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Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul ciichA, 11 est filmA A partir de Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants ' illustrent la mAthode. ly errata Bd to nt ne pelure, igon A 1 2 3 1 6 32X m Sir A A LI,.\ JolT^ Geof \Vm. E. J. Ahgx TlIO!\ J. G. Ada.! Visc( KlVA After PJaiN THE NORTH-WEST TRANSPORTATION NAVIGATIOJf, AND RAILWAY COMPANY: |ts ©tjccfs. I- '^»ltl+»— WM. McD. DAWSON, Esq., M. P. P. . LEWIS MOFFAT, Esq., - - President. VlCE-PUEblEUNT. SirAtlAV N. MacNap, TJart. ALi,.\jf Mac'Doneli,, Esq. ./OITN Mcl\IURnicir, Esq. 0EOR(^E Ml^nro, Esq. Wm. JicMasteb, Esu E. J. IllCUABIiSON, Esq. Ayons D. Macdonell, Esq. Thomas Dick, Esq. J. fir. Krown, Esq. Adam Wjlson, Esq. Viscount Buby. KiVAS Tui,i,y, Esq. DIRECTORS: J. G. Citapais, Esq., ^1. P. P. G. H. SniARD, Es()., M P. p. John M'Lbop, Esq., M. P. P. Ii.NACE Gill, E.sq., M. P. P, George Michie, Esq. Wif. P. HowLANi), Esq., M. P. P. J. E. Trr.coTTE, i:;sn.. M, }>. p. Gj-OB.<.E (il.ADMAS-, hi Cr.AUR Ross, Es(|. Wm. Kennedy, Esf]. Alfred Roche, Esq. •.sq. After first General Meeting of Shareholders, tbo Board of Directors t(. bo reduced to ten. Secbetary, - . . - . . Anous D. MACDo:>ri?i,i„ Eso. SOV.ICITOB, .... .'■. Al/AM M'lL.HO\, Esq. Bankers, Tbo Bank of Upper cana/la. ! 1 'Ij By ALLAN MACDONELL, Esa. TORONTO : PiaiKTED BY ORDM^ OP THE BOARD, BY LOVELL AND 0ID60N, i'ONeE ST. 1858. 'PI ill ill. I \ INTllODUCTION. The scheme of opening a communication for traffic and trade from the Atlantic to Paeiilc shores, through Canada and the North West Territories of British America, has hnig occupied the attention, and engaged the humhle exertions of the writer of these pages. When the project was first phu;ed hefore the public, it was denounced hy many of those who now appear its advocates, as impract'cabk', audits projectors wild and visiooary. It was viewed rather as an hallucination to amuse for a moment and then to vanish ; nevertheless, iu despite of all ridicule and opposition, it has been steadil}' kept before the public since the year 1847, an extract from the communications in a city paper of that year, will exhibit the views then advanced by its cor- respondent. " Our portion of this continent of North America, lies directly in the way of the commerce passing betweeti Europe and Asia ; with a shi]) canal of six hundred and thirty- eight yards around the falls of the Sault Saiute Marie, (twenty-one feet iu all of height.) We have, through our own territories, the most mag- nificent inland ship navigation in the world, carrying us one half the way acrop.s this continent. ** By means of a railway to the Pacific, from the head of this navigation, a raj)id and safe communication would be found, by which the commerce of the world would undergo an entire change, Every one must perceive at a glance, that such a road would stand unrivalled iu the Avorld^" Between the years 1H17 and 1H50, three different Bills were successively introduced into the Legislature, for the purpose of chartering a company to construct a canal at the Sault Ste. Marie, and upon each occasion the Bill was thrown out by the Government, notwithstanding that all the preliminary plans, surveys, and estimates had been made ; a company actually I fl: 1 1, formed, and the necessary capital subscribed for constructing the work, and the Bill contained a ])roviso, that the work should be completed within two years and that the (jovernment might assume the works at any rncment, upon paying to the company their actual outlay, with a fair per centage thereon. For some unaccountalde cause the Government of the day would neither allow the Company to build the canal, nor would they under- take it as a (iovcrnment measure. The consequence is, that a canal was built upon the American side, wliere the difficulties to be encountered in the construction of such a work were innneasurably greater than any presented upon the Canada side, and, therefore, involved an enormous expenditure of money. Tliat work com])leted the last link in tJie chain of ship canals th;t connects the Atlantic with the head of Lake Suy)erior. In 1851, an application was made to the Legislature for the Incorporation of a Company, to construct a railroad from Lake Superior through British Teritories to the Pacific Ocean. The Bill was read a second time and referred to a Committee. That Committee reported unfavourably to the grant.'ng a charter upon that occasion; and among the chief objectoin to the application of the petition, it was urged, that as the project involved the ces- sion of tracts of land to the Company, it ap})eared to the Com- mittee, that the consent of the Imperial Government, as well as the consent of the Indian Tribe, and that of the Hudson's Bay Company should first b» obtained, so as to leave no room for subsequent dispute. In 1853 and in 1855, similar aj)pliealions were again made to the Legislature, for an act of incorporation for the like purpose, as sought for by the petitioners in 1851. Each a])plication Avas met at the outset by the objection that the claims advanced by the'IIudson's Bay Company would stand in the way of granting a charter. The advocates of the scheme then found it necessary to estab- lish the fact, that the claim of, the Hudson's Bay Company had no foundation in law or in justice, and that their assumption of power over Canadian Territory was usurped and illegal. The Hudson's Bay Company was arraigned before that tribu- nal from which there ia no escape. Th« tribunal of public opinloTi. PiiLllt; opinion first in Canadn, and then in England, pronounced against tho "monoi)oly" and emjihaticully declared that a vast and fertile region should no longer be closed against man's industry and a nations enterprize. It was felt that the time had now arrived when another appiieatiou could he made to the Legislature, for carrying into olFi-et tin- long contemplated project, and Avitlunit the apprehension of its hehig any longer deemed " premature." Accordingly, the Bill under which this Company is now char- tered, was introduced into the Legislature and enacted a law. The principle upon which the charter is based is somewhat different from that upon which the Bill of 1851 was sought to be enacted. The present Act may be said to be more compre- hensive in its details, for whilst the Company is empowered to acquire and dispose of lands, it is also authorized to engage in all the industrial pursuits of commercial life. i I Toronto, 29th September, 1858. t THE NOKTIIAVEST TRANSPORTATION, NAVIGxiTION, AND RAILWAY COMPANY. This Cotn})any lias been duirterotl under an Act of the Pro- vincial L('a;islaturL' of t'uaada, vith a limited liability. The shari-hokkTS being cbarf^eable only to the amount of the sub- seribcd stock bcld by eacli indi\idnally. The capital stock, J^IOO.OOO, in shares of ^20 each, power is jrivoa to increase the capital f^tock to ,K'HO0,()0O. Authority 13 also plvou still further to incrciise the same at the rate of :§^30,00(> for every mile of railway to be constructed. The powers of the (ktmpany are very extensive. In addition to that of trading, they are authorized to acquire and hohl real estate, ana sell or otherwise dispose of the same ; to construct roads, tramways, railways, canals and all other such works as they may deem necessary for carrying on their trade ; and also to improve and rcnch-r navigable channels of water communica- tion; — and iipon all sucli works and improvements to charge and ' levy tolls upon all passengers, traffic and freight, passing along or over the same. The Company has likewise the right to own, charter, and navigate boats, vessels, and steamers upon Lakes Huron and Superior, and upon all the waters, lakes and rivers, lying to the nortward and to the westward of the latter, thereby offering to their enerf!:y and their enterprize, a new and vast field for commercial advciiure. '. One of the chief objects in the formation of this Company, is that of ])artieipating in that important and lucrative trade, which, although emphatically belonging to Canada, has for the 8 Iftfit 3H yonrs, honi exofusivoly nionopoli/od hy n iVw trnrlors of the city of Lomlon. slylcil tlic lliidsou','^ ! North- west Coni|)an\ of Montroal, and vvliirli followed the old route and channels that their predecessors, tho Freuidi, had jmrsued. The third dates from l.s'Jl, (the year when the \(trtlnv(st Company amalgamated with the Hudson's Bay Company,) up to the present period, and dnrini;; which time tlio trad(; lias been iiionopolized, and forced hy the Hudson's Bay Com])any tlirough • the more dilHeult, circuitous and dangerous route to the slioro,4 of nudson's Bay, and thence to England. ® By changing the route of transjiort, the shorter and the hot- ter one, via Lake Superior, hecame tmtVequeuted aud itd very existence almost forgotten. The united Companies under the name of tho Hudson's Bay Company, then traded without the apprehension of exciting the rivalry of others. No merchant, trading along the Sair\t Law- rence, witnessed the imjtorts for the west, nor the exports there- from. That trade was thus ke[)t a secret from the rising genera- tion in Canada, — the productions of which have for so many years past annually poured wealth into the coffers of those who have never contributed one farthing to the revenue of this coun- try. The North-West Company on the contrary contributed largely to the revenues of Canada. The magnitude of the oiH'ratious of that Company were enormous. It carried on a most extensive and lucrative trade, making Montreal the centre and depot of that trade ; aud traversing Canada in every direction, not only from Montreal to Hudson'^ Bay, hut with their fleets of boats aud canoes, crossing the continent through a chain of lakes and ® 9 rivers, tVom Moutrral to ru^ct's Sound, nnd to the llussiaii pos- scssion."* within thoarticcirclo, Indcn with goods and mi'rchaudize for Indian iiativts, and nhirning with I'urs tor Europe. The Northwest Conipany was t'ornied in ITS'.], upon n joint stock «apitiil of some ^S U>.UU(). lutlu'oe or four years after the formation of the Company, the annual value of ilic inuh; had roai;hed S(''*M),()(I0 and it continued to increase until the year 18I(). ah( n the llinl.son's Bay Company api)eareil nj)oTi the field, and, for the first time advanced n claim to the right of exclusive trade in virtue of an old charter of L'harles II. which in truth and in fact conferretl no >uch right. The Northwest Company liad pioncereil tlie way in every in- stance, and this as:sumption of an illog>d claim, hting resisted hy the Nortwest Company led to a bloody strife dining the four succeeding years, each Conij)any sacrificed trade to cuiry on the hiftcr fend, and consequently lost money. In the year 1821, as ahove referred to, the two (.'ompanies united. From that time (/'nnadian interests were sought to he crushed out, and the revenues arising to Canada from the trade altogether ceased. The North-West Comj)auy gave employment to about 1,000 Canadians: and the wealth tliiit Company nalized was freely Hung hack to circulate in Canada amid the varied industrial pirsnits which a trade like theirs had called into action. In that year, 18'il, a license of exclusive trade, waa procured from the Imperial Government hy the Hudson's Bay Company and the partners of the North West Conipany conjointly, over certain portions of territory, to which the j)reten(led charter of Charles IT could not be made a]>plicablc. This license of ex- clusive trade was, in fact, the origin of the exercise of claim to exclusive nionopoly. This license of cxclusi\e trade will expire in, May I Ho!); it is hoped never again to be renewed. Since the route of transit has been changed from Lake Supe- rior to Hudson's Bay, time, and the wealth, and the intluence of the Hudson's Ray (Company has, as it were, obliterated from the mind of ( 'anadians that a North West Company had ever existed, or that such a trade had ever been. Aided by the wonderful im])rovements and facilities for trans- port both in navigation and land carriage, undreamed of by the 10 entorprlsinir traders of those fornipr times, the present eom- paiij pro})ose to re\lvf' that trade Jind tVecly exereise those rights ■wliich foriiier traders enjoyed diiriiig the half ccutury immedi- ately folbvviuf^ tlie conquest of Canada. To carry on their tra(U', the North West Company had chains of ])osls lit various distances apart, extending!; from Montreal, along the rivers and lakes to the head of lake Superior, and tiunx'e tlie chain continued to the shores of the Paeilic. The Iliidson's Bay Conij)any now occupy aud possess most of these iposts. Fort William at the head of Lake Superior, ^\a8 the chief depot for the trade of the west, and when so under the North West (Jonipany, it frequently contained some .'i,0(K) traders and olliers. 'j'o lay down tlie aiuuud supply of goods at that locality, cost the Nortli West Company some £'M),OW ; the sanu' quantity of goods can now he laid down there for the suiri of .£250 or .•i*3U(). A steatiier may now take them from Montreal, or they may he shi])p('d in London and without hreaking hulk tran- shipped at Fort William. The trade was couhned to the skins of wild animals only. A greater traffic than (hat company t-njoyed, is now oflered to tlie merchant and trader of the present day. Enterprise will grasp it and i>;ive an unlhnited extent to Canadian indnstrv, and to British commerce. The North West Company had in their employment the most scientific mci^ that coidd then l)e engaged in tlie explorations and surveys of ^he whole country from the (astern shore of lake Superior to the tdiore of the Pacific, and northward to the Arctic seas. We have the henefit of these surveys and explanations, made, imd continued from the year 1 TiH) up to the year 1821. We have, likewise, the henetk of more recen^ researches and surveys made hy order of the Luperial Government, and also hy order of the Colonial Government under the efficient inspection of Mr. Dawsoii, hrother to the President ot this Comi)any. nESOUUCES OF TRABE. The Hudson's Bay Comiiany make all their importation:: and all exportations ma Hudson's Bay; even their imports to and exports from Lakes Superior and Huron arc made via Hudson's Bay. 11 Their ships do not lea\e Enp;huid for Iliulson's Bay befor^ the month of June, as they cannot pass throngh the Hut jn's Straits until July, and sometimes not until Aup;ust, njid the goods destined for Lake Superior do not arrive there until the month of August or September. Goods vifi the St. I.awrenee and the hikes, can be laid down on Lakes Huron and Superior by the month of May, and may be transported thence to the shores of Hudson's i?ay itself by the month of June. Tims they would reach Hudson's J Jay before the goods destined for that locality could even have left England. The goods via, Hudson's Bay destined for the Bed Kiv^r country, and for the Saskatchewan, and the interior country, do not reach the place of their destination until the second year after leaving England. Goods may be laid down at the Bed Bi\'cr via Lake Superior by the month of June, and before the end of that month on the Saskatchewan or almost at any post in the north or west by the beginning of July. The yearly value of the importations by the Hudson's Bay (yompauy via Hudson's Bay, average about $300, 000. Their exportation in exchange via the same route, varies from ,^1,000,000 to ^S2M0,im). » At the half yearly sale in London in Ajiril last the proceeds from the trade, it is said, amounted to ^IJ^JO.OOO. Tbo value of the ex})orts are therefore shewn to be as 5 to 1 over the imports. The route by which these goods are taken to the interior from the shores of Hudson's Bay is only adapted to a boat or canoo navigation, interrupted by nuTnerous and dilHcnlt portages. It is a route which forbids the possibility of using steamboats or any other facilities for the transjjort of merchandise. The dis- tance from York Factory, on Hudson's Bay, where the goods are landed, is about 834 miles to the 1Uh\ Biver. The cost of transporting a ton of goods by this route is about .€32 lOs. or 3H>0, besides the length of time required for the transit. The rapid advance of the Western United States along the Mississippi and along the banks of the Bed Biver has afforded to the hitherto isolated settlers in the adjoining Canadian terri- tory opportunities of procuring there further supplies of goods k i2 and mcrclinnillsG whicTi arc lequlred by the settlor but wlilcli are not supplied by the Iluclson's Hay Company. Afcor(linf>;ly a land route has been established between tbe lied River Settle- ment and St. Paul's ui I^liani sota, over a distance of some 600 miles. Tlie trailic is carried on by means of carts, each cart carries about 700 lbs. vveidit. The time occupied in transit from the lied River to St. Paul's is from twenty to thirty days, and a like time is occu)>ied in returniug. The route Is intersected by lakes and rivers across which the carts and the incrcliandise must be ferried over and the cattle swam across. This mode of conveyance involves not only the labor of many men and cattle, but a loss of nearly three montlis at the most important season of the year to the settler for action at home. The COS! for transport is at the rate of 842 to $4^> per cart or about .•:>120 j)('r ton. Upwards of 500 carts went from the Red River to St. Paul's this last summer and carried with them about $180,000 worth of furs. The goods taken back in exchange in all probability would average abmu the same value but be of much greater weight, and consequently cost more for the transport by the carts than did the furs. Besides there is a duty paid noon the furs when passing into American territory, and also a duty paid upon some of the articles taken in excbauge, wliich would not be the case if pass- ing via Lake Superi<^r, througli Britiih territory. Thus, notwithstanding the present difficidties of transporta- tion, it is seen that a large trade has sprung into cxistance, although it is but coutinedto the fur trade, and which as regarils the transit to St. Paul's may be said only to be in its infancy. The following extract from a Report of a Select Committee of the Legislature of Aliunesota, published Ijy orated to arise from the traffic with the British possessions ulong the Red River, &c. : — " Siumltaneously with the movements in this city and in the different parts of the State for the establishment of an emigrant route through Miimesota and the British possessions to the new 13 fieU of adronturc on Frazcr River, the opportune arrival of some six humlred carts from the Red River laden with liie furs of that region, hud the effect of directing [)ul)hc attention more immediately to the growing Mni)ortance of our commercial rela- tions with these remarkable setth'ments, while it furnished at the same time a jntdtitude of witnes^^cs not onlv to the advan- tages of the proposed route, hut to the richness of the resources which such a route woidil develope. And to the beauty and fertility of the region tributory to the valley of the Mississippi, vvhieii It would open to colonization. "The novel appearance of the visitors •themselves, the odd uniformity of their costume of course blue cloth, with its bar- baric opulence of brass buttons and fanciful ostentation of red belts. The strange' mixture of complexion? which they pre- sented, all tlie way down from the fair skin and light soft curls of the Celt to the dintry colour and straight black hair of the Indian, with every intermediate shade Avhich the '' >ialgamation of races could produce. Their language as various as their origin, a curious medley of C]iip})ewa, Cree, French, English, and Gaelic ; their rude wooden carts guiltless of iron, even to the veniel piccadello of a nail ; drawn for the most j)art by oxen harnessed singly in shafts, with gearing made of strips of raw hide ; and filing in long procession through the streets of the city with the disciplined sequence of an Asiatic caravan. It is not surprising that these incidents of social life, removed at once from ljar])arism and civilization, should have excited some interest in the history of a peojde who, with the marks of a European extraction, emerge from the depths of the wilderness with the characteristics of the savage." The rejjort goes on to state, " These carts like the marine ton. nage in a ])articular trade afford a valuable measure of the growth of that trade." Besides this, the average of annual ex])orts of furs from the Company's possessions alone will be about $1,800,000. T)te annual ivn})ort9 of the Company's goods into the Red River Settlement alone have averaged for a number of years past $100,000. It is reasonable to presume that at least an ei[ual amount (a very low estiiuate) is distributed among the numerous posts along the Saskatchewan and its tributaries. The proportion then of the whole exj)ort of furs from the basiu of the Winnipeg may be safely estimated at one half of ' T Is vl' OS ■ 1^ I ^ 14 tlie whole trade of the Coinpaiiy, or at the least $1,000,000. Such are the prorccds of the trntle in its present restrict I'd state, and in one class of commodities alone. AVhat will it be when left to the free course of connncrcial oonipt fition, and when au \!nr('stricted colonization opens newfield:^ of industry and j)rpssc3 all the resources of a new western world into the stream of reci- procal intercourse w^hose swelling volume is alrcaily wearing a deep track between Red River and St. Paul's. it ia notorious that the Hudson's Bay (Company do not import a fifth part of what the country reipiires and can pay for. Jiy the construction of r»ads and the improvement of the inland navigation, and carrying in settlers, this Coni])any will develop the gr^at resources of that countrys wealth and he enabled to trade in all the varied ])roductious which man's industry and knowledge creates. Froi 1 the shores of Lake Huron to those of the Pacitic the Iludso I's JJay Company iiave a series of trading forts or chief depots u])on which smaller posts are again dependent. Each chief fort has therefore depcndc*it i;pon it for supplies the num- ber of Indians as shewn in the annexed table, taken from appen- dix C in the evidence adduced before the Committee of the House of Commons upon the jfudson's Ray Company in the raonth of July of the past year, shewing the number of Indians dependent upon them for suj)p!ies : . La/ce Huron , La Cloche Fort... 150 Little Current .500 IMissis.sagu, I ;""»() ; Green Lake, 1.50 ... ,'JOO White Fish Lake, loO ; Sault Ste. Marie, 150 300 (At the latter should be set down 300.) Lake Nipissing 350 Liike Superior. Balchewaana, 100 • ISIamainse, 50 150 Michijucoten, 300; Pic, 110; Nepigon, 250 650 Fort William, 35t) ; Pigenu River, 50 400 Lac la Pluie, Fort Francis li^OO Fort Alexander, :>00; Rat Portage, 500 800 White Dog, 100; Lac du Bonnet, 50 150 Lac des Rois, 200 ; Shoal Lake, 200 -100 Aasiniboine, Red River, Winipej.';, ike 10000 II ! I 15 n^c 1)anJ?( alonjr thn Saskatchewan, &c., arc denoinliiated iha tribe of l!>c Plains, and are dependent for supplies as follows: At Fort Edmonton, 7,r)()0 ; Carleton House, (i,000 I.'iT.OO Fort Pitt, 7,00,000 worth of goods, something over ^1.80 per head. Each Indian, upon an avcn-age, would take c^'Ai) worth of goods, per aniuim, and the country possess resources wherewith to pay for them. The goods and merchandize which an Indian requires are vari- ous, such as guns, blankets, cottons, clotbing of all kinds, pow- der, shot, tobacco, teas, floni-, &c., tliese two latter articles of barter are aever introduced by the "Hudson's Bay Company, into m,any parts of the country whence they derive a vast {)rofit, Takiiig the estimate at ^40 per head woidd shew a demanp exists for .{^6,160,000 worth of importations, where «^.SO0,0Ot> worth are now only supplied. Bui let us calculate at ^^'lO per head, a very hnr eitthaute, and we have a demand for ^J^l.yHO,- 000 of imports. The Hudson's Bay Company trade only for furs, and fur their imports of ^.'^00,000, they export from ^l,r)00,000 to >^2,800, OOOj or at the rate of ,500 per cent, of profit npon their imports. And yet their arc various other productions, which can be made as profitable sources of trade as the furs of wild animals. Take, for instance, the buffalo, of which the hunters from the lied River Settlement alone, kill annually 2r),000. Each animal will, upon an aveiage, produce from SOtbs to 70 lbs of tallow. i I II 4 It" I , i I I I - I ^i i !t Let lis take the average, however, at 40 ths per animal, 25,000 at 4()ths equal 1, 000,000 ihs, this -i 10 rents per pound, ,5^1,000,000; hide,?, at :^3 each, f,Sf'/5,000, inakins; 8175,000. The tongues, the heef, ike, if euvod for c:^p()rtafi()n or trade, would ])voduce a rnucli greater amount, say i>'100,000, making ;^r)7r»,000 worth of trade in addiliof/ to the fur trade. Time and again elforts have been made h^ some of the settlers at the Red River, to enihark in the tallow trade, hut flie Hudson's Bay Company have invariably refused to export the same, tit!>er tlirough an inability to dj so, or through a desire to prohibit a traffic which would militate against their monopoly of the far trade. It is estimated that upwards of I jO.OOO huffnlo arc anutially slauglitvred in the valley of the Saskateliewnn, tliousands of these wantonly, and as many killed only for their tongues. When the Indians would find that the carcase, the tallow, the horns, and even the hoofs would procure the necessaries of life, just as readily as furs, a most important traile will have sprung into existence. 100,000 buifalo would be as readily procured, as the 25,000 by the Red River ))unters, those estimated at the same calcula- tion, as given ahove, would produce a trade \\orth ;8"2,300,000 which in addition to the estimated fur trade now enjoyed by the Hudson's Bay Company, in that section of country alone, would swell its value upwards of ^3,;}00,000. We import and pay large .sums of money for these very arti- cles of production, which are peculiar to our own country, and, stranger still, we import the' very furs from England which have been exported from this country, via Hudson's Bay. We import annually : Fur goods, value :>5'l<)i|,572, duty thereon, ■^24,07Cu..^l9:iMS. Fur undressed, no duty thereon 50,624. Tallow 300,000. Hides 259,000. Fish oil 249,000. Total $1,112,906. With exception of those furs that are imported from England the residue of the above imports are nil from the United States. 17 Immeuse fisheries for oil may be carried ou in Hudson's iJay, distant from Lake S«])erior about 300 miles, viii the Michijiico- tim river, along wliicU route nil the merchandize and goods of the Hudson's Bay Company, destined for Lakes Huron and Superior, are now brought froin Hudson's Bay. Apart from these othc-r prodtictions of the country, vvhirh may he rendered articles of vast tratlic, immense (piantitlcs of sidt may he had in various sections of tlic country, rcpial to the best. luexliaustible beds of mineral pitch abound, all which will become articles of traffic so soon as facilities for transport ore created, and opportunities offered for successfully engaging in the above important trades. The superior advantages which the old route from the western side of Lake Superior possesses for making the whole trade of the north and west tributary to ii are so immeasurably greater, that so soon as it shall he reojM'aed and a liighway perfected for the conveyance of traffic, trade and passengers, the Hudson's Bay Company, and all otVierj= holding trading or other eonnee- tious either with the .Arctic shores or the coasts of the Pacific, cu^la only compete for the trade by transit along the route pro- posed. The mining for gold upon Frazer River, and the establishment of a new British Colony on the west slile of the llockv ]Moun- tains, will give a stitnulous to immigration as well from the old country as from the various portions of the United States and of Canada. This is a most im])ortaut consideration for the immediate carrving into (Operation the works of the Company, as it will be ena))led to afford to immigrants and others seeking those new fields of industry and enterprise, or even to those seeking south- ern Oregon in the United States, the safest, easiest, sj)eediest, and the cheapest route that can ])ossibly be established. From the conveyance of passengers alone a birge profit may reasonably be anticipated to arise. To pro'.ide the facilities for transport it is proposed as soon as possible to establish a line of railway from the shores of Lake Superior to the eastern end of Lac la Pluie by either one of two routes, as shall be judged most advisable, after a careful and thorougti examination. One has been already surveyed, the B ji f l» I 18 li ^ I ' \ I in hi \n i:^ ill I . other is in the course of helnj^ so. This latter rotite would pas* froiri Lake Superior to White Fish Lake, nud thcnee heyoud it ah)ng a eliaiii of navij^alde AYUU-rs li'!uliii<; to Lac Ux iMuic, the diitaiicc reipiiriiig nlioiit 110 uiih-s of Kailway. The other proposed line Is about .'^0 iiiiU'S to the northward and leads from Lake Superior to T)oj^ Lake, and thence along the eliiiiu of navigable waters ])i;tvveen it and Lac la IMiiie. The tlistanee by this route would involve the construction of about 185 miles of railway. At the western extremity of Lae la riule is the entrance to the Lac la Pluie River. To make perfect the uaviji!;ation l)etweeu the lake and the river a short canal of 8 chains in leuiith, with two locks of about 1 1 feet lift each, is necessary. This would afford a steamboat navigation from the eastern end of Lac la I'hiie to the west;; a extremity of the Lake of the AVouds, a. distance of about 180 miles. Instead of juirsuiug the route offered by the river Winnipeg,^ which would iiwolve not only a tnoro circuitous route hut eon- siderable lockage. It is pro])osed to construct a railroad from the western side of the Lake of the Woods to the Red River, a distance of less than 100 miles. ■ , The portion of country over which this railway will p'ass is siaigularly ada))ted to the work, a long section of the line umy be .'•aid to lie naturally graded ami will jiass along a gravel ridge well calculated jnaterially to assist iu the coustruction of a wag- gon road or a railway. No right ot way being required to be purchased, and the country along which the whole line of this section of road will j)ass heijig so well adapted for the project, the expense of construction must be very far below the cost usually incurred upon such works. Under their charter the Company are authorised to increase their capital stock at the rate of ;^'-30,b()0 for every mile of rail, vray to be constructed. Tlu! Company are therefore enabled to increase their capital stock for the 240 miles of railway now contemplated to be built to a farther sum of $7,200,000, a sum of money sufiicieut for the purpose. AVlien those lines of railway shall have been comi)leted and the navigation improved hetweeu Lac la Pluie and the Lake of 19 the AVoods, the rlistanre between L«kc Superior niid the Red River will he made iu hss than 21 iioyirs. Steam Ijoatsj may even now navipnte the Red River from its month to upwards of 100 miles beyond the bouudarv line at Painbiua, and the river is eaj)able ot beitig made nuviirabh' for steamers as far up as Brcakfmside, a distance of 150 nule.s from its month ; thus iu a g;reat measure renderini^ tributary to the jiroposed line tlie vast and rapidly increasing immigration and trade of the Western United States of America. The same steamboats may run from the Red River into and through Lake Winnipeg aud thence uj) the Saskatchewan 4;o the first rajiid in that river, thus affording an uninterrupted steam- boat navigation for over /.>() miles. The obstruction at the mouth v[ tbe Saskatchewan involves only tiie short distance of three jniles, and until a canal shall be consiructed there, anotlier line of steamers will be necessary to ply above the rapids. A steamer from the Red River will be hauled over the postage and place*' upon the river above it. The Saskatchewan is then navigable i»y either branch to the very foot of the Rocky JSrountains. To the immense emigration now passing frojn the older por- tions of the United States into AVashington Territory and Soutliern Oregon, the south branch will aiford the easiest, the shortest, and f he cheapest route for passengers or traific. Tliis south branch ri.ses within the territories of Western United States, aud i^ navi<.rable to almost its source. Thus the Amcr- ican immigration would }iasstbr(/ugh St. Paul's to Jireakenridge on the Red JUver, thence down the Red River and via Winni- peg and the south branch of the Saskatchewan, reach the place of their destination almost the whole way by water through British territory. The north ])ranch will offer a steamboat navigation to within about 200 n)iles of Frazer's River, or the centre of British Columbia. No portion of the Continent of America affords su:;h facilities for being made the highway of nations between Europe and Asia as does the line of communication now pro- posed to be oj)em.'d for traffic and trade. Thi' facilities of Atlantic comnnuiication are now such that the workshops and manufactories of. Britain may almost be said to ill :i 20 r, i ill !)(» flncliorocl in the currtMita of tlic St. Lawroiu'o. From Mon- treiil the time of transit would he as follows ; Montreal to Toronto 15 hours, by lailroatl ; from Toronto to head of Lake Supt-rior, •)() miles hy railroad, the rest hy first class steamers, fifty-six hours ; from Lake Superior, hy railroad and hv steamer, to Red Itiver, 24 hours ; IVotu WvA lliver hy steanihoat to Carleton Uousc on the Saskatehawaii, (»()(> miles at 10 miles an hour, CO hours ; Carlton Ilouse to Edmonton House hv steamer, 100 milea, 40 hours. This is the head of naviaration on the Saskatehevuin. The head waters of the Saskatchewm and Frazer's Hiver rifie within a short distance of each other. The locality hetween them formy the well known pass hetween Mount Hooker and Mount Ikown, whieh is now readily traversed on horseback. The journey from Edmonton to the junetion of Frazer's and Thompson's Rivers, occupies 5 days. At the western side of this pass is a lon«; stretcli of fertile land sloping down to Thompson's and Frazer's Rivers. This pass ht'tween Mount Hooker and Mount Brown is in a direct line to the gold fields now attracting so much attention, as it is also the direct road to Victoria. Tills })ass through the mountains has been traversed hundreds of times hy individuals, who represent that a road through it can he constructed with less difhoidty and even at a less ex])ense than will be required in some parts of the line betvveen Lake Superior and Lac la Plnie. Taking the distances as stated above : — Lake Superior to Red River, 400 miles rail and steamer, 24 liours ; Red River to Carlton House, (^00 miles, CO hours ; Carleton Ho\isc to Edmonton, 400 miles, 10 hours ; Edmonton to junction of Frazer's and Thompson's River, 200 miles, 20 hours ; making the whole distance in six days from Lake Superior, calculating at 10 miles per hoiu*. Making the calculation at 14 miles an hour would not be an unreasonable one, this would give the time about 4^- days, to whieh adding about 3V days for travel from Montreal to the head of Lake Superior, would make 8 days to Frazer's River or British Columbia. Fourteen miles per hour is perhaps the extreme rate of speed, but it is perfectly attainable and at a moderate expense. Afraiii, tjikiufi; the route from New York \vc vill find tlie line proposed offers (in iilnio^t similar pjumvI ( itlicr to Fra/cr's River'or Wn.«liiii<;tou 'I'crritorv : Now York tn I'r.iiric \\ hours ; thciu'e to E(hfionfon (as ahuve), KXi hours. Thus from New Vork in 13 days, or for ))assnij;e ))y the south hraju'h of the Snskatchawau into Watihin<,'tou Ttrritory uhout the same time would he re- «iuired. It needs no prophetic insj)Iration to forettl it, that so soon as tliis proposed eommunieatiou is opened, s[)ee(Uly will he develop- ed au iuh\nd iiiter-oeeanie communication hetween the Pacific and Atlantic shores via our inland ship navi|j;atiou to the head of Lake Suj>crior ; a line of route which must soon hear upon its siiH)oth and peaceful surface the golden harvests of the Tuineral shipes of the Pacific coast, and the rich freights of China and of India. The superior advantages which the route will afford not only for connmu)icatiou hetwceu Kurojie, America ami Asia, hut the great facilities it will afl'ord for postal cfanmunieation throughout the IJritish Empire will no douht he taken advantage of to the enhancenu'ut of the profits of the (/ompany* The North-West Transportation, Navigation atul Railway Com])any cannot be a monopoly. A large proportion of the antici[»ated profits are calculated to arise from thci o[»ening a chea]) and speedy communication hetween Lake Superior and that vast and fertile wilderness which oifors resources to all industry, and is a refuge from all want. Every individual who may pass along the route, either as a i)assengcr, a trader, or a settler becomes a consumer or a producer, or he is both, thus, while the Company will profit Ity a passenger trafic or by the convey- ance of goods and merchandize, imports and exports, the progress and prosperity of Canada must be advanced. Her revenues multiplied an hundred fold hy the additional demands which an increasing population always creates, and consequently a competition in trade. ► d \ I r-, II y If 22 it (1 ! ; 1 «. \n The iimtudiuto object ot'tho ('oiiijjiiuy is at once to enter into triuL' l)v t'nrinin{jj n chHin of I'ttaMislimcnts from the Mhores of Lake SiJiicrior to the ulterior, nud tlu'se will l>e i-xtciirlcd iis circnni>taiiees require. Tims alfonliuj; the best menus of HjiiTclily opcuiiiir a transport (.'oninmnieation between Lake Superior luul tlie lied lliver, with the view of ultiriintel\ ofieniiiff a dii<'Ct transit comniiinie.'itioii ibenoe to the shori's of the J'aoitie. The loiinniinieation to Ije made by water in the first iu.-^tance —as tar as it can bo made a\ailiil)le. The eoiistruetion of roads, tramways, railways and cannlx will only be undertaken as our neeessities reijuire, and us the growth of traHie demands increasi-d facilities. These will be eoustrtu'ted not so much with a view of deriving^ a ])rolit from the toll to be levied n|)on them, a« for the object of affordin^enp:ers and HRreharjdiso, ami sujtpiy present and future settlors with all the tieeessaries of life. A u;ieat object will iheretore be toalVurd laeilities and encourage- ment for an immimant population entering into the country as speedily as jiossible, at a moderate rate per luad ; with this view favoral)le localities will from time to time be selected throughout the country for establishments, where all the necessaries of life can be readily aiid cluaply procured. As some time muist elapse before the proposed lines of railway between Lake Superior and Lac la I'luie, and the Lake of the Woods and lied River can under the most favorable circumstances be aceumjdisbed. It is jiro- posed for the ])resent to avail ourselves of tbc facilities aiforded by water communication, as well for tlic purpose of trade and transport as for currying forward tlie material for the construe" tion of small steamers to j)ly npou the long reaches of navigable waters which lie westward of the height of land, these in turn will carry or transport the materials necessary for the construc- tion of good waggon I'oads which will b(; built along the i)ropose(l lines of railway, as a preparatory stej) to (jommencing such works. It is obvious that in the early stages of working a tiansporta- tion company it is all important to use water communicatiou* S9 ulicrpvpr tliptr can he rf^nrlcrcil aviiilnl»l«' ; it ri'f|ulrr«« li\it cnni- jmrutivtly siunll outlay, and incnascd foi'tu »»et'd only hy taken on lis the tnitfic and trudo dcrnaiids it. Mnilf nf 'J'riiiisportdtion jn'o/xutetf ''> f)^ at prt^«¥t fiJo/iteff, nnd tmti/ Hiie.h liitif!.i tiJt yrtuiter J'iK'iliticA are offordtd t I util a rtiiluay bf Uiiilf, u j^ood waggon roail will be coil* striutt'd from the slionvs of Lake Superior, citlur to Wliiti'tish Lake oi" to Doi; Jiakc-, tbcncetbc rout." will be tlirongb the cliniu of iiuvigidile wiiU rs leudiiig from eitluT of the alio\r named lakes to l{ui)iy Luke, ihe jiroposed teriiiinua of the Uailwny from Lake 'Superior. The se\eral portages wbieb interrupt the above meutionwl elmin of iunij:;able waters will Ite impro>e(l so that laden batteaux carrying about live tons may be hauled acros.s without ludniuluig. A wooden railway or trninway fn)m the liead of the portage to the next eh-ar water will suftice for this. The portages are all short, few of them over iOO yards in length. This mode of conveyance will enable the eompany at once to commence operations, and at tbe same time carry forward the project of coiistruet.ing good waggon roads, conne<'ting the lf)ng reaches of water na\igntion, whereby tbe numerous ]iort;ige.s will be avoided. It will likewise enable the company to carry out the proje(;t of placing steamers npmi Lac la IMuie, the Hive)' la Phiie, nnd tbe Lake of tbe Woods, ashy no other means can the material for the construction of steamers be carried forward. A waggon road will also be con'-itrueted from the western -^ide of the JjaKe of the Woods to tbe lied lUver. These waggon roads are to form tVie line over wbieb the con- templated railways shall pass. As tliese roads progress westward from Lake Superior so wdl the facilities for a more speedy mode of transport increase. The estimated cost of ])erfpcting a steamboat and waggon road communicatiou between Lake Superior and Frazer lliver, as shewn by the prospectus issued, is about !i?300,000. When the projected plan is cou the Red River to ply to the Saskatchewan, or eveu as far as ])Oi*isible in the direction of the McKenzie Hiver, for although the company are only anthorised to coiistruct "aiials, railways, ^c., within the limits of Canada, they are not forbid- den to trade beyond these limits. This Company possessing stcni^iers upon the Red River will under any circumstances be enabled to make tributary to it the carrying trade of all that vast country lying to the westward and the uortb.ward of the Rd River. Taking (iOU carts as the measure of freiarhtas-e hetwecn Red River and Saint Paul's at the rate of ^42 per cart, we have for freightage alone ^25,200. It is not unreasonable to suppose tliat an equal amount is paid for the transporUtion of goods in returning, thus shewing that there is paid for freight to and. from the Red River the sum of $50,401). This carrying trade must be tributary to the Lake Superior route even thonyh that route fte adapted only for battraux. Besides the above, there would be the carriage of the exportb and imports of the Hudson's Bay Company, for if they continue in the trade they will be compelled to abandon the rouK' by Hudson's Bay, whenever the Lake Suj)erior route is opened for traffic. A hatti>au will carry five tons, and five rnen will man her, and transport her cargo from th(? sl)ores of Tiake Superior ta the Red River in fifteen days, if with favora>)le weather the trip could be accomplished in much less time, for on the long reaches of water navigation one hnndred miles a day can he made, so that in fact the distance might be accom})li3hed in seven days or less. The cost of transport, wages to men at 5^20 per month, let us say seven men, for til'teen days would give §70 for the transpoit of five tons, or at the rate of ^Li i)erton^ to which add cost of trausji n-t from England to head of Lake Superior §1,"), making hi all .'^2.5 to Red River. The route from Hudson's Bay requires a period of one year for the transit, and at a cost of $l(iO per ton. The roiito from St. Paul's to the Red River requires from twenty to thirty days in transit, and at a cost of $120 per ton, the cost, of transport from England t( St. Paul's cannot be less than from England to the head of Lake Superior, thus makiiig the cost ahnost L-qunl to that by Hudson', liay. Wlicn fa(!ilitie.s shall be oflered for transport to the Red River t)/« Lake Siijjcrior, the trade and the traftic on the route will increase at a compound ratio, for with it will advance immigra- tion and all those industrial pursuits which are incidental to the opening new and progresshig countries. This com])any biing a trading company, can accomplish the opening and working the route at far less expense than a com- pany not possessed of trading privileges, inasmuch as the payments to employees, vovageurs and others, will in a great measure be made in the usual course of trade, besides being in other res])ccts consumers of the merchandise of the company, &,c. Sources of iwmedidte projit to the Company armiig from trade. Along Lakes Huron and Superior, making a coast line of near 1000 miles. The Hudson's Bay Comj)any maintain six forts or principal trading depots ; upon each one of these several smaller trading j)osts are dependent, all are sustained by the profits of trade, and yet the company trade in little else than furs. At one or two of the forts that company latterly engaged in the fisheries on the lake. This trade promises to become one of the most important of the industrial pursuits of the lake countrv. Last rear the Americans alone exported some 20,000 ft • 1 barrels, a large pr(.'porlion of these were taken on our shores principally hy Indians and half-breeds, who are generally paid in goods, A barrel of those fish brings $7 or S8, the cost of putting up a barrel nniy he from ??2 to J5 h Trading posts established at convenient localities along these lakes would be resorted to by the Indians who would readily engage in fishing, and receive in payment tlu' goods of the company. It would materially l)enefit the Indians and all others, by induchig to industrial pursuits where heretolbre there has been no encouragement. The outlav necessarv for this branch of trade will be but trifling, and the profits to be derived would be lucrative, and the returns immediate. The spring fishery commences early in i « n n IS i 26 May and will close in Juno, and a ready market can be found at the Sauk St. Marie, and at Chicago. By at oneo engaging in this trade, the Indian bands along the coast will bo enlisted in the scrTicc of the Compajiy, whilst a demand will be created for those goods and necessariea of life which this Company wouM be so well ealoulated to Biip- ply. It would also enable this Company to carry on their Avorks in the construction of roads, (ka., more cheaply and more effectually. Cured fisli could bo readily exchanged for those kinds of provisions which will be indispensable for the maintenance of a number of workmen and laborers upon the worky. It is reasonable to anticipate that a fair portion of that trade by Avhich the establishment of the Hudson's Bay Company are maintained will be participated in by this Company, as at least this Company will be enabled to afford theu' goods, &c., at rates more reasonrkble than the Hudson's Bay Company, when it is considered that the supplies of the various establisliments along the lakes and in the interior, are brougjit from England via Hudson's Hay. Should these goods hereafter be brought via the St. Law- rence, the natural and cheapest channel, this Company would be able to afford greater facilities for their transportation than any other, and in all probability tho cairiage thereof would be no inconsiderable source of revenue. It may not be deemed unadvisable, certainly great facili- ties are offered for establishing a telegraph line in coujuuctiou with the works of this Company. The announcement of the discovery of gold upon the i'razer's Eiver, and the erection r svich purpose, and perhaps to ask for \ 1 ;• 28 1 d, grant of lands to aid in the general undertaking of tlio Company. The stock of the Company as at present is: Capital Stock §400,000, to increase $-100,000 $800,000 240 miles of railroad to be built 7,200,000 To carry out the present objects of the Company... SS,000,000 Any further line of railroad which the Company should con- template building would authorise the Company to etill further increase the Capital Stock under their Charter. ; ! ' i \ r ! 1* H ; 1 U M i ^ I 'I ', APPENDIX. Ill the year IS.ll, a IJill for the Incorjioratlon of a Conipnnj' to construct a Kailroao from the head of Lake Superior through. British Territory to the Pacific was iutroducnl into the Legis- lature and upon its being read a second time was referred to a Committee for Report thereon. TJie following Keport together with the observations theroin alluded to, taken from the Journals of the LcgisUitive Assembly for the year 1851 ia here given : Eighth Report. The Standing Committee on Railways and Telegraph Lines, beg leave to make their Eighth Report : They have considered the Bil] for a Charter to constrtict a Rail- way through tl\e British Territories in North America to the Paeitic Ocean, and are reluctantly obliged to report that, in their opinion such application i:- premature, and that the Peti- tioners have not taken the preliminary steps to entitle them to au Act of Incorporation. As the })roject involves the cession to the Company of a large tract of country, it appears to Your Committee, the consent of tlu; Imperial and Provincial Governments should have been first obtained and these claiujs, as well as tliose of the Indian Tribes and the Hudson's Bay Company ; to the lands in rpiestion, ad- justed ; so as to leave no room for subsequent dispute. In addition to this objection. Your Committee have had no evidence laid before them, of the capacity of the Petitioners to i comrueuce or prosecute the undertaking. It does not appear that any capital stock has been subscribed for or paid up, or that the Petitioners are in a position to avail tbemselves of a charter loan, if granted. Your Counnittee have already report- ed their opinion that railway charters should oidy be granted to> parties who can show their ability and desire, to proceed with I II M 14 30 ii * I ii tlioir undertaking at once, and with energy and effect, and tlicy adhere to that opinion. At the same time, Your Committee feel hound to state their im]UTS3ion that the scheme ought not to he regarded as visionary or iui)racticahk\ AVhen the project was first suggested in the United States hy ]\[r. Whitney, its novelty and extent led many persons to consider it as such, hut tliat gentleman hy his Untiring energy and ahility, has hy degrees led the puhlic mind both in his own country and in England to regard it with favor. Your Committee are strongly inclined to Ix'lieve, that this great work, will at some future period, (should this Continent contlniu" to advance as heretofore, in prosperity and popidation) be undertaken hy Great Britain and the United States. The superior advantages of the route to the Pacific Ocean through thi! liritish Territory, has heen ahly urged on the puhlic attention hy Allan jMcDonnell, Esipiire, and others ; and Your Committee indulge a hope tliat the lmj)erial Government will he led to entertain the subject as one of national concern, and to coinI)j.ne with it, a general and well organizcil system of colo- nization. Your Committee beg leave to apjjcnd to their report an in- .structive paper on this subject prepared by Allan McDouell, Es(p.iire. Your Committoe recommend that if Your Honorable House concur in the rejection of the application, the fee paid by tlie Petitioners, should be refunded. All which is respectfully submitted. ALLAN N. MxVCNAB, CAairmati. 30th August, iS51, ill OBSEllTATIONS ci'oir THE CONSTRUCTION OF A RAILROAD i'rom: LAKE SUPERIOR TO THE PACIFIC, BY ALLAN MACDONKLL, ESQ. ~>_'\.\.'^'*.'V.-..'\^S.*.'\«V\y^:*s,.'v.'-. -W -v-n^ -v.^^ «- >»* /*„-.^-*-v-« To sliorten, by a AVfstoru ]»assag(;', tlie route to t]\e Iiulles, which is now couclucted around the fearful barriers of Ca])c Horn ami Southern .ViVica, is a desig-n that has long occupied the attention and aroused the exertion of all maritime nations. England's exploring ex])editions to both the Atlantic and Paci- fic coasts, lune ]>rio(I into every sinuo.sity of tlie shore, from lat. ?>0^, So\ith, to thi- borders of the Frigid Zone, and in the defeat of her exertions, |)rojccts ha' e been forming to pierce thn ConUncnt within the limits of a foreign country, and where England woidd l)e placed at the mercy of her rivals. Whilst France, Mexico, tlie United States, and other Powers, meditate the separation of the Continent at the Isthmus of Panama ; let England at lea'«t enqiure Avhcther she has not, Avithin her cvvu territories, superior facilities for accomplislnng the same grand pur})osc which impel them, AVithin this ]mst year, three works have beeu published in England, emanating from different sources, urging the necessity and advantages of a Kailway covnu'ction between the Atlantic and Paeitic Oceans, such llrdway to be constructed through the British Possessions. ]\Iy ])resent object is not to canvas the schenu'S proposed by any of these several parties or projectors, whereby they wouUl seek to carry out their views, but if possi- ble, to direct the attention of the Canadian public to the exist- eucc of such a project, and the incalculable advantages which r-' Ml ! ! ' ( 1 ! it ■ M 1 il, ( i 111 ' 82 wm ii must rpsn!t to thl-? and the Mother Country, could such a connection he accoirijilished. In one of the pamphlets referred to hy Major Smith, the plan proi)osed l)y him is to construct such road hy convict lahour ; the otluM's, one l)y a Mr. Wilson, (who, I hclievc, v/as at one time m the emj)loyment of the Iludnon Bay Comjiany,) and the other hy Lieutenant Synge, of the Royal i'iUglneer^, I hai-e not met with. That the construc- tion of such a ruad is feasihle and j)racticable, I have rea'^ou to believe, and will propose to huild it upon a plan simihir to that proposed by Mr. Whitney, for constructing a like Railway com- munication through the Utiited States, — which ])laii is so peculiarly adapted to our cointry, that it cannot fail of finding as favorable a reception hen; as it did th^re. The scheme oi% building a Kailway for hundreds of miies through a country ■which at present is a wilderness, seems at first sight, al)S\irdly extravagant, as well us utterly impracticable ; and so it would be if the plan coutemjihited, was one to he fully carried out withiu any short period of time. It must be borne in mind that under the most favorable circumstances, some years would be required for the construction of such a work ; with its progress, popula- tion must keep in advance, or accompany its advancement. In determining, therefore, upon the wisdom or practicability of constrvictlng such a road, the whole matter is to be looked at prospectively, — the question is uot how far the present condition of the country and its interests warrant the undertakinii;, but Avhether such a state of things will be likely to exist, as will jus- tify it wdien it shall have been accomplished. As to the expe- diency or advantage of coustructinou it avouUI, be surveyed and located, preparations made for grading, &c., and proceeding with the work, a large body ot workmen or settlers at once placed upon it ; when ten'' miles of the road shall have been M 1' i| 36 >|:l m^ completcti, ill the most substnntinl nud irnjirovcd manner, and to the ButLsraclion of a ('oniiuissiokier uppointi'd l)y tlic sol tiers who may have purchased upon tlie line, ns may be deemed most aJvisaMe ; the (joveru- raent thus holdiuj; still nni; lialf of the road. Now, if the sale of land eoidd not he made to produce a tiiitlieient amount to return the money expended on the ten miles of road, ilien the experiment i.- tlic loss ol' the Company, and the Government would not have lost one shiiliiijj;, hut on the contrary, the live miles of ro.id held hy it, must he enhanced in value; if, upon the colli lary, the land is raised from lu^oiidita jiresent value to an amount exeeedinj; the outlay, then the half held by Govern- ment would have imparted to it an I'qual increase in \alu(; from tlie same causes, and tliis out;ht to he a snlUcient security for the due peribrmance of the work. Such should he the proceeding throughout the good or available lamls upon the route ; but as the road for an immense distance may pass throuj!;h poor and barren lauds — in such case, as much of the nearest good lands beyond the line finished as may cover the outlay uj)on such a line or setiiion, may be sold by the Company, and patents issued ; and when all .shall liaAc been completed, the title of the road should vest in the Company, subji ct to the control of Govern- ment, in regulatiug and fixing tolls, &c. Should the plan fail. Government can lose nothing, because the lands still remain, and their value will Inne been added to, even by the failure. Thiis it is ])ro])osed to estahlisli an entirely new system of set- tlement, on which the hopes for success are based, and. on which all depend. The settler on the line of road wf)uld, as soon aa his house or cabin was up and a crop in, find emjdoyment upon theroadi when his crop would have ripened, there would be a mar- ket at his door, created by those in the same sitiuition as his was the season before, and if he h-id in the first instance j)aid for his land, the money would go baeiv to him, either directly or indirectly, for laliour and materials furnished for the work, so in one year the settler would have his home, with settlement and civilization surroiuuling him, a demand for his labour, a market at his door, and, for any surplus of Ms produce, a railroad to communicate with other markets. The settler who might not linvc the means to purchft^o Innd ovrn nt tlie lowest price, sfty 33. Oil. per acri', would ol)tair' fhosi' meiim hy his Inbonr on the road aud n (irat crop— he fou m one year wouM havo his homo, ■with the satnc advjinfai^cs and he a.-i ( qn.dly indt'pcnih'nt. Si.'ttlorvi undor any otlier '•injiinistaiicpa, placed in a wilder" ncHH, remote from civilizaiit^i , •woidii hav<» no htMitlit, from the Bimi paid, beyond hi.^ title to the land, — hid house built and crop in, ho finds no demand for liis labour, because all around him are in the Bame condition aa himself; when his crop iu grown ho has no marlcet ; hia labor, is true, profhiccs food from tlio cartii, but he cannot exebauge it for otiier dift'orent products of industry. A proper and systematic couiso adopted for in- ducing immigration from the Mother Country, would relievo her of a i>urphi.^ population ; open the greatest pos.^ibJe extent of wilderness, otherwise forcner uselesa, to settleinent and production; making it the means of benefittiiig and carrying comfort and hajipiuei-s to thousands of our fell(M', -.subjects in the Mother Country, sulfering the worat of eviln, caused by too den«3o population, whilst at the same timo such inmiigration . will benefit this country to an illimitable extent. Perhaps it may bo thought that the Government of the country nhould undertake this work, and dispose of tho lands as proj)08ed. Private enterprize far exceeds any operations of th^ Govern- ment iu celerity, and is mnch more economical and effective. If the Government undertook it, the saie of the lands would never meet the disbursement, and tho difJicultii's to be encoun- tered by dehiNS iu the transaction of the business at the Seat of Government, would alone retard tho work and cause it to linger until it perished. Such a .vork by Government would, absorb the entire leglsl ition of tho country, and being subject to changes of niauagenient and direction at each session, its progress would be utterly defeattd ; the managonient of such a great work and tho amount of money which this plan could place as a stake to be carried otf by the successful party in the struggle, would lead to every species of political corruption and bargiiining to secure so vast a prize, which of itself would preclude the selec- tion of the menof the character requisite to carry outthe plan j each administration would appoint its own partisans as direetora who Avould exert all the influence that their position, and the 3 fl 38 i^ m m ni 'ii i¥^ « \Mi immense means at their oomiiiand would give them, to sustain in power those ou whom their offices depended. The only ture way of oarQing out tliis work is by private enterpi-ize eou- nected \\ith the sale of t/.o lacdo uuder the protection of Government; or else it must be accomplished by the Imperial Government alone. • The commencement uf this work would make it a point of attraction of the whole population of Europe, daily flocking to American shores ; most of these are generally without means, nevertlicle^s then' labor is the capital which M'ould grade the road, and pay la part for the land. They would not only be inter- ested in the road as a means fur their daily bread, but would be sure that its ros^ults would benefit their condition, and elevate themselves and families to affluence. Civilization, with allies influences, would march, step by stop, 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 tho completion of all. The Government, in exchange for the sub- Btratumofa sufleriug population of indigent emigrants of tho Mother Country, would find its broad and fertile western ter- ritory vtprinkled with hamlets hnd possessing a class of in- telligent 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 t!io assumption that a great portion of the country through which such Ei'ilway might pass, is capable of sustain- ing a large populai;ion, and also 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 a civilized man, I propoijo now to show that yuch a description of favourable country exists to an almost unlimited extent, and that west- ward we have a vast wilderness of land which only requires the application of tlie labor of lae now destitute, to produce abundant means for achieving this great work, richly rewavd that labor, aud open out almost a new world as the inheritance of a British people. I might speculate upon the future, and 39 predict wliat would be tlio vast, the miglity results by the acomplisbment of this work but it is my object to give a plnin statemeut, which 1 believe to bo liased on foots, of the features of the country. There are two pcints upon Lake Superior from •which 8ucli Railway might be commeuced, each line striking the same point at the Lac La Pluie, a distance about 125 miles, thence to the Lake of the Woods. The one starting at Pigeon Kiver, perhaps, is a more direct route, and I believe in many respects the better one ; the other starts from the Kamiuiatiquia, at the mouth of which stands the Hudson Bay Company's Estab- lishment — Fort "William. I will suppose that this latter route is followed, because, without merely asserting my own views and opinions as to its capability of sustaning an agricultural population, I can quote from the published work of another, showing the description and. character of couutiy through which I propose to pass proving that at the moment of leaving the shores of Lake Superior we enter a country capable of pro- viding for men all those necessaries and comforts which civiliza- tion requires. The Kaministaquia is a large and line river, but at the distance of about thirty miles up, navigation is obstructed by the Kakabeka FaWs, 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 i? 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 feeling that it is destined sooner or later to become the happy home of civilized men, with their bleating flocks and lowing herds, with their schools and churches, with their full garners and their social liearths. At the time of our visit, the great ob- stacle in the way of so ble>sed a consummation, was the hopeless wilderness to the eastward, which seemed to bar forever the march of settlement and cultivation. But that ^^ery wilder- ness, now that is to yield up its long hidden stores, bids fair to remove the very impediments wliich hitherto it has itself pre- sented. The mines of Lake Superic ", besides establishing a continuity of route betweeu the east and west, will find their nearest and cheapest supply of agricultural produce iu the val- ley of the Kaministiquia." ih) Throngh tho vailoy to tlio height of laud, there exist no ob- structionii which cannot be readily overcome — from this height of land descending to the level of the beautiful Lake of the Thou- sand Islands, thence to Lac La Piuie and the Lake of tho Woods, In reference to thia portion, Sir Cxeorge Simpson gays : ' Tho rirer which empties Lao La Pluie into the Lake of the Woods, is decidedly the finest stream on the whole route in more than one respect : from Fort Francis (situated on Lac La Pluie) downward a stretch of nearly a hundred miles, it is not interrupted by a single impediment, while yet the current is not strong er.ough to retard uii ascending traveller, nor are the banks less favourable to agriculture than the waters themselves to navigation : resembling the Thames neat Rich- mond—from the very bank of the river there rises a gentle slope of green sward, crowned in many places with a plentiful gi'owth of birch, poplar, beech, t-lm, and oak ; is it too much for the eye of philanthropy to discery through the vista of fu- turity this noble stream, connecting as it does, the fertile shores of two spacious lakes, with crowded steamboats on its bosom, and populous towns upon its borders ? The shores of this latter lake are not less fertile than the other, producing rice in abundance and bringing maize to perfection." The Lakes of the Woods is connected again by a magnificent river 170 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 Woi ds is about 80 miles long by 40 broad ; Lake Winipeg is 280 long, and 50 broad. The country in which these lakes are situated is called the Assiniboine, across which flows the Ecd River, emptying into Lake AVinipeg ; upon this river is estab- lished the Colony founded by Lord Selkirk. From tho west- ern side of the Lake of the Woods, the Winipeg River or Lake Winipeg, any point may be taken, and running directly west not a single obstruction offers for carrying a Railroad to the very foot of the Rocky Mountains, a distance of 800 miles, carrying us through this magnificent country — tho Assiniboin, watered by the river of its own name, and by the Red River, each flowing for hundreds of miles ; further westward still we pass tlu'ough the Sapkatchewau country, through which flowa the iil: •»■-■■; n i I' 11' 41 river of that nnmo for 000 miles, naviVablo for large boats, &e. Loaded carts traverse this immense eountry in every direction, and us a proof of how easily all this is accomplislied, Sir George Simpson travelled over 600 miles of these plains in 13 days, with 50 horses and loaded carts, and fre(piently caravans of 200 and 300 caits arc traversing those jdains, bearing the hunters with their familii s and equipages, in pursuit of the buffalo, tliousands of which animals aredestroved merely for their hides. Sir George Simpson says he has seen ten thousand carcases, lying putrid and infecting the air for miles around in one bed of the valley of the Saskatchewan. The valley of that river alone is equal to the extent of all England ; it abounds in mineral, and, above all the blessings and advantages that can be conferred upon a country like this, is, tliat coal is abundant and easily obtained ; it crops out in various parts of the valley. Speaking of some ])ortion.s of this country, through which he was travel- ling", he says : — " The scenery of the day had i)een generally a perfect level ; on the cast, north and south, there was not a mound or tree to vary the vast expanse of green sward, whilst to the west were the gleaming bays of the winding Assiniboine, separated from each other by wooded points of considerable depth." Again — "The rankness of the vegetation savoured rather of the torrid zone, with its perennial spring, than of the northern wilds, brushing the luxuriant grass with our knees, and the hard grotuid of the siu'face was beautifully diversified with a variety of Hovvers, such as the rose, hyacinth, and tiger lily." Of the Red River Settlement (in the Assinilioine coun- try) he says : The soil is a ])laek mould, producing extraordinary crops, the wheat produced is plump and heavy; the soil frequent- ly producing 40 bushels to .the acre — grain of all kinds is raised in abundance ; beef, mutton, pork, butter, cheese and wool, are productions which likewise abound ; thus shewing that to the foot of tlie Rocky Mountains, lies a country callable of being rendered the happy honics of millions of inhabitants, when fa- cilities of communication shall be offered which can lead to it." To these statements of Sir George Simpson, might be added those of many others, in corroboration, were it net;essary.' That the Rocky Mountains will present a formidable harrier to the construction of a Railway to the Pacific, famotbe de- -V 1 iS f m m, 1 ill 42 nled ; nevertheless I irnagine that at the present day, there can scarcely be found any one so bold or rash as to assert,- that ob- structiotis will be found to exist which neither the science, skill, nor enerj;y of man can overcome. Let immigration once reach the easter.i slopes of the Rocky iVIountains, and speedily would vanish all the most formidable obstacles which may now appear to present themselves. Even now, there arc several passes known through those mount lins, whereby it may b? made practicable to carry steam to the western side. The goods and merchandize required by the lludsoii Bay Company for carrying on their trade in the interior, oHen being landed on the shores of the 1*acific, are transported through some of these passes to the eastern side. In his overland journeyj Sir George Simpsoi\, ascended from the eastern, crossed, and descended to the Columbia river upon the western side, with forty-five pack-horses, in six or seven days^ gome days making forty miles a day. Sir Alexander ^IcKenzie, (at a pass further north) ascended the principal water of the McKeuzie River to its head, which he found io bo a small lake ; he crossed a beaten track leading over a low ridge of eight hundred and seventeen paces iu lengtli, to another lake, this was the head water of Fraser's River which he followed down to whei'e it discharges iti^elf, in the Georgian Gulf or Fuca Straits at 49'^, thus showing that a connnuaieation between the east and west is open to us. Wlierever the head waters of the rivers on the east and west sides of the Rocky Mountains approach each other, there have been found passes through them. The Rocky Mountains have been crossed by waggons at various points to the Columbia River, and to the Saptin or southern branch of that river and to the WallawalJa. Thomas P. Farnliain, in 1S40, crossed to the mouth of the Columbia, and found a waggon which had been run to the Saptin, by an Americaji missionur} from Connecticut, and left there under the impression that it could be carried no further through the mountains ; but very soon after that, emigrants going out to Oregon, in 18 13, crossed the Rocl,OOU miles. A line drawn from the great European to the Asiatic marts, passes through our great lakes and across Canada ; as we are thus placed in the centre, so may we become the thoroughfare of hoth. From London to Panama, 81^ of longib^do and 42*^ of latitude mu«t be overcome, which in a straight liue, would vary lit- tle from 5,868 miles. From Panama to Canton, 170** of longitude is to be overcome, measuring GO miles toadegree 10,200 ♦* 1G,068 Loudon to Quebec 2,800 Quebec to Pigeon River, Lake Su- perior 1,150 Pigeon River to Fuca Straits 1,500 Fuca Straits to Canton 5,400 -. 10,850 " Difference in favour of route throuizh Ca- nada 5,218 " This, most likely, will strike one as incredible, nevertheless it will be found not very fur wron.^ ; and even a much greater difference in favour of Fuca Straits will bo fouud to exist when actual sailing distance is compai'ed, ships often being obliged to run down far to the south or keep up fur to the north to catch the winds. It will be seen that in crossing the globe within the tropics, the degree of longitude measures full 60 miles, where) on a course of 30° on a line to 60" latitude, measures but 47 miles to the degree. ^.9 Paunma to Japan 7,G00 Panama f;o Shanghai 10,1500 ranama to Cajiton 10,000 Panama to Singapore 10,GOO Panama to the Sandwich Islancla 3,400 Panama to Australia CvlC'-O IV.ca Straits to Japan 4,000 Plica Straits to Shanghai 5,000 Puca Straits to Canton 5,40C Puca Straits to Singapore 7,000 Fuc'n Straits to the Sanclwicli Islands 2,100 Tuca Straits to Anstralia G,000 As to the advantages of the respective routes, comments jitg unnecessary, figures and facts settle the question ; looking again to tho terminus at Puca Straits, we find advantages as to harbours, climate and position, in a degree commensurate to the disadvantages of Panama, and for steamers, abundance of coal ; the Islands of Japan also abound in coal, where supplies can bo had, and if necessary, depots might be made upon tho iUeutian Isles ; no sea is so remarkably adapted to steam naviga- tion as the Pacific, its traiirpiil Surface is scarcely ever agitated. by a storm. For sailing vessels, Puca Straits is equally ad- ^ vantagcous, easy of access at all seasons of the year, beiug out of the latitudes of the prevailing calms ; the jiassage could be made out and back with the trades ; the course to the great commercial marts of Asia would be west of south, and the north- east trade winds blow almost uninterruptedly, returning by a more northerly route, advantages would be taken of the polar curirents which set northward towards Behring Straits, and al»o of the more variable winds in higher latitudes. I have thus endeavoured to compare with each other, the different routes proposed for this great highway of the world, to explain the plan by which it is proposed to accomplish it, and to show that the very route which circumstances force us to take, is the only route suitable for the accomplishment of such a magnificent work. British capitalists, it appears, are ready to D :i\ )() 'P give their ftid tovvnrJs the eoiisirnetlon of a .e inrurreil a uiiich •i;reater ixpi luliture of jiioncy than would ser>V to build the Hallway within our territories, and even then, unless juituro herself eiiu be overcome, they cannot att > n their ohjeet ; whilst here, nature invites the enter|)^i^e, and where tliey have no favors toa.sk offoreit,Mi nations, where tiny will ]\ave security that the way sliall never Ix; closed to the euterprise of the liritiih meri;!iant, and wliereby her possessions upf)n the IVu'ilic will be secured to Britain f'-r all time to come, and be an addi- tioi\al guarantee for the perpetuity of her dominion upon this continent, it would create a union amonj; all her j)eople which coidd not he diss^ulved, with the trade of the world her own foiHner ; cemented by the affections and undiviih tl interest of her 8id)jcct3 in Europe and in Asia, hy means of her Canadian Empire, bound together with sinews of iron. The view that this opens upon the mind, independent of its internal benetits, staggers speculation with its immensity, and stretches beyond all ordinary rules of edenlation. The riches of the most unlimited market in the world would be thrown opei\ to it; and obeying the new imjudse thus imparted to it, England's commerce would increase until every billow betvycen us and China bore her meteor flag, By the superior facilities conferred upon us, by our position to control the whole Pacific, and the route through our own country, we would become the common carrier of the world. 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 civilizhig influence of sue! a scheme as this to throw down the harriers of prejudice and superstiion. Of this i\ature and character is the opideut empire of Japan. Through second but to China itself, it holds no intercourse with foreigners, and only permits one nation to land upon its domi- nions (the Dutch). Ought it to be too much to hope that thus being brought so near to us, some diplomacy or commercial interests would throw its rich markets open to our enterprise. The cost of the work, even though it should amount to a hundred millions, ]s 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 5i searticly amount to ciglit niillious, less, Iiulortl, tlmn would be riiiuirod to cut a cunul acios.^ tht> Isthmus of Piuiaiua, m is pro- posetl, cutailina;, pcrhajis, upoii Kn^laml, innnv fuiurc! war, to niaiutnln tlie rights of her sulijrcts m using such caunl, the cx- pcusiH of which wouUl huiid a dozen raiiwav.s; a war that mijjjht leave Euj^land enfcchtcd, exhausted, and dcpresHed. The coui- jdetion of the prt»i>osed Railway thrdiii^h liriiish possessions, would find her regenerated with new life, her impulses re-awakened, lier energies strengthened, and advancing with a rapidity and vigor that v\ ould astonisli destiny herself. The distance from the head of Lake Superior to the I'acific being about l.fjOO miles, then allow for detours and crossing the Ilocky ^Mountains, say '25U nules, nniking in all I /;')(). To construct such a road would cost about X'.OjdOD jicr mile, making a total of .ilSj/jO, ()()(). Prom tho point where it might start upon Lake Superior to Lac l;i '^luie, would be the most eKpensivo portion upon this side ol iho Koeky Mountains ; from Lac la Pluio onward, the land is of thci best quality for the production of food for man, well watered, covered with rich f^rass, «fcc. Tho farmer w'an;3 but tho plough, tho seed, the scythe, and the sickle ; ut tlio above rate, ten miles of railwuv wonld cost £r)0,()00. Five miles by sixty contain 192,000 acres, tho whole of this sold at say 5s. per acre, would not produce the sum required for the bare expense of building, thereby showing thai the request for 00 miles is not unreasonable. Without directing attention to tho trade carried on tbrough- out the Paeitic, by France, by Holland, and other continental nationy, and also by the United States, lot us look only to En- gland, it will aiford some idea of the incalculable advantages which such a communication would open out through this con- trv. Imports into Great Britain from the following ports : Projn Bengal, Madras and Bombay, as taken from Jliini's Merchant'' a Maya zl tie for March, 18 13, including all to continental Europe, and North and South America, annually, :C 1 2 , 000,000 Less for the amount to France and America,... 2,180,;>10 £9,510,060 '^ 9 n 52 I'roin Sumatra and Java (commercial tariff, part 6) 215,216 Tlie rlulippiuo Isles, i?lG,692 Now South Wales and Van Diemen's Laud (table of revenue, part 12, page 474) 1,118,088 Mauritius (table of revenue, part 12) 80G,593 Chili, estimated at .• 1,500,000 Peru, estimated at 1,000,000 £14,497,240 Prom China the total amount of various produc- tions, teas, silks, &c., 5,000,000 £10,497,240 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 Grovernment have contracted to pay, per annum, for the transmission of a Monthly Mail to Chagrea, £250,000 And from Panama to Callao, for communicating with the Navy m 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 comparativo advantagCKf, in a commercial point of view, betAveen it and the Isthmus of Panaina, it may not be inappropriate to again advert to it, as regards the effect of the construction of a canal at tho latter, would havo upon Eng- land's mail time supremacy- As early as t[\c seventeenfli ceuiury. a company projected by "Wm. Patterson, was formed in Scotland, to imj-.rovo the advan- tages offered by the Isthmus of Darieu, £7(?0,000 was raised, add 1200 men set sail to found a colony, but being denounced by Government, and attacked by a Spanisli force, they sunk under accumulated misfortunes, and abandoned the enterprise in despair. The project seems to be again revived, and a Com- pany is now forming in London to carry out the scheme of a ship canal by means of British capital, an almost suicidal act to England's supremacy on the seas, for it would thus con- tribute to afford superior facilities and advantages to other nations, and particalai-ly to her enterprising rival the United States, from whose rapid strides towards maritime equality England has much to appreliend. Through her geographical position the United States can more readily avail h(?rself of tho benefits to be derived from this course than any other nation. Her fleets would steam in one unbroken line through the Gulf of Mexico ; hc^^ naval power would overawe our settlements upon the north-west coasts ; and her influence extend itself through- out all our Indian possessions. The Marquesas Islands, in case the project be carried into effect, lying directly in the route of the navigation to India, would at a sten advance into oue of the most important maritime ports in the world, wliilst the Society Islands, also in the possession of France, would enhance ii7imensely in their value ; more than all, returning back ; the vessels of Europe would ere long procure their tropical pro- duction from the newly awakened Islaii.Is in the Pacific Ocean, in just the degree that their value would increase, the West India possessions ^^ould depreciate. By changing the route tlu-ough the Isthmus of Panama, England would voluntarily resign into other hands those commanding maritime and naval stations which she has won at the expense of so much diplomacy, perseverance and wealth. The power and advan- tages of Saint Helena, Mauritius, Capetown, and tlie Falkland Islands, commanding the passage round Cape Horn, would be transferred to jSew Orleans and other cities of the United States bordering upon the Gulf of Mexico, to Cuba, Chagres, Panama, and the Marquesas Islands. By the present route around the Cape of Good Hope and through the Isthmus of Suez, she has a fair start with the best, and superior chance over met other nations for the Indies, aud while her established power and superior marine in that region secures a preponderance in trade, better let well alone, unlesa she can gain superior advantage. .at The commerce of India in every age has been the source of the opulence and power of every nation that has possessed it ; by a silent and almost imperceptible operation, India has been through centuries the secret but active source of the advance of mankind, and while lying apparently inert in her voluptuous clime, has changed iha maritime balances of Europe with the visit of every people that has sought the riches of her shores. Her trade iVnparted the first great impulse to drowsy and timid navigation — it revealed, in the direction of its coasts, region after region before unknown. Like the Genii in the fable, it still offers the casket and the sceptre to those who, unintimidat- ed by the terrors that surround it, are bold enough to adventure to its embrace. In turn Phoenicia, Carthage, Greece, Home, Venice, Pisa, Genoa, Portugal, Holland, and lastly England, has won and worn this ocean diadem ; Destiny now offers it to us. APPENDIX No. 2. Simultaneously with the passage of the Bill for the Incorpo- ration of the Northwest Transportation, Navigation and Railway Company, by the Canadian Legislature, an Act was passed through the Minnesota Legislature, by which this Company will be placed in a most favourabh' position as regards the trade and traffic of the Western United States. *■ A Bill for the Encouragement of an International Overland Emigration Route from Minnesota to Paget Sound. Be it enacted Lij the Leyislature of the State of Minnesota : Sec, 1. Any Company incorporated by the English or Cana- dian Governments for the purpose of trade or transportation upon the rivers which form portions of the northern and western boundaries of this State, is hereby authorized and empowered to exercise all the powers conferred by their respective charters within the limits of tliis State, but upon the express condition that no power thereby exercised shall interfere with any right 55 now held and enjoyed by the citizens of this State, or shall be inconsistent with the Constitution or Laws of this State. Sec. 2. The authorities of incorporated cities and towns in Minnesota are hereby authorized to appropriate money or gua- rantee the repayment of sums subscribed and paid by individu- als for organizing and furnishing overland parties of exploration during the year 1858 ; but the total amount of such appropria- tion or guarantee by or on behalf of any single city or town, shall not exceed the sum of three thousand dollars. Sec. 3. The Governor is hereby authorized and required to compile such reports of overland parties as he may deem proper for public information, and either publish the same during the recess of the Legislature or report at the ensuing session thereon, as he may deem expedient.