The Capabilities of the Harbour of Quebec

 

By Charles M. Tate

 

[Originally published by the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec in Transactions, New Series, No. 1 (1862)]

 

(Read before the Society, 1st April, 1863.)

 

MR. PRESIDENT,

 

The subject selected for our consideration this evening is "The capabilities of the Harbour of Quebec," a subject not only of great importance to the Province at large, but one which I imagine, should be of the greatest and most absorbing interest to every one dwelling in this city, whether he be the wealthy merchant and proprietor, or the humble mechanic and day labourer, for with very rare exceptions the good of the one is the advantage of the other. I enter upon this subject, which has been suggested tome, with something of the same feeling that I can imagine an aspiring advocate might feel, when called upon to plead some important case, involving the life perhaps, or the welfare of some accused person; his doubts as to success, his inward feeling of almost incompetence for the task and his fear lest any want of energy or perspicuity in explaining doubtful points should jeopardize the suit. However with such power as I possess I will set myself to the task and, praying your patient attention, trust for a verdict at your hands of “proven."

 

On the 24th of July 1858, an Act of Parliament was passed, entitled "an Act to provide for the Improvement and management of the Harbour of Quebec" — in which if is decided that

 

"The Harbour of Quebec shall, for the purpose of this act, comprise that part of the River St. Lawrence which lies between a line drawn from the West side of the mouth of the river Cap Rouge, to the "West side of the river Chaudière, and a line drawn from the East side of the mouth of the river Montmorency, to the East side of the Cove called Indian Cove, on the south side of the said Hiver St. Lawrence, together with that part of each of the said rivers Cap Rouge, Chaudière and Montmorency, and of the rivers St. Charles, Etchemin and Beauport, where the tide ebbs and flows." Added to the above there is a clause inserted in the Act, (No. 6 page 5) that "the improvements to be made under this act, and the property which may be acquired thereunder, shall be made or acquired on the north side of the River St. Lawrence only." On this clause it may be merely necessary to remark that it has a tendency to cause opposition, and may be of great advantage, on the principle of competition being the soul of business. Whether it will prove so or otherwise is a question at present buried in the future.

 

From the foregoing extracts it is evident that the Harbour of Quebec is one of the largest and most important class, extending as it does from Cap Rouge to Montmorency a distance of 14 miles, with a width of 3960 feet at its narrowest, and 9216 feet at its widest parts, and with a depth of water varying from 11 to 28 fathoms 16.24 square miles, with an average depth of say 18 fathoms. This, one would suppose, is sufficient for all the wants of our Province; here the largest navies in the world would have room to spare, and so doubtless as far as extent only is concerned they would, unfortunately however room or space alone is not sufficient; there are other requisites wanting, the absence of which, with all its natural advantages, has so far detracted from its value as to have actually driven away a very large amount of business from the Port.

 

The great trade of the Port, as you are all well aware is the export of Timber and deals, and this to a very great extent: I will not detain you by entering into details as to the actual amount of cubic feet of the one or number of thousands of the other, suffice it for our purpose to know that this trade requires the services of many hundreds of vessels, from the ship of 1100 tons to the small brig of 200. This trade has one peculiar feature, and wherein it differs from nearly every other trade carried on on this .continent, that the vessels engaged in it come out especially for the purpose, and with few exceptions, they come out without cargo, in ballast. Of the enormous value of this constantly arriving ballast, few persons have, it appears, appreciated the importance. From calculations recently made, the quantity annually, for a period of some 20 years, averages 220,000 tons—or in that period the enormous amount of 4,400,000 — a quantity when converted into yards, sufficient to have covered an area of 100 acres to a depth of 6 yards—and if laid out on the flats of the St Charles, to have produced a rental of at least £50 per acre or £5000 per annum—or if not so employed sufficient to have made solid wharves along the whole front of the city and raised the level of the lower portions thereof above the influence and action of the highest tides. Instead of which, what has been the result? According to Capt Orlebar's survey the accumulation on the ballast ground has raised the bottom of the river some 37 feet and has seriously injured the property lying on the river bank adjacent thereto.

 

Surely, with such opportunity for utilising this material, it becomes a duty on the part of the citizens and proprietors to see that advantage be taken of its gratuitous importation,

and that it be put to such use as will ultimately render it a source of profit to the Harbour instead of, as now, being an actual injury thereto.

 

A stranger arriving by the steamer from Montreal is perfectly amazed at the apparently endless number of vessels of all descriptions lying at the Coves and in the ballast

ground. These he is informed are the timber ships. As the steamer passes along he sees ship after ship and raft after raft being prepared for their departure to Europe and other parts of the world—the rafts by careful examination and inspection, the ships by being carefully loaded with the former.

 

Lower down and as the traveller approaches the termination of his voyage, he sees numerous vessels lying at anchor out in the stream receiving their cargoes of deals from batteaux lying alongside.

 

And this is the trade of the Port of Quebec.

 

For this trade the Port in its present state, is well adapted. The rise and fall of the tide greatly facilitates the handling of the timber in the process of examination, and the depth of water outside the booms enables vessels of large size to receive their cargoes in close contiguity to the place of deposit.

 

Some years ago a trade between this port and the West Indies was carried on and we have a record of it in the name of a wharf in the neighbourhood of the Custom House, but the name is all that is left.

 

Apart from the trade of Quebec proper, or the timber trade, there is at present but a small amount of business in the Port, and that is confined to very narrow limits, and indeed it was to the very circumscribed amount of accommodation that the movement, amongst business men in Quebec to enlarge if possible this space, was due. Upon this was based the application to the Government of the Province for a Harbour Commission, the object of which evidently was, not to increase accommodation for the timber trade, which was and is amply supplied, but "to enlarge and improve the Harbour" for general business, and if possible to regain some portion of the import trade of the Province which years of apathy had driven elsewhere ; or if not successful in that, at any rate to secure to this Port some of that enormous business, which it was evident many years ago would soon overflow the channels then  and now existing for carrying it on.

 

So far the wishes and exertions of the Board of Trade, from whom emanated the petition to Government, have not been crowned with success. The wharves are still covered with coals to the exclusion of merchandise, and the scanty accommodation is still as it was before the progressive movement had taken place.

 

For the coming season the Port will have the advantage of the new pier recently erected below the Custom House, This may relieve the wharves above that building from the accumulation of coal, but it will hardly be sufficient to foster and encourage a new trade to the Port—although it does actually alone nearly double the former accommodation. Lest the assertion that one pier could nearly double the facilities of trade for this port, might startle my hearers, it may be remarked that before the pier in question was constructed there were but five berths for vessels drawing 18 feet of water—namely at

 

Alford's wharf……2

Gillespie's do……1

Gibb's do……1

Atkinson's do……1

Leaycraft's do…….1

India Wharf……1

 

Making a total of seven berths—but Gillespie's is used for the Upper Canada Steamboat line, and Atkinson's is engaged for the Government Tug steamers, so that there are but five berths in that portion of the Harbour emphatically styled the Port of Quebec. The new pier admits of three berths for the largest class of vessels arriving at this Port, therefore one is justified in stating that the new pier nearly doubles the capacity of the Port.

 

Although the foregoing be strictly true, yet there is no preparation made for the western Trade. I had the honor so far back as the year 1845, to urge upon the Commissioners of the Harbour of Montreal the absolute necessity there then existed for providing increased accommodation for sea-going and river craft in that port. My suggestions and advice were not acted upon. I had again opportunity, in a Report which I had the honor to submit to the committee of citizens on the improvement of the present harbour of Montreal, dated June 26th 1858, to use the following words, —

 

"Upon the 6th of December 1845, I submitted to the Commissioners of the Harbour of Montreal, being Engineer to the Trust — 'That the amount of work to be executed (in deepening the Harbour) will require that advantage be taken of every means for facilitating its progress, and this necessity for the use of increased means will increase instead of diminish, when the Channel through Lake St. Peter is completed, unless encountered and overcome quickly. I regret much that the very limited means and inadequate powers of the Commission, as it was then constituted, prevented the adoption and execution of my urgent recommendation, and the difficulty then forseen has now occurred. (1858.)"

 

I may here remark that in the same report I pointed out a method of introducing the rails of the Grand Trunk into the City and down on to the wharves —one part of my suggestion has already been carried out—namely the use of the Bonaventure Station of the Lachine Railroad as a passenger depot. The other will no doubt follow in due time. — I also suggested the use of water cranes, invented and patented by the well known Sir Wm. Armstrong, for the purpose of loading and unloading vessels.—I was told that I was 50 years ahead of the time. What I then said however has been verified in a much shorter period than 50 years. There is a trade and a large one seeking accommodation down the St. Lawrence and we have none, comparatively, to give.

 

When I ventured three years ago in this City, to urge the necessity of action if Quebec wished to obtain a share of the grain trade, I was laughed at and told that the Trade was a myth and that it would come of itself, although the secondary accessories of Basins, Elevators and Wharves were not provided. I would beg to remark on that assertion, that if they were secondary matters, it is not very probable that the shrewd and intelligent men of the West, from Chicago, would be coming to urge us to provide these very important auxiliaries. On the contrary the very men of Chicago told me last autumn if you give us en creased facilities our business is with you at Quebec. Having dwelt thus long upon the present state of our Harbour, let us see what has been, can be, and ought to be done to raise Quebec out of its present depressed and impoverished condition. Before entering upon these subjects, the enterprise and energy of those, who, in despite of the absence of any secondary means, have already initiated the Grain Trade of Quebec, deserves something more than passing notice, first on account of the enterprising spirit displayed by the gentlemen in question, and secondly because they have demonstrated that it is possible to carry on other business than shipping timber, in this Port, and by so doing have fairly earned the good wishes and support of the citizens of Quebec.

 

The requirements for successfully carrying on the transhipment of grain and other produce are comprised in sheltered berths, Elevators and warehouses, with ample space for barges and propellers, to lie in safety while waiting for their turn at the Elevator, or, if floating Elevators be used, to be in such still water as will permit them to be discharged, without interruption from passing steamboats or the action of the wind.

 

In the month of March 1860, I had the honor to Report to the Commissioners of the Harbour of Quebec, that "after a careful perusal of the Reports of Capt. Boxer and Mr. Barrett, civil engineer, on this subject, namely the improvements projected for the Harbour of Quebec, it appears they have both decided on the propriety of constructing a breakwater at the mouth of the River St Charles, as the first step necessary to be taken ; to this proposition I agree, more especially as it will form a basis for other and more extended improvements."

 

In the month of September in the same year (1860), I again wrote, "The necessity however for other accommodation, such as a basin or basins wherein sea-going ships may lie and change cargo with schooners and river craft from the West, daily becomes more pressing, and it is exactly this kind of accommodation which is wanting in the port of Quebec, and the construction of which I now propose to the Commissioners. When I had the honor of Reporting to the Board in the month of March last, I concurred with Messrs. Boxer and Barrett in the propriety of constructing a Breakwater across the mouth of the St. Charles. I am still of the same opinion."

 

The object of a breakwater, as its name implies, is to check the action of the waves and supply a shelter under the lee of which vessels may lie in safety, and the outer or sea wall of the contemplated basin performs this service."

 

The photographic pictures on the table will illustrate my views on this subject as representing the locality, nature and extent of accommodation which I strongly recommended.

Since September 1860, I have had frequent occasion to repeat my suggestions, and advancing as I saw the necessities of trade increasing, have pointed out how by utilising the ballast a revenue might be obtained which would in a few years represent the interest of capital necessary to construct a graving dock of extent and accommodation for the largest vessels in Her Majesty's navy.

 

My experience on Public works, whilst with Brunei, all tended to prove that in proposing any new scheme to the public either for the purpose of inducing stock to be taken in an enterprise or for selling Debentures, a complete and intelligible scheme should be proposed, at once perfect as far as possible in all its details, and each portion, as completed, a work perfect in itself and capable of immediate utility. Such a scheme, the one on the table perhaps represents, unfortunately the scheme has not been yet adopted and the public as a matter of course are withheld from entering into a speculation of which the end and object is not at once apparent. At this particular juncture of affairs when the continent of North. America is divided by contending armies, when the manufacturing districts of England are suffering from the cessation of Trade, and when the unfortunate operatives are rising in riot and disorder, it surely belongs to us as a duty to do our utmost to ameliorate their suffering. This has been nobly done so far as sending supplies of Food by the citizens of the States and money by our own people, but something more is required. It was a thought of gratulation to me some time ago, that in the absence of any suitable place to receive the poor emigrants who are about to visit our shores, — a suitable place could have been formed at the mouth of the St. Charles, which separated from the city, and accessible at all times of the tide by the properly licensed vessels, would have proved a shelter to the Emigrant from the great heat of Lower Town, and have gradually inured them to the change, whilst it preserved them from being defrauded by designing persons. This block on which sheds would have been erected would have formed a portion of the projected improvements, and when the pressure of Emigration was over could have been restored to its original and intended use, perhaps when the right man and the right time arrives these views may undergo more particular scrutiny.

 

If Quebec determines to enter the lists for the share it may secure of the future trade of the western part of this continent, it is high time it was up and doing. Already the merchants of the "West are in our City urging upon us exertion, and not entirely upon the Government of the Province, but upon us the citizens of Quebec, and offering us such prospects of future trade and profit as would rouse the least energetic community. With such natural advantages Quebec requires as little adventitious aid from art as any Port in the world, but it must have aid; in other words nature has done almost every thing but man has not yet done his share, the "almost" requires to be done. Montreal with but a small share of natural advantages, has done almost every thing, nature but little, and what is the result the usual one of energy and enterprize, great and increasing prosperity.

 

The supineness of Quebec has doubtless tended in no small degree to assist the advance of our sister City, but how comes it that Government, year by year, has laid out large sums from the public chest for deepening Lake St Peter so as to allow vessels of superior size and tonnage to ascend to Montreal, and to increase the accommodation in the basins of the Lachine Canal so as to facilitate the transfer of cargoes, and augment the trade of that Port, but no mention is made of Quebec. Can it be that the representatives of Montreal have been so assiduous in their duties to their constituents, whilst the members for Quebec have been content to let things take their course without an effort to benefit theirs. However that may be, Montreal is prosperous and Quebec the reverse.

 

In an answer to a pamphlet published in 1861 by a member of the Board of Trade of this City, it was foretold that the American troubles would compel the western merchants to seek an outlet for their produce through the St Lawrence. Is it not true today? Allow me to read a very able and important memorial to the Governor General from the Committee appointed for that purpose by the governor of the State of Illinois.

 

The Legislature of the State of Illinois, on the 14th day of February, 1863, passed a joint resolution, which was 02' the same day duly approved by the  Governor, creating a Commission to be composed of five citizens of Illinois, to be appointed by the Governor, with full power and authority on behalf of the State, to petition or to proceed personally to the Provincial Government and Parliament of Canada, and if deemed by the Commissioners advisable, to the Government of Great Britain, for the purpose of presenting to those Governments, in any proper manner,, statistics of the trade and  production of the North-western States of the American Union, which are seeking enlarged and cheaper outlets to the tide-water, by way of the Lakes and Rivers and new or enlarged Canals of Canada, and to solicit from those Governments, their earnest consideration of and early action upon a subject of such great and rapidly growing importance to them  as well as to the North-western States.

In compliance with the requirements of the joint resolution referred to, and under the appointment of the Governor of Illinois, we have come respectfully and briefly to present to you, and through you to the Provincial Parliament and the British Government, the importance both to Great Britain and the United States of so opening and perfecting the navigation of the Saint Lawrence, as to afford to the commerce of both countries a cheap communication between the shipping ports on the North-western Lakes and Great Britain. The growing and already vital necessity for enlarged and cheaper avenues between the Northwestern States and the Atlantic has been comparatively neglected, because those great food-producing States were sparsely populated, with only a few scattered hamlets and forts, at the date of the last treaty between the two Countries. But within the last half century the agricultural resources of these States have been developed with a rapidity unparalleled in the history of the world. The surplus of products furnished by these States, with their present population of nine millions, is already immense, and with the increased facilities for reaching a market, that surplus will be increased with a rapidity even beyond that of the past twenty-five years. With one-tenth of the arable surface under cultivation, the product of wheat of the North-western States in 1862 is estimated at one hundred and fifty million bushels, and of Indian corn at five hundred million bushels; and from our own State of Illinois alone there has been shipped annually for the last two years, a surplus of food sufficient to feed ten millions of people.

 

For several years past a lamentable waste of crops actually harvested has occurred in consequence of the in--ability of the railways and canals leading to the seaboard to take off the excess. The North-west seems already to have arrived at a point of production beyond any possible capacity for transportation which can be provided, except by the great natural outlets. It has for two successive years crowded the canals and railways with more than one hundred millions of bushels of grain, besides immense quantities of other provisions, and vast numbers of cattle and hogs. This increasing volume of business cannot be maintained without recourse to the natural outlet of the Lakes. The future prosperity of these States bordering on the great Lakes, depends, in  a great measure, upon cheap transportation to foreign markets : hence, they are vitally interested in the question of opening the St. Lawrence, the great natural thoroughfare from the Lakes to the  Ocean, through and by which the people of England may enlarge their supplies of breadstuff's and provisions, greatly exceeding the quantity heretofore received from the United States, at one-fourth less cost than it has heretofore been

obtained. From actual experience derived from shipments of Indian corn from Chicago to Liverpool, it is shown that the freight charges often cover seven-eighths of the value of a bushel of corn at Liverpool. More than one-half of the cost of wheat is also often consumed by the present very inadequate means of transportation.

 

The annually increasing receipts of foreign grain in the United Kingdom, are chiefly made up of increased receipts from the United States. The freight charges upon our American breadstuffs amount, in the aggregate, to more than double the average charges on all the grain imported there from the continental markets, yet increased supplies are annually being drawn from America. The European customer for our breadstuffs determines their price in all of our markets. The surplus of grain derived from the North-west is 50 or 60,000,000 of bushels beyond the demand of the Eastern States, and when that surplus is carried to their markets, the foreign quotations establish the value of the entire harvest.

 

Our prairie soils are tilled with the same facility as the alluvial soils of the valley of the Nile. In their natural state they have an abundant growth of the most nutritious grasses, which furnish the farmer with food for his cattle and horses at a nominal cost. The cultivation of these lands so largely by improved mechanical means reduces the first cost of our grain below that of any of the European countries; hence our products have entered largely into competition with the products of other countries, upon which the freight charges form a small part of the cost to the English importer. These North-western States furnished one third of 16,094,914 quarters of grain imported into England in the year 1861, a season of extremely high freights on the Lakes and Canals as well as upon the Ocean. The official returns of 1862 are not yet published. It is believed however, that the proportion of American grain was still larger than in 1861. In this view we may safely conclude that the question of devising cheaper and more expeditious routes for the transportation of this grain to England, has become of equal importance to Great Britain and the United States.

 

It is the opinion of your memorialists that the cost of transportation may be reduced ten shillings per quarter or thirty cents per bushel. One-half of this sum added to the income of our farmers would give a remarkable stimulus to the production of grain and would lead in a few years, within five years at the farthest, to the production of a surplus exceeding the total of the present importation of grain into England from all countries. And it is equally true that the present heavy freight charges, consequent upon the inadequacy of the means of transportation, will diminish the production of grain and divert agricultural labor and enterprise into some other and more remunerative channel. We think we are warranted in expressing the opinion that a moderate expenditure devoted to connecting the Canadian Rivers with the great Lakes in Canada so as to permit steam navigation to Montreal, and if practicable, a direct trade with Liverpool, will open to England a supply of breadstuffs as large as she now imports from every other country, at lower rates of first cost, and thus give the control of the grain markets of the world to the largest purchaser.

 

The interior of North America is drained by the St. Lawrence, which furnishes for the country bordering upon the Lakes a natural highway to the Sea. Through its deep channel must pass the agricultural productions of the vast Lake region. The commercial spirit of the age forbids that international jealousy should interfere with great natural thoroughfares, and the Governments of Great Britain and the United States will appreciate this spirit and cheerfully yield to its influence. The great avenue to the Atlantic through the St. Lawrence being once opened to its largest capability, the laws of trade, which it has never been the policy of the Federal Government to obstruct, will carry the commerce of the North-west through it.

In concluding, we will say that we come as the Agents of the Government of the State of Illinois, not intending to transcend the limits of our power, and carefully avoiding the assumption of any of the functions of the Federal Government in its international relations, but to present to the Provincial Government of Canada and through it, to the British Government, such facts concerning the vast resources of the North-western States, their capacity for production of the cereals and the difficulty in reaching tide-water with their products, as will tend to the opening of direct trade between those States and Liverpool.

 

Respectfully submitted,

W. B. OGDEN.

JAS. W. SINGLETON.

J. YOUNG SCAMMON.

W. H. OSBORN.

W. H. GREEN.

 

Chicago, Illinois, March 10, 1863.

 

Am I not justified in stating that a great future is before us, but that it will not fall into our lap without exertion. Let all, whose interests lie in Quebec either as proprietors, traders, or working men, rouse themselves, and shaking off the apathy and shackles of habit and prejudice, arise as one man and demand that Quebec once more assume the position which a bountiful nature has given her.

 

There is an old saying that constant dropping wears away stone. If such indeed be true, the stone whereon the dropping has been falling for a period of many years must be a hard one indeed, for as yet no impression has been made thereon. With your permission I will mention a few of the drops that have fallen. In April 1860, there appeared, in one of our city newspapers several notices pointing out the necessity for exertion. To these may be added as small drops, the daily advertisements of the Montreal Ocean Steamship Company, the Glasgow Line, and now a new line of Steamships from Ireland to Montreal, these are some drops that have been falling. There are many others which might be named, as for example new laws respecting Commercial matters emanating from other cities; but 1 have either spoken in vain, or I have said enough to prove, that something is required of Quebec, some exertions some enterprise. Let me recall the unwearied exertion, of the lamented Hamilton Merritt, the man to whom the connection on Canadian soil between Lakes Erie and Ontario is owing, who, not content with being the projector of the Well and Canal, succeeded also in procuring the construction of the Welland Eailway ; who did his utmost to induce the merchants of this City to inaugurate a line of Propellers to connect the Ports of Lake Ontario with Quebec; but hitherto his endeavours in this latter respect have been in vain. Let us hope that his mantle has fallen on some one with younger limbs and the same indomitable energy to carry out his views, and there may be some hopes for this ancient City. Quebec may then arise, like a Phœnix, from its ashes.

 

The very able paper read before this Society by Mr. Harvey so recently, renders any allusion to the Statistics of the Grain Trade unnecessary, even were I able to handle the subject in such a masterly manner as he did, but had he not favoured us, there are gentlemen expected in this City so intimately connected with this most important question, that it would not only be an act of supererogation on my part as regards Mr. Harvey's paper, but would amount to something bordering on impertinence were I to offer any remarks on the magnitude and importance of a subject, which will no doubt be handled so much more ably by the gentlemen already referred to.

 

I will now in as few words as possible, briefly recapitulate the points I have occupied your time in remarking upon —

 

1. — In the first place I have described to you the extent and natural capacity of the Port, I ought more properly to say Harbour of Quebec.

 

2.—In speaking of the great trade of the Port, I have spoken of the great, but yet unappreciated value of the Ballast annually thrown into the River.

 

3.—I have briefly described the Coves and their peculiar adaptation to the requirements of the Timber Trade.

 

4.—The very limited extent, until this season amounting only to 5 berths for large vessels in the so called Port of Quebec, has been mentioned.

 

5.—Boxer and Barrett's views of the necessity in the first place for the construction of a breakwater as being the most important work to be executed, have been dwelt upon.

 

6.—I have told you of my repeated recommendations to form basins of good capacity, and sheltered by the breakwater which would form one of the sides.

 

7.—The expediency of coming before the public with a scheme, as nearly complete as possible, has from experience, been explained to yon.

 

8.—The result of neglecting prudent advice has been illustrated in the case of the Harbour of Montreal, which in 1845, when attention was called to the necessity of immediate exertion, was yet in 1858 unable to accommodate the business which it had to do.

 

9.—I have repeated the advice and recommendations of three years ago, pointing to the necessity for sheltered basins, the want of which is now apparent to all.

 

10.—The present high commercial prosperity of Hont real has been presented to you, as indicating what well directed energy can effect although unaided by nature and in comparison with what supineness, although aided by nature, has done for Quebec.

 

11.—I submit to you the Illinois memorial to which I have previously alluded, giving you some idea of the enormous trade I have so long endeavoured, partially at any rate, to bring to our noble river.

 

12.—And in conclusion I will merely add. that the desire to see some portion of the great trade of the "West coming through Canada, is as strong to day as it was 18 years ago, and that I hold precisely the same views I then entertained as to the necessity for exertion, and would urge all Canadians, and more especially the citizens of Quebec to use every endeavour to promote the interests of this great and magnificent Province.