L10,000 per annum, as their share of L20,000 (being at
the rate of L4 per cent, on a capital of L500,000), to commence when
the line is in working order.
"It will, however, be necessary, before any proposal is made officially
to the Colonies, that the Duke of Newcastle should receive further
details. It is requisite that his Grace should be informed what
provision will be proposed as to the duration of this subsidy; what
conditions as to the right of purchasing the line, and to what
authorities that right should belong; and on what terms the whole
arrangement may be revised in the event of the Hudson's Bay Company
coming to any agreement for the sale of their territory.
"There will doubtless be other provisions which the Colonies will
expect.
"I am, Sir, your obedient Servant,
"T. F. ELLIOT.
"E. W. WATKIN, Esq."
I close this narrative of the Pacific Transit Scheme with the despatch
of the 1st May, 1863, which summarises the proposals made and generally
concurred in. These long discussions were not abortive, for they led up
to the great question of the buying out of the Hudson's Bay Company,
without which neither successful Confederation, nor its child the
Canadian Pacific Railway, would have been achieved in this generation.
