Canada and the States | Page 7

negotiation with the

Colonial Government in reference to the Grand Trunk Railway. I was
compelled then, from pressure of other business, to refuse what at that
time would have been, to me, a very agreeable mission. Since then, I
have grown older, and somewhat richer; and not being dependent upon
the labour of the day, I should be very chary of increasing the
somewhat heavy load of responsibility and anxiety which I still have to
bear. It is doubtful, therefore, whether I could bring my mind to
undertake so arduous, exceptional--perhaps even doubtful--an
engagement as that of the 'restoration to life' of the Grand Trunk
Railway.
"This line, both as regards its length, the character of its works, and its
alliances with third parties, is both too extensive, and too expensive, for
the Canada of to-day; and left, as it is, dependent mainly upon the
development of population and industry on its own line, and upon the
increase of the traffic of the west, it cannot be expected, for years to
come, to emancipate itself thoroughly from the load of obligations
connected with it.
"Again, the Colonial Government having really, in spite of all the
jobbery and political capital alleged to have been perpetrated and made
in connexion with this concern, made great sacrifices in its behalf, is
not likely, having got the Railway planted on its own soil, to be ready
to give much more assistance to this same undertaking.
"That the discipline and traffic of the line could be easily put upon a
sound basis, that that traffic could be vigorously developed, that the
expenses, except always those of repair and renewal, could be kept
down, and that friendly, and perhaps improving and more beneficial,
arrangements could be made with the local government--is matter, to
me, of little doubt. Any man thoroughly versed in railways and quite up
to business, and especially accustomed to the management of men and
the conduct of serious negotiation, could easily accomplish this. But
after all, unless I am very much deceived, all this will be insufficient,
for many years to come, to satisfy the Shareholders; and I should not
advise Mr. Glyn or Mr. Baring to tie their reputations to any man,
however able or experienced, if it involved a sort of moral guarantee
that the result of his appointment should be any very sudden
improvement, of a character likely much to raise the _value of the
property in the market_, which unfortunately is what the Shareholders

very naturally look at, as the test of everything.
"To work the Grand Trunk as a gradually improving property would, I
repeat, be easy; but to work it so as to produce a great success in a few
years can only, in my opinion, be done in one way. That way, to many,
would be chimerical; to some, incomprehensible; and possibly I may be
looked upon myself as somewhat visionary for even suggesting it. That
way, however, to my mind, lies through the extension of railway
communication to the Pacific.
"Try for one moment to realize China opened to British commerce:
Japan also opened: the new gold fields in our own territory on the
extreme west, and California, also within reach: India, our Australian
Colonies--all our eastern Empire, in fact, material and moral, and
dependent (as at present it too much is) upon an overland
communication, through a foreign state.
"Try to realize, again, assuming physical obstacles overcome, a main
through Railway, of which the first thousand miles belong to the Grand
Trunk Company, from the shores of the Atlantic to those of the Pacific,
made just within--as regards the north-western and unexplored district
--the corn-growing latitude. The result to this Empire would be beyond
calculation; it would be something, in fact, to distinguish the age itself;
and the doing of it would make the fortune of the Grand Trunk.
"Assuming also, again I say, that physical obstacles can be overcome,
is not the time opportune for making a start? The Prince is just coming
home full of glowing notions of the vast territories he has seen: the
Duke of Newcastle has been with him--and he is Colonial Minister:
there is jealousy and uncertainty on all questions relating to the east,
coincident with an enormous development of our eastern relations,
making people all anxious, if they could, to get another way across to
the Pacific:--the new gold fields on the Frazer River are attracting
swarms of emigrants; and the public mind generally is ripe, as it seems
to me, for any grand and feasible scheme which could be laid before it.
"To undertake the Grand Trunk with the notion of gradually working
out some idea of this kind for it and for Canada, throws an entirely new
light upon the whole matter, and as a means to