Print copy consulted: University of New Brunswick Libraries.
Note: In: New Brunswick. Legislative Assembly. Journals of the
Legislative Assembly of the Province of New Brunswick, 1909, Supplementary Appendix,
pp. 30-110.
Prepared by the University of New Brunswick Libraries, in partnership with the
Provincial Archives of New Brunswick and the New Brunswick Legislative Library under
contract for SchoolNet, with the assistance of the University of New Brunswick Libraries
Electronic Text Centre.
An abstract has been created for the electronic version of this text.
It was written by Hart Caplan, University of New Brunswick Libraries.
The images exist as archived TIFF images, and will also be available on-line
as GIF and PDF files. In some cases, full-text (ascii) files are also available.
Some keywords in the header are a local Electronic Text Center
scheme to aid in establishing analytical groupings.
- Railroads -- New Brunswick.
- Political corruption -- New Brunswick.
- Administrative responsibility -- New Brunswick.
Revisions to the electronic version
2/25/99
Editor Elizabeth Hamilton, Project Manager, SchoolNet
project no.1269,
University of New Brunswick Libraries.
Content editing and final revision.
2/14/99
Corrector
Lisa Charlong, The Electronic Text Centre at the University of New Brunswick
Libraries.
TEI design, editing and correction.
etext@unb.ca. Commercial use prohibited; all usage governed by our Conditions of Use: http://www.lib.unb.ca/Texts/conditions_use/
Abstract: Commission to Inquire into Matters Connected with the Central Railway Company and the New
Brunswick Coal and Railway Company , 1909
Not unlike other stories of Canadian railroad construction, the Commission which examined
the building of a fifteen mile stretch of track between Chipman
and the Newcastle Coal Fields
found ample evidence of graft, corruption, kickbacks, destroyed evidence, and glaring
conflicts-of-interest. Commissioners Judge P. A. Landry , Fulton MacDougall , and Almon
Tweed , were charged
with examining the business practices of the New Brunswick Coal and Railway Company,
awarded the construction contract in 1901 until 1905, at which time the Lieutenant Governor
made
the company a corporate ward of the Province.
Like Commissioner James McQueen 's reactions at his
findings in the Patriotic Potato Inquiry, the
Commissioners were unabashed in voicing their amazement and disgust with the manner in
which
business was conducted between 1901 and 1905. And, like McQueen's investigations, the
wrongdoings sprung from granting government contracts to those intimately connected with the
government, namely the Provincial Secretary and Attorney General.
The Commission's report is a scathing indictment of all involved. For instance, the
report stated that "the company never performed the functions usually exercised by an
incorporated company-it was in fact nothing but a disorganized department of the Government
of
the Province". They also reported that not only was the company negligent in their accounting
practices, but that "it was never the intention of those controlling the Company to keep books of
accounts for public purposes".
Finally, the Commission recommended that the Directors of the Company, including the
Attorney General and Provincial Secretary, be held responsible for the unaccounted funds, and in
a
"charitable construction of the entire transaction" found them personally liable for $134
035.35.
h.c.
Commissioners:
Sir
Pierre-Armand Landry
Fulton MacDougall
Almon I. Tweed .
Résumé: Commission d'enquête sur les questions relatives
à la Central Railway Company et à
la New Brunswick Coal and Railway Company ,
1909
À l'instar d'un certain nombre d'autres récits sur la construction des chemins
de fer au
Canada, la Commission qui a examiné la construction d'un tronçon de quinze
milles de voie
ferrée entre Chipman et les champs houillers de Newcastle a mis à jour des preuves manifestes
de malversations, de corruption, de pots de vin, de destruction de preuves et de conflits
d'intérêts flagrants. Les juges-commissaires P. A. Landry , Fulton MacDougall , et Almon
Tweed ont été nommés à la commission pour
enquêter sur les façons de procéder de la New
Brunswick Coal and Railway Company, soit l'entreprise de chemin de fer qui a obtenu le
contrat de construction du tronçon en question de 1901 à 1905, au moment
où le lieutenant-gouverneur a placé la société en tutelle.
Tout comme pour les réactions du commissaire McQueen à la
lumière des résultats de
son enquête sur la "pomme de terre patriotique," les commissaires ont exprimé
sans équivoque
leur surprise et leur dégoût pour la façon dont l'entreprise a mené
ses affaires entre 1901 et
1905. De plus, à l'instar de l'enquête du commissaire sur la pomme de terre
patriotique, les
actes délictueux découlaient de l'adjudication de contrats gouvernementaux
à des personnes
étroitement liés au gouvernement, en l'occurrence le secrétaire de la
province et le procureur
général.
Le rapport de la commission est un véritable réquisitoire contre toutes les
personnes
incriminées. Ainsi, les commissaires précisent que "l'entreprise n'a jamais
exercé les fonctions
habituellement dévolues à une entreprise constituée en corporation; ce
n'était à toutes fins utiles
que l'antichambre d'un ministère désorganisé du Gouvernement
provincial." Les commissaires
signalent par ailleurs que non seulement l'entreprise s'est-elle montrée négligente
dans ses
pratiques comptables, mais "il est très clair que les personnes qui contrôlaient
l'entreprise n'ont
jamais eu la moindre velléité de tenir des livres comptables à des fins
d'examen public."
Enfin, la commission a recommandé que l'on tienne directement responsable des
fonds
non consignés les administrateurs de l'entreprise, y compris le procureur
général et le secrétaire
de la province. En outre, à la lumière de "leur interprétation
généreuse de toutes les
circonstances entourant la transaction", les commissaires ont tenu les administrateurs
personnellement responsables de la somme de 134 035,35 $.
h.c.
Commissaires:
Sir
Pierre-Armand Landry
Fulton MacDougall
Almon I. Tweed .
