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Beacon
Oct 10/1895
There is a rumor going the rounds that a prominent Montreal gentleman was discouraged from erecting a summer residence, here through the attitude assumed by some of those who are interested in the development of the town as a summer resort. The reason assigned was that he was a Canadian and that Canadians are not as lavish in their expenditures as wealthy Americans. this may, perhaps, be true, though we have remarked that there are some Americans who come to St. Andrews who sail pretty close to the wind and who do not spend half so much money in the town as some of our Canadian visitors. We have no hesitation in saying that if this rumor is correct it displays most short-sighted policy. On the principle that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, a present Canadian sis worth at least two absent Yankees. Besides, St. Andrews people entertain an idea that some day the trade of this place and of Montreal will be brought together much more closely than it is at present,, and they feel that the more upper Canadians that they can induce to settle here the better, as their presence and influence must tend to develop a greater degree of interest on their part towards the maritime provinces and their ports than they now entertain. By all means let the people of Montreal build here if they want to. From present indications there will be room enough for all for the next quarter of a century with a few lots to spare. (Could be Burnett? rumoured to be building with Van Horne, but nothing materialized. Seems to be reference to CPR in Montreal connection—advantageous for the future)

Beacon
Oct 31/1895
We have probably heard the last of the fast Atlantic line for some time to come. It is reported in government circles in Ottawa that the government have decided to withdraw the arrangement made with Mr. James Huddart to establish a fast line of steamers on the Atlantic for $750,000 subsidy. The government, so it is said, have considered that Mr Huddart has had sufficient time to float the scheme, and having failed to do so, they will make some new arrangements for carrying he mails with the Dominion and Allan steamship companies.

Beacon
Nov 21, 1895
An order in council passed today granting the Beaver steamship line $25,000 for 10 rips between Saint John and Liverpool the first steamer the Lake Superior, to leave Saint John on the 11th of December. The Dominion and Allan steamship companies did not tender for the service, but protested against the new competing line. The Furness steamship company tendered for a five years’ service, but would not enter into a shorter contract.

The report that the Imperial government would grant the sum of $375,000 as a subsidy for a 21 knot service between Great Britain and Canada has giving afresh impetus to the fast line project. If the Canadian government stick to their offer of $750,000 this would make a total subsidy of$1,125,000 which would be quite a respectable bonus. The ports of call are not mentioned, but it is believed that Halifax will be the Canadian winter port, and Quebec the summer port. Montrealers, would of course like to have their port visited, but shipping men say that it would not be practicable for vessels of that class to reach Montreal. Unless the government is prepared to carry freight over the Intercolonial railway to Halifax for next to nothing we cannot see how it is going to pay exporters to use that port. clearly the best port for this purpose on the Atlantic is the port of Saint Andrews, which possesses all the natural requirements, lacking only the port faculties. . . .
Beacon
Dec 5/1895
The seeming opposition which the mangers of the CPR line have manifested towards the harbor schemes of the Saint John people have been withdrawn and the railway authorities are now uniting heartily in carrying out the required improvements. This is as it should be.

Beacon
Jan 2, 1896
Captain Howard Campbell
Talks with the Beacon on Port and Other Matters
“And how is the little town?”
The interrogator was Capt. Howard Campbell, commander of the Beaver Line steamer “Lake Ontario,” and commodore of the fleet. The Beacon had dropped in upon him just as he was sitting down to breakfast in the luxurious salon of the steamer, and after the first greetings were over, this was the question he sprung upon his visitor:
            “Ah,” continued the gallant captain, without scarcely waiting to hear the reply to his question, “it’s cruel fate that keeps St. Andrews back. it is one of the best natural harbors on the coast, and its geographical position is second to none, yet it has failed to secure recognition.”           Then the conversation drifted back to the agitation of a few years since when there seemed reasonable grounds to hope that the port would be utilized.
            “I did all I could,” said he, “to bring our steamers there, but the railway people did not assist us as we thought they should. They acted as though they did not want us to use the port. All that we asked them to do was to provide us a wharf that we could moor our vessels to. If they would agree to do that we would make an effort to get the business. But when they met us with a condition that in the event of a wharf being built we should pledge ourselves to use it for five years, whether we got business or not, why, we threw up the sponge. The idea was too preposterous altogether. [doesn’t seem preposterous to me] So sanguine was I that something would be done for St. Andrews at that time that I had arranged to leave my ship in Boston and come down with the engineer of the road to look over the situation. But the conditions imposed by the railway put an end to that.”
            “And how to you like Saint John ?”
            “If St. John,” replied Capt. Campbell, “is ever to become a great shipping port for steamers the Labor Union must be crushed, otherwise it will share the fate of Quebec. The harbor of Quebec is one of the finest in the world, yet its wharves are rotting away, simply because of the labor difficulties. No matter how much freight we have for Quebec we never stop there in going up the St. Lawrence. We continue to Montreal, and whatever cargo there is for Quebec is lightered down.”
            “When one hired a man to do his work he has right to say how that work should be done, and when it should be done. But it’s not so with the Labor Union. They give you the men, they control their movements, and all that they expect you to do is to pay up and look pleasant. Just fancy, my ship had to lie idle all Christmas Day because the men would not work! Then the wages are too high for the amount of work performed. No port can thrive where such a condition of things exist as are found here, and Saint John will find that out of her sorrow.”
            The Captain further stated that more prompt despatch could be obtained if the wharves were more convenient. There was too much shifting to be done.
            “In the event of Saint John failing to meet your Company’s expectations, what other port would you fall back upon?” asked the Beacon
            “We should return to Boston, or else go to Halifax.”
            In closing the conversation, Capt Campbell desired to Beacon to remember him to all his St. Andrews friends, young and old. The Lake Ontario is a magnificent ship. There is no gingerbread work about her, everything being plain, staunch and comfortable. She took away from Saint John a large cargo, including a lot of sheep, cattle and Horses.
           

The Canadian Government, so steamship men say, will have to modify their ideas respecting the fast line. IT is claimed by men who know whereof they speak that it is impossible in our northern waters to successfully navigate at the speed required boats of the type of the Lucania or Campania; it is equally impracticable to employ boats having twin screws, as the ice that is frequently met with would disable the screws at almost the first contact.  The comply practicable boat, said a well known steamship man to the Beacon, is a boat of the type of the Umbria or Etruria. The Canadian Government appear to have leaped into the matter without having had any consultation whatever with practical steamship men. Now that they are taking such men into the confidence the yare beginning to realize how very little they know about a matter that they have voted three-quarters of f million dollars for.

Beacon
Feb 6/1896
St. Andrews as a Coal Depot
We notice by the Saint John papers that the CPR have determined upon removing their coal business from Sand Point on the western side of the harbor to the Robertson wharf near the railway station. We think that the CPR made a mistake when they abandoned St. Andrews as a coal depot. Had they remained here they would have saved themselves the expense of erecting shed only to tear them down again; they would have saved themselves a suit for damages which is threatened in consequence of the McFrederick death, and they would have removed from their main line a great deal of the pressure which is now thrown upon it by the heavy trains of ocean freight, combined with the local freight and the coal trains that are passing over it, day and night. the railway undoubtedly need coal supplied at Saint John , but we claim that it would be money in their pocket and a saving to the road, which also means money, if they had continued to utilize St. Andrews for a portion of coal traffic. Since abandoning this port as coal depot, another wharf adjacent to the railway has been added, so that there are now two splendid wharves here that can be utilized for the discharging of coal. We understand that the chief objection that the CPR had to St. Andrews as a coal depot was the absence of suitable wharves. This objection having been removed, the railway authorities, we think, in justice to themselves and to Sa, should give this port another trial. There is room in this for a little missionary enterprise of the part of our new Board of Trade.

A Delusion
There are those who profess to believe that the return of the Conservative party to power with Sir Charles Tupper as premier means the realization of the hopes of St. Andrews people, so far as they relate to the utilization of their port. We wish we could see with the same eye of faith, but we feel bound to say that there is nothing in the record of the Conservative party or Sir Charles Tupper to warrant such a hope. With the exception of a brief interregnum, the Conservative party has been in power in Canada every since Confederation, yet during all that time they have not expended single dollar in the way of providing port facilities here, nor have they shown the slightest disposition to do so. They cannot shelter themselves behind the plea that the subject was never brought to their attention. It has been brought to their attention time and again and in such ways that there was no chance for it to escape them. Not only has Mr. Gillmor urged it upon them on the floor of the House of Commons, but with five years they have twice been memorialized by the people of St. Andrews.  The memorials have come to naught, just as Mr. Gillmor’s speeches have. The answer which the Minister of Finance gave to the first memorial was that the could not make an appropriation for wharves at a port not touched by their line of railway, [Intercolonial] even though such an appropriation would have removed the stigma that Canada had no suitable port through which to transact its business.
            This was the stated policy of the government four year ago, and we have seen nothing since then to warrant even the shadow of a belief that that policy has been altered. And what has Sir Charles Tupper done for SA? He has had the ear of the government all these years, and with the exception of the period when the Short Line agitation was in progress, no one every heard him mention the name of St. Andrews in a public place. While speaking of the Short Line it is just as well to bear in mind that Sir Charles Tupper voted down the proposition which required the CPR to utilize NB ports. He was eager that the CPR should secure the contract, but his eagerness ended there. The railway might make their terminal port on Canadian soil, or they might make it on US soil for aught he cared. This was his record on the Short Line, but his record on the Intercolonial railway was even worse, for in that he deliberately sacrificed the interests of NB in favor of Halifax. And what interest has he shown I St. Andrews during the years that he was being stall-fed in the High Commissioner’s office, London? None whatever. During all the talk that he has been making across the Atlantic and on this side the Atlantic with respect to the proposed fast line and the port at which it was proposed to touch, not in a single instance has he made the slightest allusion to St. Andrews. Halifax—and Halifax alone—seems to be the only port that occupies his vision. As we have indicated in previous remarks upon this subject, St. Andrews possesses natural and geographical advantages that entitle it to our recognition, yet it has never obtained such recognition. We cannot see the slightest peg in the attitude of the Conservative party or of Sir Charles Tupper that the people of St. Andrews can hang their hopes upon. It is not through any special regard for any section of Canada that Sir Charles Tupper is in this country today. He is here because he recognizes his party is in deadly peril and that his fat office is likewise in jeopardy, and it is to try to save the party from defeat and himself from being discharged that he is now labouring so zealously. It will be remembered that soon after his arrival he said that “he would not remain in Canada long.” Taken in conjunction with the fact that he refuses to give up the billet of high commissioner, there is only one inference to be drawn from this statement, and that is that if he succeeds in rescuing his party he will return to his well-filled crib in London for another five years. That is what Sir Charles Tupper is laboring for and if there are many in this section who hope for different things from his visit the sooner they dismiss this delusion from their minds the better. If St. Andrews is to be benefited by any government it is abundantly clear that it will not e by the present government.

Beacon
Feb 20/1896
Some time ago sir William Van Horne was approached by Mr. DeWolfe with a view to having the railway company made rail connection with his new pier. Sir William assured Mr. DeWolfe that he would give the matter favorable consideration if he (DeWolfe) was able to show to his satisfaction that there was a possibility of this connection bringing any increased traffic to the port. Since that time Mr. DeWolfe has been communicating with large concerns along the northern division of the CPR and he has received from them most favorable replies. these replies will be laid before Sir William at once. It is quite certain that if one-half of the promised business came to this port that the road would be well repaid for the coat of laying the rails down to this wharf above-mentioned.

Beacon
Feb 27, 1896
In discussing winter port business and possible winter ports the Saint John newspapers appear to ignore St. Andrews entirely. To them there are but two Canadian winter port worthy of mention: one is Saint John , the other is Halifax. We do not find fault with them for advancing the claims of Saint John , indeed, it would be matter of surprise to us if they did not, but we maintain that as between Halifax and Sa, the latter is the one that they should assist. It does not require very much shrewdness to be able to see that what will aid in the development of St. Andrews must also be beneficial to Saint John. At the present time, nine-tenths of the supplies purchased by Charlotte County people come from Saint John. And every additional pound that is purchased by our people from the Saint John merchants must add that much to the wealth of that city. If the Saint John paper will follow out this idea they cannot fail to be impressed with the force of our logic. There is another view of the matter that should not be lost sight of. If the business that St. Andrews might get is taken to Halifax, Saint John will not received a single cent’s worth of benefit from it. Indeed, she stands to lose, both as regards any increase of trade from this section, and as regards the development of her port. The turning of the trade of Canada towards Halifax will rob the NB ports of business and prestige, and will tend greatly to retard the growth of this Province. Then, there is yet another view that should be taken, and it is an important one in its bearing upon the country as a whole. In selecting winter ports for the Dominion those ports should be selected that can be reached the quickest, that will reduce the cost of land carriage to he greatest extent, that can be made the cheapest, and that by reason of such nearness to the West, and such cheapness can best compete with the US ports. There can be no room for doubt in the minds of Canadians as to the ports in Canada that would best fulfill these requirements. They are Saint John and St. Andrews. Therefore it is that we think the newspapers of Saint John are not doing their full duty to themselves, to their port or to their province in neglecting to urge the claims and advantages of this port. It is a mistaken idea to suppose that the building up of St. Andrews would lead to the downfall of Saint John. Better far that this port should never be developed than that such a catastrophe should occur. We have no fears on that score, nor yet do we believe the business people of Saint John have, but we do think that it would be to the great advantage of both if in this matter of winter port they joined hands and worked together.

Board of Trade
Winter Port Agitation Revived—SJ and St. Stephen asked to Cooperate
A special meeting of the St. Andrews Board of Trade was held in the “city hall” on Tuesday night, the President, W. D. Forster, in the chair. It was resolved to ask for the incorporation of the Board, its jurisdiction to embrace the parishes of Sa, St. Croix, St. Patrick, West Isles and Campobello. The necessary signatures were obtained.
            A resolution, setting for the advantages of St. Andrews as winter port, expressing satisfaction at he decision of the government not to grant any further subsides to lines of steamers making their terminal ports in the US, and requesting that in any call for tenders for a fast lien of freight or passenger steamers the port of St. Andrews should be inserted as one of the ports of call, was adopted, and ordered to be forwarded to the Secretary of State to be laid before the Government.
            Resolutions asking for the cooperation of the St. Stephen and Saint John Boards of Trade in the winter port matter were adopted.
            The President stated that he had been in Ottawa recently, and while there met Mr. Hazen and some of the other Saint John members, and found that they were very favorably disposed towards St. Andrews. But of course, they wanted Saint John ’s demands satisfied first.
            A committee composed of the officers of the Board, Dr. N. G. D. Parker and M. N. Cockburn, was appointed to secure all possible information with regard to the best location for d deep water wharf, the approximate cost of such wharf, and to suggest in what manner the matter should be financed.
            A form of letter to be forwarded to Sir William Van Horne and Supt. Timmerman, of the CPR, urging the advisability of making rail connection with the DeWolfe pier, was submitted and adopted.
            Notice of a motion, looking to the encouragement of industries in the town, was given for next regular meeting March 10.

Beacon
March 5/1896
The Winter Port
The Globe take the Fredericton Gleaner to task because it urges the construction of the Harvey-Salisbury branch, so as to carry the trade of the Dominion to the port of Halifax. What particular advantages that is to accrue to Fredericton by robbing the NB ports of their legitimate trade is not quite clear. Certainly, the privilege of gazing upon a lot of flying freight cars bound for Nova Scotia’s chief port will not yield sufficient pecuniary return to justify such a great and lasting injury to our own ports. Our Fredericton contemporary has either failed to give the subject due attention or else it is turning traitor of its own Province. It surely cannot be that its course has been inspired by the Hon. Mr. Foster, in whose interest the paper has been laboring for ove4r a year past.
            In concluding its references to the Gleaner’s treatment of the subject the Globe says: “Another of our contemporaries, the Beacon of SA—a most excellent journal, by the way—while it utters no word suggestive of envy or ill nature at our prosperity here, thinks Saint John newspapers a little neglectful in always speaking of Saint John and Halifax as the possible winter ports and in overlooking the claims of St. Andrews. It points out that Saint John papers and people should assist St. Andrews as against Halifax. The Fredericton Gleaner declares that for a quarter of a century at least ‘Fredericton’s commercial interests have been sacrificed for the benefit of Saint John.’  If this is a fact Saint John has not been aware of it; and in the growth of Fredericton, the erection of new buildings there, the steady increase of the population, there are really evidence of greater relative prosperity in the political capital than in the commercial capital of NB. Our St. Andrews contemporary makes no such charge. Indeed, as against the Gleaner’s view in favor of Halifax, it says that the ‘turning of the trade of Canada towards Halifax will rob the NB port of business and prestige, and will greatly tend to retard the growth of this province.’ But, the growth and prosperity of St. Andrews will help the growth and prosperity of Saint John. This not unreasonable, and the claim of the Beacon in favor of St. Andrews is certainly more likely to meet with approval in Saint John than the demand of our Fredericton, contemporary that the Harvey-Salisbury railway route should be built at a great coast to the country in order to save an hour and a half in the run to Halifax. but we kindly urge upon all our contemporaries in every port of the Province not be become envious of Saint John —just yet!  We have gone to an enormous coast a city to give facilities to trade here; we have yet to spend a great deal more, before what is now experiment shall become fixed and absolutely certain. The return so far has not materially added to our wealth although it has furnished employment to some people.

Beacon
March 12/1896
The Fast Line
Among the Ottawa notes in the Montreal Star appears the following:
            The Government announces that tenders will be called for at an early date from persons or firms willing to undertake the running of a line of net less than four fast steamers between the St. Lawrence and a British port, Halifax being the Canadian terminus in the winter. The vessels are not to be inferior to the Teutonic, of the White Star line, in general equipment, and with a capacity for between four and five hundred regular, and a thousand third class passengers. In regard to speed, they will be required to make twenty-one knots in a six hour trial run, and to be capable of ordinary ocean steaming at a rate of twenty knots an hour. They will be of not less than 8500 tons. The Canadian government will give a subsidy of $750,000 a year, which the British Government t will supplement by an annual subvention of $350,000.
            There can be no mistaking the meaning or the intent of this announcement. The government certainly mean that neither Saint John nor St. Andrews shall get any share of the winter business of Canada, by the fast line, so called, but that every pound of freight and every passenger shall be carried to Halifax, irrespective entirely of the long railway haul. This being their avowed intentions, then of what avail is all the blowing and bluster of the Saint John member of parliament respecting their port, and of what avail is all the expenditure that the Saint John people have made to obtain a share of this traffic? Perhaps the Government are not sincere in their request. Perhaps they do not expect that anyone will tender for such a class of steamers and that they will be free to ask for tenders for a smaller class of boat, which may touch at other maritime Province ports. But there is nothing on the face of their announcement to show that they have any other intention than to make Halifax the sole winter port of Canada. How they are going to overcome the additional 300 and more miles of railway haul, to say nothing of the cost of carriage over the cantilever bridge (which is estimated to amount to 140 miles of travel) is not quite clear, but possibly the agitation that has been started in a certain section of the government press for the construction of the Harvey-Salisbury line, may afford a clue. The construction of this branch would be fearful blow to the port interest of Saint John , and as it would only shorten the run to Halifax about 140 miles it is difficult to see on what ground it could be justified. As the matter stands at the present time it emphasizes very clearly the great necessity that exists for Saint John and St. Andrews combining to secure their rights.

Beacon
April 9/1896
The view urged by the Beacon that it was to the interests of Saint John to aid in the development of St. Andrews as a port, has been fully endorsed by the council of the Saint John Board of Trade, which body has expressed its willingness to cooperate wit the St. Andrews Board to secure the utilization of this port for a share of the winter business of Canada.

SA has justly won the title of Canada's choicest summer resort. Sir Wm. Van Horne, president of the Canadian Pacific Railway, recognized its advantages as a summer breathing spot when he established his permanent summer home here, and hosts of other Montreal and western people have begun to appreciate its salubrious climate, healthful location and romantic surroundings. But it is not alone as a summer resort that St. Andrews should have the patronage of Montreal and the West. Its peculiar situation as the nearest Canadian port on the Atlantic to Canada's commercial metropolis entitles it also to rank as of the first of Canada's winter ports. As far back as 1835, when the first railway in Canada was projected between St. Andrews an Quebec, when it was hoped to make of St. Andrews the winter port for the upper Canadian trade, this fact was known and recognized. The history of its failure to accomplish its destiny at that time is well known. Since then an unsympathetic government, more intent upon strengthening itself rather than building up Canadian ports, has turned its cold shoulder upon the place, the people themselves have been too poor to supply it with the needed facilities, and hence steamship companies that would utilize it if these facilities were provided are compelled to go to other ports and compete with disadvantages that the would be stranger to if they cam here. If the business men of Montreal, who come here to gather renewed strength in the summer season, would only see the necessity of making St. Andrews their port in the winter season, its future, now so dark and forbidding, would soon be bright and hopeful again.

SA wants the Fast Line. It surely does not consider it has any chance in the race with Halifax.—St. John Record.

St John Will Cooperate
At the meeting of the St. Andrews Board of Trade a memorial to be submitted to the Governor in Council with respect to the port of St. Andrews was submitted by the terminal committee and approved of. After receiving the sanction of the Board it will be forwarded to its destination.
            The following resolution of the Council of the Saint John Board of Trade was read at the same meting:--
            Resolved, that this Council fully concurs with the St. Andrews Board of Trade in the approval of the decision of the Government not to grant any further aid to steamers lines making their terminal point at US port, and will gladly cooperate with the St. Andrews Board in its efforts to secure the utilization of the port of St. Andrews for a share of the winter business of Canada.

Beacon
April 16, 1896
Will not Reduce Rates
B. F. DeWolfe, who erected a costly wharf at St. Andrews in the hope that lumber and other material from Aroostook and the north western section of this Province might be shipped through this port, has had wet blanket thrown upon his enterprise by the freight agent of the CPR, Mr. Sutherland, who states positively that the railway cannot reduce rates to attract trade here. He does not give the reasons for this decision, but it is probably because of some understanding with the Maine lines of railway. It seems unfortunate that this port should be handicapped in this manner. That it is the natural port for the district above referred to goes without saying; that trade could be attracted here, if the railway company would make reasonable concessions, there is little doubt, nor can there be any doubt that the railway would profit b this trade. Why the port should be ignored by the railway, and why they should be a party to any arrangement to freeze it out of trade that naturally belongs to it, are matters that are beyond our comprehension. It is not so very long ago that the head of the CPR assured the people of St. Andrews that this road would take care of all trade that might be created here. Now, when thousands of dollars have been expended to create trade and this trade is really knocking at our doors, the railway refuses to extend it the slightest assistance. Surely St. Andrews is entitled to some explanations.

There is none so blind as he who won’t see. This is a remark that will apply with great force to the CPR. They know that in St. Andrews they have a port that Is not equalled in Canada, they know that if provided with proper facilities there is no port in this part of the Dominion that is capable of greater expansion, they know that it would be dollars in their pocket if the port was developed, yet they close their eyes to all these staring facts and refuse to do anything to bring about a change in the order of things. We are fully persuaded that there is no “sentiment” in the composition of the CPR, that it is pure, cold, hard, “business” the whole way through; therefore, we are the more surprised that the company should so long neglect to avail themselves of the splendid advantages that this port possesses.

The St. Andrews Board of Trade must not be discourage because its efforts to bring the port to the front should be attended with so little success. Having failed to arouse any sympathy in the breast of the Dominion government, they should push their claims before the railway and steamship companies. The signs of the times very clearly indicate that Canada needs a safe freight port, one that can be entered at all times, one that can be made cheap for vessels, and the fact that we have just such a port here should be impressed upon all the steamship lines. The committee of the Saint John Board of Trade has made an unfavorable report in the matter of the Ottawa-South American lumber trade, because the port of Saint John the representatives of the railway say needs all its present facilities for its winter export business. Perhaps this important trade might be turned in our direction. It is worth looking after and worth looking after promptly.

SA Has Claims
It is sincerely to be hoped that the government will not at the start limit the benefits of the proposed fast Atlantic line by mentioning in the call for tenders any one Canadian port as terminus. Halifax is most prominently mentioned in connection with the tenders, but the ports of NB should at least be given the chance of competition for the coveted benefit. If the shortest and most direct route is demanded, as it should be, St. Andrews has claims which should more than outweigh any lack of terminal facilities there at present. These could be easily supplied, if the opportunity to utilize them were assured, and the advantages which the Charlotte county port possesses over all its competitor are such as to commend the consideration, at least, of the tenderers, if the question of terminus be left open.--Courier

We have always regarded Sir William Van Horne as friendly to St. Andrews. Perhaps he can tell us why the CPR should so persistently discourage the development of this port.

The Indian Point cottage has about reached its final location near Algonquin.

The CPR are asking the same rate on lumber fro Presque Isle to St. Andrews as they are quoting from Presque Island to Boston. And they refuse to reduce it a single cent. Is it any wonder with the railway bucking against their efforts that our people should feel discouraged?

The CPR have commenced their proposed improvements. Contractor Beatty, of the west end, has workmen engaged in building an extension to the old Gregory wharf at the eastern end of the flour shed. He has also the contract for the yard improvements—SJ Sun

Beacon
April 23/1896
Halifax is threatening to boycott the CPR. If the CPR would develop St. Andrews as a port they could afford to let Halifax cut off its nose if it wanted to.

28 lines of railroad, most of them not half as necessary as the development of one good Canadian winter port, have been recently subsidized by the government. The smallest subsidy is 23,000 and the largest 217,000. The aggregate amount is 2,478,849. This is one of the resources of civilization that is employed by a government for the purpose of bribing the electorate.

Premier Bowell must have chuckled to himself when he informed the “grave and reverend” gentlemen who composed the Canadian Senate that “the policy of the government was to divert to Canadian ports the trade which had been going to American ports.” This has not been the policy of the government. The policy of the government up to within a month or two ago has been to utterly ignore Canadian port, allowing the trade of the country to drift whither it would. It was only when the government was on its death-bed that repentance came. Then, under pressure and threats, it was induced to grant a subsidy to a steamship line out of Saint John , and to pass an order-in-council that only subsidies should be granted to ocean steamers touching at ports in the US. The government is entitled to no special credit for this, because only the fear of death and extinction prompted it. Not a dollar of Dominion government money has been appropriated for developing Saint John as winter port. Whatever improvement that port has got have been provided out of the pockets of its people, and if ocean traffic has been attracted there of late the credit is due to the people and not the government. If the government has done little for Saint John it has done less for SA, for it has done nothing at all. Though this port is more advantageously situated than any other maritime province port and its chances for expansion much greater, not a cent of Dominion cash has been expended to assist in its development. In the fact of these incontrovertible facts it seems the height of impertinence for Premier Bowell to say that the policy of the government has been to develop Canadian ports.

Beacon
April 30/1896
St. Andrews as an Ocean Port
The following is a copy of the memorial lately sent to the Governor-in-Council by the St. Andrews. Board of Trade
To His Excellency the Right Hon. Sir John Campbell Hamilton-Gordon, G. C. M. G. Governor General of the Dominion of Canada, etc., etc., in Council
The Memorial of the Board of Trade of St. Andrews in the Province of NB respectfully sheweth:
That where as the subject of a “Fast Line” of Steamships between the United Kingdom and the Dominion is now under the consideration of the Government, the Board of Trade of St. Andrews is desirous of laying before Your Excellency in Council a statement of the advantages possessed by the Port of SA, which in their opinion are so great as to give it a claim to be designated as one of the Terminal Ports of the Dominion—at least so far as the question of freight is concerned.
            First, the port of St. Andrews is the nearest Canadian Port on the Atlantic to Montreal and the Northwest, being forty miles nearer Montreal than the port of Saint John , and nearly three hundred miles nearer than Halifax. This fact alone gives it a great advantage, saving a long and costly haul for freight, and the heavy tolls charged at the Cantilever bridge at Saint John.
            Second, it is a commodious port with an abundant depth of water for the largest vessels afloat, with excellent opportunities for the erection of deep water wharves, warehouses, elevators, etc.
Third, it can be entered at all times of tide by vessels of the deepest draught, the channel being over ninety feet deep in the shallowest part, and easy of entrance from the sea.
            Fourth, it is open all the year round, and while on several occasions the harbors of Portland, Boston, and New York, and others along the Atlantic coast have been seriously incommoded by the presence of ice, this harbor has remained quite free and unobstructed.
Fifth, The harbor is well sheltered; it has good anchorage ground; it is free from dangerous ledges, and there are no rapid currents to endanger the safety of vessels such as are met with in many tidal harbours.
Sixth, It is capable of being maintained cheaply. The port charges are light, and the pilotage expenses could be reduced to a minimum, as after the first trip, the services of a Pilot could be dispensed with.
These are, in brief, the chief advantages which St. Andrews possesses as a port, and which this Board considers the most important to justify it in claiming that it would be selected as one of the Winter Ports of the Dominion. While conceding that the greater nearness of Halifax to the ports of the United Kingdom gives it s superior claim as place of disembarkation for passengers, the much greater proximity of St. Andrews to Montreal and the West of Canada seems to give it an incontestable advantage for the landing of freight, as saving a long and expensive land haul, as well as the costly tolls of the bridge at Saint John.
This Board, therefore, begs to suggest that while the mails and passengers by the “Fast Line” or any other line of steamers may either be landed at Halifax, or met (as in the case of the mail steamers at Queenstown, Moville and Rimouski) by a tender at the mouth of the harbor, the steamers themselves should proceed direct to St. Andrews as the port fur inland, and nearest to the centre of the Dominion, and in case it should happen, as has not infrequently been the case, that the occurrence of fog, ice, or a heavy snow storm should create a delay in entering the harbor of Halifax, the steamer might proceed directly onward to the same port which would involve only a few hours more sea voyage, and have all the advantage of the shorter land journey.
In conclusion, the Board most respectfully urges the above statements on the careful consideration of the Government, feeling confident that they will justify it in its opinion that St. Andrews possesses all the requirements of a winter port for Canada, and that its utilization, more particularly as a Freight port, would promote to an extended degree the commercial interest of the Dominion.
 
Feels Mad, Too
The Saint John Globe says The Beacon feels sad because the CPR refuses to grant any concessions on rates in order to attract trade here. But “sad” is hardly the word; though, perhaps, there may be a mingling of sadness in it. It is more calculated to make a Canadian “mad” than “sad” to have the fact impressed upon his mind that a railway built by the hard-earned dollars of the Canadian people is being utilized to develop United States ports, thus discriminating against ports in Canada. The CPR cannot fail to recognize the geographical fact that St. Andrews is the natural port of Aroostook and the north-western section of NB, yet the railway authorities tell us in language that it is not capable of being misunderstood that they can do nothing to attract trade hitherward. Why cannot they? Is it of more importance to them that American ports shall be built up than ports in Canada? Or are they so shackled to the American railway lines that they dare not quote a rate that might deprive them of a few dollars? Though the CPR people are thus discriminating against our pot, and presumably for business reasons, we cannot help thinking that it would add to their traffic receipts, without doing much injury to their American railroad allies, if they would give more attention to the development of the port of St. Andrews. There are many ports along the American coast requiring lumber that cannot obtain it by the rail route. Surely, the CPR could afford to quote a low rate for lumber going to such ports without interfering with any of their railroad treaties. We think that they can, and more than that, enjoying as they do the benefits of Canadian subsidies, we think that they should. This is the position we take, and all who have any belief whatever in the motto “Canada for the Canadians” will, we think, agree with us that it is the correct position.

Beacon
may 21/1896
Tupper has replaced Bowell as Prime Minister, and an election is in the works, the government having been dissolved. Much election rhetoric from Armstrong over the Conservative’s poor treatment of St. Andrews. Of Tupper Armstrong has no use. (Sir William will stay out of this election, says Knowles)

The CPR has issued a pamphlet of 200 pages entitled “summer tours 1896” in which a great deal of valuable information respecting the many picturesque points on this international a highway are furnished for the intending tourist. In its references to Sa, the pamphlet says a through sleeper will be run once a week from Montreal during the summer season, leaving that city Friday nights, and returning leaving St. Andrews on Monday nights. The pamphlet contains the following allusion to this place:--
            St. Andrews bids fair to be an important shipping point, and is fast becoming a popular seaside resort. (rest usual promotional stuff) [some irony here on the bit about shipping, Armstrong must have intended]

Beacon
May 28/1896
Sir Charles Tupper knew the port advantages of Charlotte County—knew them sell yet he has betrayed this County and Saint John in favor of Halifax and Portland, Maine. By a single stroke of his pen he has wiped out every claim of gratitude—if ever there was the shadow of a claim—that the Conservatives of this county had upon him. Can you as a MAN vote for a government that has ruined your prospects in life, that has impaired the value of your property, and whose action may render it necessary for you to pull up stakes and go elsewhere to seek a livelihood for yourself and those dependent upon you?

Beacon
June 4, 1896
Thirty Reasons
Here are thirty good reasons why the electors of Charlotte County should vote to turn out the present government: [Tupper]
1. Because the government has shown itself to be shamelessly corrupt, its members on more than one occasion having been proved guilty of misappropriating public funds for their own use.
2. Because it is led by a man who is notoriously corrupt, one who is known as the “high priest of corruption,” the “prince of political cracksmen.”
3. Because it exists for the benefit of Tupper and his relations and not for the benefit of the Canadian people.
4. Because it deceived the people, having gone into power during the last election on a pledge to make an honest effort to secure reciprocity, which pledge it has never attempted to carry out.
5. Because its trade policy is unsound, and has worked great injury not only to this county, but to almost every county in the province.
6. Because under this trade policy, in ten years, we have lost 3,000 people, with all their natural increase and all the wealth they would have produced. [cf. census]
7. Because under the National Policy, so called, farm values have been reduced to a degree never before known, and many burdens have been added to the farmer.
8. Because it is responsible for the present odious cattle embargo in British ports of entry.
9. Because it is an extravagant and wasteful government, having increased the public debt $112,000,000 since 1878, without giving any corresponding benefit.
10. Because it has increased the public expenditure $15,000,000 during the same period.
11. Because it is constantly adding fresh burdens and making no effort to live within its income.
12. Because it has increased the customs taxes in the last five years $40,448,000 over the five years of Liberal rule.
13. Because it has grossly abused the superannuation system, retiring men who were abundantly able to do their work, in order to make room for others.
14. Because it has employed an unnecessary number of public officials, paying out in extravagant salaries moneys that might be employed in carrying on needed public works.
15. Because it has most shamefully betrayed the ocean ports of NB in favor of Portland, Maine.
16. Because for years it gave subsidies to lines of steamer utilizing American ports, while at the same time, it was refusing to grant aid to ports in the Maritime Provinces.
17. Because it has trampled upon Provincial rights and applied the task of coercion to one of the fairest provinces of the Do9minion in order to make political capital for itself.
18. Because it has aroused sectarian animosities.
19. Because it exists for no other reason than to keep the Conservative party in power, stooping to the lowest trickery and the most despicable forms of bribery in order to maintain itself in power.
20. Because it has allowed the St. Mary’s Bridge Company to default to the extent of $66,000 in interest, in order to purchase the support of Mr Alex. Gibson.
21. Because it has wasted public moneys in such unnecessary public works as the Tay canal, the “Haggart ditch,” which has cost the country $176,000 and which yields comparatively nothing in revenue.
22. Because it has failed to provide our farmer and our fishermen and our manufacturers with an adequate home market and by its antagonistic policy made it difficult for them to obtain entrance into outside markets.
23. Because it has neglected the interest of the Province and withheld from it necessary public works.
24. Because its policy has decreased our outside trade and checked immigration.
25. Because it has discriminated against Great Britain.
26. because its system of selling public lands to speculators is wrong and has retarded the settlement of the country.
27. Because it has one law for the rich and another for the poor.
28. Because it has made no effort to carry out its pledges.
29. Because it is calling the elections on an electoral list two years old, thus depriving thousands of young men of an opportunity to have a voice in the government of the country.
30. Because it has been in power too long for the country’s good.

The CPR, Sir William Van Horne has said, is out of politics. This means that the astute Sir William has noted the drift of public sentiment and that he has made up his mind that the Liberals are to lead in the next parliament.

Beacon
July 23/1896
The fast line contract has not yet been signed. It is understood that it is the intention of the government to considerably modify the views held by their predecessors regarding this service by combining with it a fast freight service as well. St. Andrews might yet have a chance if ----?

The Winter Port
There is more than one port in Canada striving to be the winter port. The St. Andrews Beacon is constantly putting forward the claims of St. Andrews. In Halifax a short time ago the claim was set up that the government should give to the carrying trade protection similar to that which was given to other lines of business, and the practical meaning of this was that freight should be carried to Halifax as the same rate as to Saint John. Some time ago the Common Council of this city launched out into very extravagant expenditure in order to Make Saint John the winter port. A certain amount of success was achieved, and this induced the idea that further speculative expenditure would be desirable. Now it sis suggested that the government should father the financial burthen. Perhaps this would not be so difficult as task if it could be shown that the other contesting ports would be satisfied, but they might embarrass matter with the claims of course. Saint John can point to the success achieved here last winter as strong evidence that its claims are of practical value to the whole country; but the answer to this might very readily be that what has been so well begun might be very well continued by those who begun it No doubt if everybody could be satisfied that this winter port business has passed the experiment stage all would be well.—St. John Globe.

Beacon
Sept 17, 1896
The question of winter port subsides seems to be a very live one at the present juncture, particularly in Saint John , where extensive preparations are being made to take care of the large steamship business which is expected to flow thither this coming winter. Judging fro recent action of the Council of the Board of Trade there appears to be some fear that the government will restore the subsidy to the Allan line of steamers running to Portland, Maine. Among the few acts of the old government that we heartily approved of was the cutting off of the subsidies to lines of steamer making their ports in the United States. So long as there are ports in Canada capable of taking care of the winter business of Canada we believe that it is the duty of the government, whether Liberal or Conservative, to use them. If Saint John cannot provide for all the business that its offering, the port of SA, by the expenditure of a little money, can easily take care of the balance. As there is little hope of the people of the place of themselves being able to provide these facilities and as their construction would be quite as beneficial from a Dominion as from a local point of view, we hold it to be the duty of the government to furnish them. The increased business that would result, and the increased population that would be drawn to a comparatively deserted section of the province, would amply repay the government for the expenditure.

The St. Andrews Board of Trade has forwarded a resolution to the government protesting against granting a subsidy to a line of steamers touching at Portland, Maine, “which would result in diverting trade from the ports of the Dominion, and in building up foreign ports at the expense of our own.”

Beacon
Sept 24/1896
The Winter Port Question
The Conservative papers, big and little from the Saint John Sun to the St. Stephen Courier, are fairly shrieking with delight because of a current report that the Liberal government proposes to continue for one winter longer what the Conservative government carried on for so many years, vis., the mail subsidy to the Allan Line, whose boats touch at Halifax and Portland, Maine. They point out that the late government passed on order-in-Council that after this year no further subsidies would be paid to any steamship line touching at a foreign port, but it is well to remember in this connection, that under Tory rule the subsidy was never stopped, and there is the best of reason for believing that Sir Charles Tupper had no intention of stopping it—that the order in Council was simply thrown out as a bait toe “catch a sucker,” the “suckers” in this instance being the Maritime Province electors. But whether sincere in their intentions or not, the Beacon was one of the journals that approved of the step. Having thus taken a stand in favor of the utilization of Maritime Province port, we do not intend to depart from it. Nor will the promise of so empty title cause us to forget for one moment the duty we owe to the Province in which we live. There has been too much of that kind of thing among certain organs of the Conservative party for the past eighteen years and the past eighteen months. We believe that where it is possible to utilize Canadian ports they should be utilized in preference to foreign ports and that Canadian money should not be employed in developing foreign port, when those in our own country stand in need. This is the doctrine we advocated when in opposition, and it is the doctr4ine we propose to continue to advocate now that the Liberal party is in possession of the rains of power. We do so all the more because we believe that the Liberal government are of the same opinion as ourselves on this point, and that just so soon as the ports in the Maritime Provinces are in a position to properly handle the ocean traffic, the government will extend them every possible facility for so doing.
            In support of this view we have only to refer to what the new government has done and what it proposes to do at the port of Saint John to fit it for Atlantic steamship business. It has been many years since Saint John first called upon the Tory government to aid in dredging out that harbor, and we can very well remember a visit which Sir Hector Langevin paid to that city, some ten or twelve years ago, during which he informed the business men of Saint John that his government could not send down a dredge to do work there, because forsooth it would be enhancing the value of private property, and that they could not do. Year after year this appeal was renewed, but in vain. Contrast this conduct with that of the new government towards the leading port of the Province. Scarcely had they assumed the rains of power than arrangements were entered into between the government and the common council to forward to Saint John one of the most powerful dredges that the government had at their disposal, so that the entrance to the harbor might be deepened and large vessels like the boars of the Allan line might be enabled to enter and leave it all time of the tide, and thus render it unnecessary for them to do to a foreign port. What stronger proof of the government’s good intentions and good wishes toward Maritime Province ports could be had than this? And in addition to this they have promised generous subsidies to several lines of freight steamers out of Saint John. One result of the encouragement thus given is the large number of steamship lines that are seeking berths for the coming winter at Saint John. In this connection we quote from an interview which Mr. Samuel Schofield, the well-known steamship manager of Saint John , who has recently returned from Ottawa, gave toad reporter of one of the daily paper of that city:--
            All the members of the government were interested in Saint John and the Maritime Provinces generally. sir Richard Cartwright in his conversation expressed nothing but the kindest feeling towards Saint John and the winter port question. He expressed himself willing to do everything in season. He told Mr Schofield that there were many difficulties in the way of granting all that was asked. the government, although they were not blame for it, were face to face with a considerable deficit this year, and as it is the policy of the government to economize as much as possible, as well as treat all places requiring assistance fairly, the government would have to weigh all matter well before giving large subsides. Mr. Schofield found that the sentiment in favor of Saint John was growing, and also in favor of all Canadian goods finding an outlet through our own ports. But, on the other hand, it could not be expected that this would come at once, and Saint John might be the lower by demanding the immediate discontinuance of the subsidy to the Allan and Dominion lines when the accommodations for these boats are not what they should be at present. During the coming winter, the Furness line, will make direct fortnightly service between Saint John and London. The boats will be all modern, and will have accommodation for 5,000 tons of freight, and 500 head of cattle and upwards. The Donaldson line boats will give a fortnightly service between Saint John and Glasgow. The Beaver line will run fortnightly between Saint John and Liverpool. The Columbia Beg line will also come here. they are under contract to make eighteen sailings a year for five years. Of these trips thirteen will be made to the St. Lawrence, and five trips to Halifax and Saint John in winter. This service will be between Saint John , Boulogne, or Havre and Antwerp. This line is going to build three or four new boats during the coming year. In the meantime they have made arrangements with the Holmes line to provide them with boats until the new steamers are ready. Beside the above the Aberdeen Atlantic St. Stephen Company’s boat State of Georgia, 1619 tons, will ply between Saint John and Leith and Aberdeen. Negotiations are also under way with Head line between Saint John and Dublin and Belfast. Of course, the West Indian service will also be continued. From the above, it will be seen he government is going to give Saint John an good and reasonable steamship service. the Furness line will also give Halifax a direct fortnightly service [what about St. Andrews though?]
            In the face of such a record—much of which is directly due to the encouragement of the new government during the few months they have been in power—it is the height of impertinence to use a mild term, for opposition journals to declare that the government is neglecting Maritime Province interests.  The mistakes of their predecessors cannot be undone in five months, perhaps not in five years, and recognizing this fact we propose giving he government a free hand to formulate an develop their policy towards our ports, firmly believing that they have the interest of those ports close at heart. There can be little doubt that if the old government had in years gone by extended to Saint John the aid that was asked for, instead of wasting the public monies in providing fat contracts for their friends, that that port would be in position to handle a much larger portion of the business that is now being transacted at Portland, Maine. And the same remark will apply with even greater force to St. Andrews. Though this port has many advantages over any other lower province port for the handling of the freight business of upper Canada and the West, it has been studiously and persistently ignored by the Conservative government, and for no other reason apparently than because the County had not retuned a Conservative representative. Had a helping hand been extended to us in 1893 when the Beaver Line were so eager to come here, St. Andrews would now be doing its share of the ocean traffic of Canada, instead of lying neglected and idle as it is today. How hard the seal of approval which the electors of the County gave to the policy of exclusion and starvation of the old government will affect our interests in the future we know not, but we hardly think that it will tend to hasten our development, no matter how strenuously the Beacon may advocate its claims. Journals like the Sun and the Courier, when they note the neglect that the late government practised towards our Maritime province ports for so many years—neglect that they did not have the courage to condemn should not play the hypocrite now and condemn the Liberals because they cannot undo in a few months the mistakes that their predecessors occupied eighteen years in piling up.

There are several things made plain by this interview [with Mr. Blair of the Liberal government re contract with Allan line]. One is that although the old government had passed the order in Council it was their intention to continue the subsidy for another year. Another is that when the Liberals entered into power they found a contract running with the Allans, which contract does not expire until 30th June next, and it is furtherance of that contract that they are now asking parliament to grant the subsidy. When this contract expires in June the government do not intend to renew it. This statement ought to satisfy the people of the Maritime provinces.

beacon
Oct 15/1896
Mr. Foster take the credit for bringing the Beaver Line to a NB port, but the truth is that Mr. Foster is one of the men responsible for keeping the Beaver Line away so long.  When the managers of that line were seeking for a handy port in the Maritime Provinces three or four year ago, and had expressed a strong desire to utilize St. Andrews if facilities were provided, Mr. Foster was the man who said that no moneys would be granted by his government for that purpose. This refusal led to the boars of the line being tied up for two successive winters. It was only when the people of Saint John provided suitable facilities out of their own pocket that the Beaver Line managers decided to go to that port. And there is the best of reason for believing that they had decided upon this step before the grant had been even promised.

To add to the controversy relative to the fast line, Sanford Fleming, the well-known civil. Engineer, has just issued a pamphlet thereon, in which he discusses the St. Lawrence route. He very reluctantly inclines to the belief that on account of fogs, icebergs, etc., a line to and from Quebec is out of the question. He believes it impossible, to compete with New York by the St. Lawrence route and that at the best that route can only be employed for the carriage of freight in steamships of moderate speed in the summer season these boats to run from St. John, “the nearest eligible Canadian seaport,” after the close of St. Lawrence navigation. He gives it as his opinion that if we desire to establish a Canadian line of passenger steamships equal in power and speed to any on the ocean, it will be necessary to make it an “all the year round line” from one of our best Atlantic seaports; that, there is no more eligible harbor on the western side of the Atlantic than Halifax or on the eastern side than Loch Ryan, Wigtownshire, in Scotland, and that between these two points will be found the shortest available route across the ocean which can be used by fast steamships at all season of the year. Such are the views expressed by one of the best engineering authorities that Canada possesses. His statements are reasonable, and what is more, they coincide very closely with the opinions of steamship men who have traversed the St. Lawrence route for many years. It would certainly be a great advantage if the fast line port or ports were all the year round ports, and though we may be accused of section prejudice we cannot refrain from giving expression to the though that Halifax for mails and passengers, and St. Andrews for freight, are the port that would produce the best results. Our St. John friend will probably smile at our presumption, but they cannot deny geographical truths.

Beacon
Oct 22, 1896
With the termination of subsidies for ocean steamers making their ports of call in the United States, there is bound to be an increased demand on the part of the steamship lines for suitable Canadian ports. The people of Saint John have recognized this fact and with the energy and enterprise which mark that city they have put their hands down deep into their pockets, with a view to furnishing these facilities. And they are already receiving a return from their expenditure. (But Saint John cannot handle all the traffic interested in using the port, so St. Andrews should get on the ball and petition the government for aid in developing a Charlotte County port.)

Beacon
Nov 19, 1896
Ground For Encouragement
The outlook for the development of our port, though not as bright as we would like to see it, should not discourage our people. It is true that the CPR seems disposed to permit us “to go it alone,” but if such an important steamship corporation as the Allan Line can be induced to take an interest in us, it would not be long before we would find the CPR willing to lend a helping hand. With a view to ascertaining the feelings of the Allan line toward this port, E. E. Armstrong, on behalf of the Board of Trade, recently opened up a correspondence with the managers in Montreal. In their reply, the y say they “are pleased to hear that it is the intention of the people of St. Andrews to memorialize the Dominion government for aid to provide terminal facilities for ocean steamers at your port. While you have our best wishes for success in this enterprise, we are not, at the moment, prepared to enter into negotiations for the establishment of a service between St. Andrews and Great Britain. The opening up of the various ports to which our steamers at present run has taken up all our available tonnage, and until we are in a position to put on some more vessels in the North Atlantic trade, we cannot extend our sailings. We shall forward your letter to our friend sin Britain by this weeks’ mail and ask them to give the proposition their careful consideration.”  There is surely some little encouragement in this to the Board to Trade to purse its agitation, as the Allans not only express pleasure at hearing that there is prospect of developing Sa, but are willing to consider whether they should use the port or not. Minister Blair, we might say, ha also be sounded, and while h does not commit himself to any positive declaration as to what the Federal government would do, intimates that our case will receive careful consideration. He points out that “in order to get he Dominion Government to make any considerable outlay, such as outlay as would equip the port, so as to enable it to afford proper accommodations to Atlantic steamships of the larger classes, definite and specific plans it seem to be at the moment would require to be laid before us. The government could not justify proposals to parliament looking to a considerable expenditure unless, in the first place , it would satisfy parliament and the country that the expenditure was in the general interest, and was a means to an important and legitimate end, an end not only proper but also pointing got useful results.” This a broad and statesmanlike proposition, and one with which no fault can be found by the most ardent advocate of the development of the port. Minister Blair thinks “it not unlikely that the Municipality would be asked or expected to say what it was prepared to do as an earnest of its confidence in the success of the enterprise, and on the line of course taken in other places.”

Beacon
Dec 3,1896
A delegation from Saint John has been at Montreal endeavouring to secure “better terms” on wharf matter from the CPR. The application arose in connection with the late disaster to the deep water wharf in course of erection. The CPR manager made a number of concessions, to meet the views of the Saint John people.  The minister of Railways has also granted for this season the free use of the Intercolonial railway around Courtenay Bay, the CPR railway to assume all responsibility in connection therewith. The CPR declare they will not pay the rate of ten cents per ton net demanded by the Bridge Company so that unless a reduction is made on these figure it is not likely that the east side wharves will be much employed this winter.

Beacon
March 11/1897
The CPR Railway
Have Done a good Business At Saint John
Supt. Timmerman Says the Railway May Make St. Andrews a Coal Storage Depot. He talks on other topics Interestingly
Supt. Timmerman, of the CPR, favored the Beacon with a call on Thursday afternoon. In the brief conversation the Beacon had with him it was learned that the CPR were greatly pleased with the results of their freight experiments at Saint John this winter. “So great has been the rush of freight,” said Mr. Timmerman, “that at some periods we have had as many as 750 loaded cars on the siding between Saint John and McAdam. We have done about four times the amount of traffic that we did the previous winter, and I might say that this could have been doubled had the required steamships been available. The business of the moth of December, and of January, too, exceeded the entire business of last winter, so that you can readily see how traffic has increased. Saint John needs more wharf space, but this winter we have experienced no trouble from that source. Everything has moved along smoothly.”
            The Beacon suggested that the time was near at hand when the CPR should be considering the advisability of utilizing the port of St. Andrews in conjunction with Saint John , but on this point the genial superintendent did not commit himself, contenting himself with the remark that he understood there was a good site for a deep water wharf on the eastern side of Indian Point park, and that the present was a good time to strike the governments for raid.
            Asked about the prospects of the coal business returning to SA, Mr. Timmerman said that the experiences of the past few months had rather opened his eyes to the necessity of having a reserve store of coal, and he thought it not improbably that three or four thousand tons would be stored at St. Andrews. He promised that the would confer with Mr. Sutherland, freight agent, with respect to quoting a low rate on up-country lumber from this port, and he also before bidding the Beacon goodbye held out he hope that the coming summer resort season would be a good one. He could give no assurance however, that the CPR would carry out its idea of erecting another summer hotel here.

Beacon
April 8/1897
Lumber Rates to SA
The CPR company, after several years’ consideration has at last seen it way clear to quote a rate on lumber to St. Andrews that will give the port a chance to do a coasting business. The rate, which are the same as are quoted to West side Saint John , are as follows:
            From Presque Isle, Caribou, Fort Fairfield and Grand Falls $2 per m.
            From Houlton and Woodstock $1.67 ½
            From Hartland $1.87
            From Edmunston $2.75
Now that the railway company has show a disposition to treat us a little more generously, it behooves the business men of the place to bestir themselves and take advantage of this generosity. At least one wharf owner, Mr. DeWolfe, has shown himself alive to the opportunities that have been opened up to him. he intends taking steps at once to have rail connection made with the CPR line and his wharf. he thinks he will have no difficulty with the rate quoted in attracting some trade here. We earnestly hope that he will, for the port needs every ounce of trade and every dollar it can receive.
            We feel satisfied that Carleton County and Aroostook lumber dealers will find it to their advantage to utilize this port in the shipment of their products. the port is a cheap and handy one and is capable of transacting a great amount of business
           
There is a lesson in connection with the above mater that St. Andrews people would do well to take to heart, vis., that if favors are wanted fro0m either railway corporation or government they must ask for them and keep asking. There is no doubt that the present concession from the CPR would not have been obtained (at least for a time) had it not been that the matter was strongly pressed upon Supt. Timmerman by the Beacon on the occasion of his late visit to St. Andrews on March 4th last. This interview was followed by a letter on March 11, in which the mutual advantages that would accrue were clearly set forth. Encouraged by the Beacon’s interview, Mr. DeWolfe also penned up a correspondence with the railway people, and the new tariff of rates is the result. Had there been no interviewing, no writing, no agitation whatever, it is altogether likely that considerable time would have elapsed before the railway would have seen the necessity of granting us favored rates. Now that they have done so we should be duly thankful,--and there is not better way of exhibit our thankfulness than b y striving to take advantage of those rates.

A Little Early History
Of the Port of St. Andrews and its Subparts
Gathered from the first Letter Book of the St. Andrews Custom House
Details.

Beacon
May 27/1897
The fast Atlantic line is an accomplished fact. A cablegram has been received by the government stating that the contract for the fast Atlantic service signed with Petersen, Tayte and Co., of Newcastle, had been accepted by the Imperial authorities who agree to grant a subsidy of $250,000 a year. T he contract was only awaiting the confirmation of the Imperial government and the admiralty subvention. This being now granted the firms will at once proceed to build the fleet. The Montreal Star’s Ottawa special states that next month will see the fast Atlantic service instituted with temporary ships.

Beacon
June 3/1897
The Fast Line
Sir Richard Cartwright laid the terms of the Fast Line contract on the table of the house just before adjournment on Friday. Four steamers of 10,000 tons register and cargo capacity of 1,5000 to 2,000 tons are to be provided; two by May 31, 1899, and the other two by may 1st, 1900. They are to sail between Liverpool and Quebec and Montreal in summer; and the contractors have the option of choosing between Halifax or Saint John in winter, making their choice between the date for he commencement of the service, namely, May 31, 1899. At this date they are to put on two steamers and give a fortnightly service and a weekly service from 1st May 1900. The vessels are to be 527 feet and have a speed of 500 knots a day, or 21 knots an hour, and are to be in every respect equal to the best Atlantic steamers, such as the Lucania or Campania. At least 500 tons cargo capacity must be provided with cold storage. The draught when loaded for sea is to be 25.6. They are to have a capacity for 300 first, 200 second, and 800 steerage passengers, steerage passengers to be carried at a rate of not more than $15 a head. The contractors are to provide a fast tender, constructed like a torpedo boat, to meet the steamers on approach to Canadian ports and acts a pilot. The steamers are prohibited from called at any foreign port or taking another subsidy from any foreign country or municipality This prevents the steamers from going to Portland or elsewhere and is a very important clause.
            The subsidy is to be 154,500 pounds from Canada and 41,500 pounds a year from the imperial government. The penalty for not being ready to sail on the day named is 500 pounds a day for each subsequent day’s delay. The company is to deposit 20,000 pounds of which 10,00 pounds is to be cash which they forfeit if not ready to begin service on may 31, 1899, and weekly on May 1, 1900. No discriminating rates are to be charged against Canadian railway route.
            The contract covers the usually conveyance of mails. Sir Richard Cartwright gives notice of a resolution ratifying this contract.

Beacon
June 10/1897
Mr. DeWolfe, who has been in correspondence with the CPR with regard to the possibilities of trade over his wharf, has received sufficient assurance to justify him in preparing for the extension of the railway track thereto. He has begun to full in between his wharf and the point on the steamer road way at which the track will leave the railway grounds. It is expected that within a month rails will be laid.
            It is to be hoped that Mr. DeWolfe’s enterprise in this matter will meet with its due reward.
            It is probably that during this summer a large quantity of coal and other commodities will be landed or shipped from here.

Beacon
July 1/1897
All Ready for Rails
The necessary filling to connect the DeWolfe pier with the railway tract has been completed, and all that is now necessary is the laying of rails. In order to enable the rails to be laid to the lower extremity of the wharf, the freight and coal sheds will be moved from their present position.

Beacon
Aug 26/1897
Canadian Ports For Canadian Traffic
We note with satisfaction the evidences of an awakening of the part of the public memory of Canada to the necessity of utilizing Canadian ports for Canadian traffic. M ore gratifying is it still when such a spirit is being manifested by members of the government of the country. In support of this statement we have but to refer to the published correspondence between Hon. Mr. Tarte, Minister of Public Works, and Sir William Van Horne, president of the CPR. The initiatory letter was penned by Mr. Tarte. As it sentiments are entirely in accord with the sentiments which this journal has been expressing from time to time during the past years, we take the liberty of reproducing it:
            Quebec July 27, 1897
            To Sir William Van Horne, president CPR, Montreal
            Dear Sir William,
The wheat crop in Manitoba and the North-West, will, if our hopes are not deceived, reach thirty millions of bushels.
            How many of those millions will be exported through Canadian territory and Canadian waters? Canada has spent vast sums of money to connect the North-West with the Eastern Provinces—with our harbors on the St. Lawrence, and yet a large quantity of our North-West trade finds its way to European market through American lines. I know the great interest you feel towards Canada, and it is the reason why I call your attention to the question I take the liberty to ask you, Why in the past has so much of our North-West traffic gone to American port, and what would you suggest to change that state of affairs?
            It seems to me that the CPR, through its railway and steamship lines, should be the carriers of our traffic from the west to our seaboards.
            The harbors and rivers of Canada are under the control of the Department whose head I am for the time being, and I would be very glad indeed to cooperate with you in any effort which would have the effect of keeping Canadian trade within Canadian channels.
            Believe me my dear Sir William,
            Yours very truly,
            J. Israel Tarte
In Sir William’s reply he states that the New York route is most used because it is the cheapest one, the advantage being in the ocean rates, and the presence of large vessels especially adapted to the carriage of freight at the lowest cost. It is his opinion that Canada cannot expect to take this trade from United States ports until she supplies herself with a similar type of vessel. Sir William’s letter has brought out another from Mr. Tarte in which he expressed the belief that by properly equipping the port of Montreal, by deepening and widening the channel of the St. Lawrence, by enlarging the canals of the country, and by completing the telegraph system to the Straits of Belle Isle, Canada ought to be able to hold her own trade.
While agreeing with the general sentiment of Mr Tarte’s correspondence, we think that he is making a mistake in bestowing all his thoughts upon the providing of a summer outlet for the country. What Canada wants, in our opinion, is not so much a summer outlet as a permanent port, one that will be ready for business at all time, either in winter or summer. During at least six months in the year the St. Lawrence route is closed to navigation, so that for one half the time all the enormous expenditure which Mr. Tarte outlines would be lying in idleness, and the traffic which it was expected would hold for Canada would be seeking outlets elsewhere. Until the Government can find some way of overcoming the forces of Nature, so that the St. Lawrence could be kept open summer and winter, we think it is folly to expend a large sum of money to develop that route. IT would be of more permanent advantage to the country if the Minister of Public Works would modify his St. Lawrence idea and utilize some of the money he would spend in its development upon the development of an open Atlantic port. We would not say that the St. Lawrence should not be improved or that the harbor of Montreal should not be equipped with modern appliances, but we do say that it is not good policy to expend an enormous sum of money upon a port that is so long sealed up as Montreal is.
           

The laying of rails on DeWolfe’s wharf will begin this week. Several cargoes of lumber are ready to be shipped over the wharf as soon as the rails are laid.

Beacon
Sept 9/1897
The Port of SA
The accompanying correspondence was not intended for the public eye, but indicating as it does a very friendly feeling toward our port on the part of one of the leading public men of the Dominion, we take the liberty of publishing it.
            St. Andrews, NB, Aug. 23, 1897
            Dear Sir—
            I have read with much pleasure the correspondence that has passed between you and Sir William Van Horne relative to the necessity of retaining the grain traffic of the Canadian North-West for Canadian ports. I am glad that at last Canada has a minister who is alive to the importance and value of her ports and who is eager that they should be utilized. I agree with you that it is high time an answer was found for the question, why is it that so much North-West traffic is going to American ports when so many millions of Canadian money have been expended to bring the traffic to Canadian ports? It is a crying shame, I think that while the Maritime Province ports are starving for lack of business, Portland, Maine, Boston and New York should be growing fat upon Canadian traffic. During the past eight or ten year I have, in common with many others, in this section, striven to awaken an interest (among the businessman of Quebec and Montreal and also among the members of the late government) in the subject which you have just taken up, particularly with reference to the port of St. Andrews. You are doubtless aware that as far back as the year 1835 the many natural advantages of the harbour of St. Andrews as a winter port were recognized. In that year a project was inaugurate dot connect St. Andrews by rail with Quebec and make of it the winter port for the latter city. The scheme bade fair to become a grand success, but after several miles of rail had been laid and a great deal of money expended in other directions, international difficulties arose and the Imperial government withdrawing its countenance and aid the project fell through. This is a matter of history, and one that I have no doubt you are thoroughly conversant with. The splendid advantages which St. Andrews possessed in 1835, and which elicited the admiration and awakened the appreciation of the commercial men of that day, still exist and the necessity for their employment seems each year to become more imperative. the Dominion of Canada has in St. Andrews a port that is easy of access from the ocean at all times of tide and at all seasons of the year for the largest steamers that are afloat. The avenues of entrance are broad and deep and well defined. The harbor is capacious enough to hold the entire British navy, and thoroughly protected from Ocean’s swells, possessing abundant room for the erection of docks and other terminal facilities. Sir William Van Horne attributes the success of New York to its cheapness, I cannot see why this point should not be made with even greater strength in favor of St. Andrews. Being easy of ingress and egress steamships after the first passage would be able to avoid pilotage dues, which are a very heavy tax at some ports. There being on currents of any importance, vessels could be moved with perfect safety with the aid of tugs, effecting another saving. Harbor dues could be reduced to a minimum, while large savings could be made in other directions. The nearest Canadian port to Montreal it is the only port outside perhaps Saint John that can successfully compete with United States ports for he carrying trade of Canada. Short as the distance now is between Montreal and SA, this distance might be considerably reduced by the constructing of a branch line across the country from Mattawamkeag. In short, it would almost seem as if Nature had designed that St. Andrews should be a hand-maid to the port of Montreal and Quebec.
            That my statements with regard to the advantages of the port for ocean traffic are in no way overdrawn, I would beg to refer you to the accompanying memorial, and particularly to the testimonial of Capt. Campbell, master of he S. S. Lake Ontario, commodore of the Beaver Line of steamers. So impressed was he with the advantages of St. Andrews that in 1892 he recommended to his Company that they adopt it as their port. It was expected that the CPR and the Government would aid in the construction of the necessary wharves, but neither seemed disposed to assist and as the people of the place were not able to supply the needs the project was abandoned.
            I am not without hope that the present Government of Canada will awaken to the value of this port as a factor in the development of the Dominion. With the initiation of the fast lien scheme it is highly essential that only those port should be used which afford the greatest advantages and which could be operated the most cheaply. Montreal or Quebec as the summer port and Halifax and St. Andrews or Saint John as the winter ort (one of the latter for mails and passengers and the other for freight are really the only ports that are available. I would be loath to say one work that could be construed as derogatory to the port of Saint John , as it possesses great advantages, and her people have shown a wonderful amount of enterprise and pluck, yet St. Andrews is undoubtedly the best natural port and for geographical reasons should also have he preference.
            It may be that Montreal stands in need of all the public works you speak of, yet it is my humble opinion that the country would reap a more decided advantage if a permanent port (either Saint John or SA) were selected and the energies of the government spent upon its development.
            I am glad to see that the leading public men of Canada are thinking on this subject. I trust that having put your hand to the plough in this matter you will not turn back. There is a great work to be done, along he lien that you have opened up—a work which I verily believe will tend greatly to the upbuilding of Canada, whose interest you have devotedly at heart. I would like to suggest that a government engineer be sent here to examine the port and report upon its advantages for ocean traffic.
            With best wishes for the success of your self and the Liberal party, I remain,
            Faithfully yours,
            R. E. Armstrong

Mr. Tarte’s Reply
Office of the Minister of Public Works of Canada, Ottawa
August 31, 1897
R. E. Armstrong, Esq., Editor of the Beacon, St. Andrews, NB
My Dear Sir,
I read with pleasure your letter of August 23rd. I have never realized in the past as I do now the great possibilities of Canada as the commercial route between the west and European ports. I have travelled in the region of the Great Lakes, I have visited our harbors, I have gone into the question of our canals, of the equipment of our ports, and I have come to the conclusion that we have lost a precious time in the past. I quite agree with you that there is no reason why the port of Saint John , of SA, of Halifax should not be active competitors against American ports, during the winter months especially.
            I am trying to awake the public opinion of our commercial community to the vital question of keeping Canadian trade within Canadian channels and of diverting as much as possible American trade to our seaports.
            I will be very glad indeed to visit Harbour St. Andrews at some future date with the chief engineer of my department, Mr. Coste, who is, I may say, thoroughly alive to the importance of the subject.
            I will always be glad to hear form you and to receive suggestions.
            Yours truly,
            J. Israel Tarte
[he never came, though]

Beacon
Sept.16/1897
While the good people of St. Stephen are rejoicing in the possession of their new public wharf, the should not fail to remember that they owe that substantial and much needed structure in large part to the people of SA, who in 1891 besought the provincial government to grant aid for the construction of a deep water wharf here. The sum of $40,000 was asked for by the St. Andrews delegation, but when legislation was brought down it was found that half the sum asked for had been appropriated for a deep water wharf at the Ledge. It was from this appropriation that the money for the present wharf was taken.

After all the rails had been laid on the DeWolfe pier and Mr. DeWolfe had begun to look for business, he was informed by engineer Barber, of the CPR, on Friday, that the work had not been done properly, and that the underpinning on certain of the bridges would have to be changed. Mr. DeWolfe says the work was done according to the directions of the railway officials. He will make the changes required, but it will necessitate some delay and some additional expense. Mr. DeWolfe is working several string for business for his wharf. It would be strange, indeed, if some of them did not pull in a good job.