Collingwood acted as power of Attorney for 33 passengers who each paid £42 for passage
from England to
British Columbia, but were left stranded by the
British Columbia Overland Transit Company in St. Paul, Minnesota. The manager of the company fraudulently
received their money and fled to Spain, a country
outside the jurisdiction of the criminal courts.
In
this document, Collingwood asks for government prosecution of guilty parties and requests assistance
for 25 remaining passengers to return to England or continue on to
British Columbia. The government advises Collingwood that they will not interfere in the matter.