Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1873-09-19

And n than empty speech. choose llt-l lAAAttr
Their sweet duinh lips 70 eloquenee shall break
And from the lilies oi my Lord I'll gather
sweet lessons ior His sake
:, f,- the pulrit flowers that bloom on Sunday,
To whose sweet thought provides them thanks
and love;
pray Their hands Nv Inc brighter sarlanes one day.
-'-'' -Bggor', H1ga-inr for ssFf.
The Menace to New York commerce.
THE future INTERCOLLEGIATE ST. LAWRENCE
THE HIGHWAY TO TIE GREAT NoEIHWA9i-
HOW NEW YORK MAY PROFIT by THE CON-
INC EETOLUTION-
A well-informcI correspondent Of the
New YORK Herald. writing from Montreal
predicts great things in store for the
.'Queen City of Canada, basing his pre-
diaaons On the city gaining a large share
oFthe commerce of the great Northwest,
and. as to it, citizens belief IN this. refer
ring TO the costly character of the public
Improvement, IN process of construction.
and the magnificent propositions under con-
sideratiln for making the harbor unrivaled
in capacity. and almost unsurpassed in the
solidity and extent of it, docks. He also
points out one of the chief means Of avert
ing from Montreal TO New York the great
lumber and grain trade Of the Northwest -
the building of the Caughnawaga Cana.
and 1T, connections. The correspondent
writes
Montreal is geographically centred 50 a.
t. equally command the inland and the
ocean navigation belonging 10 the northern
portion of the Continent. Except al New
Orleans no ike facilities are found c1mDIn-
ed in any one port on this side of the ocean.
True. at present. the interior VOYAGE l. IN
terrupted in the passage from Lake Ontario
to Lake Erie. but IN a little while the en-
largement of the Welland Canal VIII be
completed. and the same steamboat wall
carry the tourist via Kingston and Toronto
10 Buffalo. Cleveland. Detroit. Milwaukee,
Chicago OF Duluth. and there l. even a
prospect for boats Of a moderate drauEht
continuing from Lake Michigan VIA 6reen
Bay and the Fox and Wisconsin rivers
(which are being rendered avaiiable) into
the waters of the Mississippi. and thence 10
the Gulf Of Mexico or to points along the
great tributaries of the Father of Waters.
Montreal Is days steaming nearer to
Glasgow and Liverpool than New ork,
and. when the Canadian line shall be nm
ished. viii also be tweuty-f0ur hours nearer
to the Pacific Ocean. In the future she
viii stand a. the grand station on the short
est line of transit between the British isles
and the China ports. and will also be the
gateway for a vast amount Of traffic across
the North Atlantic TO and from the Cen
tral, Northern and Northwestern cluster Of
States of the Union. as well a the disrrib-
utinr point for all the heavy commerce OF
the Dominion. which now comprises ami area
of over 3 500 900 square miles.
Montreal must be the New York of Can
ada. for 1t relatively occupies precisely the
same position to the dominion that New
York does TO the United States. I nder the
circumstances. the wonder l. not 50 much
that the citizens of this elgiblv centred en-
porium are providing for vast increase in
business on their wharves. but rather they
should have delayed preparations TO almost
the eleventh hour, for il requires but the
completion of the ship canal system OF the
Dominion TO double in q month the ton
mage Of Montreal Harbor
CANADA'S OPPORTUNITY.
couple of wears ago. the Hon. John
Young. NJ P stated before a Council of
the Board of Trade of Montreal that 90 it
would be difficult 10 overestImate the in
portance u the people Of the Dominion of
securing - the route of the ST Lawrence
the great and growing trade of the North
west. In the possession of the 81. Law
renee the Dominion has q power Indepen-
dent of political boundaries or political
distinctions The people now resident IN
the Western [ nited States. a. well as those
who Will vet inhabit that vast region west
of Lake Superior. are all Just as much in
tereSted in the opening up of the route from
the Upper Lakes through the II. Lawrence
TO it fullest capacity those resident m
the Dominion. Canada. in creating the
Dominion. has. by the ACT Of Confederation.
assumed a continental attitude. She desires
that her jurisdiction should extend u the
Pacific. The truth. however. is
that Canada has not sufficiently appreciated
the present and future growth Of the West
ern interior nor realized the greatness Of
our position in view Of that growth.
This language j. the keynote of the policy
now At work here. and sufficiently indicates
the style and extent of the expectations
which are now generally INDUCED IN by our
neighbOrs. IL would be well for New York
merchants 10 acquaint themselves with the
elements now az work 10 relieve them of the
task of taking charge of the bulk of the
grain shipments 10 the East. ] can assure
them that the arrangements for so doing are
ample and nearly ready; but bv cooper
atlng IN, instead OF opposing the march Of
events, they will find partial solution 70
the difficulties which they now labor under
in the matter OF transportation. for by tap
ping the Canadian water routes via the
Champlain lake and canal (enlarged) they
will not only retain in their own hands an
amount of business that viii otherwise flow
directly 10 Montreal and New England. bun
Viii greatly increase the volume Of traffic
between the waters Of the Hudson and the
great lakes
FACTS AND FIGURES.
. The Annual Report Of the Commerce Of
Montreal for 1872, prepared by Mr. VIM.
J. PItters1u. Secretary of the Board Of
Trade and Corn Exchange Association.
furnishes much valuable information upon
the growth and present rank of this port
From this document it appears that
the tonnage increased 1870 per cent
from 1851 % ISL. and in 1873 the aggre-
gete wa- .335, 5s2 tons The ratio Of in
crease during the last FIVE years mas been
twenty-three and a half per cent. This year
there are ttty-two steamships plying be-
tween Montreal and ports in the United
Kingdom. and of these the Allan line owns
TWENTY-FIVE In 1856 this line was formed
with four steamers. having O total capacity
OF t.53b tons. lhls year II toots up 30 BOT
tons register. SupposInE the development
10 be continued at the same rate for the
next seventeen Years. the fleet would then
comprise l2l vessels. of an aggregate ca
pacity OF 500. 900 tons. which II NAV be As
sumed in the absence OF exact figures). is
at least equal 20 the ocean-eoing steam ton
mage Of New York harbor at the present
time. II We compute the general future in
crease IN the whole tonnage of Montreal
during like period. according TO the ratio
last experienced. the aggregate would be
swelled To over 800 200 tons. equivalent to
l,666 vessels. otan average tonnage Of 500
each.
As 1t Is the future into which we are in
terested II looking, these figures become
important and VIII help TO 4 better under
standing OF the anticIpations Of the Cana
dian merchants. We can appreciate why
they think II Will be necessary 10 have
TN OR MORE NILES or STONE DOCKS.
instead OF four, the recent measurement
and why they want 10 construct a splendid
system OF hydraulic docks In the vicinity of
Point 81 Charles. adjoining the island ter
minus OF the Victoria bridge and in imme-
dIate proximity to the grand railway centre
of the city
Montreal has nearly trebled IN popula-
ton since 1851, when the census showed
total of s. us. To-day there ase $50 600
people IN the city. and fully half million
Will IN all human probability be dwellers on
the mountain sides and down along the
river wards before the teething population
OF TINS season shall have attained their indi-
vidual majoritles. This /, only a moderate
estimate based on tbeprogress made during
sHo uecAdes when the United States were |
developing at the highest ratio ever ar
tanned.
The HARBoE IMPROVEMENTS.
Prior to 1851 only vessels Of light drausbt |
eouia e'ime mp the St. Lawrence a. far As |
Montreal owing to the shoals in Lake =
Peter bot IN that yoar a channel W.
aredged through the lake (which is si,nnlv
portion Of the ST. Lawrence spread ont =