The Intercolonial and St. John

THE INTERCOLONIAL AND ST. JOHN. Although St. John forms one of most important termini of the Intercolonial, it has always been treated government as of much less important than Halifax, and while the best possible facilities have been created for latter port for the handling of freight hardly anything has been done same line for St. John. The Halifax papers have been accustomed to speak of St. John as merely a way station on the Intercolonial, and the government of Canada has treated this city and port as if this position was a correct one. The Intercolonial railway has recently issued a map, accompanied by descriptive matter dealing with tourist travel, and pointing out the beauties of the scenery along the line of that great railway. In this publication almost every point on the Intercolonial is lauded to the skies. Quebec is dealt with very fully, Halifax is praised for its noble harbor, but St. John is described as a place which, apart from its Acadian annals, has little to interest the stranger. We are told that the city has no extensive fortifications, no memorable battle fields, nothing ancient or quaint to fascinate the antiquarian, it is merely a modern city. The purport of all this seems to be that St. John is not worth visiting. We do not know what writer evolved this description of St. John from his inner consciousness, but we hold the government of Canada responsible for thus slandering our city. If they employ some ignorant penny-a-liner to write their tourist guides they cannot escape the responsibility for his botched work. It is remarkable that every foot of the site of Quebec should be described as sacred ground while no historical event connected with St. John is thought worthy of mention. Why are St. John's Acadian Annals considered less worthy of notice than the History of Quebec as a French city. Champlain discovered this river and named it before he founded his (illegible) There is not a piece of ground in Canada that is more worthy of a visit than the site of Fort Latour in our own harbor. And yet all this is passed by as unworthy of notice in a government publication. This last insult to St John, at the instance of the government, will indicate to our people how they are likely to be treated by the government with regard to the fast line.