AND

PRINCEEDWARD, ISLAND ADVERTISER."

I LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, MARCH 18. 2 , . BOUNDARY LINES. ‘ 'Tbe Hon. Mr. Swnnnv moved the second reading of the bill for " Abe amendment of the boundary line act. He, perhapsystood in ’.a more difﬁcult position, before their honors, with respect to this : ,bill; be admitted that the conduct of all holdino ofﬁcial appoint- _ .‘meuts should beyiewed with care, if not With jealousy. It was .admitted, he believed, on every hand, that it was impossible to .carry out the provisions of the old act ; and if such an act were ‘ held ‘0 lie necessary. it followed that it‘must be amended, so as .to‘ enalue the comiiiiss‘ioners to.carry it into effect. It might, g ,perhapS, wuli some, be questioned whether it Would not he bet- ., rter to go back, and enquire into the original survey of the Island, :and endeavour to establish all boundary lines in couformitv Willi ithe land marks, natural or arttficral, with reference to whfch the Island was sopposed to have been originally divided These marks, it might be said. still existed. or at least the places-of :their former existence could be determined ; and, therefore, the .criginal survey and division lilies might yet be established. He thought, however, they were precluded from this course; for, ‘were they to go back, and bcgin 11c 7/0110, they would, by their proceedings, cause so great a (lisuniori of titles, and make such 'inroads upon different properties, that the general effect would be universal confusion. Otherwise be perfectly agreed with a member of the other house, Mr. Duncan M-‘Lean. in his declara‘ ration that they had all along been proceeding upon error. He thought, as the establishment of the original di'visions was thus, by all, admitted to be. either impracticable, or undesirable. it would be best to try if they cottld not make an equitable division, by assigning to adjoining proprietors what each, according to his grant, was fairly entitled to. In running the boundary lines of townships. commissioners have been obliged to take natural laud marks for their guides; it would have been much better had they been obliged to take parallel meridional lines: They proceed now upon the supposition that there is some natural ‘mark, at no great distance froin the commencement of a bounda- .ty line ; and, as the act now stands, they are bound to ﬁnd out this natural mark by evidence. or by reference to original plans. These natural marks, so far as their positions appear to be truly ,indicatetl upon paper, would make it seem a very simple and ‘ easy affair to be guided by them; but it was quite another thing when they came to be sought for in practice on the land. [His honor (Mr. Swabey.) having in hts’huttd a plan of‘the Island, pro cured from the otlice of the Surveyor General, entered into an explanation, to such of their honors as surrounded him at the table, respecting the boundary line between townships four and five,‘ which, without a. diagram of that portion of the Island referred to, it would be impossible for the Reporter to give in an intelligible manner; and he, therefore, takes leave to omit the whole explanation] The bill now sent tip enables us, (by find- ing thepoint of commencement of the borindary line of the ad- joining township, aiid not confining us to make a perpendicular line in the centre.) to make an equitable division between the proprietdrs of lots. The question wasuhen, whether their honors would consent to entrust the commissioners with the power to make an equitable division between two proprietors. where the boundary line between their properties wasiii dispute. [The hon. l\lr. PETERS. Leave it alone altogether] lt would be left alone, unless the parties themselves should think proper to call upon the commissioners to make a division between them; His honor (Mr. Swabcy), after commenting for some time upon the old bill, with the intention ofsliewing how impossible it was it. carry its provisions into affect; concluded by observing, that he expected it would be objected to the bill before their honors that it was a partial. and-not n general measure. Another provision of the bill does away with the necessity (where a boundary line does not run through the Island) of commencing orrtlie sea— board. There may be better evidence often obtained inland: He thought thispt'ovision woulrl‘apply to a disputed line on Lot' .65, between Mrs. Wright and the heirs of General Fanning. .

The hon. Mr. PETERS. He would move that the Bill be read ithat day three months. It was a Bill which had already been arejecled by their Honors. Ir was a sample. of H class Zegislatum-" Jt'w’as a Bill, by means of which it,was proposed to enable Coin- miSsioners to take out of OllQ‘Pi’I‘SUll’S pocket, and to ptit what they so abstracted into that of anorher. His lioti. friend (Mr. Swabey) had said well that it would require a new survey or the Island to remedy all errors. (No, no! from lion. Mr. Swabey.) The proceedingspl‘ the different cotriiiiissioiiers under this Act, from time to time, forCibly reminded liitii of the adage—4‘l Too many docfors kill illespulleﬂll.” Every new set of Commission- ers think themsel‘yes endowed with' superior wisdom with refer- ence to the subjecr; and, in succession, they all unceremonious- ly condemn the views and proceedings of their predecessors. Every new appointment leads to .the discovery of a new meri- dional line, and the exposure of the errors of the previous ap- ,pointments. Too much physic kills the patient, and by the Le- gislature’s listening to so many schemes, One after another, for the establishing ofdisputcd Township Boundary lilies, he thought sdrne propriemrs ran the risk of losing their lands altogether. The lots below Lot 3 are supposed to contain a greater number of acres than they ought to contain, and Lot 3 a less number. 'The proposal yben is, by what is termed an equitable division, to

take away a certain number of acres from the Lots below, and add them to Lot 3. This could not possibly be done. unless the Townships below Township Three were the property of one in- dividual. But, under any circumstances, he contended that the Legislature had no right to propose doing any SUClldlllng. Hrs hon. friend had said it was for their Honors to conSider whether or not they would consent to entrust the Commissioners with the power to make an equitable division «between two proprietors. where the boundary line between their properties was in dispute ;, and he had also said, and-said truly. that the conduct of all hold- ing official appointments ought to be viewed with care, ifriot wvith jealousy. Now, be (his honor Mr. Peters) was very far irom suspecting that either the present, or any other set of Com- missioners, were, or could be inﬂuenced by any improper motives; but he was decidedly opposed to their being authorized to thrust themselves in between private contending parties, and to say, we must arbitrate between you. It was not as if it were on be- i‘balfof'puhlic interests. It was an tiiiwarrantable interference :between private paints, [with respect to their private disputes, which might be settled in the ordinary Courts of Law. IIe‘cnrcd not ‘whether the parties concerned. were three or a dozen : it was equally a private, and not a public allair._ The public had. no- ,hmg ,0 do with it, and, consequently, neitherhad the Legisla- elm-c: The dispute was Simply amongst a few individuals; and they had no right to call upon the Legslalure to legislate for the adjustment of their differences; neither had the Legislature any. night voluntarily to interfere in the bustness. Was such a thing (ever heard of as a law passed by any legislature to settle a dis- 7pute between two individuals? Where proprietors had held by :2. line for 20 years, or, as in the case alluded. to before-their ‘ honors, for 60 years, if they could. establish their claim in no ,otber way, they could maintain their possession in right ofdpre- .scription. He cared not how the right had been acquire '; if [they had retained possession so long, in law they were entitled to defend and retain it still. What right or shadow of right, he .-would again enquire, had. the Legislature to pass this Bill. If . -.there Was a dispute about boundaries, was there not the Court of Chancery,vin .which the dispute could be decided? (Hear- from the hon. Mr. Young.) My hon. friend is .100 gem“ 13W- yet to dispute this. Both parties would there have a fair and full ibearing. .He whOSe right of possession iwas dispufed might 59‘ .up a hundred different defences, such as possesstou, andjmanv « others. The 'Bill before their Hon‘ors, it" passed into-alum would ' . enableiCOmmissioners (in making What they might deem Ian ~ equitable division,) to take a portion from one township and give it to another; and, by such a proceeding, a Lot might have sub

t i

in such a manner as to take

,L - their “ equitable boundary line" 7 worth more "than 10,000 acres of swamp, ed a portion. of that Lot from which the i been out OK. each township the same number ofacres; and yet,

‘were bad, as it ought to be had,

'come to a determiiiatipn.

'ary litre running from shore to shore.

in one nudgive to another 500 acres of land, which .500 might that might be ad- most .valunble land The new boundary line might, lindeed, give if regard

CHARLOTTETOWN. SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 1844.

1:13:80]??? deytsed and held by different proprietors, according _ I oun ary, for a period amounting to a right or pies. cnp,“°“t ‘he supposed eqnitable division might be every uti- equttable one. Under such circumstances, to take away good land from one township, and give bad in lieu of it, certainly, °°“‘d.“”l be eqmlable: In cases in which disputes arose between 1 proprihctors about’ their boundary lines, the Court of Chancery, “351 e of”) CPU” \\liich had full power to adjudicate between‘ them‘ SUCh dISl‘UlCS wore not to be made subjects for iegisla- tive enactments. Ilis hon. l'tielid (Mr. Swabcy) lind admitted that the measure might be termed a partial one, It was so; but he (the hon. Mr. Peters) apprehended that the Commissioners themselves were parties to it. since it had been introduced to the House'uuder the auspicEs of one of them, who seemed to take a warm interest in its fate. The Commissioners might, therefore, be regarded as a party setting a machine in motion, by the ac- tion at which another party was to be especially beneﬁted. His lion! friend (Mr. vaabe) had said tlial. the proceedings of official persons should be looked upon with suspicion. Now, here a Com- iritstsioncr‘lirings lll a Bill. (The hon. Mr Swabey. N0, I'ncver saw the bill before I took it up in this House.) Well,tlien, what sort of a Court were the proprietors to go betore, if it was to be one composed of the Boundary Line Commissioners? It would, in fact, be a secret tribunal, taking evidence—dlie parties con- cerned knew not how, and in secret deciding on grounds which were known only to the members thereof themselves. The pre- sent Commrssroners, it would seem. had been favoured with some new light upon the subject, and. were prepared to arbitrate in a strictly equitable manner—to do which had completely baffled all the skill and efforts of their predeceSsors. Ha entertained the highest respect for the present honorable and scientiﬁc Coni- mis<iouers; yet he could not consent to erect them into a secret and arbitrary tribunal. He had once been a party concerned in a survey made by the Commissioners under the existing Act. but it had been utterly beyond his power to ascertain on what evi- dence, proofs, or grounds of decision, the Commissioners had ' He was not admitted into their Cotirt. as they held it in a room in which they had locked themselves tip. He was not even allowed to knock at the door and beg ad- mission. He was not permitted to know any thing of their de- liberations; and all he saw of their transactions was the line which they had drawn as a line boundary, upon the map which they had had before them. Commissioners appointed under such a Bill as that before their honors were not. and could not, be a proper tribunal before which totry the validity of a disputed boun- dary line. The.Court ol'Cliancery was the proper Court to hear and determine iti all such cases: and. al'tera judgment ordecision pro- nounced liytliat Court here, if either party felt aggrieved thereby, an appeal lay toEnglniid; but if the matter were to be decided by Commissioners, he knew not how an appeal was to be made from their decision. He thought, besides. that his hon.frienrl. illr Swahey, had not been quite correct in the expianation which he had aﬁ'ordcd their honors, when he said there were no perpeii‘ dicular lines. unless the boundary lines were frotn shore to shore. On no plan of the Island which he had seen was there a bound- Some further explanation was necessary on this point. There was no act. which authorised the making ofajng. The present Bill proposed taking away land legally belonging to one individual.and giving it to another. The line spoken of by the lion. Mr. Swabev. in fact, butts on Lot 7; it does not run from shore to shore. His hon. friend was cor‘ rect in swing that the line would have to be drawn diagonally. Suppose they took from Lots 4, 5 and 6, (and gave it to Lot 3. did they know that they would give swamp and take good land? The proprietor of one Lot says, ‘I have held by the boundary now tlispttted,aritl I am entitled to do so in future, in virtue of the length oftime that l have been in possession, according—to that boundary; and I will defend my rights at law. This bill is in truth a mere Legislative Act of ejectment against the Pro prielor of Townships Four. Five. and Six. He thought the same Billltad been tlitown out by their honors, the Session before last, and for the same reasons that he objected to it now—because to make it law would be a legislating between two individuals. He would ask either of his learned friends whether the Cotirt of Cliaricery_werc not the peculiar place for the decrsion ofall'prn vate disputes about the boundaries of estates. He would ask if the proprietor of Hot 3 had any claims upon the proprietor ol the lands below. if he could not go into the Court of Chancery and obtain full redress. As to his lion. friend (I\lr. Swabcy), he, no doubt, did well in pet'sevei'ing in the attempt to make aineiiil. ments to the Act, although he (the lion. lllr. Peters) Iliouglil it was too late to rectify errors of so longa standing as those stated anti admitted to exist, with respect to boundary lines in this Colony. It would be best 'to leave the question. alone, andrlet parties who are, or imagine themselves to be, aggrieved by ex1st- ’ing boundaries be left to their legal remedy. It ought to be re- membered there were now very few boundary lines which were not settled under the Act. It would not be safe. to doctor the Law. More ills might arise out of amendments than were at present complained of under the existing defective Act. There were very few lines which were not run; and where there were any not run, he thought it would be best lo,leave parties to es- tablish their rights at law. It would be most dangerous to take awav, by legislative enactment, that defence, in support of his claims, which any proprietor might be entitled to set up at law; and never could be just to enable commissioners to, take away good land from a pl‘Opl’lrlOl’ and give him swamp iii lieu of it. He would move that the Bill be iead this day three months. The Hon. Mr. Hon. had always been very jealous of any measure having a tendency such a measure be accounted that before their honors. taiiily viewed the bill very much in the same light in which it had been placed by the into. the a law, it would. be thought, prove a very dangerous measure. The Hon. l\lr. YOUNG trusted, that before their honors came to a decrsion with respect to the bill before them. they would pause. and mattircly consider the question in all its_ bearings. The bill was, in his opinion. founded in justice and equity. and was certaian called for, since without it parties would be put to great expense. in prosecuting their rights, and. otherwise, to much loss and inconvenience, through the great length of time that disputes, respecting township boundaries, might :cniainhnsettled. [Iis hon. and learned friend had said, that parties aggrieved may liaye recourse to the Court of Chancery; and be (Mr. Young), i: the dispute were the Court of Chancery decide between which the attention of their honors had . rent ; in that case there was one extensive proprietor on side, Hon. Mr. Perms.

them. 7 ibeen called was diffe-

NO: that

about 960 acres each] All knew that in the Court of Chancery

lice to compel parties _ when justice might be so easily, speedily, I warded them. as by the provisions of the bill then under conside. ration. ' although assigning what might, proper number of acres to each party, _ on account of the different values of the SOll. confessed he could not comprehend.

way, a township had been deprived

which had, , could not conceive

* - - ‘ _ fter prope , , "acted from it nearly all the valuable land it contained. The stonersi *1 ‘1" ms uanm found m be contained m one mmsmnﬂs’ m makmg a new dw'smn 0f Townsmps' mlgm take me ungilftf.“bll a: equtiltable byoupdaryline, add it to the ad.

towrisbip, . joining township to make up commissioners examined by

' ban. Mr. I t«iii-mending the. Act, as the bill wot-iced well ihe Island,” regard! the establishing gof

its deﬁciency.

to inteifeie with titles to laritl ; and He cer-

Soticitor General : ifpassed into

between two individuals, would liimselfsay, let But the case to

the one and several small proprietors or freeholders on the other. is not the fact; some of these small proprietors are holders of 10,000 or 5,000 acres—The hon. Mr .ANDERSDN said, the freeholders spoken of, possessed estates of

proceedings were not only proverbially slow, but also prover- bially expensive; and be maintained it would be an act of injus- aggrieved to seek redress in that court, and economically a-

llis lion. and learned friend had said, that the division, in one view, he considered the might yet be inequitable This reasoning be He took it that the proper ntity of each township was to be contained within certain

ua ~ . _ . \ . (ilnetes and bounds; and if it Were found that by the mistake. in 'protracting a plan, (which was the case here). or in some other

ofacertain quantity ofland,

originally, been intended to formaparrofjt, he 7 how it could be inequitable 1n the commis- r examination and enquiry into the matter, to

There had been two this house, and on their examination,

Wright stated that—*‘lberewas no necessity for generally throughout

township boundaries,

to the fact of the township’sjn‘ith the exception of 0213- Northern part of Prince County, where ,lliere isa constderable deﬁciency of land, from the quantity‘l

which appears laid down in the original plan: the deﬁciency prinmpally exists on the western shore of townships numbers Two and Three ; and the causefrom the fact of a share being laid dawn, to the extent of two and a half miles, which is not in existenre, and which there is no account ofin the originalﬁeId-bnok. A survey of the shore, from the line between Lots 5 and 7, to Lot 1, under the direction of the commissioners, by the authoritv of the boun- dary Act, was made in the Winter of 1840. whichvsurvev corrcs- pont‘cd with the field-book alluded to.” The evidence of Mr. Cundall was to the effect, “ that there chsts a necessity ot’sus- pending the Act, so far as regards the North \Veslcrn' part of Prince county, in consequence ofthe deﬁctency referred to by the Surveyor General. The Act had otherwise worked well. The suspension of the Act would not remedy the deﬁciency—an amendment might. He thotight if power were given to the commissioners to dispense with the seventh section of the bouti- Clary Act, in cases in which there was a considerable discrepan- cy between. the actual survey and the original plan, it might have the desired effect. l‘he causc of the apparent deﬁciency iii pa_rt of Lots 2 and 3 was the insertion of the representation of a certain coast, which does not exist, on the original plan There were no other causes of such dcﬁcrency than those which he had stated, that lie was aware of.” His hon.and learned friend stated, that nearly all the bottlidary lines. concerning which [here had been any disputes. had been established, with the exception of the one between Lot 3, on one side. and Lots 4. 5 atid ti, on the other; and lie (the hon. Mr. Young) thought it the establishing of that one also. If his lion. and learned l'tieridl should have any Wish to appear before the cominISsioners, when , they should be called upon to establish that boundary, he knew, them too well to suppose, that they would rush headlong into, the business, and come to a conclusion without listening to any representations which he, or any other party concerned, might think it necessary to make to them. [The hon. Mr. PETERS said,

. t - . - . < . ‘ V . X l was high time for the Legislature to interfere, and provide loril’l'ec-V ""‘mme "l"-

I look at the

, [No.

bcarried into operation. He (the hon. Mr. Irving) begged leave to assure the hon. and learned gentleman that this was so Very far from being the case, that the Commissioners had found the discharge of their duty, not only a very heavy in upon their time. but also upon their purses. They had been frequently called off and kept from borne a week at a time. when filamen- Immune to their own private concerns had made it very incon- venient to obey the call. He, for one. would be Very glad tore; sign his appointment, if such motives were to be attributed to the Commissioners.

On the Hon. Mr._ Swan‘s observing that the Commissioners were compelled to act when called upon by proprietors £0110 to, The Hon. lllr. Psi-ens said, “come to me, and I will defend.

you to act.”.

His Hon. the Pnesrnnsr then put the question on the amend- ment, that the Bill be read that day three months, on which their honors divided :——Contents-—i\lr. President, Mr. BrEClKen, Mr. Dalrymple, Mr. Solicitor General, Mr. Holl, Mr. Rice. New. Contents—Mr. Young, Mr. living, Mr. Anderson, Mr. Swubey.»

And it passed in the afﬁrmative. . . '

HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY.

DEBATE on THE STATE or Tn: COLONY. ( Concluded.)

Mr. Ru: said, notwithstanding the vehenienco off!» he». member, he should not be sorry to See some part of hi! pro~ llori. members charge us with useles- ly taking tip the time of the House, but forgot themaelvel; hon. rrieiiiher- who has just resumed his seat, omit

lie length of time he liars consumed in beating the Winthutdt tlieti coriiprire notes. Really, Sir, I felt a little alarmed, loot, itlie lion. member should pitch us into the seanltogethor. Wu are not sent here by our constituents for so useless in pure. pose as wasting the time oftlie' llouae, nor did he intend in.

it would not be law.] As the whole mistake had Originated with i but when lion. inctiiliers make unjust attacks, are Won) b0.

one of the Surt‘eyor Generals. he thought it became a duty ini- petative upon the Legislature to step in and provide for lhe rec- tiﬁcation of~tlie error. Each township was originally intended to contain a certain quantity of land. \Vas‘ it right, iheii, that one should be allowed, to retain three or four thousand acres

more than its due quantity, and that the adjoining townshipsl

slio ld be left just exactly so much short of their proper quanti- ty,» vlicn it was qtiite evident that, if the boundary ltrie between them were equally draiin, each of the townships in question would contain pretty nearly the number of acres originally as- signed to it ? Certainly not; but it was quite natural that his lion. and learned friend, being the agent of one ofthc parties concerned, should be anxious to protect the interests of his principal. [Here the lion. Mr. Young, on being called to order. said he did not mean any thing invidious by his observation] The hon. and learned gentleman then concluded. , by observing, that he meant only to say that each proprietor should (as long as the crown periiiittcd them to have their limits) be in the occupation of the number of acres contained in theiroriginal giants. without encroaching npori the land of a neighbouring proprietor, and taking from him, by a mere mistake in the pro— traction of a government plan of the Island, a certain portion of ‘land, of which he may be the cllimanl. ‘ . ' The Hon. l\lr. PRESIDENT. He had on former occasions v_oted against the introduction of such a Bill, and he intended to pur- sue the same course now. With his hon. friend (the Solicitor General), he thought that the measure was in'ended to bear upon a dispute between two private parties, in which the public had no interest, and that, therefore, it was no subject for legislative interference or enactment. It. was true. as his huh. and learned friend had‘observed, that the party aggrieved might, and ought to seek redress at law: there were established Courts in which all such rigli'ts as were involved in the measure before their Honors could‘be properly prosecuted or maintained. And when this was so Well known in be the case, why should the Legisla- ture be called upon, by airy unprecedented enactment, to inter- fet‘e, and settle a dispute about private rights between two pro- prietors? It was not necessary for him to take up much of their Honors’ time in either stating his views, or supporting them by argument : the spcech of his lion. friend (the Solicitor General) hid made it almost unnecessary for him to do more, than to say that be fully concurred, as he thought everynnan of any legal iiiforiitation mus: do, in nearly every tliiiigthat he (the lion. the Solicitor General) ha’d advanced relative to the question. The present Boundary Act was based on a fallacy; it had not worked the good expected from it, and be much regretted his haying given his consent to its enactment. lt had been found llllll it was almost wholly inoperative for the ends of equity and justice; and now, session after seSsion, inelliCterit Bills were brought in to amend an inefﬁcient Act, which never ought to have had exis- tence. The only proper course the Legislature could now pity- sue was to leave the. settlement of all disputed boundaries to the proper Legal tribunals, where alone. from the ﬁrst, parties ought to have been taught to carry, for determination, all such ques- tions of private right as the Bill before their Honors was intend- ed to ellect. It was very clear how possible it would be, it the Bill were allotved to go into operation. for missioners blindly to work very great injustice. and, in the dark. to take away valuable land from one proprietor 'for the benefit of another. and to give, in lieu thereof, nothing swamps. the inotton, that the Bill be read that day three months. _ The Hon. illr. Swnnnv thought the arguments advanced by the lioti. and learned gentleman who had spoken against the Bill before their llonors would have been much more applicable had they been brought forward at the same time when the propriety of such a measure as the Boundary Act was first mooted iii the Legislature; and be freely adnittteu, that ifat that time he had been a member of the Legislature, he would, in all probability. have opposed the passage of the measure, and have said, as his hon. and learned friend did now, -’ leave the settlement of all such disputes as the Bill seeks to determine, to the proper legal trihtiiiuls,’ for there was. perhaps, no greater sticklcr than lorri- self for the protection of all private rights against all unjustifi- able or unprecedented interference. But now, when there was 3. Boundary Act upon the Statute Book. and parties had been ' taught to look to its operation for the settlement. between tlicrn ofttll disputes. relative to Township b'vundaries, the question, iii his view, assumed a very different aspect. lie was not. indeed, prepared to say. that if a Bill had been brought in to do away vith Boundary Acts altogether, he would not have gone Will] it, for it ought not to be forgotten that moSI Townships in the Island had more than once changed their proprietors, and pasred from

ofothers ; a. consideration which ought very the question ; pass an original Bill respecting boundaries, but merely one which already was law, be to sanction the proposed amendment.

The Hon. Mr. Axncnson said, the

dispute had been ﬁnally determined. went to prove that the Act had been serviceable; as other boundary lines remained see the propriety of opposing the amendment of the Act. no goodgrgument' against '

patients that he had lost ing the loss of the nine, found that the work well in some cases; yet,- might be POSSlblE to carry out, boundary lines, the intentions of the originalrframers oftlie

was entitled.

The Hon. Mr. luvme observed that the lion.

the Cont-l

but useless minority are to His honor concluded by saying that he would support

the hands of the original grantees and their heirs into the hands materially to affect btit as their honors were not then called upon to to amend

he thought the wisest course would

Boundary Act had been in force a long time, and by its operation as the ban. the Solicitor General had admitted. most of the boundary lines formerly in ‘ Surely this admission and, 5') long to be cstablislied, he could not It was the services of a doctor who had ten nine ofthem: he might, notwrthsland- save the tenth. Although it had been Act, as it a: present stood, could not be made to by the amendments proposed, it as respected all unestablished Act. He could not tell how an equitable division could be unjust ;_and he thought nothing could be fairer than to give each proprietor that quantity of land to which, in virtue of the original grant, he

Solicitor General

had spoken, in one part of his speech, as if he thought the Corn- missioners under the Boundary Act_bad an interest in seeing it

’rlcprived oftlie. liberty of reply? lloti. Inetiiliersfalk about, ,Newfiiuurllund, but they do not tell us of the mean; therein to settle the land. See how easy it is made to tho .settlers. (“ Bud liiiitl!” said the Speaker.) “But it. ll so only. ‘ in part,” replied the lion. member, “ and those who improve it derive the beneﬁt—(“ t'Ocksl" said Mr. Dortse,)——nnd if the? suiriejiistice was held out to the settler in this colony. than Would be an end to agitation at once, immediately, for ever. It was, Sir, fur from my intention to create nlonge, tliy discussion, yct um I fearful that those who or it will provoke me itito it, and in retaliation mile! on eavqur to. refine them, by reference be seen that the intentions of the British Parliament have not been complied with. One hon. member says wooppéﬂ. . every measure that is for the Bill for the incorporation ofn Fieliina Company moot ,. with opposition, or did 1 shew my individual opposition to. ' the encouragement oftlie ﬁsheries, in moving for a gram. of , 10001. as bounties? But. Sir, as this debate lays under'tlio, threat of being spun out, it is time some other hon. month"! take tip the thread ; 1 will not, therefore, longer detain 4th. ; Committee, but at once give the lion. member (Mr. Dottie), another opportunity to 'suioko’ away, till it ignites into a , ﬂame again.” ' , Mr. Dons: did not want advice from the hon. member (Mr. Rue); though he may not have the some hop of expressing ideas as the hon. member, yet lie on t to read the whole of the resolutions, that the one now be ore u. re; fers to; then shall we know Wllht we are about, and can You with our eyes open and a clear conscience. . ,. The Hon. J. S. MACDONALD agreed with the hon. member: that they should be read over, for the information of tho“ , lioti. members who may not be supposed to know the con- . tents of nearly twenty resolutions, some of which were com. to several years since. . ' . A v , The Hon. tlieSpenker said he gave every due to the hon. ‘- imelltbf‘l‘ for the tact displayed in bringing the old question v 'ngnin forward; there could not be a shadow of doubt that , such it was, in reality; “though it now assumed a new fan; titre (snid the Speaker), ,connienntice it, even so far as gratifying the hon. mover,and jhis lion. friends, by allowing it to advance to the stage of'lne . sci-tion on the Journals, which lie (the Speaker) verily be- t lievcd wus‘tlie utmost oitheir expectations or thought. It . would be placing the House iii a truly ridiculbuo position :9, ,th to-dny what may ho undone to-morrow -, and thiq‘wouid‘ ,be the utmost oftlie triumph iiow sought to be obtained bringing it on in the absence ofseverul lion. members, whom they; know nre'opposed to them on this question. Such nt- tempts must hereafter be felt, ' degree ofsliaine that none can envy them the possession of. .1 will, Sir, support the reading oftlie whole oflhe docu- l merits; tlicn shrill we see the trap that has been so artfully set for us, but which will spring without. entangling the in- tended prey. The whole argument tends to shew, that the represent the people, that \ve—the majority ’ ...ought to refrain from the exercise ofotir power, and nllovy' them free scope in all their worse than useless schemes of legislutinii.

Mr. Coorzn contended that nothing would beneﬁt the colony so much as an Esclient Court, which the majority ought to endeavour to see carried into effect; then would they he doing it beneﬁt to the Colony. The Iron. .member rcciipitnlatetl liis viewo oftlie conduct ofthe Proprietors to-_ wards the settlers, and called upon the majority to exercise ‘ their power in doing some good for the country ; and them could not be any preferable mode ofrloing so than that of Esclient, which, it again sought, he did not doubt would

granted.

be seen flint every measure to . opposed by his (Mr. Cooper’s) vote during this session— I [here the hon. member enumerated some oflhe measures ‘- thus treated]-—nnd also had done all he coulrl roles" the tennntry to get into the iiieslics of the law. Ofwhn: use is. it for the hon. member, every time he rises, to talk about, that abominable Esclient question ? Why will he not adva- cate the proposition of purchase, I ' approved, and thought it was feasible to carry)! Into eﬁ'ecy. But what good to the Colony can possibly once from this resolution, to take up a string of documents, commencing from the year l797 up to 1843, or what possible use ll. could be to the constituents of the lion. member, was beyond bu (Mr. Coles’) comprehension.

Mr. RAE said, “ l am‘surpriserl in hearing the lion. .mem- her (Mr. Colea) seriously declare that lie is ignorant of what he ought to know, and I cannot give him credit for the as- sertion. The Iron. member must possess the knowledge he now disclaims; and though] cannot give him credit forltliis, there is one thing that cannot be mistaken—his continual and tinspnring attacks upon the lion. member (Mr. Cooper); _ yet that lion. member can escape

Notwithstanding the hon. member’s opi- ' this will never become a ﬁshing country. It is very easy to Fish, Bank, or Eschcat, upon paper, but- there existsa great difference between the one and the other! lam quite agreed with the lion. member, that the proposition of purchasing the lands should be entertained. My bias, Sir, does not prevent me from voting for any measure tending to beneﬁt the Colony, yet 1 must express my doubt that many of those. so termed would not hereafter prove to have tho} I desirable end. Let then those hon. meinbéli‘.wllolddrosel"'-

some questions. nion, 1 think, Sir,

you against any mandamus which may be issued calling upon '-

io the Journals, &c.; then will it“: 7

the good of the colony;'bnllditl‘ .

knack

Mr. Com-:5 sziitl, ifthe. Journals were resorted to, it would‘ . beneﬁt the Colony had been“ 7

which be (Mr. Coles) much .

we shall not be doing our duty ifvo ' .

even by themselves, With‘thol r

from much of the accuua- tion, though he may possess n particular enthustnsm upon ,

/