MARCH 30, 1875. 995
Mr. SCHULTZ wished to have some information in regard to treaties generally in the North-West.
There was very little to be obtained from the report of the Minister of the Interior.
The treaty negotiated at Qu'Appelle Lake occupied several days and many matters were
brought up. It was understood that dis- satisfactions were expressed by nearly every
one of these Indians with the Hudson's Bay Company's rule in the North-West, and fear
was expressed that the company or its officers exercised undue influence over the
Government. If such were the fact, it was a very important matter for the Government
to keep in view in making choice of officials in the North-West and in the Government
of that territory.
Hon. Mr. LAIRD said the objections which the Indians took to the Hudson Bay Company were very fully
stated in reports published in all the newspapers of Manitoba and in some newspapers
in the Eastern Provinces. A reporter accompanied the commissioners and reported the
objections taken by the Indians and the replies thereto which satisfied them in regard
to the treaty. These reports had been published so fully through the press that he
did not think it necessary to incorporate them in his report to the House.
Mr. SMITH (Selkirk) said the objection referred to was in regard to the reserves held by the
Hudson's Bay Company under the provisions of the surrender of the territory. Otherwise
there was very little fault found but it might be interesting to the House to know
that a speech delivered by the hon. member for Lisgar, in which the Hudson's Bay
Company were not spoken of in the most complimentary terms, had been translated into
the Indian language and distributed among the Indians.
Mr. SCHULTZ said the hon. member had misconceived, to say the least of it, the objections raised
by the Indians on the occasion referred to. These objections were simply the distrust
engendered by their long experience in dealing with the Hudson's Bay Company's officers,
and,
if his information was correct, that distrust was very strongly expressed day after
day. With regard to the alleged translation of his (Mr. SCHULTZ) speech, if the statement
were true the translation must have been done by the Hudson's Bay Company themselves.
It was a very unlikely story, however, inasmuch as there was not in the whole of the
North- West a font of type capable of printing a document of that kind.
Mr. SMITH said he had been informed on a very good authority that such a document was circulated
among the Indians. The peace and quietness which prevailed in the North-West was
sufficient evidence of the good relations which existed between the Indians and the
Hudson's Bay Company's officers.
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