Читать книгу Sir John A.'s Crusade and Seward's Magnificent Folly - Richard Rohmer - Страница 9

December 14, 1866

London

The delegates had decided to take Friday the 14th of December as a break. The burn-injured Macdonald was at the Bernard flat for most of the day. There, to the amusement of his colleagues, he was continuing his wooing of Agnes. All silently wished him well, even the bellicose but softening Robert Wilmot.

But for Alexander Galt and George Cartier, it was a heavy working day, to say the least. The two men met with merchant banking groups in the City to discuss an urgent financial matter.

With Cartier at his side, Galt had the difficult, painstaking task of raising the preliminary funds for the construction of the railway line to Quebec and Ontario from the Maritime provinces which those hardnosed Maritimers had made a principle condition of Confederation. During the discussion with the largest banking firm in the City substantial progress was being made when suddenly, without prior discussion with his shocked colleague, Cartier, Galt said to the bank’s chairman, who was also its managing director, “You know, Sir William, if we’re successful in completing the financing of the inter-colonial, it is only the beginning.”

“Oh, really. You mean you have other railways in mind?”

“Of course. We must move quickly to bring the colony of British Columbia into our new Confederation.”

“And the price they’ll demand is a railway?” Sir William was quick.

“Precisely. It could well be the longest railway yet built. It would run from Ontario west across the North-Western Territories through the Rocky Mountains to Vancouver and the Pacific.”

“What sort of distance are you talking about?”

“Something in the range of two thousand miles.”

Sir William’s eyebrows shot up as he contemplated the tens upon tens of millions of pounds that would be needed to undertake such a monumental project.

“So as long as you have Her Majesty’s government covenant to guarantee, Mr. Galt, we’ll be happy to do business with you. When would you be needing money for the Pacific railway?”

“It’s difficult to say. It’ll take some time and effort. First, we must have the Colonial Secretary’s support for our plans to bring B.C. into Confederation. We’ve started the negotiations with Sir Frederic Rogers. He’s the —”

“Yes, I know him. He’s the Permanent Under-Secretary of the Colonial Office.”

“In fact we’ve been negotiating with him on and off for the past ten days.”

“But why are you negotiating with Sir Frederic? Doesn’t British Columbia have a governor or legislature? Won’t you have to deal with them?”

“Of course, Sir William. But if we can convince Rogers and the Foreign office that Canada’s offer to British Columbia to join our Confederation is practical and realistic, then he can recommend it to his government.”

Sir William was dubious. “But if you’re going to build a railway all the way to Vancouver and the Pacific that is thousands of miles long and costs millions of pounds, it will take years and years!”

“Probably fifteen or twenty years,” Galt acknowledged.

“How long will it take to start construction?”

“Perhaps a year, eighteen months, to get the British government to agree to a deal for us to bring B.C. in.”

“And then?”

“Maybe another year to convince the B.C. legislative assembly to join Confederation.”

“Next?”

“Collateral to all this will be the negotiations with you people here who will put up the money, so long as Her Majesty’s government and the Canadian government are on the guarantor’s covenant.”

“How long for that?”

“You’re the best judge, Sir William.”

“Probably no more than six months after the B.C. government or the British approve, whichever is the later. Then it’s a matter of laying out the route. How long for that phase?”

“Likely a couple of years. Then the preparation of tender calls and the actual callings. Receiving and analyzing them would be next, followed by the legal paperwork. Try nine months for the phase. No, better settle for eighteen months.”

“What about the approval of the proposed Canadian government?”

“Well, we haven’t been able to really deal with that issue yet. We’re not sure of a confederation approval, let alone the confederation date. Probably next spring or summer.”

“The upper house will have to be appointed. Who will do that?”

“The first Prime Minister.”

“And who will that be?”

“We don’t know yet. It will be up to Governor General Monck. He will appoint the Prime Minister to take office on Confederation day. The Prime Minister will then appoint the senators and call a general election to take place within a month or two.”

“If the Prime Minister’s party loses the election?”

“Then he’s out and the leader of the majority party becomes the P.M.”

“Are you a candidate to be the first Prime Minster, Mr. Galt?”

Galt snorted. “Everybody is — my colleague Mr. Cartier here and others like Tilley and Tupper. It’s whoever Monck thinks has the strongest political party likely to win the most seats in the first election, the person who is the proven best leader and best understands the political and parliamentary process.”

“Who d’you think that will be, Mr. Galt?” Sir William pressed.

“I’ve just described John Alexander Macdonald!”

“D’you agree, Mr. Cartier?”

“There’s no doubt in my mind. How else are we going to build the Pacific railway and the intercolonial too? How else is British Columbia going to be brought into Confederation — and Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland — unless Mr. Macdonald is the Prime Minister?”

“I must confess” — Galt smiled — “I think Macdonald has a hankering for the job.”

He stood to thank the banker so that Cartier and he could take their leave. “In the meantime, Sir William, we really must get on with the business of keeping British Columbia out of the clutches of the Americans. And that means building a railway to the Pacific. We thank you for your interest.”

“Gentlemen, you have my attention and my interest,” Sir William said cordially. “But it’s your interest that I will be looking for if we finance you. Your interest payments — guaranteed.”