The principal reason for the apparent disregard of the economic law that trade will follow the superior route was found in the fact that for a large proportion of the traffic the destination was Europe, and that the charges to the out-ports of New York and Quebec were only a part of the total charge to which the traffic were subject. If, for any reason, the conveyance across the Atlantic from New York to Europe was so much cheaper than the conveyance from Quebec, that the total charge from lake Erie to Europe was lower by way of New York than by way of Quebec, then it is obvious that the trade would not be attracted to the route which seemed to be naturally the superior one. This was the case at that time. Owing to the large subsidies given by the British government to the steamers sailing to and from New York, vessels running to and from Quebec could not compete with those from the rival port. The assistance to the Cunard line, therefore, which the British government desired Canada to give in part, was a positive detriment to the development of the transport business of upper and lower Canada. The question of establishing a steamship line from a St. Lawrence port had engaged the attention of the legislature of the United Provinces as early as 1851. In that year a resolution was offered to the house of assembly, setting forth the advantages of the Canadian route, and the fact that these advantages were offset by the aid given by the British government to the Cunard and Collins lines (the latter was owned by an American company), and asking that the British government be approached with a request that they grant assistance to a Canadian line similar to that given to the lines running in and out of New York.[299] A committee of the assembly took the subject into consideration, and in the following year a contract was made with a British firm,[300] which was shortly afterwards converted into the Canadian Steam Navigation Company, for a service from Liverpool to Quebec and Montreal during the season of open navigation in the St. Lawrence, and to Portland, Maine, during the five months when the river route was not practicable. The trips were to be fortnightly to the Canadian ports and monthly to Portland; and the steamers to be employed were to be of at least 1200 tons burthen. Twenty-four thousand pounds a year were to be paid to the company by way of subsidy--L19,000 by the government of Canada, L4000 by the Atlantic and St. Lawrence railway (later a section of the Grand Trunk railway) and L1000 by the city of Portland.