a thorough knowledge of human nature and the greatest administrative ability. The doctor's policy was based upon the fundamental idea that all men, civilized or savage, have an innate love of justice, and will therefore be ultimately best satisfied with fair, honest dealing.
The company had its various trading posts located at convenient points throughout a vast territory. The Indian population being about stationary as to numbers and pursuits, it was not very difficult to calculate the amount of supplies likely to be required in each year. The company was in the habit of importing one year's supply in advance, so that if a cargo should be lost, its customers would not suffer. Its goods were all of a superior quality, purchased on the best terms, and we were sold at prices both uniform and moderate. Of course, prices in the interior were higher than on the seaboard, but they never varied at the same post. The Indians knew nothing of the intricate law of supply and demand, and could not be made to understand why an article of a given size and quality should be worth more at one time than at another in the same place, while the material and labor used and employed in its manufacture were the same. A tariff of prices, once adopted, was never changed. The goods were not only of the best, but of uniform quality. To secure these results the company had most of its goods manufactured to order. The wants of the Indians being very few, their purchases were confined to a small variety of articles, and consequently they became the very best judges of the quality of the goods they desired to purchase. No one could detect any imperfection in a blanket more readily and conclusively than an Oregon Indian. There was always kept an ample supply at each post, so that the customers of the company were not driven at any time to deal with rival traders, or do without their usual supplies.
It was evident that no successful competition with the company could last long under such circumstances. No one could continue to undersell them and make profit, and the competitor without a profit must fail. The uniform low prices and the good quality of its articles pleased the Indians, and the company secured their custom beyond the reach of competition. The company adopted a system that would work out best in the end, and, of course, was successful.
In the course of time the company Induced the Indians to throw aside the bow and arrow and to use the gun; and, as the company had all the guns and amunitlon in the country, the Indians became dependent upon it for their supplies of these articles. It was the great object of the company to preserve the peace among the Indians within the limits of its trading territory, not only from motives of pure humanity, but from mercantile interest, as the destruction of
