"That the Hudson's Bay Company _can_ govern the country
efficiently, on this obvious condition of all other Governments, is
clear enough; and the peaceable relations between the Indians and the
whites, and between the various tribes themselves, throughout the whole
of this enormous territory, as well as the general state of health and
occupation of the aborigines, prove how perfect and wise has been the
management of the country. But government of Indians, who can be
employed and traded with, and who at last become more or less dependent
upon the Company's organization, as in this case, is one thing,--
government of a large and expanding colony of free white men is quite
another.
"It is a question whether the government of the Indians can or ought to
be changed, for a long period to come, so completely is the Indian life
now associated with the operations of the Company. Of course, the
settlement of a new or an extended colony, involves the extinguishment
of Indian rights within the area proposed; and while the outside
district not set apart, would still be roamed over by the Indians, and
be valuable for the fur trade, its limits must, from time to time, be
narrowed by further additions to the circle of civilization and free
government.
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