4. Summary

The early 1850s had seen the trend towards the multiplication of active interests in the Royal Mail lines first extended and then dramatically reversed. Rendering the elimination of Bethune a lengthy process were the variety of interests eager to share in the returns of the steamboat trade. The cartelization of both the mail lines and the associated Through Line was an attempt to control what otherwise could have been several seasons of cut-throat competition. Instead, through the medium of the cartel and the annual steamboat owner's convention, opposition was effectively reduced and the Montreal- Hamilton route reserved for the Royal Mail lines' proprietors. At the same time the costs of their service to the consumer did not rise. Such a happy state of affairs would not persist long with the impending completion of the Grand Trunk Railway.

As a method of line organization the cartel model was much more sophisticated than those which had preceded. It avoided the problems which had surfaced after one entrepreneur attempted to shoulder all the risks. At the same time the 'ad hoc' nature of the subcontracting model was reduced as the proprietors met annually to arrange all their affairs. But could the process survive the elimination of some of the principal sources of revenue upon the completion of the railway?

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Chapter 5 appeared in FreshWater.