CHAPTER XXIII.

ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.

1856-1880.

JUSTIOE WITHOUT FORM-INAUGUltATION OF THE JUDICIARY SYSTElII-

JURISDICTION OF CAN.A.DIAN COURTS WITHDRAWN-PEARKES DRAFTS .A.
PLAN FOR THE MAINLAND-LYTTON REFERS THE MATTER TO BEGBIE-
THE GOLD-FIELDS AOT-APPOINTMENT OF MATTHEW BAILLIE BEGllIE-
ON UNITING THE COURTS DISESTABLISHED AND REORGANIZED-NEED-
HAM DEOLINESTO RETmE-Two COURTS BOTH SUPREME-CHARACTER
OF BEGBIE-HE .AsSISTS DOUGLAS IN ORGANIZING GOVERNMENT-JUS-
TIOE AT CARIBOO-JURORS REBUKED-STIPENDIARY MAGISTRATES-
JUSTICE AT KOOTENAI AND METLAHKATL.A.H-CONVICT LABOR_NOBLES
ALONG THE BORDER-VIGILANCE COMlIITTTEE.

WE have seen the forms of justice, or rather justice

without form, as administered by the factors and
traders of the fur company, by poor Blanshard who
could not afford to keep a judge, by the petty justices
of the Island and Mainland, and by the brother-in-
law, Chief-justice David Cameron. And must we
confess it, that although far-reaching and strong
enough, justice hitherto has been barely respectable,
appearing oftener in elk-skin than in ermine, and quite
frequently with gaunt belly and tattered habiliments.
Now we come to the refined and assayed article; no
m.or~ retired drapers, but a ge~ui?e judge, stamJ?ed
sterling by her Majesty's commISSIOner,and bearmg
upon his brow nature's most truthful impress.
The administration of justice under a formally con-
stituted judiciary began with the order in council
of April 4, 1856, wherein her Majesty created the
supreme court. of civil justice of the colony of Van-
couver Island with a chief-justice, registrar, and sher-
(419 )
 420 ADMINISTRA.TION OF JUSTICE.

iff. By patent from the governor, the functions of the

chief-justice were extended to criminal cases; he acted
also as judge of the vice-admiralty court of Vau-
couver Island. Prior to the establishment of a legis-
lative council and assembly, the statutory laws, as
well as the common law of England, were in force.
Of the supreme court, there were two branches, the
supreme tribunal and the sumnlary or inferior court,
the latter having original jurisdiction in sums not
exceeding fifty pounds. On Vancoq.ver Island there
was a police magistrate and constabulary force, and at
Victoria, Esquimalt, N anaimo, and Barclay Sound
there were in all six or seven persons holding com-
missions as justices of the peace; in 1862 there were
three practising barristers, and four practising solici-
tors. In the province of British Columbia, in 1875,
there were three supreme court and five county judges.
The act of parliament of the 2d of August 1858,
authorizing the establishment of a colonial govern-
ment for the Mainland, annulled the jurisdiction of
the courts of Canada, which had hitherto extended
over this region.
On being asked to draw up a plan for a judiciary on
Fraser River, George Pearkes, crown solicitor of Van-
I
Ii
-couver Island, appointed by Douglas, proposed a su-
u~ preme court with a chief-justice and two puisne judges,
il'i
I: holding nisi prius and assize in the se'Veral districts,
:ll' . a registrar, a district judge presiding at the court of
quarter-sessions, two or more justices of the peace,
.a high-sheriff for each district, and an effieient con-
stabulary. Being referred to Lytton for his appro'Val,
the secretary for the colonies remarked that it ap-
peared well adapted to the purpose, being simple and
practical, but that Begbie had by that time arrived,
and that it might as well be referred to him.
Acting upon the suggestion of Lytton, made the. 2d
of September 1858, on the 31st of August followmg
was. instituted by proclamation at Victoria the gold-
fields act of 1859, under which gold commissioners

\
\
 GOLD COMMISSIONER. 421

appointed by the governor might grant licenses to

mine for one year for five pounds, which gave the
miner holding it the exclusive right to his claim during
the time covered by the license. Leases of auriferous
lands might likewise be granted by the gold commis-
sioner for a term of years.
In so wild and extended an area, with population
drifting hither and thither before whirlwinds of ex-
citement, the creation of this office was a most wise
and benefieent measure. Such an officeproperly filled,
and its duties properly enforced by the United States,
would have saved to society some of the worst features
of the California) 49 Inferno.
In the absence of other imperial authority, execu-
tive or judicial, the gold commissioner was both gov-
ernor and judge. He was guardian of government
interests and custodian of government property within
his jurisdietion. In such places, where one but not
both the offices of gold commissioner and justice of
the peace were filled, the former fulfilled all the fune-
tions of the latter, and vice versa, appeal being had to
the supreme court from penalties beyond thirty days'
imprisonment or a fine of twenty pounds. Mining
disputes were determined absolutely by the gold com-
missioner, who, without a jury, was sole judge of law
and facts. In the larger districts, mining boards were
instituted, cOllsisting of six or twelve members, elected
by the free miners, with power to make and execute
mining regulations, subject to the approval of t~le
governor.
Under the gold-fields act of 1859, it was ordained
that minina' claims must all be, as nearly as possible,
rectangula:' in form, marked by four pegs, the size,
when not otherwise locally established, to be for dry-
dig-gings twenty-five by thirty feet, or if bar-diggings,
a strip twenty-five feet in width acroSS the bar from
high-water mark down into the river; quar~z claims
one hundred feet along the seam. The first dIscoverer
of a mine was entitled to two claims'; or, if a party of
422 ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.

four or five were first discoverers, then a claim and a

half each. Claims must be registered, and could only
be legally transferred by entry at the gold commis-
sioner's office. Ditch and leased auriferous lands were
under seven special regulations.
Simultaneously with the appointment of Douglas
as governor of the Mainland, that is to say, the 2d
of September 1858, a commission was issued by the
imperial government to Matthew Baillie Begbie as
chief-justice of British Columbia, since which time
to the present writing, through all the vicissitudes of
consolidation and confederation, he has continued to
hold it.
lt was proclaimed by the governor at Vietoria the
8th of June 1859, that this should be the supreme
court of civil justice, with jurisdiction in criminal
cases as well. Begbie was at first commissioned only
for the Mainland, and early in 1860 he took up his
residence at N ew Westminster; but after no small
talk among the magnates of the three governments,
home and. colonial, he became chief-justice of the
whole of British Columbia, superseding Needham at
Victoria, where he afterward resided.
Accompanied by his high-sheriff, Nicoll, and by his
clerk and registrar, Bushby, the 28th of March 1859,
Mr Justice Begbie began a notable journey, notable
by reason of the shortness of the journey, and for the
length of its description.1 A report of the trip was
addressed to Governor Douglas, who sent it to the
duke of Newcastle, who gave it to the geographical
society people, who printed it, which, when done,
nothing more remained to be said of it; for the infor-
mation it contains, however interesting at the time,
is of little present or permanent value.
David Cameron was permitted by act of the 11th of
March 1864, to retire from the judiciary of Vancou-
ver Island on a pension of five hundred pounds ster-·
."
lIt ocoupies eleven p~ges of the London Geo(J. Soc., Joul'naZ, xxxi. 237-48.
 MATTHEW BAILLIE BEGBIE. 423

ling per annum,to be paid out of the general revenue

of the colony.
A little tracasse'rie attended Needham's retire-
ment. The act of union terminated the court offices.
Notice to that effect was served, among others, on Beg-
bie and Needham, but accompanying Begbie's notice
was his commission as judge of British Columbia.
Needham took exceptions to Governor Seymour's
abolItion of the office of chief-justice on the Island,
and appealed to England, and for a time he managed
to su.stain himself in his position. An anomalous gtate
of affairs ensued. Jj'or a time there were two dis-
tinct judicial establishments, with nothing coordinate
or subordinate between them; each was independent
of the other, and neither possessed jurisdiction further
than before the union. Begbie was the commissioned
judge of British Columbia, and Needham was hold-
ing court upon the strength of what was, prior to
the union, chief-justice of Vancouver Island. The
source of the trouble was in the framing of the
union bill, which, while consolidating every other
branch of the colonial government, left the courts as
distinct as ever. The 'Island office was finally in due
form abolished, and Sir Matthew reigned alone
Probably more than to anyone person the com-
monwealth of British Columbia owes obligation to
Mr Begbie for its healthful ordinances, for the wise
and liberal provisions of its government, al).d for the
almost unbroken reign of peace and order during his
long term of office. More than any person I have
met in my long historical pilgrimage from Darien to
Alaska, he was the incarnation of justice, the embodi-
ment of that restraining influence which society is so
strangely forced to place upon its member~, a :o.:an
~ost truly sans peur et sans reproche. Settmg aSl.de
hIS early training, his. education, which ga.ve h:m
great advantage over his associates, and placmg h1111
upon the plane of inherent manhood, there were none
to match him. Physically as fearless as Tod, Mc-
 424 ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTIOE.

Tavish, or Yale, in that highest attribute of human-

ity, moral courage, he far surpassed Douglas.
In studying the requirements of the colony, in
maturing plans for the administration of affairs, and
in bringing in and punishing offenders, Mr Begbie
was ever active. " Although invested with the very
important office of judge," wrote Lytton to Douglas,
"he will nevertheless have the kindness, for the pres-
entat least, to lend you his general aid for the com-
pilation of the necessary laws," which was efficiently
and faithfully done. l!"or, reporting to the earl of
Newcastle the 26th of January 1860, the governor
says: "The day after the arrival of Mr Begbie, the
judge, he accompanied me to British Columbia, and
after his return to Victoria, he was of the greatest
assistance to me in discharging the functions of
attorney-general, which office he kindly fulfilled with
the concurrence of her majesty's government. Since
the arrival at Victoria of the attorney-general, Mr
Begbie has passed long periods in and has been on
circuit over the greater portion of British Columbia,
and his personal communications to me upon his return
have been most valuable, and have assisted me mate-
rially in framing laws, and in adapting the general
system of government to the actual requirements of
the people."
He was an eccentric man, but his eccentricities
seemed always to take a sensible direction. Unlike
Needham, he came to the colony while yet his brain
was active and his thoughts. original and fresh, and
before being wholly and hopelessly bound to the ser-
vice of foolish traditions. He was an ardent lover of
music, and also of athletic sports.2 .

It is impossible that such a man should live without

~On the 29th of January 1859 the Victoria Philharmonic Socieuy w.as or·
gamzecl, with the chief-justice as president; Selim Franklin, vice-p~eSldent;
Arthur D. Bushby, secretary; Alexander F. Main, treasurer; John Bally, con-
du~tor; and Augustus Pemberton, A. C. Anderson, Joseph Porter! James
Lelgh, B. W. Pearse, Lumley Franklin and James F. Crowly, directors.
Vict(}ria Ga:!ette, Feb. I, 1859. '

\
 D.G. FORBES MACDONALD. 425

making enemies. Every bad man was his enemy.

Every sycophant; every politician whose ambition was
greater than his honesty; every coward who dare not
maintain the right in the face of public opinion; every
schemer for personal profit or advancement at the
expense of public good-these and the like were his
natural opponents. With Douglas, who loved too
well at times to try to reconcile public polity to per-
sonal caprice or interest, and at other times would
ignore legal forms altogether, he was not always on
the best of terms. As to the succeeding governors,
who were most of them professional politicians, serving
for place or pay, he troubled himself but little about
them. His own duty was always plain, and he did
it; and the service he rendered was a fit sequel to
that so well begun by the Hudson's Bay Company.
Considering the circumstances surrounding the begin-
ning, the unruly wild men and the unruly gold-gath-
erers, society during these incipient stages was, I say,
a marvel of order and obedience to law.
It is true that when lawless men first flocked in
along the Fraser, and began shooting natives after
their old fashion, with as little compunction as they
would shoot deer, the Indians retaliated, and between
the two there were many murders. But when the
miners found by experience that crimes committed
upon the person of a savage were as swiftly and as
severely punii3hed as were crimes committed by sav-
ages, they were more careful how they threw their
shots about.
I have found no one more ready to find fault with
the administration of justice, as indeed with most
other matters in the early days, than D. G. Forb~s
Macdonald, who with many initials ?f honor to JllS
name wrote a books on this country III 1862, elegant
enough in typography and paper, but not wholly
truthful.
B British Oolumbia and Vancouver's Island, com1?r.i8in~
a description oj these
dependencies, etc. The book reached a third edltlon m 1863.. ~ later and
mUchmore reliable authority says: 'The people are a law-abldmg people,
426 ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.

" How is it that crime is on the increase 1" he ex-

claims. "Neither life nor property, female chastity,
house nor home is safe from the depredations of the
many villains who sojourn there." "Because," he au-
swers, "punishment is invariably over-lenient I" Were
it any other writer I should regard his words as in-
tended irony. Begbie over-lenient! The man is diffi-
cult to please, and were he once on trial before Sir
Matthew, as he deserved to be, he would erase from
future editions the lies he has told, in which case, in-
deed, there would be little left of his book.

When we consider for how many unknown centu-

ries the savages had been righting their own wrongs,
how revenge with them was the highest form of jus-
tice, how widely scattered they were, and so compara-
tively little under the influence of white men, it is
wonderful how quickly they were brought to place
themselves under restraint, especially where white men
were concerned.
O. A. Bayley, coroner at Nanaimo in 1853, was
cognizant of as many cool murders among the natives
as one often :finds in Ohristendom. "Indian law pre-
vailed for many years," he says, "until the colony had
formed a legislative and executive council, and the
colonists felt they had the power to enforce the laws."
The natives were quite curious as to what was going
on among the white men, and would often come froro
a dista,nce and in large numbers to see the strangers.
They came down from Queen Charlotte Islands dur-
ing summer, in bands of from :fiveto :fifteen hundred;
and the little colony at Fort Victoria, near whi~h
they encamped, was seriously frightened by them 111
crime of any serious moment being almost unknown. I should think it quite
within the mark, that not more than one per cent of the Indian population of
the, upper country are found in our prisons, which speaks volumes in behalf?f
therr respect for law, and may be said to be in part attributable, first, to therr
admirable management under the Hudson's Bay Company's regime; second, ~o
the im.partial administration of justice; and third, to the efforts made in therr
beh!llf by the various missionary enterprises Which have been engaged u.nder-
talung to promote their truest welfare.' Good'sflist. B. G., MS., 116.
 INDIAN-KILLING. 427

1854. The Haidahs were fierce and in bad repute;

they had captured many white men, Laing, the ship-
builder, and Benjamin Gibbs, and others from a
United States vessel, and held them as slaNt's until
ransomed. On this occasion, Douglas called his coun-
cil to sit upon the matter, and loaded the fort guns;
but the Haidahs did not mean mischief now. They
only happened to remember this summer what their
old warrior-god Belus had long agotold them of the
coming of white men with whom they should shake
hands and trade.
During the Fraser excitement the savages as well
as others swarmed at Victoria on their way to and
from the mines, and so great was their love for the
profligate life of civilization, that it was only by moral
suasion and force combined that they could always be
induced to move on. They were not long in learning
how to dig for gold; or, having it, how to dissipate it.
I have noted the individual issues, seldom bloody,
between the white fur-buyers and the red fur-
sellers that sprano' from this intercourse up to the
time of settlement. Then came the affair ending in
the appearance of Douglas with a vessel of war at
Cowichin in 1853. The first old-fashioned American
massacre in the interior of British Columbia was that
on Fraser River in 1858, when, if we may credit
Waddington, the miners from California surpris~d and
massacred thirty-three innocent persons of a fnendly
tribe.4
The brig Swiss Boy Captain Welden, of San Fran-
~isco, on the way fro~ Port Orchard to Victoria, put
mto Nitinat Sound about the 81st of January 1859.
N ext day several hundred savaO'es appeared, seized
and stripped the vessel, and h~ld the captain and

fi 'Vowell,llIining Districts B. a., MS., 31-2, states that on this oooasion

,£tym\'lnunder one Snyder an .American made the onslaught, and that great
suft'eringfollowed the survivors of the In'assacre,in which all thei~ food ,,:as
destroyed. Ballou, Ado., MS., 12, affirms that the Indians, first lulleel whlte
:h~U' and that the slaughtered under Snydel' numbered elghteen, and that
18 was the only Indian war ther~.
428 ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.

crew prisoners for several days, they at length luckily

escaping with their lives. The Satellite immediately
went and recovered the brig and cargo, which was of
lumbe~, ,?ut everything that could be carried away
wa.snnssmg.
Seventy canoes from Queen Charlotte Islands with
six hundred Haidahs on board entered Victoria Har-
bor on the 30th of March. And these were but the
vanguard ofa general convention reported by the
steamer Labouche're as on the way hither. Theyen-
camped near Finlayson's farm, and the whole town
turned out to see them. The company consisted of
men, women, and children, with their effects. A
second arrival the 21st of April increased the number
to thirteen hundred. A few of them had a very little
gold-dust to sell. Besides the Haidahs, there were
Stikeens, Chimsyans, Bellacoolas, and other savages,
numbering in all at the encampment three thousand
persons. Their visit was to them apparently very
pleasant; they traded a little, drank a great deal, and
if there be anything worse they did that too. Vic-
toria grew uneasy under the association, and invited
the redskins to leave.
A party sent out in 1864 by Waddington to open
a trail from Butte Inlet across the Chilkotin plains
toward FortAlexandria, was attacked the 30th of April
and thirteen out of seventeen slain. Interference with
their women on the part of the white men had so
exasperated the Chilkotins that they resolved to rid
themsel ves of the evil by the most direct means. A
pack-train under McDonald, en route from Bentinck
Arm to Fort Alexandria was attacked three weeks
later by the Chilkotins at N ancootioon Lake. Three
were killed and several wounded. The savages took
the train worth $5,000, and committed other murders
in the vicinity. The marines at New Westminster,
and volunteers from Victoria and elsewhere, set out
immediately and caught a portion only of the mu-;-
derers, and with the loss of McLean of the HudsoDS
 WARLIKE SCENES. 429

Bay Company. The criminals caught were tried and

hauged.5
In the autumn of this year, Capcha, chief of the
Ahousets, decoyed the trading schooner Kingfi.sher to
the shore near Clayoquot, pretending that he had some
oil to sell. Then Capcha and his warriors killed the
captain and crew, and plundered the vessel. H. lVI.S.
Devastation and Admiral Denman in the Sutlej has-
tened to the spot and demanded the offenders, and as
they failed to appear, opened fire and destroyed several
villages. Yet on the whole Capcha regarded his busi-
ness operation as a success. The Clio the following
year was obliged to throw a shell into a native village
near Fort Rupert before the inhabitants would give
up a murderer.
These events are the nearest approach to war
,between the natives and the settlers of British
Columbia that I have to record. The savages fought
each. other lustily, and it was some time before the
law thought best to interfere. Even the superrefined
race sometimes saw things in a violently different
manner. There was what was called in local annals
the Grouse Creek war, which was a dispute between
the Canadian Company and the Grouse Creek Flume
Company.
Some ground claimed by the Grouse Creek Flume
~ompany was in the early part of the season of 18~7
Jumped' by the Canadian Company and held m
violation of the orders of the sheriff. That official
accordingly organized at Williams Creek a small army
of several dozen men armed them with such weapons
and such nerve-and-~'lUscle-generating equipments .as
the service required, and marched over the mountam-
trail like Lochinvar. The Canadians doggedly refused
to surrender. Governor Seymour then went into the
field and succeeded in compromising matters so far as
to arrange for a new trial. J oh11Grant, the head of
5 Gooc?'S B. 0., MS., 39-42; J]ay'k,1!'s V. l, MS., 56-7; Wlqjmpm"s A.laska,
u2-6; V~c~ol'la Ohronicle, May 14, 1864; POl·t[and A.dv., May 21, 1864.
430 .ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.

the Canadian Company, was meanwhile committed t()

prison for three months for contempt; the remainder
of his rebellious company being let off each with two
days' imprisonment. Several months later Judge Need-
ham decided the case adversely to the claims of the
Canadian Company.6

The n:iners of Cariboo did not like Mr Justice

Begbie's method of construing their mining laws; so
they met in mass-meeting, the 23d of June 1866, and
denounced him, after which they felt better, although
the chief-justice still lived. It was the largest con-
course ever convened in the colony, they said, and I
may add, the most foolish. It was the peculiar way that
Begbie had of setting aside the verdicts of their juries
and the decisions of their gold commissioners when
manifestly illegal and absurd that they did not like.
He was arbitrary, partial, and dictatorial, they said,
and they desired his removal and a court of appeal.
Nevertheless, simultaneously with the publication of
these proceedings, comes the report of the foreman of
the grand jury of Cariboo, who "is highly pleased to
notice the absence of all crime in the district," which,
indeed, was the stereotyped clause in all grand-jury
reports throughout the country all through Hegbie's
entire term. He was loudly complained of by a certain
class at N ew Westminster, Lilloet, and Victoria; never-
theless he continued his course, retained his place, and
was finally knighted in recognition of his services,
as he richly deserved.
Begbie was almost as good as a vigilance committee;
sometimes quite as good; ofttimes even better. There

6 Victoria Oolonist, July 23, Aug. 6, 13, 20,27, Sept. 10, Oct. 1, 8, Nov. 5,
1867; New Westminstel' Oolumbian, May 11; B. O. Exam?'., July 27 and Aug.
28, 1867. See also, for the Queen Charlotte Islanders and other Indian troubles,
Victoria Gar;.ette,i. Nos. 10,27, 29, 30-2, 35, 44, 46, 59, and 61, 1858, i~.39;
House Oom. Rept., H. B. 00., 1857, 192j OaribooSentinel, i. 1; Olympia Pzone~r
and Democrat, March 18, 1859; Oolmb.. iUissn., 8th Rept., 36; Gov. Gazette, 11.
No.8; Sproat's Scenes, 9; . Vowell's Min. Dists., MS., 31-2; Brit. 001. Sketches,
~S., 29; Olympia Club Oonvs., MS., 13-15; D~ans' Settlement V. [., MS., 20-4;
oU!Jlas'Prit'UJePapel's, :MS., 2d sar. 34-6.
 DIRECT JUSTICE. 431

were in his rulings the intensity and directness which

render popular tribunals so terrible to evil-doers with-
out the heat and passion almost always inseparable
from illegal demonstrations. Although in common
with jurists generally he placed law before justice,
suffering the guilty to escape and go in search of
further prey provided they could not be convicted by
the book, yet ho never was so blinded by the book as
to take wrong for right because the law affirmed it.
And he would sometimes do right even in spite of
the law.
All through his long and honorable career he was
more guardian than judge. He was not satisfied to
sit upon the bench and with owl-like gravity listen
to the wranglings of counsel hired for the defeating
of the law's intention, and with much winking and
blinking to decide according to law and then go uncon-
cernedly to dinner. He felt the peace and good-
behavior of the whole country to be his immediate
?are, and woe to any constable or magistrate derelict
1U his duty in bringing criminals to justice. Babine
Lake was no farther from his arm than Government
street, and an injury done an Indian or a Ohinaman
wa~ as sure of prompt punishment as in the case of a
whIte man.
The consequence of it all was that never in the
pacification and settlement of any section of America
have there been so few disturbances, so few crimes
against life or property. And when we consider the
clashing elements that came together just as Begbie
reached the country, the nature and antecedents of
these wild rouO'h and cunninO' men, it is wonderful.
First of all the~e 'was the savage, physically unweak-
ened thus far by contact with Europeans, thou"gh in
~ind subdued somewhat by the more comprehensive
llltelligence of the shrewd Scotchmen. The country was
his, and he was as fierce and as ready to fight for it as
ever. The fur-traders were their friends, but these
interlopers who seized their lands ann robbed them of
432 ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.

their gold were their enemies whom it were righteous

to kill. The ancient professional prospectors and dig-
gers with whom the gold-fields of the north were plen-
tifully sprinkled, were many of them but little higher
in the scale of humanity than the Indians. Among
them were many despicable men who regarded the
natives as brutes whom to kill was no crime. Add to
this the presence of intelligent and good men who
were the real dominators of the realm, and scatter
them over a wilderness area of five hundred miles
square, and we may form some faint conception of what
it was to hold the inhabitants in order. And yet the
intensity of character and personal influence of the
chief-justice were everywhere felt. His presence per-
meated the remotest parts of the country like that of
no other man. When once it was understood by sav-
age and civilized alike that justice in his hands was
swift, sure, and inflexible, the battle was won. No
one cared to kill, being sure he would hang for it.
It is not often we hear from the bench s~ch refresh-
ing words as frequently fell from his lips .. They puri-
fied the atmosphere, so that even Ned McGowan
found it somewhat stifling, as we have seen. "There
were not many of that class on Fraser River," said
Billy Ballou. "They soon cleaned them out there.
Old Judge Begbie soon made them understand who
was master. I saw a fellow named Gilchrist," he con-
tinued, "who had killed two men in California, on
trial there. He killed a man on Beaver Lake, in the
Cariboo country, who was gambling with him. While
sitting at the table a miner came in, threw down his
bag of gold-dust, bet an ounce, and won. Gilchrist
paid; the man bet again, and won aO'ain, flippantly
inquiring of the gambler if there was :ny othe! ga~e
he could play better,as he drew in the stakes. GIlchrIst
took offence at the remark, and lifting his pistol shot
~im dea~. Gilchrist was tried, and the jury b~ought
In a verdIct of manslaughter. Turning to the prIsoner}
the judge said: "It is not a pleasant duty for me to
 RIGHTEOUS JUDGES. 433

have to sentence you only to prison for life. Your

crime was unmitigated murder. You deserve to be
hanged. Had the jury performed their duty, I might
now have the painful satisfaction of condemning you
to death. And yoP, gentlemen of the jury, permit
, I me to say that it would give me great pleasl.lre to see
you hanged, each and everyone of you, for bringing
in a murderer guilty only of manslaughter."
Sproat tells some good stories emanating from his
experiences as magistrate in 1864, one of which was
an attempt at an inquest at Alberni over the body of
a native shot unintentionally to death, while stealing
potatoes, by a pea-loaded gun in the hands of an
American. Determined to close their eyes to the
facts, the jury first brought in a verdict of "worried by
a dog," and when returned from a second attempt,
found "he was killed by falling over a cliff." The
American was finally sent in charge of a constable to
Victoria, but effected his escape.
The stipendiary magistrates, or county-court judges,
at the time of confederation" were A. D. Bushby,
New Westminster; W. R. Spaulding, N anaimo and
Comox; P. O'Reilly, Northern Mines; A. F. Pem-
berton, Victoria; E. H. Saunders, Lilloet; H. M.
Ball, Cariboo. Salaries, from $2,250 to $3,400.
An act was passed by the province of British Co-
lumbia March 2, 1874, for the better administration
of justice, but failed to receive the governor-general's
confirmation The county judges did not. approve of
a certain provision of this act which enabled the lieu-
tenant-governor in council to appoint the times and
places at which court should be held; hence they
petitioned against the act. An act enabling the lieu-
tenant-governor to divide the country into county-
court districts was passed the following year .
. There were other righteous jud~es ~nt~e land; and
In.due time the people began to lIke JustIce and hate
brIbery and corruption. Those who cared least for
popularity became' the most popular. On his way
RIST. BRIT. COL. 28
434 ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.

across the country in 1872 Grant talked with them

about it.7
Since 1874 the influence of the mounted police of
the Northwest Territory has been felt along the bor-
der. Numbering in all about three hundred, and es-
tablished in camps of from fifty to seventy-five men,
their presence in those wild, thinly peopled regions
was most beneficial. They wore the scarlet uniform
of the British army, and made it their' business to
protect at once border settlers and travellers from hos-
tile bands of natives, and well disposed natives from
white ruffians and liquor-sellers. This was a Cana-
dian rather than a British Columbian institution; the
nearest port available on the western slope was about
.one hundred miles from Kootenai.
Shortly after taking up his residence at Metlahkat-
lah, Duncan, the missionary, was requested by the
colonial government to act as magistrate. It was
an exceedingly strange mixture, both of duties and
material, that this man found himself called upon to
encounter. Here was law and barbarism, divinity'
and demonism, incoherently mingled until the poor-
·fellow scarcely knew his own mind. The liquor traffic
troubled him exceedingly, and also the retaliation prin-
ciple of the natives, who murdered the last murderer,
in theory at least, ad infinitum, until none were left
to kill. Three Indians murdered two white men.
The natives gave up two of the murderers, a life for.a
life being their idea of justice; the other, after SIX
months, gave himself up, was sent to New Westmin-
ster to be tried, and was acquitted. This was brought
~bout by the magistrate by means of his religious
mfluence.
7 'There isn't the gold in British Columbia that would bribe Judge
O'Reilly, was their emphatie indorsement of his dealings with the miners.
They descrihd him. arriving as the representative of British law and order
at Koo~ie, immediately after thousands had flocked to the newly discovered
gold-nunes there. Assembling them, he said, that order must and would be
!rept, and. advised them not to display their revolvers unnecessarily, "for, boys,
if there 1S shooting in Kootame there will be hanging;" such a speech w~s
after the miners' own hearts, and after it there were no more disturbances In
Kootanie. '
 POPULAR TRIBUNALS. , 435

Convict labor began to be utilized in 1859. The

jail at Victoria was. then the general receptacle for
Island and Mainland, and in it were some sturdy fel-
lows with nothing to do but to attempt escape. The
chain-gang system was then adopted, and finally a
penitentiary was built. To George W. Bell belongs
the honor of being the first white man hanged on
Vancouver Island, which was done on the 5th of
November 1872, for killing one Datson the previous
May.
It was perhaps more difficult than might be im-
agined for a person to commit a theft or a murder, and
escape the country. Obviously his way out by water
was difficult, for every movement on the coast was
watched. Then, throughout the interior, the natives
were always ready to lend their aid, as of old, in
catching criminals; and they constituted a widely
extended, swift, and sure police.
In the immediate vicinity of the United States bor-
der it was more difficult to maintain order. Horses were
plentiful. No man so poor that he could not own one;
or if he was, he might steal from his neighbor. Hence
to place himself, if not beyond the reach of justice, at
least where justice soon became entangled in difficul-
ties, the offender had but to mount and ride southerly.
On Perry Creek, where in 1871 was a customs station,
a case occurred, insignificant in itself, but illustrative
of the times and place. A merchant received one day
some hl1ms in bond, on which he had not the money
to pay the duty. A hungry miner swore he would
have a ham; the merchant offered no objection; so
attended by several comrades, he proceeded to the
edifice called the custom-house, kicked open the door,
and carried away a ham. Swearing in special officers,
Carrington, the constable, after a show of fight on the
part of the offenders, succeeded in arresting them and
conveying them, ironed, to the jail at Wild Horse
Cree~. Haynes, the Kootenai judge, being .absen~,
C~rrlUgton, after waiting a· while,· started WIth hIS
 436 ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.

11 prisoners for Victoria, intending to commit them there

for trial. But meeting Haynes on the way, the party
returned, and the prisoners were finally discharged
on condition of their leaving the country.
I have oft!3llbeen assured, and by those who should
know, that there never was a case of popular or illegal
hanging in British Columbia. Sir Redmond Barry
made the same statement. to me regarding Australia.
I am satisfied that my informants were in error regard~
ing both countries.s A mob may sometimes catch and
hang a man, making little stir about it. A hanging
scrape at Jack of Clubs Creek in the Cariboo country
in 1862 is mentioned by R. Byron Johnson in Very
Far West Indeed. While the writer cannot be called
a very truthful or reliable man, judging from all the
circumstances, I do not think this story is wholly
:fiction.
While Johnson was absent from his claim, his
partner, Jake Walker, engaged a man at Williams
Creek to help him sink hIS shaft a few feet lower.
One day, while Walker was in the shaft and the
hired man at the windlass, the latter deserted his
post, robbed Walker's cabin, and leaving the owner
in the ditch to die, make tracks across the mountain.
Contrary to the villain's expectations, Walker suc-
ceeded in climbing out. The first question with
Walker was .the~ whether he should pursue the ma:n
alone, and kIll hIm, or summon the neighbors to Ins
assistance. He chose the latter course. The man
was caught, brought back to the cabin, and there
tried by the miners, and executed. 9
~ m! Popular, Tribunals, i. 6<1;t-51, I have given s~ver;Ll C;Lsesof ;Lrbi·
tmry JustICe, a natIve, however, bemg generally the victIm.
9 My authorities for this chapter, which I .am obliged to make brief, a;re
Allan's Oa1'iboo,MS., 19; Finlayson's V. I., MS:, 101, which says of BegbIe:
'J:!:e dealt ;out i.ustic? with a stern and vigorous hand, and was a ~error t,o
~vi1-doers, especIally m the gold excitement of '58 and after years; Ballous
Adv., MS., 10, 11; Vowell's Mining Districts, MS., 3-6; Deans' Settlement V.
I., MS., 14; Waddington's Fraser River, 20; Grant's Ocean to Ocean, 315-16;
Hayes'Scra'J!8, iii. 66; Olympia Standard, Nov. 16, 1872; Consolidated haws,
B. C., 1877; hand. Geog. Soc., Jour~, xxxi. 243, 247-8; VicroriaGazette, :f?ec.
30, 1858; Victor~ Direct., 1863, 179-89; Isbister's Proposal,. passim; ReVlsed

\
 AUTHORITIES 437

Laws, B.-C., 1871; Gov. Gazette, Aug. 9, 1873; Cariooo Sentinel, June 25 and
July 2, 1866; Pemberton's V. I., 128-9; Nanaimo Free Press, April 22, 1874;
Forbes' Essay, 32; Colonist, Jan. 19, 1864; Apr. 10, June 11, Dec. 11, 1866;
Nov. 26, 1867; Jan. 30, Aug. 29, 31, Sept. 2, Dec. 17, 1869; Feb. 9, Aug. 24,
1870; Feb. 22, Dec~ 30, 1871; Dec. 18, 1872; July 28, Aug. 6, 10, 12, 15, 18,
25, 29, Sept. 26. Oct. 10, Nov. 4, 1875; March 4, June 2, Nov. 15, 1876;
Con,qtitution Sup. Oourt Acts and Or., 1858-70; Sproat's B. C., 32; Sessi(mal
Papers, 1877, 437; Standard, May 21, 23, 1877; New Westminster Herald,
Aug. 9, 1873; Milton and Cheadle's N. W. Pass, 341; Barrett-Lennard's B. C.,
61-3; Macfie's B. C., 460-1; Mayne'sB. C., 58-70; Johnson's Very Far West,
108; Sproat's Scenes, 4,4-.9, 72-7 .