HC Deb 09 June 1868 vol 192 cc1336-50
SIR HARRY VERNEY

, in rising to move— That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, praying that She will be graciously pleased to issue a Royal Commission to inquire into and report upon the capability for settlement and the best means of settling Her Majesty's Territory lying between Lake Superior and the Pacific, especially as to the provision for Telegraphic and other Communication through Her Majesty's Dominions from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean"— said, the subject to which he invited the attention of the House affected territory extensive enough and fertile enough, according to the best authorities, to support a population as large as that of England, and it involved also the performance of a positive duty. This country was not justified in holding possession of vast regions and allowing them to remain in a lawless condition. It was incumbent on us to do what we could to afford protection to our fellow-countrymen and fellow-subjects in the countries that extended from Lake Superior to the Rocky Mountains, and also to use our endeavours to civilize and christianize the Indians who roamed over them. And it was our interest also to do so; for not only were the countries to which he referred very valuable for their natural productions, but they bound together the Eastern and Western portions of British North America. The best communication from the Atlantic to the Pacific was through them, and the shortest way to China and Japan. There was no doubt that the communication with Eastern Asia would be by the regions to which his Motion referred; whether they would remain under the British Crown would depend on the measures taken or sanctioned by that House. The territory from Lake Superior to the Rocky Mountains might be made very valuable to us in another point of view. What was the chief source of anxiety and danger to England at this time? Was it not hostility on the part of the Irish in Ireland and in the United States? And what did the Irish want? They wanted land? They left their homes and reached Nova Scotia and Canada, but they did not easily obtain fertile land in those countries; they passed through them, and in some of the Western of the United States, they obtained the land which they desired, and they settled there, too often with feelings embittered against or hostile to England. But between Lake Superior and the Rocky Mountains were millions of acres as fertile as any in the United States, and which it was our interest to give to emigrants from Ireland, Scotland, or England, at the cheapest rate; and, instead of hostile Irish in the United States, we should have loyal Irish in the New Dominion. The Irish in British North America were perfectly loyal; they enjoyed every freedom that good government could insure; and their countrymen, located on the rich lands in the regions of which he was speaking, would be loyal too; and the formation of only 200 miles of road would render their country accessible through British territory during eight or nine months of every year. Nature afforded remarkable facilities for water communication through these territories, across the whole continent of North America, by means of the St. Lawrence, Lake Ontario, Lake Huron (which it is proposed to connect by a ship canal) and thence to the western shores of Lake Superior. By means of this system of communication, the produce of the territories would be brought, without transhipment, from the North Western States of the Union, as well as from the New Dominion, to Liverpool; and it was worthy of remark that so important was this communication considered in the United States that half the capital required for the Ontario and Huron Canal would be subscribed by American citizens. This carried us halfway to the Rocky Mountains. The rest of that territory, from about the 90th to about the 117th meridian of longitude, consisted chiefly of the hunting-grounds of the Hudson's Bay Company, the greater portion of which was very rich land for agricultural purposes, and was called the Fertile Belt. The Red River, the Assiniboine, and the Saskatchewan watered those regions. There buffalo were found in abundance, and there the Indians hunted. The Hudson's Bay Company's servants had always been on good terms with the Indians, while the citizens of the United States had too generally been engaged in hostilities with them. But it must be remembered that the Hudson's Bay Company and the Indians had had the same interest — that the country should remain unsettled, the hunting-ground for the Indian, the resort of fur-bearing animals for the trapper. Whoever sought to settle the country, whether our own people or any others, must not expect the same amicable reception from the Indians as that which the servants of the Hudson's Bay Company had met with. The difference of King George's men and Boston men, hitherto maintained so much to our advantage, would not always be recognized. The Hudson's Bay Company's servants had brought to the natives those few products of civilization desired by them, and had received in barter all that they had to exchange. Settlers would destroy the hunting-grounds of the Indians, and would not be their customers for what alone they had been able to supply. Whoever the colonists and settlers in those regions, they would probably encounter difficulty and opposition from the Indians who roamed over them. Those difficulties would be made more serious; they might even deter colonists intending to resort there from Canada or Great Britain if the country were left without responsible rulers. People might be found who would think it their interest to prevent our fellow-subjects colonizing those countries, and who might prompt the Indians, and covertly aid them in their hostility. It appeared to him that the best chance of averting such evils would be afforded by having responsible authorities on the spot to negotiate with the Indians, and who should be armed with power to enforce law and afford protection both to natives and settlers. An offender was lodged in gaol at Fort Garry, the Red River Settlement, some few months since, and the following night the gaol was broken open by an armed mob and the prisoner released. The Government there was powerless, and the inhabitants of the settlement were, as he thought they had good right to be, very discontented. There was also much discontent in British Columbia and Vancouver Island. Those distant possessions of the British Crown felt themselves neglected. They were as yet loyal to her Majesty; they wished to be united with Red River and Canada, and to form an integral portion of British North America. One object of his Motion was to determine the best line and mode of communication between these colonies, now so widely separated, and to establish that which was the most desirable. He would not venture an opinion as to which was the best pass across the Rocky Mountains. Many had been examined, and he believed that we should obtain much more information respecting them. An enterprising and indefatigable explorer, who spent some years in examining the country at his own cost, had pointed out that which he considered to be the best, and he read an instructive paper on the subject at the Geographical Society early this year, and his opinion was also that of the latest authorities. Our information with respect to those countries was still imperfect; but we knew far more than we did at the time of the Ashburton Treaty, and when the boundary line was drawn. Our ignorance at that time had cost us the loss of extensive and valuable territory. He was himself in the Pacific nearly forty years since, and one of the routes which he might have taken to the Atlantic coast of America was by the Columbia river; according to the best map then procurable, Bruce's Atlas, it was the boundary of the British possessions. That which was now Washington State was laid down as British territory, and San Juan, an island in British waters. And now the United States had purchased the Russian territory of Alaska, to the north of our own territory, which ought never to have been Russian; discovered and named by Captain Cook and by Vancouver, but apparently never valued by our Government, while perhaps the Hudson's Bay Company were satisfied that the seaboard of the vast regions which supplied their trappers and hunters should be in the hands of any rather than of enterprizing British settlers and colonists. That purchase might, perhaps, suggest to the inhabitants of British Columbia the facility with which they might be assailed, and their allegiances ought not to be forcibly transferred from Great Britain to the United States. He did not believe many hon. Members would permit such a transfer, or would hesitate to go to war if necessary to prevent such a conquest, and to protect our loyal fellow-subjects and their homes; our colonies were now fortunately under a Minister personally acquainted with the Queen's North American possessions, and therefore, he hoped, quick to discern and prompt to resist any attempted violation of any portion of them. His object in bringing this subject before the House was that the Government might be urged immediately to adopt measures that would prevent any doubt existing on the part of our fellow-subjects in British North America respecting our sympathy with them, and would also put a stop to any depredatory measures on the part of our neighbours who might cast a wistful eye on countries whose value England seemed to ignore. He desired to maintain the most friendly relations with the United States. Not only did the welfare of both countries depend on it, but the advance of every great and good object—political, moral, and social, throughout the world. But friendly relations could only be secured by a clear understanding with the United States that we do not seek to obtain their territories, and that we will not permit them to take ours. Portions of their country would be very convenient and desirable to us; but we took no steps to possess ourselves of them. They also, no doubt, desired to have portions of ours, and naturally the very portions of value to our fellow-subjects. We, however, desired to render them still more valuable, and were not content to part with them. If citizens of the States cross the boundary from Minnesota, Dacotah, Montana, and Washington, they come into our country and place themselves under British law. It was an indisputable fact that Americans continually crossed it, and it was possible they would do so in such numbers as to make it difficult for us to retain the country in case of war with the States. Already rumours had arisen on that subject, though from quarters entirely unauthorized. He wished to avoid that and every other cause of disagreement with the States. The States had territory enough, and so have we. If we adopted the right measures to establish and maintain our authority the opinion of the world would be with us in case any question should arise as to our territorial rights. We might even assume that the Government at Washington would restrain their own citizens in any aggression; but if we permitted the settlement of foreigners in our colonies and did not maintain our Sovereign rights, we could not complain of the consequences of such settlement. British authorities in America, Colonial Ministers at home, the Government of the United States, and commercial bodies in both countries had all given attention to this subject. [The hon. Baronet proceeded to read extracts from official papers to show that whatever may have been our ignorance in times past we now know that on our side of the boundary, between Lake Superior and the Rocky Mountains, we possess vast regions extending over millions of acres, perfectly well adapted for settlement and cultivation; that the best communication from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean is through them; that they are watered by navigable rivers, affording the most easy and cheap transit to near the foot of the Rocky Mountains; that there is an easy pass across that mountain chain into British Columbia; that water and road communication can be opened at a small expense; that companies, consisting of wealthy and responsible men, partly American citizens, partly our own fellow subjects, are willing to under take and execute such works; and that when completed they would render it still more the interest of the States and of our selves to live at peace with each other.] Surely we might believe that the power to wield such influence, to people, inhabit, and rule over these territories, had not been committed to us in vain. They were great talents. Were we not responsible for improving them? Should we not seek to carry into those countries the best of whatever we had here; above all, whatever might be the institutions adapted to the state of society that existed there, that British authority and obedience to law should be gradually introduced. He did not suggest that British institutions should be planted in a soil perhaps not fitted to receive them; but he believed that, whatever they might be, if British authority would make itself felt the high character of our countrymen would pervade them. He earnestly desired that British truthful ness, fortitude, and energy, respect and consideration for the rights of others, that the principles of morality and religion— the best safeguards of all that we prize the most highly here—should be implanted there and have every opportunity to flourish and bear fruit to the honour of the country which was their parent, and the welfare of the inhabitants of those distant regions, and, if he might so speak with reverence, to the glory of God.

MR. KINNAIRD

said, he wished to second the Motion, because having served for two Sessions on the Committee which sat on the Hudson's Bay territory, he could confirm the fact that so far from that country being wild and incapable of improvement, much of it, like the Sas- katchewan Valley, was a splendid country, fit for habitation and settlement, and which would have been opened up long since by France, Prussia, Germany, or any other country but our own. It was a duty which devolved upon us to open it up, and one which ought not to be any longer neglected. It had been abundantly shown that, though covered with snow at some periods of the year, it contained deer, buffaloes, and other animals, and that it was capable of being made a very valuable territory. It would become one day the nearest route for the carrying trade with China and Japan, and knowing the immense value of that trade to this country, we ought to aid our Canadian fellow-subjects in obtaining a share of the benefit by directing some of the surplus capital of this country in the direction of those magnificent territories which, if much longer neglected, would soon become so peopled with citizens of the United States that, as in the case of Vancouver's Island, we should find one day that we had lost them. He was sure that, by wise and combined action with the Canadian Government, an immense mass of labour that in this country could not find employment, might be transferred to where it would be valuable both to the labourer and to the Empire. The United States, in the course which they had adopted with regard to California, had shown us an excellent example, and one which proved that if this question had fallen under their consideration, instead of our own, they would have dealt with it in a very different manner. The United States had constructed a railway direct to California, and were already doing much to develop the resources of that country. It was a reproach to us that the easiest access to our own Red River Settlement should still be through the United States by way of St. Paul's, when geographically a much nearer route might, at a trifling expense, be constructed from the head of Lake Superior, forming a link in the line of Pacific communication. We should be following a very unwise policy if we allowed such territories to slip out of our hands, by neglecting to encourage the Government of Canada to form a communication with the Pacific. He hoped that the Government would accede to the proposal of the hon. Baronet.

Motion made, and Question proposed, That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, praying that She will be graciously pleased to issue a Royal Commission to inquire into and report upon the capability for settlement and the best means of settling Her Majesty's Territory lying between Lake Superior and the Pacific, especially as to the provision for Telegraphic and other Communication through Her Majesty's Dominions from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean." —(Sir Harry Verney.)

MR. AYTOUN

expressed a hope that Her Majesty's Government would not accede to the Motion for the appointment of a Royal Commission to consider the best means of opening up the country between Canada and the Pacific. There were two reasons which might induce us to extend our territory. The first was that our military positions would be improved, and the second was, that it would be for the benefit of this country. Now, instead of improving our military position, it was a self-evident proposition that by extending our territory without materially increasing the population of the country we should be weakening it. The great source of our weakness in Canada was an enormous territory, with a scattered population. As regarded the benefit to be derived by the people of this country, the hon. Baronet (Sir Harry Verney) thought it would be of great advantage to the Irish, who could not find land in their own country, to find as much fertile land as they could desire in this new territory which he desired to open up. He was in favour of inducing and helping the people of this country who could not find employment here to go to some other country, either to our own colonies or to America; but he could not conceive any necessity for looking for new territories when we had such abundance of unoccupied territory already waiting for settlement. Canada, at the present moment, cost us £1,000,000 a year; and, some time ago, the House voted money towards the construction of an extensive system of fortifications, which it was expected that the colonists would complete, but they had never taken any steps towards that object. Everyone knew that it was impossible to induce colonists to bear their fair share of burdens of this kind, and yet the hon. Baronet asked the House to assent to his Motion, which evidently had for its object to lead the way to a further increase of British territory.

MR. ADDERLEY

said, the Government were by no means blind to the value of the territory to which the Motion of the hon. and gallant Gentleman (Sir Harry Verney) related; in fact, he doubted whether any portion of Her Majesty's colonial possessions had occupied to a greater extent the attention of successive Ministers for years past. At the same time the hon. and gallant Gentleman had correctly stated that there was not sufficient information upon the subject at present existing in this country, and not sufficient national appreciation of the value of this territory to cause the pressure that he believed would yet be exerted upon the Government to bring about a settlement of the question. A territory lying at the distance of half the globe from us was not one of which the colonization could easily be undertaken. He agreed with the hon. and gallant Gentleman that the country in question was of the highest value to the people of England, and particularly to the poorer classes and those who were pressed by narrow circumstances at home. No doubt, such a magnificent country must be opened, sooner or later, to the enterprize of mankind. The world was increasing so rapidly in population that a vast tract like that could not long be suffered to remain a wilderness and preserve for wild animals in the hands of a trading company. This great tract was to England what the Far West was to the United States, and ought to stand to it in the same relation. The United States derived their enormous vigour from the fact that there was no pressure for land, and that if poverty overtook a man in one quarter he could easily move off to another where there would be scope enough for his energies; and in like manner this vast territory, if freely open, would afford a similar outlet for poverty and social crowding in the narrow limits of this island. In the interests of our fellow-subjects across the Atlantic, also, it was essential that this vast district should be settled. We had already a very large colony to the west of the Rocky Mountains, and no one knew better than the noble Lord opposite (Viscount Milton), who upon this subject had produced one of the most interesting and able books ever written, how essential it was to the development of the mineral wealth of British Columbia that the agricultural country lying to the east of it should have its wealth also developed, the two together forming, perhaps, one of the finest dominions in the world, but each being supplementary to the other. The hon. and gallant Gentleman and his Seconder had both blamed this country for its remissness in failing to open up this region. It was rather the habit of Englishmen to say that any other country would act better than their own; but happily upon this point their practice always contradicted their theory; and he must remind those hon. Members that the difficulty in the present case had arisen from the subjection of the district during so many years to a great trading company. The first necessity in opening jury great region of that nature was to place it under some settled government; for nobody could say that the government of the Hudson's Bay Company over Rupert's Land was of a character to attract enter-prize or emigration. Moreover, the enter-prize which would naturally lead to the opening up of such a country had been stopped and prevented by the system of the trading company. Even if a good government were established there the hon. and gallant Gentleman was rather sanguine in his expectations of a rapid settlement. Canada, even yet, was not fully settled, and persons possessing capital to invest in land were not likely to push into regions far beyond while as yet Canada, which lay nearer, remained partially unoccupied. The day was yet distant, even if negotiations were concluded, when that settlement could be carried out which the hon. and gallant Gentleman so sanguinely expected. But that was no reason why they should not take every requisite measure for the attainment of the object in view. The best access to the territory, he fully believed, was, after conquering one obstructive region, in our own hands. He had not the slightest, objection to emigrants coming freely from the United States to occupy the country; on the contrary, he believed that we might with, advantage draw supplies of men from all countries of the globe. Our trans-Atlantic cousins came from a good race; and there was no finer race for occupying new territory than the Anglo Saxon. But the country must remain under the sovereignty of Her Majesty; that, of course, was essential, and he supposed there was no one present who would not make this condition a sine quâ non. There were one or two great natural difficulties to be overcome soon after leaving Lake Superior; but as soon as these had been conquered, the rest of the country lay fairly open; and he entertained no doubt that ultimately the direct route through the British dominions would become the great thoroughfare of the world across to the West. Supposing the marshes near Lake Superior, to which he had referred, to have been made passable, upon the authority of the noble Lord (Viscount Milton) he believed that the easiest country lay beyond, and we had possession of the two most practicable passes over the Rocky Mountains. But the first thing to be accomplished was to make arrangements with the Hudson's Bay Company, for it must be obvious that their system was an absolute obstruction in the way of British enterprize. He did not blame the Company in the slightest degree for the course which they had pursued. Consistently with their own trading purpose, they had carried on their operations in the most honourable manner, and had introduced a government as efficient as circumstances permitted in so wild a country. It was pretty clear, however, that another and a totally different kind of government must be established before the country could be opened up with advantage, and negotiations having for their object the assumption both of the property and of the government of this wide tract of territory were going on at the present moment with Canada. The Government to whom the proposition came considered it was essential that the right to govern and the property in the land should be in the same hands; that the territorial rights of the Hudson's Bay Company, now 200 years old, and asserted by high legal authority, should be handed over to the Canadian Government upon terms that were just to both parties. These negotiations were retarded by the prorogation of the Canadian Parliament, which would not meet again until November; but he could not help thinking that there was a fair prospect of the solution of this difficult question to the satisfaction of all persons concerned. If this were not so, other steps must be taken, which he would not attempt now to indicate; but he looked forward with hope to the success of the negotiations now proceeding. In the first settlement of a new country some assistance is generally necessary from the mother country. Canada must assume the relation of "mother country" to this territory, and no doubt Canada would assist it liberally in surveying and the construction of roads, railways, and telegraphs, and all the first outlay in occupation. Certainly England would not undertake so distant an enterprise; but her race must have gone back in vigour if her greatest colonies could not sub-colonize, as they often had done in the case of the now United States. The hon. and gallant Gentleman (Sir H. Verney) asked for a Royal Commission; but when he (Mr. Adderley) told him what had been done, he would see that they needed no Royal Commission; that information was not wanting, and that it was only necessary that the information in their hands should be applied. There had been a Select Committee in 1857. which recommended that the interest and wishes of Canada should be immediately consulted about the steps to be taken to extend, as they demanded, the Red River Colony. Then there were the elaborate Reports of Dr. Hind to the Canadian Government, and of Captain Palliser, who made scientific observations for the British Government, of the most elaborate and costly kind. He hoped that the hon. and gallant Gentleman would not press for a Commission to obtain further information, but would rather help the Government to make use of the valuable and full information already possessed. The negotiations to transfer both the territory and government of the Hudson's Bay Company to Canada would certainly be pressed to a conclusion as rapidly as possible, and he was sanguine that the result of them would be to promote in the most effectual way the important object the hon. and gallant Gentleman had in view.

MR. CHICHESTER FORTESCUE

said, he thought the right hon. Gentleman opposite (Mr. Adderley) bad given too glowing an account of the important territory in question, and he could not agree with the right hon. Gentleman's opinion that the Hudson's Bay territory was to England what the Far West was to the United States. He did not think that the Hudson's Bay territory was out Far West. In fact, the whole of North America was our Far West, and Australia might be included under the head of our Far West. Hudson's Bay territory was indeed by no means the most important part of the Far West of England. As to the access to that territory, he had read most of what had been written on the subject, and he was of opinion that the great obstacle to the settlement of this territory had not been so much its possession by a trading company—which, no doubt, was a hindrance—as the difficulties of access interposed by nature between it and Canada. The arrangements of nature were most inconvenient, physical geography ran counter to political geography, and, in place of the extensive prairies of the United States, a region most difficult to traverse was interposed between the western extremity of Lake Superior and the valley of the Red River. It was by no means easy to establish continuous communication. Although the climate was extremely rigorous, and portions of the territory were unfit for human habitation, while the navigation of the Saskatchewan was so interrupted as to render the through passage of steamers impossible, there was yet a considerable extent of territory well fitted for settlement and colonization, which he hoped at no distant day would be peopled by British settlers. The question arose at whose expense this territory was to be opened up; and he was glad to hear his right hon. Friend say that the task of settling it would fall upon Canada. A section of the Canadian Federation Act provided for its admission into that Union; and pending the realization of settled government, it would naturally be admitted somewhat as "Territories" were brought under the Government of the United States. With this qualification he thought his right hon. Friend's statement on that part of the subject was very satisfactory. He perfectly agreed with the right hon. Gentleman the Under Secretary that there was no occasion for any such inquiry as had been proposed by the hon. Baronet (Sir Harry Verney). As the right hon. Gentleman had truly said, there was hardly any uncivilized portion of the globe which had been the subject of more careful inquiry than this territory; and in particular he would refer to the Canadian Commission, the expedition of Captain Palliser, who was sent out when he was at the Colonial Office, and the investigations of the Hudson's Bay Company, who had posts in every part of the country. Besides, there were many excellent books of travels, among which the works of Lord Milton and Dr. Cheadle occupied the foremost place. All possible information was already in our hands; and therefore, while he thanked the hon. Baronet for having brought this interesting subject before the House, he hoped the Motion would not be persevered with.

VISCOUNT MILTON

felt bound to say it was no longer a question of more or less difficulty with regard to making and maintaining a road, as the time had arrived when this country must consider whether it wished to keep in their present state of loyalty the colonies on the Pacific. He was very ranch astonished at the remarks of the right hon. Gentleman the late Under Secretary (Mr. C. Fortescue). In his humble judgment, if anything were to be done in regard to establishing through communication from the Atlantic to the Pacific, we ought to look to the Pacific colonies rather than to Canada. The right hon. Gentleman (Mr. C. Fortescue) had very much understated the value of the territory which was the subject of this discussion, for he was in a position to state that the Fertile Belt was at least equal in value to Minnesota, one of the finest of the United States. The British Pacific colonies had no direct means of communication with one another, but derived even their food from the United States, although the interior of the country was well calculated to supply their wants. There was every year a great influx of Americans, who went to the gold mines during the fine season; and while we in this country had been pondering and wasting time the staple commodity of the colony had been, to a great extent, worked out and depreciated. This state of things was an injustice to those who had been induced to settle there. The gold went out of the country never to return, and no labour or improvement could replace its value. This had been going on for some years, and unless active steps were taken it seemed likely to continue. He had reason to know that there was a growing desire on the part of the colonists to join the United States; and he, for one, could not blame them for entertaining such a wish under the circumstances of the case. They derived their living from the United States, and paid for it with the gold which was obtained in the colony. With regard to native woods, he might say that he had not been through them himself; but he knew the Hudson's Bay Company always found it practicable to pass through them, as did the Indians a few years ago. The right hon. Gentleman, however, stated that such a thing was impracticable. [Mr. CHICHESTER FORTESCUE remarked that he had said nothing of the kind.] It was clear, then, that it was practicable, and this was all he desired to show. The more southern road had been pressed for through the interest of Minnesota. That State joined the Red River Settlement, which was at present dependent upon Minnesota for its supplies, America hav- ing, unlike Canada, opened communications to its territory. The consequence was that there was going up in the Red River Settlement a feeling similar to that which was so general in British Columbia. He trusted the present discussion would not terminate in vague promises as to what would be done in the future; for the time had come for something more substantial to be given. Much as he disagreed with many things in the United States, it was but just to say that a great deal of the limited amount of prosperity in our Pacific colonies was due to the energy and enterprize of individual Americans. The various accounts sent home showed that the interior of British Columbia was one of the most promising and most fertile regions owned by Her Majesty; and if the resources of Vancouver's Island and British Columbia were to be developed it must be done by developing the resources of the interior, unless they wished to delay until the Americans had done it for them.

MR. CARDWELL

said, he had listened with the greatest interest to the discussion, and was very glad to learn that the Government had no intention of issuing a Commission from this country to inquire into the subject. Not only was inquiry already exhausted; but a fresh investigation would reverse the policy settled by the Committee of 1857, whose recommendations were incorporated in the Act of Parliament passed last year with so much unanimity. The proposed inquiry, therefore, would be a retrograde step, and would be a fatal indication of a vacillating policy on our part. It would lead to false expectations, and do a great deal of mischief; and he was glad to hear, therefore, that it was not about to be sanctioned by the Government. On the other hand, he sympathized entirely with the spirit in which this Motion had been brought forward, and he learnt with great interest that negotiations were in progress to terminate the right and interest of the Hudson's Bay Company, so that the territory might be surrendered to the Government of Canada.

SIR HARRY VERNEY

, in reply, said, he would not ask for a Commission if the Colonial Department thought they could effect what was desirable by a better mode. He trusted, however, that the, subject would receive immediate attention.

Motion, by leave, withdrawn.