CANAL
DOV ER —CANALS 541 became on confederation one of the greatest official Canada, most of them looking to closer commercial relaappointments in the gift of the Crown. It is agreed tions with the United States. On the death of Sir John that the statesmen who have filled the post have been A. Macdonald in 1891, Sir John Abbott became premier, uniformly successful in holding evenly the balance be- but resigned through ill - health in the following year. tween political parties, and Canadians are satisfied with He was succeeded by Sir John Thompson, who died at the method of appointing the official head of the State. M indsor Castle in 1894, while attending to be sworn in as Canada’s political history is interesting, as showing the a member of her Majesty’s Privy Council. Sir Mackenzie gradual development of a policy strictly Canadian, and Powell then became premier and leader of the Conservative yet not divergent from that of the empire. The Liberal- party until 1896, when he was succeeded by Sir Charles Conservative party which gathered round Sir John A. Tupper. Six Wilfrid Laurier’s leadership of the reformers, Macdonald, the first premier, represented a practical school and the appearance of a more conservative tone in the of statesmen. Drawn from the ranks of both parties, they counsels of the party, had restored public confidence • and adopted a system of compromise in political matters, and in the general elections of 1896 the Conservatives, weakened made the early and speedy development of the country by internal dissensions, met with a signal defeat, which the main object of their policy. Opposed to them were was repeated in 1900. The reform administration has the reform party, who took as their watchword financial been marked by various measures tending to unite Canada retrenchment, and therefore opposed the Government in more closely with the empire—such as the adoption of imits railway policy and other schemes of rapid development. perial penny postage; the denunciation of the German On the overthrow of the Macdonald ministry in 1873, a and Belgian treaties, with the subsequent preferential reform Government was formed under the Hon. Alex. treatment accorded to British commerce ; the carrying-out Mackenzie. Committed by their parliamentary record to of plans previously made for cable connexion between a policy of economy, the reformers soon aroused discontent Canada and Australia; the contribution of men for the by their neglect of the Canadian Pacific railway project. South African war. These measures were stamped anew As consistent believers in free trade, too, they seemed with popular approval by the elections of 1900, which powerless in the face of the financial difficulties that then gave Sir Wilfrid Laurier’s Government another lease of beset Canada and threatened the ruin of her manufactures. power. It is manifest that the broad general result of This led to their defeat in 1878. The Conservative party, confederation has been greatly to increase Canada’s weight on returning to power, adopted a highly protective tariff in the councils of the empire, and to draw still more as a defence against American trade encroachment, and closely the bonds with the motherland. (g. it. p.) this has so far proved itself favourable to the commercial wellbeing of the country that it has been continued to the Canal Dover, a village of Tuscarawas county, present day. The reform party, disorganized by defeat, Ohio, U.S.A., on the Tuscarawas river and the Ohio Canal. remained in opposition until 1896. During this period Population (1890), 3470; (1900), 5422, of whom 939 it advocated several modifications of the trade policy of | were foreign-born and 10 negroes. CANALS
AND
INLAND
Ship Canals in Europe. THE last quarter of the 19th century saw great improvements in inland navigation, more particularly in Germany, France, and Belgium. International Congresses have been held in the principal cities of Europe to discuss the question of the enlargement of existing canals, and the advantage of affording greater facilities for the water carriage of goods and minerals is now generally recognized. The fact that the cost of maintenance of canals rises but slightly with enlarged trade, while the wear and tear on railways, tramways, and roads increases in direct proportion with any increased weight of traffic, gives ship canals and other navigations a considerable advantage. The great saving effected in the consumption of coal in steamers by the use of triple or quadruple expansion engines enables large cargoes to be carried inland on ship canals at a rate per ton considerably below the cost on railways. The construction in England of the Manchester Ship Canal has been of great benefit to the district it serves not only by reducing the rates of carriage on seaborne traffic, but also by causing the railway rates to be lowered. The same results have occurred on other ship canals that enable large steamers to pass inland to centres of population and manufactories without transhipment of cargo at ports on the coast. Ship canals of early date have had to be enlarged in depth and width to meet the increased size of steamers. Manchester Ship Canal.—The advantage of a waterway for the conveyance of goods between Lancashire and the sea was so obvious, that so far back as the year 1721 Mr Thomas Steers designed a plan for continuing to Man-
NAVIGATION.
chester the barge navigation which then existed between Liverpool and Warrington. Parliamentary powers were then obtained to improve the rivers Mersey and Irwell from Warrington to Manchester by means of locks and weirs. This work was successfully carried out, and proved of great benefit to the trade of the district. The duke of Bridgewater, who had made a canal from his collieries at Worsley to Manchester, afterwards continued the canal to the Mersey at Buncorn; this extension was opened in 1722 and competed with the Mersey and Irwell Navigation, both routes being navigated by barges carrying about fifty tons of cargo. The Liverpool and Manchester railway at a later date afforded further facilities for conveyance of goods, but the high rates of carriage, added to heavy charges at the Liverpool docks, prejudiced trade, and the question was mooted of a ship canal to bring cotton, timber, grain, or goods direct to Manchester without transhipment. The first plan was made by Mr Wm. Chapman in 1825, and was followed by one designed by Mr Henry Palmer in 1840, but it was not until the year 1882 that the movement was originated that culminated in the opening of the Manchester Ship Canal by Queen Victoria on 21st May 1894. In determining the plan of the canal the main point which arose was whether it should be made with locks or whether it should be on the sea-level throughout, and therefore tidal. The advantage of a still waterway in navigating large steamers, and the facilities afforded by one constant water-level for works on the banks and the quick discharge of goods at the terminal docks at Manchester, secured the adoption of the plans for a canal with locks as designed by Sir E. Leader Williams. The fresh-
