iences were followed by other services. The water and sewage system, for instance, was installed immediately after the epidemic of smallpox of 1885. CONFEDERATION. One of the interesting public ques¬ tions in the 1850's was the possibility of forming a union of the provinces of British . Prince Edward Island was then unfavourable to the scheme and refused to discuss the matter officialty with the other provinces. When Mari¬ time union was proposed in the following decade the three eastern provinces agreed to a meeting in Charlottetown , and the conference opened on September 1, 1864. Meanwhile the Canadian Government asked if it might send delegates to the conference to see if the proposed Maritime union could be extended to include all the provinces. This request was grant¬ ed and seven Canadians headed by John A. MacDonald came to join the meeting as unofficial observers. The people of the Island, nevertheless, showed little interest in the Conference. There was no official welcome. The delegates had to remain aboard ship since they could find no accommodation in Char¬ lottetown which was full of visitors, attracted, not by the con¬ ference, but by a visiting circus. There is little information about what went on at the meeting which was held in the Council Chamber in the Colonial Building . But the discussions produced three definite results. It became obvious that Maritime union was imprac¬ tical. It was agreed that a larger scheme was feasible and that a further conference should be held in Quebec to discuss details. But in many ways the most important achievement of the Charlottetown Conference was the exchange of goodwill and opinion among the delegates. The leading statesmen of the provinces had hitherto had little opportunity of getting to know one another, and both the formal discussions and the social activities at Charlottetown did much to facilitate the personal relationships so necessary for future negotiations. The conference was the starting point for the succession of events that ultimately led to union, hence the designation of Charlottetown as "The Cradle of Confederation". 39