The Illinois free trader and LaSalle County commercial advertiser. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1841-1843, 1843-04-21
From the Democratic Review.
OREGON.
The Hudson Bay Company.


was very generous to such of his cour-
tiers as most humorod his worst vices.
and very profuse with gifts he thought of
little value, especially if they were in
America, granted to Prince Rupert and
others charter, under the title of the
"Adventures of the Hudson Bay Compa-
n.y." with the erciusipe privilege of trad
ing with the natives son and about
Hudson's Bay. The only advantage 60
vernment was to derive from this compa-
ny, was the exploration Of the northern
section of the continent, with view to
find passage to the Pacific Ocean. How
faithfully they fulfilled their public ,rus,
may be learned from the plain words of
the London Quarterly Review, which run
thus u "From the moment this body OF
'Adventurers' was instituted, the spirit of
adventure died away; and succeeding ef-
fort was palsied by the baneful influence
of a monopoly, of which the discovery of
northwest passage was deemed to be
the forerunner of destruction" This is
about the way in which succeeding cor
?orations, which are so constituted as to
profess to combine private interests and
the public good, have been conducted
The directors of such bodies are apt to
look so steadfastly at their own emolu-
ment, that they can discover little tina, is
worthy Of attention beyond the salslac-
ton of the stockholders-as the small
substance brought near the eye obscures
what else is in the distance, no matter
how great or good. A small drop is more
essential to seishness, than an ocean to
the public veal.
For more than a century, this compa-
ny possessed the undisputed trade of the
vast region of country extending from La
brador to Lake Superior, and thence to
the Rocky Mountains, and north as far as
civilized man ever wandered. Being in
dependent of all control, yet protected by
the flag of Great Britain, which shielded
its vilest acts, it continued to increase
constantly, in wealth and power, till it OBJ
tanned complete supremacy over the In
tlians in that immense territory, which it
holds TO this day. Most of the horrors
of savage warfare which Americans have
had to encounter since the Declaration of
Independence, have been instigated by
this company and its rival the "North-
western Fur Company.
The latter company was organized at
Montreal, in the winter of 1884, and,
for long time, disputed the exclusive
rights of the former to all North Ameri-
ca, seeing its charter confined its opera
lion to "Hudson Bay" Self-inerest,
thus awakened, arose like lion from his
lair. and put on its armor for mighty
struggle. The two rivals cherished the
bitterest jealousies, INDUCED the basest
passions, and perpetated the grossest
cnormites. Each complained tina; the
other had overs,epped its bounds, and pur.
posely invaded privileges with which it
had no right to NEEDLE. Their traders,
hunters, and trappers always met as enc
mics, bu, never parted as friends, SO true
it is, that the narrow and selfish views of
soulless corporations will deceive and cor
rupt their most distant dependents. Both
companies assumed to be alike inlepend-
ent, and, acting in the capacity of sover-
eign states, they at length virtually de-
clared war upon each other, and fought
several disgraceful battles, and committed
the most revolving enormities.
The principal attention Of the North
ives, Company was directed to the region
south of the posts established by its rival,
and thence west TO the regions before un-
known to the English. 1t was to this
company the United States were indebted,
more than any other cause, for the savage
atrocities committed on our northwestern
frontier before, during, and since the late
war with Great Britain, as the Indians
themselves have testified. Pursuing their
course westward the agents of the COM
pany found, at length, their way over the
Rocky Mountains, and descended the beau
tiful declvities towards the Pacific, where
they pursued their trade at great profit.
In 1912 they took possession of Astoria,
then occupied by Americans, raised the
British flag at the mouth of the Columbia,
broke up every trading establishment, and
drove all the Americans from Oregon.
The managers of this company, more
wise than the other, early enlisted in their
service half-breeds from Canada, the fruits
Of in!ermarriage between the French and
Iroquois. The French have always been
more successful than the English or Ameri.
cans in trading with the Indians. Their
peculiar atfabiiiy of manners, and perhaps