per centum p-^r aunum. But sir, the question, the great and main quesiion lavolvod is, in fact, that of motor of npirly ten millions of tons (I predicate on the figures of Dr. CuUen — a British authority— to the Society of Engineers in England) ten millions of tons per annum of the most precious of earth's produce, in commerce, from furthest East to furthest Wast, and throughout the whole world of human industry. [On this subject cf general transport in the lincinqueetion, see" Financial Basis."] One-tenth of that, at only two-thirds of current railway rates, viz. : two cents in- stead of three cents per ton per mile, would y\Q\Ajifty-three millions of dollars per annum. Fifty passengers a day, each way, at, say JlOO — half of the American first-class rates — would yield over three millions of dollars a year. Buu we may, for the second or third years of function dnuljle that item, and ever afteTwards more than treble it ; for the Mandarin of China, the Taja of Japan, rich, intelligent, and, at last, new awakened as from a long, long sleep, eager to see, and realize their dreams of the world and the hitherto hidden wonders thereof; yea, the essentially commercial masses of the Chinese and Japanese proper — the latter, to a man, all readers and writers, and of a most sprightly intelli- gence and social disposition. Yea, half the globe itself, and that the most active part, will seek travel ; are, in fact, on the move already, and settling wherever, dove-liko, they can find a resting place in the moving world of waters. Look at that East at the present moment i It is the burst of incu- bation, intellectual, of half a world. The dibdcle of forty centuries, or more, of their frost in tlio human cycle. The American — shre.fd — sees it, rnd hence the triple effort — when even prostrated by war — at all cost — cost of almost all his available lands for cultivation, viz., one hunored mil- lions of acres, or nearly so, and, for one road alone, over one hundred mil'ions of dollars in Government bonds, besi ies the land grant — and seeing the coming Jood of wealth and })ower endeavours thus to catch it, direct it, and secure it. Yes, Mr. Editor, on this score of travel alone, within the next ten years, we may, for the nonce, calculate on at least ten millions a year. g Add all that. It is over Seventy millions. Call it seventy. Halve ic. It will pay over working cost, twenty-flvo per cent. Quarter it. It wil. pay ten per ent, [Note. — These estimates hiive been fully borne out by the traffic returns since of the American Pacific Kailway (Union and Central), which, during the last four years — so far as can be gathered fi*om press re- ports — amount to about fifty million dollais. In connection with the railway, a new subsidized) Pacific Steamship Line for the hina and Japan trade has just been organ- ized, with a capital of «10,000,000, all 8ub- scribed, principally, in California ] But, it will be said, these are mere wild estimates — arbitrary. Granted that they are to some degree. They are so from the nature of the case — one sui generis — a pro- blem of vast elements,unparalleled,and with quantities somevhat indefinite, factors necessarily somewhat arbitrary. Still we have some authenticated statistics to go on — and I have read them most carefully in our Imperial blue book. The logic of arithmetic is unanswerable — ii'vesistible. But even did it fail us entirely. Is all political movement, every national act, for preseiit or futui'e good to be determined by a simple rule of arithmetic ? if so, then truly mdeed, are we " but a nation of shop- keepers," and foolish at that. No ! It is not so. Thank God ! England is mistress v^f the .seas — of the highwa s, heaven laid, of human intercourse and progress. For human good we, of her, believe her to be 80 ; and so, v^? believe, she under Provi- dence, will ev«r V, till time be no more. Tier ocean throne is, at the present moment, ly cunning accident, riven it is true — riven by a fjrcign iron-rod suddenly struck. It is for her to counteract that, and, more firmly to weld her seat of power. True also, that at present, prospectively in menace, if not actually, that the short ways, the opening iiighways of the earth, viz., the Isthmus of Suez, and that of Darien, are, virtually in foreign rival hands, and that to her are left but the old round abouts the "Cape" and the "Horn," but that also, by the same means, she can fully meet and remedy. Before her, inviting, she his, ag "nst all tl se, a save-all, a guard-all, a defy-all. In the gorge for railway — Bel- lacoola — port-hole to the Pacific— gunned and charged direct from her inexhaustible ^3? 9 y millions. t will pay per cent, cnt. been fully linceof the In ion and four years rn press re- y million (vay, a new jine for the been organ- 00, all sub- a] » mere wild I that they 50 from the iris — a pro- ed,and with te, factors ■f. Still we ic3 to go on caj'efully in le logic of ii'vesistible. ply. Is all ^nal act, for termined by if so, then ion of shop- No ! It in I is mistress icaven lai^^., ^i-ess. For e hor to be ider Provi- le no more. |nt moment, ruG — riven struck. It and, more Iwer. True lectivoly in short ways, th, viz., the larion, are, b, and that abouts the |iat also, by meet and ^ she has, uard-all, a liway — Bel- .(', — gunnemd. How? it will be asked. Thus — 1 answer. For basis of operations, Canada, in her North West territories, and in British Yours, A BRITISU AMKEICAN, (M. McLeod.) December 26, 187.'5. (Montreal Gazette, Jan. 1874.) LETTER IV. To the IJditor of the Gazette. Sir, — One point more, and 1 shall close this obtrusion on your generous columns. But first, in 8,i;)plement to what I ad- vanced in my last is to hypothecation for railway debt, I would, to the lands (i. e., wheat and pasture lands, with their invalu- able coal measures and other mineral wealth) add the Jiailway itself, from its initiation, and as finished, in section after section, as a sultject for mortgage; tho Columbia, as per agreement, ad hor^ has , Winnipeg and Peml>ina and Nopigon or fully half a million of fquare miles (332,- 1 Thunder Bay branches to bo con^;idered as 000,000) acres of lands* of largo economic; integral parts of the main line. Such value, an area requiring but a railway to security ought to be beyond all cavil, give current, life, and development to its j As to the time proposed for payment of boundless treasures. Tho moment such ' principal, viz,, twenty-five yours, it has highway is made, every acre will average , struck nio since writing that, inasmuch as five dollars in value, and in five years after, ; tho next ami the following generations will double that, say $3,000,000,000 (three | benefit most from the work, it would be thoupr\nd million dollars), and more, for tho but just to tho present to leave to such coal mea-sures, vast and good, arc beyond beneficiaries tho payment of tho bulk of estimate. Such, heritage — heritage of sucu principal, in so far us tliatcan be don© future as well as of the present generation, ! by debcnLures running beyond twenfy-Iivo is for settlement in i}- . course, by a proper j years, say froj.i thirty to forty years, and system of immigration under governmental ! with, of course, a corresponding diminution control and its im»media(o superintcndcncej of per cantugo for sinking fund. *Valub ok Lands. — Tlie dot.iilKof my osti mates of rronniuic •reiiH in our North Wrst Tirritorios, " liui'-.Tt's Land" iiiiil BritiaU Columbia nro given, in gcdRraiiliic ilcsipti;'*>oii, iinil" r tho heads " North West Territories" ami " Rritish Coluinljia," ill "Lovcll's Gazetteer of British North America,"— a work published about « year ago. The saniu iiiforin.itioti, hut in more rx'tcnded termsf, and witii nbuiidaiil ref«rtinco to thu Sources of informati'in on the Hubjeet," viz.. tlio jomials, rciiort.s, Ac., of my fatiier, und other lartuerH iin I chief ollle.cra of the Ilud.^on'ij U,iy ( oinpaiiy, ami corresiiomlencc from all f|iiiitcrs of the Hudson's Day Company's Territories with my rit'i.T, will n in charge of central and inijiortant jiosts, isglvca in the •ip'irtidix to my work of soring. 1872, " Felice River," published in OtUiwa. Betildes iill thi;i, I touM nnd do Hjieak 9B U I ) Tho annual amount required, if tlio work | has to be done witliin yeven years, would j (on each of such annual instalments, supposing them equal), be only about a million and a half of dollars per ^ annum — onl3' three times as much as; the comparatively little, old and exhausted i Province of Quebec has just realized out of | her " Crown Lands " during the last year. \ Dominion Crown Land sales may, in two i years after the commencement of our! Pacific JRailway, bo tcn-lbld — certainly live- ■ fold — that amount. But to come to my last point. IMMIGKATfON. On this head, under tho very special circumstances of tho case, it is impossible to advance ought but predicate — which, of course, might be objected tc; as matter for " financial basis." Still, we have, in the j recorded flow of this gulf stream of human- ! ity to our ever hopeful shores, " something | to go by," even for financial estimate." In I that way a minimum, or even a fair; medium, may be struck, as to determined | results. But that does not, and cannot in : effect mei^t our case — the problem boforo us | of an abnormal, and, probably, super-excited J migration of peoples, in consideraole i masses, from Europe and Asia. Manitoba, ' of tho moment, even though unroaded, I isolated, and to general emigration compar- ' atively inaccessible, is evidence of this. Her Winnipeg of 1870— a hamlet of 300— ; is now a city of 5,000, What will the in- ' pour of immigration, from East, West and ' South be when the gates of ready access, by steam ways, are opened ? No one can say with certainty ; and speculation, on tho j factors and incidents of the hour before it, ■ on thiP theme, may well start at its own | shadow — its own honest forecaste. j firom personal kiiowledgo of most of the vast region in qne-s- ■ « wi, . {^"Jl^'V'"™.*''?." ''"'' '■'-'i*"''*^ "f *'"''^'«1 »'"<••'! in those ' Wild North r.aiiils,' such as the report, frill, faithful and I exliaustive of Profossor Macoun, tlie botanist (from Belleville) cng,-^ers":u his i offlciHl report of 1874, "in glowing terms respecting the i beauty of the country, the fertility of the soil, and the salu- .. Tu'^'^u' . '?'™,?te over wide areas on the eastern side of ! the Mountain Zone." When tlie travellers got on the ' western auU; winter had set in, hut there was nothinc found by them to imlicatn a less favoralile flora, in the same lati- tudes, on the western side of the Rooky Mountains Captain Butler, iu his admirable book of travel "The Wild NorUi Und," writing in 187;), says (page 358), " it will yet bo found that there are ten acres of fertile land lying noith of the North 8askut(!hewan for every on« acre lying south ot it " On this subject of fertility, extent and intriSsic value of land* oflcrod la grant for the railway, there was no dlfflci-Uy It has been calculated that every immi- grant to North America, is, on average, worth 1(1,000 to the State, whose revenue and natural resources and general national development, he contributes to. At that rate, one year's immigration, after our Pacific Railway shall bo fairly under way in construction, might, in a sense, pay the total cash cost of the work. However, it would, probably-, scarcely bo advisable to assume bo much in argument for "financial basis." I do so, rather in support of what, I thinkj would, indirectly, but in no small measure, contribute to "financial basis," viz., a liberal apportionment of fairly economic lands — good farming lands, graz- ing and agricultural — for Free Land Grants, along our first highways — say, river ways, and inland '< territorial roads'' (central), and also along the lino of Pacific Railway proposed. Free Grar;tcos, to better them- selves, are apt to buy "sale land.s," There will, moreover, be ample left, for sale, for settlement, in regular course. And in the proceeds of such, with that of the various city, town and village lots, to be laid off by Government, and in the proceeds from our valuable coal lands — which, by the way, appears by ono of his Acts of Parliament of last session, the Hon. Mr, McKenzio seems so anxious to throw away for com- paratively nothing, to wit, "ono dollar an acre," to anybody that will buy them — there will, I presume, bo abundant to pay interest and sinking fund on railway cost, and that, without the sale or grant of a single acre of the Crown, tho peoples' do- main, to tho railway company, save the strip, and perhaps adjoining wood lots (for fuel, ties, and road n-.fintenance) along their narrow lino-way of mil. As to any plan of immigration, I have, in remarks in my pamphlet, entitled in n.)ating the scheme on the London Money Market I hold evidence of the fact in the private correH])ondence to myself, from that quarter, in reference to the special information .iiven in my writings ■ n that subject, and the correctness of vhich it was ever in the power of capitalists in London to . heck, by reference to the official reports, iharts and other 1 I'cuived internal inforin.ation on the suiyect of the Hudson's 1 ay Company, in their chief ofllce in London. That Company I iw comprises about or over two thousand stockholders, and probably embraces a very large maiority of "Dealers on London 'Change." Be that as It m.iy— the men with the uecess:irj- millions to make the road were satisfled with the consideration riresentcd, in the Land Grant, Irrespective of trade speculatfons, and were ready at once to make tlie neces- sary advances— as the Hon. Mr. Abbott stated when examined on the Royal Commission, ad hoc.il xeas only owing to the rudiUji distrunt (inspiroil by agencies oiiposed to the work) as to the ability of the Government (Dominion) of the day to continue to hold its political power, in face of the combination against it— combinationn avowedly to defeat the project as then laid— that they failed to succeed I .j^w ; vts 15 irery immi- n average, lae revenue al national At that after our under way 86, pay the lovvover, it dvisable to r "financial >rt of wliat, in no small icial basis," of fairly lands, graz- .and Grants, river ways, ' (central), ific Kail way setter tl\em- ia." There for Bale, for And in the ' the various >e laid off by ids irom our y the way, I' Parliament , McKenzio ivy for cora- no dollar an )uy them — idant to pay aihvay cost, grant of a peoples' do- y, save the jod lota (for ance) along ion, I have, )t, entitled . Market. I hold ndencc to myself, ecial infonnntioii ;lic correctness of sts in London to I 'harts and other of the Hudson's . That Company stockholders, and of " Dealers on ue men with the satiBtled with the t, irrespective of o make tlie neces- id when examined wing to the »i«icl«« e work) as to the e day to continue mbination against leot as thou laid— "'Peace Kiver," with its maj), with yellow linos iudie:iting what 1 would consider the best routes to adopt for "territorial roads," assuincd that the subject is of such primary importance to the Dominion, that it had bettor be left to the control, entirely, even in working detail, of the Government. Unfortunately (but perhaps unavoidably) Provincial co-operulion is now invoked. The experiment may succeed. It is to be hoped it will. But there will always this to ne said of it. That i'ov financial consider- ations, the entire control of a general scheme of immigration, in the hands of the Dominion Government, free from any pos- sible distux'bing element in the shape of Provincial jealousy or antagonism, would inspire more confidence, in the money market, than a divided or quasi divided holdmg by the various Governments. On this subject, if, as may bo the case, there be a clash of interests between the Dominion and Provincial Governments, on the face of the Union Act of B. N. A. it should, in its importance to all interests involved, viz., Jmijerial.as well as Dominion and Provincial, be rectified, and permanent remedy be at once established by Imperial Act of Parliament. The object to be more immediately sought in this direction is, that the emigrant from any land, i'oreign or " h^me," shall feel assured, when he buys his ticket for Canada Bettlement, that he has a national gwxrMMOQ for what it contracts, on its face, viz., assured transit, and choice, on view, ot available settlement land. BRITISH (IMPERIAL) TRADE RETURNS. (Last— A.D. 1873.) China, exclusive of Hong Kong ami Macao — Page 263. Importa from ..£12,454,234 stg. E.X porta (United Kingdom) to. 4,882,701 " '• (Foreign '■ and Colonial). 5,017,334 " HoNO Kong— "ages 257-8. Imports from ..£ 783,457 stg. Exports (U.K.) to .3,411,968 « '« (F.&C.) to 3,610,265 " £7,805,390 " say |:}9,026,960 J.lPAN . Imports from..£ 6,61i,.34f (». Exports (U.K.) to 1,680,017 ■ " (F.&C.) to 1,884,145 " £9,175,502 " say $45,877,500 Islands in the Pacific. Imports £ 47,492 stg. Exports (U.K.).. 23,716 " (F. AC.) 101,317 " £22,354,269 " say $11 1,771, ,346 China, including Hong Kong and Macao. Imports from ..£13,303,117 stg. Exports (U.K.) 8,294,669 " " (F.&C.) 8,627,599 " £30,226,385 " say $161,126,976 £172,525 " say $861,625 Straits Settlements — Pages 257-8. Import? from . . £3,464,279 stg. Exports (U.K.) to 2,101,221 « " (F.&C.) to 2,170,819 « £7,786,319 " say $38,681,595 AUSTRALIAN COLONIES. Victoria — Pages 260-1 . Imports from (exclusive of 5-'d) £ 5,743,141 stg Exi;orts(U. K.) 5,643,.'')44 " " (F.&C.) 7,286,104 " £19,672,789" say $78,363,945 Nkw South Walks — Pages 262-3. • Imports from (exclusive of gold) £ 3,606,019 stg. - '. V Exports (U K) 4,333,719 " " (F&C) £4,723,729 " £12,753,467 " say $6.3,767,336 South Australia — Page 259. Imports (exclu- sive ot gold). £n,'Jl 4,869 stg. Exports (UK). 2,016,843" . ! «• (F&C) 2,?28,313 " ' - ' £7,450,025 " say $37,330,525 QuEENsLASD — Page 269. Imports from (exclusive ot -^^ gold) £871.235 stg ,i Exports (Vi K). 81,V>38 *• " (F & C). 890,828 " r. ,,-, -i* i.. i £2,577,701 « say $2,577,701 16 Wkst ArsTBALiA — Page 268. Iiu^K>rl>< from.. Jt 1 (52,086 stg Es|H)rl.s (UK) 167,368 " (F & C) 185,102 " i< £514,556 " say $2,572,775 Tasmania — Pages 265. Imports £425,375 atg Exports (UK).. 271,478 " " (F & C) 306,392 " £1.003,730 '< say $5,016,225 New Zealand — Page 266. Imports (exclu- sive of gold). £3,149,970 stg Exports (U K) 3,361,562 " " (F & C) 3,645,168 «! £10,156,700 " eay $60,783,500 " OoT.D," wliicli as a natural product of Aus- tralia and New Zcalf.nd, is very properly, re- ferred to under head " Import," Ironi the Australian Colonies and New Zealand to Great Britain, can only be estimated approximately 'as the " bullion" return is notoriously defec- fcive) by allowing for it, the difference between Imports (as above given) and exports, and which I render thus: Oold Colonies, viz.: Victoria, New South W lies, South Australia, Queensland, and New Zealand — as per tables aforesaid : Total Exports£35,915,071 stg., say $179,575,365 Total Imports (exclusive of gold) 16,675,9.34" «• 83,374,670 Total Gold Im- ports £19,240,137 " " $96,200,685 Summary of Australian Gold Colonies and New Zealand Trade. Total Import (exclusive of ^old) £15,675,934 stg:, say $ 83,374,670 Total Import gold 19,240,137 " ' 96,200,686 £35,915,071 Total Export (as above) ..£35,915,071 £71,930,142 " $179,575,355 " 179,576,365 " 359,160,710 These Colonies have always paid 20 shillings in the £. They do so still . Add for Australian Colonies not producing gold. Tasmaitia as above £ 1,003,730 stg, say $ 5,016,225 West Acstra- MA as above. 614,655 " « 2,572.776 Total Aust. C, and New Zea- land £73,448,427 " Note. — The marked and continuous progress and prosperity of these Colonies preclude any assumption of " balance of trade" against them. Their rate of progress during the past decade, warrant n- estimate of 50 per cent, in advance, in the ne live years. GENERAL SUMMARY OF BRITISH PACIFIC TRADE. Cliina, including Hong Kong and Macao $151,126,975 Japan 45,877,500 Islands in the Pacific 861,625 Straits Settlements '.... 38,681,595 Australian Colonies and New Zea- land 366,739,710 Total $502,287,406 « $366,739,710 UNITED STATES TRADE RETURNS. (Last A.D. 1873-4 to June 30, 1874.) Pacific, Eastern, and Australian Trade. Extracts from Commerce and Navigation Re- turns of 1874. Page 433, Japan— Trade at Free Ports A.D. 1873. Amount stated in Japanese " Yens" and fractional "sens." The former is equivalent to the American dollar (gold). The latter I omit: iMPOHTS from. j, Specific 21,340,785 yens Ad Valorem 4,722,160 " Duty free 2,244,717 " -i ' Department Stores... 797,394 say $29,105,056 KXP0RT3. Specific 18,-337,850 ■••.- Ad Valorem 1,835,318 • •(■■ Duty free 644,849 20,818,017 $49,923,073 Note. — This total is what my ad- dition makes it, but in this blue book it is given at " 21,217,481" a difference of 399,474 Total $50,322,547 Page 124. China and Japan. Note by Author.— There is no separate entry under head China, at least I could not find one. Imports from $36,446,314 Exports (Domestic) 16,000,761 " (Foreign) 2,776,493 $64,221,554 This, I take it, does not include the special entry as to the " Free Ports," but is principally, probably almost wholly, as to China trade, with some accidental and exceptional trade, en route within •lapanese waters. 1 i 0U8 progress ireclude any ide" agninHt ing the past per cent, in BRITISH $151,126,975 45,877,500 ,_ B61,G25 m, 38,681,595 ^ 366,739,710 .$502,287,405 RETURNS. 9, 1874.) lian Trade. avigation Re- !\..D. 1873. " Yens" and 3 equivalent to latter I omit : ena ay $29,105,056 ' M' iV -^-^ $49,923,073 te 399,474 ,.$50,322,547 separate entry d not find one. S14 751 '<.-^^. 493 .$54,221,564 de the special t is principally, ina trade, with rade, en route 17 Sandwich Islands. , , Imports $1,316,270 , Exports (DoniL'Htic) 6r)4,103 " (Foreign) 43,088 $2,013,461 " BitiTisn East Indies axd Australia." (Thns lumped in otRcial report.) ImpurtH (rom $19,998,165 Exports (Domcsti'O 4,082,7-47 " (Foreign 66,695 $25,147,607 Dutch East Indies. Imports from $7 ,556, 96* Exports (Domestic) 255,134 • $7,812,088 BULLION. China and Japan. Imports from $ 1 ,349,761 Exports to 11,285,694 Re-export 2,759,726 $15,395,181 Si'MMAUY OF Totals. Japanese Free Ports $ 60,322,547 China and Japan 54,221,554 Saiulwich Islands 2,013,461 British East Indies and Australia . . 25,147,607 Dutch East Indies 7,812,088 Bullion — China and Japan 15,395,181 ^ Total $154,912,4.38 Add British Pacific Trade Total as aforesaid $502,287,405 Present Total of North and South a Pacific Trade $667,199,843 At the present rate of progress of the Pacific Trade, it would, in five vears (before which, of course, the Railway could scarcely be built), grobably rise to a thousfind million of dollars, 'n that, less than one per cent, would " run" the road, 2 per cent, pay cost, and 3 per cent, give good dividends on stock — verifying my estimate ad hoc in my Britannican's letter 8 of 1869, as given above. In relation to the above authentic data, it is to bo remarked that they do not include that, on the whole, not inconsiderable trade in the two Pacifica which customs returns but very imi^orlectly represent, especially as to value. The most marked feature in the above tables is the exhibit of enormous balance of trade, in products and manufactures, against lx)th Britain and tbe United States, and yet it is much loss than it used to bo. Both pay largely, most largel}', in coin (principally silver, I believe) for their im- ports from China and Japan. o This balance must, I humbly consider, naturally diminish, with the increased facility of communication with those peoples, and with the removal of that "Chinese wall" of non-communication with foreigners which present Chinese emigration and Jajianese liberalism in gov- ern mont. are fa.st demolishing in that quarter. The change in this respect within the last three years is marvellous, and is one of the most pleasing and encouraging of human movements, e7i viassc, in the true direction, in the hi: lory of the human race — a movement which, all, however indi- rectly concerned, should take part in, and should, to best ability, assist. To show its progress (rate of progress) a comparative taolo of past annual trade re- turns would be necessary — but these I cannot here well give, without encumbering what, 1 feel, is already too much encum- bered. On this point, therefore, I must refer the reader to the trade returns in question. ; But in addition to these official data, I I might legitimately point to certain notable j facts, staletl in press, in relation to the American Pacific Transit Trade, which in- j dicate a growth and extent of such trade, and its enormous profits, beyond all re- corded calculation. 1. The United States Government de- mand from that part (probably about a halfj of the transcontinental railway called the Union Pacific, ovoi- one million dollars as the claim (" 5 per cent") ot the Govern- ment (on condiiion of subsidy, I presume,) on tbe nelt returns of the road. This, I take it, is for one year- -the last. The other portion of the road ("Pacific Central") from San Francisco westward, may, for the argument, be fairly assumed to have realized to the same extent. This would represent an annual nett revenue of forty j million dollars— just about what I calcu- I lated in mv Britannicus letter No. 8, in ' June, 18G!), five and a half 3-ears ago, when j i-eally, I had not much of booked fact to go I on. And here I feel tempted to state a fact ' soraev, hat pei'sonal and therefore objcction- i able perhaps, but which may explain in some measure, how, I, an humble indivi- dual in northern Canada, and not in trade, should venture to thus write on such a sul)- ject. Twenty-four yeai's ago I wrote the 'W" 18 M. S. all ready for publication, of a small work on Japan, with a glossary of over five hundrecl Japanese words anil phrases in ordinary use, there. The work was not published, however, hocausc the mag- nificent and very full United States CJov- ernmout report, on Japan, of the day, on the conclusion of the Commodore Preble expetlition to that country for the release of certain American shipwrecked mariners, held in confinement, there, took the ground from me. In writing up the work T had to look into all available works on Japan, and the trade — and general foreign policy of that country, and also of its neighbour China. 1 was drawn to the little (a leisure) task, by the story, with a few notes, and a well told narration from an old native born British Columbian, Mr. Kanald McDonald, son of the late Chief Factor Archibald McDonald, of his adventures, in an eleven months residence in Japan. Let mo give his story, briefly, as I gave it once before in my Britannic us letter No. T, giving an account of his exploration and charter right for a waggon road with tollago from Bellacoola (Pacific tide water) to Cariboo, in 1862. Eanald McDonald's adventure in Japan. " McDonald, born in Astoria, educated in Eed Eiver, and Canada, in sheer adven- ture, took passage in a whaleshiiJ bound for the North Pacific waters, on the ex- pi'ess stipulation that when the ship should DO off the coast of Japan he was to be per- mitted to leave her, in the pinnace or small boat he bargained for and took. This was about thirty years ago, when the rigour of the Japanese decretal of exclusion was carried in utmost rigour oven against ship- wrecked mariners. McDonald presented himself as a cast-away. His total baggage was a small box, with his books, viz. : Bible, Eucliil, histories, &c. for his idea was if spared, to teach, and himself learn. He was conveyed, by land and sea, from Yesso, the extreme north of Japan to Nagasaki, in the South, the then sole port open to any foreigners, and that only to the Dutch, and even to them, under very close i estric- tiona. There, he was put to a series of most sevei'e ordeals of bis courage, voracity and motives. He faced all, and braved all, with great tact, though at times, as he told me, ho thought every moment they would chop off his head. At last, in assem- bled court, full of armoured pageantry, ho was told to bow his iiead, like all the other people, including all the "nobles" present to the ground. At a sign, all did so : Mc- Donald alone, excepted, who sat staring at the Governor : at last, in a burst of admira- tion, his Excellency exclaimed, in Japanese, " You have a big heart." From that hour he " lived in clover," as Hildreth (pages 502-3) says of him, making him, however, as the historian says, " teach them English." Many years aftei'wards in reading of the English and American treaties with that power I recognized in the name of the chief interpreter, or one of the chief inter- preters — for they always act in "double" in Japan — that, (viz., Mooryama), of Mc- Donald's brightest and favourite pupil.* I give this episode, to show that my humble authorityt is not quite a nonentity. He in his own humble way, contributed to obviate the difficulty and inconvenience of Dutch interpretation in the communication of British thought and sentiment to a peo- ple, who, of all others I know of, have the closest affinity of spirit to the British race. They, in fact, in heart and mind, are the British of the East. They require but the iro)i link to bind them in cognate bonds." 2. Another fact, worthy of notice, as in- dicative of the immensity, and 6la7i of this new American Pacific Transit^Trade — is the enormous profit of the very first Steamship L'ne across the Pacific to China and Japan in connection with the railway. From the Customs record of their American Port, and from that Company's own showing their freight returns for the last year amount to about $3,000,000 (three million of dollars) — for "passage fare" we may fairly add, I presume, $2,000,000 more. In addition to that we have the signifi- cant fact, that the Company, before being two yesrs in existance, 1 think, had a millioncf dollars, or about that, to spare, for " cruiibs " in Congress, to the " needy " and actually so spending it, yet gi*ew rich, still richer. 3. A second Pacific Steamship Line, for * The samp, I believe, who, aliout 25 years afterwards was first Arabassa'lor of State, for Japan, at Washington. 1 "Authority" as to the Bclkcoola route as tlie best across British Columbia to Pacifls Port, ami as to the diffleultios — "irapoasibilitieM" as he termed them- -of the Bute Inlet route for a " waggon road, or even mulu trail" 19 tho samo trade has just boon started with n capital of $10,000,000, naid ui>— and tliat priiK'ipully, if not wholly, in California alone. 4. VVo have just had, in the report of in- terview of tho Dolc/^ation of Icadintj mor- chantH in the Tea Trade of Canada, with the Hon. Mr. Cartwri/j;ht, as Finance Minister, a most intelligent and lucid, and, I would say startling expowition of not only "wliat Canada is neglecting and losing every day, but of the present, actual and fast growing niischiei to Canadian Trade in general as well as in Tea from China and Japan. Tea, as we all know, is what tho Trade calls " a leading article." and draws, into its own groove and working, very much besides, oven in other branches of trade. The gentlemen from Montreal, Hamilton, Brantford and London Boards of Trade who composed that delegation, were, so far as 1 know, of all political parties, some of them — such as Mr. Cramp, a prominent supporter of the present Ministry. What do they say? Extracts from Report of Tntei'view, 22nd Jan. 1875. Hon. Mr. Cartwright — What is the ex- act estimate of the tonnage you make ? Mr. Brown (of Hamilton "spokesman") said somewhere in tho neighborhood of 5,- 000 tons, or ten millions of pounds. Tho American Government had serious inten- tions of re-imposing duties on tea and cof- fee, and if it occurred it would make the matter one of comparative ease for tho Dominion Government to impose the pro- posed tariff. Hon. Mr. Cartwrioht — Would you im- port the whole five thousand tons ? Mr. Brown said no, tho English market supplied a good deal of our teas. Hon. Mr. Cartwright — How much do you suppose would come direct ? Mr. Brown said he was not prepared to say the relative quantity, but Mr. Cramp, of Montreal, could. As long as the policy of the Government would be to develope the direct China trade, the great bulk would come from China. Mr. GiLi.ABD (of Hamilton) said that the Custom House return? at Hamilton showed that tho last nine months of 18T3, that city, in round figures, imported from Great Britain 170.000 pounds of green tea ; from China, 181,000 pound.^; and the United States, 80,000 pounds; then for the corresponding nine months of 1874, tho im- Sorts of the same port were from Great Iritain, G 1.000 ; from China, 133,000 pounds, and from tho United States, 217,- 000 pounds ; showing a decreased import from the Groat Britain ot twenty-five per cent. ; from Ciiina, thirty per cent. ; and from the Unitetl Stales an increased im.' port of 140 per cent, over 1873, demons- trating clearly that the direct import trade is fast falling back into tho hands of tho Now York merchants. Mr, Brown said in general terms they claimed that abolition of this duty had so- riously cfTocted tho trade between Canada and China, and they now asked for fair piny at the hands of the Government as Canadian importers. Hon. Mr. Cartwright — The tea you im- port from China is usually green, and the black tea is imported from Great Britain ? Mr. Cramp said tho large consumption of tea in Caniula was green tea, but both green and black tea wore imported from China as well as from Japan by Canadian importers. He thought the impoi-tation of black tea from England was quite as unna- tural as tho importation of green tea from there. They felt that tho present condi- tion of the law in tho United States was singularly unjust towards Canada. It was particularly aimed at Canada. The impor- ters therelore felt that they .should bo pro- tected by the Dominion Government. They were quite willing to let the Ameri- cans have the use of our markets if they would let us have tho use of theirs. — This ten per cent, may bo said not to bo in the interest of consumers. He thought they could show, however, that the imposition of this lon per cent, tax against the United. States would not increase the cost of tea to consumers in Canada, but would simply transfer tho tea trade from the United States to Canada and England. It might be said why then did they fear United States competition ? — but it turned entirely on small matters such as commission, stor- age, transfers, &c. If the present state of affairs were permitted to continue without any advantage to tho consumer, they would let the United Stales take tho whole Chi- na trade which should be in the hands of Canadians It coukl not be said that the importers wanted to make money out of the p3 H ao conHumor by tluH movo, as ho did nol think it won 111 ruiHO the price of ton one penny in the pound, if anything. Whonovor the Amoi'icanrt were dinnoHwi to let Canadians into their markotH, he did not think there is a man in Canada who would want to He- cure a monopoly, (v'anailian tea importers hiul all loHt a great deal of money by the late change in the tariff. Hon. Mr. Cartwhiqiit — The total value of tea imported is three or four millions of dollars. Mr llonEUTflON said it averaged about 33ct8 per pound. II(m. Mr. Burpee — I think the returns vill show last years' importation was about thirteen million pounds, seven millions and a half of groon tea and five millions and a half, noarly one million and a half of which came from the United States. Mr. Cramp (of Montreal) said the Cana- dian importers did not import all their teas into Canada now. Tlioy imported large amounts into Now York, where they al- lowed it to remain in bond and imported it into Canada as they required it, 30 as to take \ advantage of the rise and full in the Ame- rican market, and what came in that way into Canada was classod as American tea. Hon. Mr. Buupeb paid it was entered for the country from which it camo. Hon. Mr. Cartwriqiit said ho did not suppose Canadian importers look so much at the four or five thousand tons of shipp- ing as to the control of the tea trade. Mr. Cramp thoiight if this ton per cent. having Ijoen loft off was [put on again, the Americans would seriously consider the question of taking off their ton per cent., as *l:ey valued much the trade with Canada, "i if wo could get admission to their ..ot through that change instead of the . thousand tons we now import into Ca- la, we might imj^ort very largerly to ,,upply the Western States. lion. Mr. Cartwrioht said he under- stood that the Americans were extending their trade cast from the Pacific. Mr. HoBERTSON said thoy claimed that this ten per cent, duty would not in- crease tho price of tea to the consumer. The tendency was not to make large pro- fits or losses under pccculiar cumbtancos, but it was a continuous thing which was load- ing Now York to be the centre of distribu- tion of teas for all Canada. The American and Canadian importers purchased their teas in tho market. They were delivered equally cheap in Canada and tho United States, and as long as the two markets kept at the same level tho morchanta were on tho same footing, but Canadian importers had to suffer from the fluctuation of tho American markets. If trade wore doproa- sed in tho Uniteil States and good in Cana- da, the Americans immaliately flooded our market and brought it down. If prices raised in tho United States tho Araarican merchants had tho lulvango of it, whilst Ca- nadian merchants we kept out ot it by tho ton per cent, tariff. Mr. Cartwriout said he quito saw tho loss to Canadian importers, but that was not the point. Mr. liRoWN contended that tho competi- tion between importers in Canatla was sufi- ciently keen to protect the consumer in the price ho will have to pay. Hon. Mr. Cartwriout said that in the last year in which they hiul the ten per cent, tariff, that in spite of it wo imported nearly one million and a Jhalf pounds of groon tea from tho United States, paying the ten per cent, duty on it, whic'n was prima facie evidence that the price of tea was raised to the consumer, as tho consu- mer had to pay that duty. Mr. GiLi.ARD said his oxporionce was that their importations wore not half as large now as they woukl bo if thoy had a mark- et for their teas. There were ton import- era in tho United States now for the one there used to bo, and Canadians had to com- pote against tho most speculative market in the world. They had (energy and enter- prise enough, however, to moot tho Ameri- cans if their markets were thrown open to us. Tho consumer did not reap any advan- tage where the fluctuations in tho markets were spasmodic. Hon. Mr Cartwrioht — If it were you 01 one Hide and the American on the other I would not have two words to say on tho matter, but tho thii'd party, tho Canadian tei consuming public, has to be consulted. Hjw many distinct caigoes of tea were im- ported into Montreal for tho year ended tho 30th June, 1874 ? Mr. Cramp said he could not tell. A few years ago it was an important interest, bu it had now died ner.rly out. There wore plenty of means and plenty of enterpi'iso to do this trade, but thej' were forced by le- gislation to employ New York merchants / 91 to import for thorn. A liir^c amount of their own iri(livi senti- ments I heard expressed in the west, particu- larly from the expressions of public opinion, that we have too high a feeling of fair play to advance our p^ .'uliar views with regard | to personal interests if they weredetrimen- 1 tal to the interests of tho country." -^ * j I give these facts somewhat at length, and as bearing on tlie tj[uestion of policy as ' well as tho subject more immediately in ' hand under this caption of " Financial Ba- sis," but their importance justifies them. 5. Mail and military service. 6. Tho statistics first above given as to tho Pacific Trade of Great Britain and the United States, apply, of course, only to those countries. But on this general sub- ject of " ihrouyh transit trade," the trade of all Europe with tho further " Orient " and with all Pacific parages, is to be taken into consideration. The population of Continental Europe relatively to that of Britain may bo laid as ton to one, and its contribution to an Amorico-transcontinental transit trade certainly bo aasumod as oc^ual to that of Great Britain. Local Traffic. liy th time tho railway, from Ocean to Ocean, would bo finished, at least a million of itdiabitants, industrious settlers, wou'd bo living along its way, and would contn- buto some amount of local trafilc. Two dollars per hcid per annum if, I believe, the usual estimate on this scor(». Say t\yo millions on local trafHc, at the very start. More, much more, under this general head of probable traffic, might be advanced in support of the scheme — but in tho faco of tho actualities and portentous facts above roferrc(' to, and in view of their significanco to us of Canada, and to Britain herself, tho question, in trumi)et tone, arises Wnr NEGLECT THIS TIIINQ ? CONSTRUCTION AND LINE— NATI- ONAL CONSIDERATIONS {Montreal Gazette li) Dec. 1S73.) LETTER II. To the Editor of the Gazette. Sir, — As to tho immediate construction of a railway from Winnipeg to Pembina, that, all nmst admit, is of first necessity. The "Allan Contract/' wo all know, pro- mi8(Kl it for 1874. As a mere ofi-shoot or branch of the main lino — main line from Halifax to Pacific — it could no more affect the national or military character of that Imperial highway than does any one of our inter-American railway connections af- fect or threaten our present Grand Ti unk or tho Intercolonial Railway. The lino, in its whole length, by its position — back of settlement, and with the St. Lawrence and the peopled breadth of Canada and our In- dian plains between it and tho border is im- pregnable. But of course, as any one may see, to dispense for "all tinie,'' with a line wholly on Canadian soil, between Winni- peg and the Ontario system of railway would be to practically American Iko, not only such |)iece of road, but all westward to the Pacific. On this point, as you well show by reference to tho predictions of the Globe (Toronto) itself, both piu'tics — all parties — are agreed. But "faith must at once be kept with Bi'itish Columbia," says the new Premier. Certainly. T/utt is just what, with every possible, and with wondrous energy, was Doing done bj' those who, with an intelli- gent sense of the need, h£id undertal'en the mighty work, when, in stealth and in dark- ness, the spoiler came 1 v aad stopped them. At uie moment alrao the entire force of the Survey staff was in British Columbia, seeking exhaustively, a choice of routes feasible. One route, ascertained by instru- mental survey, viz, that to the mouth of theFraser — a point only about half an hour's steaming from Puget Sound (only six miles from the American boundary) would ans- wer the American Company, admirably. Hence the "grab," — but there are other con- siderations — To get to Puget Sound — a hai*- bour of harbours, the finest in the world, the American line would, from the oast side of the Eocky Mountains cost, I estimate, about twenty million dollars more than our lino from Jasper House (east side of the jRocky Mountams) to the mouth of the Fraser. say Burrard's Inlet, 1 know both routes, personally ; the American line has to cross much higher, and broader and more ranges of mountains — regions which eyen the fur trade could not thoroughly pene- trate save by routes mosi; sinuous. True, there is a lai-g»^ land grant, and very much, — say one-half~of that from Pembina to Puget Sound, well titted for agricultural Bettloment, and on the western side of the Eocky Mountain, especially near the coast, exceedingly rich in merchantable timber, as well as be'ng good farming land, but on the other hand there is — as :3 admitted in pa- ges 8 and 9 of the pamphlet prospectus of the Northern Pacific Eailroad Company itself, — (page 8,) "Detached portions" — those are the ^ery words of the book — "of the vast "region tributary to the Northern Pacific "Eailroad, where, for the present — " (Query, Whm will it be otherwise?") "the rainfall "is insufficient for most crops, and irrigation isneces«ary,yetovenin theseloca- lities the grazing is unusually good." (Page "9,) "Not move than one-fifth of the "land from Ecd Eivei to Puget "Sound is unsuited to cultivation, "and this fitth is largely made up of "mountains covered with bunch grass "valuable tin.'ier, and filled with precious metals." As to the remark about the "bunch grass," it is to be observed that it is of very limited verti- cal area, not over two thousand feet, and does not cover one-half of the mountains in question. At the same time, I must suy that in the main the pamphlet in ques- tion, gai'ish though it be, is, so far as I know the country, correct in the main. Still, the sober truth, as established by abundant official records of oxjierts, as to our lino of projected railway via the Yellow Head Pass, proves that on every foot of ' he way, from Eed Eiver to the Pacific, man may live out of the abundance of the teem- ing earth beneath him. Even on the height (highest") of the Pass, near Abreda Lake, a survey paty of 13, from choice, comfor- tably (wood sheltered) wintcmd. In fact, in Gvevy respect, in shortness, grade, coal, wood supply, in woods protective against snow drift, and every facility of working, inter alia freedom from Indian trouble, ovv line is infinitely superior to all others pos- sible — so superior that the N. P. may well sacrifice its present all — go into bank- ruptcy &c., to goL it, or even a partnership in the concern. All that has been shrewd- ly calculated, no doubt, and hence the des- perate effort to got it per fas aut nefas. But, it seems to me, that there is more than mere individual eftOrt to wrest this national highway supreme from us* Wo nave to look further and deeper for ade- quate motive" in the move against us as a British people in this matter. Whence comes that move? Why? For what? These are questions which wo all must meet, each in his respective and appointed way, and as good citizenship may call forth. In Parliament, in the Press, at the Polls, and in every legitimate manner of free dis- cussion let it, squarely and openly, bo put: What does all this meiin ? •'Use the road for American purposes for all time /" — What does that mean ? " Canada First." — What does that mean ? Does it mean, Britain — our Mother-county, last f" "Eeci- proci^y — everything for that." — Whnt does that mean ?" Does it mean that in this pre- cious Canada of ours, for v^hich Britain, our mcther, has sp^^t her gold in untold mil- lio 13 and given so largely and freely of her blo)(l, her flag is to be sold as a rag to any H< =(« * * 5K across the way ? Commerce is power. Yes! and by it, and it alone can the seas, and in the seas, 'Subst:iiu'nt developements, in insolvency, show a singular C(i.iii8('t'on with the Navul Dupartmetit of the United Statci with this "JnyCooko" railway, in the oourfie of which, a soizuie conservatory, at law of the " Iron" got forthc railway anil iik'il^tctl to the Secretary of the Na^'y, to seiairo the Nuy's ilejiosits to the house of McCuUoch, Cooke & Co., of fiJliaou" was niuJe at the time of the Jay Cook & Co. fnilure. 23 the islo, and other teeming ehorea be rul- ed. Give to the United States, with their immense material resources and wondrous vitality and enterprise, the monopoly, prac- tically, of the transit trade between the two oceans, and they, in a tilce, will cover the seas- Then, the Great Republic will" march the deep." On the other handj let Britain, still "Mistress of the Seas," but hold and use as her own the ocean-link which her Canadian sons propose to forgo her, and her flag may for another thousand years safely brave all battle and the breeze. In this sense, the work is of highest Imperial neces- sity — as an iron bulwark of British empire, thing great and sacred, calling for all jea- lous guard. On this theme I may have more to say. It is one for quick and earn- est consideration and action. Yours, A BRITISH AMERICAN, M. McLeod. Dec. 12 1873. (^Montreal Gazette Jan, 187 ^..^ EASTERN TERMINUS. Te,rviinuii When the question of Eastern of our Pacific Railway came up, some two years ago or more, Mr. Blake, in emphatic vaunt, in his place in our Commons, de- clared, after determinatiou by the House for the south side ot Lake Nipissing, that he would yet bring the line round by the west side of the Lake. The Chief Engineer (Mr. Fleming) had, I understood, given «n comiaissance his opinion against theWest- ern side as being full of difficulties (trans- verse rock, riilges, &c.,) and out of the di- rect line from extreme northern objective point to nearest seaport. However, Mr. Blake, speaking for Western Ontario, and more particularly Toronto, had a reason, and it was obviously this. Fi'om the phy- sical features of the country, and especially in face of that fifteen hundred feet height betwi^on the Ottawa Valley and the Huron watershed on the line of route in air line, to nearopt seaport and to which I have al- ready alluded ; a railway terminus at the west end of Lake Nipissing, or any where near they would, if not impractioabjdor in- accessible to Eastern railway, bo viost favo- rable for Toronto, the natural trend of i-ail- way route from such western point being that way. Moreover, it would, to Quebec or eastern railways, present a greater breadth of Ontario to be got or bought (if possible) and to be traversed under an On- tario charter (if procurable.) In fact, a Western Nipissing terminus would practi- cally bend the main line to Toronto and thereby leujtiien it over three hundred mihs: an elongation which would be fatal to at least one distinctive excellence in our route, viz. : shortness beyind all others j^ssible, norlh of the Gulf of Mexico. Such v pro- ject is not in Dominion interest, however well it will serve Toronto, New York, and other foreign American behests. True, ti'.e present Premier, in the immediate interest of the Northern Pacific Railway Company (a bankrupt concern with just "assets" enough 1> trouble us) speaks of starting from Pembina and going thence only west- wards for " all time " as the " organ " gives forth, — but still, in alternative, Mr. Blake's threat aforesaid, rings in our ear. We here, we see, we feel the dangers of the hour, and, as need be, shall act. Suddenly, in coward, silent cunning, our very polls are sprung on us. So be it ! Yours, A BRITISH AMERICAN. December 31, 1873. (M. MoLeod.) EASTERN RAILWA.Y CONNECTIONS. (^Montreal Gazette 5 Oct. 1874.) Pacific Railway Terminus (Eastern) — CHANaE BY Mr. Mackenzie — Quebec RULED OUT. ' To the Editor of the Gazette. Sir, — According to the reported answer of Mr. Mackenzie to the deputation of the other day requesting that " befoi'e a subsidy " should be granted to any railway con- \ " necting with the Eastern terminus of the j " Canada Pacific Railway through the j " Ottawa Yalle}-, a thorough examination I " of the North Shore route through Pontiac ! "should be made from Avlnier to Nipiss- ; " ing," it seems that the point Jixed by i Parliament, some three years ago, for East- I ern Terminus, viz., on the South side, (i. e. I Shore) of Lake Nipissing," is, in the mind's ; eye of this most singular " Premier," and ' by his (or Mr, Brown's) simple "sic volo, \ sicjubeo," to bo removed 60 miles, South — 24 50 miles nearer Torontc — and all that dis- tance q^the direct line to nearest Canadian seapoi't. Why not make the Terminus in Toronto, at once, Mr. Brown ! Then New York would be nearest sea-port, the year through, and our great railway interoceanic would, essentially, be truly American, for all practical purposes. There are crooks enough already in the " Mackenzie Line," — so called — and there can bo no wisdom in making it more " zany " or serpentine. We want a line straight and short as pos- sible. But there is another imj)ortant consider- ation in this matter. The digression pro- posed would place the Terminus in ques- tion on the western slope of the range of olevated laiiJ between the Ottawa Valley and the Huron watershed, a range rising to about two thousand feet above the sea (1,500 feet above the Ottawa Eivor) as shown by the Geological Eeports, with topographical charts of Sir William Logan, in 1856-7 and 8. The natural trend oj rail- way route Jrom such, point is southwards towards Toronto. In this light, t'lie change woidd he a gigantic fraud ; a trick so mon- strous and startling, as to call for the most energetic resistance not orhj by the Province of Quebec but by all concerned in the generalin- terests of the scheme, and more eftpecially by the people of the Ottawa Yalley (both sides), and by all, in fact, east of Toronto. Unfortunately, little is known "^f the physical features of the region in que ^ion — little known even by members of Parlia- ment — but there, in authentic blue book, are the leading physical facts I state. But in any case, this change of terminus, in the teeth of what Parliament has determined on this point, cannot bo legally made by the mere ij)se dixit of even an " Order in Council." As to the refusal by Mr. Mac- kenzie to recognise, by Dominion subsidy, Ottawi) North as part of Canada proper in the minion field of railway enterprise in connection with our proposed Pacific Trunk Line, all I shall at present say is, that Que- bec, (the Port of Quebec) and Monti'oal, with their joint lino of railway in course of vaj^id csnstruction from the Port of Quebec to Nipissing Terminus; .is declared by Parlia- ment should SCO to thi;: A dent de justice so glaring, so insulting in fact, should rouse the whole Province of Quebec as one man in assertion and vindication of right. But, alas ! that who^e magnificent stretch from Quebec to near Nipissing — nearly 500 miles — continuous, of Quebec counties of immense natui-al resources of wealth, and requiring but railway for developement, has not a single representative in the Dominion Cabinet. I'he " British " of this Province have for " rep " at the G uncil Board only Mr. Huniivgton ! — of the " American Bor- der " ; the liabittd of the Jay Cooke & Co. otfices of the United States, &c., &c. As to the French members in the Cabinet, they, evidently, count as nil, or as mere crew under the command of Commodore- General Brown, who with his Lieutenant Mpckenzie, is now sailing our Ship of State into American waters. More anon, perhaps. Yours, BEITANNICUS. Montreal, 28th, September, 187 i. Second Deputation, viz: From the Quebec ISTorth Shore Eallvvay Company, and the Montreal Northern Colonization Eailway Company. (^Montreal Gazette, IJfth Dec, 1874.) Canadian Paoipio Eailway — Eastern Terminus Connections. To the Editor of the Gazette. Sir, — A railway mooting, joint of the Boards of Directors of the North Shore Eailway and the Montreal Northern Col- onization Eailway Companies has just been held in Quebec, ami at which several reso- lutions in their common interest wore adopted, and one appointing a deputation to the Premier ot the Dominion Govern- ment for the presentation of a memorial on their behalf. Considering the nature, extent and importance of the interests in- volved, it may, 1 think, be i'airly said that no mere important meeting, save that for the Confederation ot Canada, has been held i:i Br tish North America. These two Boards represent, in effect, the Province of Quebec in a supreme effort, in a senoo, for the justice due it in the Federal Pact. They represent nearly 500 miles of railway in the shortest and best possible line from the eastern terminus in question, as fixed by A.ct of Parliament, to nearest Canadian seJU)orts — Montreal and Quebec. The work, to the amount of about $2,- 000,000 or, pel iiaps, double ^aat, is already far advanced, and has been so, and is still 25 being advaiicetl on solely I'rooiitclal rexourcua \ viz, municipal aid and governmonlal fiubsi-' dy in lands and money. Essentially, however, it is a Dominion < work, as being the sliortest and best possible ' connection of the Canadian Pacitic Rail- way with nearest Atlantic sea ports. : Abundant survey, by civil engineers of highest standing, have ascertainetl and I officially rejiortwl the fact. ' On a former occasion, some two months ^ ago, Mr. Mackenzie very emphatically gave ■ the Ottawa and Pontiac counties delegation ! to understand that they need not expect; any aid from '•' his Government," and that ' h« intended to remove the Eastern Pacific ' Bail way terminus ^oraQjifty miles $outh of Lake y^ipissing. ' As to the effect (inevitable) of such re- ; moval to shunf off the main lino towards Toronto over two hundred miles o^' the direct line to nearest sea port, I wrote at some length in your columns at the time, giving, us my authority as to the physical features of the region in question, on which 1 so prcdicAtedj Sir William Logan's re- ports and accompanying topographical maps. No higher exists, nor, 1 believe, can exist, Mr. Maclienzio's informants to the contrary (whoever they may be) not- withstanding. " But here an important question arises, viz : Can Mr. Mackenzie (or " his Govern- ment") remove the terminus in question 80 far south ? I humbly hold he cannot, without authorization from Far) i anient. I Let us see what has been the legislation on ■ this point. j The first legislation on it is to be found i in section 10 of chap. 71 of 35 V, (1872), \ which runs thus : — " A railway, to be call- " ©d 'the Canadian Pacific Railway ' shall ' ** be made ii> conformity with the aijreement ' "referred to in the preamble to this Act,! " and such railway shall extend from some ■ " point 071 or 7iear Lake If^ipissing nod on I " the south shore thereof, to some shore of " the Pacific Ocean, both the said points to j " bo determined by the Governor in Coun-! " oil, and the course and lino of the said ! " railway between the said points to be " subject to the approval of the Governor " in Council." 1 '"'".:!"! T! "^t, 77' The next legislation on the point is chap. 14| sec. 1 of last seasion— ^the "Mackenzie D Act so called — which reads thus — " A rail- " way to bo called the ' Canadian Pacific *' Railway' shall bo made from some point " NEAR to and South of Lake ^Nipissing, to "some point in British Columbia on the " Pacific Ocean, both the said points to bo " determined and the courHO and line of the '' said railway to be approved of by the " Govoi nment in Council." It is to \)e remarked that the first of the above acts, says " on the shore " while the latter says merely " near the shore." In connection with this it is to be borne in mind, that Mr. Leggo's report, sis well as tho- of Messrs. Shanly & Clarke, show, autliuritatively, that there is no physical ob- stacle, but, on the contrary, marked facility, for such work as the terminus in nueaiion and its incidental city site, "on the South Shore of Lake Nipissing," viz, at, or on the shore, near the mouth of " South River," where oven already there 'S, according to Mr. Leggo's report, a prosperous settle- ment. That point, according to him, can be reached from the Ottawa Valley by an average gradient of only five feet to the mile, the crest being, according to Mr. Shanly's report, only 170 (one hundred and seventy) feet above the Ottawa river at the mouth of the Matawan. From the extensive flat — comparative flat — bordering for 4 or 5 miles or so back, the southern shore of Lake Nipissing at its east end say, the land (according to Sir W. Logan's reports, which give heights as scientifically determined hy him and his staff, in much detail) rises gradually, till at the source of the Meganatawan, the nearest, and main stream south, of the little river called South Rivr, it attains a height of otJcr fourteen hundred feet above the sea, and which to aU Ottawa Valley roads, to a point " 50 miles south of Lake Nipiss- ing," would necessitate gradients tanta- mount to at least forty miles of extra rail- way, on the old rule ♦hat a gradient of 19 feet to the mile is aqu.il to a duplication of road in its working. The Toronto roads, being on the west side of this great " hog- back" of obstructive Laurentian or Huro- nian rockland, would avoid the necessity of such " clime " to or from terininus. In other words, the removal of terminus to such point (viz, 50 miles south of Lake Nipissing) would enormously increase cost to all eastern connections. In some mea- sure should they have aid from Mr. Mac- i kenzie's Government. Writing hurriedly, I may Hupplement this with further devel- opment ol this argument. .;rft",- t^; .-;: Yours, r. , BKITANNICUS. December 9, ISIS. Article onjirat report [imperfect, as flul> Bequently appearo' ■ • 2874- ">''"i. •;fn.>vi.'«.- •■' .vi:- i. KV! "GEORGIAN BAY BRANCH"— A MAT- TER OF TEN MILLION DOLLARS. To the Editor of the Gazette. Sir, — In my letter the other day on this subject, predicating on the brief report just then, on the same day, given by a local paper [Ottawa Citizen'] of the interview of the railway delegation from Quebec and Montreal, I had unvoidably to touch on points as to physical features of the route in question, which required clearer and more definite explanation than that vouch- safed by the press report at the time. Since then I have had occasion to receive fuller information from an expert of hicrh standing in such matters, present at the interview. From him I learn that tho place for Pa- cific Railway terminus indicated by Mr. Mackenzie, in his map for tho nonce, to the Deputation, is inland, about 25 miles south of Lake Nipissing, and that the line proposed thenco east-wards will ^^actually" ft, J my informant says, but I think he errs by about 15 or 20 miles] run over the four- teen hundred [and more] feet height re- ported by Sir William Logan, and to which Mr. Legge and myself have referred. It is to be remnrked that Mr. Hazlewood [on whose "letfera" alone — not formal proFos- sional reports — Mr. Fleming has made up his "memo" for Mr. Mackenzie's use] doe^ [ not deny mch height of land. On the con- jtrary, his reference to -'rugged country" at or near the height of land, "ti-anaverse" and also "oblique ridges," and "elevations" would seem to bear or.t tho Sir William Logan reports with their elaborate and most carefully constructed map, and charts, on scientific determination of heights, &c. These reports were made about 20 yeais ago., viz, 1856-7-8, when no one dreamt of railways there, and Avithout any conceiva- ble reason why Sir W. Logan (knighted for his correctness in such like works) should state and give forth, officially, aught but the truth. It is true, one of his staff, [Mr. Murray] has been got to say, in a newspaper letter published by the Parry Sound xvailway promntorq. th«t there '.vas no "OTOMjitaMt crest" in the way. Nobody ever said so ; at least 1 never did [and I was the first — even before Mr. Legge, to rpfer to the fact in press], nor did Mr. Legge, save in using the word "crest," in the sense of apex of an interposing height of land between the Ottawa and tho Georgian Bay. On this point there is no authority what- ever that can be invoked against Mr. Legge, whose work, in actual location of the Montreal N. C. Railway from 'lontreal to the Mattawa, as well as carofu' 3xploration thence to the mouth of French River, and of the country between it and the Ottawa, including all the south shore east ot French Rxverand miles back, at all available for ter- minus of a Pacific Railway, and of all which he [the chief engineer of no less than thir- teen railwaj's in Canada] has given full and exhaustive reports with all the weight of his professional name, As to Sir William Logan, Mr. Mackenzie — so it is reported — disposed of him, with the summary remark, [with waive of hand] "/«*» reports on such subjects are totally unreliable." That, I beg to say,— and all the world will say — is not true ; and further, Mr. Mackenzie, on such occasion, should not have so expressed himself. The Premier of the Dominion of Canada should not so belittle the illustrious Canadian who, by his achievements in science, achicvemonis not only in the closet, but in the rough fields of our northern rock wilds, disclosing in geologic bed work untold wealth for hia country, has thrown lastro on tho name of Canada, the world over. '' I inclose to you tho memorandum otk M 28 which Mr. Mackenzie bases his story of, ragged, a region in the main of pine, rock facta, in the case. Mi*. Fleming, as Chiefi and ever running transversely "save per- Engineer, signed it, but in no way does he i haps some fifteen or twenty miles in the give it the weight of his high authority^ he valley of South River] with a summit of never having gone over the ground, nor about 1000 feet above the Ottawa Hi ver at having had any " report of survey," nor i the mouth of the Petawawa, wliosc valley aught really reliable on the subject. In fact \ is just in line, in the main, would cost, I the "gleanings" [so called by Mr. Fleming ! am sui-e, from $40,000 to $50,000 per himself] culled bear internal evidence of, at j mile — say in all, according to the distances least, this, viz., that Mr. Hazlowood has j given by Mr. Hazlewood, "217 miles" from found and reported enough to make Mr. j JRenfrew to the mouth of the French Eiver, Mackenzie pause, for more light, before ' about or over $10,000,000. committing himself on the subject. j On what? * tti -?mw).* I must confess, that in common with | Mr. Hazlewood's letters, as "gleaned," as many influenced by the first report [im- 1 afoi'esaid ? On what else in the way of spe- perfect, as it now appears], 1 considered cifications, pray ? Yet to-day, 21st Dec. the connection of "running privilege" on is the last day for tenders, as advertised ! subsidized line to be really an advantage ; i This is really worse than the Pacific Telo- and if the line had been at the comparatively i graph expropriation of public moneys, not ,/•*!.. ;,, ,/,/ „/• i„ a.>x* .) t 1* .9 ."U M W O \JM. ' only wif'noiif. > w&AV./ k« V ""thcrity t>n».l;o~-~* even 10 miles south of Lake Nipissing but in the teeth of its Act. [where the height evidently rapidly lowers { But there is another point to be touched, northwards — so> at least, the Hudson Bay j According to Mr. Mackenzie's map and Go's charts show, and so do all official reports j plan, the spot for the Pacific Eailway ter- tince viz., Shanly's, Clarke's, Legge's and | minus is [so I am told] marked about 25 probably others], the concession — if prac- j miles soutli of the nearest shore of Lake tically and faithfully carried out — would, to Nipissing, and, mischievously for all east- t:-/ .in»>,v^'n S.^,\X:uU--\ As the facts are now laid before me, I re- gard the matter very differentiy, and feel but confirmed in what 1 have advanced as to the superioritj', paramount, of Mr. Legge's route via the natural gateway at the southeast corner of Lake Nipissing to Huron slope. The ditferencp of summit on the two routes is tantamount, as I have be- fore said and shown, to an operative equi- valent [if I may coin such term] of forty miles in favor of this line, and 1 am assured, and from personal knowledge of much of the route, 1 believe, that the whole, say from Ottawa to the Pacific Railroad terminus, can be made as a first-class work, with iron bridges and steel rails, for $33,000 per mile, (/Vo/u the ''Quebec Chronicle" Sth/an. 1875.) $28,000 per mile, and at the same tmie ^' „ ,, . -,, r i,^e leave a margin of about half a million for (^axetle oj 5th January 1875. f profit on contract. If desired, and .it the We would particularly call the attention same time authorized, I could giverospon-^ of our Quebec readers to the important let- sible names on this point. j tor of Britannicus published below, thefact-* Ov The other route, rocky throiighout and therein stated being of vital interest. em connections, on the west side of the height of land in question. In fact, Mr. Editor, Mr. Mackenzie's "Go-orgian Branch," ostensibly of the "Pa- cific Railway," is really not that, nor, if a Dominion Statute, determinative of cove- nantal matter, [as was, I hold, Ch, 71, of 35": Vic] be anything in law, or right, can it possibly be. There is in this matter, something, really, I fear, of r "Pacific Scandal." ^ Yours, . BRITANNICUS. * ■ .-UtilTinhii Ottawa, N, 21 Dec, 1874. '! ".vi'mitl..^ EXCLUSION OF ALL CANADA, EAST OF TORONTO, FROM THE WESTERN I =, TRANSIT TRADE. 1st fo.) real tlC'B llet- ,i 39 Tho j)luL'ing the eastern terminus of i ho [ In oonnetnion with this ibuturo in the I'ac'itic Hfiilway a considerable il'staneo to ] present whciniM)!" the riovernnient of the the south of Luite KipiBsing, instead of di- ; day, I would respectfully, an a matter, of roctly on it« southern bordor. as (•ontemjshi- : the VLMy ijravest consideration for all con- tod by the Act, will materially lengthen the I corned, — and in this, nl/, 1 contend, are, for transit to Quebec, while it correspondingly > the present and future most deeply con- shortens it to Toronto, as a careful inspec- ; corned, — submit the following facts and pro- tion of the map will show. '. positions : 13 The true policy of the Quebec members, ; 1- That by such change (one in the teeth as it appears to us, should bo to insist on : of original statute ad hor, as I have already the terminus beinj; placed on the northern j shown) all Canada east of the meridian ol pU side of the lake, where, wo are credibly in- formed, tho best as well as the moat direct line exists.* It would there connect natu- I'ally and easily with the Northern Colo- nization Pailway, now under construction as far as Aylmer, and for Avhose extension West a gO'jd line has been obtained the past surn'.r.cr as far as the Mattawan. Even located north oH the lake, the To- ronto lines woukl still have the advantoge in point of distance. The men of Quebec will indeed be dere- lict in duty if they do not oxert themselves of Toronto (nine-tenths of the country as peo- pled) would be ilebari'od from all or any benefit in the Pacific and North Western States transit trade. 2. That the effect of this, in ordinary course of internationiil transit commerce with the United Stales, would Ih} to mfiko, especiaiiy in winter, Toronto the en/repot of New York for our Pacific and North Western trade. 3. That the establishment of such a main lino of inter-oceanic and North Western conimerce would bo a jtrajudice, grievous and disastrous in some degree, not only to fo the utmost to have the original t^r^^n-\^]^^,^^^.^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ inis, at any rate, as arranged by the Act, adhered to. ' fax, but to tho high national interests in- j volvctl in such a scheme. " ' I 4 That such a scheme is not only anta- j gonistic fo the intere-iis and lights, in the 1 Federal compact, of all constitutional Pro- vinces besides Ontario, but even to Ontario itself from Toronto eastwards, say threc- Iburths of the pojtuhition. 5. That all railway enterprise, from Hali- fax westwards, has, more or less, been pre- dicated on this idtinmtc and even earlv western connection i secure, in measure. or extension, so as fo transit frafHc with tho TORONTOGlilTlSM vs. ALLCAN A DA. {7*0 the Janitor of the Montreal Gazette.') Sir, — This may seem a strange heading; yot, though reluctantly, T feel it but citi- zen dut}' to point to it at this juncture. All, of course, must condemn the raising of sec- ' tional issues in matters of general import! to the Dominion, and in such case there must bo blame somcwhoro. In the following remarks X propose to 'Great West and Nortii West, show where and in what it is : ti. Tliat the ])hysical features of tho re- in former lottoi-s ] have brioflv, but, 1 ^^'^'^ to bo traverse 1 by such traffic, and as think, pretty clearly shown that the incvit- iuillioritativeiy made l.. •/ > s ,-. (Montreal Gazette, 17 Oct., IS?/,.) "Anil bo these iuggling iiehlfl no more believed, Thut imltiT with iih in a double sense ; That keei ' ■ -■ ■ Anil brenl' ij the word of promise to the ear, iK it to our hope." '• ,^,. To the Editor of the Gazette. .(j. 944 In the same pages, in contrast, he gives the following as to the same terminal points : — Eoute via Collingwood and To- ronto — Water 575 miles. Route via Collingwood to Mon- treal — iiuii 427 •• 1002 In gradient some advantage can be claim- ed in favor of tlio Ottawa route, which at no point rises higher than 650 feet above : the sea, while on the other route the Grand ; Trunk rises to considerably over 1,000 feet above the nea, if I remember right. On ; this score of gradient an advantage of 20 j miles may be fairly claimed for the Ottawa ' Valley. In any case, an advantage of fully ' sixty miles in shortness over the existing shortest or possible one. can bo urged for ! the Ottawa route from Lakes Superior, ! Michigan, and northern part of Lake Hu- , ron, to Montreal or other eastern seaport. ' In juxtaposition with the above, it may be stated that tlie total distance from Mon- treal to Chicago, via the groat lakes and the St. Lawrence, is "1,348 miles." 7. With the accretion of export from the : great West in question, will rival lines from . the chief Atlantic ports bo extended to the great railway centre in the Nipissing ba- sin, and as a subject of legitimate enter- ; prise to all Canadian enterprise in the wa^' of railway traflfic, the policy of the daj', as ■ to such, ought to be one of utmost fairness j to all in the direction of the true inter- ! ests of the country. I might say much more on this import- ant subject, Mr. Editor, but, for the present j I merely offer humbly the above for the I consideration of my fellow-countrymen of: Canada. I Yours, j Britannious, ' Sir, — The policy of the present Ministry of Canada is, and has over been, one of marked bent to Avicrkan rather than to British, or even to Canadian interests per se. I firmly believe this, and I believe the mass of the people of Canada now begin to believe it. Our oars ai'o dinned by a loud- mouthed cry of loyalty, but in their mode of expression, be it on political ]iiuifoiui, "stump," in banquet hall, "meeting-house," parliament or elsewhere, there is ever, for American ears, sotto voce, a covered aasn- ranco of fidelity adhesive to their dollar- dom. Even in their State papers and Acts of Parliament, and in their press, there is a strange manner of double talk, of speech to two sets of ears, avoidance amounting often to actual self-contradiction, donb/ii entendre, and of absurdity, when treating of matters — like the Canadian Pa- cific Railway — of immediate bearing on the political position, now and prospectively, of Canada. In the case of the proposed treaty there is something even woi'se. The theme is a large one, and I shall not enter on it at present, further than in the following limited line of remark which 1 feel called on at this juncture to make. The events of the last eighteen months in the political arena of Canada, force us to note, ii.fer alia, the following facts : — 1. That in deadly opposition to the scheme jf a Canadian Pacific Railway— one of such :)re-eminent and unrivalled advan- tages in everj' respect, whether for the world's inter-oceanic commerce, or for the settlement of the Pacific Slope (the richer side probably, of the North American con- tinent) — the 'gigantic railway interee.ts of New York, Boston, Chicago, and of all the United States, in fact an aggi-egate equal to tlio national debt of Britain — have, by means most foul, accidentally, swept our late polls, and that it is to that our present masters owe their place. That interests and its cognates are an ac- I r' tive potentiality in our inidot, duiii^ Uioir which, yyyoyw/ /y, hhuiiki ho aliowHHl to flow own dark work, l)y agencios drawn fro>n ; through moro easterly channels to nearer amidst oursolvos. Thneo Jht/iaos et t/o«a i sea port, and in yubtsorvienee to Canadian fernntcn. I interests at largo, and to Jh-itish, riithcr 2. Oui' own Canadian begot Urand ' than to (hose tli;it are foi-cign. Trunk Railway itself is now, by its A mo- fi. (^onvimed, of late, that the jieopfe of rican connections oast and west, in oHuct an j Canada, cu massi; insist on a l^acilic J'ailway vlmenVrm institution, and as such has oiv ' and that, as soon as possible, the present posed d outruncp., our Canadian Pacitic Rail- Cabinet, the very men, who, when return- way scheme. In my humble opinion, its pro- j ed, shouted — to please their American mas- pi'ietary — Knglish-stockhoiders — have l)een , tors — "that tlic road should not be made misled into a lalse posit i(jn in this 7nattor, , for forty years, i/' ercr /' — now to keep and that, too, to the ])rejadico of their ma- 1 their snug places of full 87,000 each per torial interest as a necessary link — a most annum, .tc, .u'., />reti'inl to ^-ield to the cry ; important link — in the line of tratttc from bitt, at the same time, thoy, in their own Nipissing to Atlantic seaport. peculiar way, detcrmino to "kill the thing" 3. The remarkable growth of Canada in by twisting, lengthening and breaking it material wealth and progressive industry into utter iisclossness ; or worse still, to since the aru'ogation of the late Reci|)roci- make, ghouliko, political food ("capital"^ ly Treaty, and thai in the face of disturb- ' out of the carcass. The detail^ on this head ing influences incidental to the process of j are too long for present writing, and they change of our political status as British ; have been alreatly inilicated brietly, under Colonies, has but whetted American ..esire | other signatures in j'our columns; unans- for our abscorption. j wcrable, they remain unanswered. 4. For the command of the Pacific' 7. The present Ministry, even yet so Ocean trade — a caidinal point in ])rescnt far as can be gathered from their avowed American national effort — monopoly of in- : oi'gans, such as the ^•Canadian Monthly" of tcr-oceanic communication by rail is nece-*- Toronto (see page 24-S of last number, Sep- sary, or, at least seems so. To this end,! tember) look'upon the work in (piestion as oven ali'cady, for obstruction, and for tliat "not primarily a through freight road." solely — for the San Jium channel le.'ids on- These arc the voi'v words of the article, evi- ]y to British waters, British shores, Brilisii ; dontly meant to be a leading one — but, it ports and a British Province — tho Amori- j goes on to i'lxy- — '-for the purposes of c/ome*t- can is erecting forts on that impregnable , <(V economy ;" — and further, in preeeeding fortress rock-isle, with its thousand-feet hill I page, in "conclusion" (a most absurd von- top, all ready for batteries of R'odmans, ^t' setjuiter like all the rest of the "5 conclu- to sink, in one short day, all the navies in | sions" of the lucus a uon //c-e/^c/o "argument" the world. A fearful fact ! So that, should : of the 20 p.-ige article in fiuestion) it is laid our Pacific Road bo made to Bute Inlet, ; down — as pi-inciplc, of course, — that "as no ]Jurrard's I'llet, or any point on flic (ieor- section of "tho mtiinland of British Co- . gian Gulf, Amerkun guns would practically liimbia is go "thickly settled, or likely soon command its western terminus. Tb's is to be so, an "to require railroad facilities, an indispitablc fact, and is established hy ample time 'should lie taken in selecting a Mr. Fleming and Captain Butler, and i-outo," &c. other wi'iters, whoso word on the subject; These aw singular conclusions, and are cannot bo questioned. To me, it is strange expressive of what mixj be termed tho "cart it should be so much ignored in present and I before the hjrso" and "milk-cart" policy o l)ast negotiations about British Columbia. \ our new Ministers of State. Our idea (poor 5. In consonance with this American ' dunderhead that we are!) was to make the policy to grapple our Grand Trunk Jload, '' iron horse first carry, over trackless wilds, and bend it to American ends, is this clian- 1 our good emigraHs to those glowing dis- ge, by Mr. Mackenzie, of eastern terminus' tant pastures of our great North-West, to to a point *'50 miles south of the south I untilize thein for their own good and ours, shore of Lake Nipissing," thereby, in ef- 1 and that, under our own dear old flag be- fect, slvnting off towards Toronto and New j fore another fjeople should tijcrein walk and York, :iiid other American marts, all the take possession by right "divine" of px-imal railway commerce by our Pacific line, and ' sqmittership, and rifle. Wo live and learn. 32 De />/»,<- "Wo thought tho rontl — as a sort of land ibriy botwoon tho two oceans — was to bo as nhort as posniblo, and essentially, a "throngh freight one," assuming over that by law of "tactual evolution," lateral roads, common and rail, would grow from the main and ever living, ever feeding, over fruiting CJ rand Trunk. But no I Mr. Mac- kenzie's road is, it would seem, to bo a "r7o- mesttc" one — t]uid est, I take it to be, in a v ay brought to every man's door — like a "n.ilk cart" as aforesaid — provided — it is to bo ■ presumed — the customer bo "Grit." What of the 7to/(-(irit8 ? For ///«», the road is to bo bent, in avoidance, J suppose ! Of such nonsense it is im])ossiblo to speak except in its own way. Ad (d)surdi(7ii., (tbuHrdi/ni. iSuch an exhibition of really worse than drivelling incap-icity for statosmanshii* as we have in this "Mackenzie Ministry and policy," so-callwl, is beyond, not only all pi'ccodent, but belief, save to those who have closely observed thorn. There is, not unnaturally, and excusably, a measure of general faith in tho office of Minister of State, given by the people, "subjective ;" but in this instance — one siti (jeneris — tho principle [if wo can call it a principle] is mis-applied. There is, moreover, mischief to largest and highest public interests in \ the matter, and it should, ao tho eaj'liest moment, bo chocked and remedied. ! 8. The Pacific Telegraph scheme'" is cither based on a foregone conclusion to have no Pacific Railway, or it is a huge' and hideous fraud. There are no means ; of finding in the field, where, survey for rail winter and summer, during the last year 01' two. With the burning of the Pacific I?ailway office, on thondvont of the present Ministry into power, all the field notes and plans of survey — worth a million and a half — so tells us, Mr. Flendng — wore ut- terly destroyed — btirnt to smoke ! As well try to follow a chalk lino (m ocean, as try to find the old lines! Besides, there was no "location" of line ; nor could there yet be. On parts of the route, via : From Ma- nitoba Lake to Fort Edmonton, 750 miles — no lino has been surveyed for railway. From Thunder Bay to lied River is a con- tinuous stretch of over 400 miles of rock, swamp and water, utterly uninhabitable. The l)awson route with its chain of widely branching lakes and deep bays does not ad- mit of a telegraph lino. As to British Co- lumbia, from Albreda Lake direct to tho present telegraph lino there, is the hardest piece of country in British America to traverse, and strange to say, though I know it to be traversable — for 1 lived close byo a1)Oi:t four years — it has not yet been done, so ftu- as I know, by anv white man ! Our true railway routo to the Pacific, 1 know is there, but the men who ought to see it, won't look at it. In the face of such facts, the $800,000, or more — say the mil- lion — of tho people's money, signed away b}- 3[r. Mackenzie, the other day is — Whafi' Mr. I'lditor — Give it name, if ycri c:ni, I cannot — "Sunk in tho sea," it would bo com- paratively harmless [save loss of tho mo- iiei/] — but iviU the saiu million so disappear, and buried, harmless sleep? No Sir! It way, has been made — and that, in the wild- will work — work, as sucli things of cor- est wilds of North America, where for hun- : drods of miles at a stretch, probably no white man ever trod, before Mr. Fleming's . staff did so, in hurried exploratory survey * The i>nly wjn-aiit !or Pacilli^ Tcloiffiipli cxpcmlitni'' is li7 v., limp. M, SIT. 5 ((Jaimila), and in obvkm.sly in sub.serviiiirf to, aii'l for tlift railway. It iiuis tliii.s : "A lino of ckctiii- telegraph sliall he constnictiMl in advance of the said railway " and Inane heti, aloin; their whole extent re.siiectively, as kodm " as practicalile I'fler the loco.tion r>fth<' liiii'. shntl hai'cheen (h - " tt^rmined ■uj)ri(i." At the time of "contract" by the Mc- K.'nzi;- Governnu'nt" not a foot of the railway line in qnestion 'fas, nor in fact, con!d be, "hxnttil," in tho sense of ihc, itatutu. The terminal points were nndeterinined— save tlie proviso for the eastern one on the ".sonth of Lake Nipissing," as per Act of P.irliament -and the principal ohjectivo points, e.g., those north of Lake Snperior, varying, at Lake Niiiegon, about 100 miles in tiansvrr^e distance, and those in passage of the Uocky Mount tins, varying from the Vellow Head I'ass to the Peaci' lUver Pass, at ha.-^t 23") nnles, according to my calculations. St.irtln,{ IVom " Lower" Fort Garry (Stone Fort")— a naturally objeclivc point -the angular dilTerencc of tho two routes, each about l.H'O in length, by V. IL and P. R,, woukl be about 1-5°. At the Nipegon divergence, it wo'Ud he three times greater, h'.iiju. No liiu' of telegraph could bitm' both of the iilternate routes in question. npi'ion ever work, and tho result will bo ! Ah ! who can toll ? We must see to this ill time. . . Yours, V '\ BRITANNICUS. \ V. - •■- ; \^iJoiitr<'al Gazette 16 Dec. 1873.'\ "uiuler such circumstances, we shoidil use the American route not only in the meantime but tor all time." — Ottawa Times, Dec. 5, 1873. To the Editoi' of the Gazette. ;;■ '.i " Sir, — Excuse mo for assuming to touch in yours columns on this subject, oiie on which you have adduced such abundant, and to my humble mind, such unanswera- ble argument. But, as "every little maks a muckle," you will perhaps be kind 33 ch on It, •a- ks onouijh to. allow mo, as one, like yourself and all truo UritonH, moist deeply eoncorn- o<.l in this matter of Pacitie Unilway, to take nolo of tho alMjvo passage, and say a word on it. To say tho least of if, it is, I think all must admit, candid — yea honest — as it is bold. "Use the Amerhnn route lor all time," is certainly j)iain speaking. It is the Iriimpot hiast of the new hought Metropo- litan organ of the (Tovernment of tho day, and speaks no uncertain sound. Thanks for tho warning ! Thanlcs for the ehal- Icngo ! But a wowl on the pretended groumls on which tho above is avt)wed as tho policy now and for ever, proper for ('anada. Tho article from which the alio'c citation is made, runs, in its preceeding sentence, thus — "For our part, from all wo can learn, we imagine that tho link north of Lake Supe- rior would be ruinously expensive, if feasi- ble even, and that Canada should not at- tempt to make it it this be the case." Now, sir, the fact is, that, beyond doubt or cavil, it has been ascertaineil I'y exhaustive sui-- voy, and established by the official progress report of Mr. Fleming, Chief Engineer charged with tho work of survey of route for the proposed Canadian Pacific Eaihvay, that north of Lake Superior and Nipegon a route not only feasible, but presenting, as a plateau, icmarkable facilities for a railway has been found. Allow mo further to say (I give my name, &c.), that I have crossed the said lilafeau, and know, personally, the physical features of tho comitry in (jnes- tion* 4> ijc 1^ =*= But further, Mr. Fleming (the liigho:st authority on tho subject), has repoited that from Forth Garry (an objective point) to tho nearest sea port (Afontreal) via N. of Lake Superior, as surveyed — chained — by him and hisstaff (a distance of 1,250 miles), would be boLween two and three hundreii miles shorter than an}- possible line along the South of the Lake, between the same points. . ■ i - " •!;,,> As to relative cost of the two routes, it requires no engineer to see that that on the S. side would be a most costly one, being throughout, as any good maps will show, a succession of transverse rocky i-anges, ir- regular, broken, and of intractable metallic character. Whereas on the N. side, l>ack along tho level ri»u of the Hudson's Bay basin from the Ottawa ^'alIey to Knglish Kiver, the route, as surveyed, is of special facility for a railw ., viz ; along tho Ot- tawa valley to the mouth of Montreal Jiivor thence along the rcmark:ibly level valley of that stream (a favorite canoe route to Hudson's Baj), thencu along the rim of tho Hudson's Mav horizontal siluriaii, and thence by Knglish river, the easiest route, for canoes, in tho whoh" vast regions of Rupert's Land and Iho Xorlhwost, I believe, Sir, that the N^ortlicrn or Flem- ing route would not cost one-half tliat of the Southern or Americiin ronlc. But, query — Who '.•' What body (jf ca|)itali.-)ts, propose to construct a railway from Du- luth to Sle Mario ? It cannot bo Mr. Mc- jrullen, for that ''would be death to Cliir BRITISH-AMKIJICAN, Dec. 12, ISTrj. < » Montmil Gazette, SejU. ^ith, tfi74. THE BIIITISII COLUMBIA DIFFI- CULTY—WHAT XKXT! )ublic. The former complains of t ho uon- ulfilmont of the railway conHtructlon clauHo, which proinisod " hroaUing ground" on Iho Pacific Cujit and on tho caHtorn side of tho Jlocky Mountains within two yeara, and which period expired on tho 20th of July, 1873. It iH proved i)y Mr. Flom- ing'H roportH, that every effort in reaHon l)Oth mont T( people concerned. 1^^^. ^|,i^.|, i„j,j^ j,, ^[.jh „^ ;„ J^ll mnttorH It has been admitle''« '/'■'''!/«'"•« l'>''. ••^** Ministers of State," like other things of National i^clf-disintegration would bo social I life, su-o to 1)0 judged b}' their fruits, and suicide. This vital prii\ciple is one of ! be treated accordingly, jealoiis observance, so fai-, in tho history of | "the Biilish Nation, and I doubt inuf^ whether she would tamper with it in any experimental reconstruction of that "Do-| minion" — so called by herself — which s ,e ' as a first ::;ift of the kind, has given to us, ' , , - , , ., . -. xu her sons^in America North. In other of the day and hour, and it is for us, tho wonU', she \xiay— Intro se— make a Do- J'^^o?^'" "i'!«t^'^'"cerned to see to them, and IS — impoi-t any j Her Majesty's Ministers of State waiting itract. Public ; for an answer to their ])ropo9ition.^ it is What next, Mr. Mackon/.ie ? What next, Mr. Brown ? Is Canada sold, or is it to bo ? These are questions started by the events /(!.( minion, but she can do so, only -^ for good ansv er them as best wo may. government" for national benefit. AVhether j ishe can 7(,?-make it, in any degree, for oven " national benefit" at largo, might be a question in some mind.s ; it certainly is not in mine, on the principle that in this, as in other matters, tho greater good — or good of the greater — should carry the leas. The issue between the British Columbia Government and the present one (so-called Mackenzie Government) is familiar to the i Yours, W. McLEOD. September, 8, 18'74. * It was nut until about December, aftiT four months of intor-coiniMuniciition between the Doiniiiiou and Imperial anthoritits that a conclusion, (rcporti-il to bu " Hatisfactory," but i/et to be nuulc known to the public) was arrived at ; and thai, a<'Coi(ling to best information, was due entirely to the cniineut Hajracity, tact and llrmness of the Earl of Carnarvon aa Sccretfirv of State for the Colonics. u events tho and Montreal Oazelte, Nooemher, 1S74- CANADA FlItST PARTY AND THE PACIFIC BAIL WAY. To the Editor of tho. Gazette. SlR,--ln tlio " plutfbrin" ofthi« "now party, I romnrk I ho absence of tho nil iin- on us with the weight of vital significance to our national fate. Wo have to discusj* thoni, and, in our own way, as best wo may, in duo and constitutiunal course, decide on thoni. There is nuich, vory much, to bo wiid on tho Ihenie of British colonial policy, but what we have more inimodiatoly to look to U tlio -'putting of portant Kubject of our Pncillc Itailway. | our own houHo in order" before wo presume " llamlot without llamlet," is scr.rcely to take place with otiier :-()lonists in such satisfactory. Next to tlio fundamental ony diHcais^ion. We cannot, I bumiily lliink, of British connection, this, to us, all-imnor- outer into the consideration of •" lini)orial tant matter, should, I humbly think, bo Federation'' or any otiior oxi)criincntal tho chief " plank" in any Canadian p61itical ehanyo of i-olation with the parent State "platform" of the day. The avoidance of while tliis matter of ('anadian Pacific Uail- tho subject by Mr. Bluke, in his Aurora way remains all unsettled, uidiinging uh address, and the silence of tho " Party" on for any work of political i-econstruction, tho theme — silence, at least to tho general and presenting us to tho wcn-jd's gaze as fmblic — calls tor enquiry, and suggests a but the fragments of a broken purpose, ine of interrogation somewhat in the fol- , ^,^ j,^^ ^,j,^^j. ,,.^„,,^ ^^ ^,,j^,,. „,^. .^,.^,^.^ jowing strain .— ^^..^j^ ^^ proposition to leave the work to 1. What as to tho Pacific Railway? Britain to do, as one essentially of national 2. Do Messrs. Blake and Moss still hold ^^!'«^J' ^^'O"''^ f;''^^'}?' ■^''"•f;"'^' /'•« ^vhole to the" Mackenzie bchemo" on this point ?^-^-l^- ';«^-'"^«' ^^ hng and s lax-j ^ out ot tho "argument ar ' 3. Do tho Party intend to carry (if pos- •> iHt^niption." siblo) Canada into '• Imperial Federation," , , ^ , r n ,p .■ as a unity, or as the disjecta membra of Mr. . ^ct Canada, I wouK rcsi)oclfully say, Mackenzie's break-back policy ? j ^'^'^^ "ott e tins matter of .ntcr-occamc rml- ^ I way, and that in a manner to serve " Im- 4. Does Mr. Blake s^iV/intend, for « mir- ; po,-.iai Federation" or any other form of pose, to bond tho Pacific Eailway line to J^Htish national ('//-c which may be doter- the imi! side, instead of the east side, of mined on, or the British pccplc as now Lnko ^ipissing ? j being, and then she may,Avith some vantage 5. What as to the " British Columbia dif- ! gi-ound from the work itself, enter into ficulty?" : such discussion, and, in away, dictate her „ TT71 ,^ i ii • • I i I own terms in the measure of her command 6. What as to tho issue or issues between ; ^^ ^^^ material interests, vast beyond mea- sure, served and secured hy such work on -payers ])recipitato our present Dominion Government and the homo authorities in this all important mat- ter of Pacific Eailway — issues the most grave between Canada and the Fatherland ? j: These are material questions, pressing her part. Tours, BRITANNIC US. ',>.(*v :)D. Loiiths ol T Imperial Ifactory," 1 at ; ond jly to the mnarvon 36 C O N O L U S I O X Jn taking up my pen for Ill's, I Icel that j either 1 should say ii gooci deal, in the way i of liarraoni/.ing co)nineiit on the several ai\d perhaps somewhat varied letters in; the public press I have written on the | ttuLject of Pacific Kailway and North West developcmont in general for some twenty; years past — or say as little as possible. ; i liavo no dosii'o to jilay Mentor, for that j is not my '• place'; but appealed to as 1} have been, especially of late, from all quar- 1 tors, from Cariboo to London, to start iin ; organization of practical agency for the object advocated by " Jiritannicus," I would, for present conclusion, but repeat my invariable answer to such ap])lication, viz. : — " It is not for mo [a •• nobody"] to " start such a work, but for the chiffti '- [whoever they migiit be] of lie party " [Conservative, and loi/al of the Jicfbi'm] — <' for surely there is brain enough in the " licails that have made C-anada what it is. " to know how to keep it, now that, 'inder "their fo-tering care, it has bectmie so j «' -.ioU worth kcc2)ing." The answer — 1 am advisetl — has struck ; but Avith, or for what results remains to be seen. My own opinion, I must candidly say, i^ not a very hopeful one. A spirit ot potty persona! rivalry, in a quarter where such unwisdom is most mischievous in its ett'ects, seems to rive and paralyze that body of Ptdres Ci^nscripti to whom we habitually look lor good and faithful gov- ernment — goveinment in truo fealty to the liritish Crown — in Canada. The combination against them is one of a claractei' to rei^uire nmch sacrifice of purely person.al considerations in resistance. But casting a i"etrosj)ocl on thi. general history of slatesman-lifo in Canada [in- cluding the Maritime Provinces] we find record of heroism enough fo warrant some hope lor the best. Yes ! liven among the many who in the jirescnt House of Com- mons aie, in liio main, supporters of the present Minislry, there is, 1 verily believe, a loyalty, i-eally true as steel, and which but iieoils t() be rlisabused, to ensure its true place in the jiresent, silent but deadly struggle against the national existence of Britain in Ameiica. Virtually, our Fla^io snatched I It is our's to save it — and with it, our young national life, and its every Iright, great promise. find m ft