THE WHISKY TRAFFICKERS [From Temperance Opinion, Sept. 11 ]

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXXII, Issue 5726, 29 January 1876, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE WHISKY TRAFFICKERS [From Temperance Opinion, Sept. 11 ]

i No ri.itt.-r to what put <>f the cnmp bi one tuin.'i his attention, tho cry is still the same — whcievcr tho poison is taken— even in tlic unexplored an<l almost unknown icgioin of Canada, known by the name of tho (.u.'C ! Lone Country. The Sat unlay Jiecieio wvv, a long and glowing account ot an expedition | of some 30n mounted police. They arc called 1 polic\ thoiHi from their training, and l>y t.i'iyin ' gun , ."id .ill munitions of war, tlv y l call v .'-iv •iullwi 3 ;')ln h?.o\ as tho v/int r of 1873 aeon ulei iMi- 'iiinil er of As«iiul>'>i;ie Indian*, wo o .'.iril iod l>y a puty of whi-ky traders, -who, in vio'.vtion of tho laws of tlie i United .Stilus, as veil :m those of Curvda, , -worf en^ig I m .soiling their poisonous aud dc l!y wire's to the Indian tubes. It waa repoited Lhty weu cntienched in fortified positions near the . ow and lii-lly livers, and ! having crossed the frontier, weio beyond the I icacli of tho United States ollieers. They ' were said to be trading lately with the I'J.ielc Feet tribes, and the usual results of this traffic were reported as everywhere discernible — in tha demoralisation of the i Indians, and the indiscriminate slaughter of the buffalo. Tho Saturday RtnUw gave a lon^' account of thenuich out and back of ! thw* expedition over 2,000 miles of conntry, ' praising the Government for sending them , out and tho officers and men composing the ! fore j for the success of their expedition. The forev, n-> soon nt they reached the district so.ight, needed no other guide thin the marks of tho iralHc in the shape of rapine, murder, and death. And after they had , completely scoured tho country and routed I these nefarious wretches, what was the result ? The Indian chiefs expressed themselves deeply grateful for the change, and at an interview with Mr. Macleod, contrasted their former condition with the alteration that had taken place sinco the arrival of tho foi ees. They told how they had been i obbed and ruined by the whisky traders ; how } their horses, robes, and women had been taken from them ; how their young men had Iven engiged in drunken riots, and scvci.ilof them shot. Now, said they, all is changed ; [ and as one old chief expressed, suiting the j action to tho word ; " Before you came the Indian crept along, now ho is. not afraid to walk erect." Mr. Macleod considers the Indians whom ho has been brought into contact with as vciy intelligent men, hospitable to strangers, and nut averse to white men settling in their country. The Sat unlay Jteview says it must be a source of considerable satisfaction to the Canadian Government that so small a force should bo enabled to go through such difficulties and trials, and without tho loss of a single man not only to successfully break up a pernicious and demoralising trade, but to establish friendly connexions with the first really warlike Indian tribe with which I wo have had anything to do.

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