Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 67.djvu/469

Rh under discussion in Canada for a number of years. It was first proposed to build the canal as a private undertaking, a strong company of Canadian and English capitalists having been formed for the purpose. The company asked the federal government to guarantee their bonds; but after some hesitation it was decided that if the work were to be done it would be preferable to do it at the public expense, and make it part of the great canal system of the country.

Last session the Canadian parliament voted a generous sum to provide for a thorough survey of the whole route, and most of this preliminary work has already been completed. The original project only contemplated an 8 or 10 foot channel; but as the discussion dragged on from year to year, the rapid increase in draft of lake shipping made it apparent that such a canal would be next to useless. The proposed depth was accordingly increased to 12, and then to 15 feet. Finally the projectors came out boldly for a 20-foot ship channel, sufficient to accommodate all lake shipping, and making possible the ambitious dream of shipping men for a route which would enable ocean-going vessels to load their cargoes at Fort William, Duluth or Chicago, and proceed to Liverpool without breaking bulk. The estimated cost of such a channel runs all the way from $75,000,000 to $100,000,000; but it is now realized that no smaller project would meet the needs of the country, and it is understood that the Dominion government intends eventually to build the canal with a 20-foot channel. One other Canadian water route must inevitably be opened up in the next few years—that is the Hudson's Bay route. Several exploration parties have at different times been sent out from Ottawa by the government to examine into the possibilities and advantages of this route, and especially the period of navigability of Hudson's straits. The reports received have been rather conflicting, and as a matter of fact none of the vessels have remained long enough in and around the straits to finally decide the question. Mr. A. P. Low, on the Neptune expedition of 1903-4, went fully into this matter, and although his official report has not yet been made public, it is understood to be very favorable. An examination of the earlier reports, taken in connection with the favorable opinions of such authoritative men as Dr. Robert Bell, director of the Geological Survey, and Mr. A. P. Low, leads one to the opinion that the straits are safely navigable for such a period each year as would be quite sufficient to make the Hudson's Bay route commercially successful.

That the people of Manitoba have every confidence in the vast possibilities of this route is proved by the significant fact that the Manitoba government is now agitating for the extension of the provincial boundaries to the shores of Hudson's Bay, the intention being, when this has been accomplished, to build a railway, out of the