PROTECTION OF GAME AND WILD LIFE 261 



fur trade is maintained, an enormous part of the Dominion 

 would be rendered unproductive and the native inhabitants 

 would either starve to death or become a charge on the gov- 

 ernment. That, in brief, is the significance of the problem. 

 It was also pointed out that the Danish Government ad- 

 ministers the fur trade of Greenland as a government 

 monopoly. State officers trade with the natives at so-called 

 "buying places." In this manner and through their regu- 

 lations regarding trapping, it is possible to exercise an amount 

 of control that will insure the conservation of the fur re- 

 sources of Greenland to a far greater extent than is other- 

 wise possible. An important feature of this policy is also 

 the fact that such control protects the natives from the evil 

 effects that result from unrestricted intercourse with out- 

 side traders. 



A careful consideration of the problem of our northern 

 fur resources and the position of the native population in 

 relation to the exploitation of such resources serves to im- 

 press one with the fact that the taking over and adminis- 

 tration by the Dominion Government of the fur trade of 

 the Northwest Territories would be most desirable from all 

 points of view. The following proposal is therefore made. 

 The Dominion Government should take over the entire 

 control and exploitation of the fur trade and wild life re- 

 sources of the Northwest Territories by enacting the neces- 

 sary legislation. This would involve the purchase of such 

 rights as the Hudson's Bay Company have in the Northwest 

 Territories. In order to administer the monopoly it would 

 be necessary to establish certain government posts, such as 

 those now maintained by the Hudson's Bay Company. This 

 would be a great advantage in securing proper and adequate 

 government administration in the Northwest Territories, 

 where the need of government agents to take charge of the 

 affairs of the Indians, the enforcement of the law, the collec- 

 tion of customs, and oversight of other government activities 



