Railway Rates And the Canadian Railway Commission

ure complete by 1846.1 Channels have been deepened, locks have been lengthened, further links added by a number of short canals having been constructed; but with one exception 2 these additions and improvements have had to do with existing systems, amplifying them and extending the range of their service. Consequently the time has come when the results of this policy, not only in the light of the conditions that obtained when it was inaugurated and carried to practical issue, but with regard to the effective influence that these canals exert to-day, may be conveniently discussed. In the first place, it is clear that the period between 1820 and 1846, the time of activity in canal construction, coincides with a great development of commerce and navigation on the Great Lakes.3 Lake shipping achieved, perhaps, its highest point of importance (though not necessarily its greatest development) at that time, while the St. Lawrence, with the Erie and Welland Canals, provided the essential links between East and West. As against the competition of the Erie the Canadian design of capturing the major portion of this trade seemed within some degree of realization. The traffic upon the St. Lawrence, in spite of the competition of the rival route, was doubling every four years.4 Trade conditions in Canada in the forties were highly satisfactory. Canadians, not content with diverting traffic fromthe earlier opened Erie route, looked forward with assurance to the complete achievement...