Analysis of the Telegram: Van Horne to John Macdonald

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A popular mode of communication of the 1880s: telegrams were transmitted through a telegraph or a phone to convey messages as quickly as possible. Sir William Cornelius Van Horne, then the vice president of the Canadian Pacific Railway, addressed the telegram dated 7th November, 1885 in Document 2 to John Macdonald, the Prime Minister of Canada, to announce the completion of the Pacific Railway and to thank him for his role and policies that played an integral role towards it. Introduced as an opportunity to better connect the greatly populated western parts of Canada to its comparatively unpopulated eastern, the Pacific Railway was first talked about in the 1870s, close to the time of the Confederation of 1867 that made Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba and later British Columbia part of the Dominion of Canada. In 1873, Hugh Allan was granted federal contracts for the railway, which were only to be taken away once Hugh was revealed to have contributed greatly towards the election of Prime Minister Macdonald in turn for control of the company resulting in the “Pacific Scandal” that led to a reelection. Although the new Liberal Prime Minister, Alexander Mackenzie did put effort into the railway, due to the lack of capital progress slowed down. It was only when voters reinstated the conservative party and Macdonald resumed his office in 1878, that a more aggressive approach was taken towards the construction of the railway. Reinstated into power, one important prospect of Macdonald’s National Policy marked the completion of the railway. Macdonald wished to employ private capital for the construction but it was met with no success. He went to England to seek help from the London market where Henry Tyler indicated that they were only interested in the route from Montreal through Toronto to Chicago, and thus he established severed ties with them.

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