The British Colonies.
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States border in spite of the monopoly of the Canadian Pacific Railway. This railway, in its general character, was an exceptional undertaking, requiring exceptional support and exceptional privileges, otherwise it would never have been constructed. As a national work of the utmost importance it was upheld in its privileges by the Dominion Government, and the Manitoba Railway Acts were vetoed again and again. As the Manitoba Legislature re-enacted them, the Dominion Government had to give the Canadian Pacific Railway certain privileges in consideration of its consent to remove these restrictions which were objected to by the Manitoba Provincial Government. It will be seen, therefore, that Manitoba has, so far, tested severely the power of the federal tie that links all the provinces together, but so far this tie remains unbroken.
Chapter VIII.
The Growth of Colonial Constitutions— Australasia.
In the history of our Colonial constitutions, as worked out and finally elaborated in Australasia and South Africa, it may be truly said that Canada afforded the true guide and example. Before any of the Australian and Cape settlements were really in a position to don the toga virilis, the great principles of Colonial emancipation and Colonial government had practically been conceded. The Canadian field of politics attracts, if it does not entirely engross, the attention of all students of Colonial life as an arena where, once for all, great issues were decided. If it occupies almost an inordinate space, this is no more than its due, and the eye rests