The Portland daily press., 1901-02-07
MONTREAL AND PORTLAND.
Some Comments Of Canadian
Papers on the Grand Trunks
Move.
A Tendency to blame the eovernnient
for the Change
tHaIIrax Heraldl

nouncsment OF les Intention 70 hereafter
do It's summer as well as its winter busi-
ness through Portland, the Toronto
World remarks:
"rhe Grand Trunk has announced
that Ii Will hereafter use Portland aa Its
seaboard terminal In simmer as well Is
In winter. Montreal has been severely
bit on several occasions of late, but this
abandonment OF the port by the Grand
Trunk railway is the hardest blow that
has yet been directed against the city.
few months ago the Canada Atlantic
railway, having completed Its line to
Quebec and constructed an elevator there,
transferred its business from Montreal
to Quebec, which Will in future be its
seaboaId terminal. Ihs Canada Atlantic
has practically abandoned Montreal In
favor of Quebec. The seriousness of this
change Will be apparent when Is is re-
mem bered that it will involve loss TO
Montreal OF the large and rapidly y-increas-
ing traffic that reaches tidewater via Par
~ Sound. True IL is, the Grand Trunk
states that 1t does not intend to do oil Its
summer business via Portland, but It's
1rst step In the process OF sidetraoking
Montreal Will involve loss TO Montreal
of all the steamships Of the Dominion
line. Tnis is a very serious matter TO the
city, not only because of the immediate
loss involved, but because it presages an
Abandonment Of the port by other lines.
There are only three trunk railways that
bring through freight to Montreal, The
Canada Atlantic has fixed on Q1ebeo as
Its terminal, the Grand Trunk on Port
land, leaving for Montreal only the q. p.
A. And even the latter line has been
casting envious eyes on Boston, through
which place 1t recently threatened to send
Its export traffic to Europe. III the Can
adian Pacific railway once obtained faoil-
Now. ANr yfwsfa fRn AE
more than likely that 1t would follow In
the footsteps of the Grand Trunk and
use that port more or less all the year
round. Tne outlook certainly does not
ApDsar encouraging for Montreal. Nor
can the Dominion as whole take much
satisfaction out OF the situation. Form
erly, it was question OF building up
winter port In Canada. Now, we are
face to face with the problem OF securing,
or retaining, a summer port for Canada.
1t becomes the imperative duty OF the
government and of parliament to investl-
gate the causes which are leading up to
the abandonment or Montreal as the sea-
board terminal OF the Canadian trunk
lines. When such an investigation is
N ada we think it will bs found that the
government will have to shoulder con-
siderable share of the responsibility.
The World proceeds to show how the
government, by bulging and defe Ating the
Fast Atlantic Steamship service, gave
serious blow to Canadian ports And TO
that criminal follv 1t added the further
blunder of entrusting to Buffalo syndl-
cate the task OF providing grain elevators
for the port of Montreal. OF this last
mentioned blunder, the World says:
"Not only must the government be
held responsible for the Grand Trunks
dessrtion OF Montreal, but 1t must hear
the responsibility for the failure OF the
st. Lawrence canals TO attract the bust
ness that was anticipated. IL IL quits
evident now that the Buffalo shippers
and elevator men have used MIR. Conners
to bunco the government. The elevators
that MIR. Conners was to erect are yet on
paper. The Buffalo people can easily
afford to lose deposit OF $50.0o0 If they
can thereby delay the use Of the deepened
st, Lawrencs system by two or three
years. Montreal has been hit badly at
both ends, The government's canal poli-
cy has been failure, injuring Montreal
as the terminal of our internal naviga-
tion system, while its policy for develop
ing the St. Lawrence route for ocean
traffic has proved and is proving disas-
trous"
Things have now reached point where
IL will become absolutely necessary for
the government TO take SONS action. The
policy of ''drift,i which has heretofore
teen pursued, Will no longer satisfy the
pc ople Of Canada. We have spent out
money freely In building railways to de-
velop Canadian trade; we can no longsr
slt idly by and see the railways which
Canadian mCnsy has thus constructed
diveIting Canadian trade from Canadian
ports A remedy sufficiently drastic to
effectively put a stop to the evil, must be
found, ana that speedily. II the present
mlnist srs at Ottawa are incompetent to
perform that national duty, or tooasbusy
junketing and arranging deals and steals,
to attend to it. they must give place to
others. The scandal and disgrace of hav-
ing Canadian trade done through foreign
ports must be put an end to.
GREAT TINES FOR PORTLAND.
(St. John SUM-
The announcement that the Grand
Trunk railway is making Portland Its
summer port as well as its winter termi-
nus has created CONSERVATION in Mon
treal. A great impulse has been given
to the national feeling In that oity. and
many who were only mildly interested In
the agitation for the transfer of the win
ter export business from New England to
Canadian ports, are now impressed with
the idea that Canadian summer ports
should be protseted. The Grand Trunk
Company is not concerned about nation
al lines Its western and eastern termi-
nus are both in the United States. Its
interests require that all west-bound
traffic which passes into Grand Trunk
control should be diverted to United
States through lines, and that all Its
east-bound freight for export should be
shipped from the terminus in Maine.
The Grand Trunk lie looking for the long
haul.
In its policy and ambition, the Grand
Trunk has had the powerful assistance
Of the minister of railways, who has vir-
| tuaIly made the IntercoloDial feeder to
that great monopoly. The Dominion
government has contributed millions to