MU? "t "is" till? Ivol. n! :- LL. _

n it. I: ‘0‘ civil! K2”. a“

mi .

rm

ibis»?

Dll

.

' opposnion offered to the Bill by Hon. Members.

-. « I Aha chipt'rmm» .— ﬁ’ova’ghtia was remodeled,

AND O 4- ‘

1‘ PRINCE EDWARD 1,3LAND ADVﬁRTISER ~ NEW -‘SERiEs.] a: I 9"— . l - l

CHARLOTTETOWN, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 841.

[No. 187.?

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY.

Sﬂ TURDﬂ Y, February 6th. HOUSE IN COMMITTEE ON'CENSUS BILL.

Mr. THOMSON said he Would like to hear the ob" '

~that Hon. Members had to the passing of the Billecnons Mr. RAE thought it incumbent on the mover to shew the good results that would ensue from such a measure. If $could not shew that it would do good it should not

Mr. PALMER said, that he did not expect to see any

. _ _ He saw no objection why it should not be passed. It is now eight years since the last census were taken. He had no doubt, it would furnish a great deal of information respecting the population, the different religious deno- minations, and the cultivation and produce of the Colony. Though we cannot see the immediate beneﬁts that are likfly to result from the adoption of this Bill; yet, there is no doubt, but that it will be of inﬁnite ser—

' vice to the Colony. This measure has been adopted in men, it should be

the other Colonies, and why should we hesitate in fol- lowing the example! But the other day Lord Durham applied to our government to ascertain the population, Soc. of the Island, we could not give him any satisfactory information. Such applications may not be unfrequent 'and in order to prevent the occurrence of the like, he: . Mr. P.) would suggest the propriety of passing the Bill.

be expence that would attend the procedure in taking the census, would be but triﬂing in comparison to the advantages to be derived therefrom.

Mr. THOMSON said, that it would be neccessary to take the census‘of the C'llouy for several reasons; ﬁrst that rthe census of Great Britain is now about to be taken- if a census were now taken in all the Colonies, such wduld

, shew the ﬁll resources of Great Britain, and the Colonies

atthiqugiod. And secondly, to ascertain the precise mini ‘ persons of 'the different denominations of Christ 5 throughout the Island, which he conceived

were necessary to obtain suc easin Obtained b the Agent.

and- persons making officers would be subject to a ﬁne.

186 vias not exgctly prepared to offer,

eg 0 move t at the Chairman 1

Mr. THO eave Speaker in second his

the Chair.

motion; so the Committee rose.

THUR SDA 17, February 11th. \

Mr THOM b JUldY BILL. . son su mine a Res luti ' ice on the State of theColon 0 on to me comm“ present Jury Law; moning Jurors was fault i r ' Stead of the Fem y it many respects; that in tion. House, said in ht; place, that it often gave in t eir verdict that th Chief Justice. , mation. such would not have been th

, e case. over the Island Statutes, he found that the

know that what in days, Wlll not do so at the present day, undergone a great change since then;

as also on the jurors when empannele: the whole jury system is altered in Great

were not fairly represented-.msunteninmmi .i.

nAMmana

. rwitt’s and Tyndall’s Digest ofthe Laws,

Act, in supﬁo‘r‘t‘ or"an claims or flip nl ' u . ( I Viva n‘lﬂhl run A and placed on a more equal stated that when hon. members see that in acountry like

fogging with respect to the representation of the interests :Great Britain, such a change has taken place—when ofthe respective. l‘t‘llglous deﬂommfﬂpns Of that PYOV'lnCe- they see that this new system involves in it the question Thisis one thmg W9 WOUld gain by well a measure- of mental qualiﬁcation, as well as that of freehold pro-

}But example proﬁteth but little with some _Hon. Mem- Ijers.‘ Another object to be attained by this will be to shew the unequal distribution of the proceeds of the sales- of the Glebe and School lands, which are erroneously left to the disposal of Lord John, Bishop of Nova Scotia. the Scotch Church ‘ Episcopalian, then by the act of Union, . be entitled to all the rights and immunities of the Epis- copal Church, after the conquest of the Colony. This cannot be questioned. For by an actof the British Le- gislattire,‘p‘assed about the year 1780,which is a long time after'the act of Union, one seventh part Of theslands in Canada was reserved for the fropogation of the Gospel. It is well known what the decision of the 12 Judges of England was with respect to the Lands in Canada. If then by their decision the proeceds’of the sales of these Lands were in proportion to the respective numbers of l‘ " denominations in anada, the same proportion ong. t to hold good in this Is and. That until it could he shewn toihe Home Govt. that the Church of Scotland in the Colonies predominated in number over the English Church, the former would not get an equal share of the proceeds of the sales of such Lands. If we can shew this, then we ought to be entitled to our share. Although he'feared that Lord John has too fast a hold of it. Ano- ther question has properly to do with .this. This Bill would be a quieter for ever to the Land-agitating ques- tion of the Colony. By the statistical information to be received we would become informed of the amount of property in the cotintry, and be the better enabled -Ether'eby to refute the false statements of the Pro- ,prlctary faction. . Mr. GORMAN rose to support the Bill; he was surprised Ithst any liberal Member should oppose such a measure. if} would forward our objects very much in many matters tchnnected with the prosperity of the Colony. Mr. RAE said, he thought it would be next to imprac—

perty—he felt persuaded that they would feel an interest iii remodeling our prescnt jury system. Under our pre- sent Act the most illiterate man may be, and is most fre- queutly called on to perform the important duties of a

If jury-man. ~In Great Britain the mental qualiﬁcation of m the Colony outnumbers that Of the jurors is not so great an object, as it is here; there, from the former would the advancement of knowledge, and the means of infor- mation within reach, every man is presumed to have the He

sufficient knowledge and information to perform duties of juror; but here, the case is the converse.

h information it could be'ho . nest A y anotherkmeans, by the Rent Roll of; ~ _ person ta ing the Census would of course be on his oath to discharge his duty faithfully. erroneous statements to such

Mr. SPEAKER cordially agreed with if ’ ‘ . _ ie mm 1 Bill, but he would like to make some ameiidme‘igt:

he would therefore

MSON felt happy to see that the H . on. th tended to support the Bill, he would therefor:

_ y, for the remodelinU of the he said that the present mode ziifsum-

jury being chosen from among illiterate L V from among men of the best informa- gst jear, u hen the same question was before the t e lion. member for Charlottetown (Mr. Palmer) happened, when jurors N ‘ e same was reversed by the ow, had Jurors been men of good infor- In looking

‘ ' latest A passed for the regulation of Jurors, was that of the 13

3, passed upwards. of sixty-eight years ago. We all

ight have answered as law in those hthe country has ' t e olitics ofthe day have a great inﬂuence on the summonihg of Jurors, . By the 6. G. 4,

. _ . Britain—there {)ht:1 graffiti and petit juries are now selected from the same 0 y 0 men. (Here the hon. gentleman qtioted at

_ and intelligent men mi ht ha ' might be obliged to resort to theg Couriyfoadgiziiddeflicee’saihned But in general it was not so, and the more intelliaent and honest were to be summoned to leave their homes and busmess to settle the disputes which had arisen betwixt {plea of whom, in general, one at least was in wrong. us it was said would beta great expense for the coun- try. It would not all fall (in the country.“ In civil suits he who lost should pay the Jury. It had been said he ’ are a. set of factions fellows, ‘ I re ble privileges of British justice forth, and they are not sensibfe jtiry be such an important part. of all countries have judges,

trial by jury, and so of the'blessing; if the m 1 tlie British system, for . “ _ en ett e jury, and also the Witnesses, receive such an allowance as will clear their

outlay. It had been,said b one niein ' ' _ tional expense would dete}; an honegfrpblhitriilal: gomg to law. Suppose two men goingto lair" the ex- plense would generally fall on him who lost it, and he _ ad better right to pay the jury than the 'url had t pay/{meg own expenses. I J y 0 r. LARK thought that no hon. member c i - posed to the resolution; he was afraid that theolildii 2:623- ber for Georgetown would not succeed in his iprloposed pieggsﬁgi. mil; (Mr. C.) was at a lOss to know whether coﬂd be adopteep summoning jurors than the present r. THOMSON said, that in Nova Scotia ' ’ pasied in the year 1838, of a similar iinporatL tgltlﬁarh: pus ed to have passed here—there the magistrates se ected the jurors for , the approval of the Court after which they are balloted for in open Court the next ’Term and their names so drawn are sealed tip till within a llnli: ted period of the next Court, when they are opened b the Prothonotary and Sheriff, 'and then summoned ltlythe usual manner. He would rather see the trust reposed inthe hands of a dozen impartial individuals. Allvlie WISth was to see a feasible jury—system established Last year it was a new question; the House of Assembl ' since then has had sufﬁcient time to consider the matte}; 1“ ﬁﬁﬁt‘l‘f‘s.illi‘tobii‘ri‘iﬁsaiaf initi- members lendnhsér - (Mr. T’s.) proposed plan, would not remedy the 8"“

than at present. As regards the mental qualiﬁcations of is honesty and rectitude of conduct.

Mr. FRASER said, he was one of those who last year supported the proposed measure, but he was afraid the present effort would prove as ineffectual as the lost. He

would be of great service to extend the distance within which the choice ofjurors is now made. Mr. PALMER felt sorry to see the time of the House

they enjoy all the inestima- ,

Petition, that the Jury could not on the ‘

‘ ev1denc ﬁnd them guilty. However, he wobld now give th the go by. He would like to see Sheriff's

inoffensive men into ruin.

had been given in the Order Book.

years the Act for Distempers. Mr. Gorman presented several

Lot 10 and French Vill t ' for do. age, 0 repair Roads.

were ordered to lie on the Table.

Cascumpeque District.

SA TURDA Y, February 20.

neg; Prenderville.

Ir. Yeo presented several Petitions viz :—-—From Je- rcmzah Dalton, Lot 7, having an insan’e wife. From In- habitants of Lot 11, for aid toimprove aRoad. Lots 12 and 13 for do. Lots 3 and 4, for two Bridges. From Matj‘ Ann \Varren, for relief. From George Murray, of Lot ll, havmg an insane Wife. From Robert Currie, Lot 7 formerly of Argyleshirc Highlanders. From Charles

ggzisgg'cll, Esq., Secretary of the Northern Agricultti’ral P , )'~ ling of Spirits.

From Inhabitants ofCasr-nmnnm amt rm... [mm

Mr. Le Lacheur presented a Bill for appointing Fish

complain“ 0f: if Snell CXlFlsi were. the Selecnon even Inspectors, and to regulate the size of Barrels and placed in the hands of magistrates, it wpuld be worse Tierces. \

Mr. Palmer presented a Petition from Charlottetown

ljurors, he would say, that all that is required in a juror for a Police_,.efen.ed ,0 a Comm-“we, to report by B,” or otherwise. -

Mr. Longworth presented -a Petﬁion for a new Ferry \Vharf, South Side of the Hillsborough. Mr. Thomson presented a Petition from James How-

had no doubt but that the magistrates would afford gene— let, praying enquiry mm we conduct of ,he Shemf of "‘1 Sausﬁlmon m the Chmce or Jurors' He thought ll King’s County, relative to his trial and imprisonment.

Ordered to lie on the Table. EASTER TERM OF THE SUPREME COURT.

. when in Lhe gischarge of ’their duty,) go forward w(ith clear an s and pure hearts, and not drive innocent and

Mr. PALMER was not aware that the required notice

Mr. TirOMSON then withdrew the Petition, remark- ing that it was not an intentional omission on his

preventing the spreading of Infectious

Mr. Longworth presented a Petition from Nicholas Conroy, for an increase of Salary as Sub-Collector for

Mr. Gorinan presented a Petition of Dominic Gallant aperson With a broken ~arm. From James Peters ad aged person. From Road District No. l, for an equal diVision Of Road money; for a Bridge on Trout River,

would rather say, let mental qualiﬁcation, and not pro- perty, be the criterion by which to judge ofa man’s fit- ness to act as juror. In the year 1836, the British Sta. tutes on this subject nearly exceeded an hundred, all' which have been repealed by the present ‘Englishdury

Act. By our Statute Book all these Acts, or the greater part of them, (so repealed by the British Parliament) are in force in this Colony.“ “The nextquestion that arises is. how is the preSent system to be improved? He (Mr. T.) would suggest the expediency of leaving the appoint- mom of Jurors to the Magistrates of the respective Dis- tricts throughout the Island, as they are more likely to be acquainted with the mental qualiﬁcations of their neighbours, than the Sheriffcan be presumed to be of jurors for the whole. Yet, if hon. members had a better mode of selecting ﬁt and proper persons, he would cheer~ fully adopt it. .

Mr. LE LACHEUR said, he would go with the measure; often had he witnessed the effects of the present defective system of summoning jurors. Often has be seen the life, liberty and property ofthe subject placed in the hands ofignorant jurors. He has seen men young in life and experience, sit as jurors, who could not be supposed to be conversant with the subtle arguments of a Court of Law, and whose unripe judgment would likely be sway- ed by the persuasions of the more experienced. He (Mr. Le Lacheur) recollectcd asking a young man one

ﬁcable to ascertain the amount of back‘ rents due (as bontemplated.) It is not very likely a farmer would be .over willing to acknowledge this. People are too often fﬂoitnd to make exaggerated statements Of their circum- Qstances. Thus it would be difﬁcult to obtain a correct imurn in this respect. The Church of Scotland would not likely derive any beneﬁt from this measure. It is :‘now tOO late in the day to look for that. The Report of .tie Jomt Committee of the Council and Assembly in $836 contained an imperfect and disingenuous statement «I the case. ltvomitted sound arguments and sought to evade the grasp of my Lord John by fallacies. He had 'Qttempted in the Session of 1839, to base their demand

good ground on the articles of Union, but that Report

“had been burked—and he was not now prepared to take up the subject, and still less to maintain that the Church of Scotland was to be preferable to any of the dissenting churches, and even if he was, this Census would not furnish him with the most powerful argument. He thought the census would be like many other enac'tments, an expence incurred without an immediate remuneration, and very little prospect of beneﬁt in future.

Mr. THOMSON replied, that the Hon. Member Mr. Rae) misconceived his statement with respect to t e claims of the Church of Scotland, as that Church does not seek any part of the proceeds exclusively with the Church Of England, but wished to have it laid out for the purposes intended by the Colonial Statute;

Mr. LE LAanun said, that this would be a source of

, vmuch expence to the country; besides this no beneﬁcial

results were likely to follow from the adoption of such a Bill as the one before us. The persons who would be appointed to take the Census would probably be interest- ,ed individuals whose reports would no doubt be ques- tionable. He therefore thought ‘it quite unnecessary for any Hop. Member to occupy the time of the House by .bringing in such a Bill.

Mr. CLARK differed widely from the Hon. Member ,{Mr. Le Lacheur,) he thought it would be a very desir- ;able object, he knew that much useful information might

. {be derived by Her Majesty’s Government from such a

rmeasure; but he thought it quite unnecessary to ascer- tain the Census of the respective religious denominations ﬁhroughout the Island, as far as regarded the claims which the Church of Scotland might hava in common With the Church of England.

Mr. PALMER said, that one good result to be derived tfrom this measure would be the acquirement of know- :ledge of a description which might be applied to imany useful purposes by the Legislature. As to the :nersons to be appointed to take the'Census, this is a ques- 41011 we need not meddle with at all. He had not heard

no? Wuld he imagine any one objection that could be “11386 go the measure; it is one that touches in no parti- ‘culf'r “Psl’ect on any one of those party measures, which WWW“ Snchpdivision among Hon. Members. Indeed, if it did at all it must be in favour of these generally sup; Ported by the matoﬁty of the House. A due observance by the Census oﬁcers of their duty would represent the .true state of the country in their Report, including the number of ‘personsvm each Township. the number of .children going to 5011001. Chapels, sites of School Houses .Gcc. As to what was stated with respect to the back gems, he agreed that no Tenant ought to be compelled no mouse what amourtof rent .wns due by him, if it

time, who had been on a jury,.h0w it happened that lie was induced so to give his verdict—the reply was, that he could not help it, he was persuaded to it by those who he thought knew better, and that he was sorry for the losing party, but could not help'it. He would feel happy to see a better system ofrettirning jurors adopted; forliis own part, he commisseratcd the unhappy condition. of a fellow being, whose life and property were to be depen- dent On the verdict of an ignorant and biased jury, which is too often the case in this Colony. He would much rather be tried by a jury of enlightened enemies, than by a jury of eleven ignorant men, who could neither read nor write; for thosemen, in all probability, would have as their foreman, some subtle and unprincipled wretch, who would lead them astray; not so with a jury of enlightened men, they would actually consider that as men, that as Christians, professing to believe in the contents of that sacred volume; by which they solemnly swore, by that sacred volume which taught them to believe, that after a few days hence they would have to enter that bourne from which no traveller can return. and then to appear before the Judge ofjudges, before a higher tribunal than that at which they had given their verdict, if not impartially given. Such, he was persuaded, would weigh heavily With a man of understanding; while a simple and igno- rant juror, led astrny either by the subtlties of lawyers, or from other circumstances, would give his verdict in the dark, being at the same time so ignorant as not to know how far that verdict might affect the persons con-

ings.

works that Change.

same, if not worse.

triﬂed away on such a proposed change in the present jury system as that he just heard stated. He was per— suaded that the present mode of summoning jurors (lid not require any improvement. that mental qualiﬁcations ought to, and did inﬂuence the Sheriffs in the selection of jurors. House when the lion. member for Georgetown made his speech on introducing his Resolution; ,but be (Mr. P.) had no doubt but what it was a Very lengthy and plaus- ible one, containing many wise and well adapted im- provements to the present law. But he knew ofno evils arising from the present mode of choosing jurors, ifthere were any culpable negligence or misconduct to be im- puted to the Sheriffs they are amenable for their con- duct to His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor, and ifsuch were properly represented to him, he no doubt would take the proper course for their removal. not believe that any just cause of complaint against those officers at all existed. selected who are not men of integrity. nor such as will regard the solemn obligation under which they act, their appointments should be questioned, but he (Mr. P.) telt assured that such appointments have never taken place within his recollection, and it was unjust to say that any were selected from their particular party feel- If the lion. member for Georgetown wishes to raise the qualiﬁcations of jurors, he must wait till education He (Mr. P.) could not object to the Resolution in its principle, it was already self-evident; for his part he could not tell what the hon. mover’s scheme might be, for he had heard him deﬁne none. The charge made against one of the Sheriffs of Kings County in the execution of the dtities of his office, he knew to be quite unfounded. terest in upholding the characteis of the present Sheriffs, he believed that in selecting jurors they discharge their duty without fear, favor, or partiality. lf‘lllagisti‘ates were appointed to return jurors. the case would be still the Their appointments coming from the Administrator of the Government, as well as that of the Sheriffs, would likely be similarly inﬂuenced, by any objection that would be laid to the Sheriffs; besides this, the Magistrates being judicial officers would be unfit persons to return jurors. In the whole. he thought that no improvement was at present within otir reach, and the measure was therefore not called for, antl- would vote against it.

The Resolution was agreed to.

FRIDAY, February 19. ‘

Mr. GonMAN from the Committee on the State of the Colony, reported a Resolution as follows : . Whereas it is the opinion of this Committee that it is highly necessary for the best interests Of the Colony, that all cases tried by Jury, whether Civil or Criminal,

He had no doubt but

He was not in the

Mr. Palmer in the House, in Committee on expiring Laws, presented the following Resolution :

TResolved, That it is the opinion of this Committee that it is expedient to amend and continue for years the Act, intituled “ An Act to establish an additional Term

nity Terms for Queen’s County.”

of the Supreme Court, and to extend the Hilary and Trii

e,

i Mr. THOMSON said, that he s

knew of a case, where an indi- v1dua1 contracted a debt with another in hisvpart of the coun- try, and in order to put the debtor to expense, what did the creditor do but sue the' other all the way up to Charlotte-

psrll‘; £13253 vgave notice that he would present the expenses—now, in order.’ to I t , _ I . prevent the lik ' Mr. Lc Lacheur introduced a Bill to continue for scare e occurrmg

u again, he would like tosee tran-

sitory actions conﬁned, as he said before, to the county where

Petitions viz z—From both ‘ '

‘ , From L01 7, . parties reSided. B ( lrroin Lots 7 and 8. for a Bridge. Kildare, for a iidge, and for repairing Road to Lot 10 Ferry, which

Mr. PALMER answered Mr. T._ by saying, the plaintiff could bring'his action wherever be pleased. v Mix. RAE said, he conveived that different law points might occur to the mind of the judge, or might be suggested b' the counsel on either part, an that the judge might desire more leisure, and a greater com: mand of reference, than Could be looked for in circuit. Well, let him take the matter, into constderation betwixt that and the next Term, to be held in that County, and then give. his decision in that County Court where the plea be an. ’He

had never attended a ourt in rince Count b t ‘

“‘ 7 that the County Courts were often a farce—only two or three days being given to the busi-‘ ness, judge and lawyers being equally tender of each other. These were the complaints of the country, and therefore, as he wished all County cases to be decided in the County where the suit arose, and as he thought that the suit Ought to be conﬁned to that County where the transaction, Wher- ever it originated, took place, he must vote against the Bill. He would not measure the of. ﬁcieiicy ‘of‘ the Court by the nuinber of Terms held in a year, but by the time which should elapse from the com— mencement, 'of a suit till a

If individuals have been

He felt no particular in—

Mr. RAE enquired what benbﬁt this additional Term would be to the Country? W‘hab'w'ould be the consequence, were there aTerm in Charlottetown ’every month?

Mr. PALMER, in answer, said that it would relieve the other Terms of a great deal of' argumentative matter. In every trial, questions of Law arise, which are reserved for argument at some other time. The present Jury Terms for this County last fourteen days -—ten of which are taken up in the trial of Jury causes, then there are but four days left; the sentence day and Sunday following will have but two days, which are always taken tip in appeal and more summary cases, leaving, therefore, little or no time to argue reserved points of Law. It is therefore ne- cessary that the Court should have power to hear ar- guments and adjudicate (at some convenient time after the Court) on matters of Law. \Vhen causes are tried at Georgetown, matters Of' this kind are necessarily postponed, to be argued at the next Court in Charlottetown, and if' this Term were al- lowed to expire, then suitors would be delayed in the fruits of their verdict till next Term, which would be the end of June. This would be a great delay to justice.

Mr. THOMSON felt satisﬁed with the aiisWer of the lion. and learned member for Charlottetown, who stated that this additional term would be of service to suitors, as far as regarded the arguing of dry ques- tions of law. He’lfas also told us, that the Jury Terms Of Queen’s County last fourteen days, and that the ﬁrst ten days tliereofare taken up iii the trying ofjury causes, and then the remaining four days are reduced to two by the intervention of the sentence day and Sunday. What a mighty , court affair all this is! What a mighty plight the hon. and learned gentleman appears to be in _! The hon. member will, however, no doubt, recollect the fate of the Bill of' last Session, opposed by him, relating to loud and transitory actions; and that his opinion was closely followed out in the Legislative Council. [Here Mr. Thomson was called to order.] The people, he continued, have any thing at present but cheap law ; for causes are only tried in the country, and then adjournments of

deoisidnﬁuld be obtained, both as to the fact and as to all reserved law points.

Mr. LONGWORTH said, that Charlottetown was the only proper place to determine points of Law, reserved in the County Courts, as it is there the Chief Justice and all the professional gentlemen reside —and that it would be less ex- pense to suitors in the coun-

He did

1' .

yMr. YEO said, that it would save much time and expense, to have the law points argued in Charlottetown, after the Chief Judge and lawyers re- turned from the County Courts. He wouldleave it-so, but it was not to oblige the Lawyers—for lie was not very fond of them.

Mr. CLARK said, shut up the County Courts altogether, and let all the law business be transacted in Charlottetown. Such then would please the lion. member for Charlotte- town; but he thought the ad- ditional Easter Term of no ser- vice wliatever-to the country.

Mr. DALZIEL observed, that having had occasion to attend the Court at Georgetown, he had an opportunity of obser- ving liow law business was transacted there; all was a mere farce. He then spoke against the measure. I

Mr. MACin'rosri said, (among other things) that it wouldvbe a source of much expense to the country.

Mr. SPEAKER said, that he thought when Court Houses 81.

town, for the purpose of sad- dling him with a heavy bill of

cerned.

King’s County. ’ . . . describe the conduct of that officer in the trial of th

eluded by saying that his conduct was very censurabl in many respects ; and in order to prevent the occurrenc of the like misconduct, diency of amending our present were highly inﬂuenced by political feelings.

could object to the principle of the present Resolution

pointing Jurors. If a better mode of summoning

could be devised, he would willingly

ing Jurors is quite unquestionable. ‘ Mr. RAE moved, in addition to

Bill, to add thereto an a endment to that effect. . said that members seeme to admit and even to requir

andintegrity should be selected for Jurymen,

duties,

Mr. SPEAKER said, that he was not. inclined to make any charges against any of the Sheriffs in ofﬁce ; but he felt sorry to refer to the conduct of the Sheriff of Here the Hon. Speaker went on to

men at Georgetown last summer, for a riot ,and con-

he would recommend the exPe.

Hon. J. S. MAcnoNAnn rose and said, that no person

for 'it is only declaratory of the present‘system of ap- Jurors

second its adoption ——but he felt persuaded that the present mode of return-

the mode of appointing Juries, that it is expedient that a more sufﬁcient allow! ance be made to Jurymen than has been hitherto given them: and that it be (recommended to the House to in.

struct the Committee to be appointed to, amend the J u}? e

that the individuals possessed of the greatest intellibgetnct? u 1 these served as Jurymen on the present mode of paying then the pussession of intelligence and integrity was to operate against those possessing such qualifica- tions. . They were to be summoned' to leave their private busmess,’and.at the allowance of ls. 6d. per day to settle the disputes of litigants. Now, occasionally, two very

in the Supreme Courts, should be tried by a Jury posses- sed as far as can be ascertained of couipet'ent judgment, information and integrity,

Resolved Therefore, That it be recommended to the House to appoint a Committee to bring in a Bill to amend the Jury Act.

e Ordered, That Mr. Thomson. Mr. Hudson, Mr. Clark,

Mr. Le Lacheur and Mr. Dalziel be a Committee to

2 bring in a Bill in accordance with. the aforegoing Reso- lution. '

Georgetown, arraigniiig the conduct of the Sheriff of King’s County (in the execution- of his Ofﬁce.)

- - Mr. THOMSON presented a Petition from James i

mode of returning ju- H . . . ft ‘ - owle of Ba Fortune late a risoner in the Jail 0 1

ram; he knew that the present persons appointed to re- t, Y i P

turn jurors as well as the jurors so selected and returned

and expense 'are experienced

that great delay Now the hon 7

before a man can Obtain justice.

to get an additional Term, . dry questions of law argued in Charlottetown.

being called for in the country; her would have them held in Charlottetown, King’s County being unfit to‘ preside as jurors, as be (Mr. T.) viduals,

He (Mr. T.) said, that if the facts set forth in the Pe- tition were true, be conceived it would be a matter well WOi-th the notice of the House,’ for it appears that when the Sheriff found he could not induce the Petitioner to come forward a a witness, in the me- morable riot case, he then made a criminal charge against this individual,and there is no doubt,had How- let-complied with the request of the Sheriff, he would not have been arraigned. The Sheriff; however, being disappointed in his object, it would appear, had recourse to an abandoned character, to substantiate a charge against Petitioner and others, whereby those good and loyal men were found u'ilty (no defence being made,) and imprisoned un er the sentence of the Court. A Petition from many Inhabitants of' King’s County was last Autumn presented to His Excellency, praying at mitigation of . their sentence; such did not meet with a favourable reception. He believed that their case did not receive sufﬁcient advocacy at the handsof the Hon. Chas, Young; nor does he agree with that gentleman, as stated in the

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law arguments to Charlottetown are so frequent,

and learned member for Charlottetown only wants to have these knotty and \Ve hear from the public papers of quarter Sessions but the lion. mem- where

every thing must be done. As regards the men of

has more than once heard from some indi- he would cast such an imputation back in their teeth as unfounded—for he had heard the Chief Justice say that the jurors of the County

Jails were erected in the dif- ’ ferent Counties, that every man would have cheap justice at home, at his door; but now he ﬁnds it to be the reverse, for, instead of the County business being done in those Courts, the most of it is transactedin Chur- lottetown, which is a great ex- pensc to the people. The ’ country, he continued, would like to see transitory notions conﬁned to the County where the debt arose.

Hon. J. S. MACDONALD ne-

Courts discharge their duty faithfully. He thought Ever heard that the Easter Term

quite useless.

transitory nature I cause of action may arise. . A Mr. PALMER remarked, that he did not know who.

all this was nothing but a bugbear. Term did not affect

not owing to anything advanced by him on the-ﬂoo

533’ convinced that local

that the continuance of such additional Term was But lie, for his own part, would have no objections to grant the lion. member’s request, if the people could but get all actions of a local and tried in the county in which the ded to the speedy administm_

all the noise was about; he had heard the hon. mem- ber, Mr. T. talk of local and transitory actions,‘but f This additional local or transitory actions in the least. A measure was brought forward last seSSion respecting local and transitory actions, the same was lost in the Legislative Council, but such was

of this House against the measure; but he would this much,'that the House last session were actions could not be removed.

l(about to expire) had been of lany injury to the Country—(m the dummy he was aware that it was of great beneﬁt. It ten-

ltion of justice. If it proved an tievil, he would be the last to go with such a measure. The Resolution was négntived 7 to 11. I The House went‘into Com- mittee, on the further conside- ration of the American Loyalist Bill; and aﬁer some time " spent therein, the House re, Sumed, when, __ eﬂ.(.2hairman reported. IthoveC' .4 my ‘ittee had

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