' Melissa and Mr. McFarlane.

-4 Whereas the House of Assembly of this Colony bath for year! last‘-p1ast endeavoured to procure a forfeiture of several Tow 'pa in the same, on the grounds that the graatau thereof. and their heirs and assigns, have not com-

with the conditions of the original grants from the

, and bath repeatedly solicited the Imperial Govern- tto direct the establishment of ii Court of Eaeheat in thi Colony for that purpose; and whereas such solicitation god request of the House of Assenibi hath been refused, and no other means appear at present easible or attainable to procure relief to the Tenantry from the pressure ct‘ largo arrears of rent sought to be enforced against them by the aid grantees, their hcers or assigns. than y the purchase of the nghtl of the said grantees, their heirs and assigns, by the Crown.”

N ow, Mr. Chairman, I ask where is the difference between the rineiple of this Bill and the Land Purchase Bill in force at present time? The hon. member may talk about forc- stallers steppin in and enhancing the price to the Government. We could not, ir, compel parties tosell their property, we had but to decide upon the purchase of what should be oﬁered to us, and only ask from the settlers what the land cost the country. But. Mr. Chairman, it may be as well to see the opinion of the House on the question in 1841. On the Journalsof that year I ﬁnd, under the date of the 17th February, that on a motion that the Bill be read the day three months the House divided as follows: Yeas—Mr. Palmer. Hon. J. S. McDonald, Mr. Longwcrth; Nays—Mr. D. McDonald, Mr. Dalzicl, Mr. German, Mr. Mont mery, Mr, Rae, Mr.Fraser, Mr. Clark, Mr. McLean, Mr. Lacheur, Mr. Forbes, Mr. McIntosh, Mr. Bock, Mr. Now, Sir, at that time, it inlght have been possible to have obtained Escheat, if there h not been so much division among parties in this House and the Island. That Bill, as the division ahews, received the support of fourteen members, while only three recorded their votes against it. It was introduced while the hon. member was Speaker, by his own party, and submitted and carried with his consent and approval, and yet,fcrsootli! with that preamble, which I have just read, staring him in the face. he still talks of obtainin a Court of lnscheat, and says there is nothing against it ut Colonial Ministers’ des-

tches! Why, Mr. Chairman, I would ask if Lord John

umell's despatoh in 1839, the year in which the hon. mem- ber was a delegate to England, does not state as plainly and emphatically as words can, the determination of the Imperial Government not to sanction Esoheat. in this Island. The Home Government has been so often applied to for the establishment of a court of this nature, and they have so ﬁrmly and constantly refused to allow it, that the a 'tation of the question is not only useless, but mischievous. as ending the people to i ‘no that they can obtain what will never be coded. I am satisﬁed that this House has it in its power to mitigate the hardships on the tenantry arising from the original grants: that remedy is by taxing the lands of the printers. Under that system, the pi-oprietois will soon bio led to come in and offer their lands to the Government or the Land Purchase Bill. The Home Government has

». been so emu applied to on the subject of Fscheat-, that it is

useless to agitate the question further, and we should turn our attention to the best practicable mode of releaving -the tenantry from the inconveniences arising from the original

is. ‘ulnshall now, Sir, request the attention of the committee to the report ofthe hon. member. submitted to the House on his return from his second mission to England, which is as follows :— »

“ From the opinions I had entertained for the settlement of the Land Question, that a settlement could not be made without the sanction of the British or Colonial Legislature; and as Ministers were not inclined to submit the question to the Imperial Parliament, norto give any answer to a Dele- A to from the House of Assembly of Prince Edward Island,

appeared to me that the views of Her Majesty's Govern-

’ ted to the Lieutenant Governor " thro the

_ respondence with that jiﬂcar,’ would. in all probability, oouwey auﬂlcient instruc- 'tlon\o enable the House of Assembly to legislate fortlie ' ' I o'f“the pen ' e, with «some conﬁdence that their would meet e views ofthe other branches of Ingialature ; and, as it was not likely that I would receive any further instruction from House of Aneinbly until

(3)

the end of the Session, I therefore denied it proper to re-

turn to the Island.

" Before I left London, I a ed to-Counsel thr advice on behalf of the Teuantry, on e plea of the forfeiture of Grants and es for the ﬁshery; but the Counsel do- olined to give an opinion, as I had not the laws of the Island with me, to enable him to see whether or not any of the Colonial Statutes went to conﬁrm the Grants, or the purchase of them by other persons.

“ I also applied to Joseph Hume, Esq., M. P.,to enter into arrangements with that gentleman for bringing the grievances of the Colony before Parliament, and delivered to crgiies of the correspondence that had passed between me an the Colonial Oliice: and he, on the perusal of the correspondence, frankly declared his willingness to do all that laid in his power for the settlement of the Colony, and was pleased to add, by way of advice and instruction—it n peared to him, the oppression of Tenantr , by none who had not performed any of the conditions the Gwrants, was a ques- tion at law, which would ultimately be given in favour ofthe Tenantry ; if not in the Island, it would, if the suits were carried to the Courts in England, as he could not see how the Crown, who was the Trustee for the people, and the jud sworn to administer impartial justice between subject and sag ject, could refuse to put the law in force against the proprie- tors, to forfeit the land, and deliver the tenantry from a bondage which originated from a neglect of the Crown Olli- cers to perform their duty—that for the Courts of the Island to take advantage of such neglect, which com llcd British subjects to submit to bondage, and then by aw to compel them to perform any obligations the proprietors had exacted, appeared a case of such iniquity, that be (Mr. Hume) had not heard of the like being sanctioned by the British Go- vernment. _

H I stated that the tenantry were too poor to go to law with the proprietors —- that it was equally as impossible for the tenantry to obtain justice by law as it was for them to pay the rent. Mr. Hume said, “ then your House of Assem- bly should address your Governor, and inquire for the In- structions the Minister has sent; and if they will not afford redress, inquire whether any Court in the Island will take cognizance of the non-performance of the conditions of the Grants, to forfeit the land and relieve the tenantry ; and if you do not obtain a satisfactory answer from your Gover- nor, the House of Assembly should examine the oﬁicers of your Courts of Justice (if you have any), and inquire by what authority they are prevented from enforcing the for- feiture of the Grants against the proprietors; and if they are prevented, inquire in like manner by what law or au- thority they can reconcile it with justice to compel the ten- antry to submit to the demands and exactions of the proprie- tors; nnd if you find, upon such examinations, that your Courts will not aﬁbrd relief to the tenantry, and that your Council will not agree to an Act for the settlement of the people, it would be proper for your House of Assembly to examine several of the proprietors, as to whether they are the grantees, or hold their right by purchase or inheritance ——the terms on which the tenantry hold of thein—t|ic rents received, and in arrears; and also examine a portion of the tenantry as to the treatment they have received.

' " A report of such examinations as your House of Assam- bly msy think necessary, in support of the charges they in- tend to prefer, and a list of the Documents forwarded to the Colonial Oﬁice, from the earliest periods, for redress of those grievances; and also, a list of the despatches in answer to such applications, together with a petition to the British Parliament, will be suﬁcieut for me to bring the matter be- fore Parliament."

“ In case the House of Assembly should not be disposed to follow the foregoing recommendations, or, if it is followed, and, through any utmost event, prove unsuccessful, there has been another plan suggested to me for redress of our griev- snow.

" Several gentlemen, with whom I have convcrscd on the

E’ S

ugh subject, are of opinion that the delay of Ministers toredrees

our grievanea, has for its object to induce the people of thi Island to seek for annexation to Nova Scotia; and the dele- gates from that province, whom I not in London, and several inﬂuential gentlemen of their House of Assembly, whom «I afterwards -met in Halithx. declared that if the people of ‘the Island were inclined to be annexed to Nova S_cotia._ they would do every thing in their power to have the lnlllbli-IIII