eeches in French to them, showing them where their true
interests lay ... and I formed a committee to influence the members of
the Legislature. This succeeded so well that in a short time it had 27
out of 45 on whom I could rely, and the electors of the ward in this
city, which Cartier himself represents, notified him that unless the
contract for the Pacific Railway was given in the interests of Lower
Canada he need not present himself for re-election....

The policy adopted has been quite successful, the strong French
influence I succeeded in obtaining has proved sufficient to control the
elections, and as soon as the Government realized this fact, which they
were unwilling to admit and slow to see, they opened negotiations with
me.... Yesterday we entered into an agreement, by which the Government
bound itself to form a Company of Canadians, only according to my
wishes. That this Company will make me President, and that I and my
friends will get a majority of the stock, and that the contract for
building the railroad will be given to this Company, in terms of the
Act of Parliament. Americans are to be carefully excluded in the fear
that they will sell it to the Union [_sic_] Pacific, but I fancy we can
get over that some way or other. This position has not been attained
without large payments of money. I have already paid over $200,000,
and will have at least $100,000 more to pay.

[Illustration: Railways of Canada, 1880]

{131}

CHAPTER VIII

BUILDING THE CANADIAN PACIFIC

The Minnesota Venture--Canadian Pacific Syndicate--The
Contract--Political Opposition--Terms of the Contract--Organizing the
Company--Financing--Construction

In the months and years that followed, no men were so much in the mind
and speech of the Canadian public as the members of the new syndicate.
The leading members were a remarkable group of men. Probably never in
the history of railway building, not even in the case of the 'Big Four'
who built the Central Pacific--Huntingdon, Stanford, Crocker, and
Hopkins--had the call of the railway brought together in a single
enterprise men of such outstanding individuality, of such ability and
persistence, and destined for success so notable.

The Canadian Pacific was not their first joint enterprise. It was the
direct outcome of a daring venture in connection with a bankrupt
Minnesota railway, which had brought them wealth beyond their wildest
dreams, and had definitely tu