RCMP. Quarterly Praises The Shoulder Strap

COMPLIMENTARY REFERENCE to the part THE SHOULDER STRAP has played in presenting a
“true perspective of the work and activities” of the police force in British Columbia is made in the R.C.M.P.,

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Quarterly for October, 1950.

“Published semi-annually its (THE SHOULDER STRAP) reading matter has combined the right mix-
ture of educational articles and interesting cases presented in an easy-flowing style that told of experi-

enced editing,” the R.C.M.P. Quarterly says.
“Police magazines fill a definite need in the law enforcement profession. Most forces are reluctant

to admit the need for public relations officers yet the interest manifested by the public in present day
crime prevention methods necessitates the dissemination of a certain amount of information for civilian

consumption.’

The article commends THE SHOULDER STRAP for the role it has played in this regard.

|S Eo

His commission was read in the
presence of Chief Factor Douglas of
the Hudson’s Bay Company, and thus
was inaugurated the first British
colony in the North Pacific, and the
first Crown Government west of the
Great Lakes. Later, there followed the
first Court of Justice in 1853, and the
first Legislative Assembly in 1856.
Governor Blanshard resigned _ his
office after a year and was succeeded
by Chief Factor Douglas.

Gold Was Discovered

The company’s 20-year lease to the
territory of Vancouver Island was due
to expire in 1858 and, just prior to
its expiration, gold was discovered on
the Fraser River. Word of the dis-
covery was quickly carried far and
wide, and miners immediately flocked
to the territory. Washington had been
proclaimed a territory of the Ameri-
can Union in 1853, and the British
Government considered it now ex-
pedient to prove complete title to the
new region. In 1858, Governor
Douglas was commissioned as Gov-
ernor of the two Crown Colonies of
Vancouver Island and British Co-
lumbia.

Disciplined in the service of the
Company, his natural initiative de-
veloped by the rigours of frontier life,
Governor Douglas was ably fitted to
rule the territory. The post required
an extremely able administrator, for
the gold seekers—most of whom came
from the California fields—were hard
to handle.

Almost overnight the population of
Victoria had jumped from hundreds
to thousands, for this was the point
of supply and embarkation for the
Fraser River.

Needed Police Force

In his dispatches to the Secretary
of State for the Colonies, the Gov-
ernor had made repeated mention of
the need for an adequate police force.
Prior to the establishment of the
Crown Colony, police protection on
the Island had been of a volunteer

Page Six

nature. The settlers formed posses to
apprehend flagrant law-breakers.

If the emergency proved beyond the
control of these voltigeurs the assist-
ance of naval vessels was sought. ‘The
principal danger was from attacks of
bands of marauding Indians who were
a constant menace to the whites they
so largely outnumbered. With the
rush of gold-seekers to the Fraser
River the situation had altered and a
properly organized police force was
necessary.

Where Vancouver Island was con-
cerned, Governor Douglas met the
situation by appointing Augustus F.
Pemberton as Commissioner of Police
on July 7, 1858. Under Pemberton
was a superintendent, chief constable,
sergeant and five constables, as well
as the staff to maintain the gaol. At
first, prisoners from all parts of the
Island were brought to Victoria for
trial and incarceration, and later from
the Mainland.

Urged Self-reliance for Colony

The Governor thought that the
company of Royal Engineers, sent to
the Colony as artificers, might well be
utilized as a police force on the Fraser
River. However, Sir E. Bulwer Lytton,
Secretary of State foresaw the necessity
of starting the Colony off on a self-
reliant basis and suggested the or-
ganization of a proper police force,
members to be recruited from local

residents; he intimated that too fre-
quent a display of militarism might
bring the Engineers into disrepute
and militate against their usefulness
when a real emergency arose.

In a dispatch to Governor Douglas,
Bulwer Lytton stated:

“It should be remembered that your
real strength lies in the conviction of
emigrants that their interests are identi-
cal with those of the government, which
should be carried on in harmony with,
and by means of, the people of the
country. It may be convenient for you
to know that I contemplate sending out
an experienced Inspector of Police to
assist in the formation of an efficient
force. You should, consequently, lose no
time in considering how that force
should be organized. It must be derived
from the people on the spot, who will
understand that for their own preserva-
tion from internal disturbances they
must rely solely on themselves.”

Chartres Brew

The Inspector of Police referred to
by Bulwer Lytton was Chartres Brew,
an Irishman who had served with the
Irish Constabulary. Born at Corsfin,
County Clare, in 1815, Brew had
joined the Irish Constabulary in 1840.
He was doing duty in Cork city as an
inspector when, at the direction of the
Colonial Office, he was sent to British
Columbia.

A hardy, pioneering soul, he with-
stood a hazardous trip across a wild,
surging Atlantic, which saw him ship-
wrecked and stranded in Halifax.

Fort Victorta in 1858, when the force was organized.

THE SHOULDER STRAP