tually
suppressed and Riel executed. The chief events since have been the
Halifax award (1888), which justified the Canadian contention against
the United States interference with fisheries. The Behring Sea award
(1897) settled the sealing difficulty; and a joint commission met at
Quebec in 1898 to determine all outstanding questions between Canada and
the United States. In 1903 these reached a final solution in the Alaskan
Boundary Commission's settlement of the frontier line between British
Columbia and Alaska.

CHAPTER I.--_Its Postal History._

The _Stamp Collector's Magazine_ for August, 1868, contained an
interesting article on the history of the Canadian Post-office, largely
compiled from information given in the "Canadian Postal Guide," which we
cannot do better than quote in full.

The earliest records of the administration of the post-office in Canada,
are dated 1750, at which period the celebrated Benjamin Franklin was
Deputy Postmaster-General of North America. At the time of his
appointment, the revenue of the department was insufficient to defray
his salary of $1500 per annum, but under his judicious management, not
only was the postal accommodation in the provinces considerably
extended, but the revenue so greatly increased, that ere long the profit
for one year, which he remitted to the British Treasury, amounted to
$15,000.

In the evidence given by Franklin before the House of Commons in the
year 1766, in regard to the extent of the post-office accommodation in
North America, he made the following statement:--

The posts generally travel along the sea coasts, and only in a few
cases do they go back into the country. Between Quebec and Montreal
there is only one post per month. The inhabitants live so scattered
and remote from each other in that vast country, that the posts
cannot be supported amongst them. The English colonies, too, along
the frontier, are very thinly settled.

In 1774, Franklin was recalled, and the following year the War of
Independence broke out, and the office was filled by Mr. Hugh Finlay,
who had, under his predecessor, been postmaster at Quebec.

Canada is divided into Upper and Lower. From a Quebec almanack of 1796,
we glean that there were seven offices in the former and five in the
latter. Mr. Finlay is designated as "Deputy Postmaster-General of His
Majesty's Province of Canada."

At that time mails were dispatched monthly to E