Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1885-11-12
DAILY p0ST-INTELuGENCER
TEE CANADIAN PACIFIC.

T0E CANADIAN PACIFIC.
The driving Of the last spike Of til
Canadian Pacific Railway. marking tb'
completioa Of that great iransconii
Mental highway. IL undoubtedly an even
Of the greatest importance - the peo
pie of the North Pacific Coast. I, IN
PRODUCES new element into oar com
meroisl life. and means that eornpeti
ton for the carrying trade Of tbs
region 10 aboat 70 begin. Il means
moreover, that the greatest engineering
feat Of all time has been successfully
accomplished, and that line Of rail
way has been constructed longer thar
any other continuous line in the world
On learning Of the completion Of thu
great line one csnnos heip contrasting
the manser % i;s building With that oi
its csmpeiitor. the Northern Paeise
and the contrast u anything bat fsysr
able 10 the American road. The North.
err Pacific Company vas shattered q:
early a. 1864 IL has been most munih-
osntIy aided by the Government IL
route IL through a country into which
IN enormous immigration has long
bsen pouring and in the greater por-
tea Of tho region through which IL
runs IL is vithsat a competitor. Yet,
according 10 the statements OF its own
officials 1t will require at least two more
years 10 complete II from lake to ocean.
Twenty one years after the company
vas chartered and the first surveys
made. the road Ia far from completed.
The Canadian Pacific, on the other
hand. was not thoueht Of a. a practical
scheme until 1871. in which year Sir
Jshn Macdonald promised the delegates
Of British Columbia that the road
would be built. Like the Northern
Pacific. the Canadian road was munifi
oentiy aided by the government. bat its
aid came from q government which vas
Q weak one at best, and Of which the
financial standing vas exceeding uncer-
tain. Since 1871 the road has passed
from hand 10 hand In most remark
able manner. Schemes for building 10
we're excessively abandoned one COM
pany after another undertook the work.
only 10 fail. The route is az Infinitely
moro difficult oze than that Of the
Northern Pacific, and tho lise Of the
latter ends at Duluth, while that Of the
Canadian road extends many hundred
miles further toward the East. Yet, in
spite of all It's difficulties, the Canadian
road 10 completed. while two years
vsrk must yet be done on the American
road.
The contrast between the methods Of
building the two roads Is all the greater
when the regions through which shey
run are taken into consideration. When
the track Of the Canadian Pacific began
10 be pushed into the West, the entire
region tributary to II. from Lake Supe-
rior west 10 the Pacific. did not have the
population that Washington Territory
has today. Indeed it has not now as
great . population all told rs there is
along the line Of the Northern Pacific in
Minnesota alone; 1T has not neatly 80
great 9 population as Dakota; 1t has
not nearly 80 great a population rs
Oregon and Washington combined.
There IL not q single place worthy the
name of town ON the line Of the Cana
dian Pacific between Winnipeg and the
Western terminus, while a score Of
growing cities mark the line Of the IN.
completed Northern. In short the com
pleted road rams throngh country IN
productive and sparsely inhabited, and
from which ell returns mus. be In the
foture. while the unoompleted read runs
through a region already far on the
way TO q settled aud productive ciyiiiza.
ton.
One great difference has character
ised the policy of the Canadian and that
Of the American company. Each. as
has been said. was munificently aided
BY its government, the expectation be-
ing that they we're 10 be pushed into
unsettled countries, the growth aud de.
vsiopmsnt Of which were 10 be greatly
accelerated BY their bailding. This has
not, however, been done In the case Of
ths Northern Pacific. That company
has waited for immigration 70 precede
u and hes followed when the business
Of the country insured a paying traffic
10 ~ road. Tho Canadian Pacific. how
ever, has been pushed into unsettled re-
glcns, expecting immigration and eivili-
nation 20 follow. One company has
carried ous iss implied contract With the
Government and the people the other
has not. One has bsen pioneer the
other has followed civilization. One has
gone In advance the other has broush,
~ the rear. Such thines have eharac-
ssrised the pelieies OF the too comps
nisa. and IL 10 no vonder that the road
with . poor and unprsmisins country
Tributary 70 IL 10 completed today, while
that which counts all Of the great North
vsse ~ lie customer 10 uncomplessd.