Canada and the States Part 5

Octave Chanute, of Kansas City, Missouri, United States, erected the works for the Union Pacific Company, and has an interest in the patents under which the process is carried out, which is a modification of Sir William Burnett's process. At 8.55 we crossed the highest point on the Rocky Mountains, 8,235 feet above the sea, on table land, no peaks being more than a few hundred feet above us. The rock here is all red granite, and some of it disintegrated, which is used for ballast. There are many snow sheds on the high land here, but none very long. We ran rapidly down from 'Sherman,' the summit, to 6,000 feet level, and more gradually afterwards, running all day through the plains, over which, although very dry, numerous herds of cattle and horses were pasturing, and we reached Omaha at 7.50 a.m. on the 3rd October.

"At Omaha we crossed the Missouri River. The bridge here, of iron, founded on iron cylinder piers, is for a single track only, and is being taken down bit by bit, and a double track iron bridge on masonry piers subst.i.tuted..

"From Council Bluffs, the station on the Iowa side of the Missouri River, we left by the Chicago and North Western Railway, which is a well constructed, well equipped, and first cla.s.s American Railway. The line runs through a good agricultural country, the chief crop being Indian corn, and was doing a good business. We met many freight trains during the day, and saw several trains of cattle going east also. We reached Chicago on time at 6.50 a.m. on the morning of the 4th October."

CHAPTER VII.

_Negociations as to the Intercolonial Railway; and North-West Transit and Telegraph_, 1861 _to_ 1864.

It was in September, 1861, that I visited Frederickton and Halifax on the question of the Intercolonial Railway, travelling by way of Riviere du Loup, Lake Temiscouata, Little Falls, Woodstock, round by St.

Andrews, Canterbury, Frederickton, St. John, Shediac, and Truro to Halifax. Later in the autumn, representatives from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia visited Quebec and Montreal, and it was generally agreed that deputations from Canada and from the two Maritime Provinces should proceed to England. These deputations were, from Canada the Hon. Mr.

Van Koughnet, from New Brunswick the Hon. Mr. Tilley, and from Nova Scotia the Hon. Joseph Howe. It was impossible to choose a more influential delegation: men earnest in the cause they came to advocate; politicians of tried metal; men of great influence in the colonies they represented.

I arrived in England from Canada in the beginning of November, 1861, and at once telegraphed to the Duke, and on my way to London, at his request, I visited him at Clumber, and made my report of progress, which appeared to be highly satisfactory. The only difficulty, as to the Intercolonial, appeared to rest in Mr. Gladstone's "peculiar views about subsidies, grants, and guarantees out of the funds, or on the security, of the State." But the Duke said, he must "labour to show the Chancellor of the Exchequer that this was no new proposal; that, in fact, the Provinces had been led to believe that if they would find the money, the State would guarantee the interest under proper precaution, as the State had guaranteed the capital for the Canadian ca.n.a.ls, every shilling expended on which had been honourably repaid." In fact, "this work was not a mere local work, but satisfied military and other Imperial conditions." The end of this, and many other, interviews, at the Colonial Office and at the Duke's residences, was complete concurrence in the following programme:--(I) the Intercolonial guarantee must be carried by the Duke; (2) measures must be taken to start Pacific transit, in the first instance, and as a pioneer work, by roads and telegraphs; (3) Confederation must be pushed on; and (4) that the difficulties arising from the position of the Hudson's Bay Company must be gravely considered with a view to some solution.

Mr. Van Koughnet, accompanied by Mrs. Van Koughnet, was, unfortunately, wrecked off Anticosti, in the Allan steamer "North Briton." Happily every one, after a time of great peril, was landed in safety, while losing personal baggage and almost everything else. At a critical moment Sir Allen McNab, who was on board the ship, also on his way to England, when the vessel was expected to go down, said to Van Koughnet, "Come with me and bring your wife, and we will go down together, away from this crowd of frightened people"--alluding to the ma.s.s of steerage pa.s.sengers jostling about in panic.

On the 11th November Mr. Howe and Mrs. Howe, and Mr. Tilley arrived: and I took the delegates to the Duke's house in London on the 14th. The Duke received these delegates with very great cordiality. He had made, already, an appointment with Lord Palmerston, the Prime Minister, and had spoken to Mr. Gladstone. So, armed with a letter from the Duke, we went on to Cambridge House. We were shown into a room overlooking the court-yard, and had not long to wait for the veteran minister. He came, as usual, with his grey--not white--hair brushed up at the sides, his surtout b.u.t.toned up to his satin neck-tie, or, more correctly, "breast- plate," which had a jewelled pin in the midst of its amplitude. He said, the Duke had told him our business, which was very important, not only for the interests we represented, but for the Empire, and especially so at a time when the "fires were alight" across the British border.

Mr. Howe very ably and concisely stated the case. No subsidy wanted, simply a guarantee on perfect security. Precedent for such guarantees, which had always been punctually and fully met. Previous promises of previous Governments--sanction of such statesmen as Lord Grey, Lord Derby, and Bulwer Lytton. Peculiar need of the work at this time; and so on.

Palmerston listened attentively, did not interrupt; did not while Howe, and afterwards Tilley, were speaking, stop either, by asking a single question; but when they had concluded, he repeated and summed up the case in far fewer words than had been used to state it: and in a manner which gave a new force to it all. He then spoke of the various treaties with the United States. He spoke of the giving up of the fine Aroostook district, now part of the State of Maine, and with some heat said, that "the Ashburton Treaty was the most foolish treaty ever made." He replied to the argument about the past commitment of other Governments, by describing it as "not possessing much attraction for an existing Government." Here Howe made him laugh much, by saying, "At least, my Lord, it might have an influence with your conscientious Chancellor of the Exchequer."

After a good many questions and answers affecting the state of the Provinces, the facilities and difficulties of moving troops in winter, the conveyance of the mails, future closer relations of commerce between the Provinces, and, especially, the state of things in the United States,--he asked us to "Go and see Gladstone." We "might say he had suggested it."

Then he shook hands, with a swinging jollity, with each of us, saw us to the door, and, finally, wished us "success." There might have been no "Trent" affair pending, to look at him.

Some delay took place before we could see Mr. Gladstone. But we finally accomplished the interview with him at his fine house in Carlton House Terrace, on the 23rd November. After waiting some while, following, as we did, about a dozen previous waiters on the Chancellor, we were shown into Mr. Gladstone's working room, or den. The room was very untidy.

Placards, papers, letters, newspapers, magazines, and blue boots on the table, chairs, bookshelves, and the floor. It looked, altogether, as if the window had been left open, and the contents of a miscellaneous newspaper, book, and parliamentary paper shop had been blown into the apartment. Mr. Gladstone, himself, looked bored and worried. Though perfectly civil, he had the expression of a man on his guard against a canva.s.ser or a dun. He might be thinking of the "Trent" affair. We stated our errand, and as I had, as arranged, to say something, I used the argument of probable saving in the Atlantic mail subsidies, by the creation of land routes, &c. He brushed that aside by the sharp remark, "Those subsidies are unsound, and they will not be renewed." He then spoke of the objectionable features of all these "helps to other people who might help themselves." He did not seem to mind the argument, that a.s.suming this work to be of Imperial as well as of Provincial importance, unless aid,--costless to England, or, at the highest, a very remote risk, and not in any sense a subsidy,--were given, the work could not proceed at all. He struck me to be a man who thought spending money, or taking risks, however slight, a kind of crime. That, in fact, it was better to trust to Providence in important questions, and keep the national pocket tightly b.u.t.toned. We got little out of him, save an insight into the difficulty to be overcome. And yet he had been a party to the Crimean War. On the final discussion, in the House, on the vote for the Intercolonial guarantee, on the 28th March, 1867, Mr. Gladstone concluded his speech by declaring, "I believe the present guarantee does depend upon motives of policy belonging to a very high order, and intimately and inseparably a.s.sociated with most just, most enlightened views of the true interests of the Empire." Thus we had sown the seed not in vain, and the counsel of the Duke was not forgotten.

Mr. Van Koughnet arrived on the 26th November. On the 27th I took him to see the Duke, and we had a long conference.

Finally, it was decided to send in a memorial to the Duke to lay before the Cabinet. Howe prepared it. It was most ably drawn, like all the State papers of that distinguished man, and it was sent in to the Colonial Office on the 2nd December, 1861. Thus, all had been done that could then be done by the delegation. We had to rely upon the Duke. Our difficulty was with Mr. Gladstone.

In the time of waiting, Howe, Tilley, and I, attended meetings at Bristol, Manchester, Liverpool, Oldham, Ashton, and other places, endeavouring, with no small success, to make the Intercolonial Railway a public question.

But the delays; the "pillar to post"; the want of knowledge of permanent officials, whose geography, even, I found very defective, made our efforts irksome, and now and then, apparently, hopeless.

But an event had startled England, like a thunderclap in a summer sky.

On the 8th of November, 1861, Captain Wilkes, of the United States ship "San Jacinta," took the Southern States envoys--Messrs. Slidel and Mason--and two others, forcibly from the deck of a British mail ship, "The Trent." The country was all on fire. Palmerston showed fight, and the Guards and other troops, and arms and stores to the value of more than a million sterling, were sent out to Canada. The delegates were sent for to the War Office, and, as desired, I accompanied them. At the time all seemed to hang in the balance. The powers had joined England in protest, and our amba.s.sador was instructed by despatch, per ship --for the submarine wires were not at work--to leave Washington in seven days if satisfaction were not given.

At the War Office we met Mr. Cornewall Lewis, Minister for War, a man erudite and accomplished, who had lived on public employments nearly all his life, but who hardly knew the difference between the two ends of a ramrod. He asked, in long sentences, the questions which Palmerston had put shortly and in the pith; all sorts of queries as to winter transport in the Provinces, the disposition for fight of the people, and so on. Then it was demanded, What we had to suggest? Van Koughnet, who writhed under the tone adopted, bluntly said, "Why, to fight it out, of course; we in Canada will have to bear the first brunt. But we cannot fight with jack-knives; and there are no arms in the country. You have failed to keep any store at all." This led to a deliberate note being taken by the Under Secretary, the present Marquis of Ripon. Other details followed, and then, finally, we were asked if we had anything more to propose? To which I answered "Yes; send out a man who may be truly regarded as a general." This was received with silence and open mouths. The fact was, the soldier in command in Canada was General Fenwick Williams, a most gallant man, who, in a siege, would eat his boots before he would give in: but was not the man who could so manoeuvre small bodies of men as to keep in check, in forests and on plains, large ma.s.ses of the enemy. When we left, Captain Gallon came running after us, and said, "I am so glad you said that, we all feel as you do here"--(the War Office).

Although the Government of the United States retreated from an undefendable position, wisely and with dignity, by surrendering their prisoners, who, delivered over to a British man-of-war, landed in England on the 29th January, 1862,--still it was decided to keep the troops in the Provinces, to reinforce them, to add to the armaments, and to adequately arm strategic points alongside the American frontier.

And, as President of the Grand Trunk, I was asked to go out to Canada to aid and direct transport across the country.

In the meantime--whether the cause was the "Trent" affair, or pre- occupation on the part of the Duke, or neglect of permanent officials, or their bad habit at that time of regarding Colonists as inferior persons--our delegates and their wives felt hurt at the social neglect which they experienced. And I agreed in the truth of their complaints so much, that I formally addressed the Duke on the 31st December. He acknowledged the neglect, apologised for it, and thereafter, until the day of their departure, the delegates, and Mrs. Howe and Mrs. Van Koughnet, were received in high circles, and were especially invited to Clumber.

To sum up, I left England for Canada, in "The Asia," on the 1st February, 1862, landing at New York, where my son and Messrs. Brydges and Hickson met me--and after a deal of hard work on the part of every officer and man on the Grand Trunk, and no small anxiety, labour, responsibility, and exposure to storms and climate, inflicted upon myself, Mr. Brydges, Mr. Hickson, and the whole staff, Quartermaster- General Mackenzie sent us a handsome acknowledgment of our semi- military services. But the authorities at home did not condescend to recognize our existence or our labours.

The late Sir Philip Rose gave me the greatest a.s.sistance with Mr.

Disraeli, Sir E. Bulwer Lytton, and all the great party whose confidence he possessed. The following letter, addressed to him by Sir E. Bulwer Lytton, will be read with great interest:--

"BUXTON, DERBYSHIRE, "_April_ 27, 1862.

"MY DEAR SIR,

"I am much flattered by your wish, and that of our Colonial friends; but I fear that I must decline the important and honourable task to which you invite me: partly from a valid personal reason; partly on political grounds. With regard to the first, I am here for a course of the Baths, in hopes to get rid of a troublesome lumbago, which has hara.s.sed me all the winter, and appears to have been epidemical from the number of victims it has cramped and racked this wet season. And I fear I shall not be able to get away till the middle of May, unless it be for some special vote. But apart from this consideration, I doubt whether it would be prudent for any member of Lord Derby's late Government, with the support of those leaders who might very soon form another administration, to urge upon Parliament any new pecuniary burthen, nay, any new loan, in the face of a deficit. Would not this really play into Gladstone's hands, and furnish him with a plausible retaliation in case of attack on the side in which he is most vulnerable, viz., the dealing with a deficit as if it were a surplus?

And again, would it be quite prudent in the coming Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer and his future colleagues to commit themselves to a measure they might find it inconvenient to carry out when in power?

"These are doubts that occur to me; and would be well weighed by Mr.

Disraeli--who might, perhaps, agree with me, that, on the whole, it would be better that this very important question should be brought before the House by some one not in the late Cabinet--some great merchant, perhaps--some one, in short, who could not be supposed to compromise or commit the future administrative policy of the party.

"I remain, however, of the same opinion, that aid to intercolonial communication can be defended on Imperial grounds--and would in itself, if not opposed on purely fiscal reasons, be a wise as well as generous policy.

"I regret much that my absence from town prevents, my seeing Mr. Watkin and profiting by the information, he could give me. I fear he will have left London before I return to it. But I should be very glad if he would write to me and acquaint me with the exact state of the case at present--and the exact wishes and requests of the Colonists.

"Is it a renewal of the former proposition or what? 'The whole question of intercolonial communication' is a vast one. But I suppose practically it would limit itself before Parliament to the Railway before submitted to us--according to the pamphlet you sent me.

"Believe me, "Yours very truly and obliged, "E. B. LYTTON."

The following letter was addressed to me:--

"BUXTON, "_May_ 3,1862.

"DEAR SIR,

"Allow me to thank you cordially for a letter, which cannot but be extremely gratifying to my feelings. Certainly my first object when I had the honour to preside at the Colonial Office was to attach all parts of that vast Empire which our Colonies comprise to the Mother Country, by all the ties of mutual interests and reciprocal affection.

"The importance of the Railway line between Halifax and Quebec must be transparent to every clear-sighted politician. And had I remained in office, I should have urged upon my colleagues--I do not doubt successfully--the justice and expediency, both for Imperial interests, commercial and military, and for the vindication of the Imperial good faith which seems to me indisputably pledged to it, some efficient aid, or guarantees the completion of the line. I should willingly have undertaken the responsibility of recommending that aid to Parliament; and I do not think the House of Commons would have refused it when proposed with the authority of Government. In that case the Railway by this time would have been nearly, if not wholly, completed.

"Traffic begets traffic; railways lead on to railways; and a line once formed to Quebec, it would not be long before the resources of British Columbia would, if properly directed and developed, suffice to commence the Railway that must ultimately connect the Atlantic and Pacific. That once accomplished, the destinies of British North America seem to me a.s.sured.

"I shall rejoice to hear that the present Government make a proposal which the Provinces accept. Some time, I conclude, must elapse before their decision can be known; and in that case the question can scarcely come before Parliament this Session. A mode of aid accepted by the Colonies would have my most favourable consideration; and, I cannot doubt, my hearty support, whatever might be the administration that proposed it.

"Yours truly obliged, E. B. LYTTON."

The Canadian Parliament met, early in March, 1862, at Quebec; in bitter winter and snow storms. We took down all the members who chose to go, by a special through train, in charge of Mr. Brydges,--desiring to show them that, poor and unfortunate as the Grand Trunk might be, we could carry "M.P.Ps." safely and quickly, as we had carried soldiers, and guns, and stores, to the satisfaction of the military authorities. The train made a famous journey. In a few days I followed in company with the Honourable John Ross, and was several days on the road--in constant fight with snowdrifts--in getting to Point Levi. Then came the canoe crossing of the St. Lawrence, an enterprise startling, no doubt, as a first experience, though safe, if tedious. We were put in a canoe, really a disembowelled tree, and this was dragged, like a sledge, by a horse down to the margin of the river, where it was launched amongst floating ice, going up, down, and across the stream and its eddies. Our canoe men coming to a big piece of ice, perhaps 20 feet square, jumped out, dragged our canoe over the obstruction, and then launched it again. When getting jammed between the floating ice, they got on the sides of our boat, and working it up and down, like pumping the old fire engine, they liberated us. Sometimes we went up stream, sometimes down--all points of the compa.s.s--but, after an hour's struggle, we gained the wharf at Quebec, safe and sound. But a while after I certainly was exercised. It was important that Mr. Brydges should go back to Montreal, and my son went with him. I watched their crossing the river from the "Platform," in a clear, grey, winter afternoon. They were two hours in crossing the river, a mile or two in width, in a straight line. At one time, I almost despaired, for they had drifted down almost into the Bay; but, by the pluck and hard work of their men, they kept, in this tacking backwards and forwards, and up and down, gradually making their way, till they landed, a long way below the right point, however, and we exchanged handkerchief signals--and all was well.

In the interval between this and my last visit, Lord Monck had been appointed Governor-General in place of Sir Edmund Head, retiring. In talking with the Duke about this appointment, he said, "I offered the position to five men previously, and they refused it." I replied, "Did your Grace offer it to Lord Lawrence, now at home?" The Duke put down his pen, turned from one side of his chair to the other, looked down and looked up, and at last said, "Upon my honour, I never thought of that. What a good appointment it would have been!" Be that as it may, Lord Monck made an excellent Governor in very difficult times. Canada, and the great cause of Confederation, owe him a deep debt of grat.i.tude.

I found unexpected difficulties about Grand Trunk affairs. The Government were afraid of their own shadows. Instead of bringing in the Grand Trunk Relief Bill as a Government measure, as we had expected, they, in spite of remonstrance from Mr. Gait, confided it to a private member, and such was the, unexplained, opposition that I verily believe had the Cartier-Macdonald Government remained in power the Bill, though entirely in the nature of a private Bill, affecting the public in every sense of indirect advantage, would have been thrown out. The newspapers throughout the two Provinces, with half-a dozen honorable exceptions, were vile and vicious, as trans-Atlantic newspapers especially can be.

I was full of unexpected anxiety. The Government tactics were Fabian; and on the 5th April they decided to adjourn the House to the 23rd. So I went home in the "China" from New York on the 9th April with my son; saw the Duke of Newcastle, discussed the situation; saw the opening of the Great Exhibition of 1862 on the 1st May, and a few days afterwards sailed, with Lady Watkin, in the old Cunarder, the "Niagara;" arriving at Boston after a long and difficult pa.s.sage, and then travelling on to Quebec. But, on the 20th May, an event occurred--caused, it seemed to me, as a looker on, through want of tact--which ended in the resignation of the Government. The circ.u.mstances were these. Under pressure from home, administered through the new. Governor-General, the Ministry had brought forward measures of defence. They proposed to raise and equip, at the cost of Canada, 50,000 men. They proceeded, if my memory serves me, by the introduction of a Bill, and that Bill was rejected by a very small majority (61 to 54), composed of Sandfield Macdonald and a few others, described as "Ishmaelites." Upon that vote Mr. Cartier at once resigned, as I thought in too much haste. I met him as he walked away from the Parliament House in the afternoon, and expressed regret. He said, with set teeth, clenched fist, and sparkling eyes, "Ah! Well, I have saved the honour of my country against those 'Grits' and 'Rouges;' traitres, traitres." Mr. J. A. Macdonald, afterwards, took the matter very quietly, merely remarking that the slightest tact might have prevented the occurrence. So I thought.