The Sun.
London, England, 1857-11-20 00:00:00

HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.

The following resolutions were passed at the
great meeting on the Hudson Bay question, held in
the Court-h,,use at Owen Sound, on the 2d ult. :
" Moved by G. M. BUTCHAIIT, seconded by Mr.
PAYNTER—' Believing. in common with a majority of
the people of this province, that the territory described
in general as the Hudson's Bey Territory, extending from
the Atlantic seaboard to the Pacific and Arctic Oceans,
covering sotie of the most valuatle territory in British
America, abundantly rich in mineral ore, coal fields, and
fisheries, possessing illimitable water-power, and a soil
capable of maintaining millions of human beings in the
greatest plenty, if not luxury, requiring only to be made
ava►lable lor colonisation and trade to develope the im-
mensity of its agricul-ural and commercial resources,
this meeting considers that the country should no longer
be a game preserve fur the benefit of a couple of hundred
non-resident monopolists, whose actions for the last 20
years, in regard to the commerce of said country, has
been nighty irjurious to Canadian interests, but should
be thrown open as soon Si possible to all British sub-
jects.' _ _ _ _

" Moved by Mr. BLYTII, seconded by Mr. SINCLAIR
That as Canadians we have watched the proceedings
before the committee of the British House of Commons
upon the Hudson's Bay Company's affairs. a• regards
their charter and license to exclusive trade over the afore-
said territory, with intense anxiety ; and this meeting
dissents from the conclusion arrived at by the majority
of that eommittee—narnely, that a part only of that terri-
tory should be yielded up fir cJlonisation and commerce,
and that the company should retain an exclusive right t
trade over a very extensive portion of country, as we view
it as an interference with individual rights, as well as a
direct infringement of the privileges of Canadians; for
agreeably to the pricciples that influence the commercial
policy of the empire, as Britons and Canadians, we claim
as our inalienable birthright, peaceably and loyally to
enter on and settle in the said part of British America,
without restriction, and to follow, in every relation and
pursuit, agriculture and commerce; and with nothing
less can we rest satisfied. And this meeting does nut
apprehend the dangers set forth as likely to accrue to
the Indians, should the whole territory be thrown open
to commerce, as in its opinion it is ab:e to maintain order
therein, and to protect the Indians better than the Hud-
son's Bay Company.'
" Moved by Mr. OVUM VANDUSEN, seconded by Mr.
P. LENFESTRY—` Tbat however expedient or politic it
may have been in times to grant exclusive commercial
privileges, it is the opinion of this meeting that the time
has arrived when all such relics of a semi-barbarous age
should be abolished, for it is now a settled principle iu
the legislation of every civilised nation, and none more
so tbau Great Britain, in her modern legisla ion, that
whenever a chartered right becomes a nuisance to
society, it must be surrendered, and sacrificed to the
general interest, and in a case where, like the Hudson's
Bay monopoly, the light is at best but very doubtful,
and its retention clearly and decidedly injurious to the
interests of every one except the interested parties, the
charter, real or imaginary, should at once be abolished ;
that therefore the license to trade in the north-western
territory granted to the Hudson's Bay Company, and
which expires in 1859, should not be renewed, but that
those territories should be united to Canada, and placed
under the administration of the provincial government."

" Moved by Mr. H. KENNEDY, seconded by Mr. D.
MOOT That to avoid future embarrassments to Canada
on this important question, and also to prevent, as it is
proposed in the report of the committee, the Imperial
Parliament from passing any art to circumscribe the
boundaries that nature has assigned to the magnificent
colony, to shut Canadians out of what they believe to be
their own, and, in case of war, what they will be called
on to protect and defend ; to restrict within• certain
limits the right of settlement and commerce in the said
territoay, while it is proposed to rene the company's
license for exclusive trade over the remaining extensive
portion of the north-western country, it is the opinion
of this meeting that the Provincial Government imme-
diately submit to the test of a competent legal tribunal
the validity of the charter possessed by the company, by
virtue of which it claims the exclusive right of trade and
commerce over the said territory, and that any attempt
to define the boundaries between Canada and said tern-
tery will be premature until the legality of the charter
has been determined before such tribunal.'
" Moved by T. MILLER, seconded by W. SMlTH—`That
from the aggressive and annexation proclivities of the
United States, by which large portions of British Ame-
rica, on the eastern and western frontier, have been lost
to the empire ; to prevent a like catastrophe to the said
valuable territory, it is the opinion of this meeti tag the
Hudson's Company's rule over said country should cease,
ttat the time has come when it is absolutely essential,
both for Imperial and Canadian interests, that Canada,
with the concurrence of the Crown, should assume the
government of the whole territory in its wiflest extent
irate east to west—from the boundaries of Canada and
the United States on the south, to the Frozen Ocean on
the north, with a full confidence in the ability of Canada
administrating its affairs, and to push her settlements
along its frontier and into its centre, and that such is
the only way to prevent its being overrun by an
American population, which there is every reason to
believe will b 3 the case if left longer under the o ompany
control.'
" Moved by Owen Vandusen, seconded by G. But-
chart—` That petitions to her Majesty the Queen and
the Imperial Parliament be dratted on the foregoing
resolutions, and signed by the chairman, secretary, and
committee on behalf of this meeting ; that to the Queen
to be forwarded to the proper quarter to be laid at the
foot of the throne, and these to the Imperial Parliament
be tent to be laid before it at the next session.".: