The Kalida venture. [volume] (Kalida, Ohio) 1841-1865, 1846-02-05
WHOLE NO. 25s.

ally possessed by the subjects OF any other
prince orstate. To be sure, after the con-
quest oE Canada by England, the Hudson's
Bay Company became subject to the compe-
tition and the intrusion of new Fur Com
pany organized in the British Provinces, de-
nominated the Northwest Company; and
these rival companies proceeded to carry OH
actual whr, though on petty scale, in those
wide boreal districts of America. These
quarrels were terminated by an act of Par
lament, of the year 1921, l and Geo. w.,
ch. 66, which united the two Companies,
and which with the new charter granted un-
der it,) materially affects the interests of the
United States.
In the first place, the act itself gives TO
The courts of Upper Canada, the same civil
jurisdiction, in all respects, in the parts of
North America, not within the limits of Up
per Or Lower Canada, nor Of any cipil 60
pernment Of the United States, as they have
within the limits of Upper Canada.
In Oregon, of course, under this conven-
tion, the United States had established no
"civil government" conceiving that to do
so, would be an infraction of the agreement,
to leave the sovereignty in abeyance. But
this act OF Parliament, at once, and by ex-
pressions arfully framed, it would seem, for
that very purpose, extended the sovereignty
of England over the whole of Oregon, not.
withstanding the agreement.
In the second place, the new functions as
signed by charter to the Hudson's Bay Com
pany were, in operation, still more injurious
to the United States. This company re.
ceived the exclusive privilege, as against
other British subjects, of trading with the In
dians in all such parts of North America to
the northward or to the westward Of the ter
ritories of the United States, as do net form
part of the British Provinces, or of the ter
ritories of any European Power. This grant
carries the Hudson's Bay company, for the
purpose of trade, into Oregon, nay, into Cal
ifornia, where it has actually gone, for Cali
fornia is westward of the territories Of the
United States, and forms, now, no part of
the territories of any European Power. In
the regions east of the Rocky Mountains,
the company continues to be lord of the soil,
and virtual sovereign, by force of the origi-
nal charter from King Charles. West of
the Rocky Mountains, the company has no
legal interest in the soil, no authority to
make settlements, and no rights of trade ex.
cept in fur, or with the Indians In Oregon,
therefore, the company is literally, and in
the familiar language, sqaatter. And here
come in play those extremely convenient
and valuable qualities, of a trading corpora
ton INFESTED Dith the porers of sovereignty,
which have made the East India Company so
potent, and enabled England to do without
seeming to do, so many bold and ambitious
things in the East, and which for that reason
render the East India Company far more
dangerous neighbors than even The British
Government ITSELF
| For, under cover of the Hudson's Bay
Company, though that company be in Ore
gon but mere squatter in law, having no
rights of settlement and but limited rights
of trade, the British Government is able to
send into Oregon by indirection, what she
would not and could not have done directly,
her courts, her colonists, her government,
and commercial monopoly of the fur trade,
and most other trade, of all Oregon.
Great Britain commissions no magistrates
for Oregon; but she gives jundical commits
sions there to the officers Of the intruded
Hudson's Bay Company.
Great Britain dispatches no political func-
tionaries into Oregon; bat the proper terri
tory of the Hudson's Bay Company is vast
province of the British Empire, and the Com
pany is, by the very nature of its organiza-
ton and functions, provincial government,
and also a department or bureau of the
British Government, and acts thus as poll
tical power in Oregon, though an intruded
and usurping one.
Great Britain establishes no military posts
iu Oregon in her own name; but the Hud-
sons Bay Company has sovereign attributes
by charter, and officers and flag of its own,
and the right to enlist armed men; and the
company, thus intruder though it be, throws q
network of British military posts over all
parts of Oregon.
Great Britain would not openly assume
to have the exclusive control of the Indians
of Oregon; but she effects this by means of
the Hudson's Bay Company.
Great Britain would not profess to eapeI
American traders from Oregon; but the
Hudson's Bay Company does it intrusively
with her knowledge and sanction. British
rivals, says tho Edinburgh Review, the COM
pany excludes by law; Russians and Amer
leans by reckless competition. Ifan Ameri
can post is established, Hudson's Bay post
instantly rises in its neighborhood. If an
American vessel trades along the coast,
company's ship follows in her wake. If an
American offers goods for barter, the compa-
ny, whatever be the loss, undersells him.
And the official correspondence of the COM
pany with the English Colonial Secretary,
in explaining this to Lord Glenelg, adds,
U We have cognpelled the American adyen-