THE FREE TRADER. 21 



dian put him so much short of necessary arti- 

 cles to make a proper hunt, it weakened his 

 constitution, laid the seeds of disease, and from 

 a business point of view, was bad policy. 



To make their posts perfectly free from 

 liquor, the very yearly allowance to their offi- 

 cers, clerks and servants was discontinued and 

 each employe was given the equivalent as a cash 

 bonus at the end of each year. I must say a 

 white man or two amongst a drunken band of 

 Indians ran considerable risk; several have 

 paid for their greed of gain with their lives. 

 Amongst the Indians many lives have been sac- 

 rificed thru the liquor curse, shooting, stabbing 

 and drowning being the principal results of 

 their fatal debauches. 



It is a most pitiful sight for one to travel 

 on the C. P. U. line and see at the stations along 

 the interior the ragged bodies and emaciated 

 features of the Indians who hang about the sta- 

 tions. These are some of the good hunters of 

 twenty-five .years ago and their descendants. 

 Back in those days an Indian's advances were 

 only limited by his demands on the company. 

 He took only what, under ordinary luck, he 

 could pay for. 



To-day hardly one of them can get trust for 

 a dollar. They pass their summer hanging 

 about the stations, the women doing a little fish- 



