Thy touch is a charm That shall shield me from harm, And drive evil spirits away from my bed. Oh, sever the chain That binds body and brain, That my spirit may soar far away in the night, And leave the dull strife, And the tumult of life, Till care comes again with the dawning of light. It would dance with the waves In the cold coral caves, Where the quick ripples laugh at the chill staring moon; It would rest in the shade Of some sweet Southern glade, Where the long Summer day is perpetual noon. It would fain take its flight To some far mountain height, That throws a dark line on the breast of the morn; Or in rapture would go Where, o'er long tracts of snow, Glance, in sheets of quick flame, the bright lights of the dawn. It would fain fly to thee Who art dearest to me, Who art nearest and dearest, tho' still far away; It would stay by thy side While the shadows abide, Till the last faint star-twinkle hath died in the day. PORT HOPE. RAILWAY REFORM-THE CANADA PACIFIC RAILWAY. TH epoch. BY DAVID MILLS, M.P. HE construction of Railways marks the beginning of a new commercial Railways create new political and social forces, which may affect injuriously Parliamentary Government. They revive some of the phenomena of medieval society. To-day, industry pays tribute to private railway corporations, as it once did to the sword. There is still the application of force, but it has assumed another form and is of a more subtle character. It is still true that the price of liberty is vigilance. There are other means by which it may be lost than by brute force; and it is not unfrequently the case, that when it seems most secure, it is in greatest peril. When the dynasty of the Stuarts sought to establish an aristocracy in America, it was at a period when the House of Commons was rising to power in England. They hoped to check the growth of democracy. They made grants of land to favourites, larger than many European kingdoms. They hoped to fix deeply in the soil of this continent, the decaying institutions of the old world. But their tyranny at home stimulated the emigration of a population favourable to freedom. The force of circumstances made the colonists mutually dependent and politically equal. The result was as disappointing to the enemies of popular Government, as the vision of Banquo's descendants was to Macbeth. The forces, which were then called into activity, by the men of the English Commonwealth, continue to operate upon every country in America, from Hudson's Bay to Cape Horn. We, in Canada, although it has been in a mild way, have sought to extend the democratic element in our government. We have abolished laws of primogeniture, and we have legislated, so as to defeat entails. Care has been taken that, through these means, society shall not be segregated into distinct orders. Now, the power and influence of the government in this country is derived from the people, and but few can be found who would favour the restriction of popular authority. Until recently, combinations among men, dangerous to popular liberty, were impossible, as they had no common object to secure other than the general welfare. Private railway corporations have changed all this. No single interest could, either here or in the United States, at this day, stand in opposition to the combinations which may, by railway men, be formed against it. The power possessed by a feudal aristocracy in the days of the King-maker, becomes as insignificant as the mock royalty of the Tycoon of Japan, when compared with the power wielded by some great railway corporations of America. The interests of private railway corporations are not identical with the interests of the public. It would be an act of the greatest folly, on the part of the people of this country to ignore the existence of danger from such a quarter. One of the most important duties now devolving upon Parliament is to determine within what range railway corporations shall be confined. It may be that it will yet be found necessary, for reasons political as well as commercial, to make all such works the property of the State. Great railway corporations are the most dangerous enemies popular government has ever had. Their aggressive tendencies originate in the cupidity of those who control them. Public opinion imposes no direct restraint upon them. They are merciless in their operations. Railway teriorate. Then come accidents, in which men have turned exchanges into gaming scores of passengers are mangled or scalded; houses. They have tampered with the ad- and if the legal authorities show, by or ministration of justice. They have inter- dering an inquisition, that the primary duty fered with the freedom of Parliamentary of a government is not altogether forgotten, elections. They have marched their em- forthwith all the newspaper organs of the ployés to the polls as an ancient baron did company, and all those who are in opposi his vassals to the battle-field. It is true, tion to the government, charge them with they have conferred good. So far as the being actuated by personal pique or political material prosperity of a people is concerned, hostility. It is gravely assumed to be a nethey have levelled upwards: railways have cessary franchise of a railway corporation, equalized prices and enhanced the value of that its managers shall have the liberty to fixed property. But it is possible to pur- put in jeopardy the lives of passengers withchase wealth at too great a price. A nation, out being in any way responsible for casualto gain something less than "the whole ties. It seems to be well nigh forgotten world," may destroy the vital forces by that railway corporations are not created for which it has been enabled "to keep in step" the benefit of the corporators. This is no with the progress of the age, and by which doubt the purpose for which incorporation alone a condition of material prosperity can is sought; but the law calls them into exislong be maintained. tence for another purpose. Railways are held to be public necessities, whether they are owned by the public or by private persons. It is upon this ground that the right of way may, by law, be compulsorily ac quired. There is no general law by which one may be compelled to part with his property, except for public purposes, either with or without compensation. Why then should a railway corporation differ from ordinary private corporations, and be endowed by the State with the right of Eminent Domain? Is it not obvious that this attribute of sovereignty was given upon the only grounds upon which it can be rationally defendedupon grounds, not of private, but of public utility? It is a special franchise to railway corporations, necessary to their existence, and demanded by the necessities of the public. The State, therefore, does not stand in the same relation to railways that it does to other species of private property; and the time is at hand, when the relations between railways and the State must be fully considered. Railway legislation is one of the great socio-political questions which are beginning to force themselves upon the attention of the Anglican nations. The policy of laisser faire has had full play. Everywhere the railways which have been built are pointed to as the successful results of private enterprise. Everywhere, within Anglican limits, we have had long and costly lines of railway constructed, which are pointed to as a proof of the wisdom of leaving the construction of railways to individual effort. Thinking men are beginning to ask themselves the question, whether this "no government" theory does not exceed tenable limits, when applied to the ownership of railways. We often hear railways spoken of as if the only persons interested in their management were the stockholders, the bondholders and the officials of the corporations. The people who travel and the general public who send the products of their industry over the roads are assumed to have no voice in the conduct of such enterprises. They have only to be mangled in body and depleted in pocket. In order to pay interest upon bonds or dividends upon stocks, a road is allowed to de It has been argued by those who defend the present relations of private railways to the State, that the laws of competition suffi reduction would be made. There can be scarcely a doubt, from the results of such trials elsewhere, that the ultimate gain here would be considerable. But men who wish to dispose of railway stocks and bonds, are not likely to consider what may be advantageous to a company after they have ceased to have any personal interest in its welfare. ciently protect the public interests; that the tendency of charges is towards a minimum, the same as in other undertakings. This statement is not borne out by the facts. There are but few points touched by rival railways, and except at these points, railways are practically monopolies. If the different raileach road were run way trains running upon It is not in the management of railways by different corporations, then there might be general competition, but not otherwise. alone that the interests of railway comExperience proves that combination is not an panies are against the interests of the pubimprobable thing between managers of rival lic. They endanger, if they do not destroy, railways. The number of these corporations the independence of Parliament. Corruption must ever be so limited, that combination taints the majority of railway enterprises will always be practicable. The charges on from their inception to their completion. railways, both for freight and passengers, Charters are sought, not infrequently, for wherever they are private property, are ill-purposes of speculation. Sometimes they regulated and variable. It is to the interest are used to blackmail existing railway lines. of the public to have the greatest amount done at the least possible cost. The reverse of this is to the interest of the railway companies. If a company, by diminishing charges, could increase their business, it would not be voluntarily done unless the ratio of increase of business was greatly in excess of the ratio of the diminution of charges. Every one who has taken the trouble to look into railway statistics, knows well that it has been a common occurrence to increase the earnings by a reduction of the rates. This increase was not brought about by drawing away traffic from rival lines, but by the stimulus given to commerce, that rendered travel and traffic profitable, which were not so before the reduction was made. It is said that the receipts per train, at a penny fare, from Shrewsbury to Upton Magna, in England, were £11 15s. 8d., and at a fare of 3 d., the receipts fell to £4 4s. 11d. per train. The receipts per train from Shrewsbury to Walcot, at a penny fare, were £14 17s. 7d., and at 6d. fare they fell to £4 5s. 5d. We do not refer to these statictics to show that the railways of Canada would, in all cases, largely gain by a considerable reduction in their charges. If it were believed that this would be the immediate effect of reduced rates, the At every step taken, However much a railway may be needed, a It is not our purpose in this article to discuss the general question of railway reform. We have simply indicated our conviction that the question of ownership is yet an open question and that there are considerations, both commercial and political, unfavourable to the system of private ownership. There can hardly be a doubt that if the Canadian Parliament and the Provincial Legislatures were to take the whole subject of railway economy and railway management in hand, and secure a full report, not only of the traffic, but of everything relating to the railways of the country, they would confer a substantial benefit upon the public. But this is not all. The people of Canada will be forced to consider, if they wish to avoid being led on to disaster, the relation in which her public men stand to gigantic railway enterprises. Who has not become familiar with the history of Fisk's Erie Railway speculations; of Tweed and Sweeny's peculations and City Hall contracts of Judge Barnard's prostitution of a Court of Justice to railway rings. We cannot say these things are impossible here. It is true the like have not happened. But it must not be forgotten that the opportunity has been wanting. These things were so, not because men were wanting in intellectual capacity, but because great temptations were presented and they were too strong to be resisted. Human nature is, in all civilized communities, much the same. What has happened in New York is likely to happen in Montreal and Toronto under similar circumstances. The country ought to have-it is possible-a triple guarantee for the upright conduct of those to whom they entrust the management of the affairs of the state-the high character of public men, a healthy public opinion, and an efficient law. The law ought not to allow a representative of the people to be put in a position that he may be suspected of acting in a particular way, not from considerations of public utility, but for his own private advantage. A member of parliament is a trustee of the country, and the policy of the law which forbids a trustee' dealing with himself on behalf of his cestui que trust, is equally applicable to him. It is not enough that a public man shall act honestly; it is important that the public should think so; and in order that this may be the case, care must be taken that his public duties and his private interests are not made needlessly to conflict with each other. In the case of the Canadian Pacific Railway enterprise, it would seem that this and other important principles of parliamentary government scarcely received sufficient consideration at the hands of the first Parliament of Canada. It is the most gigantic railway ever undertaken, and its relations to the Government and Parliament ought have been well considered. From the eastern extremity, upon the Upper Ottawa, to Victoria, in British Columbia, the distance is not less than 2,700 miles. A road of this length requires a large population to furnish it with the ordinary amount of local traffic. At present there is a population of less than 30,000 in the country it will traverse. In its construction 6,600,000 cross-ties, and at least 270,000 tons of iron will be required. It will take 540 locomotives, of 65,000 horse-power, and 8,000 cars properly to equip it. It will consume yearly 270,000 cords of wood and, to keep the road in repair, 40,000 tons of new or rerolled rails, and 800,000 cross-ties will be needed. This is no exaggerated statement. The Union and Central Pacific Railway, extending from Omaha to San Francisco, a distance of 1,904 miles, has 334 locomotives and 6,649 cars. The New York Central, measuring the second track, is a line of 1,522 miles in length, and is equipped with 400 locomotives and 9,603 cars, not counting dummy engines, city passenger cars, or gravel cars for the service of the road. The operating expenses of the Union and Central Pacific Railway in 1871 were about ten millions of dollars and the gross earnings upon through traffic, $6,650,000. When we consider the length of the Canadian Pacific and the unsettled country |