Page:History of Oregon volume 1.djvu/724

Rh On application to the chief factor at Vancouver for assistance of a monetary nature, and of such amount, the commissioners met with a difficulty which no doubt the better informed citizens of the country were prepared to anticipate, but which many were unable to understand, and which related to the order of the London directors to the company in Oregon, not to deal in government securities, after the experience they had had in the case of White, acting as Indian agent. In his reply to the loan commissioners, without an explanation of the origin of the order, which would have been quite as offensive as his refusal, Douglas declared his inability to make the required advance for the company.

This answer, though not unexpected by the commissioners, was a disappointment. To no other source could they look for such supplies as the army needed. At the same time, with the indebtedness of the settlers to the company, and their experience in collecting debts from the general government, there was