The New York herald., 1870-02-14
Tho He'd River Dif1cuitS-An Am;c0hie
Adjustment with Canada.


Of Canada now seems in q fair way to be !
peaceably overcome, and everything indicates
an amicable adjustment of the whole question
In short time. On the 10Th of January Mr..
Donald A. Smith, commissioner on the part OF
the Canadian government, met the people OF
Winnipeg in grand mass meeting at Fort
Garry, and laid before them voluminous docu-
mcnts, which have already appeared in the
HERALD, relating to the transfer OF their
territory and including the message OF the
Queen, copy Of the official instructions to
Governor McDougall and letters from the
Governor General and the Secretary of State
OF the New Dominion. The Assurance in the
Queens message that ''respect and protection
will be extended to the different religious per-
suasions, that titles Of every description of
property will be perfectly guarded, and that all
the franchises which have existed or the peo-
pie may prove themselves qualified to exercise
shall be duly continued or. literally conferred,
is reiterated in all the communications made
by the Dominion government to its commits
sioner; and the Winnipeg Neao Mutton, in its
full report of the proceedings of tho mass meet
ing, states that the reading of the documents
by the commissioner was frequently interrupted
by loud and prolonged cheering. The instruc-
tions given to Governor McDougall, and first
made known to the Red River people at this
mass meeting, provided for the establishment
of nearly everything that the insurrectionists
have demanded, and the meeting received the
statements Of the commissioner with such favor
as to order the election Of delegates to a con-
venton TO meet and confer with the commits
sioner on a basis of settlement. The conven-
| ton met on the 25th, and additional documents
| were laid before it by the commissioner, which
increased the friendly disposition already man
ifested President Rielle made speech warmly
acknowledging his allegiance to the Qneen,
! and stating that all the Red River people
wanted was their rights. Other speeches Of
similar character were made by prominent
settlers, and when the mail left Fort Garry the
Convention was about to draw up bill Of
transfer Of the Territory to the New Dominion.
! No one familiar with Canadian politics can
doubt that the Dominion government will sat-
! isfy the Winnipeg leaders, and there is every
probability that on the opening Of spring the
whole matter will be settled, and the Red
River people will quietly resume their avoca-
tons Of hunting on the buffalo plains and
trading for fnrs among the distant tribes.
In view of the peculiar elements composing
the population of Winnipeg and Its previous
relations with Great Britain, such termination
OF the insurrection is perfectly natural. One
half the settlers are English and Scotch, and
are as loyal to the Crown as any of Queen
! Victoria's subjects. The French half-breeds,
| constituting, with the exception of a very few
Americans, the remainder of the population,
were influenced by their Jesuit clergy, who
apprehended the destruction of their ecclesi-
astical power and wealth in the territory No
intelligent man among the settlers expected to
establish permanent Independent government
at Winnipeg, the insurrsction in the first plac G
being only resistance to Governor McDougall,
who was sent out in such laundering manner,
and latterly determined attitude in demand
ing an acknowledgment of their rights by the
| Dominion government. All the associations,
interests and sympathies of the Red River
people were with Great Britain. Their books,
periodicals and newspapers come from Canada
or Europe, and all their woollen and dress
goods, calicoes, tea, siigar, tobacco, rum,
Mackinaw blankets and other articles con-
sumed among themselves or used in their
extensive trading with the Indians for furs
are obtained either from England, through the
Hudson Bay Company or in bond in
New York, at about one-half the cost
of the same articles in the United
States. With such associations and such
advantages in trade 1t could not be expected
that the Red River people would seek annex
alton to the United States, with its attendant
burden Of high prices and excessive taxes ;
and even if they had been forced to do so by
coercive measures the government at Wash
ington would scarcely depart from it's strict
observance Of neutrality to aid tho Winnipeg
people in the slightest degree. Indeed, it has
already been shown in the columns Of the
HERALD that all the reports relating to the
desire of the Red River settlements for annex
alton have been manufactured by few Ameri-
cans .in Winnipeg and st. Paul, and that the
Red River settlements at present have little
sympathy and no interest whatever with this
country. They are simple-minded people,
living in the British possessions, with nearly
four hundred miles of uninhabited country
between them and the American settlements
and it only remains for the Dominion govern
ment, in concentrating the transfer Of the
Northwest Territory, to do what it should have
done in the first place-convince the people Of
Winnipeg that their rights will not be infringed.
Eventually, however, the Red River country
will naturally seek annexation to the United
States. Northern Minnesota is rapidly filling
up with settlers; railroad will be constructed
to Pembina seventy miles from Fort Garry, in
year or two, and the tide Of immigration SO