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New Series. CEES 2 omer w - . Tuesoay, 30th April.

HOUSE IN COMMITTEE ON THE STATE OF THE COLONY.

Mr. Cores rose and said, that he held in his hand three Resolutions, explanatory, in some degree, of the rela- tive positions of His Excellency the Lieutenant Go- vernor and the House of Assembly, and also briefly stating the reasons which have induced the House to manifest their decided disapprobation of Huis Uxcel- lency’s policy, as affecting the present very critical conjuncture of affairs; the adoption of which Resolu- tions he intended to move. ‘The honorable member then read the first of the Resolutions as follows :+-

“ Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Committee, that in consequence of the continued determination of His Excellency Sir Donald Campbell to oppose the wishes of the House, in the reconstruction of his Executive Council, they bave no alternative but still to decline the prosecution of any other Legislative busi- ness than such as the exigencies of the Colony may reguire.””

The propriety of this Resolution, continued the hon. member, was fully borne out by the absence in His Eexceliency’s speech, ofany allusion to the subject which had induced the House to adopt a similar resoultion in their last session. Had Elis Excellency merely jnti- mated to the House that he had sent home to Her Majesty the Address of the House relative to the mis- understanding between them and him, but that he had, as yet, received no Despatch in reply to that Address ; at the same time, with merely common courtesy, obser- ving that, so soon as he should receive Her Majesty’s answer, he would cause it to be laid before the House, should they be.in session; that would have been satis- factory, because it would have been, perhaps, as much as, all the circumstances of the case considered, they could reasonab'y have expected. The absence, in [lis Excellency’s speech, of any notice of that Address, and of any aliusion to the circumstances which caused the House to have recourse to it, he (Mr. C.} considered as amounting to a tacit declaration, on the part of His Excellency, that he has actually no wish to do any business at all with the House; and he took it as another evidence, besides the many which His Excellency had given of his determination, or desire at least, to tyranize over the people, regardless of the advice of his Council, and heedless of the disapprobation of the Assembly. That such was the course which His Excellency wished to pursue in his administration of the Government, was indeed an inference which might very fairly be drawn from his general conduct. The next resolution which he (Mr. C.) meant to submit, was expressive of the opinion which he believed to be entertained by the majority of the House, that [lis Excellency’s reply to the Address of the House in answer to his speech, was of so irritating a character as could not fail to awaken feelings of indignation on the part of the Assembly. His Excellency, in his reply, charges the House with “ premeditated neglect of their Legislative duties,” with as much confidence as he could feel if he actually possessed the power distinctly to divine their most secret thoughts. The accusation afforded another proof of his Excellency’s desire to widen the breach between himself and the Assembly ; and should he so extend it, (which he seemed labouring to do,) as to make it irre- parable, he would, he (Mr. C.) trusted, find that as its opening had at first been caused by himself, so all the evils resulting from its extension would be attributed to him alone. The third resolution which he had to pro- pose, was calied for by the presumption,—warranted by a part of the speech with which his Excellency closed the last session,—that a retiring provision for the Attor- ney General had been previously demanded by his Excellency, which was not the fact. he first intima- tion which was made to the House, or to the parties representing the House in conference with his Excel- lency, that he (his Excellency) included the Attorney General amongst the public officers for whom it was necessary to make permanent provision, was that made to the Legislature at its prorogation. Besides the. Wrong impression which that part of his Excellency’s Speech, to which he (Mr. C.) had directly alluded, was calculeted to make upon minds not previously acquainted With the real facts of the case, a very erroneous idea of the grounds upor which the negociation with his Ex- celleney, on the part of the Legislature, was based, and nad, to a certain extent, proceeded, was, he believed, intended to be conveyed both to the Imperial Govern- ‘nent and to the people of Prince Edward Island. ‘The “ause of the failure of “ the negotiation,” as incorrectly

‘THIS Is TRUK LIBERTY WHEN FRE

DISTT AE Tl CLI

EEKLY INTELLIGENCER.

i-BORN MEN—HAVING TO ADVISE THE PUBLIC—MAY SPEAK PREE.”—Minton’s Eunisipes.

CHARLOTTETOWN, JUNE1, 1850.

IS yn bP LEE iS ait NS ea Ia.

shewn by his Ixcellency’s speech, was the refusal of the House to make permanent provision for the Attorney General, the Colonial Secretary and Registrar of Deeds, and the ‘Treasurer, in the event of their relinquishing their offices; which, says his Excellency, if they had done, instead of prematurely calling upon him to change the whole of the Executive Council, he should then have been able to report to her Majesty’s Government, that the obstacles to the introduction of Responsible Government into this Colony had been removed. But the fact was, as had already been frequently stated in the House, that all the preliminary arrangements re- quired by his Excellency had been agreed to, and all that remained for him to do in order to lay the founda- tion of the contemplated change in the form of the Government, was for his Ixcellency to reconstruct his Council, 2 proceeding which could not have been pre- mature, because all that he had demanded as a prelimi- nary to the change—a provision for the Chief Justice, satisfactory to that personage, and suitable provisions for the Colonial Secretary and the Treasurer—had been conceded; and neither could it have been difficult, be- cause al] his Councillors had sent in their resignations, and the royal instructions, in such case, authorized his appointing anew Council. If his Excellency, however, had found himself in a dilemma, out of which he could not clearly see-his way, he might, perhaps, have been relieved from -his perplexity by consulting one of the constitutional lawyers. on the other side of the House, who probably would have discovered that, in-snch a case, he possessed a constitutional power to appoint a new eounci]. As a proof of his Excellency’s undue regard for the interests of the parties in power around him, and of his desire to screen real or suspected official mal-practices from investigation, he (Mr. C.) would state what had been his Excellency’s behaviour, a short time after his arrival in the Coleny, with respect to papers or records concerning the Treasury investigation which had been left by his predecessor Sir Henry V. Huntley, amongst other Government and Official papers, to be handed over to his successor in office. The papers relative to that investigation had been left with others of moment to the interests of the colony, in order that, as the enquiry had been imperfectly made, thev might afford material for its renewal, should it afterwards be thought proper to revive it. On my in- troducing the subject to his Bxcellency, he advised me to desist from the urging of the enquiries, as by moving in them, would, he said, only bring a nest of hornets about my ears. His Exceilency was quite right about my disturbing and provoking the hornets; but, although [ have suffered nothing from their rage, it is not very probable that Sir Donald, notwithstanding all his pre- caution and unwillingness to molest them, may yet feel the smart of wounds inflicted by their stings. On that occasion it was that I first began to suspect that Sir Donald, like too many of his predecessors, was about to yield up his authority to the officials who surrounded him, or to exercise it only for their protection and the promotion of their individual interests, however those might be opposed to good government and the interests of the people. When I found that his Excellency was not disposed to allow any papers relative to the T'rea- sury investigation which might be in his possession to ve brought again to public light, 1 moved in the House the adwption and presentation of an Address to his Ex- cellency, requesting that he would be pleased to cause all papers pene to the Treasury which had been left among the public records by his predecessor, to be laid before the House. ‘To the committee, of which 1 was chairman, who waited upon him with the Address, his Excellency said that he knew nothing of the existence of any such papers, but that he would make the neces- sary enquiry concerning them. Soon after this inter- view I met his Excellency in the street, accompanied by the Colonial Secretary, when, addressing me, he said he could learn nothing concerning the documents re- quired by the Address; and then, turning to the Colo- nial Secretary, asked him if he knew anything of the existence of such papers, to which that gentleman re- plied, he did not. I then merely observed that, if there were no such papers, it was clear that we could not have them. Certain, however, as [ was from previous information, that the papers had been left in the posses- sion of a member of his Government to be handed over to Sir Donald Campbell on his arrival in the colony and his assumption of the Government, I went immediately to the chamber of the Legislative Council, to see that gentleman, who informed me that he had left the re- quired documents with his Excellency, and that he would go and see him upon the subject himself. This gentleman waited upon his Excellency accordingly, who, instead of furnishing the papers, held a mock

etllpindilgels Mapaibedisanat 7 e a ee nee. - ee a

- Vol. 1: No. 35.

council, at which parties were examined as to the defi- ciency supposed to exist in the Treasury, one of whom had paid £500 towards making up that deficiency, and another of whem had Jent to a member of the Govern- ment a sum of money for the same purpose; but as they admitted that they had not actually seen the money put into the ghest, his Excellency refused to admit their evidence, hi meeting of the Council, { have said, was only a mock council; for, although the members were summoned for a council, they were, after they had been some time assembled, told by his Excellency, that they were not to consider themselves in council; and this explanation accounts for the privilege which I exercise in stating what then took place, and which, otherwise, would have been kept secret.

My having in the discharge of my public duty, both as a member of the Executive Council and as a mem- ber of the Assembly, moved in the affair of the Trea- sury investigation, was what brought the first hornets’ nest about my ears.—His Excellency’s disposition to tyranny and the exercise of arbitrary power was next exhibited in a most unquestionable light, when to one of his Council he said, “If yon advocate Responsible Government, yon must resign your seat at the Executive Board, otherwise [ shall call upon her Majesty to re- move you ;” and also when, to another gentleman, who had been provisionally appointed, he said, “if your views are favourable to the establishment of Responsi- ble Goyernment, I must advise her Majesty not to con- firm your appointment.” His Excellency’s consistency in this respect there would, however, be some reason tu suspect could it be believed that he actually meant his words to convey their literal meaning, when he lately told another member of his council (the hon. Mr. Thornton) who waited upon him to explain the change of opinion which had been forced upon him by his con- stituents witl} regard to Responsible Governinent, that he was at perfect liberty to vote as he pieased on the subject of Responsible Government, and still to retain his seat in the Executive Council. The fact, however, | believe to be that his Excellency felt pretty certain that he had nothing to fear from the opposition of that hon. meu.berin the Assembly to his arbi:rary views, and that the liberty conceded to him would rot cause hint to deviate from his old course. I have been told by many that his Excellency has expressed himself in favour of Responsible Government, and has said that he is only withheld from giving an active manifestation of his 2pprobation of it by not seeing the way clear for its establishment. That this is uot the case has, how- ever, been fully manifested by his Excellency’s refus- ing to take the first step towards its establishment, by the reconstruction of his council, even when the way was made perfectly clear before him to enable him to doso. Again, continued the hon. member, if we con- trast the hatred of Responsible Government which induced his Excellency to compel two of his councit to retire from the Executive Board, and his opinion of the unfitness of the people fur self-government, in conse- quence of their alleged ignorance and poverty, with the sndden conviction which appears to have burst upon his mind, that responsible or self-government may now, with all propriety, be introduced—that the colony and people are fully ripe and qualified for its beneficia! working, as respects all the necessary preparations for its reception dependent upon its resources, wealth, and intelligence; and that nothing now remains to be done by the Assembly to secure the boon, but the granting of the trifling amount of £600 per annum to afford re- tiring pensions to the-Colonial Secretary, the Attorney General, and the Treasurer; in thus making the con- trast, between his Excellency’s past and present esti- mates of the capabilities of the colony and the people, we inust certainly feel quite as much at a loss to discern any such sudden and thorough improvements in the character and condition of the people, as can have been sufficient to occasion the very sudden changes which would seem to have taken place in the mental perceptions of his Excellency concerning them, as we fine it difficult to discover any thing like consistency of opinion or action on his part, touching the question at issue.—Another charge, continned the hon. member, which [ may justly urge against the official or public charactar of his Excellency, is that of having endea- voured to exercise an undue infinence over the minds of both sides of both Houses of Legislature, in having sent for individual members and strenuously sought to persuade them to adopt his own sentiments, concerning measures in progress through the Legislature. With respect to the Civil List Bill of last year, said the hon. member, I know that he used his influcoce against the measure in the Legislative Council, and siso that, by the exercise of that influence im the House, te cauecda

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