Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory. minion of Canada should have been approved of by Her Majesty and embodied in an Address to Her Majesty from both the Houses of the Parliament of Canada, in pursuance of the 146th Section of the "British North America Act, 1867:" And it was by the same Act further enacted that it should be competent to Her Majesty, by Order or Orders in Council, on Addresses from the Houses of the Parliament of Canada, to declare that Rupert's Land should, from a date to be therein mentioned, be admitted into and become part of the Dominion of Canada: And whereas a second Address from both the Houses of the Parliament of Canada has been received by Her Majesty praying that Her Majesty will be pleased, under the provisions of the hereinbefore recited Acts, to unite Rupert's Land on the terms and conditions expressed in certain Resolutions therein referred to and approved of by Her Majesty, of which said Resolutions and Address copies are contained in the Schedule to this Order annexed, marked B, and also to unite the North-Western Territory with the Dominion of Canada, as prayed for by and on the terms and conditions contained in the herein before first recited Address, and also approved of by Her Majesty: And whereas a draft surrender has been submitted to the Governor-General of Canada containing stipulations to the following effect, viz. : 1. The sum of 300,000l. (being the sum hereinafter mentioned) shall be paid by the Canadian Government into the Bank of England to the credit of the Company within six calendar months after acceptance of the surrender aforesaid, with interest on the said sum at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum, computed from the date of such acceptance until the time of such payment. 2. The size of the blocks which the Company are to select adjoining each of their forts in the Red River limits, shall be as follows: Acres. Upper Fort Garry and town of Winnipeg, including the inclosed 500 500 White Horse Plain,... 500 3. The deduction to be made as hereinafter mentioned from the price of the materials of the Electric Telegraph, in respect of deterioration thereof, is to be certified within three calendar months from such acceptance as aforesaid by the agents of the Company in charge of the depots where the materials are stored. And the said price is to be paid by the Canadian Government into the Bank of England to the credit of the Company within six calendar months of such acceptance, with interest at the rate of 5 per cent per annum on the amount of such price, computed from the date of such acceptance until the time of payment: And whereas the said draft was on the fifth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, approved by the said Governor-General in accordance Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory. with a Report from the Committee of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada; but it was not expedient that the said stipulations, not being contained in the aforesaid second Address, should be included in the surrender by the said Company to Her Majesty of their rights aforesaid or in this Order in Council: And whereas the said Company did by deed under the seal of the said Company, and bearing date the nineteenth day of November, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, of which deed a copy is contained in the Schedule to this Order annexed, marked C., surrender to Her Majesty all the rights of government, and other rights, privileges, liberties, franchises, powers and authorities granted, or purported to be granted to the said Company by the said Letters Patent herein and herein before referred to, and also all similar rights which may have been exercised or assumed by the said Company in any parts of British North America not forming part of Rupert's Land, or of Canada or of British Columbia, and all the lands and territories (except and subject as in the terms and conditions therein mentioned) granted or purported to be granted to the said Company by the said Letters Patent : And whereas such surrender has been duly accepted by Her Majesty, by an instrument under her Sign Manual and Signet, bearing date at Windsor the twenty-second day of June, one thousand eight hundred and seventy : It is hereby Ordered and declared by Her Majesty, by and with the advice of the Privy Council, in pursuance and exercise of the powers vested in Her Majesty by the said Acts of Parliament, that from and after the fifteenth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and seventy, the said North-Western Territory shall be admitted into and becoine part of the Dominion of Canada upon the terms and conditions set forth in the first herein before recited Address, and that the Parliament of Canada shall from the day aforesaid have full power and authority to legislate for the future welfare and good government of the said Territory. And it is further ordered that, without prejudice to any obligations arising from the aforesaid approved Report, Rupert's Land shall from and after the said date be admitted into and become part of the Dominion of Canada upon the following terms and conditions, being the terms and conditions still remaining to be performed of those embodied in the said second address of the Parliament of Canada, and approved of by Her Majesty as aforesaid : 1. Canada is to pay to the Company 300,000l. when Rupert's Land is transferred to the Dominion of Canada. 2. The Company are to retain the posts they actually occupy in the NorthWestern Territory, and may, within twelve months of the surrender, select a block of land adjoining each of its posts within any part of British North America not comprised in Canada and British Columbia, in conformity, except as regards the Red River Territory, with a list made out by the Company and communicated to the Canadian Ministers, being the list in the Schedule of the aforesaid Deed of Surrender. The actual survey is to be proceeded with, with all convenient speed. 3. The size of each block is not to exceed [10] acres round Upper Fort Garry, [300] acres round Lower Fort Garry; in the rest of the Red River Terri Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory. tory a number of acres to be settled at once between the Governor in Council and the Company, but so that the aggregate extent of the blocks is not to exceed 50,000 acres. 4. So far as the configuration of the country admits, the blocks shall front the river or road by which means of access are provided, and shall be approximately in the shape of parallelograms, of which the frontage shall not be more than half the depth. 5. The Company may, for fifty years after the surrender, claim in any township or district within the Fertile Belt, in which land is set out for settlement, grants of land not exceeding one twentieth part of the land so set out. The blocks so granted to be determined by lot, and the Company to pay a rateable share of the survey expenses, not exceeding 8 cents Canadian an acre. The Company may defer the exercise of their right of claiming the proportion of each township for not more than ten years after it is set out; but their claim must be limited to an allotment from the lands remaining unsold at the time they declare their intention to make it. 6. For the purpose of the last Article, the Fertile Belt is to be bounded as follows:-On the south by the United States' boundary; on the west by the Rocky Mountains; on the north by the northern branch of the Saskatchewan; on the east by Lake Winnipeg, the Lake of the Woods, and the waters connecting them. 7. If any Township shall be formed abutting on the north bank of the northern branch of the Saskatchewan River, the Company may take their onetwentieth of any such township, which for the purpose of this Article shall not extend more than five miles inland from the river, giving to the Canadian Dominion an equal quantity of the portion of lands coming to them of townships established on the southern bank. 8. In laying out any public roads, canals, &c., through any block of land reserved to the Company, the Canadian Government may take, without compensation, such land as is necessary for the purpose, not exceeding one twenty-fifth of the total acreage of the block; but if the Canadian Government require any land which is actually under cultivation, or which has been built upon, or which is necessary for giving the Company's servants access to any river or lake, or as a frontage to any river or lake, they shall pay to the Company the fair value of the same, and shall make compensation for any injury done to the Company or their servants. 9. It is understood that the whole of the land to be appropriated within the meaning of the last preceding clause shall be appropriated for public purposes. 10. All titles to land up to the eighth day of March, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, conferred by the Company are to be confirmed. 11. The Company is to be at liberty to carry on its trade without hindrance in its corporate capacity, and no exceptional tax is to be placed on the Company's land, trade or servants, nor any import duties on goods introduced by them previous to the surrender. Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory 12. Canada is to take over the materials of the electric telegraph at cost price -such price including transport, but not including interest for money, and subject to a deduction for ascertained deterioration. 13. The Company's claim to land under agreements of Messrs. Vankoughnet and Hopkins is to be withdrawn. 14. Any claims of Indians to compensation for lands required for purposes of settlement shall be disposed of by the Canadian Government in communication with the Imperial Government; and the Company shall be relieved of all responsibility in respect of them. 15. The Governor in Council is authorized and empowered to arrange any details that may be necessary to carry out the above terms and conditions. And the Right Honorable Earl Granville, one of Her Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, is to give the necessary directions herein accordingly. SCHEDULES. SCHEDULE (A). ADDRESS to HER MAJESTY the QUEEN from the Senate and House of Commons of the Dominion of Canada. To the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty. Most Gracious Sovereign, We, your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Senate and Commons of the Dominion of Canada, in Parliament assembled, humbly approach your Majesty for the purpose of representing : That it would promote the prosperity of the Canadian people, and conduce to the advantage of the whole Empire, if the Dominion of Canada, constituted under the provisions of the "British North America Act, 1867," were extended westward to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. That the colonization of the fertile lands of the Saskatchewan, the Assineboine, and the Red River districts; the development of the mineral wealth which abounds in the region of the North-west; and the extension of commercial intercourse through the British possessions in America from the Atlantic to the Pacific, are alike dependent on the establishment of a stable government for the maintenance of law and order in the North-Western Territories. That the welfare of a sparse and widely scattered population of British subjects of European origin, already inhabiting these remote and unorganized territories, would be materially enhanced by the formation therein of political institutions bearing analogy, as far as circumstances will admit, to those which exist in the several Provinces of this Dominion. That Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory. That the 146th section of the " British North America Act, 1867," provides for the admission of Rupert's Land and the North-western Territory, or either of them, into union with Canada, upon the terms and conditions to be expressed in addresses from the Houses of Parliament of this Dominion to your Majesty, and which shall be approved of by your Majesty in Council. That we do therefore most humbly pray that your Majesty will be graciously pleased, by and with the advice of your Most Honorable Privy Council, to unite Rupert's Land and the North-western Territory with this Dominion, and to grant to the Parliament of Canada authority to legislate for their future welfare and good Government; and we most humbly beg to express to your Majesty that we are willing to assume the duties and obligations of government and legislation as regards these territories. That in the event of your Majesty's Government agreeing to transfer to Canada the jurisdiction and control over the said region, the Government and Parliament of Canada will be ready to provide that the legal rights of any corporation, company or individual within the same shall be respected, and placed under the protection of Courts of competent jurisdiction. And furthermore that, upon the transference of the territories in question to the Canadian Government, the claims of the Indian tribes to compensation for lands required for purposes of settlement will be considered and settled in conformity with the equitable principles which have uniformly governed the British Crown in its dealings with the aborigines. All which we humbly pray your Majesty to take into your Majesty's most gracious and favorable consideration. The Senate, Tuesday, December 17th, 1867. House of Commons, Monday, December 16th, 1867. (Signed), JOSEPH CAUCHON, Speaker. JAMES COCKBURN, Speaker. SCHEDULE (B). 1. Resolutions. May 28th, 1869. Resolved, That the Senate and Commons of the Dominion of Canada, during the first session of the first Parliament of Canada, adopted an Address to Her Majesty, praying that Her Majesty would be graciously pleased, by and with the advice of Her Most Honorable Privy Council, under the provisions of 146th section of "The British North America Act, 1867;" and on the terms specified in that Address, to unite Rupert's Land and the North-west Territory with this Dominion, and to grant to the Parliament of Canada authority to legislate for their future welfare and good government, and assuring Her Majesty of the willingness of the Parliament of Canada to assume the duties and obligations of government and legislation as regards those territories. Resolved, That the Joint Address of the Senate and Commons of Canada was duly laid at the foot of the throne, and that Her Majesty, by despatch from the |