Gradually passenger business had been attracted and centralized until Niagara Falls had been created in their Annual Rates Meetings by the Railway Companies as the starting point of all "Summer Rates Excursions," and "The Niagara Portal" as the nucleus basing route for all summer tours.
At the same time the Richelieu & Ontario Navigation Co., which succeeded to the Royal Mail Line, has grown in scope and equipment to be the premier steamboat organization of Canada, the controller of the passenger lines of the St. Lawrence system of river, lakes and rapids, and operating the longest continuous route of any Inland Navigation Company in the world. In all, this interval of years its old advertising heading of "Niagara to the Sea" had been continuously maintained, it was not unreasonable therefore that there should be a desire to make the old caption a present fact and by acquiring the local organization restore the old-time conditions.
Negotiations had for some time been in progress and at length in June, 1913, at a Board meeting, presided over (in the absence of the President, Sir Edmund Osler in England) by Vice-President Cumberland, the originator of the company, and its continuous Vice-President during all its existence, the Niagara Navigation Co. was formally transferred as a working enterprise in full operation to the Richelieu & Ontario Navigation Co. The directors of the company at this time and for several years previously were: President, Sir Edmund Osler; Vice-President, Barlow Cumberland; Directors—Hon. J. J. Foy, K.C.; Hon. J. S. Hendrie, C.V.O.; W. D. Matthews, F. Gordon Osler, J. Bruce Macdonald. These in succession transferred their seats to the nominees of the new owners and Sir Henry Pellatt, C.V.O., became President of the company.
The two systems were thus joined into one. The Company operating the St. Lawrence system came back to its old starting point at the head of navigation on the Niagara River. With this is completed the century and this story of the early days of passenger movement on the river, and of the origin, rise and establishment of the Niagara Navigation Company in its contribution to the records of sail and steam on the Niagara River.
Another cycle of steamboat navigation has passed, another era has closed and a new one has begun, and once again there is one Company and one Management under the Richelieu & Ontario Navigation Company for the Niagara River and the St. Lawrence Route, from Niagara to the Sea.