The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1858-08-17
THE PROPOSED dBROGAIJON or THE
CHARTER OF THE HUDSONS BAY COM
DIMY
[From the New York Journal Of Commerce j

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II was very clearly intimated by Sir Edward Bulwe
Lytton, the British Colonial Secretary that the chatter
the Hudson Bay Company, which expires in May, 1859
win not be renewed and that the Companys territorial
rights will be limited to that barren and inhospitabe
gion of country which is wholly unfit for colonization
but which is well stocked with those savage animals
which constitute the chief stock trade of the great fur
dealing corporation. In substance, Sir f. B. Lyttor
agreed to carry out the following comprehensive resolu
tions which were proposed by Mr. Roebuc. and which
have been approved by the press and people of England
with very few exceptions
IL That the privileges Of the Hudson's Bay Compa
ny about to expire ought not to be renewed. g. That
the legal validity Of the exclusive rights claimed by tho
Hudsons Bay Company under their charter ought al
once to be determined by process Of law. g. That sc
much Of the territory hitherto held by the Hudsons Bay
Company as may be needed for the purpose of cooniza
ton ought without delay to be resumed by the govern
ment Of this country"
If the revolt of the Sepoys and the subsequent popu
lar nsrrecon in British India Justly attributed
wholly or in part to the untncss of the East India Com
pany to discharge the complicated and responsible trust
of supreme rulers of that vast empire and il the British
Parliament deemed it necessary in the interest of the
Indian population, and Of humanity, to deposc the
Company and transfer their power to the imperial gov
crnment the gold discoveries at Fraser river the vast
influx of population which those discoveries will attract
to portions Of the Hudson Bay territory and the rapid
settlement of that desert region which is likely to cnse
render It highly cxpcdient ii not absolutely necessary
that the British government and Parliament should re-
fuse to permit the continuance of amonopoly which pre-
vents tract of land of 100000 square miles in extent
from being made available for colonization and which
has always been used to pcrpetuac the wilderness
hunting ground and hemeticay seal that territory
against the enterprise of their fellow men.
The Hudson Bay Company consist of about 240 mer-
chants who claim monopoly over 4 900 600 square
miles, inhabited by fifty nations tribes Their charter
granted by Charles in 167O when tho country SO
ceded really belonged to France and is If this be true
no more valid in law than if the Merry Monarch had
made present Of France Italy, and tho recipients of
tries This is generally admitted, and the only
why the Company's claim has been disputed has
been that the territory was not needed by the human
family and it was Thought that the only use that could
be made Of II made by the Great Fur Company. OF
late years. however the pioneers Of civilization pushed
further westward the discovery made that large por
tons Of this region rich in agricultural capabilities and
mining wealth. and that II has been the policy of the Hud
of the country and, utterly unnindfl of national inter
ests to use it in the selfish spirit Of monopoly with the
sole desire of faccumulating large profits.
4 The Company plead in arrest OF Judgment that
they entitled 20 consideration for their services in pre-
serving order in the country and excluding ardent spirits
Except after the manner mentioned by 1acts TO make
solitude and call it peace lit is bard gee how the
Company establish their merit as efficient policemen
They have barred the doors against all inirncrs and
there therefore nobody TO quarrel with. The moral
benefit which they Claim to have conferred the Ind
ans by preventing the introduction of situous lrosi II
proved to bc rank imposture by Dr. Armstrong In Ills
Personal Narrative of the discovery of North West
Passage. Abiding 10 the system Of barter with mo
Indians, described by them DIR. A. says "fley re-
pcacd the accusation OF the rssra Living been given
in barter, and its fatal results" Tho same writer also
exposes the gross manne- IN which the Indians arc cceiv
ed by the ComPaya agents and how skins worth from
$l25 to SlaA are purchased for few cooking utensils or
bad rn worth from two to three dollars There abu
ant testimony furnished by the Movian brethren the
coast Of labrador and by the Rev Mr. Beaver the Com
pany chaplain the Columbia river corrobora,ive Of
what Dr. Armstrong says as 70 the cucltics and inas