the outset this provision proved a source of bitter and dangerous
strife. On the one side it was contended that without this clause the
necessary capital could not have been secured and that faith must be
kept; that the traffic of the West should go to build up the eastern
provinces, which had made a {177} vast outlay on the road, rather than
a foreign country; that the rates of the Canadian Pacific were as
reasonable as those of American roads; and that other causes than
railroad monopoly were responsible for the slow growth of the West.
But the West protested that the rates were exorbitant--otherwise
American competition would not have been feared--pointed to the exodus
of settlers and the discontent of those who stayed, and refused to be
sacrificed in the interests of foreign shareholders or even of sister
provinces. Undoubtedly immigration was deterred, and relations between
East and West were seriously strained. Finally, in 1888, the Dominion
government was forced to yield. The company's consent was secured by a
bond guarantee for some necessary extensions, and the provision was
repealed. The Northern Pacific was brought in by the Manitoba
government, and competitive local roads were chartered, but in this
period the control of the Canadian Pacific over the western field was
not seriously called in question.

The task before the management to secure traffic for the great system
thus built up was a difficult one. It was a greater achievement to
operate the Canadian Pacific successfully {178} than to build it. When
it is realized that when the company began operation the number of
white settlers between Portage la Prairie and Kamloops, within twenty
miles of the line, could be counted virtually on the fingers of one
hand, the difficulty of finding traffic may be appreciated. Sandford
Fleming had estimated that the road could not pay until there were two
million people in the West. Yet pay it did from the start. The
company capitalized its scenery, and built up a paying tourist trade.
When wheat was lacking, ends were made to meet by carrying trainload
upon trainload of buffalo bones to eastern factories. United States
traffic was carefully cultivated at both ends of the line. An active
immigration campaign was carried on. Various industries along the
line, from coal companies to flour mills, were helped forward for
years. A loyal staff was built up, and by grace of efficiency the
company pulled through