In March, 1863, a Select Committee was appointed by the Legislative Assembly to investigate the subject of a navigable line between Montreal and Lake Huron, by the Ottawa and Matawan Rivers, Lake Nipissing, and French River. That Committee reported that there were no engineering difficulties to interfere with the opening of this route for vessels of every class up to the draught of twelve feet, and that it would shorten the line to Chicago 350 miles, the exact difference in favour of the Ottawa communication from Montreal to Mackinaw being 68 miles. In point of time there would be a reduction of 47 hours. The trade between the Western States and the sea has increased to such an extent during the last four years, that 120,000,000 of bushels of wheat and grain stood in need of transport, according to the last calculation; and even with its present communications, Montreal is second only to New York as a grain-exporting port, the quantity shipped last year from it being over 15,000,000 of bushels. The Ottawa route would actually be the shortest line of communication between the ports on Lake Michigan and New York itself by 150 miles, when the Champlain Canal shall have been made, and the Northern Canal enlarged.
The tract through which the proposed line would pass, exceeding in area the whole of the five New England States, is covered with a wealth of timber surpassing belief; and the forestless prairies would furnish a market valuable as gold itself to the lumberer. Vessels going down and discharging their cargoes would return with cargoes of timber, the demand for which in the West is so great, that the city of Chicago consumes alone 100,000l. worth in the year. Canadian pines would be in demand to construct the new cities which are rising in the Prairie State, and to keep the hearth fires alight through their rigid winters. The effect of such a line in developing local traffic, agricultural improvement, commercial enterprise, and the spread of civilisation, cannot be over-estimated. In reference to the military advantages to be derived from its construction, the Committee makes but a meagre reference; but it is obvious that by securing such a route, far removed from a foreign frontier, between the sea and the western lakes, the means of defence and of transport in war would be very much strengthened and improved.
The St. Lawrence canals can be destroyed, as Mr. Chamley observes, by the Americans, without their being obliged to land a man in Canada; whilst by the Ottawa route gunboats could proceed from the St. Lawrence to Lake Huron in less time than they would now require to get to Lake Erie. It is not to be overlooked, however, that the higher latitudes through which the canal would run, expose the waters to a longer frost and necessary cessation of traffic. The advantages of the route to New York and to other North-Eastern States of America, can only be gained by completing the proposed Cooknawoogo Canal, between the St. Lawrence and Lake Champlain, and it is doubtful whether the jealousy of the Americans would not prevent their furthering a project which would confer great benefits on the Provinces, even though their refusing to do so might deprive them of certain advantages. This line would, in fact, give us or the Canadians an admirable interior communication, and at the same time confer military, political, and commercial benefits on the Provinces, the extent of which cannot be easily foreseen.
Mr. Galt admits that there may be jealousies, though he protests there should not be, and calls to mind the opposition of Mohawk Dutchmen, the Frenchmen of Detroit, and others, to the Erie Canal. If the plans for improving the communications which have been suggested should ever be developed, the valley of Red River would be reached without much difficulty, and land as good as that in the unsettled portions of Iowa and Minnesota would be opened to the British emigrant.
In the valleys of the Saskatchewan and Assiniboine, Canada possesses a vast north-west of her own, enjoying a mild climate, which contains, according to one of the witnesses whose opinion is cited by the Committee, 500,000 square miles of fertile land, capable of sustaining a population of nearly 30,000,000 of people.
It has been ascertained beyond doubt, that the tract between the North and South Saskatchewan on the east is exceedingly fertile, and that no intense cold prevails throughout an enormous region of rich prairies on cretaceous and tertiary deposits. It is scarcely possible for us to conceive what an enormous expanse of fertile land lies to the east of the Rocky Mountains, about the sources of those rivers; but there are too many witnesses of unmistakeable veracity to render us sceptical concerning the beauty and capabilities of these regions. Could the poor emigrant be carried to these fertile districts, instead of sinking into the rowdyism of American cities, or beating down the rate of wages by competition, he would find at least a comfortable subsistence, even if he were unable at once to obtain a profitable market for his labours.
Father de Smet, the missionary, a man whose name is a tower of strength and faith, describes a district which makes us wonder that poverty should ever be known in Europe, and corroborates the glowing picture of Sir George Simpson:—a soil and climate better suited for agriculture than that of Toronto—a region abounding in game of all kinds, rivers and lakes swarming with fish, plains covered with buffaloes—seams of coal—delicious wild fruits—forests of pine, cypress, poplar, and aspen. Even at Edmonton, potatoes, wheat and barley, corn and beans, are produced in abundance. “Are these vast and innumerable fields of hay,” asks Father de Smet, “for ever destined to be consumed by fire, or perish in wintry snows? How long shall these superb forests be the haunts of wild beasts? Are these abundant mines of coal, lead, sulphur, iron, copper, and saltpetre doomed to remain for ever valueless? No; the day must come when the hand of labour shall give them value, and stirring and enterprising people are destined ere long to fill this void; the wild beasts will give place to domestic animals; flocks and herds will graze on the beautiful meadows, and the mountain-sides and valleys will swarm with life.”
Before this picture, however, be realised, some communication must be opened east or west between the community and the outer world; and if the British Government does not take some steps to secure a settlement of these regions by its own subjects, the irresistible agency of American emigration will erase mere lines upon the map, and determine the question of nationality beyond the power of appeal or alteration. It is agreeable to admit that the inhabitants of the State of Minnesota have not hitherto evinced any design of raising difficulties as to jurisdiction, or of disturbing the relations between the two Governments. In fact, the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce, in 1862, presented a strong memorial against the proposal to suspend or abrogate the provisions of the Reciprocity Treaty. This memorial says:—
“Central British America, including an inhabitable area of 300,000 square miles, and extending north-west of Minnesota to the Rocky Mountains, will probably be organised as a crown colony of England, with the seat of government at Selkirk. There is good reason to believe that a bill for this purpose will become an Act of Parliament at the session now impending. British Columbia, on the Pacific coast, having received a similar organisation in 1858, the establishment of the province of Central British America will go far to realise the hope so gracefully expressed three years since from the throne of England: ‘That her Majesty’s dominions in North America may ultimately be peopled in an unbroken chain from the Atlantic to the Pacific, by a loyal and industrious population of subjects of the British crown.’