St. Paul daily globe., 1888-08-27
Canadians Are Busy With the
Problem of President
Cleveland.
Retaliatory Measures Deemed
Likely to Increase Traffic
Rates.
Opinions Expressed by the
Magnate Of the Cana
dian Pacific.
People Of This Country Will
Be the Principal Suf-
fererS.

A compactly built gentleman, whose
high forehead and carefully trimmed
brown beard gave him remarkable
resemblance to the late President Gar
field, sat in Parlor A of the Ryan last
evening. discussing the recent message
sent to the senate by President Cleve-
land. He was President Van Horne,
OF the Canadian Pacific railway,
homeward bound after trip
to Duluth over the line of
the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic
road with party of the directors of
that corporation. NATURALLY enough"
said Mr. Van Horne, 1--WE discussed the
sentiment was pretty general that there
was not any intention to prevent inter-
change of commerce between Canada
and the United States, but that
the document was intended as
political device to help the cleo
tionS shortly to occur in this country.
And just here L want to say that the
feeling between the people of the Do
minion of Canada and those of the
United States is of a most friendly nat
ure and increasing daily. Ever since
the war closed this feeling has been
growing, and the Canadians and Amer
leans are as like as two peas in pod
in their aspirations, character, and
commercial relations. To be sure
Canada is not prepared to adopt
the premises offered, looking to a COM
mercial union, until it shall have
framed its own policy of protection to
its multifarious interests. Hence we
do not apprehend that the relations be-
tween the countries will De strained in
any manner by the retaliatory policy
proposed by the president of the United
States, and certainly the Canada Pa
cific would not be damaged in the event
that such policy was
APPROVED BY THE SENATE.
''It is the opinion by thinking men on
both sides of the boundary line that
President Cleveland was actuated by
desire to show that the professions
of the senate regarding the treaty
were not seriously entertained, and
he has succeeded in putting the
Republicans in very awkward predica-
ment. But, for the sake of argument.
suppose that the recommendation of
Mr. Cleveland should be concurred in;
certainly the people of Canada or the
Grand Trunk line would not be the
sufferers. On the contrary, the people
of the Northwestern and New England
states would be most seriously affected,
as we'll as the railroads in these sec
lions. 1t would practically put stop
to business of the Manitoba, and the
Canada Southern, which is owned in the
States, would likewise be seriously inn
paired in its business. No one
for an instant supposes that this policy
would affect passenger traffic, for
Americans would promptly resent any
interference with or inspectian of their
baggage, but the freight traffic would be
impaired, and that seriously.
president Cleveland has lived too
long near the international boundary
line not to be fully posted in all the de-
tails of the railroad interests Of the
East that would be involved in such a
policy as he has proposed, and
his means OF obtaining Information con-
cerning traffic west of the great lakes
have not been neglected by this
Shrewd official. In my opinion the
railroad lines of Michigan would be
seriously interfered with, as well as
those of New Hampshire, Vermont
and Maine; and i'll the latter state
Portland, which is now virtually
a winter port for Canada, would
be blotted out of existence and the
steamships of England and the dOmin-
ion which now discharge cargoes at that
place would be driven to Halifax. To
be sure, it would not inconvenience our
existed, for it would make longer haul
and thus directly benefit
THE CANADIAN PACIFIC.
''For the past six Or seven years the
Grand Trunk has been noted as a re-
ducer of rates, and the people of the
United States cannot be made to believe
that shutting out this line from compe-
tition with roads in the United States is
likely to inure to their advantage by
further reduction of existing RITES. On
the contrary, does any Ole for an
instant suppose that ii there were no
competition the Vanderbilt system,
for instance would voluntarily agree to
lower rates? Not bit of it, but they
would go back to the point they were
before the Grand Trunk entered the
field and forced them down in the in
terest of the people of both countries.
Massachusetts alone has spent up
wards of S20,000,000 in its efforts to
secure better facilities for traffic. and
this state, with Connecticut and Rhode
Island, would suffer very serious incon-
venience by the adoption of a policy
proposed by the president. This loss
would fall not alone or so heavily upon
the railroads as it would upon the
public, producers and consumers alike;
for. deprived of competition, the
cost of transportation would nee
essanly be increased rather than
lessened. Manufacturers of New Eng
land would feel the effects Immediately
upon raw stuff and manufactured
| articles. But their inconvenienceS
would be trifling in comparison with
those that would be experienced by
the people west of the Detroit
river, who now enjoy the low
rates brought about by the compe-
tition existing between railroads Oh this
side of the boundary line and the Grand
Trunk line. From Puget sound to San
Francisco this competition also resulted
in reduced rates, and. with the Canadian
Pacific barred, does any one for an in
slant suppose that the owners of the
Central Pacific would be actuated by
broad-guage policy in the interest of the
public and cut down any existing
RATES OF TRANSPORTATION? s-f