§ SIR LAWRENCE PALKsaid, he wished to ask the hon. Gentleman, the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether any steps have been taken by Her Majesty's Government to open the territory on the Red River and the Saskatchewan, in British North America, to Colonization, in pursuance of the recommendation of the Select Committee of 1857?
§ MR. CHICHESTER FORTESCUEsaid, he was afraid it would not be found quite so easy a matter to open those regions to colonization as the question of the hon. Baronet seemed to imply. The first proceeding must of necessity be to transfer certain portions of those countries from the rules of the Hudson's Bay Company to the Government of Her Majesty. A Bill had been prepared for this purpose, but before it could be brought in it would be necessary that the negotiations with the Company, which involved many points of a difficult character and included important questions of compensation, should be brought to a close. He hoped, however, that his noble Friend at the head of the Colonial Office would be able to introduce a Bill on the subject in the course of the present Session.