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TWO LETTEES TO HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE, SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES, «X THK IMPORTANCE AND NECESSITY OF CAURYINO OCT THE INTERCOLOlVfTAL AND y ATLANTIC AND>ACIFIC RAILWAYS, , CONTINUOUSLY THROUGH THE BRITISH NORTH- AMERICAN POSSESSIONS. By C. D. ARCHIBALD, P.R.S., F.S.A J LONDON: WILLIAM PENNY, PRINTER AND PUBLISHER, 57, LINCOLN'SINN FIELDS. ■ I .' > i i|- t. -'-St '•N'.y i %;% vtTiiiitl^r-rmmmm P\ Cs.^ C^Vs DE3 3 1D35 LETTER I. RELATING TO THE INTERCOLONIAL, on HALIFAX AND QUEBEC RAILWAY, ■ o- RusLAND Hall, Lancashire, 26th November, 1860. MY LORD DUKE, I CONSIDER myself fortunate to be permitted to address your Grace, who is, I believe, the first Minister of the Crown who, in an official character, has ever visited the British North American Provinces ; and I do not doubt that the demonstrations of loyalty and attachment to the Imperial Crown, which everywhere marked the progress of liis Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, will predispose your Grace to regard with more than ordinary favour any subject connected with the well-being of that interesting part of Her Majesty's dominions. The great Intercolonial Railway for connecting the pro- vinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Canada has formed the subject of so many delegations and so much dis- cussion, that it would be mere presumption in any one at this time of day to dwell at length upon its merits or necessity. It is now nearly ten years since the Honourable Mr. Howe, of Nova Scotia, submitted the whole question, w'.th a felicity and fulness of explanation and force of argument which entirely convinced the Government of that period : and each succeed- ing Ministry has only seemed to vie with its predecessor in acknowledging the importance of this great undertaking, and in expressing anxiety and desire to see it accomplished. What alone appears to be wanting is some feasible plan, which sliall I ii i system, by carrying out the main trunk line from Halifax Quebec. This undertaking is now by no means of so recommend itself to the Imperial Government by the promise of national advantages commensurate with the amount of aid required from the mother country. The provinces of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, as your Grace is aware, have each and all incurred heavy debts in the construction of local railways within their respective limits ; and this they were encouraged to do by the confident belief that the Imperial Government would, in due time, come to their relief, to enable them to connect the whole into one S3 to Quebec. formidable a nature as it appeared in former years, for the province of Nova Scotia has, from her own resources, com- pleted and put in operation sixty miles of the line (from Halifax to Truro), and the Grand Trunk Railway has been extended 110 miles below Quebec, to Riviere du Loup. The maritime provinces are, however, still separated from the great inland region by the howling wilderness which occupies the interior of New Brunswick and the lower districts of Canada : and from 400 to 450 miles of railway still remain to be con- structed to complete this much-desired means of communi- cation. The three provinces, anterior to the commencement of their separate railway undertakings, on the itivitation of the Imperial Government, agreed " if Her Majesty"'s Govern- ment shall undertake the construction of the said railway, either directly, or through the instrumentality of a pri- vate company^'' to provide the breadth of way and stations throUj^hout the entire length, to concede all the ungranted lands within ten miles on either side of the Line, and to con- tribute each the sum of £20,000 annually towards the interest on the required capital. Notwithstanding the great pressure upon their resources, consequent upon their heavy expenditure in the meantime, the provinces, in order to ensure the completion of their railway system, still adhere to these liberal offers, in the hope that the Imperial Government will extend to them that amount of aid and encouragement con- templated and offered in former years. There is, therefore, already provided towards the realization of this great object the yearly sum of rie'60,000, and a concession of land equal to five million acres, most favourably situated for settlement and colonization.. The nature and extent of this concession hav9 suggested the fjrmation of a Company for carrying out the Intercolonial Railway in connection with a large scheme of emigration, under the name of " The British North Americaa d Railway, Land, and Emigration Company," the details of which 1 beg leave to submit in a separate communication. The best authorities whom I have Ijeen enabled to consult are of opinion that it will require a capital of at least £5,000,000 sterling to carry out ';his great enterprise in its entirety ; and that, to ensure this amount, certain provision must be made beforehand for the payment of, at least, four per cent, annual interest. ^5,000,000 at four cent £200,000 But assuming that the land may be made avail- able to the extent of i per cent., will be . . 25,000 Leaving ^175,000 In order to simplify the transaction, and, at the same time, to give more satisfactory assurance to investors, it is assumed that the British Government will, under proper guards and restrictions, and for the services and considerations after mentioned, grant to the Company An annual subsidy of £175,000 Of this sum there will be recouped from the three provinces 60,000 Leaving only £115,000 For this annual subsidy, the Company will agree to com- plete, equip, and operate the whole Line, and give free li-ans- port to the Imperial mails to and from all parts of British America, and also to troops, n)ilitary stores, and munitions of war at all times ; and in consideration of the sums to be contributed by the Provinces, the Company will, in like manner, convey all the Provincial mails over their lines. The sum required from the British Government for these important services is less than half the amount of the annual subsidies, now actually paid to the Transatlantic steamers which carry the Canadian mails past the harbour of Halifax to Boston and New York, to be conveyed thence, with additional expense and delay, over foreign railways; whereas, according to the natural order of things, the mails, not only to Canada, but to the United States, could be more expeditiously delivered, via Halifax, through the intercolonial line. The harbours of Halifax in Nova Scotia, and St. John in New Brunswick, are universally admitted to be among the very best that any country can boast of, and from their com- manding position and great natural advantages, are destined to become the great maritime depots, on the Atlantic coast, for I Canada and all Central British America. Whilst the Sf. Lawrence and every approach to Canada by sea arc closed for six months of the year, these ports are always accessible ; and the completion of the Line from Truro to Riviere du Loup woidd put them in railway conimunication, at all seasons, with the whole interior of the British possessitms, which can only now be reached in winter by a circuitous route through the United States. For nearly half the year Canada ceases to be a maritime country, and virtually goes out of existence as a part of the British Empire. During this period of hybernation, she becomes entirely dependent upon the United States, and the only sign of commercial activity or animation she exhibits is the feeble circulation that trickles through devious channels to a foreign seaboard. Thus, whilst the great interior country is without any means of reaching a British [)ort, the finest harbours in the world are languishing for want of that trade and commerce which are their legitimate perquisites, and which now go to enrich their foreign rivals. The commanding geographical position, and rapidly in- creasing importance of British Columbia and Vancouver's Island, must necessarily lead to the gradual extension of rail- way communication to the Pacific Ocean ; and, by this means, the British possessions on the American continent will not only be opened up and consolidated, but will possess the track of the future great highway of commerce and travel between Europe and Asia ; and when the link now wanting shall complete the Intercolonial line, one-third of this gigantic undertaking will be already accomplished. The great importance of this intercolonial line, in a mili- tary point of view, constitutes, perhaps, its^claim to con- sideration upon national grounds. It is not too much to say, that for half the year Canada lies completely at the mercy of the neighbouring great Republic. Upon certain con- ditions, with which Canada professes to have complied, the Imperial Government has given a solemn assurance that the whole power of the empire will l)e put forth for her protection and security against foreign aggression ; and yet auring all that season when she is most vulnerable, there is no means of access except through the very country of which alone she stands in danger. During the Canadian rebellion, Nova Scotia, by the unanimous vote of the Legislature, placed her whole resources at the disposal of Her Majesty's Government ; and •thousands of the loyal militia of that and the adjoining pro* vince would have gone to the rescue, if there had been a pos sibility of reaching the scene of action. Not only is Greai tl 63 al s he Sf. ied for ; and Loup , vvith I only li tile to be as a ation, and libits innels II n try finest trade , and Hiilain precluded from coming to the defence of her North American possessions in winter, but the provinces are unable, at any time, to render mutual assistance and suppo.t in the greatest emergencies. In looking, therefore, at the amount of the proposed subsidy, it should be borne in mind that, in the existing state of things, no art of man, and no amount of expenditure could ))ossibly accom{)lish the stipulated services. The route now proposed will pass through the centre of New Brunswick ; and besides being the shortest possible line, will open up and make available for settlement one of the most valuable tracts of country in North America. In this province alone there are upwards of ten million acres of unappropriated land, abounding in timber, coal, iron, and other valuable resources, besides being admirably adapted to agricultural purposes. The climate is remarkably healthy, and, in every |X)int of view. New Brunswick and the adjacent parts of Canada and Nova Scotia present a most inviting lield to the industrious emigrant. The operations in connection with the railway will give certain and remunerative employment to large numbers, who in return, by the settlement and improvement of their lands, will bring traffic to the railway. The Company will, moreover, become a great savings institution for the operative cliisses, olFeiing a sure guarantee of a higher rate of interest than they can snfely obtain elsewhere, in ad(h'tion to a freehold estate, in free gift^ within ten days' reach of England. Notwithstanding the acknowlctigvd importaiice of this great public work, it is admitted on all hands that it cannot, for a long series of years, do more than pay working expenses, and hence the absolute necessity of Imperial assistance and support. Without this railway the vast tract of country that it is intended to traverse cannot for centuries be opened up for settlement ; and without emigration it will probably never become self-supporting. The most, if not the only, feasible plan, therefore, of accomplishing the desired object is by some such combined scheme as I venture to submit for your Grace''s consideration. Without the aid and encouragement of Her Majesty's Government, this great undertaking can never be accomplished at all ; and if ever such aid is to be g» anted, the initiatory steps cannot be taken too soon. A great crisis seems at this moment to be impending over Canada which, if not speedily averted, will spread ruin far and wide. The whole railway system of the Province is threatened with collapse, and the idea is universal that nothing short of the completion of the original plan of the Intercolonial line can arrest this alarnnng catastrophe. ii ' 6 I In submitting tht'st* considerutions, I Imve endeavoured to give expression to the views and opinions of those who have best studied the whole sul)ject-matter. The Company, if with the aid of the Imperial and Provincial Governments it shall ever be called into existence will (subject to arrangements with the Provinces), have to carry out and administer the whole Line from Halifax to Quebec. The construction of the railway can only be advantageously carried on pari passu with the settlement of the country on its track : and X''5,000,000 is considered the lowest amount of capital with which prudent men, capable of carrying it out, should embark in such an enterprise : and 4 per cent, the lowest rate of interest on which it could possibly be raised. If, however, Hor Majesty's Government, in consideration of the efforts and reasonable expectations of the Colonies, and the great national interests involved in the question, will recommend the grant of a subsidy equal to 3^ per cent, of annual interest on tne capital, the Company will take the risk of providing the complement from the disposal of its lands. The sum required from the Imperial exchequer, in addition to the ^^0*0,000 a year, will be an annual subsidy of c£*115,000, and for this the Company, it is contidently believed, will render fully equivalent services. The great ends to be attained are, on the one hand, the security, prosperity, and contentment of the British North American Provinces ; and, on the other, the relief of the mother country, by providing new homes and employment for large numbers of our industrial population in a favoured region, under British rule. In order to induce Her Majesty's Government the more readily to grant the required assistance I have reduced the problem to its lowest terms. In its most favourable point of view this enterprise holds out little inducement to the capitalist, and none to the speculator ; but it presents inviting prospects to the straitened masses, and appeals to the sympathies of all those benevolent classes who occupy themselves with laudable endeavours to ameliorate the condition of our suffer- ing population. When the Imperial and Provincial Govern- ments shall have done their part much will still remain to be done by individuals, to give vitality and assurance of success to this gigantic undertaking. Every form of political, and philanthropic, and patriotic influence and support will be needed ; but there is another lofty element of success which I would humbly invoke. The visit of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales to the North American Provinces has in- anguiated a now era in their history; and has evoked feelin.rs of loyalty and devotion, with which Her Most Gracious Majesty and the nation at large are deeply nnpressed. The enterpriie o'f which, for the time being, I am the humble advocate, in its aims and objects is one «t/'f'»lt^;\^^>'»"^Y «"^J beneficence, and on these grounds I would humbly solicit the patronage of Her Most Ciracious Majesty and the Iloya Wmilyfas the most certain means of ensuring the success oi an undertaking fraught with the promise of great benefits o so many of Her Majesty's loyal subjects both at home and n the Colonies. Tlie announcement ot such a mark of gracious condescension and interest would be received by the British American Provinces with emotions no less grate u and sincere Umn those with which they lately welcomed their illustrious royal visitor. I have the honour to be, My Lord Dukk, Your G racers Most humble and obedient Servant, C. D. ARCHIBALD. His Grace The Duke of Newcastle, K.G., Secretary of State for the Colonies. LETTER II. KELATING TO THE ATLANTIC & PACIFIC lUILWAY. Royal Institution, \st December, 1860. MY LORD DUKE, Refer aiHO to the communication which I had the honour to address to your Grace under date of the 26th ult., I now beg leave to submit some considerations calculated to show the importance and necessity of providing for the exten- sion of some complete line of transit across the continent of North America through British territory. So long ago as the year 1846, when the Oregon question was under discussion, I ventured to address to the Foreign Office an argument against any settlement that should fix the disputed boundary beyond the forty-fifth parallel of latitude, on the ground that the valley of the Columbia would become essential as a part of the track of our future communication with the far East. Unfortunately this desirable region has not fallen to our lot, but it is, nevertheless, now universally admitted that we still possess the most favourable, as it will certainly prove the most direct, route between the two great oceans. Of all the var'ous circumstances that have combined in modern times to promote our national wealth and grandeur, nothing has contributed so much as o' r possession of the Indies, and the control of the trade between Eunvoe and Asia ; and no questions can be imagined of greater mierest and importance that those which propose to facilitate the inter- course between the two great European and Asiatic families. The shortest and speediest route to the East has been for centuries a problem of the greatest interest to all nations, and the attempt to solve it has cost thousands of lives and an immense amount of money. The recent discovery of the Norih-Weii passage has only served to verify a ccmclusion long foregone, that it could never become the highway of nations; and a navigable ship-canal across the isthmus is now only 9 ontertained by those who indulge in the most visionary specu- lations. The great American continent, which arrested the progress of Columbus, still presents a barrier which must be crossed in some direction ; and it will not, I believe, be diffi- cult to show that the most direct and feasible route lies con- tinuously through British territory. In a letter which I had the honour to address to the Earl of Elgin, Governor-General of British North America, in June, 1851, advocating the construction of those great lines of railway which have since been partially completed, the prin- cipal argument was that they would form a link in this great chain of communication : — " In undertaking works of such vast magnitude and importance it will be wise to look beyond the present, or even the immediate future. Already an enormous traffic awaits these lines ; but who can form a notion of the proportions to which it may expand within tlie next ten or twenty years ! Already the knell of pro- tection is sounding along tlie fertile valleys and boundless prairies of the Far West, and those barriers to free trade which we should vainly assail from without will soon be prostrated by the pressure from within. The productions of that vast region, consisting for the most part of the bulky articles of human sub- sistence, will, in spite of all restraints, flow through the most natural and facile channels, to be exchanged for the products of other countries. But I cannot bound my view by these remote territories, or even the more distant region stretching to the Pacific, or by the ocean itself. A great arc of the globe passing through Halifax and Toronto, if projected on the one hand into Asia and on the other into Europe, will bisect the richest, most populous, and most civilized countries under the sun. On the one side are the countless millions of the Indian Archipelago, China, and Hindostan ; on the other the overcrowded, busy marts of Europe. The interchange of the commodities of Europe and Asia has in all ages constituted the most lucrative commerce of the world. Since the days of Solomon, if not before, it has been the desire of nations to possess or control this trade, with which the highest state of prosperity and great power have ever been associated. The track of tiiis commerce has built up cities of palaces in the desert ; its diversion has marked the decline of empires ; — once lost it has never been regained, and, although the great nation we most affect now controls the trade of the far East, it is deserving of serious consideration whether the route is not yet capable of one further change. We have the authority of the spirited .:nd intelligent originator of the great Atlantic and Pacific railroad, who more than any other man has studied the intercommunications of the globe, for the fact that there is a practicable line across tlie continent of North America that shall shorten the distance between England and the East Indies by more than four thousand miks in comparison witli the route by the Isthmus of Panama ! The British possessions in North America lie midway between these great countries, occupying th«t zone of the enrth upon which, on the other con''nent8, three fourths or more of the whole human family are congregated. Within our borders there is a vast unoccupied food-producing territory capable of absorbing a population equal to that of the half of Europe. In addition I believe that we hold the keys and the track of the future communication between the two grand diviiiions of the human race, and who shall say that a large share of that enrich- ing traffic, which has gilded every former path, shall not ere many years glide along those very channels which it is our present business to open up. Tiie day is not far distant when this great highway of nations will traverse our now neg- lected territory as surely as a straight hne is the shortest distance between two given points." i 10 The western slope of the North American continent naturally belongs to the Eastern hemisphere, and the United States, by the establishment of their sovereignty along the shores of the Pacific, is fast becoming a great Eastern power. Their commanding geographical jxisition on those waters cannot fail to give them great advantages and facilities for extending their trade and commerce in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and to this end they are putting forth all their energies. The future trade and intercourse which, in the nature of things, must spring up in those seas between the north-west continent of America, Japan, China, the East Indies, and the islands of the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific, must reduce to insignificance all existing trafiic. When our Australian and Indian possessions have time to develop their vast resources, and become rich and populous, it is not with England, wider than the poles removed, that they will trade from preference, as they are now obliged of necessity. Their relations will naturally he with their own hemisphere^ and, to be beforehand with this great com- mercial revolution. Great Britain should lose no time in developing the great resources, and taking advantage of the commanding geographical position of Vancouver's Island and British Columbia. For many years the United States have been occupied with various plans for carrying out railway communication between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and with this view the whole contineni has been explored, both within their limits and without. In their official documents bearing upon the subject, it is distinctly avowed, that " the first great object and aim of this great work is to change the route for the commerce and intercourse of Europe with Asia, and force it, from interest, to pay tribute to us." ♦ They dwell upon the fact that their possessions in the Pacific stand in face of 700,000,000 of people, and by a very summary process they arrive at the value of this trade so soon as they can get within vvliat they call " striking distance" of their prospective victims. '•What, then," tbey ask, "is to prevent us from sf curing this immensely valuable trade ? By tho shortest and safest routts of communication, Calcutta, Singapore, Canton, Shanghai, as well as every other uiaritimc port in Eastern and South-eastern Asia, are nearer to New York, New Orleuns, and Cliarlcstou than they are to £ngland. By the construction and establishment of the neces- sary lines of railroads and steam-ships, we can communicate with all of tlicse countries much sooner, and at less expense, than the British, and, cotiscquently, CAD secure the greater portion of this valuable trade. * Congressional Papers relating to the Pacific llaihoad, 18^8. 11 " Experience has proved that whenever we have been brought into commercial communication with any people, — near enough for our agricultural and com- mercial staples to bear the expense of tra^^.sportation, — we have been able to build up a trade of about one dollar per inhabitant. Our trade with Hayti, with a population of one million, amounted, in 1851, to 1,847,200 dulls, or 1 -j^ per inhabitant, and yet it is difficult to learn of what it consists. V/ith England, our trade for the same year amounted to 7 dolls, per each inhabitant. " If, then, we can bring the trade of these vast and populous countries, containing seven hundred millions of people, within from fifteen to thirty days' sail of our Pacific possessions, may we not reasonably expect to build up a commerce with a people possessing the means of exchange for our great staple products, to an almost unlimited extent, — equal, at least, in proportion to their numbers, to one-half of that we now enjoy with the ignorant, improvident, and indolent negroes of Hayti i — and if so, our trade with continental and insular Asia, the Japanese empire, and Austral Asia, must very soon amount to 650,000,000 dulls, per annum, — a sum about three times as large as our present exports to all the world ! " How, then, are we to secure this immensely valuable traffic which invites us to the regions of a strange hemisphere ? As we have before remarked, our geographical position places us in the centre of the commerce and travel of the world. The acquisition of our Pacific territory brings us within hailing distance of the countless millions of Asia ; and our unequalled cotton-fields of the south furnish the means of penetrating their possessions, and securing to us the whole current of this immense Oriental trade. Thus, our principal port will become a second Tyre, and our different commercial marts obtain that indisputable predo- minance which made Palmyra the greatest of her age, — to which Venice after- wards succeeded, and which London now enjays, — a predominance which, in all ages, has been the meed of successful competition for the rich traffic of Asia. Hence, it will be reserved for our own country to supply the craving appetite for Eastern luxuries, which was so imperfectly gratified through the successive agencies of the Egyptians, Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs, Venetians, and Portuguese."* One corollary, among others, deduced from the contempla- tion of these magnificent visions, is that " the boasted title of * Queen of the Seas' will be among the records of the past, and British policy and British arrogance be forced to give way l)efore the commercial stride of the giant republic." Making all reasonable deductions from these exaggerated calculations, there will still remain the exponents of a traffic of enormous value, and it is satisfactory to know that all that can be said of the advantages of position which the United States enjoy upon the Pacific may be predicated with muck more truth and force of our own possesions in Beitish Columbia. All other projects for a railway through the United States territory appear to have been abandoned in favour of one whose terminus will be on Puget's Sound, and this may account for the tenacity with which American states- men assert their rights to the apparently insignificant islands which now form the subject of most unpleasant controversy between the two countries. Besides that, Vancouver's Island * Report of the Committee on Naval Affairs to the House of Roprescnta- lives, 1853. ' 12 abounds in coal and timber and commodious havens; it is nearer by several hundred miles to the great depots of Asiatic commerce than San Francisco, which is the cynosure of all American speculations, in connection with this immense field of enterprise. A ship, bound from this really splendid harbour (San Fran- cisco) to any part of Japan, China, or India, and following the shortest track, must coast along in sight of Oregon, quite up to Vancouver's Island, before she takes her departure from the land. From Victoria to Shanghai, which, from its central position, must command the future trade of Eastern Asia, the distance is short of 5,000 miles, and the navigation free from every danger. This favoured locality, therefore, seems to possess, even to a genial climate, every advantage and facility for a great emporium of trade and commerce, and its con- nection, by railway communication, with the Atlantic Ocean cannot be otherwise regarded than as a work of time. Taking Victoria as a centre, and describing a quadrant on the Asiatic continent with a radius of 6,000 miles, we find that it will include countries and islands containing four or five hundred million inhabitants, and possessing the most valuable staples of trade and commerce. This vast region is watered by the largest rivers in the world, and several of them, as the Hoangho, Yang-tse-kiang, and the Amoor, which take their rise in Central Asia, flow east, on the course of the shortest line, across the American continent. These great rivers and their tributaries, therefore, are the natural channels by which the products of the great Eastern slopes are carried so far in the direction of Europe^ and yet, by the existing routes of commerce, we actually carry them backwards thou- sands of miles, through most intricate and dangerous channels, to reach their destination roundabout^ after encountering great delays and damaging alternations of climate. By approaching Asia through the continent of North America, that which has hitherto been (he furthest east becomes our first resting-place, after an easy voyage across the tranquil waters of the North Pacific. Halifax, in Nova Scotia, is the tete du pont of the shortest passage of the Atlantic, and is, par excellence, the harbour of the American continent. It is distant 2,600 miles from Liverpool, and, in round numbers, 3,000 from Victoria. Less than 5,000 more will make up the distance to Pekin or Shanghai, and with steamers on the Pacific equal to those upon the Atlantic, and the railway in operation from Victoria to Halifax, we should have certain and permanent means of 13 communicating days. with that remote country within thirty-five rap- ing lite If a ship bound from Liverpool, or any part of Great Britain, to China or India, could move along the great arc of the globe that should denote the shortest possible distance, she would pass through tiie continent of North America, continuoualy in British territory^ and on a line considerably to the north of the United States boundary. If the progress of science had not discovered a more rapid means of locomotion on land than, even with the agency of steam, we can attain by sea, the intervention of tliis great continent would have pre- sented an insurmountable barrier to the adoption of the shortest route ; but now, with the ordinary railway speed of thirty miles an hour, we shall not only effect a great saving in time, but avoid innumerable dangers which beset navigation in the tropical regions of the Eastern seas. The British Ame- rican provinces, without the aid of the Imperial Government, have already nearly completed one-third part of this im- portant line of communication, and what remains to be done, beyond the magnitude of the undertaking itself, is not sup- posed to present any extraordinary difficulties. This great work, if ever it shall be accomplished, will truly become the Great Highway of nations. The terminus^ on the one hand, will be the great Asiatic continent with its seven hundred million inhabitants, and, on the other, Europe with her two hundred and fifty millions, whilst the line itself will tra- verse a country possessing all the proportions and resources of a mighty empire. The following extract, from an able French periodical, will show the great importance attached to the subject by a people not immediately interested ; — " England and the United State!* are both of them fully sensible that the time has arrived when the sceptre of the commercial world must be grasped and held by the hand of that power which sh&W be able to maintain the most certain and rapid communication between Europe and Asia. It is not merely by the Isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea that henceforth the trade with the East is going to be carried on. The Eastern continent of Asia will be waked up to a new commercial activity from other ports, and especially from the several ports of the Chinese empire. Consequently, the empire of the world, in a commercial point of view, will henceforth belong to that one of the two powers of England or America, which shall be the first to find means to establish a direct road across the con- tinent of America, whereby to communicate most rapidly with the great East on the Pacific side, and with Europe on the A^!antic side. This will be the great highway by which the products of the Old World will have to be carried lo the Eastern World. * * * *' Hence it is that the victory which is to give the empire of the world will be gained by that pok\ei which shall be the first to establish the line of railroad across regions and countries which are yet unknown and unexplored. The 14 struggle fur the attainment of this great victory is well worth the trouble and expense which it will cost; for the emp ^1/ IG charity, has munificently endowed the Bisiiopric of ( ^olunihin, and has provided for the worship of God among a people greatly predisposed hy their worldly pursuits to the service of Mammon. This holy mission is the most advanced out- post in the direction of the most benighted heathen countries under the sun ; and hence, with due facilities of intercom- munication, Christianity, civilization, and commerce will go forth hand in hand to rescue them from barbarism and super- stition. I do not purpose to increase the heaviness of this com- munication by the addition of calculations and statistics with which your Grace must be already familiar, nor to speculate on the nature and extent of the traffic which will be likely to flow through this great channel. It Avill be obvious, at least, that the opening up of this communication would supply the means of greatly accelerating intelligence^ and at the same time provide for the safer conveyance of the most valuable of mortal possessions (which in notable instances we have lately seen signally perilled), I mean human life and cultivated intellect. I have the honour to be. My Lord Duke, Your Grace''s Most obedient and humble Servant, C. D. ARCHIBALD. His Grace The DuKy of Newcastle, K.G., Secretary of State for the Colonies. / I The following is an extract from Her Majesty's Speech on the prorogation of Parliament in 1858: — '* The Act to which Her Majesty has assented for the esta- blishment of the colony of British Columbia was urgently required in consec,uence of the recent discoveries of gold in that district ; but Her Majesty hopes that this new colony on the Pacific may je but one step in the career of steady pro- gress, by which Her Majesty's dominions in North America may ultimately be peopled m an unbroken chain, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, by a loyal and industrious population of subjects of the British Crown." f6' 1 c'J. C / "1 14 >?«- I O R e-fti". Ottawa T •^ St.JTwmami \ \ll> (RICHMOll ^MONTREAL^ >ORl k-TON NEWYbRKi IhdsTu Stu «IUWBEC i ^rCHWO.NjD \ ' ^^r ^^S,j\,-'^ ^kSiontrkalP*'^^^ >-^'^^*%^PORTLANC \ceni/ ULBA»i»N R^E BOST \j^TON ^ NEWVlpRI^ ^^ £Uhc^re^i^ud' by WJBmm, ^,Zirve€>lnsIhfvJFuitU . J '