d'Ouest, for which the rent was 20,000 livres. Sault St. Mary was rated at 18,000 livres, Temiscaming at 14,000; the remaining posts paid from 14,000 to 10,000; Kaministiquia only 8,000 and Saint Joseph 3,000 livres.

*

The remaining posts, Detroit, Michillimackinac, Miami and Homilliatanont on the Wabash were free. Passes were granted for trade at the rate of $600 per canoe, with the obligation of carrying four cwt. for the king.

Gage formed an unfavourable opinion of the system. By the grant of exclusive privileges expensively paid for, a higher price for goods was exacted from the Indians, while the trade was carried on, to suit the conditions of the monopoly, by which it was injured rather than developed. No control was exercised over the men engaged in it, who were independent of all inspection and many wrongs were committed on the Indians for which no redress could be obtained. Consequently the Indians frequently murdered the traders, and the French had been drawn into the necessity of sending out expensive expeditions to far distances. The trade in this form was also demoralizing, for it created a numerous class living among the Indians, which abandoned civilization and intermarried with squaws, finally to accept as their lot in life, the mode of existence which they could not be induced to abandon. While the minor trading posts thus became multiplied, Gage did not consider that they increased the trade; for those engaged in these expeditions went far distances among the Indians, and obtained the furs, which otherwise would have found their way to Detroit and Michillimackinac. In spite of the large sums paid for the licenses, little of the amount found its way into the coffers of the king. There was so much abuse and so many charges recognized and permitted, that the amounts paid into

The capture of Niagara proved the destruction of the fur trade. De Bellaître, who had been in command at Detroit, on the surrender of the post to Rogers was sent to New York, On his arrival there he informed Amherst that since Niagara had been taken there had been no trade and that "three thousand packs" of furs had been collected: none had been sold except to some British traders, who had reached that place. [Can. Arch., A. & W. I., 96. 1., p. 220.]

+ Approximately on the latitude of Saint Louis.

1761]

TÊTES DE BOULE.

457 the royal treasury dwindled to a small remaining balance. Indeed there was only one means to obtain a revenue on furs at little cost: it was to place a small tax on the exportation of them.

Gage accordingly abolished all trade monopolies; the incumbrances on the fur trade were removed, and traders frequented such posts as they deemed expedient. Montreal was the spot whence these expeditions were organized, and the relaxation of the previous regulations, limiting the business to a few, must have led to increased activity; especially as all Indian interference with the passage of the canoes ceased to be cause of alarm.

At Three Rivers the Têtes de Boule tribe descended by the northern waters to the town, generally at the end of May, or the beginning of June. Trade with this tribe was one of the principal industries of Three Rivers, and great efforts were made to direct it to the town. In October, 1761, Burton issued a proclamation, forbidding parties, under the penalty of the confiscation of the cargo, to proceed among the Têtes de Boule for the purpose of obtaining their furs. He set forth, that it was the desire of the British government that the trade should be open to all, and that there should be no forestalling. Burton pointed out that those who had made these expeditions, desired to profit by the ignorance of the Indian, and when doing so, in order to further their own ends, they had endeavoured to create a prejudice against the British. Every encouragement was given to the Indians, to induce them to descend to the town. On their arrival, their goods were placed with the Sieur de Francheville. After the arrangement of debts due for the advances made by merchants, the articles were exposed for sale in the public market, of which due notice was given. The governor assisted the trade, by supplying the merchants with powder, to be furnished to the Indians on certain conditions. I have spoken of the control exercised over the sale of liquor to them.

British rule on this continent has been invariably distin

guished by the desire to treat the Indians with honesty and justice. It is the principle which to-day is acted upon by the dominion. Gage recommended that a small detachment of troops should be placed at the trading posts, the officers having power to administer justice, either unaided, or assisted by responsible persons at the post. By these means, the traders would be unable with impunity to defraud the Indian, and the tricks and artifices of the white men would meet with instant punishment; the insolence of the Indian would be repressed, and any cause of quarrel removed, so that the peace would not be disturbed.

The governors could discover only two causes of dislike to the new government. One, the fear on the part of the inhabitants of losing their paper money, of which every one held a large amount; indeed, until the arrival of the British troops, it was the only currency. Gage drew Amherst's attention to the subject, with the view that by his recognition of this fear of loss, some steps might be taken to lead to its redemption by France. The matter was finally arranged at the peace; that any payment was at all made, was entirely owing to the persistence of the home authorities. It thus became an early duty of the British government to obtain satisfaction from the court of France, with regard to the obligations entered into before the conquest, by the French government and intendant. The "new subjects" being now entitled to British protection, fully received it.

Much misrepresentation has been made on the subject of this money. British officers and civil officials have been charged with deceiving the habitants, and of taking advantage of their position to obtain the paper-money at the lowest value, far beneath its actual worth, with the knowledge that it would be ultimately redeemed, and that large sums were made by the operation. The assertion is simply a calumny, unsustained by fact; an assertion without proof. No scrap of evidence can be found to establish it; on the contrary, every care was taken by the governors to give information on the subject, and to caution the habitant both when the paper

1760]

CARD CURRENCY.

459

was considered to be valueless not to receive it, and when there was a prospect that it would be redeemed by the French king, not to sacrifice it.

During the war, as early as June, 1760, Murray issued a manifesto on the subject of the circular, which de Vaudreuil and Bigot had caused to be distributed, by which they promised that the letters of change of 1757-1758 should be paid in three months after the peace; those of 1759 to be paid in eighteen months; the billets d'ordonnance to be settled when circumstances would permit. Murray's proclamation dealt with these promised liquidations; he shewed that it was an engagement for a payment of six millions per month to commence at a certain date, to pay off a debt of one hundred or one hundred and twenty million livres, and that circumstances would not permit the redemption of this immense amount of paper-money. Possibly Murray's desire was likewise to depreciate the card currency, for it was the time of war.

On the 22nd of September, 1760, by proclamation, Burton expresses his surprise to hear that, in spite of the proclamation of general Murray, the card money and billets d'ordonnance continued to be paid and received in ordinary business. The use of this money, he said, could only proceed from bad faith. Burton accordingly directed the captains of militia to assemble the habitants of the parishes, and to make known to them that the use of it was forbidden, and that he would punish any one. who would impose on the credulity of the habitants by forcing upon them this fraudulent payment. That there should be no mistake with regard to the value of the coinage in use, he published a schedule of relative value of the French and English coin.*

Thus by the end of 1760 the card currency was entirely out of use, and the only question affecting its future value, was the course which the British government would be able to take in the settlement of the conditions of peace, whether or not it would be possible to obtain recognition of it, and enforce its liquidation.

In the treaty of peace of 1763 a declaration was appended with regard to the amount held in Canada. It set forth that the most christian king would pay the sum due to the new subjects of Great Britain, but that the amount must not be confounded with the money held by French subjects. On the 27th of May, 1763, Gage issued a regulation with regard to the holders of this paper money, by which a declaration could be made of the amount in possession. They were requested between the 1st and 30th of June, to place the amount held by them in the hands of Maître Panet, greffier of Montreal, designating the character of the notes, with the name of the holder, upon which certificates of receipt would be given. It was to be bona fide the property of the depositor: a fee of five sous was to be payable for every thousand livres so deposited.

It is not impossible that this notice caused some speculation and that the paper-money became an object of traffic. To guard the habitants against any sacrifice of their interest, Haldimand issued a proclamation in the district of Three Rivers, calling upon them not to discount the notes at a low price. He counselled them to wait with patience the settlement of the matter, adding that buying and selling the notes might prejudice their rights to hinder, or delay settlement.* Nothing was done until the 29th of March, 1768, when general Conway, on the part of Great Britain, and count de Guerchy, appointed on the part of France, with full powers from their governments, concluded a convention, in which a reduction of fifty per cent. was made on the bills of exchange, and seventyfive per cent. on the "ordonnances," for which sums, certificates were granted. Money was to be paid according to this reduction on the face value of the certificates. For the amounts remaining unpaid, what in modern days would be called debentures, bearing four and a half per cent. were issued subject to the tax of the dixième. Certain forms were laid down, so that the property of British subjects, only should be included in the arrangement. No certificate was in any case

Mémoire Abbé Verréault, p. 281.