"It Must, Therefore, Be Understood That The Commencement Of The
Undertaking Must Depend On The Willingness Of The Canadian Government
And Legislature To Complete Telegraphic Communication From The Seat Of
Government To The Point On Lake Superior At Which The Company Will Take
It Up.
Nor could his Grace strongly urge on the Colonies of Vancouver
Island and British Columbia the large annual guarantee which this
project contemplates, unless there were good reason to expect that the
kindred enterprise of connecting Halifax and Montreal by railway would
be promptly and vigorously proceeded with.
It will also be requisite to
secure by formal agreements that the guarantee shall cease, and the
grants of land for railway purposes revert to the grantors, in case of
the permanent abandonment of the undertaking, of which abandonment some
unambiguous test should be prescribed, such as the suspension of
through communication for a stated period.
"The Duke of Newcastle does not object to five years as the maximum
period for the completion of the undertaking - and he thinks it fair to
exclude from that period, or from the period of suspension above
mentioned, any time during which any part of the line should be in
occupation of a foreign enemy. But injuries from the outbreaks of
Indian tribes and other casualties, which are inherent in the nature of
the undertaking, must be taken as part of the risks which fall on the
conductors of the enterprise, by whose resource and foresight alone
they can be averted.
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