Excerpt from Official Report of the Debates of the House of Commons of the Dominion of Canada; Third Session, Fifth Parliament, 48-49 Victoriae, 1885, Vol. 17: Comprising the Period From the Twenty-Ninth Day of January to the Twenty-Sixth Day of March, 1885

Minister - effected on terms, I believe, never bbtained by any colony before, and at a rate of interest lower than we ever had enjoyed up to this time. As to the details of that loan, whether it might have been for a larger amount, or whether it was the best which could have been obtained I say nothing; but this I do know, that eminent financiers on both sides of the Atlantic have pronounced it an admir able transaction; and I think it speaks well for the credit of this country, and should convince us that we are not going backwards, that such is the Opinion of men best able to form a judgment on the matter. N ow, Sir, the trade and commerce of the country have been referred to by His Excellency. It is true there has been a certain amount of depression common to this country with the United States and Great Britain but, Sir, we have the consolation of re flecting that if there is a depression here, it is less trying and less damaging in every respect than in either the United States or England. Any person who reads the terrible accounts of the trade depression in England - of closing factories and unemployed operatives - and the same thing in the United States, and compares that condition of affairs with what exists in Canada, must at once be con vinced that the trade of this Dominion, if depressed at the present time, at least rests on sound foundations. The trade of our country consists chiefly in fisheries, coal and other mineral products, agricultural and animal pros ducts, lumbering and manufacturing. From these we should find the best index of the condition of the trade of this country. Now, taking the six months ending the 31st December, 1884, I find that the exports of the products of the mines, as compared with the corresponding period in 1883, have increased of animals and their pro ducts, of agricultural products, and of manufactures, showing a steady increase in the value of our exports in these important branches of indus try ih which our people are engaged. This is convincing evidence that the tendency of the present fiscal tariff is to broaden and extend the base upon which our com merciai prosperity must rest - that instead of having, as was the case when the former depression overtook the country, to depend solely upon our agricultural and mining interests, we have other industries which have been created by the present fiscal policy, to supply the deficiencies that existed. Now, Sir, with regard to our shipping in tercet. I come from a Maritime Province - a pro vince which, I think, is the largest shipping province in the Dominion and, notwithstanding the fact that there is a decrease amounting, I think, to some in the value of the imports and exports of the Dominion during the past year, yet we find that the tonnage of the sea-going vessels, inwards and outwards, has largely increased. The increase, I find, amounts to tons, showing that a larger quantity of goods has been moved during the year than previously; and the increase, compared with 1879, reaches the very large amount of tons. This I take to be very strong evidence of the soundness of our trade policy; for I believe I am not wrong in saying that, accord ing to eminent statists: thei'e is no better evidence of the soundness of a country's trade than the extent of its inward and outward shipping. I find also that the coasting trade, notwithstanding the development of railways and low freights which have prevailed, has steadily and satis factorily increased, that trade now amounting to tons. These figures afford strong testimony to the healthy state of trade, particularly in connection with the shipping interest. I had my attention drawn the other day to a very excellent and cl...