continental route; stated that an Elevator of 1,250,000 bushels capacity would be established within a few weeks at Port Arthur as a beginning of their terminal works; and added that while they had 14 men on their pay-rolls in January, 1897, the Canadian Northern now had 1,069 employees with wages of $44,091 a month. Mr. Mann described the nature of the new road, and predicted that within 15 years 200,000,000 bushels of wheat would be exported from the Canadian West. Of this their road must get a fair proportion. the beginning of 1902 they would have 1,300 miles in operation and be the third largest railway system in Canada. Within seven years they hoped to drive the last nail in the second Canadian transcontinental line. British Railway Legislation At During the visit of the Premier and Mr. Eberts to Ottawa early in 1901, they pressed upon the Dominion authorities the necessity of assisting certain railway projects in the Province at a ratio of two-thirds to onethird of the expenditure. Especially was this claimed to be a duty in view of the contributions of British Columbia to the revenues of the Dominion. It was also desirable because of the over-lapping jurisdiction of the Governments and the peculiarly heavy requirements of the Province on account of its rugged conformation and immense natural resources. "Throughout the centre of British Columbia," Mr. Dunsmuir pointed out in a letter to the Premier, "for its entire length there extends a great and comparatively level plateau, admirably adapted for a trunk line of railway, from which would ultimately radiate branch lines to the coast tapping localities capable of remarkable development and of creating immense traffic." Nothing came of these proposals, however, and very soon the Provincial Government found themselves in a prolonged struggle with rival factions and opinions over the policy which they definitely and finally enunciated in the Legislature during the ensuing April, and which involved a permissive loan of money, not exceeding $5,000,000 to certain railways, at the rate of $4,000 per mile of road having a uniform guage of four feet eight and one-half inches. The following lines were specified :— 1. For a railway from the Coast in the neighbourhood of English Bluff, near Point Roberts, viu Chilliwack and Hope to Midway, Boundary Creek district approximately 330 miles. 2. For a railway from the present terminus of the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway to the northern end of Vancouver Island-approximately 240 miles. 3. For a railway from Rock Creek to Vernon to connect with the Shuswap and Okanagan Railway-approximately 125 miles. 4. For a railway from the Coast, at Kitimaat, to Hazelton-approximately 100 miles. 5. For a railway from Fort Steele to Golden-approximately 150 miles. The money borrowed under this Act-which was introduced on April 23rd by Attorney-General, the Hon. D. M. Eberts-was to bear interest at a rate not exceeding three and one-half per cent.; to be repayable at a date not less than 25 and not more than 50 years; to be subject to a sinking fund imposed at the discretion of the Lieutenant-Governor-in-Council, and to be applied by the Minister of Finance in accordance with the terms of the Act. The measure authorized the Provincial Government to make all necessary arrangements and agreements with any persons and companies interested in the specified railways, subject to certain conditions. These included the commencement of work on the railways mentioned on, or before, July 1, 1902, and its diligent prosecution; the payment of the subsidy or loan only when any road was completed and in running order, and at such time as satisfactory securities had been given for its continued maintenance and operation; the payment of 4 per cent. per annum of the gross earnings of the railway to the Province; the declaration that railways obtaining such subsidies should be constructed wholly, and as a continuous line, within the Province; the proviso that the Lieutenant-Governor-in-Council should have "absolute control of the freight and passenger rates to be charged" upon the roads-notwithstanding any possible jurisdiction of the Dominion Government; the right of the Province to acquire the railways in the future at a valuation under arbitration; announcement that the road from Victoria to Boundary district should not be entitled to the subsidy unless the Company gave satisfactory assurances to construct and operate daily a sufficient steam ferry from Victoria, on Vancouver Island, to the Mainland and to connect the Cities of Vancouver and New Westminster. The Act also enabled the Government to appropriate $500,000 to the construction of a bridge over the Fraser River, in the vicinity of New Westminster, the tenders being subject to public competition and the Government having control over the future tariff of tolls. The contest, begun early in the year between various interests backing the Victoria, Vancouver and Eastern Railway-which already possessed a Dominion charter to construct a road from the Coast to the Kootenay or Boundary regions and the Canadian Pacific Railway, was now transferred to the Legislature. The Government, in their measure, assumed absolute power to give the contracts for construction of these various lines to whatever concern they might select, and it was claimed, and believed in many quarters, that they intended to hand over the chief subsidy-that from the Coast to the Boundary district-to the Canadian Pacific Railway. The cry of monopoly was strongly raised, and competition was presented by the opponents of the Government as a necessity for the Province. Upon the other hand it was known that Messrs. Mackenzie and Mann held the Dominion charter of the Victoria, Vancouver and Eastern Railway, and that behind them were Mr. J. J. Hill and the Great Northern Railway; and the possibility of American control of Provincial interests was alarmingly portrayed. In the Legislature a break-up of parties took place at once upon the question. Mr. Joseph Martin, the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. John C. Brown and Mr. W. W. B. McInnes announced their intention of supporting the Government, while Mr. Smith Curtis, a prominent member of the Opposition, declared that he was no longer connected with that organization and would oppose the measure independently. "My policy," he said to the Vancouver World, on April 24th, "is Government owned, and Government operated lines, and, failing that, Government control, with competition." Other members, it was understood, would desert the Government upon the question. In the Province the press was divided into all sorts of conflicting camps, but, speaking broadly, the Victoria Colonist, the Westminster Columbian, the Vancouver Province and the Vancouver News-Advertiser supported the Government while the Rossland Miner, the Victoria Times and the Vancouver World denounced them and their policy with vigour. The issue was further complicated by the objection of many members on the Government side of the House to any alliance or combination with Mr. Martin, and upon this point prominent supporters of Mr. Dunsmuir such as Messrs. H. D. Helmcken, A. E. McPhillips and J. F. Garden were outspoken. In the House the measure was debated at length. On May 6th, Mr. Smith Curtis declared that there was nothing in it to show that the Government desired the immediate construction of the CoastKootenay road, and that delay was being sought in order to help the Canadian Pacific Railway; that there was no hint of securing competition and every indication of an intention to help the existing monopoly; that there should be no objection to this road being deflected into the United States if thought desirable by the Company concerned; that the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway and the Comox-Cape Scott Line should sign a contract giving control of rates to the Government; that the Coast-Kootenay Line should be a Government work owned by the Province. Upon this latter point he moved a want of confidence Resolution which was rejected by 31 to 4 votes. It had been said in the press that many supporters of the Government would refuse to accept the measure, but when the test of speech and vote came it was found that an unusually strong feeling existed in its favour-apart from details. On May 8th, Mr. A. E. McPhillips criticised some of the details, though he intended to vote for the measure itself. He thought the percentage of gross earnings payable to the Government was right in principle but as a first lien was hampering. The Dominion Government recognized operating expenses as a first lien. The provision for purchase at the end of 20 years might hinder the investment of capital at present. The attempt to control rates was, he believed, unconstitutional and opposed to Dominion rights. He was strongly opposed to the Canadian Pacific Railway being given the contract for constructing the Coast-Kootenay Railway. Mr. Martin followed in strong support of the measure; Mr. R. G. Tatlow, Mr. Munro and Mr. Hall spoke in favour of it to some extent, but all urged a competitive line in preference to Canadian Pacific Railway control; and the second reading passed by 33 to 3-the latter being Messrs. Smith Curtis, E. C. Smith and Hawthornthwaite. On the following day it passed the third reading after various amendments had been voted upon. Mr. Tatlow moved in connection with the subsidy to the Coast-Kootenay Line that "preference shall be given to a competitive railway," and this was rejected by 24 to 13. Mr. Smith Curtis, in connection with the admitted fact of Mr. Dunsmuir's financial interest in the Esquimalt and Nanaimo road, moved that no subsidy should be granted to any Company which included a member of the Provincial Executive Council, and this was voted down by 27 to 3. The same member proposed a lengthy motion intended to prevent the Coast-Kootenay Line from ever being absorbed or controlled by another railway, but it was rejected by 21 to 6. Other amendments met with a similar fate. The Bill was assented to by the Lieutenant-Governor on May 11th. In the Province, generally, political controversy had, meantime, been very active. On January 31st, the Vancouver Liberal Association prepared and passed a Memorial to the Dominion Government asking support for a Coast-Kootenay line of railway and approving the Victoria, Vancouver and Eastern Company's desire for a subsidy. On February 20th, a conference of the Settlers' Association and the Board of Trade Council of Victoria approved a petition to the Dominion and Provincial Governments, asking for a railway from Vancouver to Chilliwack as a preliminary to the Coast-Kootenay Line. A public meeting in Vancouver, on March 7th, asked for the restoration of the once-granted Provincial bonus of $4,000 a mile to the V. V. & E. Company, and four days later the City Council of Vancouver requested a Provincial subsidy for some Company not specified, and urged Government control of its passenger and freight rates. On March 13th, the delegates from the Vancouver mass meeting waited upon the Government and were promised careful consideration of their opinions by the Hon. Mr. Turner. Six days later a public meeting was held in Victoria, and Resolutions passed favourable to the V. V. & E. project. Mr. E. V. Bodwell, K.C., spoke on behalf of Mackenzie and Mann, and stated that they were willing to insert a clause in their contract making future amalgamation with the Canadian Pacific Railway impossible. A delegation from this meeting met the Government, on March 21st, and a telegram was read from Messrs. William Mackenzie and James J. Hill stating the equal interest of Mackenzie and Mann and the Great Northern Railway in the Victoria, Vancouver and Eastern stock. The Premier made no promise in the matter, but stated that Government control of rates was essential to any possible agreement. On March 26th, a Memorial was presented to the Government by Mr. Charles Woodward, from the Vancouver Citizens' Association, on behalf of an independent line to the Kootenays, clear of all connection with the Canadian Pacific Railway. Three days later another public meeting was held in Victoria, and a Resolution passed, unanimously, along the same lines as the Memorial from Vancouver. Meanwhile, on March 22nd, a deputation from the Similkameen, Nicola and Osoyoos districts had waited upon the Government, and a week later they presented a Memorial summarizing reasons for granting aid to the V. V. & E. project and stating that Mackenzie and Mann already had $1,500,000 invested in Kootenay mines, and would construct the railway at once. In Vancouver, on April 4th, another mass meeting was held, and Resolutions passed in favour of a Coast-Kootenay road independent of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Mr. Bodwell stated that the Government's conditions, as outlined by the Premier, made it apparently impossible for the V. V. & E. Company to tender for the contract. On April 10th, a public meeting was held at Rossland in favour of a competitive and independent line, and two days later the British Columbia Board of Trade at Victoria adopted a Resolution of the same character, and referred to the "almost unanimous demand of the people in this connection. On May 2nd, the Hon. Mr. Wells made public the correspondence which had passed between the Government and certain Companies regarding the terms under which a loan or subsidy would be granted to different railways. Prolonged discussions followed between the Government and various concerns interested, but at the end of the year nothing had been absolutely settled. Electric There was some development in this connection during the year, and much discussion as to the introduction into cities of radial electric lines. Toronto, Stratford, Hamilton, Guelph, Woodstock, Galt and Berlin, discussed the subject in various local forms-sometimes with a view to encouraging the entry of suburban lines; sometimes in an effort to retain the control of their streets from the influence of such corporations. According to the Report of the Minister of Railways for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1901, there were 40 electric roads in the Dominion with a mileage of 672; an expenditure upon maintenance, buildings, etc., of $310,892; an expenditure upon working and repairs of $824,801; general operating expenses of $2,299,468; total operating expenses of $3,435,162. The construction of these lines was confined almost entirely to Ontario and Quebec-368 miles to the former and 197 to the latter -and the total ordinary share capital was $22,421,448; the preference share capital was $1,135,166; the bonded debt was $13,280,426; and the total nominal capital was $39,076,018. The only official aid given was in Ontario, where $60,800 was granted by the Dominion Government, and $173,000 by the Municipalities. The chief railways concerned, and their general condition, may be seen in the following condensed statement from the elaborate official tables : |