" dition of the market afford to pay much additional, to save a few
" days time in transit."
Wbat I propose to do is to endeavour to change Mr. Dawson's
opinion as to the cost of a railway, and to show that Mr. Jarvis'
is opposed to all experience. These appear to me to be the only
points necessary to establish in order to place on advantageous
ground " Railway vs. Water.
Mr. Dawson did me the honor three or four months ago of inspect-
ing a specimen of my new system of Wooden Railway, and was
pleased to express a very favorable opinion of its applicability to
colonisation purposes-and the piece of experimental line which
has been worked over during the spring and summer still remains in
proof of this opinion, in as perfect a condition as when laid down. A.
great many of the most practical men of Canada have expressed
the same opinion as Mr. Dawson, and the Engineer of the Northern
Colonisation Company reports in favor of its adoption for their line in
preference to any other system. The consideration of a railway in
connection with this system will, I think, greatly modify the objec-
tions advanced by Mr. Dawson, whose estimate of cost was of
course based upon an iron road; and by referring to the experience
of other nations, I believe I 'shall show that if a railway can be
constructed for a moderate sum, it combines a greater number of
advantages for the transport of merchandise, than any system of
inland navigation.
Since Mr. Dawson saw my Wooden Railway I have had
ample opportunity of considering its construction, and cost; ex-
perience has suggested tnodifications in the former and the interval
has enabled me to mature the various tools and appliances for re-
ducing the latter, so as to arrive with accuracy at the cost per mile
of a Wooden way.
A word, as regards the feasibility of a line from Lake Superior to
Fort Garry. No engineer who has written on the subject suggests
even that the work is impracticable, but that generally the ground