Che Examiner.

AND SEMI-WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER.

THIS IS TRUE LIBERTY WHEN FREE-BORN MEN—HAVING TO ADVISE THE PUBLIC]MAY SPEAK FREE.”—Mitton’s Ewaipapen:

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CHARLOTTETOWN, MARCH 27, 1850.

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HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY.

Fripar, March 8th. QUESTION OF PRIVILEGE.

Quatirication oF Memnens.—The House having pecan resumed, the Hon. E. Palmer rose to call the at- tantion of the House toa question of Privilege. The noworable and learned member commenced by observing that the new Election Law had been found to operate well, and to the satisfaction of all parties; it was there- fore most desirable that, in every case, it shoud be car- ried out impartially and in good faith. The qualification ef a member of the Assembly, as fixed and defined by Law, was a very moderate one indeed; and the Law of the country with respect to that qualification ought to he carried out, and no man ought to be suffered to evade it with the knowledge of the House. In consequence ef his having reason to believe that a certain individual Mr. LeLacheur) had taken his sest in the House with- eat being duly qualified according to the Election Law, he would move, according to a provision of that Law, wat John LeLacheur be required to lay uponthe Table ef the House the Schedule of his Qualification. If Mr. LeLacheur was possessed of a Jegal qualification, it was very easy for him to prove it; and any honorable mem- ber rising in his place liad, according to Law, a right to reqaire him, or any other individual, respecting whose qualification reasonable doubts should be entertained, to prove, if ne could, that he hada legal right to the seat which he occupied in the House. He (the honorable

and learned member) was prepared to show that unless Mr. LeLacheur was possessed of another property worth | £50, besides that upon which he qualified at the nomina- |

ion of Candidates, he was in fact possessed of no leval q@alifica'ion at ali, and had, therefore, no right to retain the seat which he had takenin the [louse: for he held in hie hand « copy of the instrument, recorded in the office of Registrar of Deeds, dated as far back ag. 80th day of | December ius, whereby he (Mr. Lel.acheur) had abso- lately conveved al] his right, title and interest to and in @ certain |.casehold Farm, the saine being supposed to ve the only property, euher leasehold or freehold, on} which he {Mr. LeLacheur) could hope to rest his claim ta a lega! qualification

Mr. Coues observed that—though he was aware that | % Was Not absolutely requisite, according to parliamen- tary usage, that any previous notice should be given of a motion oa a question of privilege—it would have been mo more than a due exercise of courtesy from ene honor- able member of the House to another, 1n such a case, to have given in the Order Book the notice required with respect to intended motions of another character. He was, however, afraid that the motion was not made ia a fair spirit of enquiry, but merely to gratify private epleen, by harrassing the honorable member who was the object of it, and to throw an imputation upon his @haracter. He (Mr. Coles) knew the honorable mem- ber to be possessed of a good and valid qualification; and he hoped the House was possessed of too much good sense and good feeling to sanction so needless and vexatious an investigation ag that proposed by the hon. member for Chariottetown. The honorable member {Mr. LeLacheur), anxious to convince his friends of the validity of his qualification, had, on his coming to town, shewn it to him.

Mr. LeLacuevr then rose, and spoke to the following eect: It had often fallen to his lot to have the gauntlet varown down to hin; and he had, as oftenfbeen ready te take itup. Jt had been no unusual thing for his po- fitical enemies to take aim at him,asif he were a target eet up to be shot at; but, however deadly their inten-

‘uoas, he had fortunately hitherto escaped upinjured in bedy and unsubdved in mind, although he could not mske the same consolatory reflection with respect to his wocket. Were he even to be arraigned at this time, as \t was once the intention of a party in the Island, that he should be,on a charge of High Treason, it would be « heartfelt consolation to him that he would be tried by a Jury of his own peers, and not left to the tender mer- cias of the learned member for Charlottetown. It was auch vindictive feelings as those of the learned member, manifested towards him and men like him, that had, in 2 very great measure, hastered those reforms which were about totake place in the Colony. Jt was well known that, at no time, had he displayed any dread of w09e who felt inclined to persecute him. He had never teered the infliction of theie scourge ; and a}| their most sitter scorn had never heen able to make him swerve from the path of duty, nor from raising his voice on be-

If of the injured Colony. What he had done, he had

engrossing consideration, With respect to his qualifi-

abuse or contravene the Law.

his qualification to some of the magistrates in his Dis- trict, who agreed with himself that it was a legal quali- fication, as he was in actual possession of all the pro- perty that he had ever possessed. ‘The attack, however, he felt convinced, was not made upon him because it was believed he Jacked a qualification, or because the honorable and learned member (Mr. Palmer) thought he had turned his coat; but the move was made because he had told the people that they were not in the en- joyment of those benefits and blessings which the British Constitution was calculated to bestow, and would cer- tainly confer npon them, were the Government of the Colony administered in accordance with Responsible Principles. ‘That was the real, the sole cause of the clameur which had been raised against him; and he might adopt the words of Milton, addressed to the de- tractors from the merits of his works: “TI did but prompt the age to quit their clogs by the known rules of ancient morality, when, lo! an envious noise environed me, of owls and cuckoos, asses, apes, and dogs;” or **O! save free conscience from the pawsof hireling wolves, whose gospel is their maw.” The honorable and learned member put him in mind of a caricature which he once saw in the window of a Bookseller’s shop in the Island of Guernsey, in 1804. It represented a waxgoner, dressed in his peculiar costume, {a amock frock), seratch- ing his head, and a liveried servant standing by and saying to him, “ John, why don’t you let those democrats alone?” ‘To which interrogatory the waggoner replies, “ Ned, they are aristocrats, for see how they stick to the crown.” #fe(Mr. LeLacheur) did not mean to say that the honorable and Jearned member stuck to the Crown ; but he certainly would say that he stuck to the old cor- rupt systein—the loaves and the fishes were his all-

cation, he (Mr. LeLacheur) was ready to eomply with whatever the House should enjoin: he was in their hands, All that be had done Had been done advised)y, and in the full belief that he was in no way seeking-to

Voz. £5. 16.

eould produce as good a qualification a the law requir. ed, and with as good grace as any member of the opposition. The objection to g member's qualification, the hon. member argued, ought to be made before he takes his seat--before he ie allowed to vote in the House: but the hon. member (Mr. Le Lacheur) bad been allowed to take hie seat widpposed and to vote unquestioned for three days. Were the House now qnierinia the question submitted by the hon. member or Charlottetown, they would be going far beyond the requirements and limite of thé Law. Were they to consent to enforce it, they would, in fact, be erecting themselves into an arbitary and ingnisitcria! Court of the most odious character. aay Hon. E. Pamexa rose and said that he Weld in hy hand an attested Copy of fhe Assignment of Leet of 50 acres of Land by John W. Le Lacheur to Pdward Jorden, duly executed on the 30th day of November, 1849, and registered the same day on. the oath of the subscribing witnees, which he begged leave to read for the better information of the Hovte touching the ques tion. ‘The hon. member then read the Copy, which set forth: That, for and in consideration of the sum of £1&) currency, to John Windsor Le Lacheur in hand well spl truly paid by Edward Jorden, hisexecutors, adininistra tors, and assigns, a certain tract of land contain:y: fifty acres, and all and singular the premises belenging thercio, with their appurtenances, and al] the estute, right, title, interest, term of years yet to come and ur expited, property, claim, and demand whateocver cf Ux« suid J. W. Le Lacheuy, of, in, to, or cut of the eid premises, every or any part thereof, to have and to he'd the said fifty acres of Laud, &e. &c., vnto the ead Edward Jorden, from the 36th day of November, 1845 for and during all the rest, residuc, and remainder «f the term of 899 years by indenture of Lease granted thereof: subject neverthclees to the payment of the rent and performance of the ‘covenants in the said In centure of Lease on the tenant or Jeese’s part to he

Mr. Frasen said that such an enquiry, which mht) be extended to every member of the House, would, if sanctioned, be arbitrary, inquisitorial and odious. If the constituents of any member were satisfied that he was a fit and proper person to represent them in Colonial Parliament, that ought to be quite sufficient to entitle him to occupy his seat without molestation.

Mr. Havitanp maintained that it was due to the reputation and honor of the House that—if it weve known, or even supposed, that any individual had, con- trary to the Law, taken his seat in the House—a prompt and due enquiry into tite case should be imme diately made, and the individual be either confirmed in his seat or expelled by the decision of the House.

Mr. Mooney said that, if he remembered rightly, every Candidate, when put in nomination, was required to produce and swear to his qualification, before the Returning Officer. If, however, after the meeting of the House, they should think fit to enquire into the legality of any member's qualification, it was competent for them to require him to lay his qualification upon the Table of the House, for due investigation; but the power to do so was not vested in any one member.

Mr. Warburton observed that the power rested in the House; and, in his own case, not long ago, it was shewn thatthe power of the House was superior 9 Law. If certain hon. members were satisfied that they, and the majerity of the Assembly, with whom they then acted, had determined according to the constitutional power of the House in his case; how could they, with any shew of consistency, seek to set aside the power of the House to decide, without reference to Law, in the present case.

Mr. Pope conld not see that the requiring of a member, in accordance with the Law, to satisfy the House as to the legality of his qualification, could be conetrued into an imputation upon his character. A member whose qualification wes doubted, ought rather to be pleased than annoyed—if he knew his qualifica- tion to be positively good—when he was afforded an opportunity to establish its sufficiency and legality before the House, .

Mr. Le Lacnevur expressed his readiness to do whatever the House commanded him to do, with respect to his qualification; but he would certainly resist the vindictive call which had been made upon him by the hon. member for Charlottetown, unless the [fouse should think it right to order him to submit to it.

Mr. Wuexan remarked that he was quite aware that his own qualification, as well as that of his friend (the hon. member from Murray Harbour) had been very

dene advisedly. He had, beforeths Elections, shewn

freely called in question by certain partice; but he

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paid, déne, and performed. Signed and sealed by the said John W. Le Lacheur, in the presence of John Lawson, The hon. member then read a Certificate froin the Registrar of Deeds, of which the following is a copy: “IT certify that there does not appear to be revistered in this office any Real or Leasehold Estate, at present vested in the name of John Windsor Le La. cheur. Registry Office, P. §. Island, March 7th, 1850. T. 1. Haviland, Registrar.” The hon. member then proceeded to observe that the Electors who had return- ed Mr, Le T.acheur might have taken it for granted that he was, at the time of the election, in legal possession of the Leasehold which, on former occasions, had con stituted his qualification ; but now when it was shown to the House that he had, by a legal sale and transfer of his Leasehold interest, divested himself of that qualif- cation, and they had cause to think that, at the time of his election he was not possessed of any other, shonid they, for party purposes, smother up the enquiry, they would stamp themselves with indelible disgrace. The House certainly had it in their power to deal with the motion as they thought praper; they were supreme, and, although their determination mht be stigmatized as partial and unjust by the judicious and conscientions among the people, they had no reason to entertain any apprehensions of their being arraigned at the bar of justice on account of their decision, whatever the hon. member might have to dread on that score. He (the hon. member) maintained that his qualification was good: and yet he refused to produce it. And why did he refuse to produce it? Only because he knew it would be his om* © ondemnation. He wonld not pro duce it, be se|°. until he wes ordered by the House to do so. So he said, but if the House were to order him to produce it, he would comply with the greatest reluc- tance. He (the hon, member) would not undertake to prosecute the enquiry; and he cared not how the majority should get rid of the motion, whether by previous question or *motion of adjournment. The question would be Jaid before the public: they would read, and he would leave it to their determination.

Mr. Davirs said the Electors who returned the hon. member were guite capable of deciding touching his qualification and the propriety of their election. The motion, he feared, had had its‘drigin more in ill-feeling, than in public principle. 4

Mr. Pore maintained that the enquiry W88 cleariy and distinctly authorized by law, and that the House, if they regarded their own honor and credit, would not, by their decision, sanction any violatiqn of the law. In urging this opinion upon the House, he had neo object to gain, nor any private feeling to.gratify. He wae ve enemy to the hon. member from Morray Harbor; ba:

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