The National Dream: The Great Railway, 1871-1881 - Plot & Excerpts
Not only was he Prime Minister, but he had also chosen to assume the burden of the Ministry of Public Works, the most sensitive of cabinet posts in that era of railway contracts. In the spring of 1877, the ex-stonemason revealed a little of his feelings when he exploded in the House that “it is impossible for any man in this country to conduct public affairs without being subjected to the grossest political abuse. Let a political friend get a contract and it is stated at once that [it] is because he is a political friend. Let a political opponent get a contract and we are charged with trying to buy him over to the Government.”Nonetheless more friends than opponents were awarded contracts on the various sections of the rail and telegraph lines being built along the granites of Superior and the muskegs of Manitoba. The Mackenzie government awarded eleven contracts west of Lake Superior, between 1874 and 1878, for grading, track laying and telegraph lines. The total amount paid, as of June 30, 1880, was $5,257,336.
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