Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-09-08
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL y. COLLINS.

A Canadian official tells us that the
people living in Saskatchewan and ad-
joining western provinces or Canada
are "obsessed" over the project to
complete the railroad connecting all
that vast region with Hudson Bay
port, through which they can ship
Hudson Bay and Strait. Both lead
ing political parties are at last COM
mitted to the immediate completion
of the railroad, and the Liberal party
in power dares not put 1t off, for the
farmers control the Opposition"
Progressive party, which Is too close
to a majority to be trifled with.
OF course, this project is violently
opposed by Ontario and Quebec, just
as is our own hope of the st. Law
renee Canal opposed by New York, by
which the Atlantic port will be re-
moved to Duluth and Chicago, in
place of New York. Likewise, the
promoters Of the st. Lawrence Canal
project look with jealousy upon the
plan to divert traffic from the great
Middle West from its longitudinal
course up toward the North Pole.
through Hudson Bay. Don't they
know that Hudson Strait is never free
from icebergs and that navigation
through it is practicable only about
three months of the year? Canada
Is planning to send an exploring ex-
petition up there to remain cruising
in the strait for IS months-a ship
and two or three airplanes-so as to
verify the knowledge as to its open
course for navigation. Vessels have
been coming through the strait for
four centuries with moderate safety,
but now it is important to know what
are the practical possibilities before
all the Northwest faces northward.
Furthermore, the Province Of AL
berta, whose prolific grain fields pro-
vide increasing commerce, has al
ready become accustomed to facing
westward toward Pacific ports, and Is
now demanding government aid in
building railroad through two Rocky
Mountain passes, as western out
let from the Peace River Valley. No
icebergs will ever interfere with that
traffic. While the Peace River Valley
Is hundreds of miles farther north
than Winnipeg. the isothermal lines
run northwesterly, so that it is more
moderate in climate than is Mani
toba. In fact all that far North
west boasts a climate modified by
the warm air currents blowing
through the Rocky Mountain passes
from the heat.giving Japan current
or the ocean, and it's agricultural DOS.
sibilities are not yet one-tenth de-
veloped, over region as great as all
the United States east Of the Missis.
sippi River.
There will never be agriculture in
the region through which the new
Hudson Bay Railroad is building. 1t
Is bleak country, cold and swampy.
The muskeg ground rests upon a
swamp foundation, which will tilt the
rails from side to side and never give
solidity. There is some forest, but
that will soon go the way Of all good
forests. What natural resources
there may be consist in gold mines
and copper, and no one can forecast
the development possible in that line.
The road will depend upon traffic from
and to the grain regions Of Alberta,
Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Fort Nelson, the port to which the
original project was aimed as a ter
minal on the bay, proves forbidding,
because there is no natural harbor
there, and the cost of dredging an
artificial harbor would be enormous
Instead it is now proposed to extend
the railroad northward along or near
the coast, ITO miles, to Fort Church
i'll. That will cost less than the Fort
Nelson dredging. Work on the rail-
road will be Immediately pushed, from
both ends Of the unbuilt portion, and
1t is predicted that within three or
four years trains will be meeting
ships at Fort Churchiu. where the
natural harbor Is ready.
BY way Of Montreal and the st.
Lawrence River, Winnipeg is now
4,22S miles from Liverpool; by way of
Hudson Bay, nearer the earth's great
circle, it will be only 1896 miles. That
shortening of 600 miles-equal to
bringing Winnipeg down to Montreal
is all-rail haul. and adds some 6 cents
a bushel to the freight cost Of getting
all the Canadian Northwestern grain
to the world market. Eventually,
there will be return traffic in gen.
eral supplies for the Northwest. from
England.
Another advantage of the Hudson
Bay route viii be the possibility Of