It is, no doubt, of the greatest possible consequence to Great Britain, to the United States, and last, but not least, to the Dominion of Canada, to consider how the immense traffic which is now carried on between the great North-western States and the markets of Europe is to be carried in the time to come. At the present time we receive from the United States about thirty millions of cwts. of wheat per annum, of which two-thirds are brought to us from ports on the Atlantic, and one-third from ports on the Pacific. We also receive between twelve and fifteen million cwts. of wheat meal and flour, and ten to twelve million cwts. of maize or Indian corn, in addition to smaller quantities of barley and other cereals. The great bulk of this immense traffic is transported from Chicago, which is the great gathering ground, to New York, which is the great distributing centre. There is no traffic in the world that is more fiercely competed for. Everything is done that can be done to draw it on to the railways on the one hand, and on to the waterways on the other, and as a consequence the rates of freight, as we have seen, are on both systems reduced to the lowest attainable limit. The Transatlantic traffic is competed for quite as keenly, so that grain has been carried between Chicago and the markets of Great Britain, a distance of over four thousand miles, for less than 20_s._ per ton, including a railway journey of 950 miles, or a lake and canal journey of 1200 miles, in addition to the ocean voyage. It is, however, beginning to be felt that even this extraordinary outcome of the development of the means of efficient transportation may be threatened with successful rivalry. There are those who argue that the natural outlet for the grain grown in the North-west is not New York, but Montreal, which is 270 miles, or a day’s steaming, nearer to Liverpool than New York. The grain traffic is sent from Chicago to Buffalo in either case. But from Buffalo to Liverpool by way of the Erie Canal and New York is 3450 miles, while by way of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Montreal it is only 3180 miles. In both cases, the grain is carried by water, so that there is practically no difference in point of cost at the port of departure. It has been found necessary in Canada, with a view to meeting the competition of the Erie Canal route, to reduce the canal tolls and harbour dues. Prior to 1884, the rate of tolls on the grain shipped by way of the Welland Canal was 20 cents per ton, which allowed a vessel to pass through the St. Lawrence Canal without additional payment. But, as the tolls on the Erie Canal were abolished in 1883, it became increasingly difficult for the Montreal route to compete with that _viâ_ the enfranchised Erie Canal to New York.