WHAT BRITAIN MIGHT DO. 103

By this route all summer shipments of wheat and
sther Canadian exports leave the country. Itisalso
the main passenger route to England, but it is not
practicable in winter. The high rates of insurance
demanded for ships undertaking so perilous a
journey in winter, surrounded by floating ice and
irresistible icejams, are prohibitive to freighters, and
the perils and uncertainties keep passengers away.
II. From the ports of the maritime provinces
‘Halifax, St. John, &amp;c.).
This route has the advantage of necessitating
the shortest sea-voyage, but has the disadvantage
of entailing a longer railway journey from the
commercial centres of Canada. Probably Halifax
or St. John would be the starting point for any
quick line of steamers. A suggestion is now being
urged in Montreal to run 25-knot steamers to
Galway, tranship cargo across Ireland, and thence
by ferry to Liverpool, thus reducing the time of
transit by almost one half. The idea of making
this the chief route to England is well worth
considering. Ireland’s development would be
materially assisted by an important service of
this kind, but the stormy Irish Channel and the
foggy coasts of Galway suggest that the details
sf the scheme may be open to criticism,
III. From a port on Hudson’s Bay.
It is projected to build a railway from Winnipeg
to Fort Nelson at the South of the Hudson’s Bay
and a contract has been made with a British firm
of Baltic shippers to run ships there as soon as