worded letter to Prime Minister John A. Macdonald. In the letter, Sproat declared that the potlatch ceremony was "the parent of numerous vices which eat out the heart of the [native] people", and reaffirmed the words of Blenkinsop by assuring the Prime Minister that "It is not possible that the Indians can acquire property, or can become industrious with any good result, while under the influence of ... [the potlatch]". Sproat's opinion was a commonly held one for white employers in British Columbia. Euro-Canadians saw the potlatch as a pointless ceremony that did little but advance barbarity and retract the ability of the native peoples to fully assimilate themselves in mainstream society. Essentially, the potlatch was an important ritual to the natives that prevented assimilation into the melting pot the Euro-Canadian government sought to enforce. Employers found similar problems. Many of the aboriginal peoples of 1800s British Columbia were often motivated to work in order to gain wealth which would permit them to buy more items for potlatches, which would result in greater honour. This work was often seasonal in nature. This was in direct contrast to the agendas of many of the "white" employers who ultimately were frustrated by what they perceived to be the native "work ethic". According to John Lutz, written accounts of white employers were almost bipolar because of the indigenous peoples' seasonal working habits. This seasonal work permitted them to choose when they would work or when they would stay in their villages. Some employers deemed them "as 'indispensable' while [others] condemned their "unreliability" and "laziness". Missionaries of the northwestern regions of Canada also sent their opinions to the government. Most commonly they stated their arguments based on three fields: health, morality and economics. On the issue of health, the missionaries worried about the spread of disease amongst the large groups that gathered for potlatches, and critiqued the native peoples' recklessness. Specifically, they called out against the treatment of children, accusing those who attend potlatches of being responsible for the statistic claiming that "Six out of every ten [native] infants die" and that losing all of a family's possessions led to greater health risks to the family who hosted the potlatch. On the issue of morality, missionaries claimed that potlatches and financial requirements led wives and "maiden daughters" of those hosting to turn to prostitution to help their fathers gather wealth, as well as the