er at Tree River, on Coronation Gulf, for
ordinary duty. The latter is the most remote outpost and the fact of its
existence there indicates the far-flung character of the operations of
this ubiquitous corps.

When the Commissioner says the force is Found at centres of population
he visualizes for us the fact that our modern social life has created
vast cities which have eaten up the green fields and turned them into
asphalt pavements. These cities become the hardest problem for the
administrator of law. Into them drift the derelicts of human society,
and even these are drawn down to deeper degradation by the undertow of
vice and crime. More mean in their lawlessness and much less open than
the dwellers in frontiers and camps, the vicious elements in cities
require from the State the oversight of an adequate force of fearless
men. The illegal traffic in narcotic drugs, for instance, is carried on
by the most degraded and the lowest criminals of the underworld, aided
and abetted too frequently by dishonourable members of honourable
professions. The gambler and the "bootlegger" and the white slave dealer
find their habitat in large centres of population. And no force can keep
these lawless elements in check like a force free from local influences,
especially when that force is the Mounted Corps which for nearly half a
century has built up a reputation for a fair and fearless administration
of law. The prestige of the corps that has been proof against all
attempts at intimidation or bribery on the part of the lawless classes
makes it a unique power for good in the cities as on the plains.

And when the Commissioner says that detachments of the Mounted Police
are found at points "where industrial activities are vital to the
welfare of the nation" he strikes a chord that will find grateful
response from every industrious citizen, whether employer or employed,
who understands that "trade is the calm health of nations." There is
nothing in this world of material things more to be feared than the
wanton destruction of industries that have been built up by laborious
endeavour and the unstinted expenditure of energy in brain and hand.
Such destruction leads to endless suffering amongst the innocent and to
the business stagnation which brings calamity in its wake. To guard
against these dread contingencies the Mounted Police are on hand. They
have never interfered in a partisan way when strikes and lock outs are
abroad, but they