TO SAVE THE CANADIAN RAILWAYS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 8, 4 October 1917, Page 7

TO SAVE THE CANADIAN RAILWAYS

GOVERNMENT TO CONTROL TWO BIG SYSTEMS.

In the Canadian House of Commons recently (as briefly cabled at the time), bir William T. AVliite, Minister of Finance, announced that the Government was tai:in" over the Canadian Northern. Kailvay. Sir William White emphasised that the financial embarrassment of the Canadian Northern and the Grand Trunk Pacilic was such that Government assistance was imperative if .the systems were to continue to serve the public as solvent concerns. Otherwise a receivership and. the default of bonds would ensue. The Royal Commission had recommended that the Grand Trunk, the Canadian Northern, and the Grand Trunk Pacific should be aided and placed under bovcrnmont trusteeship. In view; ot .cue large financial assistance already given to those companies the Government considered that if the jmblic must continue to do the financing of them the public must have control of the railroads. The Government already owned forty million dollars of the stock of the Canadian Northern, and it now proposed to acquire another sixty millions, and thus control the entire system. Regarding the Grand Trunk Pacific, the Govornment proposed to Advance to the company 7,500,000 dollars at six per cent., takinp control of the directorate, villi a view to the ultimate acquisition of the system us public properly. ,