let, the mountain passes, and the chain of waterways leading therefrom
to Cudahy. Upon none of these importations had any duty been collected,
except a sum of $3,248.80 paid to Inspector Constantine in 1894, by the
North American Transportation and Trading Company and others, and it is
safe to conclude, especially when it is remembered that the country
produces none of the articles consumed within it except fresh meat, that
a large revenue was being lost to the public exchequer under the then
existing conditions.
"For the purpose of ascertaining officially and authoritatively the
condition of affairs to which the correspondence referred to in the
next preceding paragraph relates, the Honorable the President of the
Privy Council, during the spring of 1894, despatched Inspector Charles
Constantine, of the Northwest Mounted Police Force, accompanied by
Sergeant Brown, to Fort Cudahy and the mining camps in its vicinity. The
report made by Mr. Constantine on his return, established the
substantial accuracy of the representations already referred to. The
value of the total output of gold for the season of 1894 he estimated at
$300,000.
"The facts recited clearly establish--first, that the time had arrived
when it became the duty of the Government of Canada to make more
efficient provision for the maintenance of order, the enforcement of the
laws, and the administration of justice in the Yukon country, especially
in that section of it in which placer mining for gold is being
prosecuted upon such an extensive scale, situated near to the boundary
separating the Northwest Territories from the possessions of the United
States in Alaska; and, second, that while such measures as were
necessary to that end were called for in the interests of humanity, and
particularly for the security and safety of the lives and property of
the Canadian subjects of Her Majesty resident in that country who are
engaged in legitimate business pursuits, it was evident that the revenue
justly due to the Government of Canada, under its customs, excise and
land laws, and which would go a long way to pay the expenses of
government, was being lost for the want of adequate machinery for its
collection.
"Accordingly in June last a detachment[1] of twenty members of the
Mounted Police Force including officers was detailed for service in
that portion of the Northwest Territories. The officer in command, in
addition to the magisterial and other duties he is
|