No. 25. No. 25. Copy of a LETTER from the Right Hon. Sir Stafford H. Northcote, Bart., M.P., Right Hon. Sir to Sir Frederic Rogers, Bart. Stafford H. Northcote, Bart., M.F., to Sir Frederio Rogers, Bart. 10 April 1869. Sir, Hudson's Bay House, London, 10 April 1869. I HAVE the honour to acquaint you, for the information of Lord Granville, that at a meeting of the Hudson's Bay Company held on the 9th instant, the following resolution was adopted by a large majority of the proprietors specially summoned to consider the proposal contained in your letter of the 9th ultimo,* *Page 40. for the surrender of the Company's territory, &c. to Her Majesty :- "That it is expedient to accede to the terms proposed in the communication above referred to, and to surrender to Her Majesty all this Company's territorial rights in Rupert's Land, and in any other part of British North America not comprised in Rupert's Land, Canada, or British Columbia, and that the Governor and Committee be, and they are hereby authorised to make such surrender, on being assured that the terms have been agreed to by the Government and Parliament of Canada, provided that the acceptance of the terms by the Government and Parliament of Canada shall have been signified to them by Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies within six months after the passing of this resolution, and that for that purpose the Governor and Committee concur in all such measures as may be found necessary for effecting such surrender, and for securing to the Company the rights and reservations to which, by the terms of the letter from Sir Frederic Rogers, this Company will be entitled." I have, &c. (signed) Stafford H. Northcote, Governor. COPY of a LETTER from Sir Frederic Rogers, Bart., to the Right Honourable Sir Frederic Sir, I have, &c. (signed) Frederic Rogers. Rogers, Bart., to the Right Hon. Sir Stafford H. Northcote, Bart., 17 April 1869. M.P. + Page 40. COPY of a LETTER from the Right Honourable W. Monsell, M. P., to the Right Hon. Sir, Downing-street, 19 June 1869. I AM directed by Earl Granville to transmit to you, for your consideration, and for that of the Committee of the Hudson's Bay Company, the copy of a telegram which has been received to-day from the Governor General of Canada. W. Monsell, M.P, to the Right Hon. Sir Stafford H. Northcote, Bart. 19 June 1869. Telegram. (Received, 19 June I am to state that Lord Granville would be glad if the Hudson's Bay Company 1869, page 9.) can comply with the request preferred by the Canadian Government for permission to commence at once the proposed survey. I am, &c. No. 28. Sir F. Sandford, to the Hudson's Bay Company. 6 August 1869. 8 July 1869. COPY of a LETTER from Sir Francis Sandford, to the Secretary to the Hudson's Sir, Downing-street, 6 August 1869. I have, &c. (signed) F. R. Sandford. Enclosure in No. 28. Encl. in No. 28. My Lord, 24, Oakley Square, Chelsea, S.W., 8 July 1869. The Committee of the Hudson's Bay Company having informed me that a surrender of the Company's territory is about to be made, I have forwarded to them a protest and notice (copy of which I enclose), and in order that Her Majesty's Government may be aware of the facts, and may have notice that the sale and surrender is objected to, and cannot legally be made, I beg to state as follows: I object to the sale, except at the price of 500,000 Z., which is half the amount the territories were valued at. That the Committee had no authority to negotiate a sale except upon such terms, or better, and that as they acted without the sanction of the proprietors, any agreement made by them is not binding. That no sale of the territories of the Company can be made without the sanction of each and every proprietor, and that the Act of Parliament enabling a surrender does not avoid this necessity. That if the Committe have stated that the majority of proprietors have agreed to the terms proposed, they have stated that which is incorrect. 1st. Because no legal meeting has been held. 2nd. Because the chairman neglected to put an amendment of mine to his own motion. 3rd. Because the vote was taken by a show of hands, though a ballot was duly demanded. 4th. Because the vote was not by persons who had held their stock six months, as required by the 7 Geo. 3, c. 48. A protest setting forth all these objections was entered with the chairman at the meeting. I also submit that no valid surrender can be made, because Earl Kimberley is the Governor, and not Sir Stafford Northcote, the former having been elected for the year 1869, and there being no power of resignation or re-election contained in the Charter. I should have forwarded this letter sooner, but awaited the reply of the Canadian Parliament. As the chairman informed the proprietors on the second instant that the Canadian Parliament had addressed Her Majesty on the subject of the acquisition of the Hudson's Bay Territories, I beg to give the Committee notice, that as a proprietor of stock in the said Company, I protest against the sale of the territorial rights of the Company, and against the Committee affixing, or causing to be affixed, the seal of the Corporation to any surrender, or other conveyance or document purporting to surrender the said territories, and that I shall hold the Committee, and each and every of them, responsible for any attempted surrender of the said territories, and for all loss, costs, damages, and expenses which may accrue, or to which I may be put, by reason of such surrender. The grounds of my objection to such sale and surrender are as follows: 1. Because the price is wholly inadquate. 2. Because 2. Because the then Governor and Committee, who were trustees for the proprietors, had to authority to negotiate for the sale of the said territory, and were guilty of a breach of trust in asking a sum of money much smaller in amount than the proprietors required, and in keeping this fact from the knowledge of the proprietors. 3. Because the proprietors of stock in a chartered company such as the Hudson's Bay, even if unanimous, have no power to dispose of their territories except by authority of Parliament. 4. Because the Act of Parliament enabling Her Majesty to accept a surrender of the territories in question, is merely permissive, and not obligatory on the Company, and expressly requires the assent, not of a majority, or of a portion of the proprietors, but of the whole body, "upon such terms and conditions as shall be agreed upon by the Governor and Company," are the words of the Act. 5. Because the Act of Parliament has not been complied with, inasmuch as the whole body of proprietors have not agreed to the terms, but, on the contrary, it is believed a large majority dissented therefrom. 6. Because, even supposing the majority could bind the minority, such majority of duly qualified voters has never been legally, or in fact obtained, inasmuch as the meeting at which the vote was taken was illegally convened and held; the pretended vote was by a show of hands, notwithstanding a ballot was demanded, as required under the Charter, nor was there any evidence that the parties holding up their hands were proprietors of stock, or, if proprietors, that they had held such stock for six calendar months prior to such vote, as required by the Act in such case made and provided, thus rendering the vote so taken void. 7. Because Sir Stafford Northcote is not the duly qualified Governor of the said Company, and any act done or performed by him, and the said Committee, on behalf of the said Company, is null and void, inasmuch as Earl Kimberley (if any) is the duly qualified Governor of the said Company for the present year 1869. COPY of a LETTER from Sir Stafford H. Northcote, Bart., M. P., to Sir, Sir F. R. Sandford. Pynes, Exeter, 9 August 1869. No. 29. Sir Stafford H. M.P., to Sir F. R. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 6th 9 August 1869. instant, transmitting a copy of a letter addressed to Earl Granville by Mr. W. H. Stewart, and of Mr. Stewart's protest against the surrender of the Hudson's Bay Territory. Correspondence between the Delegates from Canada and the Colonial Office. COPY of a LETTER from Sir F. Rogers, Bart., to Sir G. E. Cartier, Bart. His Lordship will be glad to receive from you or from Mr. McDougall, any explanation with which you or he may be able to furnish him of the steps taken by the Canadian Government. COPY of a LETTER from Sir G. E. Cartier, Bart., and W. McDougall, Westminster Palace Hotel, London, 16 January 1869. Sir, WE have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 30th ultimo (with its enclosure), stating that you were directed by Earl Granville to transmit to us a copy of a letter, which his Lordship had received from the Deputy Chairman of the Hudson Bay Company, relating to some steps which have been taken under the authority of the Canadian Government, and from which the Company apprehend some invasion of their territorial rights. You inform us that his Lordship will be glad to receive from us any explanation which we may be able to furnish him of the steps taken by the Canadian Government. We have read the letter of the deputy chairman, and extracts from the letters of Governor McTavish, and have much pleasure in being able to furnish his Lordship with what we hope will prove satisfactory information, on the subject of the Hudson Bay Company's complaint. 1. In the month of September last, very precise information reached the Canadian Government, that in consequence of the complete destruction of their crops by locusts, the people of the Red River Settlement, numbering probably from 12,000 to 15,000 souls, were in imminent danger of starvation during the winter about to set in. 2. Numerous and earnest appeals for aid had already been made to the Canadian public by writers in the newspapers, and by clergymen and others acquainted with the country. The Right Rev. Robert Machray, Lord Bishop of Rupert's Land, a member of the Council of Assinaboia, and so far a representative of the Company, visited Ottawa, and urged upon members of the Canadian Government the duty of prompt assistance to avert the threatened calamity. 3. No steps had then been taken (so far as the Government could learn) by the Hudson Bay Company to provide supplies, and aware that a few days delay *at at that season might render it impossible to get provisions to Red River in time to afford relief, the Canadian Government appropriated the sum of twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) towards the construction of a road from Lake of the Woods to Fort Garry. The Minister of Public Works (one of the undersigned) was directed to expend the principal part of this sum in the purchase of provisions, which were to be forwarded with all possible dispatch to the Red River Settlement, and offered to the settlers, not as alms, but in exchange for their labour on a public work in their own vicinity, and of the highest utility to their Settlement. 4. A confidential and experienced agent proceeded at once to Saint Paul's, Minnesota, and succeeded in forwarding a considerable supply of provisions before the close of navigation; a further quantity has reached Fort Abercrombie, an American post in Dakota Territory, from which point it can be sent to the Settlement early in the spring. 5. Information has reached the undersigned since their arrival in England, that the Government agent had, in accordance with his instructions, conferred with the local authorities on his arrival at Fort Garry, that he had received their approval and promise of assistance, that his timely aid was a cause of much joy and thankfulness in the Settlement, and that he had proceeded with a large force of labourers to the limit of the prairie country, some 30 miles from Fort Garry towards Lake of the Woods, and there commenced the construction of the road. 6. The immediate object of the Canadian Government in taking the steps complained of, was to supply food to a starving community, about to be imprisoned for six months in the heart of a great wilderness, without roads or means of communication with their fellow subjects, and to supply it in the way most acceptable to a high spirited people, viz., in exchange for their labour. It was thought that even the Hudson Bay Company might look with favour upon a public work, which, when completed, will prove a valuable protection to those under their government, against similar dangers in the future. On behalf of the Canadian Government, we deny that a" trespass" has been committed, or that our action in this matter was intended to forestal or embarrass negotiations which the Imperial Parliament had directed to be undertaken for the transfer of the North Western Territory and Rupert's Land to the Dominion of Canada. The foregoing explanation may, perhaps, be deemed sufficient to enable Earl Granville to answer the complaint of the Hudson Bay Company against the Canadian Government, but the undersigned beg leave to add one or two observations, which, in their opinion, this extraordinary demand for "the intervention of Her Majesty's Government," both invites and justifies. If the Hudson Bay Company, who claim the right to hold and govern the territory in which the alleged "trespass" has taken place, had performed the first duty of a Government towards its people, by providing them with easy means of communication with the outer world; or, if they had shown themselves either able, or willing, to meet the threatened calamity by a prompt effort to forward sufficient supplies to the Settlement before the close of navigation, the Canadian Government would have rested happy in the belief that neither humanity, nor public policy, required or justified their interference. The assertion of the Deputy Governor of the Hudson Bay Company, that the country between Lake of the Woods and Red River is "the freehold territory of the Company," and that the so-called "trespass" of the Canadian Government in sending provisions to the starving settlers and assisting them to make a road for their own convenience and safety hereafter, is "an actual encroachment on the soil of the Company," might, if unnoticed by us, be claimed as another proof or admission of the rights of the Company in that part of the continent; we, therefore, beg to remind his Lordship that the boundaries of Upper Canada, on the north and west, were declared, under the authority of the Constitutional Act of 1791, to include "all the territory to the westward and southward" of the "boundary line of Hudson's Bay," "to the utmost extent of the country commonly called or known by the name of Canada." Whatever doubt may exist as to the "utmost extent" of Old or French Canada, no impartial investigator of the evidence in the case can doubt that it extended to, and included, the country between Lake of the Woods and Red River. |