In 1670, a royal charter was granted by Charles the Second, for
incorporating the Hudson's Bay Company. The grant to the company was of
"the sole trade and commerce of all those seas, straits, bays, rivers,
lakes, creeks, and sounds, in whatsoever latitude they shall be, that
lie within the entrance of the straits, commonly called Hudson's
Straits, together with all the lands and territories upon the countries,
coasts, and confines of the seas, bays, lakes, rivers, creeks and sounds
aforesaid, that are not already actually possessed by or granted to any
of our subjects, or possessed by the subjects of any other Christian
prince or State, with the fishing of all sorts of fish, whales,
sturgeons, and all other royal fishes in the seas, bays, inlets, and
rivers within the premises; and the fish therein taken, together with
the royalty of the sea upon the coasts within the limits aforesaid, and
all mines royal, as well discovered as not discovered, of gold, silver,
gems, and precious stones to be found or discovered within the
territories, limits, and places aforesaid;" and the charter declares
that "the said land be from henceforth reckoned as one of our
plantations or colonies in America, called Rupert's Land."
COMPARISON BETWEEN PRICE OF LABOUR IN AUSTRALIA AND CALIFORNIA OR
BRITISH COLUMBIA.
_From the Times' Correspondent_.
I take the wages in Australia from a Melbourne paper of 16th March,
which gives the wages current at that time! I received it direct a few
days ago. I reduce our American currency into sterling at 48 pence to
the dollar, that being about its current value here.
_Melbourne Wages_.
Married couples (servants), 60 pounds to 70 pounds per annum; female
servants, 25 pounds to 30 pounds per annum; gardeners, 55 pounds to 60
pounds per annum; grooms, 40 pounds to 50 pounds a-year; carpenters, 12
shillings to 14 shillings per day; ditto, rough, 25 shillings to 30
shillings per week; masons and bricklayers, 10 shillings to 15 shillings
per day; waiters, 20 shillings to 25 shillings per week; compositors, 1
shilling 4 pence per 1000; blacksmiths, 40 shillings per week; farm
labourers, 15 shillings to 20 shillings per week; shepherds, 20 pounds
to 25 pounds a-year.
_California Wages_.
Married couples (servants), 192 pounds per annum, and found; female
servants, 80 pounds to 96 pounds, and kept; gardeners, 120 pounds
a-year, and found; by the day, 3 dollars, now 4 dollars; young men in
stables as grooms, 120 pounds a-year, and found, 16 pounds a month and
find themselves; carpenters, with us till lately 1 pound a-day, now 28
shillings a-day; "rough" and smooth, I never knew any difference--and
all bad; masons and bricklayers at lowest time, 25 shillings a-day, here
at present 35 shillings a-day; waiters, 6 pounds to 8 pounds a-month in
San Francisco; compositors, 2 shillings 10 and a half pence per 1000
type, our types double size; blacksmiths, 3 pounds 12 shillings to 6
pounds a-week; general rate, 5 dollars a day; farm labourers, 6 pounds
a-month, and found, and only work from 7 o'clock to 6 o'clock, with two
hours for meals; shepherds, 144 pounds, 10 shillings a-year, and found;
a competent shepherd worth 240 pounds a-year, and found; or, to serve on
shares of increase of stock, on very liberal terms.
All provisions except animal food, are cheaper in San Francisco than in
Melbourne.
TREATY MADE BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND GREAT BRITAIN IN REGARD TO THE
LIMITS WESTWARD OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, JUNE 15, 1846.
Article 1. From the point on the forty-ninth parallel of north
latitude, where the boundary laid down in existing treaties and
conventions between the United States and Great Britain, terminates, the
line of boundary between the territories of the United States and those
of her Britannic Majesty shall be continued westward along the said
forty-ninth parallel of north, latitude to the middle of the channel
which separates the continent from Vancouver's Island, and thence
southerly through the middle of the said channel, and of Fuca's Straits,
to the Pacific ocean: Provided, however, that the navigation of the
whole of the said channel and straits, south of the forty-ninth parallel
of north latitude, remain free and open to both parties.
Article 2. From the point at which the forty-ninth parallel of north
latitude shall be found to intersect the great northern branch of the
Columbia River, the navigation of the said branch shall be free and open
to the Hudson's Bay Company, and to all British subjects trading with
the same, to the point where the said branch meets the main stream of
the Columbia, and thence down the said main stream to the ocean, with
free access into and through the said river or rivers, it being
understood that all the usual portages along the line thus described
shall, in like manner, be free and open. In navigating the said river
or rivers, British subjects, with their goods and produce, shall be
treated on the same footing as citizens of the United States; it being,
however, always understood that nothing in this article shall be
construed as preventing or intended to prevent, the government of the
United States from making any regulations respecting the navigation of
the said river or rivers not inconsistent with the present treaty.
Article 3. In the future appropriation of the territory south of the
forty-ninth parallel of north latitude, as provided in the first article
of this treaty, the possessory rights of the Hudson's Bay Company, and
of all British subjects who may be already in the occupation of land or
other property, lawfully acquired within the said territory, shall be
respected.
Article 4. The farms, lands, and other property of every description,
belonging to the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company, on the north side
of the Columbia River, shall be confirmed to the said company. In case,
however, the situation of those farms and lands should be considered by
the United States to be of public and political importance, and the
United States Government should signify a desire to obtain possession of
the whole, or of any part thereof, the property so required shall be
transferred to the said government, at a proper valuation, to be agreed
upon between the parties.