f jurisdiction between the
Railway Commission of Canada and the Interstate Commerce Commission of
the United States. The heads of the two commissions, Mr Justice {233}
Mabee for Canada and Mr Knapp for the United States, endeavoured in
1910 to work out a plan for joint control, but without final success.

In the past half-century government ownership of railways has been much
discussed in Canada, dividing attention with the allied question of
railway ownership of the government. It cannot be said that any
decisive public opinion or policy has resulted. Important steps toward
government ownership have been taken in the last twenty years. The
Intercolonial and Prince Edward Island Railways have been retained by
the government and extended, a federal line has been built in Manitoba
and a provincial one in Northern Ontario, and the National
Trans-continental has been constructed by the government for lease to a
private company. Yet, at the same time, the main railway projects
continued to be entrusted to private companies, and the proportion of
the whole mileage under private operation increased.

The most important incident in the Intercolonial's later history was
its extension from Quebec to Montreal in 1898, by the purchase of the
Drummond County Railway and the lease of a stretch of forty miles in
length from {234} the Grand Trunk. Six years later the Canada Eastern,
running from Gibson to Loggieville, was purchased. Many bankrupt lines
in the Maritime Provinces and Quebec were offered to the Intercolonial
as valuable feeders. In the later years of the government of Sir
Wilfrid Laurier and in the first years of Sir Robert Borden's
administration, authority was sought to acquire such of these roads as
might be desired, but restrictions due to the action of the Canadian
Senate or the political difficulty of discriminating between the
railways prevented any rapid acquisition. Changes in administration
were tried. As a half-concession to the demand that the Intercolonial
should be operated by an independent commission, a board of management
was established in 1909, consisting of the chief officials of the road.
In 1913 this board was dissolved and the management vested in a single
commissioner, F. P. Gutelius, formerly of the Canadian Pacific.

Financial returns showed little improvement. True, the record,
unbroken since 1873, of annual failure to meet even operating expenses,
was varied after 1898 by small s