The Sun.
London, England, 1848-08-21 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON,

VANCOUVER'S ISLAND.
(From the Times.)
Two questions of no ordinary importance were started in
the debate which occupied so large. a portion of our co-
lumns on Saturday morning. The first referred to the ca-
pabilities of an island in the definite and undivided possession
of which this country has only recently, after a most reso-
lute advocacy of its rights, been confirmed ; and the second
involved the constitutional character of a great company, itc
competency and fitness for the functions with which it has
been long entrusted, its claims to further indulgence on the
part of the state, and, incidentally, its merits or demerits in
the government of those possessions already delegated to it,
care. In a speech characterised by his usual knowledge
and ability, and by far more than his usual direct-
ness and precision, Mr. Gladstone, established, not
indeed a case against the Company, but a case for
investigation, deliberation, and caution, while in the
official statements which elicited and followed his remarks
the resolutions of the Colonial Secretary were only defended
by two arguments, either of which destroyed the other. It
is not the least remarkable feature of this striking debate,
.that, although the interests involved in the subject con-
sidered were scarcely second in magnitude to any that could
be nnamed, and although the government, civilization, and
destinies of a territory as large as Europe, and the constitu-
tion of a company nearly two centuries old, formed the to-
pics of discussion, yet most persons would actually require
information concerning even the leading facts of the case ;
and, what is more, this simple information is hardly ac-
cessible even to those whose duties and information alike
prompt them to seek it. The style and title of the Hudson's
Bay Company is familiar enough, no doubt, to all our
readers, but perhaps few of them distinctly comprehend
that this corporation enjoys the delegated sovereignty
of British North America, almost from the Arctic
Circle to the United States' frontier, and from the Rocky
Mountains to the North Atlantic Ocean. In the territories
devised to their keeping are enumerated the lands then
known as " New South Wales, New North Wales, Prince
William's Land, with the Arctic land down to the London
coast in Greenland, and New Britain or Labrador"—a cata-
logue which, in fact, represents the whole of British Ame-
rica, excepting the subsequent acquisitions of the Canadas
and the :lands about the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Incor-
porated in 1670, during the extraordinary advance made
by British commerce between the two epochs of '1
the Restoration and the Revolution, the company has sub-
sisted, with some successes and some rebuffs in its struggles
for the confirmation or extension of its privileges, up
to the present day; though so indefinite in its tenure
of rights, so unobtrusive has been its action, so invisible its
services, and so noiseless its existence, that the debaters on
Friday evening were all driven to tradition or rumour for
the scanty information they produced. It is known that the
company has, for upwards of 150 years, possessed a charter,
and that it has a monopoly of trade with the Indians; but
of the manner in which its powers are exercised, of its in•
stitutions, of its officers, its ordinances, or its pursuits, as
little seems to be ascertained as of the political economy of
Japan. It was asserted, however—though of course with
due and proper admissions of uncertainty—that their go-
vernment was an absolute despotism ; that they recruited
their service with young men from the Orkneys, hired at a
rate so low as practically to leave them slaves of the com-
pany for life; that they exercised capital jurisdiction
over the Indians ; that they systematically dis-
couraged colonization and civilization, and that
their policy had, for purposes of their own, been
successfully directed to keeping this enormous tract of ter-
ritory and its population in the same state of solitude,
barbarism, and ignorance, as they originally found it. To
these dark rumours was added the specific allegation that
they divided 70 per cent. on a capital nine times augmented,
without ever advancing those ends of discovery or trade for
which they had been incorporated. Since the settlement of
the Oregon question the British territory west of the Rocky
Mountains has occupied the attention of Government, and it was
deemed advisable not to forego the confirmation added by
actual possession even to the best of titles. On this hint the
Company has spoken, and through its Governor has requested
the grant of this district also, and specially of Vancouver's
Island, lying along its southern coast; so that their do-
minions would thus be extended from one ocean to the other.
The Colonial Secretary, it seems, lent a favourable ear
to their application. Vancouver's Island was libe.
rally thrown into their bargain, and it was only
through the accidental vigilance of an Hon. Member
that the matter received that public attention which it now
commands. The defence set up for Lord Grey's proposal
was, that the island in question had not advantages enough
to ensure its voluntary colonization, and that if we did not
make provision for occupying it in some other manner we should
probably be anticipated in such proceedings by parties ready
to avail themselves of our neglect. Now, it is certainly no
small testimony to the expansive grandeur of the British
Empire that the abstract importance of an island 250 miles
long by 50 broad, with great presumed resources, and a cli-
mate almost exactly assimilated to that of the mother coun-
try, should be actually debated for several hours together.
But let our readers just look to some of the facts of the
case. We will not insist upon any of those vague rumours
of extraordinary richness and fertility which are
reported of all unexplored lands, but will confine
ourselves to points about which no doubt is en-
tertained. If there is any locality in the whole world
which would appear in the eyes of a philosophical speculator
destined for mighty purposes in future years, it is the west
coast of the North American continent. Hitherto it has
been unknown and unoccupied, but it is now secured by one
of the most enterprising nations upon earth, at a price and
by exertions which clearly show their appreciation of its
value. California is now the territory of the United States,
and the President's message indicates that it will not lie long
useless in the hands of its new possessors. All the conclu-
sions of probability suggest that the commerce of the Paci-
fic and of the opposite Asiatic continent will find its way
to this coast, with which, too, in all likelihood will be com-
menced ,the first intercourse of Japan. Now, along the
whole length of this coast there are but two or three prac-
ticable ports for shipping, and the struggle which even the
passive Mexicans made for San Francisco, proves
how preciously such resorts are valued by those
best acquainted with their use. Vancouver's Island,
from its situation and its harbours, is unquestionably
the site which will command the commerce of the coast ;
and if ever the North Pacific is indeed to become a Medi •
terranean, here will be its Tyne. As if to qualify it for its
part, its chief ascertained production is precisely that which
will be most needed; and this island, eighteen days' steam-
ing only from the ports of China, is full of admirable coal.
Under such circumstances, it is not enough to say that
Vancouver's Island is beyond the Antipodes, that it is more
di.tant than even New Zealand, that if it has coal, there is
no demand for it, and that if it has harbours, there is no
trade for them. With such destinies as it requires little
imagination to foresee for Western America, we may surely
take the trouble of keeping for a little while what is our
own. Moreover, if no other scheme is immediately obvious,
there are reasons in abundance against the pis aller of the
Colonial Secretary. We are now at length betaking our-
selves—and surely not too soon—to a good system of colo-
nization, and it is confessed that the proposed grant to the
Company is made in furtherance of this very object. Now,
without wishing to disparage the Company's services—for no
person acquainted with the history of such bodies
will deny that they are even more liable to misrepre-
sentation than they are prone to abuses—it is impossible not
neverto s e e
havethat
beenthe
ete
p
promoters
Their objects and interests are essentially at variance with
any such projects. They are fur traders and monopolists, and
in neither capacity. can they give hearty encouragement to
the pursuits of civilized or colonial life. They want beavers
and sables to multiply, hunting grounds to be preserved, and
hunters and trappers to thrive. Their function is to perpe-
tuate what it should be the aim of a colony to destroy. in
every point of view, whether prospectively, or as regards the
object immediately professed, must this provisional bargain
be denounced, by which, for
the sake of temporary
convenience, the national responsibility is shuffled on to the
shoulders of an interested corporation, and the country com-
mitted to the dilemma of either surrendering its birthright
or redeeming it hereafter by a ruinous purchase. If no visions
of the future can induce us to admit Vancouver's Island to
that class in which the Falkland Isles are retained, at least
let it be seen what stimulus this unexpected publicity will
give to private enterprise before we consummate an inconsi-
derate scheme which so narrowly escaped condemnation
even in a House imperfectly informed, and upon such an in-
cidental motion as that of Friday evening.