the premier; here is his letter, read it, in which he promises this, that, and the other shall be done, and yet nothing has been done. Therefore we ask you not to make this survey, as it is not right." The surveyor wrote a report to Victoria that he was obstructed, and a man-of-war was sent, and eight of these men were put in prison. These eight men are suffering for what eight hundred would have doneendeavoring to stop the reserve being surveyed on wrong lines; lines represented to be wrong to, and acknowledged to be wrong by, the head of Indian affairs. Therefore it is that these Indians want, if possible, permission to go over to the border of Alaska, where they may have the benefit of the laws of your country. Now, as a direct answer to Capt. Pratt's question, the Indians have intimated to me that if they are not allowed to go to Alaska, and have the privilege of settling there, and becoming free men, and citizens of that country, they will leave the place where they are and join the interior Indians, where they feel they have a position of strength, and where they will be able to cope with the white man, with the robber, with the man who does them an injustice. I was told by my Indians that the other tribes of Indians, that were still uncivilized, were urging my people to join in a defensive war. I am still hoping that we shall be able to bridge over the difficulty, and let these poor people know that there is still in our Christianity that which they can grasp; something that is tangible; something that is not merely a theory of religion, which will not leave them to fight all their battles by themselves, but something that will reach out to them a helping hand, and enable them to remain as they are now, a happy and self-supporting people. Suppose I should have to go back to these Indians and say, "There is no roon in America; the white man has turned his back upon you, as Canada has." What will be the effect? What will these people then do? Are they to be left to live upon lands on which they feel they are allowed merely by sufferance of the Crown of England? I say no man living could exist under such circumstances, and be content and happy. What they will have to do if they cannot go to Alaska, will be to go up the river and join these other Indians. Whether that will result in war or not I can not tell. THE PRESIDENT, HON. CLINTON B. FISK.-When Lord Dufferin made that wonderful speech at Victoria, after referring to the Indians of British Columbia, he said, in that wonderful appeal to the people, "You must do for these Indians as you would do for yourselves. There will be no peace for you until they become citizens of the Crown and British subjects, and have their own homes." I had a conversation with him in New York, and I have never heard a man voice my sentiment better than he did. PRESIDENT GATES.-Mr. Duncan has, in very forcible and eloquent language, made known to us to-day the great success that he has achieved among the Indians of British Columbia. He has shown us what can be accomplished where you have a good and earnest man, working in behalf of his brethren; preaching Christ; instilling Christian principles, and at the same time enforcing such with good sense; making practical his teachings; looking after the wants of the men; supplying them with saw-mills, and with other means of providing for their necessities. MR. DUNCAN'S REFUTATION OF SOME OF THE FALSEHOODS ORIGINATED BY BISHOP RID- BISHOP RIDLEY is the author of the following statement, and in substance it was repeated in public assembly at Metlakahtla by the Society's Deputation in Mr. Duncan's absence.* 66 The Charge." I [Bishop Ridley] requested him [Mr. Duncan] to hand over to me all the books, and all the property of the Society. This he refused to do, but "afterward handed over some of the accounts to Mr. Col"lison. . . . The store and its stock was believed by "the Church Missionary Society to be its property before "the destruction began. We have been told that "the Public works were stopped by the rupture, and I beg to add that the funds from the Church Missionary Society, and not his personal credit enabled him to carry on the public works previously. For instance here is an "entry in the Church Missionary Society's periodical for September, 1870 (The Record) Metlakahtla Fund, A "Friend, £25.' Such entries are very common in the So"ciety's accounts. If the profits of the store built up the "Public Works at Metlakahtla-I should like to know what 66 use he made of such contributions? If he is so ready to lay before the Commissioner an account of such moneys, 66 66 66 * See page 254. 66 why did he cut out those twelve pages from the Society's "Ledger which detailed such account? The Society will "be glad to receive an account from Mr. Duncan of the 66 expenditure of the large sums so received. They asked through me in vain." 66 Here then it is seen the Bishop charges me with having refused to render up to the Society certain property stock-intrade and accounts, also with having cut twelve pages out of the Society's Ledger which contained the record of money received by me from the Society, and the expenditure of which money the Society has sought in vain to obtain. I will first meet these charges in few words and then enter into details and explanation. Immediately after receiving the letter disconnecting me from the Society, I ceased to exercise any control over the property of the Society, and within a day or so I left the mission premises. The persons I left in the Mission House were Mr. Collison and family. The Bishop had gone away. The Society had no stock-in-trade at Metlakahtla or ever had-for me to hand over. The Society's accounts I handed over to the agent Mr. Collison appointed to keep them. The Whoever told the Bishop, that the Public works at Metlakahtla, were stopped by the rupture made a mistake. fact is the Public works have been largely increased since the rupture which was certainly not "due to Mr. Duncan's connection with the Society." The Book which the Bishop says I cut, was not a Ledger, but contained only copies of the yearly accounts; both the originals having been sent to the Society which accounts, originals, and copies, were complete in every particular when I handed them over. Now for details and explanation— 1. I have to state that until the advent of Bishop Ridley all the money drawn on account of the North Pacific Mission from the Society, for over twenty years passed through my hands, and every penny was accounted for by me to the Financial Secretary yearly. 2. In not one instance, to my knowledge during all that time was I ever notified of any discrepancy, or omission, till the last year, when the Financial Secretary wrote to ask me for an explanation on two items. One item was, that a draft for £500 had been presented to the Society for payment, which draft did not appear among those accounted for in my yearly statement. This omission was explained by the fact that Bishop Ridley, had drawn the draft, but had failed to advise the Society, or render to them, or myself any account of it, or for it. The other item for explanation, was that the total sum of general expenses of the Masset Mission Station, as it appeared on my statement, did not agree with the amount rendered direct to the Society by Mr. Collison—the missionary at Masset. This discrepancy was explained by Mr. Collison himself to the Financial Secretary-showing the account as sent through me was the correct one. 3. That the accounts in the Society's hands will testify how careful I have been over disbursing the Society's funds, and that, year by year, as I was able, I sought to lighten the general expenses of the mission, by contributions from my own salary, and from money paid me for services rendered to the government, and also from profits arising from our village industries. 4. I was ever careful to guard against using the Society's funds for any object, however good, outside the limits allowed generally to all missions. The mission-house, and premises and school-house were within those limits and they are the only buildings erected at Metlakahtla by the Society's money—though not exclusively by their money; and, these buildings I resigned the use of immediately I was disconnected from the Society. |