IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 1.0 
 
 ;.i 
 
 11.25 
 
 ■^■M |2.5 
 
 Hf b£ III 2.0 
 
 lA 11 1.6 
 
 /] 
 
 7 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 v^ 
 
 ''? 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 .•V 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 '^ 
 
Yn'\r^''^^'^;/V.'^'T,V) -.r^-^ ST' -■:-;•- ;^/-fr;iF.'iv'T.v^^ 
 
 CIHM/ICMH 
 
 Microfiche 
 
 Series. 
 
 CIHM/ICMH 
 Collection de 
 microfiches. 
 
 Canadian institute for Historical Microreproductions 
 
 Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiqua* 
 
 1980 
 
Technical Notes / Notes techniques 
 
 The Institute has attempted to obtain the best 
 original copy available for filming. Physical 
 features of this copy which may alter any of the 
 images in the reproduction are checked below. 
 
 L'Institut a microfilm^ ie meilleur exempiaire 
 qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Certains 
 difauts susceptibles de nuire d la quality de la 
 reproduction sont not6s ci-dessous. 
 
 D 
 D 
 
 Coloured covers/ 
 Couvertures de couleur 
 
 Coloured maps/ 
 
 Cartes gdographiques en couleur 
 
 D 
 D 
 
 Coloured pages/ 
 Pages de couleur 
 
 Coloured plates/ 
 Planches en couleur 
 
 D 
 
 Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ 
 Pages d6color6es, tacheties ou piqudes 
 
 D 
 
 Show through/ 
 Transparence 
 
 D 
 
 Tight binding (may cause shadows or 
 distortion along interior margin)/ 
 Reliure serr6 (peut causer de I'ombre ou 
 de la distortion Ie long de la marge 
 intdrieure) 
 
 D 
 
 Pages damaged/ 
 Pages endommag6es 
 
 D 
 
 Additional comments/ 
 Commentaires suppl6mentaires 
 
 Bibliographic Notes / Notes bibliographiques 
 
 D 
 D 
 
 Only edition available/ 
 Seule Edition disponible 
 
 Bound with other material/ 
 Reli6 avec d'autres documents 
 
 D 
 
 Pagination incorrect/ 
 Erreurs de pagination 
 
 Pages missing/ 
 Des pages manquent 
 
 D 
 D 
 
 Cover title missing/ 
 
 Le titre de couverture manque 
 
 Plates missing/ 
 
 Des planches manquent 
 
 D 
 
 Maps missing/ 
 
 Des cartes gdographiques manquent 
 
 D 
 
 Additional comments/ 
 Commentaires suppiimentaires 
 
The images appearing here are the best quaiity 
 possible considering the condition and legibility 
 of the original copy and in keeping with the 
 filming contract specifications. 
 
 Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le 
 plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et 
 de la nettet6 de I'exemplaire film6, et en 
 conformity avec les conditions du contrat de 
 filmage. 
 
 The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall 
 contain the symbol —► (meaning CONTINUED"), 
 or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever 
 applies. 
 
 Un des symboles suivants apparaftra sur la der- 
 nidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: 
 le symbole — ^ siqnifie "A SUIVRE ". le symbole 
 V signifie "FIN". 
 
 The original copy was borrowed from, and 
 filmed with, the kind consent of the following 
 institution: 
 
 Library of the Public 
 
 Archives of Canada 
 
 Maps or plates too large to be entirely included 
 in one exposure are filmed beginning in the 
 upper left hand corner, left to right and top to 
 bottom, as many frames as required. The 
 following diagrams illustrate the method: 
 
 L'exemplaire filmd fut reproduit grdce d la 
 g6n6rosit6 de I'^tablissement prdteur 
 suivant : 
 
 La bibliothdque des Archives 
 
 publiques du Canada 
 
 Les cartes ou les planches trop grandes pour dtre 
 reproduites en un seul clich6 sont filmdes d 
 partir de I'angle supdrieure gauche, de gauche d 
 droite et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre 
 d'images n6cessaire. Le diagramme suivant 
 illustre la mdthode : 
 
 1 2 3 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
'I 
 
■-■-.• .. • t 
 
 THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY COMPANY 
 
 AND ITS EXTRAORDINARY 
 
 TEI,EGRAPHIC & TELEPHONIC PRIVILEGES. 
 
 ♦-♦-♦- 
 
 A Letter to the Hon. Sir Charles Tupper, K.C.M.G., from the 
 Representatives op Telegraph Companies in Canada. 
 
THE EXTRAORDINARY 
 
 TELEGRAPHIC AND TELEPHONIC PRIVILEGES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY CO. 
 
 > ♦< 
 
 ^ Montreal, March 18, 1884. 
 
 The Honorable Sir Charles Tupper, K.C.M.G., 
 
 Minister of Bailicays and Canals, Ottawa, Canada^ 
 
 Dear Sir: — The powers which the Canadian Pacific 
 Bailway Company possess, in regard to Telegraphs, are 
 believed to be greater than those possessed by any other 
 corporation on this Continent. The powers conceded by 
 Parliament to the various companies especially devoted 
 to the telegraph business are not nearly as ample in their 
 scope as those granted to the Canadian PaciHc Railway 
 Company; and no other railway company, im'orporated 
 by Parliament, possesses anything like the privileges, in 
 
relation to tele^rraph matters, wliicli the Canadian Pacific 
 Goiiii)aii.Y iiave had conferred upon them. Mo restrictions 
 a8 to rates, no liniitati(m8 as to powers of anndpnu^^tion, 
 leasing, or ])nrcliasinj^ other lines, are ro'itaiueil in the 
 act emdjling this comimny to do a public telej»ia])Ii busi- 
 ness. They are empowered to do business all over the 
 Dominion, irrespective of the location of tlieir railway 
 line. Side by side with the riyht conveyed to them — 
 
 "To lay out, construct, acquire, equip, maintain, and 
 work a continuous line of railway,'' — in the very next 
 clause, they are empowered — 
 
 " To construct, maintain, and work a continuous tele- 
 graph and telephone line throujihout the whole line of the 
 Canadian Pacitic i^ ad way, or any part thereof, an<l may 
 alsit construct or acquire by piirchai^e^ Ifase, or otherwise^ 
 any otJier line or lines of telegraphy » « # r^,n| ^^^^^y 
 undertake the transmission of niessajjes for the public by 
 any such line or lines of telej^raph or telej>hone, and col- 
 lect tolls for so doing, or may lease such line or lines of 
 telegraph or telei)hone, or any portion thereof.'^ 
 
 Your attention is drawn to the fart that, inasmuch as 
 no other railroad company pos>esses these powers, and, 
 as no telegraph comi>any has them in a manner so unre- 
 . stricted, their possessiou imparts an element of danger. 
 These concessions are sutlicieutly ample to enable the 
 Canadian Pacific « ail way Company to do a telegraph 
 business in any [lart of the Dominion of Canarla, to com- 
 pete with all the existing telegraph companies, and, in 
 virtue of the enormous sums which they have derived 
 from governmental subshly, to effectually destroy the earn- 
 ing power of the existing telegraphic corporationw. 'I he 
 possibility of this condition ensuing may well till with 
 
5 
 
 aiarm tliiR iffr^e^lasa of persons, shareholdera and others, 
 dire«'tl.v interested In telej:frH]»li projM^rty. Hnt, aside t'rnin 
 the thousands interested in sneh pr()])efty in the I >orainion, 
 the ]Mil)lie have a vital interest in tlie p<»ssilnlity that the 
 Canadian Pacific hailioad Coini)any will have the power 
 to monopolize the entire tele^rai)liie service, not only of 
 the Mortli western Provinces and Territories, but of the 
 entire Dominion. For, should they be successtul in com- 
 peting^ with the existing tele<ifraph companies, it would 
 so tar crlp]>le the latter, as to make it possible that 
 amalgamation or consolidation would be necessary to 
 preserve the property from ruin. 
 
 Tnder the act as it now stands, the Canadian Pacific 
 Eailway Company can become possessed by lease, pur- 
 chase, or otherwise, of all the telegraphic property of the 
 country; and, inasmuch as no restriction of rates is pro- 
 vided for in their charter, they could exact whatever 
 tolls they chose. They would then practic/allv possess, 
 especially so far as the Northwestern Territories are con- 
 cerned, the entire means c ^minunication ; they w<mld 
 not only carry the mails, trans. »rt freight and passengers, 
 but they wouhl have the oidy other independent means 
 ot communication entirely in their hands. 
 
 It was, of course, contemplated originally, when these 
 powers were granted, that the operations of the Canadian 
 Pacitic llailway should be mainly confined to the country 
 west of Lake Ni])issiiig. Jt was probably presumed that 
 telegra])hic facilities could not be afforded except by the 
 railroad companies in these new regions for many years, 
 and hence there seemed to be some justification for grant- 
 ing to the railway company extraordinary powers. Hut 
 sim*e the passage of this act, a policy of railway an«l tele- 
 graphic extension has been developed, which threatens to 
 
6 
 
 permeate almost the entire Dominion, and the owners of 
 tele«;raph property in the country view with alarm and 
 a]>prf heiision the jmssession of powers by a railway com- 
 pany, which they themselves have been denied, and which, 
 if exeriiiaed to the fullest extent, would virtually confiscate 
 the iiroperty of thousands of innocent shareholders. This 
 power of confiscation is au«i^rneuted by the fact that large 
 governmental aid is aliorded to the railway company, the 
 expenditure of whi<h in regard to telegraph or telephone 
 lines may be uurestricted, unchecked, and unknown, so 
 far as governmental control is coneerned. Not only is 
 there no check upon the buihling of competitive telegra])h 
 property with government moneys, but com])etitive busi- 
 ness can be carried on for years, and, with such aid as the 
 government are about to attbrd, no one can tell what 
 deficiencies in this particular branch ot the business may 
 be covered up by combifiing together the earnings of the 
 railway and the telegrai)h. Thus, no matter how other 
 telegrai)h corporations might have to cut and carve to 
 make ends meet, the Cana<lian Pacific Railway Company, 
 having, on the one hi;:id, enormous revenues from freight 
 and passenger traffic, and, on the other, vast subsidies in 
 . land and money, could very effectually destroy for a series 
 of years all pr<»tit for legitimate telegrajihic enterprise, 
 antl recoup themselves in another series of years by 
 absorbing the property of other companies at a largely 
 depreciated value, and by exacting such rates as they chose 
 under the plenary i)owers granted them by Parliament. 
 
 Inasmuch as a practical revision is now taking place of the 
 terms upon which the Canadian Pacific Railway Company 
 have undertaken their great euterprise, and as the circum- 
 stances surrounding the whole nuitter have considerably 
 changed, it would seem proi)er that some attention should 
 
be given to the aspect of the question, so far as it aflecta 
 telegrapliic property and teleg:rjii»hic communication. 
 
 The consolidation of telegrapliic interests, which Govern- 
 ment and Parliament approved by so lar^e a majority 
 within a short tim^, was a virtual compact, by which 
 telegraphic property in the <50initry should be protected 
 so long as the public were effectually served, the property 
 r^^lly maintained, and the servi»-e i)erf'ormed at the low 
 rBxas fixed by Parliament. So far as- the telegraphic com- 
 panies are concerned, it is submitted that they have ful- 
 filled their part of the contra(;t. ^\^ver before in the 
 history of the country has telegraph projjerty been in a 
 higher state of perfection. It is impossible to do better 
 service than has been done, in view of the distances, the 
 sparsely settled country, and the generally arduous nature 
 of much of the service. Promptitude, accuracy, and 
 amplitude of facilities have been afforded; owners of 
 telegraph property have been fairly remunerated ; and the 
 sense of protection and safety which has* been imparted 
 to the thousand shareholders, the majority of whom are 
 estates, widows, and orphans, has been very comforting; 
 while the rates afforded to the public, and especially to 
 the press, are such as exist nowhere else in the world, all 
 things considered.* 
 
 This favorable condition of things is constantly threat- 
 ened by the existence on the statute books of the provi- 
 
 * As to the facUlttea aflfordert, no better illustration Is needed than that famished; 
 on the occasion of your own great speech during the present session, on the policy 
 of the (Jovernment in regard to the loan to the Cana<iiau Pacific Railway, when dur- 
 ing the night no less than nineteen columns of solid matter was transmitted over 
 the wires to the Toronto papers. The Montreal papers received nearly an equal 
 quantity of matter, to say nothing of other lengthy reports transmitted throughout 
 the length and breadth of the country, and half-way across (the contiqent. On the 
 delivery of the speech on the Budget last session, the Toronto Mail one morning 
 contained twenty five eulumm of teUgraphic matter, and well remarked that " modert 
 civilization p^jbably does not habitually exhibit itself in any more striking way 
 than on such an occasion." 
 
3 . ^ . 
 
 siQns which are foui^cl \\\ the charter of the Canadian 
 taci.fic Hallway, and, MOW that opportunity is affonled, 
 this cause of apprehension should be removed, by restdct- 
 ihg that company to the same telegraphic lipwers jios- 
 sessed by other railroad companies. ". "• ^ . 
 
 So far as the Northwestern Provinces are concerned^ 
 ample provision has been, and will be made by the ex- 
 isting companies, for the transmission of public business. 
 Should there be any failure in this respect, with the aid 
 which the government has already afforded, in the lines 
 they themselves possess throughout that country, no ne- 
 cessity exists for the broad interi)retation of their powers 
 now claimed by the Canadian Pacific hallway Company. 
 That these are dangerously large, no 'one will deny. 
 Already the Canadian Pacific Kailroad Company is com- 
 peting with companies which preceded them in the task 
 of furnishing communication to the struggling commu- 
 nities of the Northwest, and it will be impossible to 
 maintain independent telegraphic communication through- 
 out the iNorth western Provinces, aside trom that furnished 
 by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, unless these 
 powers are, and this business is placed upon the same 
 footing as all other commercial enterprises. 
 
 If, on the one hand, powers are delegated by Govern- 
 ment to a private railway corporation, already spreading 
 itself like an/'army of occupation" over the country, and, 
 at the same time, it is supplied with millions of public 
 money, and permitted to compete in specific lines of 
 activity, there can be but one result: to increase the 
 power of the railway comi)any, entirely extinguish the 
 possibility of competition, and create a practical monopoly 
 of all the means of communication in the hands of a few 
 gentlem^en;, whQj h9W€>yer estimable they may be, will, 
 
nevertheleRft, be tina'ble to resist tlie opportnuitieR affordcji} 
 by the enormotis desf^otiBm virtually conferred U]M)n t1iem» 
 
 We Vjenture to a<1dress yon in tliia manner, Sir Cliarle.s, 
 because of your liberal Hj>preciation of the tt'Iofiraph 
 situation, as shown in the stand which you took three 
 years aj?o, when the question of teleffr^-ph coinnium'cation 
 was before Tarlianient, which attitude, on your part,, 
 obtained the gratitude of the entire telejjrapliic interests 
 of tiie country. We are further encourajred to bring this 
 matter to your notice, because we have reason to believe 
 that, immediately after the passage of the original charter, 
 when your attention was drawn to the extraordinary scope 
 of the privileges contained in it, you spoke of them as 
 having been inadvertently conveyed, and expressed a dis- 
 position to avail yourself of a future opp(»rtunity, through 
 negotiation or otherwise, to procure a revision of them. In 
 a letter which you were good enough to write to a member 
 of Parliament and a supporter of your government, dated 
 in May, 1881, you gave exi)ression to this view, and said 
 you wouhl avail yourself of an early op])ortunity to induce- 
 the syndicate to con- en t to an alteration that wouhl be 
 satisfactory to the owners of other telegraph property. It ia 
 probable that, during the pressure on youi time that existed 
 at the moment of the passage of the charter, the full import 
 of the telegraphic ])0wers granted were not quite appre- 
 hended. But now that their full meaning is apprehended^ 
 and the circumstan<res surrouniiing the whole question are 
 so materially changed, an opi)ortunity shouhl not be suf- 
 ered to jiass when your expressed wish can be fultilled. . 
 
 JOHN CRAWFORD, - 
 
 1 On Imhalf of, the Montreal TdegrapK Company:^ 
 
 ERASTUS WIMAN, ^ '\ ' " 
 
 President Qrettt NbHh WeiteH TehgrapK Co. i)f Citnadd^ 
 
Montreal^ March^]^^84. 
 
 The Honobable Sie Charles Tupper, K.O.M.G., 
 
 Minister of Raihcays and Canals, Ottawa, Ontario. 
 
 Deau Sir Charles: We desire particularly to thank 
 you for the extremely ^acious manner in wliicli you 
 rec'eived a delegation from tlie telegraph companies. 
 \> hen the views above expressed were conveyed to you, 
 you were good enough to conlirm the impression whicli 
 had previously been given — that the powers granted to 
 the Canadian Pacitic Railway Company, in relativon to 
 telegrai)h matters, were inadvertently conveyed to that 
 company ; and, though you doubted whether these powers 
 were as ami)le in their scope as we had feare<l in our pre- 
 vious communication, you nevertheless said that you 
 would endeavor to take sucli ste[)s as wouhl cause the 
 telegrajdiic operations of the hallway Company to be 
 limited to the lines and stations of its road. This decisive 
 view cf yours was all that we could ask, because we 
 recognized the fact that thfe IJailway Company, especially 
 in the Northwest, can afford great facilities for telegraphic 
 communication at their stations, while working their lines 
 for the conduct of their own business. 
 
 Jt is evident, however, from recent utterances on behalf 
 6f the Hallway Comj)any, that they are not inclined to 
 accept your interpretation of the extent of their powers, 
 and tiiat they resent any limitatioil confining the transac- 
 tion of public telegraph business to their lines and stations. 
 
11 
 
 One ^'ood effect of the recent discussion of the matter has 
 been the development on the part of the railway company 
 of an intention, hitherto not revealed, viz.: to go into 
 telegraph business generally, and, in addition to bi*ing a 
 great hallway Company, supported by imblic bounty, to 
 also be(;ome a great Telegraph Company, doing business 
 throughout the Dominion, irrespective of the h)cation of 
 their lines of railway, and regardless of the consequences. 
 
 The determined announcement of such an intention is 
 
 the justification for again addressing you, in order that 
 
 the occasion may not be allowed to pass without some 
 
 definite steps being taken to carry out y<mr expressed 
 
 desires, of having a clear and distinct understanding 
 
 between yourself and the liailway Com])any, and in 
 
 order that telegraph interests shall have some pro- 
 
 j te(;tion at the hands of Government or Parliament. If 
 
 the Canadian Pacific hail way Telegraph is i>ermitted to 
 
 com])ete at every point throughout the Dominion, even 
 
 I widely removed from their railway lines, while they are 
 
 the recipients of such large i)ul)lic benefactions, but one 
 
 result can be reached, viz : the eventual destruction of 
 
 vested interests already existing in telegraph property in 
 
 jthe Dominion. The i)ossii»ility of such a result will, we 
 
 I are sure, be sufficient to quicken the. action of yourself 
 
 land others in this matter, but, aside from this effect, the 
 
 consequences to the public generally are likely to be so 
 
 giave that, at the risk of taxing ycmr kindness, wo beg 
 
 jto urge upon you some further considerations. 
 
 Those who have watched closely the progress. of tele- 
 
 |grai)hs in the last fifty years have rarely, if ever, seen two 
 
 |telegraph companies competing for the same business suc- 
 
 jeed in maintaining themselves, even in densely popu'ated 
 
 pUices, in localities where the business transacted is enor- 
 
1<* 
 
 ! I 
 
 motis. Eventual loss and certain embarrafisment follow 
 either to one company or to the other. It must be so in the 
 nature of thinj^s. There are com])arati\ ely few t(»wns wliere 
 there is business enough to sustain tWo telegraph com- 
 panies, any more than business enough to sustain two post 
 offices. If this has been the experience all over the world, 
 how much more so is it the case in Canada, where popula- 
 tion, except in a few centres, between long stretches, is 
 sparse, and where business needing telegraph servi(;e is 
 limited ? It is doubtful if twenty towns could be named 
 in the whole of Ontario or Quebec, where one operator in 
 each could not handle all telegraph business ofiering, 
 esjiecially during the winter season. For instance, in how 
 many towns within a radius of one hundred miles of 
 Ottawa would there be business suificient to sustain two 
 telegraph establishments, in a manner sufficiently effective 
 to do the business satisfactorily I But it, in addition to 
 the small volume of telegraph business to be tranS'icted, 
 Parliament insists upon a uniform and low rate at which 
 it must be done, how utterly im]»ossible it is that (tompe- 
 tititm can exist and thrive. If this uniform and fixed rate 
 is the one decided upon after years of experience by the 
 British Government, as the rate at which even the tele- 
 graph postal service of that kingdom can be rendered, is 
 it likely that there is sufficient i>rofit from the charges 
 made to permit a division of the business between two 
 companies, and yet yield any return to the parties trans- 
 "diCting it, or jiay interest on the caiiital invested in the 
 'liroperty used for the i)urposef It should be borne in 
 mflid, too, that this rate enforced by the British Govern- 
 -itfiewt is confined to short distances, in densely i)opulated 
 ftisti'iCtN, with a ri^d ttionopolt of the vast business 
 ttahiiitctt^d, without) a dollar of interest being paid ui)on 
 tiife'eiiorrinious accuwulatiohs of capital represented in the 
 
 ! I 
 
13 
 
 property used, and yet resulting for years ia lar^ye deftclen- 
 cies. If this is the condition of things in Great, LritM-vB, 
 how is it possible that in Canada two great telegraph com- 
 panies can thrive on a business extending over distanc^es 
 aveniging three times greater than those in Knland, with 
 salaries, material, and labor, much higher, and a traffic of 
 insignificant volume I 
 
 Supposing the i >ritish Post < office Department to be a 
 separate organization, dependent for its existence on 
 general business. What would be thought of the British 
 Government if, after making a contract with it for the 
 transaction of all public telegraph business, at a rate 
 which barely paid expenses, they had permitted the 
 London & Korth Western Railway Company to erect tele- 
 graph lines, not only along its own roads, but all over the 
 country, and subsidized it to the extent of millions, with a 
 view ot enabling it to com[)ete with the Post' »ttice, seriously 
 embarrassing the latter and rendering it unable to pay its 
 expenses? Yet such is the attitude which telegraph 
 matters in Canada are rapidly assuming. Aside from the 
 common fate which has overtaken competitive telegraphy, 
 even without re>triction in rates, it is impossible to con- 
 ceive of any other fate in store for the weaker of the two 
 telegraph comjianies than that of annihilation, except it 
 be absorption. Of course in this strugglcj the Canac^U^ji 
 Paciilc Telegraph will be the stronger of the two, and, 
 backed as it is by Government subsidies, and in receipt 
 of enormous revenues irom freight and i>assengers, it. can 
 practically afibrd for some time to do the business ibr next 
 to nothing. Having no inteiest to pay, as other companies 
 have, to the owners of telegraph property, having thiB ^<J- 
 vantage of merging the telegraph expenses with t^iose of 
 the railwa}^, and being relieved ftpm all taxHtioii, lo<^l 
 
!! 
 
 14 
 
 and otlierwise, it i» a foregone conclusion that companies 
 without th^e advantages must succumbs With this ])ros- 
 pect in view, the Canadian Pacific Telegraph -will be in 
 sole and supreme control of the telegraphic business of 
 the Dominion. It is unnecessary that reference be made to 
 the consequences— political, commercial, and social — that 
 would follow such a control. 'J hat such a possibility — nay, 
 a pr<»bability — should exist, will in some minds be regarded 
 as tlie motive which causes these powers to be so tena- 
 ciously adhered to, rather than for a compensating profit 
 in a small business which, when divided, can possibly yield 
 so slight a return to so great a comiiany. 
 
 '■,»"■ "'■ 
 
 If it had been the deliberate intention of I'arliament to 
 place this second means of communication solely in the 
 han<ls of a railway company, and that largely subsidized 
 by Governtuent, no more efficient aclion could have been 
 devised to accomplish that result. If it had been the in- 
 tention of Parliament, first, to encourage, by legislation 
 and other methods, the investment by thousands of inno- 
 cent sharehohlers of their means in telegrajdi property, 
 and by recent favorable action permitted consolidation tor 
 the sake of self- protection, and then it had conceived the 
 idea of destroying all these varied interests, no more 
 effective method could have been taken than that now 
 being i>ermitted to grow up. Under such circumstances, 
 with ai>prehensioiis so serious, we trust you will forgive 
 us for i)ressing ujmn you the necessity for some definite 
 and immediate action, either by Government or by Par- 
 liament, that we may not be left entirely at the mercy of 
 events, which will be shaped and moulded to suit the 
 purposes of individuals, whose intentions are certainly 
 very inimical to the interests we represent, and eventually 
 to the public generally. 
 
 u^ 
 
15 
 
 We venture again to urge all this upon you, because of 
 the vast importance of these interests, and to beg that 
 you will stiJl adhere to your original purpose, to protect 
 from practical confiscation the investment of the thousand 
 shareholders in telegraph property, now so dependent 
 upon your action. The fact that among this number there 
 is a larger proportion than in any other share list in the 
 country, of trust estates, widows, and orphans, must be an 
 excuse for our importunity. The cry of these widows and 
 orphans will not be in vain, even if it has to penetrate 
 beyond the seas j but that it will have a response nearer 
 home we Ivive an assurance from you which we cannot 
 doubt. Having done so much to create (he power which 
 thus threatens this property, we must rely upon you for 
 its control, and to see to it that these threats are not 
 carried out, as, judging from the tone of recent utterances 
 on behalf of the Kailway Company, they seem likely to be. 
 
 ^ JOHN CRAWFORD, 
 
 On behalf of the Montreal Telegraph Company. 
 
 ERASTUS WIMAN, 
 
 President Great North Westei^n Telegraph Co. of Candda. 
 
 t , 
 
 iM