The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-04-08
MOUNTED POLICE
RIDE THE FIELDS
How Nine Hundred Men Keep
Order iii the Wilds Of the
British Northwest.
SETTLERS ARE PROTECTED
The Chief Talks With Mr.. Car
pc,tcr About His
Work.
Bv Frank G, Carpenter.

BY FRANK ". carpenter.
fspeciul Correspondent OF The Times
&5 Dlspatc1)
REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN, April b.
FOR tho past two months 1 have been
travelling along tho Canadian frontier. 1
nave been living In the baby towns Of tho
Mild west, and have gone unarn1co
through some Of the least settled parts
Of the country. The conditions mere arc
fur different from those which prevailed
IN our Western states when they were
first opened up to immigrants. lhere
arc no cowboys dnshing through the
streets shooting up the towns. there are
no ho1d-ups on tho railroads, and tho
dad man from Bitter Greek" is con-
epicuous BY his absence. There are plenty
OF bar rooms connected with tho httlc
hotels, but the old settlers do not MAKE
the tenderfoot dance by shooting at MS
toes with q revolver, and murders anu
aynchings are fewer still than IN INC
settled states OF our West and South.
Canada's Mounted Police.
The secret Of this good order comes
from Cnnnda's mounted police ana the
fact that the man who commits q crime
Is bound TO be caught and punished. The
mounted police Is one OF the most re-
markablc military forces IN existence.
1t comprises less than 800 men. hut u
Keeps order throughout a country more
thnn half ms large MS the United States.
vast part OF It's territory Is wilderness.
It runs from here to tho Arctic Ocean.
1t has It's stations about Hudson's Bay,
on the Peace River and In the mining
camps OF the Yukon. IT'S members patroi
every part of the new wheat belt. Where
American and other Immigrants arealhn-
ing up homesteads, and they gallop Ip
and down the boundary between the
United States and Canada guarding
against smuggling and c~attle-thieving and
settling any minor troubles which arise
between the two peoples.
one OF the largest stations OF this ter
rltory is here at Regina. The mounted
police have barracks about two miles
from the city. and most OF the new men
arc broken In at this point before they
are started out into tho service. There
arc other large stations at Prince Albert.
Calgary and Edmonton. They may be
found near every Indian reservation and
on every spot where trouble Is likely TO
+ come.
A Talk With the Chief.
During my stay at Ottawa ] had nm
interview with Colonel Frederick White.
the head OF this organization. and the
man who, more than any other. has had
to do with bringing It to Its present eff
Client sta tc. LOIOnel w Ills !dS pSCA
connected with the police for more than
thirty five years. He has seen It grow
from two hundred members to almost
one thousand. and he has been associ-
ated with It In various capacities through
all parts OF this grent British northwest.
B I asked Colonel White to tell me some
thing MS to the extent OF the territory
under his Jurisdiction. Said he:
"Our police precincts run from Che
- ---s 80 EE = ~ 49, TYoitoHM g 4 n fno E tn2EfhaH
Arctic Ocean. we have altogether about
a million and a half square miles under
our Jurisdiction. Take Edmonton. That
town lies over three hundred miles north
or the boundary OF the United States.
We have policemen on guard there and
all along the line cast and west to the
Pacific Ocean and to Hudson's Bay. We
have men hundreds Of miles to the north
west, and we keep n large force IN the
mining regions OF the Klondikc. Indeed.
we have practically the whole OF me
gparsely settled and unsettled portions
OF British North America"
Every Farmer a Police Reporter.
"Give mo some idea OF how order Is
kent in such n country said J..
"Our arrangements nre such that wo
come In contact with all the settlers. AS
It is now, our policemen ride on horse
back through every part OF the lands
which are being opened up. Every man
has his route. and he gallops from farm
to farm and town to town. asking every
colonist whether anything wrong has
taken place since his last visit. II the
farmer has no complaints he Is asked to
sign a report to that effect, and II the
contrary, his troubles are at once inves-
tira ted. We have a record OF all the
settlers, and we go over the route and
make the policemen produce these signed
statements. showing that each man has
been visited. It may be that the farmer
viii claim his cattle has been stolen. II
so, the policeman goes with him to trace
the thieves, and II they are found he sees
that they are brought to Justice and pun
ished. In many cases such complaints arc
false alarms, and the policeman and
farmer find that the stock has merely
strayed into some valley near by, Never
theless, we make many arrests. There
we're more thar three thousand convlc-
tions for crime and other %offenses In tho
northwest territories last year. Many OF
the o%ffenses were petty ones, and this
number all told, covers n population OF
more than 400, 900, scattered over tho enor-
nous region have described. 1t seems
to me small"
"po you lave man, muraers?"
eve have had thirteen In four years"
said Colonel White, "andN of those thlr-