^ ^%^. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I lit B2 M2.2 1^ 12.0 Ul li£iJi4l^ ^ 6" ► "^ V] ^^?-' »* '/ -r Photographic Sciences Corporation '^''"^U ^ ^.V^ 23 WEST MAIN STREIT WIUTiR,N.Y. 14580 (716) •72-4503 CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CiHI\/l/iCIVIH Collection de microfiches. Canadian institute for Historical IMicroreproductions / institut Canadian da microreproductions historiquas <\ Tachnical and Bibliographic Notaa/Notas tachniquaa at bibliographiquaa Thi to The Inatltuta haa attampted to obtain tha baat original copy avaiiabia for filming. 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Maps, platas, charts, ate, may ba filmad at diffarant reduction ratios. Thosa too larga to ba antiraiy included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Lea cartes, planches, tableaux, etc.. pauvant Atre fiimAs A dee taux da rAduction diff Arants. Loraque la document est trop grand pour Atra raproduit en un soul clichA, 11 est filmA A partir da I'angia supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite. et de haut en bas, an prenant la nombre d'images nAcessaire. Las diagrammea suivants iilustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 piNCOtrVER'S IglvlND, » 7n THB HUDSON^S BAy COMPANY, AND THI GOVERNMENT. ''""^'J^ BY JAMES EDWARD FITZGERALD, ESQ. ki IReprinttdJhm tke '< ColmM JUagazme** for Skptemhtr, 1848,3 >«(^'- LONDON: SIMMOKDS & CO., COLONIAL PUBLISfilSElS, 6, BABGE-YABD^ BUCKLERSBUET. 1848. m," VANCOUVER'S ISLAND, &Q. SiNCs the publication of oar former remarks on Vaoooaver'i Islaod, events have occorred which prove that we did not, at all events, pany in a farm on the island would not be sufficient to satisfy the re- quirements of the charter — in fact, whether the Uttle trading fort on the island at this moment is not enough — we will ask, whether it is not possible for the Company to found a settlement of some magnitude with comparatively no expense at all. Those who are interested in this question are aware of the fact, that negotiations are now going on between the Americans and the Hudson's Bay Company, for the purchase, according to the provisions of the treaty for the settlement of the north-west boundary of all the establish- ments belonging to the Company which are situated to the south of the boundary line. The farms of the Puget's Sound Agricultural Associa- tion are included in this arrangement ; and it is the intention of that Company, in the event of Vancouver's Island being given to the Hud- son's Bay Company, to remove its whole establishments thither. If all the settlers under the Hudson's Bay Company, who are now in the Oregon Territory, south of the 49° parallel, are brought into Vancouver's Island, no doubt a settlement of some magnitude will be formed ; one, at any rate, quite large enough to satisfy the obligation which is imposed on the Company to found " a settlement" in the island. And as the Americans are bound by the treaty to pay for all the improvements which the Company have made, the Company will have this capital in hand to start their settlement in Vancouver's Island. Hence it is mani- fest that there is no necessity whatever, as far as the charter is con- cerned, that the Company should spend a sixpence of the profits derived from the land and from the minerab in the Colonisation and improve- THB HUDSON 8 BAT OOMPANT, AND TUB OOVBRNMRNT. 15 meat of the island. There is nothing whatever to prevent their potting the whole of such profits into their own pockets. And if it be said that the very reason why the Hudson's Bsv Company ought to have the island, is because they will be able to colonise more readily than any other Company or parties, remember this, that the same results would have occurred to whomsoever you gave the island. The Puget's Sound Com- pany would, in all probability, have removed their establishments to Vancouver's Island, whoever were the lords of it i so that all the advan- tages to be derived from this arrangement might have been secured, and, at the same time, the parties into whose hands the Colonisation of the country was entrusted, might have been bound in addition to spend the proceeds of the land and minerals in immigration. But, as we said before, there is nothing to prevent the Hudson's Bay Company giving a considerable portion of land to the Puget's Sound Company, that is, to themselves under another name, and putting all the profits from other sources into their own pockets. ' From what fell from Lord John Russell, subsequently to the debate in the House of Commons, we learn that the charter, as originally proposed, is to undergo some alteration, and that it is to be submitted to the Com- mittee of the Privy Council for Trade, with whom it will finally rest whether the grant shall be made or not. We certainly understood Lord John Russell to say that some new conditions would be added to the charter, to ensure the island being properly colonised by the Hudson's Bay Company. It was, then, with profound astonishment that we heard Lord Grey, a few nights afterwards, hold this language in the House of Lords :-^" There was no intention to suspend it (the charter) in conse- quence of anything that had happened ; but there was an intention, from the first, that before any grant should finally issue, the subject should be fully considered by the Privy Council ; and if any conditions could be introduced, providing for the performance of those duties which were already imposed on the Company in their grant, it should be done." It is impossible not to remark the discrepancy, in language and tone, between Lord John Russell and Lord Grey. However, we cannot but hope that before this reference is made to the Privy Council, some plan will be devised altogether more adapted to the object in view ; and that if this grant to the Hudson's Bay Company is persisted in, it will, at any rate, be coupled with such conditions and obligations, that they will be compelled to colonise the island not nominally but really. We think that this point should be pressed upon their Lordships' attention — that the charter should contain a distinct provision, in ac- cordance with Sir J. H. Pelly's proposal, and with Mr. Hawes' reply ; and that the Company should be specifically bound to expend, in the Colonisation and settlement of the country, at any rate some portion, if not the whole, of the profits which may be derived from the land and the minerals. Lord Grey, in his speech in the House of Lords, stated that the land was given to the Company " as trustees for the exercise of those duties which the Government would have had to perform." " The principle that they would proceed upon was, that, having received the land in the mass 16 ▼ANCOUVBR S ISLAND, I 1 Si from the Government, they woald sell it in retail, as it were, in small por- tions to settlers; and thepurchase-money received from these settlers would be applied in the first instance to the necessary expenses of Colonisation." All this is well enough, if true ; but what security is there that anything of the kind will occur. Again, Lord Grey said that the Chairman of the Hudson's Bay Company had informed him that the Company did not intend to work the mines themselves, but to let them to other parties on lease, those parties paying royalty to the Hudson's Bay Company. The Chairman of the Hudson's Bay Company may have said this to the Colonial Minister, but that gentleman holds different language elsewhere ; and we confidently believe Lord Grey will find tlpat the Company do intend to work the mines themselves, and thai : >ie mines will be so worked. Is Lord Grey aware that Sir G. Simpson was negotiating long ago with the Americans to supply them with coal on the part of the Company ; and that if the negotiation did not succeed, it was from the manner in which it was conducted by the Company, and not from any disinclination to complete it ? The second point to be noticed in the proposed charter is this : the Company are required to " dispose of the land as may be necessary for the purpose of promoting settlements." There is no allusion made to the manner in which tne land is to be disposed of. There is nothing to prevent the Hudson's Bay Company dividing the whole island amongst its own Directors. And such division would be good, we take it, in law, for even if the island be resumed again by the Crown, in consequence of the Company not having fulfilled its engagements, it is provided in the charter that such resumption will be "without prejudice" '*to such dispositions as may have been made in the mean time," " of any land in the island, for the actual purposes of Colonisation and set- tlement, and as shall have been certified as aforesaid to one of our principal Secretaries of State" — a condition which a farm or two will be sufficient to satisfy. It will be impossible to interpret this clause to mean, that no one can have a good title to land in the island except a resident Colonist ; for if it would bear t'his construction, that would be of itself enough to show the absurdity of the charter, for no Colony could exist where the rights of property were so meddled with. We say, therefore, there is nothing to prevent the Company granting away the whole property on the island to any one they please — the members, for example, of their own corporation. The whole thing is left to the discretion of the Hudson's Bay Company. They are to dispose of the land as may be necessary ; that is to say, as they may think necessary. There is nothing to prevent their granting all the best land in the island to themselves, under their eynonyme of the Puget's Sound Agricultural Association, and then demanding an exorbitant price for the rest, from any who desire to become independent Colonists. Indeed, the first of these things there is every probability of their actually doing. The second will be a ready and legal means of carrying out the object of preventing any, but those completely under their rule, from intruding into the country. ' Now, we really do want to know what has become of all the prin- ».» THK fIVOSON 8 BAT COMPANY, AND TIIK OOVRRNMRNT. 17 lere ; and we »r two will be ciples of ColoniMtion which the gentlemen who now administer the Colonial afliura have so long and eloquently professed ? Is there any truth, or is there none, in the views pat forward by the founders of the New Zealand Company, for example ? Are we to be liarangaed Bnd written into opinions, which we are told are essential to sound Colonisa- tiou ? And are the apostles and disciples of these opinions to undo, the very moment they have the opportunity, atl that they have written and said ? But, in the present instance, it is not only that one set of principles have been discarded, and another set adopted, but these gentlemen dis- card their old views and take up none other. They throw all the trouble and responsibility on the Company. In a fit of despair, at the com> plexities of conflicting Colonisation theories, they exclaim* with the Jewish monarch, " Vanity uf vanities — all is vanity." Here, good Company 1 take the land — do what is necessary, and for Heaven's sake don't give us the trouble of thinking anything more about it. Surely, it was only a false and inconsistent delicacy that prevented the Govern- ment giving the whole continent to the same obliging recipients of Ministerial respoubibility. We will offer at present no further objection to what is in Ae charter, but there is something to be said about what is not in it. First, there is nothing about the govmment of the Colony in the charter. All that we know about the intended government we learn from a letter from Downing-street, dated 31st July, 1848. In this Mr. Hawes says that a commission is to be issued from the Colonial-office to a Governor appointed by the Crown, by which he would *' be directed to summon ate assembly, elected by the general votes of the inhabitants, to exercise, in conjunction with himself and a council, nominated in the usual manner, the powers of legislation." Now, we do not understand this mode of making a constitution. The government is to be free, but it is to be established by a commission from the Colonial-office. We do not quite understand what is to pre- vent the Colonial-office recalling that commission should they at any time see fit so to do. Now, what is the object of this ? Is it anticipated that Colonists will go to so distant a part of the world, with the promise of a free consti- tution, which shaU guard them against the oppression of a powerful Company, and yet with no security that that constitution may not be destroyed by the caprice of a Minister, or by the influence of a Company, which may, and probably will, find a free government at variance wim their notions and with their interests, and whose influence at the Coloniid- office the whole history of this afihir shows us to be all powerful ? The present case is wholly different from that of Jamaica and tX New- foundland, cited by Lord Grey in bis speech. In the present Mse, the Colonists are to go out under the authority of a powetfnl Company, which is accused of great oppression, and of interference with the free privileges of the settlers in another part of its dominieii». Nothing brU a free constitution can guard the Colonists from this dangtr ; and if t^t constitution is to be given only on the word of the Colonial-offiee, which is almost eompletely under the influence of the very Company from xvhom 18 VANCOVVIIRt ISLAND, the evils are expected to arise, we do assert that there i« no seoarity given at all. The free constitution ought to be a part of the original charter of the Colony. In the next place, it is not very easy to know what is meant by the general votes of the inhabitants. Is there to be universal suffrage, or household suffrage, or what ? Then, with regard to the administration of the law. Mr. Hawes pro- ceeds—" Provision is already made for establishing a judicial authority, under the Act for establishing a criminal and civil jurisdiction in certain parts of North America." Now, here it is necessary to remark that, when Mr. Gladstone alluded in his speech to the fact that a man had been executed at the Red River Settlement, Mr. Hawes made several interruptions—- first, to throw doubt on the fact ; but that would not do. Then, he asked — " Was it before trial ?" What had that to do with it ? We will inform Mr. Hawes. it was not before trial ; we believe the man was tried and regu- larly sentenced. But what of that ? If a county magistrate were to try a man and sentence him to death, and hang him. would it be a justifi- cation to say, " the man was tried." The magistrate, or the man who performed his bidding, would be tried for murder, and probably found guilty, because the magistrate has no authority according to the law to sentence a man to death. Well, Mr. Hawes, to leave no stone unturned, again interrupted Mr. Gladstone — " It might be under Act of Parliament." It would not be very hard upon the Under-Secretary for the Colonies to expect him to know whether it was. or was not, under Act of Parliament. All the authority which the Hudson's Bay Company can possibly have to inflict punishment is derived from three sources — first, their charter ; secondly, the Act 43 George III., c. 138 ; and, thirdly, the Act 1 and 2 George IV., c. 66. The charter certainly does not give the power of life and death. The subsequent Acts tend to limit, not to increase, the power of the Company in this respect ; and it was immediately shown by Mr. Gladstone that the Act 1 and 2 George IV., c. 66, so far from giving the power of life and death, particularly provi " » that felons are to be transmitted to the Canadian courts for trial. Upon this digression, into which we have been led by Mr. Hawes' remark, we may make this observation with respect to the proposed pro- vision for the execution of criminal justice in the new Colony in Van- couver's Island — ^viz., it is not to be wondered at that, when Mr. Hawes displays so little knowledge in the House of Commons as to the con- tents of the Act of Parliament, he should fancy that it will do very well what, in fact, it cannot do at idl. It is provided by the Act, which is put forward in Mr. Hawes' letter as a sufficient provision for the administration of criminal law in the island, that all felons, and all civil causes in which the property is of a greuicT value than £200, shall be tried in the Canadian courts ; and the magistrates appointed under that Act are bound to transmit such crimi- nals and causes to the Canadian courts for trial. So that, in the new Colony of Vancouver's Island, the Colonists are not to be allowed to try a felon themselves : the felon may not be tried by a jury of his conn- THM HUDBON ■ BAT COMPANY, AND THB OOYKRNMBNT. 19 trymen ; bat felon, witnesses, and all, are to be sent a three montba' joamey across tbe Rocky Mountains ; of which, of coarse, all the expenses will have to be paid by the Colony. This will be cheap law, indeed ! The Parliament did not think it right to trust such a Company as the Hudson's Bay Company with powers of life and death ; and wisely, as we think. That Company was carrying its operations through distant lands, and with an almost unlimited power, where no eye could watch its pro« ceedings ; and the Parliament wisely looked with jealousy upon its admi> nistration of justice, and dreaded lest its execution of the law should become the excuse for oppression. But, in the case of a free Colony, there cannot be imagined a more clumsy and childish contrivance than one which provides that no crimes, but the most trifling, shall be tried, except at a distance of more than 2,000 miles from the scene of the offence. It is necessary thai we should allude, before concluding these remarks, to the debate which took place in the House of Commons, on Friday the 18th of August, and which must exercise the most important influence on the destinies of the north-west coast of America. This debate resulted in a virtual defeat of the Ministry. For they have been compelled, at any rate, to promise that further security shall be taken from the Hudson's Bay Company before the grant shall be made. This, at least, was the promise to the Commons made by Lord John Russell. Earl Grey seemed to think that he might venture to hold different language in the House of Lords, and slurred over the question in such a manner as to leave great doubt on the public mind whether the pledge given in the Commons will be kept or not. We hope, however, this debate will rescue the new Colony from subservience to a powerful and grasping trading Company, under which it would have pined and died, had it, indeed, ever come to a birth at all. The debate has done much already : it has given a publicity to the whole question, and especially to the vast importance and deep interest which attaches to the island. It is, how- ever, much to be regretted that the question should not have been brought before the House at an earlier period of the session. There were reasons for this. None of those who took an interest in the result of the negotiaHons belieyed that the Government would proceed to make any new grant to the Hudson's Bay Company, until the charges before them relating to the mismanagement of the Company in its own terri- tories had been investigated and cleared up. And there was not only a general feeling on this point, but there were positive grounds for so thinking. The country is much indebted to Mr. Christy, the member for New- castle, for the steady and persevering manner in which he has watched the proceedings for several months. Now when there was a report that it was the intention of the Government to make this grant to the Com- pany, Mr. Christy addressed a letter to the Colonial-office, to which the following answer was returned : — Downing Street, April 11th, 1848. " Mr Dbar Sib — In reply to your note of the 4th inst., requesting to be informed whether you rightly understood me to say ' that the Government had concluded not to come to any decision on any appUcU' 90 VANrOUVIR • ISLAND. Itm of the Hudson's Bay Company until the report of Lord Elgin received.' And further asking ' if it be the intention of the Govern- meot to give to Parhameak the opportunity of considering this Report before any privileges are renewed or granted to the Ceaspaoy/ 1 bee to say that yon understood fross me. correctly, that the Government nad not come to any decision, on any application of the Hudson's Bay Company, relating to the difference existing between certain settlers on the Red River and the Company, and intended to wait for the Report oi Lord Elgin, and that before any decision on these questions is finally come to, Lord Grey will readily give the parties ample notice. " Believe me, &c., &c., " S. Christy, Esq., M.P." (Signed) " B. HAwns." When the printed correspondence appeared, Mr. Christy and his friends were very much surprised to find, that, at the time the above letter bad been written, tho Government were oontemplating making the grant of Vancouver's Island to the Hudson's Bay Company. Mr. Hume read it out in the House of Commons, and Mr. Hawes replied that it had nothing to do with the questicm ; that the promise given was that the Red River question should come before the House before it was settled and that the letter had no allusion at all to tiie Vancouver Island grant. Now, when we read the note carefully, we see that it is so worded that Mr. Hawes' explanation is good, so far ; but Mr. Christy's question did refer to the proposed grant. Mir. Christy asks a question about one thing, and Mr. Hawes gives an answer about another thing. This is Colonial-office policy. It has certainly been so far socceuful, that for some time those gentlemen in the House of Commons who had an eye on the proceedings of the Government in relstion to the Hudson's Bay Company, were thrown off the scent, and were under the impression that no further gisnt was to be made at present. It wtas not until the answer to the question asked by Lord TJnooln, that it was beUeved that the Government really intended to make this grant. In noticing the debate which at length tiook place, the speech delivered by Mr. C. BuUer is of the greatest importance. It was in"- possible to read it without a feeUng of sadness. Everything which falls from Mr. BuUer, connected with the subject of Colonisation, com- mands, and is in general entitled to, the respect of the public. It is, therefore, with a feeling of eaduess that ve hear him making obser- vations in defence of a bad cause, which proves nothing but his utter ignorance of the whole subject. It is painful to hear anyone talk of what they know nothing, but still more so to hear this done by a man of Mr. Bttller'a authority on Colonial sratters. The ignorance of most men is of no consequence ; but the ^norance of men in authority is mis- chievous. When Mr. Bidler sud that Vancouver'* Island was the last spot in the world to which emigration waa Ukely to flow, he must, in the 6nt place, have paid very little attention to what fell from the Under-Secretary for the Colonies, who said that, "many parties manifested a desire to colonise Vancouver's Island." But farther, Mr, Buller baa done on this occasion what greater men THB nOOSON • lAT COMrANT, AMD TUB OOVMRNMBNT. 31 than Im ■ometioMt do» imwiMly : h« ha* gjven rtatmu for hi* opinion^ Had be givBD his opiouw. with the weight of bia authMrity, we might have takea it for what it ia worth, and that ia never a little ; but Mr. BuHer givca ua the facta on whieb bia opinion ia foonded. And they are theae : — Firat, the voyage to the iiland o&capiea aix montha : secondly, the coat of emigration will be fifty poonda a nan. Now, if Mr. Bailer had known anything, or read ar.y thing, of late occurrences respecting tbia question, he would bave known that as soon aa the steamera begin to run from Panama to the Columbia (and we can inform him that these steamers are now in the water, and the first is to start next October), it. will be possible to get from England,, almost the whole way to the island, in steamers of the first class ; the length of the passage acrosa the Isthmus of Panama being only 23 miles. Arrangements having been now made by the United States for open- ing a communication from Chagres to Panama, for the purpose of conveying the mails for the Oregon by the steamers above-mentioned, there ia more than a probability that in a short time there will be an easy mode of travelling across the Isthmus. The distance, then, ao for as the means of oommonicatitm are concerned, would be little more than half that to the Australian Colonies and New Zealand. Of course poof eroigranta could nut go out in these steamers ; but if the scheme for supplyini; the steamers with coal at Panama were carried into execution (and we can again assure Mr. Buller, that it is from no disiuclination on the part of the Americans to buy the coal that that scheme is not carried out, for they are most anxious to try the Vancouver's Island coal) — if, we say,, this scheme were carried out, then the vessels which bring the coal down to Panama are available to convey the emigrants back to the island : and in this case, the voyage would be much shorter than that to the Australian Colonies. Then, again, with regard to the expense, Mr. Buller was talking wildly when he spoke of £50 per head as the cost of emigration. Mr. Wyld answered thia when he said that there were many merchants in the City of London who were quite prepared to take out emigrants at the rate of £t 7 each. An offer has been made to take out emigrants for £20 a^head to our own knowledge. But there can be little doubt that in the event of the coal comouinication being opened, a still less sum would be sufficient. So much, then, for Mr. Butler's /acts as objections to the Colonisation of Vancouver's Island. But what possessed Mr. Buller to run a tilt against Vancouver's Island as a field for Colonisation it is impossible to comprehend. " His belief was that till they had filled the Cape of Good Hope. New Holland, and New Zealand, Vancouver's Island would be a closed field for emigrants. What was the trade of this place? Talk of its harbours ! for what purpose of maritime defeuce, command, or trade ? The whule Pacific was commanded by other harbours, by Labuan, New Zealand, and Hong>Kong. Were we to abandon our natural fields of Colonisation for Vancouver's Island } Talk of trade ! What trade had we with Vancouver's Island ? What produce had the island to offer us ? He believed his honourable friend, the Secretary for the Colonies, had rather 90 ▼ANCOUVMR • ISLAND, t| ^3 i y il: depreciated the climate. Hit own Amerioan experience led him to befiefe it was one of the fioeit climate* in the world. But with regard to the soil it was quite different. The report was that there was ex* eeedinely little valuable land. He had nerer heard that there was anjr ▼alnable timber, or any partioufar produce in that country." It is not easy to imagine a more unfortunate, exhibition of flippant ignorance than the above. What does Mr. Buller mean by the PScific being commanded by Labuan, Hong-Kong, and New Zealand ? Neither Labuan nor Hong- Kong can, under any circumstances, become British Colonies. They may become occupied positions, like Gibraltar or Malta, but Colunies they can never be. And what has New Zealand to do with the Pacific Ocean ? — with the Sandwich Islands ? — with the trade which, ere long, will pass between Cliioa and the American continent ? Perhaps it has escaped Mr. Butler's knowledge (as so much seems to have done) on this topic, that there is a plan at this moment in con- templation, in the United States, for running a line of steamers from California to the coast of China ? It is shown that the straight end shortest course will take the vessels close to the Aleutian or Fox Islands. Of this any one may satisfy themselves by taking a bit of cotton and stretching it on a globe from one point to the other. It is, therefore, proposed to establish a depdt of coals at the above-nsmed islands, in the most southerly of the group : this is nearly the middle point between California and the coast of China. A glance at the map will show that the coal at this dep6t may be supplied immediately from Vancouver's Island, the distance between the two being very moderate. It is unde- niable that, were such a plan as that which has been proposed to the American Government adopted, the whole supply of the coal for these steamers would be drawn from Vancouver's Island. It is blindness not to foresee that the time is coming when trade will thus flow from the east of Asia immediately into the west of America. Mr. Buller might have known something of this when he said,. " Talk of trade ! What trade had we with Vancouver's Island .'" But, again, "the report was, there was exceedingly little valuable land." That may be the report of the Chairman of the Hudson's Bay Company, whose information and recollections are generally, it would seem, regulated somewhat by the object in view. But it is not the report of all disinterested men who know anything about the matter, and we assert it is not the report of the Hudson's Bay Company's servants generally. " He had never heard that there was any valuable timber or any particular produce in that country." Tt is wonderful, and provi- dential as displaying to the public what all this language is worth, that Mr. C. Buller should have selected that for a subject of depre- ciation which is the peculiar and pre-eminent value of the north-west coast of America. The timber there attains a growth unknown, perhaps, in any other part of the world; so much so, that it would be difficult to credit the accounts as to the size and magnificence of the timber if all the testimonies were not unanimous on the point. But, in one kind, the timber is of remarkable value, and that is in spars for THB aVMON • BAt COMPANY. AND TBI OOTBRNMKNT. 23 ich teems to •hipping. Thev are Mid to be of a greater aize and better quality here than those which any other part of the world has produced, not excepting New Zealand. There are some at this moment m Woolwich Dockyard, which were brought over, we believe, iu on'* of the Company's ships, some years ago. There were some brought home by Her Mujesty's ship America as specimens; an A, if we htLf§ not been misinformed, more than one representation has been made to the Government, even by officers in Her Majesty's service, urging them to take advantage of these splendid spars, which grow close to the water's edge, and can be obtained with very little trouble along the north shores of Vancouver's Island, and of the American coast still further northward. The larger spars in ships fetch enormous prices in this country, and are difficult to obtain anywhere ; and calculations have been made to show that great profits may be realised by bringing cargoes from the north-west coast. If there be any grounds for believing this BO10, when no cargo could be procured out, further than to South America, how much more would the speculation be likely to succeed, when a Colony in the island would give outward-bound ships good freights ? But it is not only here that a market could be found. The Sandwich Islands require a supply for the American whale ships, numbers of which refit there between the fishing seasons. China, ton, would offer a very extensive market. Besides this, if Mr. C. Buller had asked Sir J. H. Pelly. before he made these assertions, he would have been informed that the money which has been invested in the neighbourhood of Puget's Sound iu agricultural improvement has paid a good per centbge to the shareholders in London. One article of export has been wool, and the experiment has proved most euccessful. Now, it is asserted by persons who have been on that coast, that the land in Vancouver's Island is richer than any of the land about the Puget Sound. On the subject of trade we will add. that salmon are to be caught in such abundance, there is every prospect of an extensive and lucrative trade in this article. But we should like to know, will any Colonist be allowed to fish ? The fisheries are granted to the Company by the proposed charter. This is a most important question — will the Colonist be allowed to fish without a licence from the Company ? We hope some satisfactory information will be published on this bead. But Mr. Buller asks, "Are we to abandon our natural fields of Colonisation for Vancouver's Island ?" Natural fields ! What makes them natural? That Mr. C. Buller has been pleased to devote hia attention to them, and has left it to others to call the attention of the public to Vancouver's Island ? The length of voyage to Vancouver's Island is not so great, as we have before shown, as that to the Australian Colonies. The climate is more like that of our own country ; the geogra- phical situation is such as to offer a prospect of the settlers becoming one day the carriers throughout the Pacific Ocean, which there is no natural or geographical prospect of any of our Australian Colonies ever becom- ing. The wealth of Australia being the wool trade, as the population increases this source of wealth must diminish; but, on the contrary, the wealth of Vancouver's Island depending on its position, the value ¥ m i; ■ I 84 VANCOUVKH S 18Jropany in the conntry ? Nothing, then, oan be further from the troth than the sUtement of Lord Grey, that these rights cottld not be got rid of without large compensation; and it is dis- creditable in the highest degree to the Minister to make a statement so utterly at variance with fact, upon a subject on which, from the arbitrary manner in which he has adrised the Crown to ezerdse its powers, the cunntry hss a right to expect his information to be perfectly accurate, and his statements to be perfectly unquestionable. We must recur for one moment to the part which Major Crofton plays in this aflhir. That Major Crofton is an '* officer and a gentleman" no one will for a moment doubt, without any assurance of Mr. Hawes on the subject ; nor that he will to the utmost of his ability act fairly and honourably towards all parties. This we do not doubt in the least degree ; but Major Crofton must himself feel that he has been placed by the Government in a very unpleasant position. This officer has gone out to the Red River settlement in command of a body of pensioners, under a system which has been lately adopted for organising bodies of pensioners, and sending them out as Colonists under their officers; giving them land to be held under military service, which they are bound to give whenever they may be called on to do so. Major Crofton was appointed to command the pensioners sent out to the Red River under this system ; but he is also appointed by the Hudson's Bay Com- Sany to be Governor of the Provbee. " Techniddly, no doubt," said Ir. Hawes, "he was Governor under the Company." TechmctUly ! why he receives his pay from the Company ; all his expenses are paid by the Company ; he does not receive a farthing from the Crown, as we are informed, except his half-pay as Major; he is appointed by the Company to be their Grovemor, and is dependant on the Crown for nothing except his military command ; but with this appointment under the Company, if he were to throw up his command to-morrow, we do not see how his position would be materially affected. He is as really and actually an officer and a servant of the Company as Sir G. Simpson or any one else. It seems to us quite as unfair to Major Crofton as it is unjust to those who have appealed from the Company to the Crown, to place him in the position of a commissioner to inquire into the charges brought against the Company. We will venture to say that in the whole history, even of the Colonial-office, there is no instance on record of such a cruel mockery of justice as this. A thousand subjects of her Majesty appeal from a Company under whose despotic rule they are governed. They appeal that they may be allowed to enjoy the privileges of British law and British liberty, of which they are deprived. They claim, as British subjects, the right of self-taxation ; they claim the right of trade without requiring a licence from the Government ; they claim the right of using the British cur- rency ; they claim a right to possess land in freehold — not to be com* pelled to ask leave of the Government whenever they want to sell or let their estates. There are many other rights they claim — all included in one word— British liberty. THB MVOSOM's bay COMFANr, AND THB OOVBRNMBNT. 27 ' Now. there cannot be oonoeived a more ingenion* method by whieh Major Crofton's Goremment can be made unpopnlar, than that wfaibh the Oolonial-office have adopted, of appointing him to investigate the charges preferred, by those over whom he is to rule, against the persona who have appointed him to role over them. Whatever may be the factj he cannot avoid incarring the suspicion, from all those over whom' hii government is to extend, of being unduly iofluenced in favour of those with whom his own interest has been unfortunately identified. Why, what aspect will the affaur have to the Red River settlers ? They will fancy that these pensioners are sent out to keep them in order ; that their memorial has been considered an act of rebellion, and so that the Government have thought it wise to settle a large body of emigrant warriors among them, paid by the Company, and commanded by the Company's officer; so that dl the benefits which might have been derived from the settlement of pensioners in this manner are risked, if not ruined, by the thing being done in such a way as to place the new Colonists in an attitude of hostility, and to expose them to the jealousy of the whole settlement. We do not envy Major Crofton his command or his government, but we shall be most delighted to hear, and most ready to acknowledge, that he has filled the delicate and difficult position in which the Government have placed him, with credit to himself and benefit to the people under his nde. Nor have we any doubt that he will use his best endeavours to do so ; and if he fail, it will not be his fault, but that of the clumsy and blundering policy which placed him in such a position. Our task is now done. If we have been compelled to criticise the conduct of the Colonial-office and of the Hudson's Bay Company, it has not been, as is sometimes the case with reviewers, merely for the sake of finding fault. We have tried, as far as lies in our power, to bring fairly before the public what has been done, and to represent what might have been done, in order that that public may decide what shall be done. And now that we are in possession of the " correspondence," and have listened to the debates in both Houses of Parliament, we cannot but esteem the conduct of the Colooial*office by far the more reprehensible of the two. The Hudson's Bay Company have had this business, as far as we can judge from the public documents— for what private influence may have been at work we do not know — rather pressed upon them than conceded to their importunity. The cunduct of the Colonial-office is not to be judged in reference to this question alone ; this is but a type of all their actions. We are led irresistibly to ask — What is the ColoniHl- office doing for the country ? What is the use of it ? Mr. Hawes states that many parties had manifested a desire to colonise Vancouver's Island. Then there were the elements of Colunisatiun upon which to work. There was that without which all your commercial speculations are not worth a cress of the common. There was the will. It would have been the part of a wise Minister, convinced of the value of the position, and anxious for its immediate occupation, to have so wielded the elemeuts before him as to have effected the object, which is admitted to be highly important. Was this done ? Were these several parties ¥■ 6 ▼ANCOUVm?* IILAND, oomin«biaitioa with one wiothin ^ Was then any eAirtmadfi to !• their operations— to effect tbak by union which codd not be fttfld witheot it ? Nothing of the kind., The answer* of the GoloniaU i/1M|e. are as mysterioos as thoae of an ooeacle.. Their principle B«eai» .^HKe— say as little as possible : the least said the soonest mended. The rasflllt of their p^cy is, that the island has been given to a Company whuae diameter ia such, that all those who are anxious to colonise the island will, in all probabflity, be ezduded from its limits, because they lave no confidence in the Company to whom it is given. Besides, the Colonial Minister tells them in pretty plain language, that their room would be more agreeable tbatt their company in Vao> oottver's Island. In his speech in the House of Lords, he says with one breadi, how essential it is to the interests of the countvy, that the iriand riioald be colonised, because, if not, it will be taken from us by Mor- monites, or other persons, thescum of American, society ; and with the next breath he says, it is true there were parties anxious to go out to colonise the island, bat what on earth did they pitch on Vaneou!ver's Island for ? There is Canada, there is New Hcdland,. there is New Zealand. U diey want to colonise, why can't they go there^ and let the Hudson's Bay Company have Vaneouver's Island iu' peace and quiet ? Now, bow wiU yon aceonnt to the country for this ? You say it is of the greatest importance some one diould go out to Vancouver's Island, and when any one offers to g^ out you say, " Go to New Zealand — go to New Holland." We wonder his Lordship's courtesy did not suggest to him to recommend these troublesome Emigrants to go to a well-known place having the reputation of a still hotter climate. Mr. Hawes' idea of a Colony is a purely commercial one. The Company have capital, so they can make a Colony. It is not so. There is something more than capital wanting to make a Colony. You must have mm; men of princii^e and men of action. Your capital may buy you a Colony of serfs ; yon may pay servants to go and work for you in any part of the world. And yon will find that, as interest ahite sent them thither, for interest alone will they stay there ; and, should it be their interest, they will revolt from your governance. Your capital may buy you — take care it doea not — ^a Colony that on the first slightest disagreement will throw itself into the arms of the Americans. But no capital can buy yon such a Colony as a British Minister ought to found. There must be men of education, of enterprise, of principle, of patriotism, in order to give a tone and character to the community ? not devoid of the motive of self-interest, we don't expect that of my man ; but not solely and sordidly influenced by it. We have no doubt vdwtever that, had there been no Colonial-Office, there would have been at this moment a powerful Colony in Vancouver's Island. However, we must now contemplste the possibility of this island falling into the hands of the Hudson's Bay Company. The gen- tlemen who rule that Corporation will forgive our saying a few words on what they may do, and ought to do, on their future duty or theii future &te. If we thought that these observations would meet their eye ; and. still more, if we thou^at that any remark of ours would be listened to in Feocburch- street without disrespect, yie would address them tbus:~ THE Hudson's bat oompant. aMo the oovkiinmbnt. 39 Geotkinen — Yoa have a great responsibiUty inpiposed op )oii. You have the |»o«rer of beoeminf the foaoders of a nei^ JStata, pemapa ni an Eknpire ; or dl amatiaf for a tiioe. for yo« oaanot ultiiaately preveat, the mareh of mankiad ia their career of vietorjr over the desolate and «»• calttvated parts of the earth. Whatever your condact any have^lipaa, and, bad as it has been, we admit yoa haive had great tenptationsiniMK' restratoed power and eoonaoos gaiaa; it ia poseible that, those teinpwc;^ tioDS beiag io a great measare removed, yoa may, with honour to ywHv selves, and with great benefit to yowr «oaiitry, adopt a new and generous poHoy. Yoar ezcluttve monopoly in the for trade you are well aware is not worth a tithe of w>hat it onoe was« and, even were sudli the quo, yoa cannot anticipate a renewal of your lioenoe. It may, then, be worth your while, now, at the eleventh hour, to turn you: attention to.T0. shtU call iU resoarces into life, reducing to the service of man the forests and prairies of its American shores — when the voice of the ocean's waves, no longer echoed by the silent rocks, shall be repeated by the busy murmnrings of human life — when the steam-vessel shall foam along the path where the canoe now glides, and the wharf and the palace abqill supplant the wigwam and the pine tree — it may be told, at such a tittle, that your Corporation, guidedby a wisdom which enabled it to meet every emergency, changing its policy with the changing spirit of the age, forgetting its ancient eiclusivenees in the consciousness of new reeponsibility, refreshing its energy with the increasing demands of society— it may be told that you established upon these now remote shores, the fathers of a great empire, and that by a wise and generous policy yon guided their youthful energies. This is what you may do ; but, should you neglect to fulfil these high duties which have been allotted to you, do not fancy that you can frus- trate the expectations, the necessities of the future. You may retard, you cannot prevent ; others will fulfil what you neglect. The destinies of man will be accomplished— to go forth and replenish the earth. The car of society will roll on ; you may help to drag it if you will — you may direct its course, but stay its progress you cannot ; linger in its path, and it will crush yon to atoms. if London i Printed by George Peiree, 310, Sfa«nd. ! of man the voice of the e repeated by sel shall foam ind the palace sld, at such a lied it to meet spirit of the sness of new ; demands of i now remote and generous Ifil these high you can frus- II may retard, he destinies of I earth. The cill— you may er in its path.