{"id":3989,"date":"1973-05-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1973-05-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/may-1973-vol-54-no-5-a-century-of-law\/"},"modified":"2022-11-28T00:35:55","modified_gmt":"2022-11-28T00:35:55","slug":"may-1973-vol-54-no-5-a-century-of-law","status":"publish","type":"rbc_letter","link":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/may-1973-vol-54-no-5-a-century-of-law\/","title":{"rendered":"May 1973 &#8211; VOL. 54, No. 5 &#8211; A Century of Law"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"layout-column-main\">\n<p class=\"boldtext\">The Royal Canadian Mounted Police,                     completing this month its hundredth year of service, has the                     most extensive area of jurisdiction of any single police force                     in the world. Its beat is 3,256 miles from Atlantic to Pacific                     and 3,000 miles from Canada&#8217;s southern border to the North                     Pole. Celebrations from coast to coast of this vast territory                     mark the Centennial, graced by the presence in Regina, site                     of the R.C.M.P. training school, of Her Majesty the Queen.<\/p>\n<p> Known first as the North West Mounted Police, with a mandate                     to carry law and the Queen&#8217;s Peace into the Far West, the                     Force keeps alive today all the colourful and inspiring traditions                     of the past while using the most modern methods of law enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>The North West Mounted Police came into being in 1873, when                     a report to the federal government described the Far West                     as being &#8220;without law, order, or security for life or property.&#8221;                     Its duties included suppression of the whiskey traffic, calming                     unrest among the Indians who had been suffering the loss of                     possessions to unscrupulous traders, and stamping out lawlessness.<\/p>\n<p>The first three troops of fifty men each were recruited                     in the Maritimes, Quebec and Ontario. A recruiting notice                     said: &#8220;Candidates must be active, able-bodied men of thoroughly                     sound constitution and exemplary character. They should be                     able to ride well, and to read and write either the English                     or French language.&#8221; Payment was $1 a day for constables.<\/p>\n<p>Today&#8217;s recruitment is nation-wide. The man who joins the                     Force is a career man who looks forward to pensionable service,                     with opportunities for promotion based on merit. All officers                     of the Force are commissioned from the ranks.<\/p>\n<p>The history and development of the Force are told in a 46-page                     booklet entitled <em>The Royal Canadian Mounted Police<\/em>,                     issued by the Force, and the terms of enlistment are told                     in a booklet entitled <em>A Career in Scarlet<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h3>Not all glamour<\/h3>\n<p>Exciting incidents have been seized upon by moviemakers,                     but everyday police life has little of glamour. Much of the                     Mountie&#8217;s work is devoted quietly to the prevention of crime.<\/p>\n<p>The R.C.M.P. enforces federal statutes and gives frequent                     assistance to and in behalf of various departments of the                     Canadian Government. In all provinces except Ontario and Quebec                     the Force has an agreement to carry out the duties usually                     performed by provincial police. In addition, many municipalities,                     cities and towns have an agreement with the Force to police                     their areas. In the Northwest Territories and in the Yukon                     there is no other police force than the R.C.M.P.<\/p>\n<p>Members of the Force have served Canada in three wars. In                     the South African war, the Lord Strathcona&#8217;s Horse drew its                     officers from the commissioned ranks of the N.W.M.P., and                     245 members of the Force served with the 2nd Canadian Mounted                     Rifles. In the 1914-1918 war, two cavalry squadrons from the                     Force saw service in France and Siberia. In the Second World                     War the R.C.M.P. engaged in counter-espionage work with such                     good success that the authorities were able to announce that                     subversive activities had been almost wholly disrupted by                     the speedy arrest of hostile elements. Volunteers from the                     Force formed a Provost Company in the First Canadian Division.<\/p>\n<h3>Special Divisions<\/h3>\n<p>Riding is a very minor and emergency aspect of R.C.M.P.                     work, but equitation is retained as an incomparable school                     of audacity, calmness, perseverance, mental alertness and                     sportsmanship. Members of the Force are ranked among the world&#8217;s                     finest horsemen.<\/p>\n<p>The first N.W.M.P. band was organized at Swan River in 1876,                     and the band became an official part of the Force&#8217;s activities                     in 1938. The present R.C.M.P. Band ranks among the best on                     the continent.<\/p>\n<p>The Air Division, formed in 1937, has aircraft based at                     points across Canada, but its work is of particular value                     in the Arctic and the sub-Arctic, where vast distances that                     once required weeks and months of laborious travel can now                     be covered in a matter of days or hours. The Air Division                     engages in search and rescue work, carries supplies to R.C.M.P.                     posts beyond the Arctic Circle, and makes patrols to enforce                     control of hunting and fishing.<\/p>\n<p>R.C.M.P. boats patrol the Canadian coasts and the Great                     Lakes as a safeguard against smuggling and infraction of the                     marine and fishing laws, and give aid to vessels in distress.<\/p>\n<h3>How it started<\/h3>\n<p>All these duties and services grew out of an urgent need                     to rid Canada&#8217;s West of whiskey traders and pacify the warring                     Indian tribes.<\/p>\n<p>Fortune hunters surged toward Canada&#8217;s empty land. There                     came, too, desperadoes fleeing before the law, seeking to                     live where there was not yet any law. Suffering most from                     the liquor peddlers were the prairie Indians who rapidly learned                     to crave the cheap whiskey and willingly traded their robes                     and ponies and buffalo hides for it.<\/p>\n<p>The westward march of the Mounties has inspired many books                     and movies. Commissioner George A. French, who was in command,                     warned his men of the hardships to be expected, and urged                     those who might have second thoughts to apply for discharge.                     He entered upon the expedition, therefore, with men who knew                     what they were letting themselves in for and nevertheless                     wanted to go.<\/p>\n<p>On July 8, 1874, the long scarlet line of N.W.M.P. rode                     out from Dufferin, a settlement on the Red River, Manitoba.                     For two months the ox carts, wagons, cattle, field pieces                     and agricultural equipment crawled westward. By late September                     they had traversed a vastness of stark and silent desolation,                     throughout which there were probably not more than a hundred                     white people.<\/p>\n<p>The Force reached its destination near the location of present-day                     Lethbridge, and selected the site of their post. They named                     it Fort Macleod in honour of their Assistant Commissioner,                     James F. Macleod, second in command of the expedition.<\/p>\n<p>During the first five years of patrolling the plains, not                     a single member of the Force lost his life by human violence,                     nor did the police fire a shot in anger, yet the law was introduced                     and enforced.<\/p>\n<p>The first outlaws brought to justice at Fort Macleod were                     four men arrested after an Indian chief reported trading two                     ponies for two gallons of whiskey. The whiskey traders were                     fined, and the police seized two wagon loads of liquor.<\/p>\n<p>All Canada west of the Great Lakes was opened up by traders                     and settlers under the wing of the Mounted Police. The policeman                     became, as was required, guide, counsellor and friend; doctor,                     settler of disputes and protector. He fought prairie fires                     in summer, sought and rescued persons lost in winter blizzards,                     carried the mail, and arranged weddings and funerals. These                     services contributed more than merely enforcing the law would                     have done: they made the law a friend of all the family of                     settlers.<\/p>\n<h3>Friendly Indians<\/h3>\n<p>Meantime, the Force was busy pacifying the warring tribes                     of Indians and persuading them into new ways of living. The                     Red Coat became the badge of friendly authority. It meant                     to the Indians honesty, courage, wisdom and square-dealing.<\/p>\n<p>It was due to this bond of trust between the Indians and                     the police that the Blackfoot Treaty was successfully negotiated                     in 1877.<\/p>\n<p>The Treaty, signed by the Blackfoot, Blood, Sarcee and Stoney                     tribes, surrendered 50,000 square miles of tribal land to                     the Government of Canada, established reserves for the Indians,                     and provided for treaty payments, food allowances, and other                     benefits. The text of this momentous Treaty is reproduced                     in a history written by the late Archdeacon S.H. Middleton                     at the request of Head Chief Shot-on-Both-Sides of the Bloods                     (Lethbridge Herald, Lethbridge, Alberta, 1954).<\/p>\n<p>Chief Crowfoot of the powerful Blackfoot Confederacy, a                     significant figure in Canadian history, was the great friend                     of the North West Mounted Police. He refused to join Sitting                     Bull, Chief of the Sioux, in making war on the white settlers,                     and later he rejected the Crees&#8217; invitation to join in the                     Riel uprising.<\/p>\n<p>After the signing of the Blackfoot Treaty in 1877, Crowfoot                     testified to the belief and faith of his people in the Mounted                     Police: &#8220;If the police had not come to this country where                     would we all be now? Bad men and whiskey were killing us so                     fast that very few of us would have been left today. The police                     have protected us as the feathers of the bird protect it from                     the frosts of winter.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>The Sioux invasion<\/h3>\n<p>It was an event in the Cypress Hills, named for the cypress                     or jack-pine forests in the vicinity, that stirred the government                     to organize the N.W.M.P.<\/p>\n<p>A gang from Benton, Montana, crossed into Canada searching                     for horses stolen by a raiding party of Salteaux and Crees.                     They came upon a camp of Assiniboines and massacred the inhabitants.                     Equally without reason, a camp of Peigans numbering 170 was                     killed by white men.<\/p>\n<p>Then came the Sioux, the most powerful, fierce and implacable                     tribe in all the north-western states. In June 1876 the bitter                     warfare between the United States army and the Indians of                     the Plains culminated in a battle on the Little Big Horn River.                     Colonel George A. Custer and his mounted force of 250 men                     were wiped out by Chief Sitting Bull and his 2,000 well-armed                     warriors. The Chief and some 5,000 of his people fled to Canada.<\/p>\n<p>The Mounted Police were hard pressed. They had to snuff                     out threatened uprisings, prevent the invaders from persuading                     the Canadian Indians to join them in fighting the whites,                     and preserve the Blackfoot hunting grounds from the Sioux.<\/p>\n<p>Superintendent J. M. Walsh, with a dozen constables, rode                     into the Sioux encampment. Walsh explained the laws of Canada,                     commanded the Sioux to keep peace with the Canadian tribes,                     and assigned them hunting spaces. Until they returned to the                     United States four years later, the Sioux behaved well.<\/p>\n<p>In 1870, just as today, many troubles started because of                     lack of consultation and dearth of communication. The government                     sent surveyors to lay out the country in townships and sections                     for settlement. This alarmed the M\u00e9tis (persons of                     mixed white and Indian blood) across whose lands the surveyors                     ran their lines. They feared their homesteads would be taken                     from them. Their first uprising has been described as not                     so much a rebellion against the British Crown as an assertion                     of the basic rights of British citizens.<\/p>\n<p>The North West Mounted Police took part with militia units                     in suppressing the second rebellion in 1885.<\/p>\n<p>George S. Howard, former editor of the R.C.M.P. <em>Quarterly<\/em>,                     has an interesting story to tell about this rebellion, associated                     with a name famous in world literature. Mr. Howard, now living                     in Islington, Ontario, retired from the Force in 1939 after                     21 years service, with the rank of Sergeant, and has collected                     an extensive library dealing with the R.C.M.P.<\/p>\n<p>His story has to do with the adventures of a gold watch                     which belonged to Francis Dickens, third son of England&#8217;s                     great novelist, Charles Dickens. He inherited it upon his                     father&#8217;s death in 1870.<\/p>\n<p>Francis Dickens joined the N.W.M.P. in 1874, and nine years                     later he was appointed, with the rank of Inspector, to garrison                     Fort Pitt with 24 men.<\/p>\n<p>He was in command there in 1885 when, 35 miles away at Frog                     Lake, all the male inhabitants except one were slain. There                     were no civilians in Fort Pitt, and the Mounties, outnumbered                     ten to one by an Indian war party, retired to Battleford.<\/p>\n<p>Included in the personal belongings left behind was Inspector                     Dickens&#8217; watch. It found its way to the belt of Wandering                     Spirit, war leader of the Cree Indians.<\/p>\n<p>When the rebellion was quelled, the insurgents surrendered                     their loot, including the watch, which was returned to Inspector                     Dickens. After passing through many hands it reached E. S.                     Williamson, grandson of a celebrated Dickensian lecturer.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Howard, to whose long and persistent search is due the                     rediscovery of the watch, said: &#8220;The watch that had timed                     the pages of <em>Mr. Pickwick <\/em>in the quiet of Charles Dickens&#8217;                     study and the duties of Dickens&#8217; son in a beleaguered N.W.M.P.                     fort, and decorated the war belt of an Indian chief, had an                     extraordinary career.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>In the Arctic<\/h3>\n<p>The story of the North West Mounted Police in the northern                     territories is sprinkled with tales of incredible adventure,                     hardship, and accomplishment. Their duties are to uphold and                     enforce Canada&#8217;s sovereignty in an area that covers 1,516,750                     square miles, about one-third of the land mass of Canada.<\/p>\n<p>Dealing and living with the Eskimo calls for a sense of                     humour, fair play, and willingness to do manual labour when                     necessary. The policeman who does his share and becomes as                     capable as the Eskimo in travelling and hunting gains respect,                     co-operation and admiration.<\/p>\n<p>The first post in the true North, beyond the coast, was                     established on Herschel Island in 1903, where the N.W.M.P.                     put a halt to the harm being done to the Eskimo by whalers                     who wintered there.<\/p>\n<p>One incident will illustrate the varied knowledge, the tracking                     skill, the initiative, and the courage needed by members of                     the Force. A white trader was murdered by an Eskimo on Northern                     Baffin Island. Staff Sergeant (later Inspector) Joy carried                     out the police investigation, found the body, conducted an                     autopsy, and arrested three suspects. In his capacity as coroner,                     he held an inquest, and in his capacity as Justice of the                     Peace he conducted the preliminary hearing of the charge and                     committed the accused for trial. At their trial before a judge                     they were found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment.<\/p>\n<p>Discovery of gold in the Yukon thrust new duties upon the                     Police. The police presence kept serious crime to a minimum                     in a society where criminal elements abounded, and the trained                     first aid services of the Police preserved many lives.<\/p>\n<p>Mrs. George Black, who climbed Chilkoot Pass, a 100-yard                     notch through a 3,500-foot high barrier of rock in 1898, wrote                     in her book <em>My Seventy Years <\/em>(Thomas Nelson &amp; Sons                     Ltd., London and Toronto, 1938): &#8220;We left Dyea on July 12                     at noon, to walk the dreaded trail of forty-two miles over                     the Chilkoot Pass&#8230; a trail of heart-breaks and dead hopes.                     It was here that I met for the first time members of the North-West                     Mounted Police, and I thought that finer, sturdier, more intelligent-looking                     men would be hard to find.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>The St. Roch<\/h3>\n<p>The search for a sea passage north of the continent of America                     to Asia goes back at least to Sir Martin Frobisher&#8217;s voyages                     in 1576-1578. Amundsen, 1903-1906, sailed through the North-West                     Passage from Davis Strait to the Bering Sea.<\/p>\n<p>In 1940 the R.C.M.P. schooner <em>St. Roch<\/em>, used on patrol                     duties in northern waters and to carry supplies to isolated                     police posts, became the first ship to navigate the hazardous                     passage from west to east. Then it sailed back through the                     passage, traversing waters never before sailed by any vessel.                     On another occasion St. Roch sailed from Vancouver to Halifax                     by way of the Panama Canal, becoming the first ship to circumnavigate                     the continent of North America.<\/p>\n<p>Her adventures started very simply. While lying in harbour                     in British Columbia, the most unusual assignment ever given                     a police vessel was received by Sergeant Henry Larsen, F.R.G.S.                     (later Superintendent), Commander of St. Roch. He told about                     it in his report <em>The North-West Passage <\/em>(Queen&#8217;s Printer,                     Ottawa, 1969): &#8220;When our regular duties along the western                     Arctic coast were completed, we were to proceed to Halifax,                     N.S., by way of the North-West Passage.&#8221; En route, the vessel                     visited the remote Eskimo tribes on Boothia Peninsula and                     erected many cairns attesting Canada&#8217;s presence in the Arctic.<\/p>\n<p>Sergeant Larsen found at Winter Harbour, Melville Island,                     a large copper plate inscribed with the Union Jack and the                     Canadian Coat of Arms, and the statement: <em>This memorial                     is erected today to commemorate the taking possession for                     the Dominion of Canada, of the whole Arctic Archipelago laying                     to the north of America, from long. 60 W to 141 W, up to lat.                     90 north July 1st 1909<\/em>. It bore the name of Captain Joseph                     Elzdar Bernier, Arctic explorer for the Canadian Government.<\/p>\n<p>The achievement of the <em>St. Roch <\/em>was a triumph for                     Sergeant Larsen and the crew of his vessel, but it was also                     a moment in history shared by every member of the Royal Canadian                     Mounted Police.<\/p>\n<p>The <em>St. Roch <\/em>made her last voyage in 1958. It was                     to Kitsilano Park, Vancouver, where she became the central                     attraction at the Marine Museum.<\/p>\n<h3>Not backward-looking<\/h3>\n<p>While taking pride in its significant service to Canada                     over the past hundred years, the Force does not rely upon                     its misty past, but is pressing on confidently to deal with                     the future.<\/p>\n<p>The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is one of the world&#8217;s                     best known and most versatile police organizations. It is                     continually making refinements and planning new methods to                     make life even more uncomfortable for the criminal element.<\/p>\n<p>Six crime detection laboratories at Vancouver, Edmonton,                     Regina, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Sackville, using up-to-date scientific                     equipment, receive for examination exhibits of all kinds which                     are involved in criminal investigations. These services are                     available to all accredited police forces and government departments                     in Canada.<\/p>\n<p>At R.C.M.P. Headquarters in Ottawa there is one of the oldest                     finger-print bureaus in the world. Its facilities are available                     to all police forces in Canada, and there is an international                     exchange of information between this bureau and the United                     States Federal Bureau of Investigation, Scotland Yard, and                     INTERPOL, the International Criminal Police Organization.<\/p>\n<h3>The R.C.M.P. creed<\/h3>\n<p>The duty of the R.C.M.P. is to prevent criminal acts if                     possible, to stop their progress when necessary, and to bring                     accused persons before the courts.<\/p>\n<p>The law which is enforced by the R.C.M.P. is law which has                     grown through the ages, approved by succeeding generations                     as a tabulation of what are good and bad acts in society.                     The Mounties are not trying to impose restrictions upon society,                     but to provide lawfulness so that everyone may be free to                     live his life in safety and peace.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Honour&#8221; is a very great word in the creed of the Royal                     Canadian Mounted Police. Seeking to give service to the individual                     and to the community, members of the Force keep in mind the                     three weighty principles of the law: justice, mercy and truth.<\/p>\n<p>The desirability of making the creed and practices of the                     Force more widely known has led to a moderating of the reticence                     that gave the Mounties the title &#8220;The silent force&#8221;. On taking                     the oath of office a member of the R.C.M.P. becomes bound                     to maintain discreet silence on many phases of his duties,                     thus safeguarding the rights and privileges of all citizens.                     This regulation still stands, but in 1952 a Liaison Officer                     was appointed, his duty being to make available news and reports                     about the Force so as to increase public knowledge of its                     aims and work.<\/p>\n<p>An attempt is being made to build closer friendly relations                     between Canada&#8217;s youth and the police, and to show young people                     that the police really care.<\/p>\n<p>In many districts there is an enlightened programme of information                     arranged between the R.C.M.P., the municipal authorities and                     the schools. Members of the R.C.M.P. visit schools, giving                     talks on police responsibilities and duties and they participate                     in open discussions with pupils.<\/p>\n<h3>Uphold the Right<\/h3>\n<p>The R.C.M.P. have done so well in preserving the peace and                     curbing crime in Canada because of superior organization,                     the use of modern equipment, common sense and adherence to                     their motto: <em>Maintiens le Droit ( Maintain the Right<\/em>.                     They are men who quietly and incorruptibly take the law into                     the far places of the country because of a sense of duty to                     be done. They do not use armed oppression, but tact, courage,                     understanding and diplomacy.<\/p>\n<p>In his book <em>Canada, The Foundations of Its Future <\/em>(Privately                     printed by The House of Seagram, 1941), Stephen Leacock wrote:                     &#8220;The North-West Mounted Police became everywhere the symbol                     of law and order.&#8221; He commented on their arduous life, the                     patrol of the plains, the control of the desperado, the winter                     life in the wooden-shack barracks at twenty below zero. He                     concluded his summary by saying: &#8220;A poet could write:<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;They need no sculptured monument, no panoply of stone,                     To blazon to a curious world the deeds that they have done.<\/p>\n<p>But the prairie flower blows softly and the scented rose-bud<\/p>\n<p>trains Its wealth of summer beauty o&#8217;er the Riders of the                     Plains&#8217;.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[1],"rbc_letter_theme":[],"rbc_letter_year":[53],"class_list":["post-3989","rbc_letter","type-rbc_letter","status-publish","hentry","category-uncategorized","rbc_letter_year-53"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.7 (Yoast SEO v26.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>May 1973 - VOL. 54, No. 5 - A Century of Law - RBC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/may-1973-vol-54-no-5-a-century-of-law\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"May 1973 - VOL. 54, No. 5 - A Century of Law - RBC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, completing this month its hundredth year of service, has the most extensive area of jurisdiction of any single police force in the world. Its beat is 3,256 miles from Atlantic to Pacific and 3,000 miles from Canada&#8217;s southern border to the North Pole. Celebrations from coast to coast of this [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/may-1973-vol-54-no-5-a-century-of-law\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"RBC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-11-28T00:35:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"15 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/may-1973-vol-54-no-5-a-century-of-law\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/may-1973-vol-54-no-5-a-century-of-law\/\",\"name\":\"May 1973 - VOL. 54, No. 5 - A Century of Law - RBC\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"1973-05-01T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-11-28T00:35:55+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/may-1973-vol-54-no-5-a-century-of-law\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/\",\"name\":\"RBC\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"May 1973 - VOL. 54, No. 5 - A Century of Law - RBC","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/may-1973-vol-54-no-5-a-century-of-law\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"May 1973 - VOL. 54, No. 5 - A Century of Law - RBC","og_description":"The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, completing this month its hundredth year of service, has the most extensive area of jurisdiction of any single police force in the world. Its beat is 3,256 miles from Atlantic to Pacific and 3,000 miles from Canada&#8217;s southern border to the North Pole. 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