Home | Articles | Documents | Events | Sources The proposed railway from Halifax to QuebecBy Abraham Gesner, 1849 It is now universally admitted that the introduction of railways into her Majesty's colonies in North America is of the utmost consequence to their future prosperity and safety. The idea of forming a continuous communication between Great Britain and China by steam navigation and railways, first suggested itself to McTaggart. It also occurs in Lord Durham's, and other reports on Canada. But up to January, 1845, no attempt had ever been made to give this idea a reality. It appears that the first person in England who made any effort to direct the attention of the Government to this subject, and bring the matter under public consideration, was Sir Richard Brown, one of the Baronets of Nova Scotia, who, at the above period, was engaged in forming a colonization company which would unite in the interests of those Baronets—the revival of whose order has been a subject of serious consideration,—the commutation of their claims having been reduced … - 313 -
… voluntarily to two and a half millions of acres of wild land, which the Baronets propose to settle without delay. Sir Richard Brown entered into correspondence with Mr. William Bridges, Secretary of the Cork and Fermoy Railway, since abandoned. The magnitude and advantages of the work soon gave it sufficient popularity to produce action. A provisional committee was formed in London, from whom have emanated several applications made to Parliament and the colonies for aid in the gigantic undertaking. A part of the provisional committee in London waited upon Lord Stanley, who informed them that the Government would forward their views if the colonies themselves would support the scheme. In July, 1845, letters were addressed to the Governors of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, who responded favorably to the proposal. A correspondence was opened with influential individuals, and persons best acquainted with the physical features of the country. A local committee was recommended for Halifax, and the most wealthy individuals in Nova Scotia and in the eastern part of New Brunswick expressed a willingness to aid in the work. Meetings were held at Halifax, and in different counties of the Province, all approving of the noble enterprize. The Press was also active in its behalf. But unfortunately the London committee assumed a position distasteful to Nova Scotia, and the committee that had been recommended for it were overlooked. Prospectuses were printed and widely circulated, bearing upon them the names of gentlemen, who were published as directors, or members of the local committees, without their knowledge or consent. A Judge of the Supreme Court publicly forbade the further use of his name in this manner. The proceedings began to be viewed with distrust, and from them the capitalists of the Province … - 314 -
... have since stood aloof. Discords also arose in the provisional committees in London, whose labours fell into a disrepute from which they have not been relieved up to the present time. The Home and Colonial Governments have nevertheless continued their interest in the subject, and through their agency an exploratory survey has been made for a railway between Halifax and Quebec. The report of the military engineers appointed to make the survey, has been made public. It is extremely favorable to the enterprize; and Earl Grey, the present Colonial minister, has expressed his approbation of this great national work as being necessary for the successful colonization of the country. The Legislature of Nova Scotia has collected a great amount of valuable information in reference to the actual travel and transport between the capital and Windsor, and between the isthmus of Cumberland and Halifax. There can be little doubt that in the event of a railway being constructed between Halifax and Quebec, the former would soon rise to be one of the first commercial ports in America. The advantages that would also be given to the Province would soon place her upon a par with the most thriving States upon the Great Continent. Nor would New Brunswick and Canada receive fewer benefits from the accomplishment of the enterprise. Immediately after the prospectuses of the Halifax and Quebec Railway had been published, a part of the inhabitants of St. John and Fredericton proposed the construction of a railway between those places, and between Fredericton and the Grand Falls. A company was accordingly formed for that purpose, and a bill was obtained from the Legislature of New Brunswick incorporating the "New Brunswick Railway Company." A witty writer in London has proposed that this should be chartered as "The Grand Fall Railway," and says: … - 315 -
… "there is something monstrously ridiculous, in the infantile stage of the colony's life, to think of connecting a city, having a population of not over 30,000 inhabitants, with a rock in the wilderness 190 miles." To this it might be added, that a railway, running along the border of a fine navigable river, in a new country, where the chief export is timber—which would continue to be floated upon the water, can offer little hope of profit. A railway from St. John to the Peticodiac, thence to Shediac, and others, have also been proposed and highly recommended in New Brunswick. The lack of funds to commence the New Brunswick Railway caused a diversion in favor of St. Andrews, a small town on the British side of the American boundary. The St. Andrews and Quebec Railway Company was incorporated in 1836, and the survey cost the British Government £10,000. After a lapse of ten years, the proposition to run a railway from St. Andrews to the Grand Falls and to Quebec, "if necessary, was revived," it being considered as in direct opposition to the Halifax and Quebec line. It has been gravely stated that "the proceedings of the company were arrested in consequence of the disputes with the United States." The boundary dispute was settled by Lord Ashburton in 1842. The revival of this railway does not appear until 1845, and after the Halifax and Quebec line had been proposed in London. The treaty of Lord Ashburton gave to the Americans lands upon which the line had been surveyed, and the national advantages of constructing a railway through the wilderness along the American boundary remain to be discovered. The company have, however, commenced the construction of the work, in … - 316 -
… which the laborers themselves are solicited, and "expected" to take shares. The inhabitants of Nova Scotia rejoice in the success of every public undertaking in the colonies; but when an object is disingenuously held up in opposition to a work of so much importance to the general welfare as that of the Halifax and Quebec Railway, they have a right to inquire into the motives that direct it. There can be no doubt that the St. Andrews Railway at the onset would operate against the interests of an eastern line, and vice versa. It was therefore proposed to divert the terminus of the railway from Nova Scotia to Canada away from Halifax. It is to be regretted that Sir William Colebrooke, the late Governor of New Brunswick, should have given his support to an act so dishonorable, and directly opposed to the general interests of Her Majesty's subjects in these colonies. To paralyze the efforts and withhold the capital of the inhabitants of Halifax—to neutralize the influence of all the people of the western part of Nova Scotia, and thereby check the progress of the Halifax and Quebec Railway,—Halifax, with one of the finest harbours in the world, well populated, strongly fortified, and garrisoned, with an immense agricultural country in the rear, and the first landing place for steamers from Great Britain, was to be exchanged for a little summer haven, on a desolate part of the coast near Canseau. Canseau itself was first selected, and the drift ice of that place scarcely formed an objection to making it the coast outlet of a railway nearly 650 miles in length. In the early part of 1846 a public meeting was held at St. Andrews, and stock to the amount of £30,000 was subscribed for the St. Andrews and Grand Falls Railway. The Hon. Capt. Owen in the chair spoke … - 317 -
… at length upon the great advantages of the harbour of St. Andrews beyond every other part for uniting the Atlantic with the St. Lawrence. This individual owns the chief part of the Island of Campo Bello, and at the time was prosecuting the survey of the coasts of Nova Scotia under orders from the Admiralty. A survey, or nautical exploration of Canseau, and every other place eastward of Halifax suitable for the terminus of the Great Railway to Quebec, was determined upon, and in the succeeding summer various reports were made from Capt. Owen to Sir William Colebrooke, disapproving of Halifax, and recommending, not Canseau, but Whitehaven, a small inlet westward of Canseau, as being: "not only the most conveniently situated, but a splendid and most commodious port," free from ice, "and whose natural facilities of attainment greatly exceed those of Halifax." No less than three reports in praise of Whitehaven and in condemnation of Halifax, were officially published in New Brunswick. The objects of this nautical survey, and the reports that followed, are too apparent to need any comment. In the summer of 1847, the Hon. Samuel Cunard and the Hon. James B. Uniacke were examined before a committee of the House of Lords in reference to the colonization of British America in connexion with railways. [See Report Select Committee House of Lords, No. 737, 1847] The extensive knowledge and experience of those gentlemen have no doubt corrected more than one erroneous opinion in regard to the subject then under their consideration; but other statements have had a tendency to distract the public mind, and divert the attention of the Imperial and Colonial Parliaments away from a most essential medium of colonial improvement. - 318 -
Without the united aid and energy of the Home and Colonial Governments, men of wealth will not advance their capital in an undertaking of such magnitude, and the noble results of the enterprize will never be realized. On the other hand, by the cooperation and support of the Imperial Government, with moderate interest taken by the commercial and agricultural population of these colonies, the bread of the grain-growing countries farther west—the produce of the fisheries, and the timber and mineral resources of the interior may be brought down to the Atlantic seaboard—the wild forests opened to the reception of thousands of British settlers, and the Provinces united in a common interest alike happy in its social relations, and enduring in its strength and attachment to the Empire. By the report of the engineers employed by the Home and Colonial Governments to make an exploratory survey of the country between the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia and Quebec, it appears that three different lines for a railway between those points have been proposed for consideration. 1st. To commence at Halifax, and run across the Province to the Bay of Fundy; thence by steamer across the Bay to St. John, New Brunswick; thence along the river St. John to Fredericton and the Grand Falls, and onward to Quebec-distance 600 miles. The principal objections to this line, as noticed in my work on New Brunswick, [New Brunswick, with Notes for Emigrants. London: Simmonds and Ward, 1847, pp. 217, 218, 219.] have not been overlooked by the engineers. They are the delay of crossing the bay in summer, and the risks incident to winter. In time of war this arm of the sea might be … - 319 -
… occupied by an enemy's fleet, and the northern part of the route would pass too near the American frontier to be defended from interruption even by a large force. To these may be added the existence of engineering difficulties of no ordinary magnitude. 2nd. The second route is recommended to commence at Halifax; then to run to Truro—across the Cobequid Mountains to Amherst—along the coast past the harbours of Bay Verte, Shediac, Richibucto, Miramichi, and Bathurst—to the Restigouche and Metapediac rivers—to the St. Lawrence, and thence along the right bank of that river to Quebec—distance 630 miles. 3rd. To commence at Whitehaven, near Canseau; to run thence to the river St. Mary's by Pictou to Bay Verte, the Bend of the Peticodiac—Boistown, and to the Restigouche eastward of the Grand Falls—whole distance 625 miles. The terminus of Whitehaven has been already treated of, and with the line itself it has been condemned by the persons engaged in the survey. Other mixed routes are briefly described; but none of them offer advantages to be compared with the line I had previously recommended, and that adopted by the engineers as being "the best direction for the proposed trunk line of railway from an eastern port in Nova Scotia through New Brunswick to Quebec." The description is as follows: "From Halifax to Truro, at the head of the Bay of Fundy, passing over the Cobequid hills, and on or near to Amherst and Bay Verte, crossing from thence over to the rivers Richibucto and Miramichi, above the flow of the tide, so as not to interfere with their navigation; then by the valley of the north-west Miramichi and Nepisiguit rivers to Bathurst; then along the shore of the Bay Chaleurs ... - 320 -
... to the Restigouche river; then by the valley of the Metapediac over to, or near to, the river St. Lawrence; then along the banks of the St. Lawrence to Riviere du Loup, and from thence continued through either the second or third concessions along the river until it approaches Point Levi." The immediate local transport of this line, so far as it passes through Nova Scotia, would not perhaps exceed that of the eastern route, but its general advantages far surpass those that would arise from any other track, and it intersects the richest mineral districts of the Province. It would open up 10,000,000 acres of wilderness land to agricultural operations, by the surplus population of the mother country—an object sufficient of itself to render the undertaking one of national consequence. By passing along an extensive line of sea coast, the cost of construction will be much reduced, and the greatest facilities afforded for the transportation of the produce of the fisheries, and the development of the commercial resources of the Gulph, the St. Lawrence, and the interior Canada. Remote from the American boundary, it would be completely safe in the event of a war with the United States, and in peace free from any competition that would affect its profits. The whole route is over land, an advantage not enjoyed by the American railways along the Atlantic coast, where the transfer of goods and passengers from rail cars to steam boats, and steam boats to rail cars, increases the delay and risk of transportation. The principal engineering difficulties to be encountered by the railway between Halifax and Quebec are the ranges of high lands extending from east to west, already noticed in the chapter relating to the geology … - 321 -
… of the country. One of these elevated ridges extends from the borders of the Gut of Canseau to the western extremity of the Province. It is intersected at several places by river vallies, one of which fortunately occurs between Halifax and Truro, affording an easy passage for the railway in that direction, along the borders of the terminating lakes of the Shubenacadie, and those that empty themselves into Halifax harbour. The next ridge I have called the Cobequid range. The railway will ascend this elevated land, along the ravine of the Folly river in Londonderry, until it attains a summit level, near the Folly Lake, of 600 feet above the tide at Dartmouth. By keeping above the tide flow of the rivers emptying into Northumberland Straits and Bay Chaleurs, the line avoids the high lands and lake estuaries of New Brunswick. Entering the valley of the Metapediac, it attains a summit level of 760 feet on the peninsula of Gaspe, whence it descends to the St. Lawrence, and proceeding along the terraced border of that river 190 miles, it reaches Point Levi opposite Quebec. The whole line runs at almost right angles to the rocky strata—the directions of their highest ridges, and the courses of the rivers. It cannot, therefore, be considered very favorable, so far as the construction of the railway itself is concerned; but the fact is of much importance in regard to its utility, for it cuts the different rocky and mineral beds at right angles, and intersects the rivers—the natural feeders of commerce. [See Report on the proposed Trunk line of railway from an eastern port in Nova Scotia through New Brunswick to Quebec. Halifax, 1848.] It is not the object of this work to enter widely into the subject. It may, however, be observed, that notwithstanding the enthusiasm displayed in the report, already adverted to, the facts drawn from a variety of … - 322 -
… sources and quoted in it, tend to show that the Halifax and Quebec Railway will yield a handsome return for the required outlay. The population that will be benefited and become contributors to this line is estimated at 400,000 souls. Taking the contributions made to railways by the population in parts of the United States for a guide, the sum of 10s. per head, per annum, upon an average, is set down for the receipts of the Halifax and Quebec line, which, it has been supposed, will yield £200,000 per annum from that source. To this sum may be added the profits of transporting the mails, troops, munitions of war, and commissariat supplies, with the gradual extension of commerce, and the traffic arising from immigration. Then, far beyond the profits that it would yield as a mere speculation, are the national benefits offered to the relief of the poor,—the improvement of the British North American Colonies—their attachment to each other, and their union with the parent country. In reference to our industrial resources, the Halifax and Quebec Railway, as thus described, would pass along the valley of the Shubenacadie river and lakes from the capital to Truro, a distance of 55 miles; it would be convenient for the large settlements in the valley of the Stewiacke, eastern part of Hants county, and other villages southward, and form the main channel of transport to and from Pictou, and all the eastern settlements of the Province. Besides the live stock, meats and agricultural produce, now transported by animal labor,—coal, iron, gypsum, lime, slate, and other minerals, might be advantageously dispatched to Halifax. From the neighborhood of Truro the railway would run through the populous villages of Onslow and Londonderry, and taking a gorge in the Cobequid mountains, it would enter the county of Cumberland. The rich and extensive vein of iron ore in the southern side of … - 323 -
… those mountains has been described in a former part of this work. This ore would be intersected, and all the iron required for the railway, as well as for other purposes, might be supplied by manufactories erected at its site. Every facility would also be offered for the exportation of the iron from the foundries and manufactories. In Cumberland, the railway would approach Tatmagouche, Wallace, Waterford, and Bay Verte harbours, and before it reached the Bend of the Peticodiac it would intersect the fine agricultural districts and populous villages of River Philip, Amherst, Fort Cumberland, Sackville, Dorchester, and Memramcook. The coal fields of Cumberland and Colchester would be crossed at points where they are known to be productive, and probably near the outcroppings of Spring Hill. At this place one of the coal strata is 12 feet in thickness, and the coal is of excellent quality. Here also there are inexhaustible supplies of limestone, gypsum, freestone, and grindstones, with salt springs. The population of Cumberland is about 12,000—of Westmoreland, 15,000. In those two counties, and on both sides of the Province line, there are upwards of 10,000 acres of dyked marsh, yielding wheat and hay. A still greater area may be dyked and rendered productive. The whole face of the country between Amherst and the Bend of the Peticodiac is occupied by flourishing villages, many of which were originally cleared by the Acadian French. The amount of traffic to and from this quarter—the growing sea ports on the northern shores, and the number of passengers to and from the interior, would be important. From the Peticodiac the course of the railway would be to some point on the Restigouche, touching the Miramichi. In that distance it would cross the New Brunswick coal field to the distance … - 324 -
… of 120 miles, where the country is level, and remarkably favorable for the work. Excepting a few new settlements, this part of the line would reach through vast tracts of ungranted land fit for cultivation. The country between the Peticodiac and Boistown contains coal, iron ore, gypsum, limestone, freestone, and marble, and, excepting coal, those minerals may be found as far west as the valley of the Tobique. The whole district under consideration is one of great resources and capabilities. Not less than 5,000 square miles of wilderness land remain unoccupied in this part of New Brunswick, where the physical advantages of the country are equal to any of the richest portions of British America. Here colonization is the primary object. The estimated expense of constructing the railway over the above distance is £7,000 per mile, and the total cost, including contingencies, is set down at £5,000,000. On the completion of the great line, branch railways would ultimately communicate with it at different points. The most important of these branches would extend to Pictou, St. John, and Fredericton. Along the whole course of the anticipated route, excellent timber is abundant, and may be obtained at a low rate even in the most populous villages; at numerous sites it may be felled at the places where it is required. Along the entire line the country abounds in rivers and small streams, capable of affording unlimited water power, and they offer the cheapest means for manufacturing purposes. White and red pine, spruce, hemlock, larch, and yellow birch, are the present staple articles of commerce supplied by the interior; now the railway would render the remote forests accessible, and afford a channel of despatch to commercial ports. - 325 -
In America no branch of industry has received more benefit from railways than agriculture, to which they transfer a great amount of time and animal strength, affording also a cheap and expeditious conveyance for the surplus produce of the farmer. The proposed railway would pass through a country whose climate and soil are favorable for agriculture, and whose timber and mineral resources are not surpassed in America. The physical and commercial resources that would be brought into play are beyond calculation. The iron of the Cobequid mountains alone would pay the interest on the outlay between Halifax and that place; and it has been estimated that the coal along the line would return a fair interest on the whole cost of the work. Colonization offers the only channel of relief for the distress in Great Britain; and a railway through Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Canada, is absolutely necessary for the accomplishment of such national benevolence in this part of her Majesty's dominions. Pressed down by competition, large numbers of the labouring classes cannot obtain employment;—others are only partially employed, and thousands are overworked to obtain even a scanty subsistence. Many of them, therefore, become unwilling paupers, and their children grow up ignorant, vicious, criminal, fatal to society, and subversive of its institutions. To relieve this unhappy condition of a large part of the population, during the past year companies have been organized, and the Government pressed for aid in the work of removing a part of the people from the old to the new world. One of these societies has been called the Canadian Land and Railway Association, who have formed a joint stock company, comprising a capital of £2,000,000, in shares of £5 each, to commence the construction of a railway from Halifax to Quebec—a work … - 326 -
… which might be begun and completed by the resources of the laborers themselves if properly directed and encouraged by the Government. By the fostering care and aid of the British Parliament and the Colonial Legislatures, the noble enterprise may be rendered safe to the Government, and to individuals who may invest their capital therein. Its magnitude and objects are beyond the grasp of private speculation, and should be secured against every kind of jobbing by legal enactments. Millions of her Majesty's subjects are interested in promoting the undertaking, and they look forward to the consummation of a scheme which would cement the British North American Colonies together in one impregnable mass, alike for strength and durability, and for ever secure their attachment to the parent country. [Gesner's New Brunswick. London: Simmonds & Ward, 1847.] It has been stated that the proposal to construct a line of railway between Halifax and Quebec was immediately followed by movements for railways in different parts of New Brunswick. A spirit of inquiry also sprung up in the western counties of Nova Scotia. A railway between Halifax and Digby was at one time strongly advocated. This line of communication was to be continued to St. John—across the Bay of Fundy by steam, and thence to Quebec, in preference to the entire land route already noticed. If it followed the direction of the main post road, this railway would touch the best agricultural districts of Hants, Kings, and Annapolis, whence to the capital there is an increasing transportation of live stock, meats, and the productions of the forests, farms, and dairy. It was long ago proposed to lay a part of the above line, or a railway from Halifax to Windsor, 45 miles. - 327 -
An account taken under the direction of the Legislature, of all the live stock, goods, and passengers, that passed between those two places in 1847, is very encouraging to the success of the enterprize. A grant was made by the House of Assembly in 1848 to make a survey of the line. The work has been prosecuted, and, after much delay, a favorable report has been obtained. The traffic in this direction is evidently ample for the security of the outlay. The numerous railway projects of Nova Scotia, and more especially New Brunswick, have evidently retarded the progress of the main trunk artery between Halifax and the St. Lawrence. But from an extended view of the general results of this medium of inter-colonial communication, it will appear evident that the great railway should precede all others in these colonies, and the success of the shorter local lines will depend in a great degree upon the operations of the uniting chain. With its root fixed upon the Atlantic seaboard, and fed by steam navigation from Great Britain, the trunk would extend through the Provinces, and in time reach even beyond the Oregon Territory. Branches would naturally shoot out in all directions, according to the healthy state of the parent stem, or the requirements of the bordering country. The novelty and consequent excitement produced by the foregoing schemes, and the speculation that always attaches itself to new discoveries and inventions, have been succeeded by sober calculations, not the less valuable for the silence of their operations. The general depressed state of business in almost every department—the unhappy state of affairs in these Provinces—the civil wars of Europe, and the disturbed state of Ireland, have checked the progress of colonial improvement, so that no reasonable hope can be entertained that the desirable work of uniting these colonies … - 328 -
… by the most approved system of communication, can be entertained, unless capital is freely advanced, or secured by Great Britain to complete the work. - 329 -
APPENDIX B. The plan proposed for raising the capital necessary for the completion of the Halifax and Quebec Railway is based upon the fact that the Provinces and the Empire have such an interest in its formation that it should be undertaken by them conjointly for the public weal. The Provinces, supported by the credit of the Mother country, could raise capital at a rate of interest which could not be done by any company of shareholders; and if to this advantage be added the disposal for the exclusive benefit of the railway, of a portion of the wild lands along the line, and in the immediate country which it would be the means of opening to settlement and cultivation, then it is highly probable that it would be constructed for three millions sterling. It has been estimated that there are in the counties through which the line will pass, fourteen millions of acres of land yet ungranted, and therefore remaining at the disposal of the Provincial Governments. The ordinary price of an acre of wild, or uncleared land, is about 2s. 6d. to 3s. per acre; but where pubic … - Appendix B:9 -
… roads are made through them, the value immediately increases, and it will not be considered an extravagant estimate to suppose that the land along it, or in the immediate vicinity of the railway, will be worth £1 per acre. For the construction of the great St. Lawrence canal, by which Canada has now the prospect of reaping such immense advantages from the trade of the western country, the Imperial Government guaranteed the interest on a loan of two millions sterling, and upwards, at 4 per cent. This loan was easily raised, and a large premium per cent. was received in addition for it. There can be little doubt that another loan of three millions sterling, at the same rate of 4 per cent. interest, could be raised upon the credit of the provincial revenues if guaranteed by the Mother country. With this amount of capital, and two millions of acres to be reserved, and sold from time to time, it is conceived the railway may be made. Upon the strength of these two millions of acres, and the loan as a basis, a large amount of notes might be issued in the payment of wages and salaries of the laborers and other persons employed on the works of the railway. They should be made receivable for taxes and customs duties. The amount authorized to be issued might be limited to the extent of the acres, and as these were sold an equal amount of notes should be cancelled. The issue of a number of notes which would pass current over these provinces, would be conferring a great benefit upon the community at large. The currency is not the same throughout, and persons who travel from one province to another are now put to inconvenience, and have often to pay a discount upon … - Appendix B:10 -
… exchanging the notes of one colonial bank for those of another. Advantage might be taken of the measure to assimilate the currency of the colonies to each other, and make it "sterling," the same as in England. By a little arrangement also, these notes might be made payable at the chief ports of emigration in the United Kingdom, and in that case a very great convenience would be afforded to a large class of persons on both sides of the Atlantic. To remit small sums now requires the intervention of bankers, or agents. This has the effect upon persons resident in the settlements, (and no doubt often also in the towns,) of preventing their sending the assistance which they otherwise would do to friends at home. Many a small note would be put up and sent in a letter, which now is never thought of for want of the convenience. In remitting sums from Halifax to England, the banks do not like to give bills at less than sixty days' sight. These notes would, therefore, become a great public benefit, and there would be no fear of their being kept in circulation to any amount. Upon the loan of three millions, the interest at 4 per cent, would amount to £120,000 per annum. Of this sum it may be fairly assumed, that, for the conveyance of the mails between Halifax and Quebec, the Post Office department would be willing to pay, annually, an equal amount to what is now paid for the same service. This has not been officially obtained, but there are good grounds for supposing that it is nearly £20,000. In case, then, that beyond this the railway only paid its own working expenses, the sum of £100,000 would have to be made good out of the revenues of the Provinces. The proportion of this, … - Appendix B:11 -
… or whatever sum might be deficient to pay the interest on the loan, would have to be arranged, and it may, for the sake of illustration, be supposed to be as follows:—
For the proportion guaranteed by the Provinces they would receive the benefits conferred by the railway in developing their resources—increasing the value of all property—promoting the sale and settlement of their wild lands—increased population, and increased revenue. For the proportion guaranteed by the Imperial Government, all government officers, civil or military, troops, munitions of war, supplies, &c., for the public service, and emigrants, should be transported over the line at the cost price. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, it is understood, are most willing to guarantee the interest to the extent of their means, and in a fair proportion. Canada having done so much already for the communications above Montreal, it is fully expected will not be backward in perfecting those below Quebec. In the extreme case supposed above, viz., of the railway yielding no returns beyond the working expenses, it is not conceived that either one of the provinces, or the empire, would not receive an equivalent in some other form for its direct contribution to make good the interest. "Deducting £20,000 for the conveyance of the mails, then the sum to be responsible for would be … - Appendix B:12 -
£60,000, which, divided proportionally, as before, would give, for:— Nova Scotia, £12,000 —proportion, 2 New Brunswick, 12,000 " 2 Canada, 18,000 " 3 Great Britain, 18,000 " 3 Total, £60,000 10 Therefore, for the responsibility (perhaps for assuming it only) of £100,000, or, as the case may prove, £60,000, the Quebec and Halifax Railway may be made."—Railway Report, 1848. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The following suggestions were made by the Hon. H.H. Cogswell, previous to the survey of the Halifax and Quebec Railway:— "Upon the proposed line there are upwards of five millions of acres of Crown Land fit for cultivation. This immense tract is now of very small value, but were the railway completed, it would produce as many pounds, including the numerous stations that would be required on the line, and as depots for articles to be forwarded by the rail cars, and which would command a price of at least one hundred pounds per acre. "The railway line would traverse immense coal fields, now of no value; but it is believed that were the line completed, the transport of coals to Quebec and Halifax would (if conducted by the Government, and without a reservation of the Royalty,) defray the annual expense. It has been asserted that an inexhaustible supply of coals can be placed upon the rail cars, at a sum not exceeding 5s. per chaldron, and the difference between that sum and the selling price at … - Appendix B:13 -
Halifax and Quebec would accrue to the railroad as a profit. The locomotives would also receive their supplies, in passing to and fro, at that small price. "It may be said that this arrangement would interfere with the rights of the Mining Company, but surely the Government might effect a compromise, as the company cannot now, nor never can work these mines unless the railroad is completed. There can be little doubt, therefore, that for an object of such immense importance, they would relinquish their claim to the coal fields referred to; besides, their shipping ports of Pictou and Sydney would not be interfered with. Thus abundant funds might be furnished for the completion of the work, by the Government, who would then have the entire management of its concerns without any interference, together with its collateral and powerful auxiliary, the Electric Telegraph, which, in time of war, it would be of immense importance to possess. All the troops in these colonies might be concentrated at one spot in the course of two or three days after notice, and as fresh and prepared for action as at the hour they might leave their respective barracks. "It seems, therefore, only necessary that the Imperial Parliament should sanction advances for the railroad until completed, and then the lands, and the mines and minerals, would most probably repay the whole advance. But as these colonies will be much benefitted by the railroad, it is not too much to expect, and little doubt can be entertained that they will cheerfully grant, one-tenth part of their net revenue for ten years towards so important an object. The sum thus granted by the Colonial Legislatures would amount, perhaps, to half a million; and probably in the ten … - Appendix B:14 -
… succeeding years they would be repaid the whole sum by an increased revenue under the same tariff. "The machinery for carrying this mighty enterprise into operation should be under the control and management of the Imperial Government and its officers in the colonies. Let it be supposed that the number of persons to be employed upon the whole line shall be 10,000;—let one thousand be selected from the Royal Engineers, Artillery, and troops of the line, whose period of service has nearly expired, and who would volunteer to engage in this service for a certain period, or until the completion of the service. All these would be competent to discharge the duties of non-commissioned officers, and to superintend the labor of the nine thousand, under the direction of experienced engineers and military officers. Let nine thousand be composed of emigrants, able-bodied, and well calculated to use the axe and the spade. All such persons should, of course, be entitled, for this particular service, to receive military pay, rations, and clothing, and be subject to military orders and control, and be entitled to their discharge upon the completion of the work; and grants of land, from five to fifty acres, upon the line of the railroad, upon which, for the purpose of extensive accommodation, each should have but a small front. These small allotments might be made the rewards of good conduct to such persons as may render faithful, diligent, and conspicuous services during the performance of the work." Thus would the whole cost of this gigantic undertaking be defrayed from the resources it would open and bring into immediate operation. - Appendix B:15 - SOURCE: Gesner, 1849:313-329 & B9-B15
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