, 1858-05-14
From the Toronto Globe
The Hudson Bay COMPANY.

Shbh NllN uulOn WIN lub NOIluNNbl
Company Of Montreal, the Hudson Bay
Company had not set up any claim to al
exclusive right of trade in that portion o.
British North America lying westward Of
the Rocky mountains Such right was
only acquired to the Hudson Bay Com
pany by virtue of an act Of the Imperial
Parliament, passed in the first and second
years of the reign of George ", and it is
under this act only that the Hudson Bay
Company can possibly show any legal
claim 10 the right of exclusive trade in any
portion Of the territories sought to be occu
pied by them.
The act in question empowered his Maj.
esty to grant, not to the Hudson Bay
Company, but " to any body corporate, or
company, or person, or persons, the exclu-
siye privilege of trading with the indians
in all such parts Of North America not
being parts of the lands and territories
therefore granted to the Hudson Bay
Company, and not being part Of any Of
the Provinces in North America, or be-
longing to the United States of America"
And under this act the power of the
King was restricted to make q grant only
for a period of twenty-one years In ac-
cordance with the provisions of this act,
which no doubt was procured to be passed
by the joint influence of the Hudson Bay
and the Northwest Companies, license
granting the exclusive privileges of trade
with the Indians, &c, was made 10 1921
to the Hudson Bay Company, and to VIM.
MGillevary, and to Simon M'Gillevary,
aud Edward Ellis, tc be enjoyed conjointly
for period of tweniy-one years. The
gentlemen above named were three of the
leading partners Of the Northwest Com
pany. 3
This license granted privilege Of exclu-
sive trade with the Indians only, and not a
right Of exclusive trade over or throughout
the territories generally. 1t conveyed to
the holders Of the license no right whatever
to the soil, nor did it give to them any
power or control over it or its inhabitants.
The grant in question could not practi-
cally confer upon the company any Of those
benefits or advantages contemplated by
them, because the act did not provide the
means for enforcing that right which the
Crown was supposed to grant them ; and
as there is no power or tribunal provided
for, or established, before which such ex
elusive right can be enforced or maintained
the grant Is useless. -. -.
Should any British subject enter upon
any portion Of the territories assumed to
be controlled by the Hudson Bay Com
many. and carry on q trade with the Iudi-
ans or any other inhabitants or dwellers
there, the Hudson Bay Company cannot
have recourse to any legal tribunal to en-.
force their claim, por can they take any
proceedings to prevent or punish the trader
who enters as their competitor for the
traffic Of the country, unless by resort to
illegal acts, course Of proceeding to which
they have not unfrequently resorted.
This license of trade wiiichwas grauted
in 1921 for o period Of twepiy-one years,
the Hudson Bay Company assert was re-
newed in 1888 for another period Of twen-
ty-one years, and consequently this will ex-
pire in the year 1859. Inasmuch as it has
already been shown, that for oil practical
advantages, the license is OF little value as
against any enterprising trader, it becomes
unnecessary to inquire how or by what
authority it was renewed.
The term made use of as descriptive oi
the country over which the Grown was
authorized to grant the privilege Of exclu-
sive trade with the Indians, was as indefi.
mite, vague, and uncertain, as was the sup.
posed intended grant Of Charles fl under
which the Hudson Bay Company made
their claim to extend to the Rocky noun
taihs. o.'
Tie words I" Indian territories may be
assumed to apply to oil that region Of
country extending from the shores Of the
Pacific to and around the coast Of Hudson
Bay Such an Interpretation, however
will not suit the circumstances under which
the Hudson Bay Company have placed
themselves because It would effectually
ignore aud set aside the very rights they
have assumed to possess by virtue Of the
Royal charter. . ura--
The act l and George ", cap. &C.
empowered tho crown to grant TO any
company, &C., for limited tiDss, those very
same privileges Of exclusive trade over tht
very same territories which the Hudson
Bay Company claim to have been granted
to ihem in PerPelnO, together with the SOW
ereignty Of the soil, one hundred and fifty
years before aud it would involve the ad
mission that every act heretofore done
and now being done, as to the assumption
Of territorial rights in the valleys Of thu
Assiniboiu aud the Saskatchewan, are lille
gal, null, and void and they would adm
the truth and the fact, for If they rest thei
claims under the royal charter, there is u,
foundation for them. II they assume u
claim under the first and second Georg,
Nv, il gives not shadow Of claim to auJ
portion VI the soil. In either case, by as
suming a sovereignty over the soil as they
have done, they may be accused Of "mon
strous imposture." The allusion made ii
the above recited act as TO the "gran
therefore made to the Hudson Bay Com
pany," cannot be construed into recogni
lion of the rights assumed by that Com
pany, or to a recognition that the exten
siye country to which they laid claim hal