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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 1885)
THE WEST SHORE. 359 THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY. AS in the ease of the first transcontinental road in the ITnitnl Stntcs, this railway was doemoJ uo;Ooo4U j' a a political measure, the Government oxjieeting tho bunion of its coiiHtructioii mul operation to Ira a heavy ono for a number of years, until such time an tho development of the country through which it passed and the amount of foreign trHllio it could secure would mnko it a paying venturo commercially When Canmla confederated, in IS! 17, the Dominion consisted of disconnected provinces, extending from Lake Siixrior to the (lulf of St. Ijiw reneo. The neeetwity for a closer Ixmd of union wan urgent, and for thin reason thelutor-Coloniul railway wan built from Quebeo eaHtward to tho ocean at St. John and Halifax. Hum, with its brunches and the older line of the Grand Trunk, and othertt in Quebec and Ontario, knitted tho Dominion together in a close union and added grunt strength to the government In 1870 Manitoba wns admitted to the federation, and the year following llri tish Columbia, lying on the Pacific Coast, and separated from the remninder of the Domiuion by the Ilocky Momituiiii) and a thmiHand miles of wilderness, joined the union. The condition of affairs which had rendered it necessary for the construction of the Inter-Colonial rond wait now greatly iutoiiHitlcd. It was patent that lliitiHh Columbia could never le a useful member of the federation, nor could it derive any advantage from iU connection therewith, until aouie means of rapid commu nication and commercial interchange were provided. In foct, one of the inducements for tho ndmissiou of that province wait the ooiiHtructiou of audi a transportation route. Such an undertaking was too gigantio for private enterprise, since tho country through which the line would pass inunt lie gradually dovelcixxl under the inllu e i u:e of the railway before it could furnish local tralllr for iU support Private capital could not alTord an in vestment requiring so long a time to render it productive. Itw.sagnat public necessity which only tho Govern ment could accomplish, and with thin idea tho Domiuion began iU construction. In 1H71 aurveying parties were sent out to explore the oompiirativcly unknown region through which, if poaMible, it idiould pass, and reort upon tho most favorablu route. Over f:i,500,0()0 wnro ex pended upon theso preliminary surveys. The location of tho roud eaat of the Ilocky Mountain Ixiing much the less (lifli.iult, the work of construction wim commenced on the Eastern Section in 171, and 2!t miles oouiplebxl and in eration in 18S0 ; but from the Ilocky Mouuttius to the Pacific Coast no lost than eleven line, aggregat ing upwards of 10,000 miles, were aurveyod laiforc determining the best terminal point ami route thereto. Tort Moody, at the he.id of Uurrard Inlet, waa finally selected aa the mainland terminus, and Kicking Horse Pom aa the route across tho Ibxtky Mountains. Ibtcently, however, Vancouver, a new town to be built on Coal Harbor, near the entrance to Uurrard Iulet, liaa been chosen in place of Port Miwdy, and there the great ter minal works of the company will be located. Id 18S0 a ooulract aud agreement waa made between the Domiuion and an incorporated company, known aa the "Syndicate," tor the construction, operation and oMiiuialtip of Urn Ciomdmu ThoiEm) Ikndway. Ey liis terms of this agreement, that portion of the railway to be constructed waa divided into three aectiona; the first, extending from Calhmdcr Station, uear the oast end of Lake Nipissiug, to a junction with tho Lako Superior section then being built by the Government, waa called the Eastern Section ; tho second, extending from Selkirk, on the Red lliver, to Kamloopa, at the Fork of the Thompson lliver, waa called the Central Section, and the third, extending from Kamhxipa to Port Moody, at llur rard Iulet, the Western Section. The company agreed to lay out, construct aud equip, in running order, the Eastern and Central Section by tho 1st day of May, 181)1. Tho company also agreed to pity tho Government the cost, according to oxistiug contract, for the 100 miles of road then in course of construction from the city of Win uiMg westward. The Government agreed to complete that portion of the Western Section between Kamloopa and Yale by June !I0, 18S5, and also between Yale and Port Moody on or before the 1st day of May, 18111, and tho L'tke Superior Section according to oontract. Pend ing the completion of the Eastern and Central Sections, the possession and right to work and run the several por tions of the railway already constructed, or aa the aaint should I mi completed, was given by the Government to the company. Uxm the completion of the Eastern and Central Sections the Government agreed to convey to the company (exclusive of shipment) those portions of the railway constructed, or to be constructed, by the Govern ment, and upon completion of the remainder, to convey tho aamo to the company, and the Canadian Pacillo Hail way thereafter become the absolute proerty of the com pany, which agreed to forever oflluiutly maintain, work and run the aamo. The Government further agreed to grant the company a subsidy iu money of 'J",(X)0,000, and in laud of ttf.MIO.OOO acres. The Government also granted to the company the lauds required for the road led of the railway, and for iia stations, station grounds, workshop dock ground, and water frontage, buildings, yards, etc, and other appurtenances required for its con venient and effectual construction aud (eratlon, ami agreed to admit, free of duty, all material to be used iu the original construction of the railway, including bridges, and of a telegraph linn in connection therewith. The company has the right to construct branch lines from any point within the territory of tho Dominion, It waa further agreed by the Dominion Parliament that for the Mris of twenty years no railway should be con structed south of the Canadian Pacific Ilailway, except audi line as shall run southwest or to the westward of southwest, nor to within fifteen miles of latitude 4'J de grees, and that all stations and station grounds, work ho, buildings, yards and other property, rolling stock ami appurtenance required ami used for the construction and working thereof, ami the capital stock of the com pany should be forover free from taxation by the Domiu ion, or by any province thereafter to be established, or