Commission to Inquire into the Treadgold and Other Concessions in the Yukon Territory (Canada) : The Commission to Inquire into the Treadgold and Other Concessions in the Yukon Territory was established under Order in Council P.C. 867, 27 May 1903, under An Act Respecting Inquiries Concerning Public Matters (R.S.C. 1886, c-114) and on the recommendation of the Minister of Justice. The terms of reference were extended by Order in Council P.C. 1281, 30 July 1903. The Commission was mandated to make inquiry for the purpose of obtaining information showing: (1) To what extent is the concession, commonly called the Treadgold Concession likely to be beneficial or injurious to the mining interests of the Yukon Territory? (2) Are the hydraulic concessions, granted under the regulations in the Yukon Territory likely to be beneficial or injurious to the mining interests in the Territory? (3) What hydraulic or other means is it desirable to adopt to successfully develop benches, banks and other elevated grounds which can only be worked under great disadvantage under natural conditions or are not able to be properly worked at all without an artificial supply of water? (4) Were any of the hydraulic concessions granted under the regulations claims in the Yukon Territory obtained by fraud or misrepresentation? (5) Have any of the holders of hydraulic concessions, granted under the regulations failed to comply with the requirements of the leases of such concessions? The original commissioners were: Byron Moffatt Britton, and John Ernest Hardman. Hardman withdrew from the commission in July 1903 and was replaced by Benjamin Taylor A. Bell (Order in Council P.C. 1281, 30 July 1903). But Bell died on 1 March 1904 and the inquiry was completed by Britton. The secretaries were Hugh Howard Rowatt and G.A. Lacombe.
Shortly after the discovery of gold in the Yukon Territory in 1896, it became evident that gold deposits in the benches, banks and other elevated grounds along the waterways of the Territory could not be mined profitably by placer mining methods. Because an ample supply of water was required to mine these areas, hydraulic mining was developed. The question arose over whether or not the federal government should become involved in it.
On 17 April 1902, the Government of Canada granted certain privileges to Malcolm H. Orr-Ewing, A.N.C. Treadgold and Walter Barwick (known as the "Treadgold Concession"). This grant gave the concessionaires the sole right "to divert and take water from the Klondike River at any point or points between its entry into the Yukon River and Flat Creek, for the purpose of generating power with which to pump water to work auriferous deposits in the district comprising the beds, banks, valleys, slopes and hills of the Klondike River, of Bonanza, Bear and Hunter Creeks, and of their tributaries." Almost at once placer miners expressed dissatisfaction about the Treadgold Concession and other concessions.
In March 1903, the Dawson Board of Trade petitioned the government for repeal of the Treadgold Concession. Similar petitions came from the Yukon Council. The Liberal Association of Dawson, which alleged that the concessions were obtained by "fraud and imposition," asked that they be investigated.
On 16 April 1903, a number of residents of the Yukon, who claimed that the benefits conferred upon the grantees of the Treadgold Concession "are of incalculable value and involve an enormous exploitation of the resources of the Territory for the benefit of a few favoured concessionaries," petitioned the government. They claimed that the concession would not supply the Yukon with a cheap, abundant and effective water supply. They demanded that this service be carried out either by the Government of Canada or under the direction of the Commissioner of the Yukon, especially for mining purposes.
On 12 May, J. Chase Casgrain, Member of Parliament for Montmorency, charged in the House of Commons that the grant to Treadgold and associates was illegal as well injurious to the people of the Yukon. He thought that the government did not really understand the enormity of the concessions allowed. Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier explained that the Treadgold concession was granted because the Government of Canada was unwilling to spend large amounts of money on hydraulic works in the Territory. He promised that the government would investigate the grant to Treadgold and associates before putting the agreement into operation.
According to a resolution of 19 May, the Dawson Board of Trade accused the Government of Canada of persisting "in a policy of closing said region to placer mining and granting the same large tracts in concessions most detrimental to the prosperity of the Klondike." The board wanted the proposed royal commission to have the power to inquire "into all so-called hydraulic concessions and all Government abuses" in the Territory as well as into the Treadgold matter.
The terms of reference for the royal commission, drawn up on 29 May 1903, were tabled in Parliament on 8 June. The Commissioners were to inquire into and report on the whole question of mining operations and leases in the Yukon Territory including the Treadgold Concession, and all other hydraulic concessions.
On 11 June, Casgrain called the terms of reference an "utter farce." He claimed that the investigation covered merely the matter of hydraulic systems or other methods of scientific mining. He wanted a fuller inquiry into political maladministration especially in connection with the Treadgold Concession.
When the opposition charged the government with wrongdoing over the granting of concessions, the Prime Minister challenged them to bring forward evidence to prove it. Nonetheless, on 30 July, the Minister of the Interior, Clifford Sifton, enlarged the terms of reference to include whether any concessions were obtained by fraud or misrepresentation and whether holders of concessions failed to comply with the regulations. (See: Canadian Annual Review, 1961, pp. 233-240 and House of Commons, Debates, 12 May 1903, pp. 2795-2915, 29 May 1903, p. 3713 and 11 June 1903, pp. 4486-4547).
Hearings were held in Dawson, Grand Forks and Gold Bottom, Yukon Territory from 17 August to 5 September 1903. The commission filed 267 exhibits. RG33-110 General Inventory
