, 1879-05-19

LILLE HURUN e. UAlAH1U 6dlf-CANA1
The Huron & Ontario Ship Canal, by
which it is proposed to connect the Georgian
Bay with Lake Ontario at or near Toronto,
thus avoiding the circuitous route by the st.
Clair Flats and the We1land Canal, has been
before the country for nearly quarter of
century. 1t is great and expensive work,
and that it has not been built does not prove
that it will not be built, or that the COM
merce Of tho American Continent would not
be greatly benefited by its construction.
Our Canadian neighbors are slow-moving
people; but when they once take hold Of q
project in right good earnest they stick to
it doggedly till it is accomplished.
It must be conceded that there
is genuine merit in the enterprise
or it could not have been kept before the
public for. nearly q quarter of century.
During this time several reports, oil Of them
indorsing the project most cordially, have
been made in the Ontario Parliament. The
most eminent engineers in England and this
country have declared it to be entirely
feasible, and the ablest businessmen in this
country and in Canada have given very de-
cided opinions as to its great value to the
commerce Of the great food-producing States
ct the Union and to the Dominion Of Canada.
In recent report of Special Committee of
the Ontario Parliament, composed Of dozen
of their best men, they say '' It would un~
qusstionably shorten the route to Europe
by fully eight hundred miles. In conse-
H.
of time, which would be considerably aug
mented by the fact that transshipments of
freight between Chicago or Milwaukee and
Liverpool would be entirely avoided" Many
other advantages are named, and, in fact, it
is about impossible to enumerate all the
the Northwestern States by the completion
Of this great enterprise. Let any one COM
pare the route of vessel from the Georgian
Bay to Toronto for q distance Of hundred
miles, and only forty Of that being close
canal navigation, the other sixty through
Lake Simcoe and the Valleys Of the
Notawasaga, the Holland, and the
Humber Rivers, with the course.
of that ship by the Detroit River, the St.
Clair, and Lake Erie, and the Welland Canal,
and he will see at q glance how great is the
advantage which the direct route to Toronto
has over the roundabout way by Lake Erie.
Of course the great expense Of the work
has delayed its construction. When first
surveyed in 1866 by K1vAs TU11Y, with Col
R. B. MASON as consulting engineer, it was
esti1Inated to cost $22,ooo,ooo. The great
outlay was required south Of Lake Simcoe,
where cut Of 1877 feet was required through
the ridges in ortler to feed the summit from
Lake Simcoe. The rise in labor and
materials subsequently increased the esti-
mate to $40, 900; but it is now proposed
to surmount this summit in part by
q hydraulic lift lock, which competent en-
gineers declare would reduce tho cost to
S20,00o,000 This is large sum, it is true;
but most of those who have carefully
studied the relations Of the work to the vast
and rapidly growing commerce Of the teem-
ing West believe that it would be we'll and
most proftably employed by the construc~
ton Of this canal. Let tie Canadians build
1.-THE sooner the better, and the West
will give it all the business it can possibly
do. Not only the d-producing States Of
the West, but England's hungry millions,
would be benefited in corresponding ratio.
The Cincinnati Star suggests that THURMAN