Clifford Sifton

“ Religious toleration, social order, and commercial and industrial development have gone hand in hand. Other countries may now be at or past the zenith of their career; Canada is but entering upon hers. She faces the great undertaking of the future—such as the construction of another transcontinental railway; such as the assimilation of great masses of population—with a confidence that is born of hard experience and clear and serene faith in her capacity to repeat the success of the past. Questions as to her political future do not seriously trouble her. ”

“ Looking over the whole ground, it may be said that Canada presents to-day the spectacle of a young, vigorous, and united people, which by faith and courage has come through trying struggles, overcome great obstacles, and made good its title to national existence. ”

“ Canada is a country which, from the very beginning, has presented great obstacles to the work of development. Rich as it is in agricultural resources, in the wealth of the sea, of the forest, and the mine, Nature has decreed that these riches should only be made available for the use of man by persistent and self-sacrificing effort. ”

“ If 750,000 people cultivating 5,250,000 of acres of land produce 126,000,000 of bushels of grain, and there yet remains more than 190,000,000 of acres to be brought under cultivation, is it too much to say that within a few years the somewhat grandiloquent title of 'The Granary of the Empire' will be more than realized. ”

“ Looking back now over the history of the past century, it may fairly be said that the Canadian people have never flinched from the gigantic tasks which were set them. With varying success and encouragement, but with unvarying determination, they have steadily pursued their purpose, until at the present time they are able to see, at no great distance, the complete triumph of their efforts. ”

“ When it is considered that the total cost of these enterprises was not less than half as much, in proportion to the population of Canada at confederation, as was the entire national debt of Great Britain in proportion to the population of the United Kingdom, that the people of Canada were possessed of little acquired or accumulated wealth, being even at that time a large debtor in the money-markets of the world, and that they were only entering upon their national existence, it must be admitted that those who declared such plans to be chimerical had much to warrant their opinions. ”

“ Because Canada is known to possess and to offer free to the willing worker of any nationality a great domain of first-class agricultural land where the frugal and industrious man may speedily become an independent proprietor, a self-supporting and self-respecting citizen of a free British country, where life and property are absolutely protected, and where desirable religious, social, and material conditions surround the family. ”

“ In the development of water-power, its electrical conduct, and its application to the various services which require the application of power, we have little to learn from any competitor. Canada is the home of the water-power, and as rapidly as the application can be rendered profitable, power is being developed. ”

“ This, however, gives no indication of our ocean-going trade, a large part of which is done by vessels of British and foreign register. The total tonnage entering the ports of Montreal and Quebec alone last year was 2,236,601.
What is our commercial and industrial position? Have the efforts made to develop the country strained its resources, or placed upon it a burden beyond its strength? On the contrary, it may be stated with sober truth that there is no country in the world with an equal population where there is so little poverty, and where, man for man, the people are so well to do. ”

“ From the earliest settlement Canada has taken advanced ground on the subject of education. Nowhere has the individual citizen, poor though he might be, been more ready to submit to taxation for the purpose of promoting popular enlightenment. Next to the Church the public school is, of all Canadian institutions, the closest to the people's hearts. ”

“ Our Universities, grammar-schools, and academies, while with few exceptions not boasting the huge endowments which private and public liberality has given to similar institutions in older and wealthier countries, are nevertheless well fitted to discharge their functions. On the vital question of education our fellow-citizens of the Empire may rest satisfied that we are not behind the best traditions of our race. ”

“ Coal and iron, the great bases of modern commercial development, are found in very large quantities. It is no doubt true that with a sparse population, with a limited home market, and with great distances to cover, the pioneers of our iron and steel industries have found it difficult to make headway against the highly organized and specialized industries of richer and older countries. A good beginning, however, has been made, the initial difficulties have been largely overcome, the works are now reported to be flourishing, and a steady development may reasonably be looked for. ”

“ The Maritime Provinces were not connected by any Canadian railway with Ontario and Quebec. Between Ontario, the most westerly province of the Dominion, and the prairies of the North-West, whose agricultural capabilities were only vaguely known, there stretched a vast, inhospitable, little-known region, believed to consist mainly of rocks and swamps, offering, as it was then thought, no promise of support to a population, and impassable except to the experienced woodsman or voyageur. ”

“ Other resources have perhaps not been so well known. To the knowledge which we possessed of the value of the timber of Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick has of late years been added the certainty that we possess the finest supply of pulp-wood in the world. For thousands of miles the white spruce forests stand in the valleys of our rivers, contiguous to water powers, easily accessible and capable of the most economical transportation. There may be obstacles to overcome, there may be temporary lulls in development ”

“ Very large sums of money have been spent to construct canals, to deepen channels, to remove shoals, and to light and buoy the route in order to assist navigation. It is impossible to state accurately the amounts of money that have been so expended, but it is far within the mark to say that the work up to the present time represents a total outlay exceeding $80,000,000. As a result we have 14 feet of water from Lake Superior to the sea, easily the finest system of fresh-water navigation in the world. ”

“ Our 150,000 settlers, with a few exceptions, are taken from the point where they reach Canada, and at once placed in touch with conditions that enable them to realize their ambition. They settle upon land and become producers. ”

“ The Canadian Pacific Railway is now fed by branches many hundreds of miles in length in all parts of Canada. In the North-West a new competitor has arisen in the shape of the Canadian Northern Railway, a line begun only ten years ago, which runs westerly from the head of Lake Superior, and already has about 1,400 miles of railway in operation. ”

“ Its management and control is absolutely and directly in their own hands, and it is a source of just pride to know that the management is almost universally efficient and successful to a degree that leaves little to be desired. ”

“ Not to mention hundreds of minor enterprises, power is now being electrically transmitted from Shawinigan Falls to the City of Montreal, a distance of about ninety miles, and development work is going on by which the mighty power of Niagara will, within a very short time, be rendered available for a radius of one hundred miles upon the Canadian side of the river, proving of incalculable benefit to the locality directly affected, and indirectly conferring benefit upon the whole country. ”

“ They immediately begin the process of enriching the country, adding to its production of wealth, increasing the commerce, furnishing traffic for the railways and steamships, giving occupation to middlemen by the thousand. Contrast this with what is happening in the United States. There the 800,000 immigrants who enter the United States never see the possibility of independence. ”

“ In Manitoba and the two new Provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta there are, roughly speaking, over 200,000,000 acres of land known to be fit for cultivation, and the population is at the present time about 750,000 souls. ”

“ The enormous trade of the Orient will then be made accessible to the producers on the wheat-fields of the Canadian North-West by two trunk lines, which, crossing the Rocky Mountains, will connect at their terminal ports with steamships plying across the Pacific. ”

“ They come as homeseekers, determined to go upon the land. Within two or three years, whether with or without capital, they almost invariably realize their desire, and take up land for themselves. They are coming without Government assistance, with no help except an almost perfectly organized system of reception and guidance and thoroughly efficient arrangements for transportation by steamship and railway lines. ”