I should do injustice to my own loving memory of the man, if I did not
publish some letters from the late Governor Dallas, which are, to my
mind, especially interesting. Though some of his views, in 1863, as to
the value of the Hudson's Bay lands, and their settlement, did not
accord with my own, yet his experience should plead against mine. No
one was more pleased than he to find that the country was in process -
after many delays, over which he and I used to groan in concert - of
successful colonization.
"MONTREAL,
"17th August, 1863.
"DEAR SIR,
"With reference to our late conversations upon various matters
connected with the past and future of the Hudson's Bay Company, I take
the liberty of calling your attention to several points of the business
requiring immediate attention, in a more explicit manner than I may
have done in desultory conversation.
"The government of the territory is come almost to a dead-lock in the
Red River Settlement, and nothing short of direct administration under
the authority of the Crown will, in my opinion, remedy the evil. Two
prisoners have been, in separate instances, forcibly rescued from jail,
and they, with about thirty to fifty others implicated in the riots,
are still at large, fostering discontent, and creating great disquiet.
Their secret instigator controls the only paper published in the
settlement, and its continued attacks upon the Company find a greedy
ear with the public at large, both in the settlement and in Canada. The
position of those in authority is so disagreeable that I have had great
difficulty in persuading the magistrates to continue to act. Mr.
William Mactavish, Governor of Assiniboin, has resigned his post, and I
have only been restrained from following his example, for a short time,
in the hope that a remedy would speedily be applied, and that I should
be relieved from the unfair position in which I find myself placed,
with all the responsibility, and the semblance of authority over a vast
territory, but unsupported, if not ignored, by the Crown. In the
absence of a just grievance, the cry of 'the Company' is quite a
sufficient watchword amongst the ignorant and discontented.
"The open malcontents are few in number, and I had ample volunteer
force at my back to protect the jail and support my authority, but, as
I have already explained to you, I could exercise but little control
over my friends, who were keen for what would have ended in a free
fight, with the certain death of the sheriff and ringleaders on both
sides, and led to endless animosities. It required more resolution on
my part to follow the course I did, than to have resisted the rioters.
For details of the transactions I refer you to my official letters to
the Board, which you will find in the Hudson's Bay House.
"Of the settlers, the greater number, including the French Canadians,
are our staunch personal friends, while the openly disaffected are but
few. There is still, however, a considerable portion of the people who,
though taking no open part, are yet dissatisfied. Some of these last
named have real or imaginary grievances, of long standing to complain
of, and nothing but the extinction of the governing powers of the
Company will satisfy them. I came amongst them as free from prejudice
as you can be, and determined to redress every grievance and meet their
wishes in every reasonable way, but to no avail. I have already
transmitted to the Board evidence in the 'Nor' Wester,' that our
unpopularity arises entirely from the system of government, and
not from any faults in its administrators.
"A continuance of this state of matters may lead to the formation of a
provisional government by the people themselves, and to annexation to
the United States, as have been threatened. With the opening up of the
St. Paul's route, there has been a large increase of the 'American'
element in the settlement; and in the enclosed copy of the 'Nor'
Wester' of the 22nd July, you will observe that the United States
Government is quietly recruiting for its army in British territory.
This matter, I trust, may be in the meantime brought to the notice of
the proper authorities pending further information upon my return to
Red River.
"The trust which the Board has placed in my hands, and the confidence
reposed in my ability to guide you in forming your plans for the
future, impose on me no little responsibility and anxiety. I must
relieve my shoulders of this weight by stating plainly my belief that
the opening up of the country by waggon road and telegraph, and by the
encouragement of settlement, must prove so far detrimental to the
current commercial business of the Company as to render it difficult,
if not impossible, to provide a fair dividend upon the portion of its
capital embarked in the trade. I do not, however, the less recognize
the necessity of opening up the country and its communications. It is
not at all clear to my mind how you are to secure a remunerative
dividend upon the extra sum to be embarked in the erection of the
telegraph, formation of roads, &c., &c. In a commercial point of view,
I do not consider it safe to enter upon these extended operations till
secure of a sufficient subsidy from the different Governments
interested.
"Upon a mature consideration of the whole subject, I entirely concur in
the views expressed by Mr. Johnstone in his letter, of which I have
already sent only an extract to Sir Edmund Head, viz., that with
the government of the country the territorial right should also revert
to the Crown, upon whatever terms might be arranged. Anything short of
a full measure of this sort would fail to satisfy the settlers and the
public at large, who seem inclined to view with distrust the present
position of Her Majesty's Government in its supposed alliance with the
new Board of Direction.
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