"The government of the territory is come almost to a dead-lock in the Red River Settlement, and nothing short of direct administration under the authority of the Crown will, in my opinion, remedy the evil. Two prisoners have been, in separate instances, forcibly rescued from jail, and they, with about thirty to fifty others implicated in the riots, are still at large, fostering discontent, and creating great disquiet. Their secret instigator controls the only paper published in the settlement, and its continued attacks upon the Company find a greedy ear with the public at large, both in the settlement and in Canada. The position of those in authority is so disagreeable that I have had great difficulty in persuading the magistrates to continue to act. Mr. William Mactavish, Governor of Assiniboin, has resigned his post, and I have only been restrained from following his example, for a short time, in the hope that a remedy would speedily be applied, and that I should be relieved from the unfair position in which I find myself placed, with all the responsibility, and the semblance of authority over a vast territory, but unsupported, if not ignored, by the Crown. In the absence of a just grievance, the cry of 'the Company' is quite a sufficient watchword amongst the ignorant and discontented. "The open malcontents are few in number, and I had ample volunteer force at my back to protect the jail and support my authority, but, as I have already explained to you, I could exercise but little control over my friends, who were keen for what would have ended in a free fight, with the certain death of the sheriff and ringleaders on both sides, and led to endless animosities. It required more resolution on my part to follow the course I did, than to have resisted the rioters. For details of the transactions I refer you to my official letters to the Board, which you will find in the Hudson's Bay House. "Of the settlers, the greater number, including the French Canadians, are our staunch personal friends, while the openly disaffected are but few. There is still, however, a considerable portion of the people who, though taking no open part, are yet dissatisfied. Some of these last named have real or imaginary grievances, of long standing to complain of, and nothing but the extinction of the governing powers of the Company will satisfy them. I came amongst them as free from prejudice as you can be, and determined to redress every grievance and meet their wishes in every reasonable way, but to no avail. I have already transmitted to the Board evidence in the 'Nor' Wester,' that our unpopularity arises entirely from the _system_ of government, and not from any faults in its administrators.