Identifier: sandfordflemin00burp (find matches)
Title: Sandford Fleming, empire builder
Year: 1915 (1910s)
Authors: Burpee, Lawrence J. (Lawrence Johnstone), 1873-1946
Subjects: Fleming, Sandford, Sir, 1827-1915 Railroads
Publisher: London, Oxford University Press
Contributing Library: Robarts - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: University of Toronto

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equired. The project therefore remained stationary for a time, butit was widely discussed in the newspapers and was the subjectof a number of pamphlets, notably that of Major Carmichael-Smyth in 1849, i*1 which was advocated the utilization of thesurplus labour of the United Kingdom in the constructionnot merely of a railway from Halifax to Quebec but of onefrom Halifax to the Pacific coast. In 1851, through the eloquent plea of Joseph Howe, thePremier of Nova Scotia, the British Government seemedat last awake to the Imperial importance of the proposedrailway. The Colonial Secretary in a letter to Howe laidstress on the strong sense entertained by the BritishGovernment of the extreme importance, not only to theColonies directly interested but to the Empire at large, ofproviding for the construction of a railway by which a lineof communication may be established on British territorybetween the Provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, andCanada \ The Imperial Government was now prepared
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THE BIRTH OF THE INTERCOLONIAL 79 to guarantee the interest on the cost of construction, butanother difficulty appeared. New Brunswick and NovaScotia were not merely interested in the project of a railwayfrom Halifax to Quebec, but they were also interested inone from Halifax through St. John to Portland, Maine;indeed, New Brunswick had already promised substantialfinancial support to the latter line. They asked that theImperial guarantee should cover this line also, from Halifaxto the international boundary; but the Colonial Secretaryreplied that it would be impossible to ask Parliament topledge the credit of the United Kingdom for any objectwhich was not of importance to the Empire as a whole. It is impracticable here to trace the rather intricate historyof the Intercolonial Railway project throughout the nextdecade. It will be sufficient to say that as the ProvincialLegislatures and the Imperial Government found it impos-sible to reach common ground, the former determined to goahea

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