PARLIAMENTARY REPORTER.
195
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Mr. McMILLAN. --There should be a line of telegraph extended from Cascumpec to Georgetown,
for communication of that kind is required between those two ports, particularly late
in the fall
of the year. I am also of the opinion that we
should also have a railroad between Summerside
and the latter port. If a railroad was established,
as many more vessels as are now engaged in trading to Summerside, Charlottetown and
Georgetown, would be required in ten years from the
present time to carry on that trade. I believe the
time is not far distant when we shall have a railroad between Cascumpec and Georgetown.
Since
we are called upon to pay our Governor's Salary,
many persons are of the opinion that we shall be
forced into Confederation; if this is the case, we
should at once enter into a contract to have a railroad buiult between the two ports
I have mentioned, that the Dominion Government may have the
expenses to pay. At any rate, the Government
should cause a survey of the route to be made as
prayed for in a petition unanimously signed and
laid before them. I would support the extension
of a telegraph line to Georgetown, because of the
advantages of its harbor in the fall and spring. When
the Steamer runs from that port in winter, while
all other ports are closed by the ice, telegraph
communication with it will be very much required.
Indeed I am of the opinion that Georgetown requires those advantages as much as any
place on
this Island.
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Hon. Mr. CALBECK.--I quite agree that Georgetown should have the advantages of telegraphic
communication, for it is a central port for fishermen as well as an important one
when all our other
ports are ice-bound. I think those advantages should
also be extended to Souris, for it
is a great place of resort for fishermen, and we
know they often wish to send a message to distant
parts. Indeed vessels of all kinds seek refuge
in that port during stormy weather, and it is natural to conclude that if a vessel
wished to send a
message anywhere she would run into the nearest
port for that purpose. The hon. member for
Summerside referred to Confederation; but I hope
the day is far distant when the telegraph lines
will convey the intelligence that this, or any other
House of Assembly that may sit here, passed a
vote in favor of joining the Confederation. I trust
that we shall always remain separate from Canada, while things go on as they now do
in that
country.
Mr. BRECKEN.--I am of the opinion that the Company would not be willing to open offices where
the amount of business transacted does not require them; but there is no doubt the
Government would make great exertions to supply every
place of any consequence with the means for telegraphic communication. There is a
good deal in
what the hon. member for Summerside stated,
concerning railroads; if Confederation is coming
up in the distance it would not be a bad policy for
this Colony to enter into a contract with some
company to build a railroad from Cascumpec to
Georgetown at once. If we go into Confederation without a railroad, the chances are
that we
will not get it afterwards; therefore we should
begin in time to get it finished before going in.
It would be rather too late for the Government to
enter into large contracts when they see that our
entering Confederation is unavoidable. If we ful
PARLIAMENTARY REPORTER.
196
ly believe that this Colony must, some day not far
distant, enter Confederation, the Government
should begin the construction of railroads and
other costly public works at once, for there is no
doubt the Dominion Government would take the
burden of our debt as it did that of the other Proinces, upon itself.
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