withheld."

Nothing can be fairer than that, and it is written by the trusted
official of the British government.

Sir G. William des Voeux continues, "In conclusion, I would
respectfully express on behalf of this suffering colony the earnest
hope that the vital interests of 200,000 British subjects will not be
disregarded out of deference to the susceptibilities of any foreign
power," etc.

The best interests of those 200,000 inhabitants can be served without
touching the French shore at all. Even if France concedes all that
Newfoundland demands, the bounty question is in the way; and
Newfoundland cannot compete with that.

France gives this bounty--and quite rightly--as a protection to her
sailors. A similar protection to England's fishermen would not be
permitted by the Manchester men.

The other way is to build a railroad connecting the mining and
agricultural districts along the French shore with Port aux Basques.
Of course I do not mean such railroads as are built in England. They
have been taxed to the extent of more than seventy millions of pounds
sterling over and above the real value of the land sold to them by the
rapacious land monopolists. They have been taxed to the extent of many
millions more for legal expenses, which, if the House of Commons were
equal to its duties, could have been saved. They have been taxed in
many cases to find sinecure berths for the dependants of rich men; and
so, in order to pay a fair dividend to their stockholders, they must
reduce wages to the lowest point, and screw the utmost penny out of
their customers.

It is, then, the American way which I recommend as a model, and which
the Newfoundland government have tried to imitate in their contract
with Mr. Reid, of Montreal. They could have made a far more
advantageous contract with him if England had done her duty; but
neither Mr. Reid nor Newfoundland is to be blamed for England's fault.

The contract signed on May 16, 1893, by Mr. R.G. Reid binds him to
construct a line about five hundred miles in length, connecting
Placentia Junction and the chief eastern ports of Newfoundland with
Port aux Basques, and to operate this line as well as the Placentia
Branch Railway for a period of ten years, commencing Sept. 1, 1893.
After that the line is to become the property of the Newfoundland
government, and will be an interesting experiment in the State
ownership of railroads. For every mile of single 42-inch gauge built
by Mr.