George in December last, so soon as the ice was sufficiently firm on the river to admit of travelling, and we expect they will arrive in Fort Garry some time during next month. This will enable us to have a complete survey of the Rocky Mountain chain, from the Peace river southward. Captain BUTLER passed through the country by that route, and so have several other gentlemen whose experiences have been given to the world; and from their evidence and the other sources of information at our command we know that while that route is tolerably favorable for the greater part of its course, it is intersected by immense valleys, perpendicular to the course of the river which would make it a very difficult route so far as cost of construction is concerned, although there is no doubt that it passes through a country, a great portion of which is extremely favorable for agriculcultural operations. I have made these general remarks as to the the exploration in British Columbia, because I know there is an impatience on the part of some of my hon. friends from that Province, and perhaps with other members of the House and a portion of the public, that the explorations have not been completed; but it was impossible to have had it done. Indeed, it would have been quite wrong to have hurried the surveyors any more than we did, because it is of the greatest importance, in constructing a great national highway, that we should have the fullest information as to the conformation and resources of the country, its topographical and physical features considered in relation to the maintenance of human life, &c., and before it is commenced, we should be reasonably sure that we have secured the best route as regards ease of construction, the shortest distance, and the best quality of land surrounding it, as to the progress made in the woodland and prairie region, the line of railway has been located for construction between the waters of Lake Superior at Fort William and Lake Shebandowan, about 45 miles. Plans, specifications, and quantitities, have been prepared, and tenders for bridging and grading have been asked for and received; the rates being somewhat less than the cost estimated by the Government. These tenders I will explain to the House by and by. Hon. Mr. Mackenzie. Hon. Mr. TUPPER-Will the First Minister be kind enough to say what engagements have been made with British Columbia. Hon. Mr. MACKENZIE-I intend to go back upon that as an entirely separate branch of the subject. The railway has been located for construction between the northern extremity of Lake of the Woods at Rat Portage and the crossing of the Red River. Tenders for bridging and grading are now asked, and we expect on the 17th of this month to be able to lay the tenders for that portion before Parliament ere it rises, in terms of the Act of last session. The distance is about 114 miles. I may say with regard to this portion that when Mr. FLEMING first travelled over thê line he crossed the Red River in the vicinity of Winnipeg and passed to the south of Lake Manitoba and then northward after passing White Muck River till he reached the flank of the Duck Mountains near Fort Pelly, thus making Fort Pelly the objective point westward from Red River. But subsequent information led us to decide upon a different route altogether. We determined for various reasons to cross Red River some twenty-three miles north of Winnipeg. Our reasons for doing this were these. In the first place, no steamers navigating Lake Winnipeg could ascend the Red River at all times to where the crossing was originally proposed. We crossed therefore where we can reach the railway by steamers of any draft that can navigate Lake Winnipeg. Lake Winnipeg presents a very large area, and it is reasonably hoped that a large shipping trade will be done upon it before many years, it having a navigation of nearly two hundred miles from north to south besides various bays and indentations on both sides. The mouth of the Sascatchewan is considerably north of the mouth of Red River, and whether that river may be mide navigable into Lake Winnipeg or not there can be no difficulty about having a tramway from the still water of the Sascatchewan to Lake Winnipeg, and any trade coming in that direction would reach the railway by steamers sailing southward to Lake Winnipeg and the crossing of Red River. Another reason was this: We found on exploring the country between Red River and Fort Pelly that we could pass almost in a direct line between these two points by crossing the Narrows of Lake Manitoba. That lake is contracted near its centre to the width of an ordinary river, and as the water is shallow there will be no difficulty whatever in bridging this narrow portion of the lake. The distance from Red River to Fort Pelly is 280 miles, and of that distance there are only so far as we know at present, and I think we have information of nearly the whole of the routeabout eighty miles of prairie, the remaining 200 miles passing through an exceedingly fine woodland country, where the best timber is to be found as has yet been discovered in any portion of the NorthWest country. We have in this tract of land the very finest tamarac and spruce that are to be found anywhere in our North-West territories. and, •On the whole, it presents the most favorable features possible for the construction of a railway. The gradients are The gradients are easy, the line is direct, and the timbers and the land are of the finest. It is quite true that this change of route caused some disappointment to the people of the town of Winnipeg and those living southwest of Lake Manitoba, where it was originally supposed the railroad would pass; but we cannot allow the general welfare of the public to be sacrificed for the benefit of a locality; and the committee will see it would be very seriously sacrificed if the former route was adopted. When I tell them the route we have adopted is thirty miles shorter than the one originally proposed, and we will save, at the very least, $1,100,000, by taking the route we have taken—a route which we are led to believe passes through at least an equally favorable country. It will be remembered that very serious objections were made by many members at the last two or three sessions of this House to constructing the road from Nepigon eastward to Lake Nipissing through a country entirely uninhabited and believed to be practically impossible of settlement; and, at all events, whether that should be ultimately con:structed or not, the policy of the Government, and of the House, was to leave that portion of the road in abeyance for the present, and to proceed with such intermediate stretches as would enable us to make land and water communication across the conti nent within the shortest possible time. Hon. Mr. Mickenzie. Well, Sir, in pursuance of that policy the surveys from Lake Superior westward were completed with all possible expedition, and the portion of it requisite to obtain rapid communication from water to water are now being placed under contract. But I have always felt that it would be desirable, as soon as possible to obtain the eastward connection also, and though having no intention to move at present in that quarter, I thought it was advisable last spring to obtain some information respecting the country from the mouth of Nipegon river eastward. Accordingly, a party of engineers were engaged to examine the country between the mouth of Nipegon river and Michipicotan river with the intention that the exploration should be continued from that point to Batchewana and Goulais Bays, near the lower end of Lake Superior, and if it were possible to obtain a route along the front of Lake Superior it would tend greatly, we hoped, to shorten the distance and pass through a country otherwise much more favorable in point of mining and settlement than and mountainous ridge that fringes Lake Superior. This party succeeded only in reaching Pic River, a distance by the route surveyed, of something over one hundred miles, though the direct distance is only about eighty miles, showing an increase by curvage of forty to fifty per cent. If this route should turn out ultimately to be one that might be adopted, it might diverge from the north-east of Pic River by the south side of Long Lake, instead of north of Long Lake, as shown in the projected line laid down by Mr. FLEMING. Mr. FLEMING. In this respect we would be able to shorten it very materially, even if we should land in the valley of Montreal River, north of Lake Nipissing, and come down the valley of the Ottawa as originally contemplated. I mention this simply to show that the Government have given their closest attention to the examination of that country as preliminary to any possible future action, but not with a view to taking any immediate action. One of the most important things to be looked to in opening up our North-West country is to obtain speedy means of ingress from Lake Superior. It is felt that it is extremely difficult for us to pour a large population into that country, when the expense of transport from Fort William westward is so great; and it is deemed advisable that we should not be driven, for any length of time, to pour a tide of emigration through any portion of the United States, In Kincardine, Goderich and Sarnia. Railroads converge at all these points and steamers ply from them on the waters of Lake Huron and Lake Superior. But it was felt a more direct line of communication, in order to suit the great cities in Lower Canada and the eastern Provinces should be had by ascending the Ottawa Valley and reaching the most favorable point on Georgian Bay by as short a route as possible. It was, therefore, provided in the Act of 1874 that the Government should construct a branch from some point south-east of Lake Nipissing to Georgian Bay, and that they should have authority to subsidize a line connecting with that road at the most favorable point. In accordance with that intention and that decision of the House and the Act passed by Parliament, explorations were made of a comparatively slight character no doubt mere explorations. One party was sent to make an exploration from Carleton Place to Parry Sound, which was represented as one of the most favorable routes. in order to reach our own territory. addition, therefore, to the railway surveys from Lake Shebandowan to Lake Superior, a distance of 45 miles, and from Red River to Rat Portage, a distance of 114 miles, we have felt it desirable to make correct surveys, during the season, of the intervening distance. The entire distance from Red River to Lake Superior is in round numbers, 430 miles by the DAWSON route. Of this we have surveyed and located a line and asked for tenders for 155 or 160 miles. This leaves a distance between the two points of 270 miles. Of that distance we will be able, by constructing two cheap wooden locks at Fort Francis, to obtain from Rat Portage uninterrupted steam navigation for a distance of nearly 200 miles to Sturgeon Falls at the east end of Rainy Lake. From this point eastward towards Lake Sheband owan, although there is a continuous water navigation with a number of small portages, still the country is, on the whole, tolerably favorable. It is now being surveyed by parties sent out some little time ago, in addition to the surveys prosecuted some time since. It is possible from She-country eastward. We found that while bandowan Lake to Sturgeon Falls that a favorable route may be found for the early construction of the railway, and, if not, we hope to be able to shorten the distance materially of the route now travelled. We hope within two years or two and a-half at the outside, that we will have a railway finished at the eastern and western ends, and with these and the locks at Fort Francis we expect that the distance altogether may be traversed in four or five days at the outside, that now takes the average from nine to twelve days. It will be remembered that the plan of the Government as developed last session and adopted by the House unanimously, was what I have stated, and makes a line of land and water communication as speedily as possible. The western portion of Ontario, in fact, nearly all the Province, is in easy communication with various ports on Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, so that they have tolerably direct water communication from the termini of the various railways, say at Collingwood, Owen Sound, Southampton, Hon. Mr. Mackenzie. Another party was sent to examiue the country in the neighborhood of the Meganatawan, known as Byng Inlet, on Georgian Bay, and from the mouth of French River, situated north-west of that point, to traverse the a road from Carleton Place to Parry Sound could be built that it would serve local interests more than serve as a true national route, and we found also that the route from French River eastward presented much more favorable physical features than any other part of the country that had been visited. We, therefore, fixed upon that part as the terminus for two or three reasons-for the reason just assigned in the first place, and in the second place for the reason that if the road should be continued westward thus 85 miles that would be built by the Government as a Government work will be, generally speaking, in the line to be followed, and which may be carried out whether we pass slightly north-east of Sault Ste. Marie ultimately or diverge northwardly by the route to Long Lake, and passing from the south of Long Lake to Pic River, or by the north of the lake, where the surveys of last season terminated. The line that has been located from French River eastward is as direct a line as can be drawn upon the map down the valley of the Ottawa to the city of Montreal. Hon. gentlemen will observe by the contract which has been laid on the table and the Order in Council granting $12,000 a mile to the Canada Central, that a subsidy is given to this road to construct the line from, where the Government line terminates 85 miles east of the mouth of the French River, east to a point in the vicinity of the village of Douglas. That is, in other words, between Douglas and Pembroke, at a point that will be determined by investigation of the Government engineers, which will suit for crossing the river by the Northern Colonization Company's road in that quarter. This will give the Northern Colonization Company precisely the same privileges as the Canada Central will obtain, and when the Kingston & Pembroke road is built they will also be secured in the same privileges. These privileges are simply that trains starting eastward from Montreal, which pass over their own lines to the crossing of the Ottawa River, will pass over the line nominally owned by the Canada Central, and have the same right of travel on that line as the trains of that company. Both lines are again secured the right of passage over the line being built by the Government from the point of intersection westward, thus securing to the fullest possible extent the rights of all companies, and securing the most direct possible communications from the east to the west. may allude for a moment, in passing, to several interviews that I had the pleasure of holding with many gentlemen interested in the Northern Colonization Company, and also with certain public men, members of Parliament, and others, in relation to this matter. Their contention was this that the proper line to adopt was to follow the Ottawa River on the northern side until opposite or nearly opposite the mouth of the Mattawan River, and thence in as direct a line as possible to the mouth of French River. This would have made a line from Montreal some twenty miles longer than the plan we have adopted, and also, so far as our information leads to a conclusion, a more expensive line than the one ultimately adopted by the Government. I am happy to say, at the interviews held, nearly every one interested was satisfied with the entire correctness of these statements. Hon. Mr. Mackenzie. I It was Now, I propose saying a few words about the contracts which have been and are being let at this moment. They will all be let this month. Gentlemen will remember that in both Pacific Railway Bills provision was made for building a line from Pembina to the neighborhood of Fort Garry, there to connect with the main Pacific line. It was early foreseen by me that it would be a matter of extreme importance to get into Fort Garry with a line of railway as soon as possible, because, if we are to commence the construction of the railroad from Red River eastward immediately, it is of great importance that we should have some way of getting in rails, rolling stock and other heavy material required for the building of the road. Owing to the extreme depression in financial circles in the United States, and the extreme depression of railway stocks in particular, the lines in course of construction in Minnesota have come to a complete stand-still. One line was projected towards St. Vincent, on the east side of the Red River. This road was graded to within 13 miles of the frontier. ironed to within 63 miles of the frontier, but still there was no traffic on the road from Glyndon northward. In order to stimulate these people to proceed with the line to the boundary we thought it advisable last summer to place the grading of the Pembina branch under contract. Tidings came to us of probable distress to the colony in consequence of another visit of the grasshopper plague. That visit, I am happy to say, turned out to be much less disastrous than was anticipated, but the first news was of so serious a character that we thought it desirable to proceed with the work at once, in order to furnish labor to such of the population as might be rendered destitute by the depredations of the grasshoppers. Tenders were accordingly invited, and the lowest was accepted, being that of JOSEPH WHITEHEAD, which was 22 cents per yard. He has already graded several miles, and will be able to grade the entire distance of his contract about 48 miles-on or about the 1st of July next, and, as soon as it is possible to obtain access by means of the lines constructed in Minnesota, we will be able to proceed with the construction of the road. The distance to the connection with the main line where it crosses Red River is 32 or 34 miles from the end of the section already under contract, and this will be let early in the spring. Hon. Mr. TUPPER-Is there any prospect of connecting with the Minnesota line? Hon. Mr. TUPPER-Will they be delivered in Quebec. it would be desirable to have rails on hand at Fort William and points on Georgian Bay, where they were to be used almost as soon as the works of construction commence, as the contractors will be able to avail themselves of the use of these steel Hon. Mr. MACKENZIE—I am sorry rails. The lowest tenders for steel rails to say there is no prospect yet, but I were accepted, I think to the extent of understand from gentlemen from Winnipeg fifty thousand tons, at an average price, that they ascertained in passing through delivered in Canada, of about $54 per ton, Minnesota it is likely some legislation will being the lowest price at which steel rails. take place this winter which will stimu- have ever been sold since they were first late the prosecution of this work. We made. only let the grading upon this line because we thought it advisable while proceeding thus far not to proceed any further until we could get a general contract let for the entire line where we propose to build it now, which would cover all the more expensive parts of construction. For the same reason we are only letting the grading and bridging from Fort William to Shebandowan and the same from Rat Portage to Red River. The hon. gentleman asked me if I could give a general idea of the cost of grading this 45 miles. Hon. Mr. TUPPER-I asked for an estimate of the cost of construction altogether. Hon. Mr. MACKENZIE-I am not able to give that, but the cost will not be heavy. The grading and bridging will not be far from $400,000. Of course this includes everything except ballast, ties and rails. Now, I propose to give to the House some detailed information of another branch of the subject. Early in the season, or about midsummer, when we found the price of iron and steel rails were getting very low in the English market, we thought it would be advisable to invest a considerable amount of money in the purchase of rails which could be made available at the earliest possible moment on the road. We accordingly advertised for tenders for these steel rails. It will be observed there is a sum of two millions of dollars asked for the purpose of paying for these rails. One reason that led us to adopt this plan was this:-From Fort William to Red River it was quite evident that that there could be no probability of obtaining any rails for construction purposes unless new rails were taken to those places. In the older parts of the country, where rails may be obtained almost at a few days notice, it is an easy matter to construct railways; but we felt Hon. Mr. Mackenzie. Hon. Mr. MACKENZIE-They will be delivered at Montreal. GUEST & Co., Liverpool, will deliver 5,000 tons at $54 per ton; the same firm will deliver 5,000 tons at $55.24; Ebbro Vale Co., 5,000 tons at $53.53; Mersey Company, 20,000 tons at $54.26; West Cumberland Company, 5,000 at $53.53; West Cumberland Company will deliver free on board of a vessel at a port in England 5,000 tons at $48.67; at $48.67; and NAYLOR, BERGON & Co. will deliver 5,000 in the same manner at $51.10, these latter rails being intended for shipment to British Columbia. The entire expenditure for steel rails is therefore about $2,665,500. We do not expect, however, that more than half of the rails will be delivered, and probably not half during the coming season. And as we are not sure of the precise amount that will be so delivered we make an estimate of $2,000,000 to cover the expenditure. The hon. gentleman has inquired in regard to the arrangements made with British Columbia, and I observe that my hon. friend beside me (Mr. BLAKE) has placed a question on the paper as to the course we propose to pursue in Parliament in relation to it. It will be observed by every one who has read the correspondence that the practical results obtained are these: After Mr. EDGAR returned from British Columbia Lord CARNARVON made an offer by telegram to arbitrate in the matter between the Dominion and the Province of British Columbia. We declined any arbitration as there was nothing to arbitrate upon, but we were quite willing as was stated in the Minute of Council to leave His LordSHIP to say whether the Dominion had not offered what was under the circumstances the most reasonable and fair terms that |