"One of the first objects of the Company will be to examine the
facilities and consider the best means for carrying out this most
important work; and there can be little doubt that it will be
successfully executed either by the Hudson's Bay Company itself, or
with their aid and sanction.
"For this, as well as for the other proposed objects, Mr. Edward
Watkin, who is now in Canada, will be commissioned, with other
gentlemen specially qualified for the duty, to visit the Red River and
southern districts, to consult the officers of the Company there, and
to report as to the best and safest means of giving effect to the
contemplated operations."
A letter of instructions, from the new Governor, dated London, 6th
July, 1863, received by me about the 22nd July, after I had made no
small advance in the real business, stated: -
"SIR,
"I am authorized by the Committee of the Hudson's Bay Company to
request you to proceed on their behalf to the Red River Settlement, for
the purpose of reporting to them on the state and condition of this
Settlement, the condition of the adjoining territory, the prospect of
settlement therein, and the possibility of commencing operations for an
electric telegraph line across the southern district of Rupert's Land.
"The Committee have full confidence in your discretion and judgment,
but they have deemed it right to associate with you in this inquiry
Governor Dallas, of the Red River Settlement, with whom they request
you to communicate at once.
"The Committee are aware that it is now so late in the season as to
preclude you from doing more than procure such information as may
enable them to commence fresh inquiries at the opening of next season.
"I have the honour to be, Sir,
"Your obedient Servant,
"EDMUND HEAD, Governor.
"EDWARD WATKIN, Esq."
I found soon after my arrival in Canada that Governor Dallas was coming
down from Red River, and would meet me at Montreal. He was a very able
man; cool, clear, cautious, but when once he had had time to calculate
all the consequences, firm and decided. He had been for years on the
Pacific coast; and, thanks to his prudence, the landing, in 1859, of
General Harney, and a detachment of United States troops on the Island
of St. Juan, between Vancouver's Island and the mainland, on the
Pacific, had been controlled and checkmated, by the proposal of a joint
occupation until negotiations had settled the question of right. This
right was, afterwards, given away by our Government under the form of
an arbitration before the Emperor of Germany. Governor Dallas' opinion
of the transaction will be gathered from his letters to me of the 29th
and 30th October, 1872, hereafter copied.
The Governor and I became fast friends, and our friendship, cordial on
both sides, continued until his death, a very few years ago. The only
fault of Governor Dallas was a want of self-assertion. Brought out by
the Mathesons - hardy Scots of the North - as he was, he made a
reasonable fortune in China: and coming home, intending to retire, he
was persuaded to accept the Governorship of the Hudson's Bay Company on
the death of Sir George Simpson. Meeting at Montreal, our first act of
"business" was to voyage in the Governor's canoe from Lachine through
the rapids to Montreal; a voyage, to me, as almost a novice, save for
my New Brunswick canoeing, of rather startling adventure; but the
eleven stalwart Indians, almost all six feet high, who manned the boat,
made the trip interesting, as it was to me in the nature of a new
experience. These men had been with Governor Dallas nearly 4,000 miles
by river, lake, and portage; and he told me he never knew them to be
late, however early the start had to be made; never unready; always
cheerful and obliging; and that a cross word had never, in his hearing,
been uttered by any one of them. These men made Caughna Wauga, opposite
Lachine, their home, and there were their families.
After the most careful study and discussion of the questions above
alluded to, and others, the discussion extending over a month, we
agreed to various memoranda. The one affecting the re-organization of
management was as follows: -
"The first measure necessary towards the re-organization of the
Hudson's Bay service, will be the abolition, or modification of the
deed poll, under which the fur trade is at present carried on. The
difficulty involved in this proceeding is, an interference in the
vested rights of the wintering partners (chief factors and chief
traders). That might be overcome by some equitable scheme for the
extinction of those rights, which would serve the double purpose of
rendering practicable a reorganization of the service, and a reduction
in the number of superior officers, at present too large. This
reduction would give the opportunity of dispensing with such men as are
inefficient, and of retaining those only likely to be useful. The
Company are under no covenants in reference to the clerks.
"The arrangements of the deed poll are, in outline, as follows: - The
profits of the fur trade (less the interest charge, which goes
exclusively to the stockholders) are divided into one hundred parts; of
those, sixty are appropriated to the stockholders, and forty to the
wintering partners. These last are subdivided into eighty-five shares,
of which two are held by each chief factor, and one by each chief
trader.
"Clerks are paid by salary. Only a clerk can be promoted to a chief
tradership (1-1/85 share), and only a trader to a chief factorship (2-
1/85 shares). The promotions are made by the Company on the nomination
of the chief factors, though this rule has not always been adhered to.
On retirement an officer holds his full interest for the first year,
and half this interest for the succeeding six years.
