Canada and the Canadians, Vol. 2 | Page 6

Board of Works.
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The estimate for 1845 was 125,200, as may be seen by the following report of the Inspector General of Canada, as laid before Parliament:--
PUBLIC WORKS.
CANADA WEST.
For present repairs to the Chatham Bridge ￡100
For improving the Grand River Swamp Road--total 10,000--required this year 9,000
For improving Rouge Hill and Bridge, also another bridge and hill east of the former--total ￡6,500-- required this year 5,000
For Belleville Bridge 1,500
For the completion of the Dover Road over the mountain, to the limits of the town of Hamilton, and erection of toll-gates 5,500
For the improvement of the road from L'Original to Bytown, by Hattfield, Gifford, Buckworth, and Green's Creeks, as surveyed and estimated, together with the building of a bridge across the narrow channel, at the mouth of the Rideau, on the line of the road from Gattineau Ferry to Bytown--total cost, ￡5,930--required this year ￡3,000
Owen's Sound Road, comprehending the line from Dundas by Guelph, to Owen's Sound direct (this sum being for the chopping, clearing, drawing, and forming of the portion not yet opened, and towards the lowering of hills, or otherwise improving such bad parts of the line between Nicolet and Dundas as most require it) 4,000
For opening the road throughout from Lake Ontario, at Windsor Harbour, to Georgius Bay, on Lake Huron, this sum being for the opening of the road from the head of Scugog Road to the Narrow's bridge 2,000
For improving Queenston and Grimsby Road, for laying on the metal already delivered, and completing such parts left unfinished as are most advanced, and establishing gates 8,000
(To finish the remainder of this communication within the Niagara district will cost ￡16,000, and that within the Gore district ￡10,000.)
For improving the Trent navigation, towards the completion of the works now in progress ￡12,000--for this year 6,000
To cover expense of surveys, examination, preparation of estimates of the cost of improving the Main Province Road across the ravines of the Twelve and Sixteen Mile Creeks between Toronto and Hamilton; opening a road from the main road to Port Credit; opening and completing a road from the Ottawa at Bytown, to the St. Lawrence in the most direct line; of opening a road between Kingstown and the Lake des Allumettes on the Ottawa, with a branch towards the head of the Bay of Quinte; of opening a road from the Rideau, thence by Perth, Bellamy's Mills, Wabe Lake, to fall in with the road proposed from Bytown to Sydenham; of completing the Desjardin's Canal; of constructing the Murray Canal; of overcoming the impediments to the navigation of the river Trent, between Heely's Falls and the Bay of Quinte, and also for a survey of the road from Barrie to Lake Huron, through the townships of Sunindale and Nottawasaga 2,000
For improving the Amherstburgh and Sandwich road 1,000
For the Cornwall and L'Original road 900 -------- ￡47,000
WORKS OF A GENERAL CHARACTER, AS CONNECTED WITH THE COMMERCE OR REVENUE OF THE COUNTRY.
To forming a dam across the branch of the Mississisqui, and forming a portage road at the Chats 1,250
For works upon the Ottawa and roads connected therewith, as detailed in the Report of the Board of Works of 3rd February, 1845, laid before the legislature--total ￡21,600--required this year 8,500
For building a landing-wharf, with stairs and approaches at the Quarantine Station, Grosse Isle 2,750
For the extension of piers, and opening inner basin at Port Stanley harbour--total ￡6,000--required this year 1,200
For dredging at Cobourg harbour 500
For expenses of piers and dredging at Windsor harbour 2,000
For repairs and erection of Lighthouses--total ￡7,900--this year 5,000
For the formation of a deep water-basin, at the entrance of the Lachine Canal, in the harbour of Montreal, to admit vessels from sea 15,000
For the erection of a Custom House at Toronto 2,500 ------- ￡39,700 -------- Total currency ￡125,200 --------
W. B. Robinson, Inspector General.
Thus, from the commencement of the operations of the Board of Works in the Canadas, or in about six years, there will have been no less an amount than a million and a half expended in opening the resources of that "noble province," as Lord Metcalfe styled it, in his valedictory address.
This, with the enormous outlay of nearly two millions during the revolt, the cost of the Rideau Canal and fortifications, and the money spent by an army of from 8 to 10,000 men, has thrown capital into Canada which has caused it to assume a position which the most sanguine of its well-wishers could never have anticipated ten years ago.
Its connection with England, therefore, instead of being a "baneful" one, as a misinformed partizan stated, has been truly a blessing to it, and proves also, beyond a doubt, that, now it is about to have an uninterrupted water-communication from the oceans of Europe, Asia, and Africa, to the fresh-water seas of Ontario, Erie, Huron, Michigan, and Superior, its resources