The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-03-04
The Canadian Pacific in the Senate.

The Pacific In the Senate.
In the United States Senate on Wednes-
day Mr.. ELKINs of West Virginia spoke
words of truth and soberness concerning
that hostile corporation, the Canadian Pa
ciic Railway, while Mr.. HoAR of Massa.
chusetts succeeded In convincing his hear.
ers that there are now in New England, as
there were in 1914, men who subordinate
the welfare of the nation to their petty
local interests.
Every well-informed person knows that
the Canadian Pacific Railway, by virtue of
the bonding privileges given to it by our
Government, of its freedom from the re-
strictions of our interstate railway law,
and of the subsidies which it receives from
Canada and Great Britain, 10 able to under.
bid our transcontinental lines for the
transportation of commodities between
our seaboard and some of our interior
States. Even IL this foreign corporation
were strictly a commercial one, it would
be unreasonable for us to foster it at the
expense of American companies by conced-
ing to it privileges which they do not
possess. AS a matter of fact, the Cana
dian Pacific Railway was designed for mil
t"A APo,Sp oho los pCNh tuihCSl III
q political engine of the anti-American
party in Canada by its President, Sir Rob-
ERT VAN HoRNE, an American by birth,
who, with the proverbial extravaganza of
renegades, is more intensely British than
the British themselves. No careful oh.
server of the drift of events beyond our
northern border since the passage of the
British North America act can entertain a
doubt that, but for the ~strenuou part
which that corporation has played In poll
tics on behalf of the so-called Conservative
party, the Liberals would have been long
ago dominant at Ottawa, and the feeling
In favor of annexation to this country
would have acquired great extension and
momentum among Canadians. How can
any man, or set of men, who have OBJ
structed the reunion Of the English-speak-
Ing race upon this continent expect to
receive consideration, and even fiscal ex-
emption, at our hands2 Intelligent Amer
leans who care more for the prosperity of
the country at large than for tho profits of
their little section, who have, in other
words, the instincts of a patriot, and not
those of a shopkeeper, hold that the authors
of our Articles of Confederation were right
IA ~ la " oIhi peculiar ldCllltltS 10
form the closest political connection with
ourselves. 1t Is as true to-day as it was
one hundred and thirty years ago that,
while the admission of other communities
to our Union nay be of doubtful cxpedi-
ency, that of the Canadian provinces would
be in the highest degree desirable. BY
race, by language, by religion, by laws and
Institutions, the larger part of the Cana
dian population is prominently adapted
to fusion with our own.
The advantages that would accrue to us
from the annexation of Canada being
almost universally recognized. 1t is hard
to understand how an American Senator
like Mr.. HoAR can defend a corporation
which has been the active and bitter enemy
of those Canadians who nave wished to see
their country a part of the United States.
1t must be that Mr.. HoARw would dislike to
number our kinsmen Of the North among his
countrymen, otherwise he would not como
forward as the champion of \ railway whose
specific purpose from its inception has
been, not to earn money, but to foment In
Canada a feeling of antipathy to the Ameri.
can Republic. Even Mr.. HoAR, however,
was constrained to admit that the United
oIu'cS ouBup hop W give SduauldIS pond
ing privileges which are denied to Ameri.
can citizens.
AS for MI. HoAR's attempt to minimize
the strategic Importance of the Canadian
Pacific Railway and the chances OF a war
with England, we are not much impressed
by his assertions. He opines that, In the
event of war, we should promptly take pos
session of the road and of the terminal
s~trongholds at Halifax and Esquimault,
his reason for this belief being that "we
took care OF ourselves against Great Britain
lin lsl2-l4l when we were eight millions
and she was, perhaps, twenty-five or
twenty-eight millions" In whatever credit |
may be reflected on u by the war named,