National policy and the railway (continued)

The national policy National Policy (1876) Protective tariffs Increased immigration CPR Macdonald was out of office (thanks to the Pacific Scandal) until 1878 The National Policy was the platform his Conservative party used for re-election in 1878 The Conservatives barely won the previous election; they won this one by a large majority, as many voters were in agreeance with the National Policy This policy was in effect until WW2

The gist of it  Protective tariffs Canada imposed (high) taxes on imported foreign goods in order to protect Canadian manufacturers from American competition. High tariffs would strengthen the development of Canada (as well as affect the recession of the 1870s). Reduced customs duties on imported raw materials also benefited Canadian manufacturers because cost of production was lowered

The gist, continued 2. Increased Immigration The Prairies and the West needed to be settled, but the difficulty was that these areas were relatively isolated (until the railway connected our land from coast to coast). As well, this “middle” part of Canada was still vulnerable to American invasion (so populating it might deter the Americans from attacking it). Shortly after the railway building was in progress, advertisements sent to the UK and Europe enticed immigrants to the Prairie region, many of whom’s descendants still live there today (German and Scandinavian descent, mostly)

The gist, continued 3. CPR Macdonald needed new investors for the railway He offered 3 investors $25 million cash, 25 million acres land, and control of area west of Lake Superior for 20 years: in return, these investors would complete the railway within 10 years The investors were George Stephen (president of BMO) Donald Smith (of HBC) James J Hill Why these guys?  They had bought another railway in trouble, turned it around, and made $17 million profit!

I love it when a plan comes together ~ Hannibal, the a-team These new investors changed the route of the railway before they did anything else; the old route ran through good farmland, and people had bought land in the area thinking they would be nice and close to the rail line The CPR group changed the route 300km south. This gave them total control over everything because there weren’t any land surveyors living in the area. Problem? With this new route, the rail line would cross the Selkirk mountains in BC, and there wasn’t a known pass through at this time While the line was being built in the Prairies, a route for BC was still being discussed (not the greatest planning!) The CPR investors decided they needed a general manager because the rail construction was also taking longer than anticipated. New Manager: William Van Horne

Van Horne and the railway Van Horne was a “doer”; as soon as he arrived on the scene, stuff started happening immediately He built 800km of railway in 1882, and another 800km the next year (to put this in perspective: in 1881, before Van Horne, only 230km had been built) It seemed that the railway would be finished before the 10 year period…It seemed…  Not All is at It Seems! Money was running out and the most difficult and expensive parts of the line in BC hadn’t yet been built; the investors had put forth a lot of their fortunes, but it was not enough Cuts had to be made…

No money, mo’ problems The Canadian govt gave another $22 million for the railway (1884) Macdonald was hoping that it would be enough; so was Van Horne To make sure, Van Horne began to make some cuts: for example, temporary wooden bridges replaced metal bridges to carry line over rough land (they figured it was cheaper now, and later on, they could always be replaced with better structures) Unfortunately, the CPR was out of money again at the end of the year; Macdonald’s dream was becoming a money-pit nightmare Workforce Men were needed to build the railway Many of these workers were from China (we’ll discuss this later in the year) Work conditions were terrible, as were living arrangements An example of the life of a railway builder: breakfast of porridge, lunch and dinner of beans & bacon, no medical care (if you’re hurt, you’re fired!), crowded & dirty lodging, and if the weather was terrible and you couldn’t work, you didn’t get paid

Student assignment Let’s concentrate of the highlights of this lecture: Answer the question in Figure 5-29 on page 198 of Horizons Answer the question in Zoom In > William Van Horne and the CPR on page 200 of Horizons