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' PRIN CE E D

r’

WA'RD ISLAND ADVERTISER.

Vol.IlI. 1 r ‘ i i ' ' F ] - j CHARLOTTE'IOWN, S-ATURDYAT, MAY 2, 1840. [ No. 14.4.

In the House of Assembly, Monday, April 27th,.lS40. RDERED, That the Printers of the Colonial Herald

to the House OfCornmbns, the Resolutions reported last Saturday

correspondence, Ten copies of said papzer.

y order ofthe House, . w. CULLEN, Clark.

To Right Honorable and Honorable the Knights, ‘C'rtizens and Burgesscs of Great Britain and Ireland, in Parliament assembled.

ThePe‘tition ofthe House of Assembly of Prince Edward Island;

Most respectfully shew'etli— ' . r

_ That signs this Colony bebanie aplacé of abode for Bri- tish subje s, it has- laboured under a grievance which has every year been increasing in magnitude, and resulMom the land having been granted to individuals in Townships , of_%(l,000 acres. Along with‘ many disadvantages, one' principal 'ev1l flowed from the termsofthese grants, and from. the Indulgence extended to the grantees, tlirouch their influence with men in power, and this was, tahat the majority ofthe agriculturists were kept under thraldom by r the grantees and their assigns; and the chief means of their so doing was by the exaction of a rent, which bore soha-rd on’the individual entering on the forest 'torclear it away, and then raise a living for his family, that he‘ was plun- . ged into debt, from which, in many instances, he was

never able 'to get. free, and which, at all times, was a most serious burden and discouragement. _ Your, Petitioners further submit, that at different times, pince 1795, the Colony has applied for redress, bv forward- ing statements to the Colonial Department ;‘ and 'in 1802, ' a remedy‘was pointed out by the late Lord Hobart, viz. the establishmentofa Court ofEscheat; but this measure, which Would 'ha'Ve'beeii efficient for removing the evils complained , of, was defeated, through the ignorance of the mass ofthe people, In regard to the Way in‘ which such pfi'er should havebeen made effectual, and, throne}; the misrepresen: -. ' . l , , .g . a s will?” or the grantees and their aoehts :' That at different ‘llfiésifinvevlelflrthe‘mattcr has beat inbved in’t’ne House of Assembly; but as," since 1832, the exaction off‘i‘e'nts has been more rigorous... the whole Colony has been in perpe': t‘ualjagi‘ta'tion, for which‘no‘ remedy can be founfl, but the removal of the principal grievance. When ‘y‘d’ur Petition— ers make misstatement, _it ‘behoves them to prove it, and \ without building on ’ the various representations of th House of Assembly to the Colonial Department, supporte .Lhygeiraurjjiat' _ s , ' _ 'x : ‘ " copies of the Journalsoftlfi’s Hou's'e‘,‘ tiansiiiitte to tie _ ' "r ' -‘—w'e ’crave leave ’to refer to an authority which, it is presumed, 'will not. be disputed, viz.—the Report of the 'Right’ Honorable the Earl of Durham, and the evidence taken before the Commissioners who accompanied that nobleman.

Had a Court of Escheat been established then, the Grantees must have lOSt their claim to the land, and re- ceived a compensatiou'for any outlay they had made ; and the people of the Colony did not ‘doubt that the Crown. when aware of the real. state of the Island, would not, as ’ landlord, have imposed on them inequitable conditions. During the past eight years, repeated applications for a Court ofEscheat have been rejected by the Colonial Minis- ter ; and as a last measure for doing away with agitation, by alleviating this weighty grievance, your Petitioners have passed a Bill for purchasing, within ten years, the forfeited claims of the grantees Of Townships and their representa- tives, at a price which is fully as high as the agricultu- rists, by' their utmost exertions, can, ‘within that time, make good, and higher thanlthe average price, of, wilder- ness land 'in the neighbouring Colonies, and higher than the average price of such land in this Island, whenwalued by juries, or when exposed to public sale for non-payment

, of taxes, as appears from the returns in the Report by the

Earl of Durham. v r v Yo‘urgPetitio'ners submit, that the SurveyorGeneral of «this Island has. valued the, Crown Landsat 205,-per acre; but while yourrPetitioners cannotherein enter into. all the circumstances which would prove his valuation as incorrect, they may briefly state, that it is refuted bygthe sales above referred to; and .bythefact'of’ hishaving been obliged to give to one Officer of the Army land, bordering on _the . .Towu of Georgetown, at Ten Shillings per, acre, as being, from its locality, doublg the value of the generality of Crown Lands in this Islind. . . ,

As the Crown has the right to escheat all the Townships,

v your; petitioners most earnestly request,tth‘at you. will be

pleased to far toexercise your constitutional influencelvlith 'Her Majesty's Ministers, that they may be led to give in- ‘ structions to His EXcell‘ency the Lieutenant Governor, that i it is the determination of the Crown torecoiumend to yI‘IlS

Excellency." the? Bill, a .copyof . which has been, forwarded

=60 the ColOnial Qfli‘ce,‘ and;to which your Petitioners-beg to rcfety’ou»; or. else toeompel the Grantees or: their_AsSigps

to demand only such price as the Report by the Earl .of .flurhamsshall warrant, or such rents as shavllcoireypond «thereto, at fifteen years’ purchase. , ' ' J r, ; , .

'- -. Ynnrel’ietitiouers-submit, that the, abovegare the only real contradiction, the grievance. herein complained of,» for , the a : penal “1de .by the Earlef Durham will net, relieve

Ihosc who are at present, under rent, and wvo comprise «three-tburthsof the; palation. .. ., g p .

, “Hymn Petitioners, urtber .submit, that this, like" other rColoniesclias' suffered :great-.di,sadvalvages from thepinxr «trianornhsoounca: torreforms proposed bathe Assembly; - but thee-um th.ia.;respee,t, "ewe:hale'fiufle’ed>wh~al P0 Q‘l‘F' «acronyms dufl'aredéfoir the last-hundred years; {Game

Council, composed chiefly. of the, belts an, drepresentames

wand-agents:of-thefirantega, has; not .9911 :QPPP$~‘?d; Ell-es? refiners-Wu: has done-the; country the: {at E'Flv‘felgzg

g

f .the

T “endeavouring to ,fiustrate thatamellamitmi 3i” 15,23 wlmuthe tenure of land";;wh»ich,thfiicllgwll‘slhnfifiw cmy‘jmperiously ,l'equlm-{E‘rmr'r'l pun-59%.! - u!

Herbimmfweivlmasvoar Hpnnretile HOW M51"

be directed toinsertin tlic'sarnn Newspaper with the Petition ‘

from3tbe Committee on the State ofthe Colony, and the Address to the Queen ; also, to forward to every member of the Committee of".

~me the mmvflsfithq busy; gyemnc‘esjggctlmg ,

tenure ~of land. _ ’ And your Petitioners, ch:

...

Resolutions re ort d m ' ’ ' w the Stateof the oloiaiyigjnffigghvlmm“ or "I. “dale nous” an ‘ l. RESOLVED,'That it is the opinio'n-bfthis Committee, that in every British Colony where the right to'Leuislate by their representatives has been attained, when the: Legisla-

' tire Council and the Representative body remain at issue for a series of years, on the most important subjects, such difference is most prejudicial to the Colony. ‘

2. RESOLVED, That it is the opinion ot'this Committee, that on many occasions, in past times, andrniore especially for the last eight years, the majority of "the House of Assent; bly, on different occasions, have represented the injustice

antitth in every instance, except in l803, their repre- - sentatio'ns have been'opposed by a majority of the Council. 3.} RusOLVEo, That 'the change which in. 1839 was' made in the construction of the nogislative Council, has been productive of additional evil ;aud that, as no prospe- rity n’or peace can be expected in this Island till an ame- lioration on the tenure of Land betetl'ected, and no House 01" Assembly, elected by the unbiass‘ed sufl'rages of the people, can refrain from endeavouring to effect that most important Object; so whoever looks to the individuals. composrng the'Council, must see that on this important subject the majority of them have 'an interest contrary to

of-the Colony, by their being proprietors, lan'd agents, e(mutations of such land agentsy-or persons, in the opinion of this Committee, warmly biassed in favour of the proprie- tors; and ‘that the House of Assembly cannot, in cOnse; quence thereof, have any" confidence in the Legislam, Council; so long as it shall remain so constructed.

4. RESOLVED, That the people Ofthis Island can have no confidence in the Executive Goverhment of this Colo- ny,'so long as the agents of proprietors? are appointed to fill thevprincipal Offices therein, such as the‘Coloni‘al Se- cretar , Treasurer, Surveyor General,& and Attorney Gen: cral (ail Of'whOi‘n possess, besides,.a large. family. influéncé‘ in :the, Executive COuncil-,i)‘ and also such as the Solicitor G’engral, because it islwel-l known that land agents derive theig'reatest personal" benefit from the large proprietary grants, and in consequence thereof, it is naturally the in. tale-ng the "Executive Council. by its unfortunate con- struction, to misrepresent. to the home Government, and even to the, absentee proprietors, the true state of this Co- l°lll§i39flfhfilfbl Prevent Em ,aqullahlsgeglgwgggfm»

5. RESOLVED, That taking into cohsideration the facts stated in the four previous Resolutions, and the Despatch by Lord John’ Russell, as to the responsibility of public ofiicers, this Committee cannot avoid drawing the conclu- sion, that many ofrthe Members of the Executive and Le- gislative Councils should, by the Government, be request- ed’ to vacate their seats in these Councils.

6. RESOLVED, That the original constitution of this Colony was, like that of other proprietary Colonies, radi- cally defective, inasmuch as it planned that emigrants would cultivate the forest and establish all the ordinary requisites of civilized man, and at the same time be held subservient, both in respect to the tenure of land, and in respect to the levying and appropriating of the Revenue raised" from themselves, to a few, whose sole aim has been to make the powers given them by government over the soilfla source of emolument and of a political influence, sufficient to swayall matters in the Colony: That these conflicting interests ‘neverha've been made cordially co- operative in any other proprietary Colony, and cannot here be made so to be, unless the Imperial Government ‘will curtail both the demands and political influenceofthe claimants Of Townships ; and that unless the Imperial Government so interfere, the House of Assembly must consult their constituents a‘s-to the, propriety of being an-

' nexed to one of the adjacent Colonies, as the inhabitants will never agree to submit theirprcperty andpolitical rights to the will-Of theproprietors and their agents. - t h

7. RESOLVED, That an Addresswbc presented to Her

- Majesty, embodying the facts contained in the six previous Resolutionsg’also, an Address to His. Egcellency, the Lieu- tenant Governor, requesting him to. forward thesame, along with a copy of the Bill passed this Session for the setting-

. merit 'ofthe Inhabitants.

7 v To THE QUEEN’S MOST EXCELLENT, Mirasrv. The humble Address of the House of Assembly of Prince Edward ' Island... 1, I, - I ~

(

' t MoitGracious, Sovereign ; j ‘ '. g' _ , V >

We the Representatives ofiyour Majesty’s dutiful and loyal, sub. jects of Prince. Edward Island, in Colomall’arlianient now assem.

e bled, humbly submit, feryour Royal consrderation,-the‘ =copy ot: a Bill intitiiled “ An' Act, to authorize the :Crown‘fto purchase the Lands, 'alld' to regulate the settlement of the inhabitants of thngls. landward to repeal certainSections' pf an, Act, intruded {An Act for : levying an Assessment Ion-all Lands in this Island,”7—which Bill was passed by your Petitioners during the present Session Office House of Assembly, bya large majority, but which has, been rejected by

‘ the Legislative Council of this Colonys That your Petitioners Lre. ’ gret to aver, that the Inhabitants of, this Island are most ~discontei’l'. ted with their, present position, and. are _in a state of high crime. ment and agitation,- owing-tyo, the___oppreSSion of those from whom

- they havc'leased their lands; and your Petitioners feel- convinced that such discontent and agitation will never ceasa to exist, until

' Home measure be adopted thatw'illamelioratc tthpntlltlQll'Of the llpeop'le.” Your Petitioners are confident, tthatif such a prinmple as

. . ontainetli the said Bill wereadopted and'carriedinto execu. 'ii’oaiifit would mind wholly to suppress discontent and'agitation, and r i to bake the Inhabitants of this Island-satisfied,rpeaceable and hap- ,_ but y‘Our Petitioners are'a'ppreheiiswe that such ameasurecan never be‘adopted; in' this Island, while the Efiecutiveand Legisla-r .tive C‘ouncilsnre’ constructedlas‘ theyvriovv are, in consequence of then . ,prepondera ce therein of [those persons who are‘deeply ititeyested and warml 'espoused inbel’ialf of the Grantees "of Tcwnsbi ps in this . 'I'sland, br t eii: Assigns—Which Grantees, howeverfistillholdtheu l ' lands, ’alt‘hoiiglt :tlléy have not fulfilled the conditionscontaiued in ‘ “their 'Original‘ Grants:-" 1’ our Petitioners have, felt; them elyes, . therefore, most,reluctant,ly.compclled toadoptaiid pass the ~esolu. g.- tians copies ,0fyifh1ch are “herewith transmitted to your Majesty—.— ’ \vliich plainly indicate; that in‘all questionsrclating Land-mitt“;

»

Ll f .‘t

the agricultural interest in this Colony in regard to the

done to the Agriculturists, by the Grantees of Townships, I

and subversive of the general interests of the inhabitants '

Colony, your Petitioners have no confidence whatever in the upper branch of this Legislature, from its present construction.

Your Petitioners do not deem it necessary tO enter into an elabo. . rate detail of the origin and continuation of the grievances that un- fortunately elist in this Island, nor of the many questions regard. ing Land that are at issue between the Legislative Branches, as the fprmcr have frequently been brought to the notice of your Ma- jesty sMinistcrs, and as the latter must necessarily exist while the Councils remain constructed as they are at present. -

our Petitioners, therefore, most humbly implore your Majesty to i take the Premises, with the said Bill and Resolutions, into your fa- vourable consideration, and to adopt such measures as will cause {our Majesty’s Loyal but oppressed subjects to be contented and

aPPY- ' ‘

And your Petitioners respectfully and earnestly pray, that your Majesty would be graciously pleased, should your Majesty see fit, to give instructions to His Excellency the Inuit. Governor of this Island, that, for the peace and prosperity of the Inhabitants thereof, Your Majesty would recommend the adoption of such a principle, or ofa Similar measure as that contained in the said Bill ; and that Your Majesty would be further grac' ‘ . pleased to direct His Excellency the Lieut. Governor to car ' , to its fullest extent, the principles of Responsibility of public 0 cers, as contained in your Majesty‘s Secretary of State’s Lord John Russell’s) Circular. Despa‘tch of 16th October last, as to t e Executive Councillors, and also to remodel the Legislative Council, bV removing some of those who are opposed to the wishes of the majority of the People, and sele‘c those in whom the People of this Island and their Re- presenta-trfis had confidence, and with whom your Petitioners L could co-operate for the general good. '

A_nd as in duty bound your Petitioners will ever pray for your Majesty’s sacred person. I

' =—==.-= LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL CHAMBER, Wednesday, dpn’l 29, 1840.

N motion, Ordered, that the following Resolutions be once printed

in both Newspapers published in Charlottetown. ’

CHARLES Dnsnnisav, D. C. C. .——_. . ‘VHEREAS the House of Assembly, on Saturday the 25th of April, instant, passed certain Resolutions, reflecting upon the proceedings w of the Legislative Council, and upon the Executive Government of this Island ; and whereas the inference to be drawn from the Second of the said Resolutions goeslo charge the Legislative Council with opposing, in every instance—particularly within the last eight years—the juSt re- presentations of a majority of the House of Assembly : Therefore Resolved, that such charge is utterly unfounded in fact, as, upon reference to the Journals of both Houses, it will - appear, that, upon every occasion in which the true interests of ,lha Colony could be advanced with at} honest and conscientiousregdrd

to the sacred, rights of 'propert , the Council have “given? the fullest effect in their power to the wishes of the ‘Hnuse of: Asset}!- bly; and in no one instance, of any moment, have the"Co.uncil op- posed the views. Of the House of Assembly, until the last Session, when the Legislative Oouncibrefused their assent to ihe Bill, iiitituled “ An Act to regulate the forfeiture of the Lands, at; the Settlement of the Inhabitants of this Island,” which exhibited so flagrant a disregard of all Private rights, and such an undisguised attempt unjustly to deprive individuals Of their property, that the Council were bound, by every prin- . ciple of law and equity, and by common honesty, to give the said Bill—'- . i '

‘ uglcil gtlie Right Honorable Lord John Russell, Her

“tuning for the Colonies, in his Despatch A4 A I” a. ‘-‘ I‘La_

animous and unquali i re 1.

Resolved, That the prosperity of a country is best. promoted by an equal representation of its various interests in both branches of the Le- gislature, and the Legislative Council unequivocally _deny that any un- due preponderance of any particular interest exists in its present con- struction. Of the ten individuals composing the Legislative Council, . - 5 twownly are Proprietors, and a third is Agent for a Proprietor owning ‘ less than one Township of Land in this Colony—the remaining seven are wholly unconnected with Proprietors, and have ayfar.greater interest and stake in the Colony than is possessed by the whole of_ the majority of the House of Assembly, who voted for the said Resolutions. 3

Resolued,.'l‘hat it is a matter of notoriety, gathered from the Public . ~ Prints and other sources, that the said majority of the House of Assem- bly have attained their present position in that House, by deluding' the Tenantry of this Colony into a belief, that, if elected as their Represen- tatives, they would relieve them from the payment of Rents, and obtain for them Grants from the Crown, confirming them in their several pos- sessions; and that this system of delusion has been practiced by the leaders of thelsaid majority, for several years past,ywhereby the Tenan- try have been encouraged to withhold the payment of their Rents, until, in numerous instances, they have incurred arrears which their utmpst exertions never can enable them to discharge; and the leaders of the said majority, now finding that they cannot carry out their delusive prcmises, attempt to relieve themselves from the just odium oftbeir Constituents, by representing the Legislative Council and the Executive Government as inimical to the interests of the People, an imputatio‘ri'ti’o less unjust than

' untrue, the sympathies of both the Legislative Council and the Execu- . , tive Government having been invariably evinced in favour of the true - * interests of the’l’eople of this Colony, at the same time, that they have endeavoured to awaken the Tenantry to the ruin which'must inevitably follow their fatal delusion. . _

Resolved, That the proceedings of the Legislature Owned and the ’ Executive Government, upon. all those measures which have so fatally agitated the minds of the Tenantry in this Colony, for several years past, have been in accordance with the views and determinations of the Im- perial Government, repeatedly avowed through Her Majesty’s Principal

‘ Secretaries of 'State for the Colonies ; and this House entertains no ap- prehension of the result of the appeal made by the House“ of Assembly to the Crown, in which their moth/es and conduct are so unjustly arraign.

,ML

8d. . . \ ‘ _ ‘ r

Resolved, That this House relies with confidence, upon the gpod - t sense and unprejudiced opinions of the People, to appreciate the motives

' which have actuated the Council in their votes upon all questions atfect- a

ing their interests, when they shall calmly contrast them ‘with the'ex- treme .views exemplified in the proceedings of the said majority of the House of Assembly. ‘ .

' ' ‘R'EViVAL AT DUNFnaMLmE.—Thi‘s place, last week, , "hasbeen the scene of one of the most surprising events - I . ‘ ,“which Du’i‘ifermline ever witnessed, and had we not been oniiihe sp'ptl'iand witnessed it, 4we might have been some- what sceptical as to its truth. It had been announced from the different pulpits in the town, and by handbills, ' that a' protracted meeting for the revival of religion would . take"place in Queen Ann street Chapel every night during the last week, and in the Maygate Chapel a prayer-meeting would be held every morning during that time“ Qn-tho first two days large and respectable audiences attended, but-on the Succeeding days so great an; impression had ~ been made, that ‘ Queen Ann-st‘reetChurch was, crowded t to excess,vand'on Friday’ evening it was necessary to open ' ‘another‘church for the crowds who couldnot findadmit- p tance. St. Andrew's Church:was also substituted for the . _ ~ - - Maygate Chapel, forthe numbers who attended the prom- ‘ ' ingvs‘envice- were also so greattliat , the latter place carild not';contaiu them. -, The greatest excitement prevails. ,- ' ‘ Many have been brought seriously to think of the state of their souls—many reclaimed from the ways of am ; and the ~ ministers have had full employment in conversing with those who are awakened; and these [good men have every ’ "reason to say, that the spirit is working in the midst’of the inhabitants‘of this town. The meetings are still conti- - nuing. This morning. (Monday) thelnum'bers arc‘ pull continuingto increaso.-78tirling« Observer. I. , V fig, .-l‘ .i ,t' A,“ ‘ :., ., IVE.

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