tion was allowed to the island in the Canadian parliament, and
the members accordingly took their places in the senate and the house of
commons during the short October session of 1873, when Sir John
Macdonald's government resigned on account of transactions arising out
of the first efforts to construct the Canadian Pacific railway.

The Dominion was now extended for a distance of about 3,500 miles, from
the island of Prince Edward in the east to the island of Vancouver in
the west. The people of the great island of Newfoundland, the oldest
colony of the British crown in North America, have, however, always
shown a determined opposition to the proposed federation, from the time
when their delegates returned from the Quebec convention of 1864.
Negotiations have taken place more than once for the entrance of the
island into the federal union, but so far no satisfactory arrangement
has been attained. The advocates of union, down to the present time,
have never been able to create that strong public opinion which would
sustain any practical movement in the direction of carrying Newfoundland
out of its unfortunate position of insular, selfish isolation, and
making it an active partner in the material, political, and social
progress of the provinces of the Canadian Dominion. Financial and
political difficulties have steadily hampered the development of the
island until very recently, and the imperial government has been obliged
to intervene for the purpose of bringing about an adjustment of
questions which, more than once, have rendered the operation of local
self-government very troublesome. The government of the Dominion, on its
side, while always ready to welcome the island into the confederation,
has been perplexed by the difficulty of making satisfactory financial
arrangements for the admission of a colony, heavily burdened with debt,
and occupying a position by no means so favourable as that of the
provinces now comprised within the Dominion. Some Canadians also see
some reason for hesitation on the part of the Dominion in the existence
of the French shore question, which prejudicially affects the
territorial interests of a large portion of the coast of the island, and
affords a forcible example of the little attention paid to colonial
interests in those old times when English statesmen were chiefly swayed
by considerations of European policy.

SECTION 3.--Summary of noteworthy events from 1873 until 1900.

On the 4