No. 35

I trust your Grace will not deem me importunate in again
bringing before your notice the subject of the claims of the
Hudsons Bay Company to lands in British Columbia. The inconvenience of those claims being still unsettled, or even any basis of settlement determined upon, is daily more felt, and in proportion with the delay so will the difficulty of a final adjustment be increased, the more especially as the Agents of the Hudsons Bay
Company, presuming upon the provisional concessions made by this
Government in reserving quantities of land to meet their claims
if confirmed by Her Majesty's Government will affect, and, in
truth, already do affect, to regard as a right what was simply
intended as an act of consideration and courtesy, for I am not
aware that, otherwise, it was incumbent upon this Government to
step in between the Hudsons Bay Company and the public to reserve to the former more than what they had actually enclosed and
actually occupied.

2. I do not forget that the subject is one involving many
considerations, and one with which Her Majesty's Government may
have some difficulty in dealing, from the very general character in which the claims are preferred, and it therefore
may not be out of place for me to submit a few remarks which,
perhaps, might assist Her Majesty's Government in disposing of
the questions in a manner at once equitable to the Hudsons Bay
Company and to the Colony, or at all events which might establish a basis of settlement that would be of material assistance to us
here, in dealing with many of the complicated cases which are
frequently arising in connection with the Company's claims, more
especially at Yale and Hope.

3. The Grant made by Her Majesty's Government of the exclusive right of Trade on the western coast of North America was a valuable privilege which the Hudsons Bay Company enjoyed for many years, but the Charter contains no provision granting the fee of the soil to the Hudsons Bay Company, or agreement for compensation upon the expiration of the grant. Such being the case the Hudsons Bay Company can have no legal claim founded on the Charter to free grants of land in British Columbia.

4. Her Majesty's Government may, however, be of opinion that
the Hudson's Bay Company have claims to consideration in consequence
of the abrupt termination of the Charter in 1858, soon after and by reason of the discovery of Gold in British Columbia. The
Charter it is true legally expired within a few months of its
revocation, but it might have been renewed, had it not been for
that circumstance.

5. Should Her Majesty's Government be disposed to take this
liberal view of the position of the Hudsons Bay Company, and the
Despatches which I have had the honor to receive upon the subject
lead me to such a conclusion, I would take the liberty of
recommending, on that ground solely, the transfer in fee to the Company of all places occupied by existing Forts or Posts and
necessary for carrying on the business of the Company, together
with any fields or gardens actually enclosed by fences and under
cultivation, provided however that no such grant should exceed
100 Acres of country land at any one place, except at New Langley
and Kamloops where the Company have a large number of Cattle and Horses, and where the grant might be increased to 500 Acres, but in towns the grant should be restricted to building lots actually
occupied by the Company's business Houses, at Yale for instance,
to the Town Lots at present occupied by their dwelling and Store
Houses, and at Hope to the site of their Buildings and to the
adjacent carral.

6. Having received invariably so much consideration and favor
from Her Majesty's Government the Hudsons Bay Company have no real
claim to privileges other than would be conceded to their fellow
subjects, and it cannot be required in equity or in sound policy
that they should have a gift made to them of town or country land
for the mere purpose of sale. They cannot want more than I have
here suggested for business purposes. They could only utilize
larger tracts of land by speculating on its resale at a higher
price, as they have done and are now daily doing at Victoria, and
however anxious Her Majesty's Government, as well as myself, may
be that the most liberal consideration should be accorded the
position of the Company, still the interests of the Colony are
undoubtedly pre-eminent and must be so regarded.

7. If Her Majesty's Government approve of what I herein
submit, either as a settlement, or as a basis of settlement, I
will, under their instructions, carry the same into effect by
marking out the several Establishments and the lands appertaining
to each, both in towns and in country places. This will have the
effect of removing many difficulties and embarrassments now
existing in respect to lands claimed by other individuals, and
it will bring the question to a decision; and should the Hudsons
Bay Company consider they have further legal or equitable rights
of claim, they will be at liberty, like other of Her Majesty's
Subjects to appeal to the Civil Courts of the Colony.