The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-07-07
Canada's New Transconti mental Line.

While the proposal for a new trans
Canadian railway line has not yet been
acted upon by the Dominion Parliament,
there is no doubt that the Canadian
Cabinet is quite disposed to the approval
OF such an undertaking. The measure
has its friends and its enemies. 1t has
warm supporters, and there are many
who condemn 1t in unmeasured terms.
The Toronto Globe, Liberal organ sup
porting the Government, declares it to
be the most important Canadian enter
prise since the inauguration Of the
Canadian Pacific. The Montrea! Wit
ness, also Liberal organ, pronounces
1t criminal waste of public funds
The Montreal Gazette, perhaps the most
important organ Of the Conservative
party, says. that the whole scheme is
marked by an entire absence Of COM
mercial principles, and that, as tho
measure now stands, 1t is II proposition
which attempts to meet all the fads Of
the theorists, all the hopes Of tho graft
ers, and all the ambitions of those ports
which are convinced that they should
be made the gateway of Canada" The
Montreal Star calls it wild filibuster-
ing scheme" These may be accepted as
representative opinions.
The proposal is the construction Of a
Government-aided line from Moncton,
New Brunswick, to Port Simpson, on
the Pacific coast. The project will be
best understood in all its various as
poets, by regarding the line as consist
ing of two sections, the eastern and the
western. 1t is with regard to the east
ern section that the strongest Opposi-
ton and the most animated discussion
arise. 1t is to start at Moncton, where
it will connect with the Intercolonial, a
Government line now running from
Quebec to Sydney, Cape Breton. From
Moncton it will run northwestward
to Quebec, and thence westward to
Winnipeg. leaving Montreal far to the
southwark, though connected with that
city by branch line. Objection to
the construction Of the Quebec Moncton
division Of this section arises from the
fact Of the present Government owner
ship OF the Intercolonial, line which
has been very costly and, under Gov
eminent management, ID still an un-
profitable burden from lack OF traffic
ard the cost Of maintenance during the
winter months. A second line through
the same area, although the route may
be somewhat shortened by more direct
course, certainly seems superfluous and
more than likely to prove as unprofit-
able as the Intercolonial, or, at best, to
cut seriously into the already limited
traffic of that line.
From Quebec westward to Winnipeg
the line is to run through more than q
thousand miles of wilderness and forest,
with, as yet, little more than few stray
Cling hamlets along it's way. 1t will
open vast area for the development
OF lumber and wood pulp industries,
but those, in themselves, are hardly
sufficient to justify the construction OF
thousand miles OF railway at a cost OF
about SIS, 900 G mile. The district pre-
sents many possibilities for farming
settlement, but a wooded area, from
which tho timber must be removed
before the land Is available, will DO
heavily handicapped by the more de-
sirable prairie lands Of the west, toward /
which the tide Of emigration IL now
turning. The Montreal Gasetts Of July
4 says:
There Is no moro reason for tho construction
OF q railway line between Quebec and wlnmpsw
shanApxists for tho building Of another bstwssn
a.