THE INTERCOLONIAL RAILWAY
The imperfect means of communication between the Maritime Provinces and
Canada had long been recognized as a great evil, and very soon after the
introduction of railways into England a line of railway was projected to
run from St. Andrews, in New Brunswick, to Quebec. The transfer of a
considerable tract of territory, which had been believed to be in New
Brunswick, to the state of Maine, under the terms of the Ashburton
Treaty, gave a check to this enterprise, and financial difficulties
afterwards prevented its accomplishment. A more promising scheme was
that of a railway from Halifax to Quebec, and this so far received the
approval of the British government that an officer of engineers, Major
Robinson, was, in 1847, detailed to conduct a survey of the proposed
line. As this gentleman was influenced by purely military
considerations, his line was carried as far from the United States
boundary as possible, and consequently by a very long and circuitous
route. During the session of 1852, Attorney-General Street introduced a
series of resolutions in the New Brunswick legislature favouring the
building of the Intercolonial Railway jointly by Canada, New Brunswick
and Nova Scotia, according to terms which had been agreed upon by the
delegates of each. This arrangement was that the Intercolonial Railway
should be built through the valley of the St. John. These resolutions
were carried by a large majority. During the recess, Mr. Chandler, as
the representative of New Brunswick, and Mr. Hincks, the representative
of Canada, went to London to endeavour to obtain from the British
government financial aid to build the Intercolonial Railway. This was
refused on the ground that such a work had to be one of military
necessity. Further efforts were made in 1855, and again in 1858, to
influence the British government in favour of this railway, but without
result; the answer of Downing Street being that the heavy expenditure
involved in the Crimean War prevented the government from assisting in
the construction of public works, such as the Intercolonial Railway,
however desirable in themselves.
{DELEGATION TO ENGLAND}
The effort to secure the construction of the Intercolonial Railway was
renewed in 1861. At a meeting of delegates representing Canada, Nova
Scotia and New Brunswick, which was held at Quebec on September 30th, it
was resolved that the three governments should renew the offers made to
the imperial government in 1858 with reference to the Intercolonial
Railway, and that the route to be adopted be decided by the imperial
government. The Hon. Mr. Tilley, who was at this Quebec meeting, was
sent to England as a delegate to confer with the imperial government
with regard to the railway, while Nova Scotia was represented by the
Hon. Joseph Howe, and Canada, by the Hon. P. M. Vankoughnet. The
delegates reached England in November and placed themselves in
communication with the Duke of Newcastle, who was then colonial
secretary, and they also had interviews with the prime minister, Lord
Palmerston, the chancellor of the exchequer, the secretary of war, and
the president of the board of trade. While in England, the seizure of
the commissioners of the southern confederacy, Messrs. Mason and
Slidell, by Commodore Wilkes, on board the British mail steamer _Trent_,
produced a crisis in the relations between Great Britain and the United
States which seemed likely to lead to a war, and greatly strengthened
the position of the delegates, who were able to point out the difficulty
involved in defending Canada without a railway to the sea. They
presented their views to the colonial secretary in a very ably written
state paper, which should have convinced those to whom it was addressed
that the railway was an absolute necessity. The delegates estimated the
cost of the railway at L3,000,000 sterling, and they asked the imperial
government to join in a guarantee of four per cent. interest on this
sum, each of the provinces to guarantee L20,000 a year for this purpose
and the imperial government, L60,000. This proposal was rejected by the
British government, but it offered "an imperial guarantee of interest
towards enabling them to raise by public loan, at a moderate rate, the
requisite funds for constructing the railway." The British government,
therefore, would do nothing for this great work except to indorse the
bonds of the provinces to a limited extent, for it was stated in the
Duke of Newcastle's letter to the delegates that "the nature and extent
of the guarantee must be determined by the particulars of any scheme
which the provincial governments may be disposed to found on the present
proposal and on the kind of security which they would offer."
Delegates representing the three provinces met in Quebec in September,
1862, to consider this offer, New Brunswick being represented by Messrs.
Tilley, Steeves and Mitchell. The delegates from the Maritime Provinces
declared their willingness to propose to their respective governments to
accept the proposition of the Duke of Newcastle if Canada would bear
one-half of the expense of the railway instead of one-third. The
Canadian government offered to assume five-twelfths of the liability for
the construction and working of the Intercolonial, and to this the
delegates for New Brunswick and Nova Scotia had to agree. This imposed a
very serious burthen on two provinces, which, between them, had only six
hundred thousand inhabitants, and their willingness to assume it shows
the interest they took in this great work.
{NEGOTIATIONS IN ENGLAND}
In pursuance of an arrangement made at this Quebec meeting, delegates
from the three provinces went to England to arrange the terms of the
guarantee with the British government; the Hon. Mr. Tilley represented
New Brunswick, and the Hon. Joseph Howe, Nova Scotia. Mr. Gladstone, who
was then chancellor of the exchequer, insisted on a sinking fund being
provided, which was to be a first charge on the revenues of the several
provinces. This sinking fund was objected to by the colonial delegates,
but the only modification in its terms which they were able to obtain
was that the sinking fund was not to take precedence of any existing
liability. Before leaving England, Messrs. Tilley and Howe prepared and
submitted a memorandum to the Duke of Newcastle in which they expressed
a hope that Mr. Gladstone might be induced to reconsider the matter of
the sinking fund, and that it would not be insisted on. The Canadian
delegates left England without an acceptance of the terms proposed by
Mr. Gladstone, and without a formal rejection of them. Previous to the
meeting of the Canadian parliament, Tilley proceeded to Quebec to urge
upon the Canadian government the preparation of the necessary bills to
carry out the agreement entered into for the construction of this great
railway. He reported to the lieutenant-governor on his return that the
government of Canada, for reasons stated, could not then undertake to
pass the legislation required, which they greatly regretted, but that
they had not abandoned the arrangements for the construction of the
railway. The Canadian government's declaration in the course of the
session that they had abandoned this important enterprise was,
accordingly, a source of great surprise and regret. The governments of
New Brunswick and Nova Scotia passed the necessary legislation at the
next session, but the government of Canada took no further step in the
matter until the confederation negotiations were commenced in 1864.