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 leture, 
 
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 fiouse of Commons Betiat^s 
 
 FOURTH SESSION-SIXTK PARLIAMENT. 
 
 SPEECHES OF HON. EDWARD BLAKE, M.P., 
 
 ON THE 
 
 ELECTORAL FRANCHISE. 
 
 FRIDAY, MAY 9™, 1800. 
 
 ill-. BL.\KK. It may be ilesiral>le to liavo a 
 special provisiou for a i)arti(nilar ease, altliough it 
 is obvioas tliat tlioie would lie (laii]L'er in adopting 
 the Hiiggc-tion of tlie lion, incnilier t'or.A' ; ■ ia(.Mr. 
 Dawson), heiause it would give the hou. gentle- 
 man's voters the opportunity of voting " early and 
 often" with greater facility. But it is very da iger- 
 ous to ap])ly the argument that because a spedal 
 district ie(juires special legislation, that legisliition 
 should he made ge orally ajiplicalile. Let me make 
 this suggestion to thi; hon. .Secretary of State : 
 The hon. gentleman says the reason for his change 
 is because a particular revising oHicer has been 
 under the impression that the Taw permitted him 
 to make [)olling districts (1 any size he pleased. 
 I tiiink, Sir, that while it miglit be expedient to 
 provide against injustice arising from some error 
 of a revising officer, so as co avoid the disfran- 
 chisement of voters; it is very inexpedi>'nt that 
 we should open any wider door for the revising 
 officer to decline iloin ,' his full duty. I woiilfl sug- 
 gest to the Secretary of State the a<lvisal)ility at 
 the same time at which lie makes provision for a 
 possible neglect or error of duty, of making it still 
 clearer what that duty is. He tells us that a revis 
 ing officer,wlio is also "a judge of the Superior Court, 
 has construed it to be witliin his duty, deliberately 
 to make a polliiig division comprising .soinel.lOO 
 voters. I do not understand that to I'e the intention 
 of the -law. I understand it to be the duty of the 
 revi.sing officer to restrict tlie number to 'IM voters. 
 If we alter the law as it stood, and ad.l this provi- 
 sion, we will be rendering it more likely that simi- 
 lar results will happen in tlie future. Tiiere are two 
 ■several clas,ses of cafes which occur to me. 1 think 
 it may very often happen that a revising officer, 
 through error, or perhaps thinking it reasonable, 
 may allow a small nunibfrof fifteen or twenty votes 
 iu a polling division, more tlian the maximum. 
 That would be amply satisfied, I think, by just 
 leaving things as tliey are. I believe there is no 
 difficulty in polling at the one place a larger num- 
 ber than our maximum, and I believe it would be 
 less evil to permit, within a moderate liiiii- 
 Uitioii of that kind, the division to icinairi 
 undisturbiid, than to allow the returning officer, 
 
 a week before the election, in the case of an 
 error of tiiat kind, to dislocate the appointed 
 divisions. Theie is" really no necessity for it in the 
 great number of cases for wiiicli we may lie expect- 
 ed to provide. Such an exceptional case as the 
 hon. the Secretary o{ S<^'.ite cites to iis as one tn be 
 provided against, would be provided against 
 chiefly by making the law very plain, so tliat lie 
 who runs may read, and by stating thlit it is the 
 duty of tlie revising officer to divide tlie ptdling 
 sub-divisions for eacii '-'(Ml or '2M) voters. As :ny 
 hon. friend has .said, we have known in daj's tliat 
 are past, very great improprieties committed by re- 
 turning officers in reference to the discharge of dis- 
 cretionary cluties. I have had before mean authen- 
 ticated instance wherein, at the last general elec- 
 tion, a polling station was established, no! in the 
 most convenient or central place, but in a jilace ex- 
 tremely iniMinvenient to the greater number of the 
 voters who lia|)])eiied to be of one party, and thus 
 creating an absolute injustice. I am not djsposed 
 te give to the returning officer, who is appointed 
 shortly before an election, who is appointeil at the 
 will of the (iovernment, frequently upon the nomi- 
 nation of the candidate, and who is acting in the 
 heat of a contest, ami largely at the suggestion of 
 a candidate- any more discretionary powers than 
 we can avoid. Some such powers he must have, 
 but I think we should limit them to the utmost. 
 
 Mr. BLAKE. I do not understaml that it is 
 limited in point of time, but that it will lie perpe- 
 tually engrafted on the law, so that after the next 
 revision, if you should find that a dozen revising 
 officers had maile the same default of <luty, you 
 would find a dozen returning officers performing 
 the same duty. 
 
 PATENT BALLOT BOXES. 
 
 Mr. BLxVKE. I thought this must be an ex 
 pof't facto arrangement, and that it was not really 
 designed that the Committee should send for per- 
 sons at this late stage of the Session. I do not 
 think that these persons should be paid their ex- 
 pcn..i,a for coming hei'e in jnirsuit of their own 
 1 business, and, for my part, I shall object to it. 
 
T'TW 
 
 h 
 
 , 
 
 ii 
 
 ■ :! 
 
 Mr. I.LAKK. I do not tliiiik the onsf. is iit nil < were to count on tlieir constructing l.rnnch 
 piinilicl to i.ny ijusu we Imvc liuil Kcfoix-. It wu.h ^ liniH tlirovij.'!! the N'ortli We t liy niciin.t of tlnw 
 j)uivly 111 tlicirown iiitcrcHttliiit tli.s(,l.f.oj.lcciinii- KiiintH. I rin<l ii.,w lluil it i.s "iiroiPoMMl to utivt- 
 hfiv. Iliuv canif 111 till! li(,|Ht tlii.i their invcii- I huge ^^lll,.si,li^s to the CiunuUun I'acii; • itailuav 
 tloiis w'liiilil III' aildiiti'il. iiiirl t liiit til.. \' tt ..iiM iiM.I/.. I '1,1,11... lit' (..,. <i .^:... f .1 I V 
 
 tioiis wxiijil lie ailoiitcd, and that they Would make 
 niciiiey DUt of tlieiii. It seeiim to he out of tlie 
 (juestloii tiiat we simiihl pay them f<ir tliiee at- 
 tendances lieie, and their' travelling ex])enNe.s 
 lie.iiiles. If we sanction thi.s now , w here are we 
 f;oiiig to draw the line ? There in a trial reconi- 
 niended of three of thc^e liallot ho.v.e.s, and are we 
 going to pay these 1111,11 for tiie ]ireliminary use of 
 their iiixeiit icin ? 
 
 Mr. CHArLEAU. Tlie hoii. genthiimii evi- 
 dently ihtnk.s tliat anything Imt his dwn advice or 
 couclusion.s are alisdlnti ly in he disieganled. 
 
 Ml. r.LAKK. Xo. ■ . 
 
 Mr. ('irAI'LK.\U. Instead of making the re- 
 marks that the lion, gentleman has just favored 
 the House with, he should liaNfapjirared hefoiethc 
 romniittee and w itne.'^.^el| w lial was done. He sent, 
 it i.s tine, a suggestion from one of the returning 
 otliceivs ; one of hi.s own friend.s, I )iresume. 
 
 -Mr. I5LAKK. No, it was for Mr. Pdackhurn, 
 the fill iiier editor of tile London F,■l^ J'rcn, anil 
 now icgistr.ir of .Middlesex. 
 
 I'KIXTIXt; OF PARLIAMENT. 
 
 Mr. liLAIvE. That clause is expunged. I 
 
 (juite agree in the view that it oiiglit to bo ex- 
 
 ))unged, because it would he co:itraiy to the statute 
 
 w liirh provides for the ))aymeiit of "the indcinnity. 
 At t l.,i ......... •■ ; I,..* . 1 _ . 1 ■ ' 1 
 
 Company for the constiiiction of thos( hraiuii 
 j lines which we were told tliey would liiiild in eon- 
 I se.|iien.,e of iiifi\iiig lho.se large grant ^ of money 
 j and land. 1 \m,u1.1 ask the <lo\einmeiit to .say 
 1 why thi.s ilepailuro is inaih frnni the policy 
 I enunciated in IS,S(» SI ? 
 
 ! Mr. DEWDXKV. The line from (ilenhor..- 
 westward cm: .titutes a portion of a line which, I 
 ihiiik, was originally called the Winnipeg .South- 
 Weste'-n. There were twd ,>south- Western Uail- 
 ways, and the ch.irlers were purcha.sed from the 
 parties who held them liy the Caii.idian I'ucitic 
 Kaihvay. so th.it the first rcMilution would not 
 come under the ohjcctinii of the lion, gentleman. 
 
 .Mr. I'.L.AKE. I am i|uite aware, from the lie of 
 the gidiin.l and from seeing the mai), that this 
 piece does not run from the main line of the Cana- 
 dian IVicilic Railway, Init i.s conneeted with a 
 branch line which the c<iiiii>aiiy has ac'|uired. Rut 
 it was a pari of the under.staniling with tlu^ Cana- 
 dian I'acitic Railway Com])any that the branches 
 were to lie eoustructed at tlieir exjiense. Vhe 
 Canad.ian I'acitic Railway Comjiany took over a 
 branch w hich had been subsidi-ed by the country, 
 and now it is ])ro]iosed that .111 ai'hlitional piece 
 sihall lie added to that by tiic ii)iiipau> at our ex- 
 pense in part. 
 
 Mr. RLAKE. When first the policy of aiding rail- 
 ways in the North- West by land grants was bron«dit 
 !,..(■ .1... ir • _ 1 _ _ 1 .. " r .1 '^ 
 
 At the .same time, we have been made acouainted ' J*""y*"" tli<'^<"'th- West by land grants was brought 
 with this regrettai.le fact- I think liy tlie Auditor ■ '"^■f'"''-' '''^' Ifou.-e. iiide|H-iidently of the great grant 
 Ceiieral's Rejiort -that a very considerable sum is i to the Canadian J'acilic Railway, in regard to which 
 owing in the way of ariears on this account. That i fe'™"*' ;'"""'^^y'"it .special rea.-.ons w ere adduced, I 
 
 o^.i iiig ill the way of ariears on this account. That 
 ought not to happen, and. if lion, members take i 
 advantage of the inovision, by which they can I 
 olilain iinblic documents at cost prici'. and do not , 
 1 lay for tliem,! think the circiimstani-es should be 
 known. I iiropose, on the tirst day of the 
 
 grant .somcwiiat .spi ^ ,.,„,,,..,,, ._ 
 
 advanced this view : that although it was eminently 
 advantageous, and it wasabsolutidy lU'cessiry, that 
 
 I railways should be built through the Nortli-We.st ; 
 
 ' although it was extremely rcasimable that that 
 country should bear, by the means we were jiro- 
 ])osing, = ' — '' - -■ r .. , 
 
 made known. I propose ^ ,.,„., ,,, ,,.,r- . - 
 
 next .Sessi.iii of Parliament, lo move for th'e names ' P"j^''ig'. " eonsideralde ])ortion of the burdens in- 
 of the members who remain in arrears. We have '' ^'!'^'''J '" 'he construction of those cnter)iri.se.s :yet, 
 talked a good deal about clubs here to-day, and we ' '"f'^'' ''' ^^ ''*^ "* *'"' a;*-''te.st po.ssible consetiuencc 
 know there is a very g<iod system in clubs of post- ! . .^ "*-' ■'*l"'!i''l di vi .s<inie means to a,-.oidthe 
 
 j that we sliouiil d. v; .s<inie 
 
 I locdiiug up of large ,, utilics of land, ami jiarti- 
 
 ciilarly the locking up of those areas of land along. 
 : side the lines of railway, which would be the lirst 
 j desired for settlement, and more especially when 
 ' these M-ere alternaiing with free grant sections, 
 
 which would be sought for before the sections 
 
 whieh were to be obtainable only by iiaynient. 
 
 We know that, during the period" in which 
 , there was a considerable immigration and an ex- 
 Tliiii it is cxpcdicii; to inithorisc tlic CnvrriKir in ' '''tt'inent with respect t<i the values of land in the 
 
 If ;;•: i.::;,!!:;;;:^ i:;„!ir',^"!;;r';;yi.;!;r1!;:t ^:;I^:?,l;:'^i'^ ^T^l-^^'r^^:/'"" -y^-*-" '^-^\ -ivan...ge wonid 
 
 tliDM.-^.-iii.l luin- liniiilre.l .-lore.- mn- iiiilo I'ni- n l.nineli liTio to 
 
 ing the members w iio are in arrears. I shall pn 
 pose to post those member.s of this House wIkj are 
 in arrears in this way. 
 
 LAND CRANT.s Tt) RAILWAV.s. 
 
 (fn the Coiiimitlee.) 
 On resolution 1 , 
 
 .,,.., ■!(,„■ I .,v I, .- ,,,:i iiiiiu nil it Mr:i Ilea inic rti 
 
 no ooiislnicied Iroiii (ilc.nl.onj' wc.<;erlv. u iliatain'o nf 
 ahijMt sixty iiuioii, tn a imiiU (.11 the iin. posed liraneli 
 railway ol tlie .-iiinl cuiiiii.iny rmiiiin),' ticm liniudoii 
 ."nutli-wcstorly. 
 
 Mr. I5LAKI 
 
 J n-collcct very well that, during 
 
 ic taken by the railway corjiorationsof their jiower 
 aslaml holdcr.s. was reali.sed. ^^'c know that their 
 beiiavior wassiuh as indeed we could not coinjdain 
 of ; that it h.-id rt^spcct to wli.Tt they thought their in- 
 terest undeitliecircuinstani'cs: and tlial they raised 
 ,1, I- ', , ■'■ J .••-"■■■'"• ""■i-i; the prices of their liinds, a.s they had a leual ri'dit 
 
 Co of : w li H • i "" , '1'" '^'"'"'">" ^ '""' "" '"'-''^ '" '•oudcmn, to the hid.est point that 
 
 o I. ,..; ' on. i V lY "/ '"' T- ,'"""''■'■' "'",' ' ''"-• "'"" '""''■'^■'' '■"■"Htion of the market' would, it 
 
 1- t^^^ w^^^^^^^^ "h ' '^^•■'^'<^^^"''«"''-«p"'t'" 1 Y« thought, allow. Lan.ls. which had been sale- 
 
 m he inteiest of the c.iunlrybeeau.sc the company to <<:■,, S(i ,an.l e.en .SS per acre, and sale and 
 vete expecting them.selves to construct and , .settlement were checked, and the coimtry was hi- 
 
ctinj; liraiirli 
 
 CllllS Ot tlll'MC 
 
 pnxcil to i;i\"i' 
 
 uilii: liailuay 
 tlii>s( liiaiii'h 
 liiiilil in coii- 
 lU ~ of money 
 iiiiLiit til .siiy 
 n till' jiolicy 
 
 ini (JltnlHiro" 
 iiif wln'cli, I 
 nipt'g Soutli- 
 fstiiii Hail- 
 se<l from the 
 uliaii I'atific 
 1 woulil not 
 ticiitlfliian. 
 
 •nni tli«.' lie of 
 ij), that this 
 of tlie ('ana- 
 lU'd witli a 
 "|uirt'(l. Hut 
 ;h th(! Cana- 
 tl'.e ))rani;iioa 
 :pense. Tile 
 took over a 
 thi country, 
 itional piece 
 i\ at our ex- 
 
 if aiding rail- 
 was l)rouglit 
 "great grant 
 aril to wliioh 
 ) ailduced, I 
 a.s eminently 
 ees-^ury, that 
 Colt h- West ; 
 le tiiat that 
 e were prcj- 
 IniideuN in- 
 iprises ; yet, 
 eonse(iuenco 
 to avoid the 
 t. anil jiarti- 
 t land along- 
 1 lie the lirst 
 eially when 
 mt sections, 
 the sections 
 >y ])ayment. 
 I in \\hicli 
 and an ex- 
 land in the 
 iitag(' would 
 their jiowor 
 w that their 
 lot complain 
 gilt their in- 
 l they raised 
 
 I legal riglit 
 it condition 
 ■i point tliat 
 et would, it 
 
 I I lieen sale- 
 vere laised 
 
 III sale and 
 itry was in- 
 
 jured. The Hettlement of the country is efFect- 
 <.d very satisfaitorily indeed iindei- those condi- 
 tions wlilch allow two or iliree members of u 
 family oi- two or three close .md intimate fiitiids 
 to go together. Oiieof tlie great di/ticulties in a 
 ne«- country like the Norlii-West i.- tliese])aiation 
 of the settlers, at the hest. from Die aggregates of 
 Ijopulation. Tiiat difficulty tin y nnist encounter 
 until towns grow ; that diiliculty is made greater 
 in the N'orth-Wes. hy reason of the large areas 
 wiiicii we allow for the iiidi\idual settlei', and 
 which make him in a sense remote even from his 
 iinmciliiite neighlior. Itiil that diiliculty is inten- 
 sified when inider our principles of "settlement 
 there is going to he settlement in the first instance 
 only in alternate .^o'tions ; wlien you have a set of 
 sections for .sale along the railway, and a fiee grant 
 set of sections, alternating with each other. It 
 is ohvious, except in the case of an immigrant 
 who has considei'ilde capital, that a .settler 
 will he almost driven to say " the capital I 
 have must lie jmt into fencing and liiiildings and 
 into inipli'nienls aiyl lireakint' the land, and I 
 cannot allord to jiay a, price for the laml ; " and, 
 therefore, you have these inevitahle difticiillies to 
 5'ome extent intiiisitied, even liy any systini under 
 which there will he a clieck on fi'ee' settlement. 
 We caiiiot avoid that, we cannot oat our cake and 
 have our cake. If it is iieces.nary to make tlie.se 
 railway grants to secure the construction of roails. 
 we iniist do so on the Iciis't disadvantageous terms 
 to the jmlilic consistent with rea.sonahle advantage 
 to the railways. When these grants Were proposed 
 andsnhmitted lo the Hou.-ie, ! sulmiitted a motion, 
 which will lie found recorded in thedournals of the 
 Hou.se. for a vote was taken Ulioii it, that tiie grants 
 shotdd he made only on comlition that the ai-eas 
 granted (if agricultural lands (I ilid not speak of 
 laud with mill jirivileges or station grounds or 
 town sites, or otlier special values, hut only of 
 ordinary agricultural lands) should he o|ien for 
 sale on reasonable conditions for actual set- 
 tlement and in reasonable areas, at a price 
 not exceeding a nuixiijium to be fixed. My 
 object was to ensure that a man w ho goes out to 
 that country U> hunt for land, and takes a map on 
 which he finds the alleinate .sections indit'alcil, 
 would know that if he has found a choice .section 
 on railway hin<ls, he w ould be as certain to get that 
 section if it had not been entered before, on coniing 
 back to the railway oliice and paying the stipu- 
 lated price, as he would be certain On coining 
 back to the (ioveinment olHce of getting the free 
 grant which is adjoining it. He could tluischoo-^e 
 his free grant, and for his neighbor oi- friend with 
 wiuun he wished to live in proximity he could 
 choose the railway land. \\y this mean.syou \. ould 
 provide against the lock tip of land which the 
 hon. mendier for Muskoka (Mr. O'Hrien) has 
 referred to, and w hicli ni.iy be a very serious evil. 
 You wo\ild make this land as freely ripen foi- settle 
 nient as the <lo\ eminent lands, except on the addi- 
 tion of having to pay a certain sum. I:i the old times 
 when I had nn o|)|)ortnnity of taking an interest in 
 these matters -an interest which the hon. member 
 for A.ssiniboia (Mr. Davin) ilmditsa little soinetim.'s, 
 but which I can assure him, however n isdirected 
 was. at any rate, very sincere— i received com- 
 plaints from persons w iio had becMi in that coiiulry 
 and who said : " \Ve went here and there and every- 
 where, and on coinim.' back, having made one iir 
 
 I more selections, we found eitlier that the land won 
 
 I a railway grant and we could not gel it, or it 
 
 , was held by the Canadian Pacific Railway under 
 
 that blanket >;ianl of theirs, or it was in the 
 
 ' hands of speculators, and we came back (lis- 
 
 heartened." Your sy.stem ought to be one wliicli 
 
 ; would leave open on phdn terms to actual settle- 
 
 j ment, irrespective of the will of the railway coni- 
 
 . pany, the agi icultural hinds, out of which, not- 
 
 j withstanding your arrangement, the r ihvay coin- 
 
 t pany shall derive a veiLsonalile price. Name a 
 
 ; niaxiniu.n price, and let the lands, subject to the 
 
 j payment of that iiiaNinium by rea.sonable instul- 
 
 , inents, be 0)hii to settlement in rea.sonable 
 
 I areas. If you do that you diminish the 
 
 i diftieulti !S inseparable from ' this (piestion, to 
 
 i the greatest po.ssible extent, and, if so mini- 
 
 j mised, the advantages of securing the construc- 
 
 I tion of a railway are greater than the di.sadvan- 
 
 tages of causing the jiartiai lock up of lauds neces- 
 
 j sary for its construction. I do fear, tliat if there 
 
 i comes again a time of considerable immigiation to 
 
 'the North -West, and of consi<leiable hunting for 
 
 , land, the leckless manner in which Wf have gi^ en, 
 
 I and are giving, these grants will pro.e in t In; fn- 
 
 I ture. as it has lUdved in the past, to be a greater 
 
 I obstacle to the settlement of that country than 
 
 might exist if a ditrerent systt'Hi were adopted. It is 
 
 jail veiy well to re])eal the arguinents with which 
 
 j I was met in former years, namely, that it is in 
 
 j the interest of the laihvay comi)any tosell. and 
 
 I that we may be ijiiitc sure tluy will be glad to 
 
 set a low price on the land. W'e ha\i: heard that 
 
 before, and we have had an exain])le of the short- 
 
 .sighted ivilicy in the jieriod of inflation lo which I 
 
 have leferred, which prevented settlement just 
 
 because it was thought a little more money might 
 
 be obtaineil later on. I do not want these lands 
 
 to be used for s)iecnlation. either by the individual 
 
 buyers or by the railway company itself. I want 
 
 them to be charged, in favor of the I'aihvay 
 
 company, with a reasonably fair ])rice for the 
 
 settlers to pay; and while subject to that charge. 
 
 that they shall be as free and / 
 
 as if they were (Jovernment fi' 
 
 On resolution 1. 
 
 Mr. IJL.VKF. To the ditiiculties that beset the 
 Consideration of this 4uestion, the hon. member 
 f(ir Li.sgar (.Mr. Ros.s) has 'added other alleged 
 ditiiculties which do not in fact exist. He lias 
 .spoken about coal lands, timber lands, and lands 
 in the immediate \ icinity of stations and town 
 siU'S being incliuled. What is the suggestion T 
 made to the Hou.«e '.' I excluded lands of this 
 character ; I limited my suggestion to ordinary 
 agricultural lands. Lands which the com|iany 
 might h.ive a right to hold as having s])ecial 
 values, which did not come within this 
 denomination — lands having a sjiecial value, 
 such as coal hinds, timber lands, town sites 
 or exja' ted town sites, could, by a very easy ar- 
 rangement, be withdrawn from the operation of 
 tile regidation which wmild apply, by arrange- 
 tnents tube ijrescribed by the (;o\ernniciit, under 
 the general direction of Parliament, a niaxi- 
 niuni to ordinary agricultural lands alone. I admit 
 that there are some real dilliculties to w hich . 
 the hon. gentleman has alluded, but whirh ahso he 
 has exaggerated. He has supposed tiiat my sugges- 
 tion necessarily api)lied one maximum to' all Vail- 
 
 nen to the settlers 
 ,'rants of lands. 
 
wiiy grunts. Xot at nil. Ft is not necos^ary, when 
 yini are ilealing \\ itli the IuiiiIm nf out' railway couj- 
 pany, to apply the wiine niaxinunn which you 
 Would apply with lefereiuie to the lands of another. 
 For instance, there Ih a railway enterprise in 
 which I undertitand the lion, niendier for LiHgar 
 (Mr. KoNs) take.sagreat ih^al of patriot iinntereMt — 
 the HuilNon Kay Kailway t'onijiany. No one can 
 8U|)pip«e it would lie reasonalile to apply the same 
 iiiiniiniini or uia.xiuiuiu to that, which wouhl apply 
 '. > Honic of the others. lint why complicate un- 
 fairly and unreasonably a practical suggestion, 
 whatever its ditlicidties, liy adding these ahsiird 
 notions of dithouity which the lion, gentleman 
 eittert.iins ? W'-t: are now dealing with one grant ; 
 we are now dealing with one locality ; we are ikiw 
 dealing with a certain mileage of railway in one 
 part of the N'orth-West Territories ; ami we are 
 called uiKin therefore, if we deal with it intelli- 
 gently, t(t determine what ma.xiunnn should he 
 applied to ordinary agricultural lands in the 
 region of thai grant. Kven there, there may be 
 great variations in the charac'ters of tlie 
 lands which will be allotted to the company. 
 There, also, you cannot have a perfect plan because 
 your maximum must have regard, I will not say to 
 the choic(^st morsels, but to the highest class of agri- 
 cultural laiul properties in the grant. No ilonl)t con- 
 sideration has been given by tlie Administration to 
 those (juestions. I picsunu' the Minister who is 
 proposing the gi-ant, and the Minister of Railways 
 — for I suppose they are jointly responsible— have 
 C(msidered what are the dithculties and probable 
 co.st of construction ; what the prospects of trafiie 
 are, and the general (pialities of tlie lands along 
 this ))roposcd lailway, in respect of which this 
 grant of (),4(K) acres per mile is to be given. If 
 
 re giving 
 will cost 
 
 this, US n liraneh railway, in going to eo«t .^ll'i.SCf) 
 a mile, and if we are to sn[)posu those lands, 
 including timber lands, coal lainis, t')wn 
 sites anil so forth, have only to-day an aver- 
 age cash value of ^'2 per acre, we are 
 the cost of the road. If the road 
 5«1H,(KM) or SI1»,(MI(I a ndle eonipped, we still are 
 making a free gift of two-thirils <if the cost, aver- 
 aging the lands at .■*!* (ler acre. I do not know, 
 we have not tile slightest information as to whether 
 there are any special dithculties of constriiciion, 
 whether there are "any inori! rivers to cross;" 
 wliether the bridging, the grading, the excavation 
 and so on, is ex|)ensive. I do not know what the 
 particuhir character of the land is. Upon that no 
 information is vouch.safcd. .Sir, the (Jovernment 
 polii^ydoes not regard th<t difliculties suggested by 
 the hon. member for Lisgar. The grant is (i, KM) 
 acrt!S ner nule all round, no matter whether the 
 road be easy or diflicult to build ; no matter 
 whether it is one immediately promising a large 
 tratfic or promising only i laigu tralhc in the 
 future; no matter whether the lands are inort? or 
 less valuable. Except in the case of the (ialt 
 Road, 0,4<J<) acres is the general acreage given |)er 
 mile. We are entitled to ask the gri'umis of the 
 (ioveniment'fl conelnsion. U'e are entitled to 
 know whether the (lovernment have considered 
 these things — whether they have considered what 
 the probable cost of the road will be, what will be 
 the probable results to the company of the road, 
 what' the probable value of this land grant will be? 
 We ai'e entitled to know whether the ( iovernment 
 have been appropriating this land grant of (>,4(K) 
 acres ])ermile, with some regard to those consider- 
 ations, or whether it is all pure guess work, or 
 whether there has not even lieen a guess. 
 
 OTTAWA :— Printed by Buown Chamberlin, Printer to the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty. 
 
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