The Dominion in 1983 | Page 4

both used.) The phrase
"rocket-car" is hyphenated twice, while appearing three times as two
individual words. There are also some instances of unusual spelling and
capitalization of words. With the exception of a few small emendations,
spelling, capitalization and punctuation have been preserved as in the
original.

THE DOMINION IN 1983
by Ralph Centennius

Entered according to Act of Parliament of Canada, in the year 1883, by

Toker & Co., Publisher on behalf of the Author, in the Office of the
Minister of Agriculture.

I.
"Before the curing of a strong disease, "Even in the instant of repair
and health, "The fit is strongest; evils that take leave, "On their
departure most of all show evil." --King John, Act III.
In the present advanced and happy times it is instructive to take a
retrospective glance at the days of our forefathers of the nineteenth
century, and to meditate upon the political struggles and events of the
past hundred years, that by so doing we may gain a clear insight into
the causes which have led to the present wonderful developments. We,
in the year of Grace 1983, are too apt to take for granted all the
blessings of moral, political and physical science which we enjoy, and
to pass over without due consideration the great efforts of our ancestors,
which have made our present happy condition possible.
Let us try to contrast the Dominion of to-day with the Dominion of
1883. To begin with population. Our population at the last census in
1981, was just over 93,000,000. A hundred years ago a scant 5,000,000
represented this great Canadian nation, which has since so mightily
increased and proved itself such a beneficent factor in human affairs.
Seven provinces and some sparsely peopled and only partially explored
territories formed all that the world then knew as Canada. To-day have
we not fifteen provinces for the most part thickly peopled, and long
since fully explored to the shores of the Arctic Ocean?
In the present days of political serenity it is hard to realize the
animosity and extreme bitterness of the past century. The two parties
into which men formerly divided themselves, viewed each other as
enemies, and each party opposed on principle whatever measures the
other proposed. From a careful study of the principal journals of the
time, fyled at Ottawa, we gather that the party, self-styled "Reformers,"
frequently opposed progressive measures, and even attempted to hinder
the construction of railroads, while the other party called
"Conservatives" considered railroads as the best means of opening up
the enormous tracts of country then lying untrodden by man, and
useless to civilization. Such are certainly the inferences to be drawn
from the records at our command, though it is hard to believe in

opposition to railroads or to advancement in any form in these days,
when new channels of communication and new industries are viewed
with favor by the whole nation. Each party seems strangely to have
belied its title, for the Reformers, after the confederation of the
provinces in 1867, endeavored with singular perverseness to frustrate
or retard reform and improvement of all kinds, while the Conservatives
did not desire to preserve things in the old ruts and grooves, but strove
hard for beneficial advancement of every sort.
In 1883 the United States was one of the leading nations of the world.
With a population of over 50,000,000, and an almost illimitable extent
of territory still open for settlement by the fugitives from troubled
Europe; with exhaustless wealth, developed and undeveloped, it
seemed reasonable to suppose that a nation so placed should be able to
attain the foremost position and be able to keep it. Such appears to have
been the opinion of most foreigners, and also of some of our Canadians
of the period, for the wealth, apparent power and prestige of the United
States caused many of our weak-kneed ancestors to lose heart in their
own country, and in fits of disloyal dejection to fancy there could be no
progress except in union with the States. Stout hearts, however,
ultimately gained the day, and we in the twentieth century are reaping
the benefits won for the country by the valor of our great-grandfathers.
The troubled times through which the youthful Dominion passed from
1885 to 1888 constitute one of the greatest crises through which any
nation ever passed successfully. Canada, with her confederated
provinces and large territories loosely held together, with her scattered
population chiefly grouped in Ontario and Quebec, with her infant
manufactures and scarcely-touched mineral resources, was the home,
nevertheless, of as prosperous and promising a young nation as the
world ever saw; and had it not been for the timid portion of her
population just mentioned, a great deal of trouble might have been
saved. But out