of lawlessness with outbreaks here and
there--all these and much more have marked the unprecedented history of
these years in this last new country in the world. And Canada, perhaps,
will never fully realize the debt she owes to this quiet, gentlemanly,
resolute man, who is a student as well as a soldier, and whose strong
hand has been in constant evidence in controlling, guiding and guarding
the interests of a country larger than half a dozen European kingdoms.

When Perry took charge, the Force, outside those at the war, numbered
some 750 men. These were distributed so as to give about 500 to the
oversight of the vast Middle West and the balance to the Yukon. The men
in the Middle West prairie section were scattered in over seventy
detachments all the way from Southern Manitoba to Fort Chipewyan in the
far North, a distance of over 2,000 miles, while in the Yukon the
distance between the most southerly outposts and the farthest North was
over 500 miles. Anyone who knows the country can realize the task of men
who had to look after such an enormous area, when their number meant
that one or two men would sometimes have to exercise control over
districts many miles in extent. These men had to be constantly in the
saddle or on the trail with dog-train. Verily Captain Butler's early
suggestion as to organization of the Police, that the men sent out
should be a "mobile force," was being amply vindicated as a good one to
meet the necessities of a new land. And that the new Commissioner was
looking ahead is evidenced by such clauses in his first report as "The
great countries of the Peace, Mackenzie and Athabasca Rivers are
constantly requiring more men. I am sending an officer to Fort
Saskatchewan to take command of that portion of the territory." Later he
says: "The operation of foreign whalers at the mouth of the Mackenzie
will ere long require a detachment to control their improper dealings
with the natives and control the revenue." And in due course they were
there.

In that first report Perry indicates that "the Force should be entirely
re-armed." A lot of the men had obsolete arms, and the Commissioner
insists that "if the corps is to be armed it ought to be well armed." He
suggests a change from the heavy stock saddle and accoutrements thereof,
claiming that with some 46 lbs. on his back before the rider mounted,
the horse had a right to ask: "Why this heavy burden?" And he speaks of
necessary changes in harness, tr