He Had
Stated On A Previous Occasion That He Hoped To Be Able To State This
Year To The House
That arrangements had been made to complete the
communications between the Colony and the east of British North
America, and
He thought he could now inform their Lordships that such
arrangements would be carried out. He had desired a gentleman of great
experience, knowledge, and energy, who was constantly travelling
between Canada and this country, to inquire whether it would be
possible to effect a communication across the Continent. This
gentleman - Mr. Watkin - had returned with considerable information, and
he had suggested to him to place himself in communication with persons
in the commercial world who might be willing to undertake the carrying
out of such a communication. He had put himself in communication with
Mr. Baring and others, and he believed they had arrived at the
conclusion that if arrangements could be made with the Hudson Bay
Company the undertaking should have their best attention. In order that
these important communications might be made certain, guarantees were
to be given by Canada on the one hand, and British Columbia and
Vancouver Island on the other. A complete Intercolonial railway system
had long been looked forward to by those interested in our North
American Provinces, and it would be impossible to overrate the
importance to this country of an inter-oceanic railway between the
Atlantic and Pacific. By such a communication, and the electric
telegraph, so great a revolution would be effected in the commerce of
the world as had been brought about by the discovery of the Cape of
Good Hope.
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