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mercantile business, but to farmers only, aad to Township Lands.
Mr Loneworru, in very strong and pointed language, accused the hon. mem- ber (Mr Coles) of seeking to delude the tenantry by bringing forward such a Bill, He said his explanation of his Bill was nothing put “‘clap-trap,” and only intend- ed to go forth to the public as a support to is sinking popularity. He denounced the provisions of the Bul as most ridiculous and absurd. Should they ever go into operation, what would be the conse- quence? Why, an arbitration atthe expr- ration of every four years or thereabouts. And of what use would it be to increase rent to cover the arrears’ The tenant would agaia go on just as before; and at the end of another four years, farther in- erease of the rent wou'd have to be made to cover the amount of new arrears; and a0 on again and again, and the proprie- tor would never receive one fraction of the arrears. A more absurd, unfeasible, or unjust measure it was impossible to ima- gine or devise; and the hon. member who brought it forward very well knew that thera was no greater prebability of its ever passing into Jaw,than there was of his see-
ing his famous scheme for the taxation of:
wilderness lands take effect. He neither did nor could expect any measure, evi- dently so absurd, uneqnal, and unjust to reocive the sanction of the thtee Branches of the Legislature ; and his only object, with respect tothe Bill, was to gull the tenan- try. and, if possible, by so doing to uphold, for a while longer, his sinking popularity.
Mr Dovuse would wish to ask the hon. member (Mr Coles) whether he had aban- doned his intention to bring forward a Bill for the purchasing the Lands of the Pro- prietors, and procuring a loan for that pur- pese from the Home Government. He wished to be correctly informed touching the hon. member's intentions concerning that Bill, for they might operate in his raind to the determining, in some measure, uf the course which he should pursue with respect to the present Bill.
Mr Cotes replied that the Bill to which the hon. member for Belfast had referred was not abandoned; and, so far was it from being so, that it was then actually in course of preparation. The Tenants’ Rights Bill was merely intended to afford the Te- nantry something like fair protection, unt! the Proprietors could be brought into the humor to part with their lands at a fair valuation.
The Bill was then read a first time.
POST-OFFICE INQUIRY, IN THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY, Tuvarsvar, Arrix 17, 1851.
RDERED, That the fullowing Docu-
ments, having reference to an inquiry iato the suspension of the Inland Mails, ue inserted once in each of the News- papers published in Charlottetown,
No. 1. Address of the House of As- sembly to flis Excelleacy the Lieut. Go- vernor requesting to be furnished with copies of all correspondence with the Deputy Post Master General on the sub- ject of the suspension of the Inland Mails,
No. 2. His Excellency’s Message in answer thereto.
No. 3. Report of the Special Com- mittee appointed to examine and reporton the suspension of the Inland Mails.
No. 4. Minutes of Evidence of the Deputy Post Master General, with appen- dix, comprising a copy of the correspond- eace between Mr. Owen and the Post Office Department in England on the same subject.
No. 5. Address of the Assemly to the Lieutenant Governor, requesting that li Excellency would order the trans- wission of the Inland Mails to be resumed.
JOHN MACNEILL, C.H. A.
(No. 1) ADDRESS.
To His Excellency Sir Alexander Banner- man, Knight, Lieutenant Governor and Commander in Chief, §c. &c. &c.
iar 1T PLEASE vous EXcELLENCY; The House of Assembly inost respect-
fuily request tbat your Excellency will
be pleased to cause to be laid before them, copies of eli correspondence with the
Deputy Post Muster Generel of this Isla-
4
TR
nd, on the stoppage of the Inland Mails | to addr during the past year, and his replies | transnussion of
thereto.
(No. 2.) MESSAGE.
A. Bannerman, Lieut. Governor.
In reply to the Address of the House of Assembly requesting copies to be laid be~ fore them of all correspondence with the Deputy Postmaster General of this [sland on the stoppage of the Inland Mails during the past year, and his replies thereto, ‘he Lieut.Governor has to acquaint the Assem- bly that the Deputy Postiaster General of Prince Edward Islamd was, and stil] is, subordinate to the Postmaster General of
England, and cannot ask hien to do any- |
thing which might incur the censure of his superior, But the Lieut. Governor thinks he can give the Assembly all the informa- tion, they may perhaps require, having before he left England, made enquiries on the subject, at the General Post Office, London. As the late Lieut. Governor did not give the Deputy Postmaster any specific order to stop the he Mails, al- though he expressed his disapprobation of their continuance to the Deputy Postmaster General, in consequence of the Assembly refusing to grantthe necessary Supply, the Deputy Postmaster General contineed the usual couriers, and yery properly ap- plied for instruction to his superior. ‘The late Lieut. Governor complained of Mr Owen’s conduct, the case was referred to the Treasury,and their Lordship’s decided, that under the peculiar circumstances in which the Deputy Postmaster General was placed by the tResolution of the House of Assembly, they were not prepared to dis- approve of the coursefhe had pursued, and they authorised the expense actually Incur- red on account of this service to be defray- edfrum the Postage Revenue prior to its being paid into the Colonial ‘Treasury. But their Lordships were of opinion that the transmission of ithe inland Mails should be suspended for the inture, until provision was made by the ioc. ‘egisiature for that purpose,
April4, 1851.
(No. 3.) REPORT.
Your Committee appointed to examine and report upon the Stoppage of the In- land Mails, as well as to inquire if any order has been given to the Pustmaster to puy the Mouveys received at his Office into the Commissariat Chest, have to re- port—That they have examined Thomas Owen, Esq., the Deputy Postmaster Ge- neral, and are of opinion, from his evi- dence (hereunto annexed), that the stop- page of the Supplies Jast year, by the Assembly, did not, of necessity, call for the stoppage of such Mails, as he (Mr. Owen) states, he would have continued the Inland Mails, as well as the inter- Colonial, British and Foreign, if the Go- vernment had given him instructions to that effect, as the receipts of his Office, for the two Quarters previous to the stop- ping of the Inland Mails, exceeded the expenses of that Department, after pay- ing for the carrying of the Mails by steam to Pictou, and the Couriers up to August last ; that he considers the Cou- riers will have to be paid in accordance with their contracts, asthey have conti- nued to go their rounds, and, on one occasion. offered the Government to carry the Maile, and trust to the Legislature for payment, that being the only expense of coutinuing said Mails; and on account of the stoppage of those Mails a loss of nearly £200 has accrued to the public ; that he has received instructions to pay the surplus moneys, after disbursing the authorized expenses of his Office—wnhich consist of Salaries of Officers and inci- dental expenses, such as Office rent, fuel, &c.,—into the Commissariat Chest: a copy of such instruction, and his reply thereto is hereunto annexed, where it will be seen that the reason for so doing is on account of the stoppage of the In- land Mails, and if those Mails should be ordered to be resumed, he would feel authorized, until further instructions, to pay the receipts on the continuance of said Mails into the Public Treasury ; but not to disburse the expenses of running the same.
Your Committee recommend the House
~~ on
a
ess His Excellency to cause the the Inland Mails to be resumed, provided the Postage arising therefrom be paid into the Public Trea- sury of this Island, to be disposed of @s the Legislature shall direct.
GEORGE COLES, JOSEPH POPE,
JOHN JARDINE, EDWARD WHELAN,
SxS STEERS TS LEE 8 eee COMMIT’ ROOM, Privat |, 1851. Present: Mr. Col: » Mr. Dap vies, Mr. W! aker. Thomas Owen, } eouty Postmaster Genera}, call: mined, Q. Were the | ' your Office, up tothe time « ne Inland Mails, sufficient to « © expenses
BENJAMIN DAVIES. Committee Room, April 17, 1851.
(No. 4.) MINUTES OF EVIDENCE.
COMMITTEE ROOM, Taursvay, April 10, 1851. Present: Mr. Coles, Mr. Pope, Mr. Jar- dine, Mr. Davies, Mr. Fraser, Mr. Whelan. Thomas Owen, Esq., Deputy Postmaster General, called in and examined.
Q. By whom were you appointed, and to whom are you accountable for the dis- charge of your duties?
A. By the Postmaster General, to whom I] am alone amensble for the dis- charge of any official duties; but by my Instructions I am required to obey any orders which I may, from time to time, receive from the Administrator of the Go- vernment, in writing.
Q. Did you receive any instructions from the late Lieut. Governor to diseon- tinue the transmission of the Island Mails during the past year; and if so state when?
A. I did not receive any toritten in- structions; but His Excellency caused a Letter to be written to me on the 2nd of May last, informing me that no provision had been made by the Legislature for the transmisrion of the Island Mails for the current year. In answer to this letter, I stated, that I would immediately inform the Postmaster General of the circum- stance—which I did, entering into a minute detail, shewing that although the inland Postage was insufficient to defray the cost of transmission. yet that the ge- neral receipts of the Department, paid into the Provincial Treasury, were nearly adequate te defray tie total expenditure of the office. After making this state-— ment, I also informed His Lordship that I could not take upon myself the respon- sibility of suspending the transmission of the Inland Mails—which embraced about one third of the Correspondence of the Colony—and requested His Lordship’s instruction for my guidance.
Q. Did His Excelleacy express any disapprobation at the course pursued by you?
A. He did.
Q. In what way?
A. His Excellency stated that he disapproved of the course [ was pursuing, in coutinuing the Inland Mauls,
Q. What answer did you receive from the Postmaster General ?
A. I was directed to continue the transmission ofthe Mails, as usual, and to disburse the expenses from the Re- ceipts of the Office, instead of paying the sare into the Treasury of the Isiand.
Q. After having received the order, did you make up,on the Sth July, your usual Quarterly accounts of the receipts and Expenditure of your Department ?
A. I did.
Q. What was the result?
A. I paid the Inland Couriers in full, together with £200, being one third of the annual charge, for carrying the Mails by Steam to Picteu, aad had a small sur- plus remaining.
Q. When did you cease paying the Couriers ?
A. About the 20th August.
Q. Did you make any other payment on Account of the Contract for conveying the Mails by Steam to Picton ?
A. On making upthe Accounts on the 5th October, | disbursed a second in- stalment of £200 for that serviee, besides paying the Couriers, as before meation- ed. Q. What surplus had you remaining ? A. About £25.
Adjourned, J.B. COOPER, Clerk Agst. Hf. of A
of the Department ?
A. Tiey were.
Q. Was there any surplus?
A. In the Quarter ending the 5th October, there was a sina] surpius.
Q. What loss of Revenue has been
occasioned by the stoppage of the Inland
Mails ?
A. From £170 to £180.
Q. What extra expense would have occurred, had the Maiis been continued as usual ?
A. Only the payment ofthe Couriers.
Q. Have not the Cuvriers continued to go their rounds as formerly ?
A. Yes; but no Mails have been for- warded by them!
Q. Do you consider that by the terms of the Contracts you have entered into with the Couriers, they will have to be paid ?
A. Yes.
Q. Wid the Couriers offer to carry the Mails and trust to the Legislature for payment for their services, subsequent te the death of Sir Donald Campbell ?
A. They did.
Q. Did you inform the Government of this circumstance ?
A. The offer of the Couriers was made to the Government.
Q. Are you aware of the reason why the Mails were not resumed after thie of- fer was made ?
A. No. The letter of the Couriers was submitted to me, to report thereen.
Q. Did you make a report ?
A. I did. Q. What was the nature of that re- port ?
A. ThatI was prepared to obey any order [ might receive from the local Go- vernment, and would submit the matter to the Postmaster Genera).
Q. Did you receive any answer from the Government to that report ?
A. No.
Q. Did you receive any instructions from the Postmaster General, eeepees the stoppage of the foreign Mails:
A. Yes: I was dirécted to suspend their transmission.
Q. Did you comply with this direc- tion ?
A. limmediately informed the Lieut. Governor thereof; and before it became necessary to obey the order, 1 received direction from His Excellency to con- tinue to transmit the foreign Mails, as the English and Colonial Postages were equal to the expenditure,
Q. Did you comply with His Excel- lency’s direction ?
A. Yes.
Q. Were you willing to continue the transmission of the Inland Mails, had you received similar instructions with refer- ence to them ?
Ap: Te.
Q. Did you consider that, by the stop- page of the Supplies by the House of As- sembly, it was necessary to discontinue the transmission of the Inland Mails?
A. There was no necessity for doing 30; J continued to forward them for nearly two Quarters, until ordered to discon- tinue thein by the Postmaster General.
Q. Have you received instructions not to pay any Moneys into the Colonial Treasury, as formerly ?
A. lhave been directed to pay the proceeds of my Department into the Mi- litary chest,
Q. Were any reasons assigned for this change ?
A Yes: The stoppage of the Inland Maiis ?
Q. Would you feel‘authorised, on the transmission of the In'and Maila being resumed to pay the proceeds of the same into the Treasury as formerly ?
A. I would.
Q. Would you fee! authorised to dis burse the expense attending the transmis sion of the Inland Mailu?
A. No.
PRG sem tee E.