OUR CANADIAN LETTER.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 14099, 19 July 1911, Page 3

OUR CANADIAN LETTER.

(mon ora. owy cor-!"Bsponi>kkt.'; TORONTO, May.29. The Government of Canada is to pay a subsidy of 150.508 dollars per annum during the term of the five-year-contract "nrhich it, together with the Government of New Zealand, has signed with the Union Steam Ship Comriny of Ne-r Zealand, for a direct steamship service between Vancouver, Victoria and Auckland. The Government of New Zcnlnnd pays an equal amount. The fserv:*-. j is to be one boat every eighteen days each way. The question of renewal of t';e contract for service between Aits- I tralin *»<{ is t- be t-krn "" hr- J Sir Wilfrid Lanrier with Mr Fisher. Prime Minister of the Commonwealth, at the Imperial Conference this moncn. THIIM> TRAN.-OONTINENTAI-nAILTTAT. In the railway development of Cannda, eno of the grcntest strides of recent months is the proposal of the Pominion Government to cn.irapteeth", bonds of the Cnnadln.n Ncrtliern P.al- ;- way for the thonsind-mile link het'vec" Port Arthur nnd Ottr-w*-. Tiie C.N.I?. already has nhont four thousand miles of railway we«t of Lake Superior, and has practienllv comr-leted -n*rranaomenti« for extendi-? £ its western line from "Ed-ition-ten to Vancouver, while in tbe east*. trails are already running from Quebec to Ottewa. The portion of the line bptween Port Aithur and North Bay will run throiirch some sixtpen million acres of land equal in fertility to the best portions of Old Ontario. It is interesting to compare the ways in which the other two Canadian transcontinental lines havo been financed. The CanadianPacific was built by a land grant of twenty-five million acres, and cash subvention of metro than fiQ.OOO.OOO dollars. The Girand Trunk Pacific is being built rart'y by the Go-ernment and partly hy the G.T.P. Company, resillv tho Grand Trunk Raihvav, involving heavy charges on the National Treasury. It '«= ■"•wnrx-'-d +« «•--.,~* +voonstruction of this link of the Canadian Northern by the Government ErunrnTiteeing the ho-nd" of the Company t" the extent of 35.000 dollars rer mileend to tot the interest on the erst of construction for two rears, if neeessarv. As. fecnirit-v the Government-is tn +.->'?" a first mortcee on the road from Port Ar+hT-ir to *sfontreal ? exoc-t a smnll section between Ottawa and Montreal and a. 1 so hold a second mertnrage on the Canadian "Northern system from Niagara to Montreal. Should the Comtherefore, fail hi r-w.+ i<<: bonds, tho Government could take possession, and Canada would become the ownp-r. or at least joint owner, for 3o o*3o dollaris p<*w mile, of a road that will nrrhably wist 55.000 dollars or 00.000 doMars a m'le. If the eon-many does not default, tho country will have the benefit of another trnnscontinenlfl railway. And another substantial advantaee of this project is that the new read will become a direct feeder of the Intercolonial Railway, owned hy the Dominion, "both at Montreal and nt Quebec. As it is now, the C.P.R. transports its freight and passengers by its own road to St. .John and Halifax, while the G.T.'R-. has its seaport at Portland, in the State of Maine, and is negotiating for additional • outlets at Providence and Boston. The C.N.R. is •to- ho hooked up as far as practicable to the Intercolonial, and will thus he. made to coTitrihute to its revenues, that -s*Jo the, Dominion's. Tho C.N.R. ilTl!a3y Tiffs' its own" sterimships rnn-ni"-' fromi Bristol to Halifax, carrying freight 011*3 passengers for tho West, which traffic, it will as far as possible trorififer to its own. road via the Intercolonial. Besides, by its road between Toronto, and Montreal, which is to opened for traffic within a year, it will gather a large amount of frekht in the pro-vinces of Ontario and Quebec, for shipment across the, Atlantic hy ite own steamers. It is altogether likely, therefore that the Intercolonial,; which has not until within th© past two or three years-been other than a burden to th<-> successive Grbvernments of Canada, will now become, a pocd, (paying investment. Beth sides of the House of Commons received the proposal of the Minister, of Railways very favourably, whereas the Conservatives in 1903-4, when tho Grand Think Pacific was launched, offered strenuous opposition. Now that tho success cf that undertaking is assured, ; they are evidently unwilling to appear a second time as the opponents of a progressive policy for Canada.

RAILWAY UNDERTAKINGS. In connection with the conference between the= Mackenzie and Mann interests and Hon. George P. Graham, Mm ister of Railways, oveir the guarantee of bonds, it has leaked, out that the Canadian Northern 'intends to spend fire million dollars immediately, and between thirty and forty million tiltimately. on terminals in Montreal andToronto, 30,000,000 dollars to be spent in Montreal, and 5,000,000 dollars or 6.000.000 dollars in Toronto. Among other improvements, it is proposed to put a new bridge across the St. l_awjence at Montreal, while in Toronto i 1 is intended to erect an uptown statkn. with perhaps a joint arrangement witl* the Canadian Pacific Railway, and to build a huge viaduct over the Don Valley to admit trains from the east, and through to the proposed lino to Niagara Falls. The gross earnings for tho past year on the Intercolonial Railway, the Dominion Government's line which connects the Maritime Provinces with Quebec and Ontario, amounted to almost ten million dollars, and the surplus wa3 272,712 dollars, a good showing considering the unusually heavy expenditure, and indicating that the road is now on a permanently paying basis. This is considered a vindication of the policy of Hon. G. P. Graham, Minister of Railways and Canals, in putting tho railway under a special Board of Management- From the total income of 9,863,783 dollars, were deducted 600.000 dollars for equipment, 25,000 dollars for revenue account on equipment, and 76,000 to cover cost of replacing shops at Campbellton destroyed by fire. The Dominion Government will call for tenders shortly for the building of a portion of the Hudson Bay Railway, Canada's new route, connecting tuie prairie provinces with the European markets. The line runs from Le Pas, on the Saskatchewan river, to either Port Nelson or Fort Churchill, on Hudson Bay, the terminus being decided en on when engineering and hydrographic surveys now in progress are completed. It is expected that work will start en the eastern portion of the road by next year, and the whole line is to bs finished by 1914. Tho work will be under the direct supervision of the Railway Department. It is proposed that the Dominion shajl guarantee the principal and interest of the securities of tho Canadian Northern Alberta Railway Company from n point at or near Edmonton or St. Albert, Alberta, westerly to the coal areas near Bru.-e Lake in ,tasr>er Park, to the extent of 13.000 dollars per mile for tho first 50 miles, and 25,000 dollars for the remaining 100 miles. A first mortgage on tne railway and its nroperty is to be granted to the deed of trust which is to secure the securities. gaveral millions of dollars will te sront this year by the Grand Trunk Railway in Ontario. Among the important -undertakings will be the conr+ructin' 1 *>f a /oundhon«e at Midland. The ocaapany m spending considerably

on depression or eleTation. as required, of its tracks leading into Toronto, ana may undertake the construction ot a bridge at a dangerous eras ing near Uie city's western limit, as ordered by tne Dominion Railway Commissioners, tuo city paying a proportion of the cost.

ELECTRIC RAILWAYSAn Interurban Electric Railway is to be in operation before tho fall between Guelph and London, running tnrougn Berlin and Woodstock*. This is part ot the scheme of the People's Railway, projected to connect Toronto eventually with Detroit, and to form the backbone of a system of interurban extending from Collingwood and Owen Sound on tha Georgian Bay to Godericn. and Port __uron on Lake Huron, and Port Stanley, on Lake Erie Lnited States capitalists are backing the enterprise. . and the company s c ' 4?? r ~™ authorises bonding the road for 2o,WU dollars per mile of roadbed. It is expected to lay more than a mile of steel p<-r day, and when the road is completed." it is to be operated by hydroelectric power from Niagara Falls, tho trip between Toronto and Windsor bein a; mr.do in less time than the steam roads take, with equipment and rolling stock of th- most modern type.

Tbe Dominion Power and Transmission Company is making a survey for an eb-ctrin railway lino from Hamilton to Gait. The Hamilton nnd lirantford line will be used ap far as Langford, and a loop is to be constructed to connect with the Hamilton. Guelph. and "Waterloo Railway, should that road be built.

BRITISH CAPITAL IN CANADA. A London pressman, Mr "W. Leonard Palmer, of the editorial staff of the " Financial News," who visited Toronto lately, says that more than two billion dollars of British capital is m-vr-sted in Canada, of which nearly 400,000,000 came last year. * This year ho believes the investments will reach half a billion dollars.

PROSPECTS OF RECIPROCITY BILL. The United States Senate refused to adopt the amendment of the House or Representatives to the Reciprocity Bill, making pulp and paper from unrestricted lands immediately free to Canada. Some other amendments may be made to the Bill before it passes tho Senate. Indeed, at the present juncture, it looks doubtful whether tha Senate will pass it at all. In that case, its fate in the Canadian Parliament is very problematical. Should Sir Wilfrid Launer decido to bring on the vote ho might cany it, though there is very strong opposition, while if he should go to the country before the census is taken, the'result would still bo doubtful ; nut if he waits till after the census gives the west the increased rcprosentation which it will give, the proreciprocity feo!in<» is so prevalent in the west that Lauiicr's position would undoubtedly be greatly strengthened. Sir Wilfrid had a great reception in the tour he made of the Wo-st /nst summer. This summer the leader of tho Opposition, Mr R. L. Borden, is to co over about the same ground, to test the feeling of the country.

LAW'S AIM THWARTED. The necessity of legislation to amend j tho Combines' Act, passed by tho Do-1 minion Parliament during last session, is made manifest by the fact that the investigation of the alleged combine iv the shoemaking machinery interests'can be hold up, as it is by the courts, and carried to the Privy Council- A decision by tho Privy Council against, the company, and in" favour of tho Government at every point, would leave the matter in as uneatisfactory a condition, vas'"!if it were the other way, so long as . pew points could be raised indefinitely in this case, and in every other case in x which an alleged combine micht desiro s to postpone investigation. The inten- i tion of tho Combines* Act k to have j every alleged combine promptly investi- j gated, and if the consumers aro found to be suffering from extortion, to afford them immediate, relief,, ..:TJnle«s_ this can ... be done- promptly,\ fhe act is useless, and the present cnse has shown that a chance for obstruction has been mad- I rertently left open, which must bo 1 closed by additional legislation, so that i the courts, the creatures of Parliament, may not be used to thwart tho will of Parliament. TheiLabour.Department . nnd the Department of Justice will com- i bine to nut up a strong fight beforo-the ; Privy Council, and if the present 6tatuto is found insufficient to prevent evasion by legal technicalities and de- • Jaw. as it seems to be. the M'nistor j. of Labour, Hon. W. L. Sfackenzie j King, will introduce an amendment to j prevent any thwartinjg of the intention of the Act. I