288 TRANSACTION'S OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [VoL. II. 



some American officials that they had a right to prohibit all British 

 traders from even entering the territory of Indian tribes within the 

 United States, Simcoe wisely remarked that the fur-trade was of 

 minor importance to the Province under his administration and he was 

 quite willing that the northwest traffic should remain in the hands of 

 these well-established companies, while he would be content with encour- 

 aging the Indians of the locality to bring their peltry to the nearest 

 settlements. Yet he indulged in visions of the time when British 

 manufactures would find their way in this manner even beyond the 

 Mississippi and in the much wilder hope that the independence of the 

 Indian nations would be secured forever in consequence, and they would 

 form a bulwark against aggression for his Colony. 



His mind was forever occupied with fresh schemes for the benefit of 

 the inhabitants. He immediately observed the great inconvenience arising 

 from the scarcity of small coin. The farmers had no other means of 

 obtaining necessaries than by bartering their produce to the local mer- 

 chants who were accordingly enabled to fix their own prices both on the 

 articles sold and those taken in exchange for them. The cost of manufac- 

 tured goods rose progressively as they were sent westward and at Detroit 

 they sold for fully fifty per cent more than in Montreal. In anticipation 

 of this want the Governor had requested before leaving England that 

 a considerable quantity of copper coin should be issued to the troops 

 annually and he now asked that ^^500 in sixpences should be added. 



The subject of higher education also engaged his attention as a question 

 of great importance, since he foresaw that if provision was not soon made 

 for educating their children within the Province the wealthier inhabitants 

 would be tempted to send them to schools in the United States where 

 he feared they would become imbued with improper opinions. For the 

 present he thought that primary education might be left in the hands of 

 parents and relatives, but he recommended an annual grant from the 

 British Treasury of ;^i,ooo for buildings and salaries, and the establish- 

 ment of a teacher of classics at Kingston and another at Niagara with a 

 salary of ;!^ioo each, and the foundation later on of an university at 

 the capital with a full staff of professors, all of whom should be clergy- 

 men of the church of England except the Lecturer in medicine. 



Besides Toronto, he pointed out the sites of London, Chatham, and 

 Port Dover, as suitable places for the foundation of towns and at first 

 he favored London as the spot for the capital, chiefly however, for the 

 purpose of confirming British influence over the Indian tribes of the 

 West by the presence of a strong garrison. 



His more ambitious projects as a rule met with scant favour at the 



