Part 47 (1/2)

It was said that the appearance of Mr. Lampson's name as Deputy Governor of the new Company had heightened the first feeling of distrust, for this gentleman and his commercial connections had long been the Company's great rivals in the fur marts, carrying on a vigorous compet.i.tion at all accessible points.[123]

[Sidenote: Governor Dallas's Suggestions.]

Governor Dallas, almost immediately upon his arrival in Montreal, caused a circular to be issued, addressed to all the factors, completely refuting all these charges and innuendoes. Many conferences took place between Dallas and Watkin as to the working of the Company in the fur territories on the new basis. Dallas kept the Governor and Committee in London fully advised of the state of affairs, accompanied by proposals as to the compensation to be allowed the aggrieved wintering partners. An interesting object, which it was desired to accomplish at this time, was an exchange of boundary between the Company and the United States, so as to permit Superior City being brought into British territory by means of a fair payment and exchange of land. The negotiations looking to this end, although at one time promising, proved a failure.

It was believed that the first measure necessary towards the re-organization of the Hudson's Bay service would be the abolition or modification of the Deed Poll, under which the trade was then conducted. The wintering partners (chief factors and chief traders) had certain vested rights, and these could not be interfered with without compensation.[124]

One mode suggested by Governor Dallas of removing the difficulty was to ascertain the value of a retired interest, and bestow a money compensation to each officer on his entering into an agreement to consent to the abrogation of the Deed Poll. As regarded the shares held in retirement, some of the interests had nearly run out and none of the parties had any voice in the business. The value of a (one-eighty-fifth) share was ascertained to be (on the average of the previous thirteen ”outfits”) about 408, at which rate a chief factor's retired interest would amount to 3,264, and a chief trader's to 1,632. Adding the customary year's furlough on retiring, a factor's retired allowance would be 4,080, and a trader's 2,040. On such a scale of commutation it would cost the Company 114,500 to buy out its officers.

As a set-off to this outlay Governor Dallas suggested a substantial reduction in salaries. Under the then existing organization the pay of officers in the service was 2,000 to the Governor-in-Chief, 16,000 amongst sixteen chief factors, 14,000 to thirty-five chief traders, and 10,000 to the clerks, a total officers' pay-roll of 38,000. He proposed to cut this down as follows:

Governor-in-Chief 2,000 Lieutenant-Governor 1,250 Four Councillors at 800 3,200 Twenty-five chief traders at 300 7,500 One hundred clerks at various salaries 10,000 ------ 23,950

But Sir Edmund and his colleagues thought otherwise. The wintering partners were not yet to reap any profit from the sale of the Company's a.s.sets. The Deed Poll remained in full force until 1871, when they were paid 107,055 out of the money received from Canada for Rupert's Land and the North-West.

[Sidenote: Threatened Deadlock in Red River Settlement.]

In 1863 the Company's government had almost come to a deadlock in the Red River settlement. Two cases had just occurred of prisoners having been forcibly rescued from gaol; and they, with about thirty to fifty others implicated in the riots, continued at large, fostering discontent. The only paper published, the notorious _Nor'-Wester_, was in the hands of the Company's bitterest enemies.[125] The position of those in authority was so disagreeable that it was with great difficulty that Governor Dallas persuaded the magistrates to continue their duties. Governor McTavish, who was in charge of a.s.siniboine, resigned, and others were prepared to follow his example, including the Governor-in-Chief himself. Fortunately the open malcontents were few in number and the volunteer force was sufficient to protect the gaol and support law and order, were it not for the unwise zeal of the Company's partisans who were ready to engage in a free fight with the agitators. This, beyond question, would have led to a repet.i.tion of the Semple tragedy of 1816. It may be noted that the Company's unpopularity in the Red River country, according to Governor Dallas, ”arose entirely from the system, not from the faults of its administrators.”

The agitation against the Company still continued, but slowly. It seemed difficult for the parties interested in the abolition of the Company's rights to agree upon a single scheme which would be permanently satisfactory, and not too costly. Sir Edmund Head expressed himself in favour of a complete sale of rights and owners.h.i.+p to the Imperial authorities. But this scheme was, as has been seen, beset with almost insuperable difficulties. In November, 1863, Sir Edmund suggested that an equal division be made of the territory fit for settlement between the Company and the Crown, with inclusion of specified tracts in the share of the former; secondly, that the Company construct the road and telegraph; thirdly, that the Crown purchase such of the Company's premises as should be required for military use, and to pay the Company a net third of all future revenue from gold and silver.

In his Speech from the Throne, on the 19th February, 1864, Lord Monk, the Governor-General of Canada, alluded to the matter, which was beginning to engross the public mind.

”The condition,” said he, ”of the vast region lying on the north-west of the settled portions of the Province is daily becoming a question of great interest. I have considered it advisable to open a correspondence with the Imperial Government, with a view to arrive at a precise definition of the geographical boundaries of Canada in that direction. Such a definition of boundary is a desirable preliminary to further proceedings with respect to the vast tracts of land in that quarter belonging to Canada, but not yet brought under the action of our political and munic.i.p.al system.”

It was hoped by many that the Company could be induced to sell out its rights to the Imperial Government, and out of the territory to carve out a new Crown Colony.

In the course of the ensuing debate on the address, the Honourable William McDougall, Minister of Crown Lands, who was officially concerned in the matter, stated that ”the Government of Canada had reached a conclusion upon the advisability of determining whether the Red River territory belonged to Canada or to some other country.” The consequence was that a correspondence had been opened with the Imperial Government upon the subject. Mr. McDougall thereupon announced his individual view of the case as being that ”Canada was ent.i.tled to claim as a portion of its soil all that part of the North-West territory that could be proved to have been in possession of the French at the time of the cession of Canada to the British.”

It was not at all likely that the Duke of Newcastle would share such a view, or that he would entirely acquiesce with the suggestion of Sir Edmund Head on behalf of the Company. Under date of the 11th of March, and 5th of April, 1864, he formulated the appended proposals:--

1. The Company to surrender to the Crown its territorial rights.

2. To receive one s.h.i.+lling for every acre sold by the Crown but limited to 150,000 in all, and to fifty years in duration, whether or not the receipts attained that amount.

3. To receive one-fourth of any gold revenue, but limited to 100,000 in all, and to fifty years in duration.

4. To have one square mile of adjacent land for every lineal mile constructed of road and telegraph to British Columbia.

[Sidenote: The surrender of Territorial Rights.]

These proposals were carefully considered by Sir Edmund Head and his colleagues, and it was decided at a meeting on the 13th of April to accept them, subject to certain alterations. It was urged that the amount of payments within fifty years should either not be limited or else placed at the sum of 1,000,000 sterling, instead of a quarter of that sum. The Company also suggested that a grant be made to it of five thousand acres of wild land for every fifty thousand acres sold by the Crown.

In the meantime the Duke of Newcastle had been succeeded in the Colonial Secretarys.h.i.+p by Mr. Cardwell, who on the 6th of June wrote to say that he could not entertain the amendments of the Company. For several months nothing was done, but in December the Honourable Adventurers again met and again showed their desire for an amicable and reasonable arrangement. They offered to accept 1,000,000 for the territory which they then defined, and which was substantially in extent the whole region granted them in the Charter of Charles II. In 1865 the Hon. George Brown went to England to come to terms over the proposed transfer, but without success.

[Sidenote: America purchases Alaska.]

The charter of the Russian Company was about to expire. It had underlet to the Hudson's Bay Company all its franchise on the mainland between 54 40' and Mount St Elias; and now it was proposed that an American Company, holding direct from the Russian Government, should be subst.i.tuted, and it seemed to the Americans a good opportunity to organize a fur-trading company to trade between the States and the Russian possessions in America. But before the matter could mature, the American and Russian Governments interposed with a treaty, by which Alaska was ceded to the States for $7,200,000 in gold. Few treaties have ever been carried out in so simple a manner. Russia was glad to be rid of her possessions in North America. The sum of $7,000,000 was originally agreed upon; but when it was understood that a fur company and an ice company enjoyed monopolies under the existing government, it was decided to extinguish these for the additional sum.

On 1st July, 1867, the Confederation of the scattered British Provinces of North America was made an accomplished fact, amidst general rejoicings. On the 4th of December, Mr. McDougall, who was now Minister of Public Works for the new Dominion of Canada, brought in, at the first session of Parliament, a series of resolutions directly relating to the acquisition of Rupert's Land and the Great North-West:--