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'f\ii; ^ H % V- N "NA.aX RE] 30th i REi TI 'few^sT, /^ '**#• / PI ->'-4 s; IfHi^- ' PROJECT .'^. rd FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A RAILROAD TO THE PACIFIC, THROUGH BRITISH TERRITORIES; WITH REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF CANADA, THEREUPON, 30th august, 1861 ; TO WHOM WAS REFERRED AFTER ITS 2nd READING ON THE 2nd DAY OF JULY, 1861, THE BILL AU- THORISING THE INCORPORATION OF A COMPANY WITH POWER TO CONSTRUCT SUCH ROAD. * » V ^ * TORONTO; PRINTED BY LOVELL AND GIBSON, FRONT STREET 1852. • > • ' 'l I . .. ''' ' o -^^^-^^ rr^^ < '-^ ' c'-> _:> JUNia 1955 ' < Th grapl Th const in N relun such ers 1: them As of a mitte cialC . theoe and quest seque In have capa( the u tal si the I of a alrea shou their takir they EIGHTH REPORT. The Standing Committee on Railways and Tele- graph Lines, beg leave to make their Eighth Report : They have considered the Bill for a Charter to construct a Railway through the British Territories in North America to the Pacific Ocean, and are relunctantly obliged to report that, in their opinion such application is premature, and that the Petition- ers have not taken the preliminary steps to entitle them to an Act of Incorporation. As the project involves the cession to the Company of a large tract of country, it appears to Your Com- mittee, that the consent of the Imperial and Provin- cial Governments should have been first obtained and theoe claims, as well as those of the Indian Tribes and the Hudson's Bay Company; to the lands in question, adjusted ; so as to leave no room for sub- sequent dispute. In addition to this objection, Your Commmittee have had no evidence laid before them, of the capacity of the Petitioners to commence or prosecute the undertaking. It does not appear that any capi- tal stock has been subscribed for or paid up, or that the Petitioners are in a position to avail themselves of a charter loan, if granted. Your Committee have already reported their opinion that railway charters should only be granted to parties who can show their ability and desire, to proceed with their under- taking at once, and with energy and effect, and they adhere to that opinion. i At the same time, Your Committee feel bound to state their impression that the scheme ought not to be regarded as visionary or impracticable. When the project was first suggested in the United States by Mr. Whitney, its novelty and extent lead many persons to consider it as such, but that gentleman by his untiring energy and ability, has by degrees led the public mind both in his own country and in England to regard it with favor. Your Committee are strongly inclined to believe, that this great work, will at some future period, (should this Continent continue to advance as here- tofore, in prosperity and population) be undertaken by Great Britain and the United States. The superior advantages of the route to the Pacific Ocean through the British Territory, has been ably urged on the public attention by Allan McDonnell, Esquire, and others ; and Your Committee indulge a hope that the Imperial Government will be led to entertain the subject as one of national concern, and to combine with it, a general and well organized system of colonization. Your Committee beg leave to append to their report an instructive paper on this subject prepared by Allan McDonell, Esquire. Your Committee recommend that if Your Hono- rable House concur in the rejection of the applica- tion, the fee paid by the Petitioners, should be refunded. All which is respectfully submitted. ALLAN N. MACJNAB, Chairman, 30th August, 185L e feei bound to ne ought not to icable. When } United States tent lead many that gentleman, has by degrees country and in ined to believe, future period, Ivance as here- be undertaken tes. te to the Pacific has been ably an McDonnell, [imittee indulge it will be led to al concern, and well organized ppend to their ibject prepared if Your Hono- of the applica- ers, should be 1. .CJNAB, Chairman, OBSERVATIONS VPON THE CONSTRUCTION OF A RAILROAD FnoM LAKE SUPERIOR TO THE PACIFIC. To shorten? by a Western passage, the route to the Indies, which is now conducted around the fear- ful barriers of Cape Horn and Southern Africa, is a design that has long occupied the attention and arous- ed the exertion of all maritime nations. England's exploring expeditions to both the Atlantic and Paci- fic coasts, have pryed into every sinuosity of the shore, from lat. 30", South, to the borders of the Frigid Zone, and in the defeat of her exertions, projects have been forming to pierce the Continent within the limits of a foreign country, and where England would be placed at the mercy of her rivals. Whilst France, Mexico, the United States, and other Powers, medi- tate the separation of the Continent at the Isthmus of Panama ; let England at least enquire whether she has not, within her own territories, superior facilities for accomplishing the same grand purpose which impel them. Within this past year, three works have been pub- lished in England, emanating from different sources, urging the necessity and advantages of a Railway connection between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans b2 I I I such Railway to be constructed through the British Possessions. My present object is not to canvas the schemes proposed by any of these several parti s or projectors, whereby they would seek to carry out their views, but, if possible, to direct the attention of the Canadian pubhc to the existance of such a pro- ject, and the incalculable .advantages which must result to this and the Mother Countrv, could^ such a connection be accomplislied. In one of the pamphlets referred to by Major Smith, the plan proposed by him is to construct such road by convict labour; the others, one by a Mr. Wilson, (who, I believe, was at one time in the employment of the* Hudson Bay Company,) and the other by Lieutenant Synge, of the Royal Engineers, I have not met with. That the construction of such a road is feasible and practicable, I have every reason to believe, and will propose to build it upon a plan similar to that proposed by Mr. Whitney, for constructing a like Railway com- munication through the United States, — which plan is so peculiarly adapted to our couutry, that it can- not fail of finding as favorable a reception here as it did there. The scheme of building a Railway for hundreds of miles through a country which at present is a wilderness, seems at first sight, absurdly ex- travagant, as well as utterly impracticable ; and so it would be if the plan contemplated, was one to be fully carried out within any short period of time. It must be borne in mind that under the most favor- able circumstances, some years would be required for the construction of such a work ; with its progress, population must keep in advance, or accompany its advancement. \ mah. the British ot to canvaH the ivoral parti s or k to carry out the attention of e of such a pro- es which must rv, could^ such a f the pamf)hlets an proposed by ivict labour; the beUeve, was at le* Hudson Bay enant Synge, of J twith. That the | } and practicable, ij md will propose | iiat proposed by | :e Railway com- j ites, — which plan l utry, that it can- | leption here as it g a Railway for which at present ^ht, absurdly ex- 3ticable; and so d, was one to be : period of time. r the most favor- ould be required with its progress, or accompany its In determining, therefore, upon the wisdom or practicability of constructing such a road, the whole matter is to bo looked at,pros})ectively, — the question is not how far the present condition of the conntry and its interests warrant the undertaking, but whether such a state of things will be likely to exist, as will justify it when it shall have been accomplished. As to the exj)ediency or advantage of constructing such road, I imagine there caimot be a (iiversity of opinion, if it shall bo found to be practicable. Our portion of the Continent of North America lies directly in the way of the commerce passing between Europe and India — with a ship canal of six hundred and thirty-eight yards around the falls (twenty-one feet in all,) of the Sault do Ste. Marie, we have through our own territories the most magnificent inland navigation in the world, carrying ns one-half way across this Continent. By means of a Railway to the Pacific from the head of this navigation, a rapid and safe communication would be formed, by which the commerce of the world would undergo an entire change ; every one must perceive at a srbxnce, that such a road w^ould stand unrivalled in tf»c world. Not only are the United States, but the whole of Europe aroused to the importance of securing the immense trade of China, and the East Indies — even in the days of Hernando Cortes it was thought possible and expedient to unite the two oceans by a ship canal across the Isthmus of Panama, and since that time almost every nation has talked of doing so ; nor is the project at the present time abated or suspended. Even in the early history of this country, the French persever- ingly and anxiously sought for a supposed water i I communication from the St. Lawrence to the Pacific ; with a view to secure, if possible, that important trade which has from the earliest history- enriched, beyond calculation, every nation that held it, while each in its turn has fallen from power and affluence as it lost or surrender'^d it. Without adverting to its effects on other nations, it is suffi- cient to look to England ; she owes more of her grandeur and her power to her commerce with the East Indies, than to almost any other source what- ever. At the present time, she is to commerce, what the principle of gravitation is to the material world — that which regulates and upholds all. And yet, should the United States construct a Railway through their territories, she might too soon feel how precarious is her tenure of the sceptre of the seas — it would be wrested from her by her active and energetic rival ; sne would be driven from her position, and her Indian fleets as sflectively forced from the bosom of the ocean, as have been the caravans which formerly carried across the deserts the wealth of India ; or, as England snatched from Holland the East Indian trade, so in her turn she may be deprived of it by the United States: such would be— such some day may be — the effect produced by a Railroad through the territories of this latter power. It is therefore incumbent upon England, for her own sake, and it becomes her duty and her interest, to inquire into the practicability of constructing such road through British dominions, whereby our active and enterprise ..g rival v/ill cease to be regarded as such ; and a British people will have no competitor for maritime supremacy among nations. If it be practicable to connect the Pacific with the head iwrence to the if possible, that 10 earliest history nation that held from power and r'^d it. Without [lations, it is suffi- kves more of her mmerce with the ler source what- > commerce, what le material world ds all. And yet, truct a Railway too soon feel how ptre of the seas — T her active and driven from her affectively forced s have been the icross the deserts md snatched from 1 her turn she may 3: such would be- lt produced by a this latter power, gland, for her own id her interest, to constructing such rhereby our active to be regarded as ave no competitor nations, if it be fie with the head 9 waters of our inland navigation, it ought not to be delayed. Every facility should be offered for carrying it into effect. It would not only be the means of settling all the lands capable of sustaining population in those regions, but the commercial rela- tions of the world would be altered ; the great West would be penetrated — the streams of commerce ) would be changed from boisterous seas and stormy capes, to flow to our shores upon the Pacific, and through the depths of our Western wilds. With the power of steam through an accessible region and over a peaceful sea, England w^ould be placed at one- fourth of the distance at which she has hitherto stood, from the treasures of the East ; her merchants would be able to undersell, in their own ports, all the nations of the world. In other words, she would render commerce tributary to them, and Canada would be the great toll-gate through which this enormous traffic must pass. No other route across the Continent of America could compete with this, as will be shewn hereafter ; at present, I shall simply point out the route proposed : Liverpool to St. Lawrence, (miles) 2,800 St. Lawrence to British Boundary, Lake Superior 1,150 Lake Superior to Fuca's Straits 1,500 5,450 The distance from Fuca's Straits to Japan is about 4,000 miles ; to Shanghae about 5,000. Van- couver's Island commands the Straits, and abounds with excellent harbours ; coal of a Superior quality is found there ; the Indians mine it and deliver it on board the Hudson Bay Steamers at a mere nomnial 10 charge. No part of the Pacific coast affords such capabilities as does this for controlling the whole trade and traffic of the Pacific. It might be assumed as a certainty, that a cargo from JShanghae, borne by a modern ocean steamer over this placid sea, could be unloaded in fifteen or twenty days, at some one of the harbours at Fn^a's Straits, and in from three to fi^ve days more, placed for sale or transportation on the banks of Lake Superior. The construction of such a road in the direction of Fuca's Straits, would shorten the distance to England from China, &c. by sixty or seventy days, and place before us a mart of six hundred millions of people, and enable us geographically to command them. Leaving it to the guidance of commercial interests, who shall tell what may not be the commercial destiny of this country ? This scheme may excite only the curiosity of those who can hardly contemplate it as anything else than an hallucination to amuse for a moment, and then vanish. Nevertheless, such a work will some day be achieved, — if not by a British people, by our neigh- bours. And let it be remembered, that it is no difficult matter to open a new channel for a new trade, but it is very difficult to change one that is already established. There is something startling in the proposition of a Railroad to connect the Atlantic and Pacific, and much that will strike the hasty observer as chimerical, but when we have seen stupendous pyramids raised by the hand of man in the midst of a desert of shifting sands ; when we know that despite the obstacles of nature and the rudeness of art, a semi-barbarous people, centuries before the Christian era, erected 11 ist affords such [ling the whole ij ty, that a cargo ocean steamer (led in fifteen or rbours at Fnna's Lys more, placed banks of Lake ;h a road in the rten the distance or seventy days, lundred millions illy to command 5 of commercial lay not be the ? curiosity of those [lything else than oment, and then will some day be )le, by our neigh- 3d, that it is no annel for a new ange one that is :,lie proposition of and Pacific, and ver as chimerical, s pyramids raised I desert of shifting ,e the obstacles of a semi-barbarous stian era, erected I around their empire a solid barrier of wall, carrying it ovei the most formidable mountains, and across rivers on arches, and through the declensions and sinuosities of valleys to the distance of fifteen hundred miles, let us not insult the enterprize of this enlight- ened age by denouncing as visionary and impractica- ble the plan of a simple line of rails over a surface of no greater extent without one half the natural obsta- cles to overcome. To do so would evince a forget- fulness of the vast achievments of this age. As to its feasibility, I am aware many will object to it on that ground. Nevertheless, from all the information obtained, I believe that it is practicable and easy of accomplishment, and that it can be accomplished by individual enterprize ; by connecting the sale and the settlement of the lands on its line with the building of the road, population must keep pace with the work and be interested in it, and the labour of grading, &c., must pay in part for the land and make homes for the settlers. The plan or mode of operation by which it is proposed to carry out this great work, is that the Government shall sell, to a chartered company sixty miles wide of the lands from the Lake to the Pacific, at a reduced rate, or at such a rate as the Government shall pay for obtaining the surrender to the Crown, from the various bands of Indians now possessing it. At present it is a wilder- ness, and although, to a great extent, it is capable of sustaining a large population, yet it must lie waste and unprofitable, whilst thousands of our fellow countrymen are starving and destitute ; and so it must remain, without value, and impossible of settle- ment, unless some move be made which shall create facilities which will afford the means of settling these I I i m\\\ \ 12 lands, and thus make them a source of wealth and power to the country. Immediately after such sur- render to the Crown, of one hundred or two Imndred miles or more, the route upon it would be surveyed and located, preparations made for grading, &c., and proceeding with the work, a large body of workmen or settlers at once placed upon it ; when ten miles of the road shall have be n completed, in the most substantial and approved manner, and to the satis- faction of a Commissioner appointed by Government a patent shall issue to the Company for the first half of the road or five miles, or patents to the settlers who may have purchased upon the line, as may be deemed most advisable ; the Government thus hold- ing still one-half of the road. Now, if the sale of land could not be made to produce a suflicient amount to return the money expended on the ten miles of road, then the experiment is the loss of the Company, and the Government would not have lost one shilling, but on the contrary, the five miles of road held by it, must be enhanced in value ; if, upon the contrary, the land is raised from beyond its present value to an amount exceeding the outlay, then the half held by Government would have imparted to it an equal increase in value from the same causes, and this ought to be a sufficient security for the due perform- ance of the work. Such should be the proceeding throughout the good or available lands upon the route ; but as the road for an immense distance may pass through poor and barren lands — in such case, as much of the nearest good laijds beyond the line finished as may cover the outlay npon such a line or section, may be sold by the Company, and patents issued ; and when all shall have been completed, the f •ce of wealth and ly after such sur- sd or two liundred ould be surveyed grading, &c., and body of workmen when ten miles ieted, in the most and to the satis- id by Government y for the first half its to the settlers le line, as may be •nment thus hold- Dw, if the sale of , sufficient amount the ten miles of !s of the Company, ^e lost one shilling, s of road held by ipon the contrary, >resent value to an I the half held by jd to it an equal causes, and this ' the due perform- )e the proceeding } lands upon the 3nse distance may ds — in such case, i beyond the line pon such a line or Dany, and patents jen completed, the 13 title of the road should vest in the Company, subject to the control of Government, in regulating and fixing tolls, &c. Should the plan fail. Government can lose nothing, because the lands still remain, and their value will have been added to, even by the failure. Thus it is proposed to establish an entirely new system of settlement, on which the hopes for success are based, and on which all depend. The settler on the line of road would, as soon as his house or cabin was up and a crop in, find employment upon the road ; when his crop would have ripened, there would be a market at his door, created by those in the same situation as his was the season before, and if he had in the first instance paid for his land, the money would go back to him, either directly or indirectly, for labor and materials furnished for the work, so in one year the settler would have his home, with settlement and civilization surrounding him, a demand for his labor, a market at his door, and, for any surplus of his produce, a railroad to communi- cate with other markets. The settler who might not have the means to purchase land even at the lowest price, gay 3s. 9d. per acre, would obtain those means by his labor on the road and a first crop — he too in one year would have his home, with the same advantages and be as equally independent. Settlers under any other circumstances, placed in a wilderness, remote from civilization, would have no benefit from the sum paid, beyond his title to the land, — his house built and crop in, he finds no demand for his labour, because all around him are in the same condition as himself ; when his crop is grown he has no market ; his labor, it is true, produces food froni the earth, but he cannot exchange it for other 14 different products of industry. A proper and syste- matic course adopted for inducing immigration from the Mother Country, would relieve her of a surplus population ; open the f'reatest possible extent of wilderness, otherwise forever useless, to ,-jttlement and production ; making it the means of benefitting and carrying comfort and happiness to thousands of our fellow-subjects in the Mother Country, suffering the worst of evils, caused by a too dense population, whilst at the same time such immigration will benefit this country to an illimitable extent. Perhaps it may be thought that the Government of the country should undertake this work, and dispose of the lands as proposed. Private enterprize far exceeds any operations of the Government in celerity, and is much more economical and effective. If the Government undertook it, the sale of the lands would never meet the disbursement, and the difficulties to be encounter- ed by delays in the transaction of the business at the Seat of Government, would alone retard the work and cause it to linger until it perished. Such a work by Government would abnrb the entire legislation of the country, and being subject to changes of management and direction at each session, its progress would be utterly defeated ; the management of such a great work, and the amount of money which this plan would place as a stake to be carried off by the successful party in the struggle, would lead to ->very species of political corruption and bargaining to secure so vast a prize, which of itsell would preclude the selection of the men of the character requisite to carry out the plan ; each administration would appoint its own partizans as directors, who would exert all the infliience that their position, and the immense to sustaii depended work is b of the lar or else it Governm( The CO point of a daily flocl generally the capita part for tl in the ro; would be condition, affluence, march, st( to it, aftei Cities, tov because t of the pre leave a ric produce t The Gove a sufferin Mother ( western t ing a clas best pride It will is based i the count is capable and syste- ration from jf a surplus extent of ;-jttlement benefitting housands of y, suffering population, will benefit Perhaps it the country of the lands (xceeds any and is much jovernment never meet B encounter- siness at the rd the work 5uch a work 3 legislation changes of I, its progress nent of such y which this ;d off by the ead to '>very irgaining to uld preclude ter requisite ation would , who would ion, and the 15 immense means at their command would give them, to sustain in power those on whom their offices depended. The only true way of carrying out th'S work is by private enterprize connected with the sale of the lands, under the protection of Government , or else it must be accomplished by the Imperial Government alone. The commencement of this work would make it a point of attraction to the whole population of Europe, daily flocking to American shores ; most of these are generally without means, nevertheless their labor is the capital which would grade the road, and pay in part for the land. They would not only be interested in the road as a means for their daily bread, but would be sure that its results would benefit their condition, and elevate themselves and families to affluence. Civilization, with all its influences, would march, step by step, with the road, and would draw to it, after the first two years, 100,000 souls annually. Cities, towns and villages would spring up like magic, because the road — the cheap means for the transit of the products of man's labor to a market — would leave a rich reward for that labor, and as it proceeded produce the further means for the completion of all. The Government, in exchange for the substratum of a suffering population of indigent emigrants of the Mother Country would find its broad and fertile western territory sprinkled with hamlets and possess- ing a class of intelligent and happy husbandmen, the best pride and boast of a free country. It will be at once perceived, that the plan proposed is based upon the assumption that a great portion of the country through which such liailway might pass, is capable of sustaining a large population, and also 16 of furnishing the means of carrying the work over such portions of the line as should be found barren or unfitted for the abode of civilized man. I propose now to show that such a description of favourable country exists to an almost unlimited extent, and that westward we have a vast wilderness of land which only requires the application of the labor of the now destitute, to produce abundant means for achieving this great work, richly reward that labor, and open out almost a new world as the inheritance of a British people. I might speculate upon the future, and predict what would be the vast, the mighty results by the accomplishment of this work, but it is my object to give a plain statement, which I believe to be based on facts, of the features of the country. There are two points upon Lake Superior from which such Railway might be com- menced, each line striking the same point at the Lac La Pluie, a distance of about 129 miles, thence to the Lake of the Woods. The one starting at Pigeon River, perhaps, is a more direct route, and I beleive in many respects the better one ; the other starts from the Kaministaquoia, at the mouth of which stands the Hudson Bay Company's Es- tablishment — Fort William. I will suppose that this latter route is followed, because, without merely asserting my own views and opinions as to its capa- bility of sustaining an agricultural population, I can quote from the published work of another, showing the description and character of count y through which I propose to pass, proving that at the moment of leaving the shores of Lake Superior we enter a country capable of providing for men all those necessaries and comforts which civilization requires. The Kat the dists obstruct 140 feet elm, hire again n; reached Thev Simpson "One feeling t the happ Hocks a churches hearths, in the w hopeless to bar fo tion. B up its lo impedim The min continui find thei produce Throi exist no come — f level of thence In refer says : the La Stream c work over md barren cription of unlimited wilderness tion of the lant means ward that rid as the ; speculate 3e the vast, ent of this statement, he features upon Lake ht be com- 3int at the lies, thence starting at 'oute, and I ; the other J mouth of pany's Es- ppose that tiout merely to its capa- ation, I can er, showing Iry through the moment we enter a n all those on requires. / IT The Kaministaquoia is a large and fine river, but at the distance of about thirty miles up, navigaiion is obstructed bv the Kakabeka Falls, a fall of about 140 feet; the banks of the river are clothed with elm, birch and maple ; above the falls the river is again navigable, to the height of land which is reached in little over a day's travel by canoes. The valley of this river is described by Sir George Simpson in his overland journey, and he says : " One cannot pass through this fair valley without feelinfj that it is destined sooner or later to become the happy home of civilized men, with their bleating Hocks and lowing herds, with their schools and churches, with their full garners and their social hearths. At the time of our visit, the great obstacle in the way of so blessed a consummation, was the hopeless wilderness to the eastward, which seemed to bar forever the march of settlement and cultiva- tion. But that very wilderness, now that is to yield up its long hidden stores, bids fair to remove the very impediments which hitherto it has itself presented. The mines of Lake Superior, besides establishing a continuity of route between the east and west, will find their nearest and cheapest supply of agricultural produce in the valley of the Kaministaquoia." Through the valley to the height of land, there exist no obstructions which cannot be readily over- come — from this height of land descending to the level of the beautiful Lake of the Thousand Islands, thence to Lac La Pluie and the Lake of the Woods. In reference to this portion, Sir George Simpson says : *' The river which empties Lac La Pluie into the Lake of the Woods, is decidedly the finest Stream on the whole route in more than one respect : t' 18 from Fort Francis (situated on Lac La Plufe) downward a stretch of nearly a hundred miles, it is not interrupted by a single imjtediment, while yet the current is not strong enough to retard an ascend- ing traveller, nor are the banks less favorable to agriculture than the waters themselves to navigation ; resembling the Thames near Richmond — from the very bank of the river there rises ;i gentle slope of green sward, crowned in many places with a plentiful growth of birch, poplar, beech, elm, and oak ; is it too much for the eye of philanthropy to discern through the vista of futurity this noble stream, connecting as it does, the fertile shores of two spacious lakes, with crowded steamboats on its bosoni, aud populous towns upon its borders ? The shores of this latter lake are not less fertile than the other, producing rice in abundance and bring maze to perfection." The Lake of the Woods is connected again by a magnificent river 300 miles in length (the Winipeg) with the lake of that name lying to the north-west of the Lake of the Woods — these lakes, with others, being wholly within our own boundaries — the Lake of the Woods is about 80 miles long by 40 broad ; Lake Winipeg is 280 long, and 100 broad. The country in which these lakes are situated is called the Assiniboin, across which flows the Red River, emptying into Lake Winipeg; upon this river is established the Colony founded by Lord Selkirk. From the western side of the Lake of the Woods, the Winipeg River or Lake Winipeg, comprising a distance of near 300 miles, any point may be taken, and nmning directly west not a single obstruction offers for carrying a Railroad to the very foot of the Rocky Mountains, a distance of 800 miles, c; —the A name, t hundred through flows th gable Ibi Loade every dii is accom 000 mile and load 300 cart hunters "» of the 1 destroyet says he 1 and infet the valle river aloi abounds advantaj this, is, t crops ou of some was tra^ had been and sout vast exp the glear ed from depth." savourec spring, tl ^ .a Plufe) niies, it is while yet ,n ascend- orable to Lvigation ; -froni the e slope of 3 with a elm, and ithropy to )le stream, s of two its on its TS ? The e than the iring maze connected ength (the ing to the hese lakes, Doundaries es long by 100 broad, jituated is s the Red upon this . bv Lord ^! 32 Again : Vast countries still lie in the fairy regions of the East, the productions and resources of which are scarcely known to us, and only await the civiHzing influence of such a scheme as this to throw down the barriers of prejudice and superstition. Of this nature and character is the opulent empire of Japan. Though second but to China itself, it holds no intercourse with foreigners, and only permits one nation to land upon its dominions (the Dutch). Ought it to be too much to hope that thus being brought so near lo us, some diplomacy or commercial interests would t^irow its rich markets open to our enterprise. The cost of the work, even though it should amount to a hundred millions, is no argument to urge against the undertaking which would render every nation on the globe our commercial tributaries. But this is a most extravagant estimate. It would scarcely amount to eight millions, less, indeed, than would be required to cut a canal across the Isthmus of Panama* as is proposed, entailing, perhaps, upon England, some future war, to maintain tne rights of her subjects in using such canal, the expenses of which would build a dozen railways; a war that might leave England enfeebled, exhausted, and depressed. The completion of the proposed Railway through British possessions, would find her regenerated with new life, her impulses re-awakened, her energies strength- ened, and advancing with a rapidity and vigor that would astonish Destiny herself. The distance from the head of Lake Superior to the Pacific being about 1,500 miles, then allow for detours and crossing the Rocky Mountains, say 250 miles, making in all 1750. To construct such a road would c^pt about £5,000 per mile, making a total of £8,750,000. From 1 Superior portion u] Lac la P for the p covered v the ploug the abov( £50,000. the whole produce tl building, t] 60 miles is Without throughout other cont States, let i idea of the i munication Imports i] From Beng taken fror zi7ie for ]) to Con tin and Soutl Less for the America, From Sumat tariff, part The Philippi New South ' Land (tab page 474) . Mauritius (ta » ' n regions [ which ait the this to ii'stition. empire , it holds mits one Dutch), us being [nmercial m to our d amount re against ry nation But this scarcely Iwould be Panama* England, r subjects |ch would ;ht leave led. The ;h British ith new strength- risor that Iperior to illow for say 250 It £5,000 83 From the point where it might start upon Lake Superior to Lac la Pluie, would be the most expensive portion upon this side of the Rocky Mountains ; from Lac la Pluie onward, i,he land is of the best quality for the production of food for man, well watered, covered with rich grass, &c. The farmer wants but the plough, the seed, the scythe, and the sickle ; at the above rate, ten miles of railway would cost £50,000. Five miles by sixty contain 192,000 acres, the whole of this sold at say 5s. per acre, would not produce the sum required for the bare expense of building, thereby showing that the request made for 60 miles is not unreasonable. Without directing attention to the trade carried on throughout the Pacific, by France, by Holland, and other continental nations, and also bv the United States, let us look only to England, it will afford some idea of the incalculable advantages which such acom- munication would open out through this country. Imports into Great Britain from the following ports : From Bengal, Madras and Bombay, as taken komHunt's Merchant's Maga- zine for March, 1843, including all to Continental Europe, and North and South America, annually, £12,000,000 Less for the amount to France and America, 2,489,340 i £ 9,510,660 From Sumatra and Java (commercial tariff, part 6) 215,216 The Philippine Isles, 346,692 New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land (table of revenue, part 12, page 474) 1,118,088 Mauritius (table of revenue, part 12) 806,593 34 Chili, estimated at. Peru, estimated at. From China the total amount of various productions, teas, silks, &c., 1,500,000 1,000,000 £14,197,240 5,000,000 £19,197,240 To which must be added the exports from Great Britain, which are sent in exchange for the above productions. The imports and exports of the Dutch East Indies and the French East Indies, should also be considered, as also the exports and imports of the United States ; all would be tributary to such a road. The Imperial Government have con- tracted to pay, per annum, for the transmission of a Monthly Mail to Chagres, £250,000 And Irom Panama to Callao, for com- municating with the Navy and Officers in the Pacific, 20,000 £270,000 Having thus alluded to the importance to be attached to the opening of such a communication as proposed with the Pacific, and to the comparative advantages, in a strictly commercial point of view, between it and the Isthmus of Panama, it may not be inappropriate to again advert to it, as regards the effect the constructing of a canal at the latter, would have upon England's maritime supremacy. As early as the seventeenth century, a company projected by William Patterson,- was formed in Scotland, to improve the advantages offered by the Isthmus of Darien, £700,000 was raised, and 1200 men set sail to found a colony, but being denounced W I 1 ^ by Gov( they su abandon seems t( forming canal by act to E thus :;eople that has trade imparted 1 timid naviga- ts coasts, region the Genii in the the sceptre to »rs that surround ts embrace. In Rome, Venice, lastly England, n ; Destiny now