l l

m): actuarial fistula.

alties, there may be some analogy between it and the Pump and Well tax; but as relates to townships, there is a. vast difi‘ereuce, which is, that for the latter tax, goods and chat- tels are ordered to be taken. On town lots settled, when distraint is made, it must be on goods and chattels, before the real estate can be sold. The notice to be given before proclamation is made, is for the purpose of giving a person an opportunity to come into court and pleading any cause Why the land should not be sold; but this clause makes a clean sweep of this privilege. Another objection to it is, where you obtain a title under ajudgment ofthe Supreme Court, it supersedes a vast deal of proof; for the judgment being matter of record the purchaser has only to look at the record to see that all is, previously right. Large tracts may be purchased that have been sold in the manner proposed by this clause, while a flaw in the proceedings might upset this Deed; and it'sucli happened, it could not be rectified if such was the law. The present Land Assessment Act should be altered, and very little alteration was required to make it more perfect. Let one proclamation be made against such whole Lot or Township separately: and the lame against each class of Town and Royalty Lots. For- merly proclamation was made ofone township, and each lot separate; and at a subsequent stage have been divided, and suits commenced against each separate 100 acres, and town lots, Ste, and this certainly be admitted caused an accumu- lation of expenses. There were other parts of the bill of which be approved, but thought that we were adopting a line ofpolicy that would be fatal to it. By overshooting the mark, we may lose it entirely. He would like to see the proceedings carried on in the usual judicial way, but at the same time lowering the expenses as provided in the Bill, by

. dispensing with levy and entry, and such formal and useless

enactments; and he would lament to see some parts 'of the Bill lost by an adherence to some other parts of it. He

0 should like to see the Bill extended so as to confirm sales

made under the former Act, which are now in jeopardy from what has fallen from the highest legal authority, un- less we provide ll remedy in this bill, in which he thought it may very properly be introduced. This decision is with- held until it is seen what remedy we shall provide.

Mr. Douss thought that some alteration in the present Act was very desirable, as the expenses incurred at the seve- ral oflicea, to recover so small a sum as two shillings,seem- ed enormous; and the mode ofselling and purchasing un- der it appeared to him as being very nearly allied to gam- bling; forit was well known that a man purchasing at land tax sales was often bound to keep the description of'liis land concealed for two years, to enable him to complete such purchase. He thought this was not an open and fair way of doing business. Justice to the poor man required as to do away with such a secret system. He would wish that a no- tice should be served on evory person who had neglected to pay the land tax due‘, and then there would be an opportu- nity afforded him to redeem his property, without such vex- ntious costs. . ,

Mr. Yno said heavy expenses were incurred in mere mat- ters ofform, for the recovery of trifling arrears of' land as— sessment. .Ifthese sums went into the Treasury it would be the less matter; but they did not, nor did they render the titles better. v

Mr. Comes knew lots in Charlottetown which were worth five or six hundred pounds, and there were no goods and chattels on them, unless grass be deemed such ; and he could see no difference between selling such a lot to pay

v the pump and well tax and selling part ofa township to pay

the land-tax. He could see no more objection to the slim— mary process in the one case than in the other The bill goes to do away with the necessity ofa levy and its conse- quent expenses; and a person may get back his land at a

v trifling expence. The purchaser may see the notice register-

ed in the Prothonotary’s Ofiice, as well as the pi-ecept,just seifit went through theSupreme Court, and the title would byjust as valid. As to its being thrown out by the Council,

, be thought there was no danger, when we consider the bill - sent down from them yesterday, in which it is provided -if . a man does not surrender his tenement on six days’ notice,

he must go tOJail for three months.

Mia'SPsAitsit was ofopinion thattitles to the infill-already said should no: be disturbed; and if there was any doubt on the subject, we should endeavour tovrender such titles “id. The subdivisions of the Tovi‘IlSl‘lipS 81‘8 not in all cases ac- curately defined in any plan to which access can be had by the Sheriff; as the town and pasture lots are on She plans kept in public Offices; but this might be remedied by ’1“

. Act similar to that in force in Upper Canada for levying as-

sessments on land. It requires a particular description 'of the lands paid for to be furnished and filed, under a penalty

- ofdouble assessment. It was also very properly provided

in the Imperial act regulating the sale of the Crown estate in Australia, that no land shall be sold until it has been duly surveyed, and a plan thereof deposited in the proper office. Most, if not all, the proprietors of lands in this Island have "plans of Townships from actual surveys, and he thought it would not be considered any great hardship if they and all others were annually compelled, before paving their land-tax, to deposit with the collectors, or witli' the Stir-

- veyor General, a plan or description of the lands held by

him or them on which they had to pay the nsSessment. If this were done, then there would be no difficulty in the case, its the Sherifl' could levy on the identical tract oflnnd in arrenr, which otherwise he could not do without a general survey of each Township, which, as it would cost more to Government than the whole tax wouldamount to, was out of the question. Another objection he saw to the clause was, that s man may not know there was a public registry there- fore_nonce should be given to the occupier or person in pos- session in a fair and open manner by a public advertisement in which case he might perhaps borrow the money to pay: the expense, and to redeem his land, if it were not kept a secret from him till the time of redemption expires. This had been the case, and we should endeavour to prevent a recurrences of it. He would concur in any feasible plan to reduce the expenses. It appears, by a late decision in the Supreme Court, that titles to land long since sold under the Assessment Act, and perhaps improved, were defective in law; and he felt extremely mortified that the Supreme Court should call in question the validity oftiiles emanat- ing from the-same Court, in consequence ofnny want of firm, or omission ofany direction contained in the Act re- lative to notices or forms ofproceeding previous to the sale; as it remedy is pr0vided for the former owner, if agwrieved against the Sheriff or other oflicer in such cases by the 12th sec. of the Land Assessment Act, which he thou'rht was too plain to be either misconstrued or doubted. a

Mr. Douss had often paid for a few perons who had neg- lected the payment—and who could say, under the present system, who had or who had not paid? There ought to be plans, showing the freeliolders and tenantry the quantity of Wilderness land on every Township. He was now preparing aplsn ofthe property under his management, which he thought, would answer the purpose. There ought tc,’ be more time allowed between the time the country Collectors return their books, and the day ofproclaniation, to afford the proprietors, or the agents, time to make their returns. He could not' agree with the observation made by the hon. the Speaker,;that it was only- to suit the land agents such a

‘ desire w‘ati (Expressed.

Mr. Conn'sa'id, as he saw nothing to compel the proprie- ters to poiiitont such parts ofthe Wilderness land for which they paid, he did not conceive what better could be done.— If plans ofthe Lots were laid off, and named, it would in that case be easy to levy on the defaulter’s share, but as there are no such plans, he did nut see how that can be (lode—for his part, he did not see the utility of making a law that cannot be put in practice.

Mr. LONGWORTH said the purchaser, if be pleased, might not make his selection until the two years had elapsed, and thenlthe power of redemption is gone for ever. This Bill presides that the description ofthe land must be given in to the Sherifi' within six months from the. time of sale, and the purchaser’s deed registered within twelve months, so that any tenant or occupier ofland may know what part has been selected. As to the formality of the Treasurer issuing pro- clamations, and the Attorney General issuing a praacipe in the Supreme Court, he saw no use in this but to create ex- pense, Herthoughtthe mode of procedure proposed by this

Bill would give every security to titles of land purchased under its operation, should it go into a law.

Mr. RAE said, two propositions were brought forward by this Bill—the one relating to what was past, and the other to what was future—what was past involved the opinion al- leged to be entertained by the bench, that all sales of' land for non-payment of land Assessment were illegal—For these, sales the good faith and ability to transact public busmess o the Government were both in pledge, and though he did not consider there was any invalidity in such sales, yet, to prevent the evil consequences of such a doubt, the House ought to pass an Act, nullifying such doubt and confirming these sales; and a Bill for such purpose should be separate from the Bill regulating future procedure—as this regulating future procedure goes to diminish fees, and therefore may, and probably will, meet with opposition in the Legislative Council. Ile doubted it would be considered an anomalous and unadvisable procedure to cause the Treasurer to issue a precept. In the other Colonies, no such plan has been adop- ted, and he hoped we, one ofthe smaller Colonies, and who had applied, not for innovation, but for the same privileges as the others, and had been refused; he hoped we would not encouragetliem to refuse by asking for a form ofprocednre, which would be, not only novel, but would trench on the emoluments of some of the office-holders iii the Council. Retain the present form, do away with the necessity for the Sherifi'goiug on the Township, and make ouejoiiit procedure against all the land in arrear, and thus diminish expense. As to the purchaser at sales of land being required to give in within six months a description ofthe land he might se- lect, this was not so easily done. He knew great difficulties in regard to such purchases—suppose a Township, ofwhich 5.000 acres are held by freeliolders, and 5,000 under rent, and 10,000 wilderness. The occupiers pnyfor the two first, the agent pays for 8,500, leaving 1,500 unpaid ; perhaps one hun- dred only is sold for this deficiency—where is it? ‘ Iliat,’ says the agent, ‘ you must find out., Nay, l have heard one agent say that by making a plan ofthe Lot,nnd putting down here an." there over the wild land in plots, chequer fashion, the quantity of land for which he did not pay; and keeping this plan secret, that he would forever defy the purchaser to find out what [sud he, the land agent, had not paid for, and yet would not change his intention, and would be able to swear that he had not. .In other instances, the agent would iii- sist that the Township did not contain 20,000 acres. Every device was made use of to deter and to mystify the gener- ality; it seemed almosta crime in the eyes of'some that a man should aspire to hold freehold. One part of the prov cedure necessary to remedy this darkness and chicanery would be to cause the Deputy Land Surveyors, or the agents, or both, to delineate on the plans of Townships the boun- daries of'every individual property thereon, and to make the land agents describe the locality of the laudIfor which they did pay.

Mr. MACAULAY hiid listened to what had fallen from the hon. gentleman on the subject under consideration; but could not find a starting place for what had been said. What he could gather from it is, that the effect intended in the Act now in force is not borne out by the means provided for its accomplishment. He was astonished to hear gentlemen call in qiiestiou the legitimacy ofthe titles of'lnnd sold under this Act. Ifthe Chief Justice entertain doubts on this sub- ject, these doubts should be made known to us, that the cause oftliem may be removed, so that no such doubts would, for the future, exist. Ifthe doubts ofthe Chief'Justice are well founded, the case must be so extremely urgent as to require our most vigorous exertion to provide a remedy, and that expeditiously. He wasnnt sufficiently acquainted with the subject to propose an efficient remedy, yet he was satisfied that three iiiensures must be borne in mind in sanctioning it: namely, to secure the revenue contemplated to be raised under it; Secondly, ifa sale take place underits enactments, that the purchaser be secured in a good and suflicient title; and lastly, that the cost ofsiich sale be reduced to the least possible amount. If the titles under such sales, in time past, are in- niiy way doubtful, an act of great injustice will have been done to purchasers, in lowing them s0;,and if no specific and effectual remedy be adopted at once, there can be no sales of such property for the future, an‘dtfifi con- sequence must be, that the revenue will so far he lost, and the Act prove inoperative. For the credit of this House, it should be borne in mind, that inoperative laws prttve the weakness ofthe Legislature that enacted them. ' " ~ Mr. D. MACLEAN considered that selling land which Could not be got by the purchaser was worse than gambling. The purchaser should be compelled to give notice to the tenant. j

Mr. COOPER was of opinion that the Land Assessment Bill was in want of amendment. Those who brought it forward—foi- be (Mr. Cooper) was not then in the House— pi'etended it was for settlinglthe tenunfry, instead of'which the teiiantry are liable to lose their land by its OPGI‘RUOH- When Lord Durham was applied to, he recommended this bill as a penal enactment. By the Road Compensation Act, money was to be provided for opening public roads through the wilderness lands; but by some defect in the Act, the money collected under it was all lost. (Cries of question.) At home, law clerks were employed to draft the bills for the Imperial Parliament, and he thought we stood in iieed of legal advice in framing our bill. He had been told all the money collected under the Road Compensation Act in one County, last year, was lost through the ignorance or incom- petence ofthe Sherifl; or through design to impose on the people. We must not use such words as gambling. It is impossible for Government to gamble.

Mr. SPEAKER had never heard such a tirade of nonsense. It had nothing whatever to do with the subject under dis. cussion, The hon. gentleman states, he was not 'in the House when the Act was passed; but he was in safe keep- ing, for which he may blame himself. He thought the hon. gentleman was taking his usual afternoon's nap, and had just awoke, whilst one of his escbent reveries was flitting through his brain, and now breaks forth in his old strain, at the rate ofa rail-road speed; but the public would no longer be led away with such sophistry. In Prince County, the fault was with the Shei'imaiid in the Law, as the hon. mem-L her would insinuate. The hon. member for King’s County (Mr. Cooper) well knew that if any loss had been sustained by the Colony, arising out of the proceedings under the Road Compensation Act alluded to, it was owing to neglect of duty on the part ofthe Sheriff, or his deputy,nnd for. which his sureties are liable, and was not attributable to the Act itself, or to those that assisted in passing it. The hon. gen- tleman wishes the House to appoint a law-clerk, to draft our Bill; but be (Mr. Speaker) thought that from the late deci- sion in the law courts, the lawyers were as apt to err as ourselve.

Mr. PALMER said there were four objects contemplated by the present Bill—First, a confirmation of former purchases made under the Act; 2nd, altering and lowering the expen- ses; 3rd, to obviate the difficulties of pointing out the exact site ofthe land in arrear; 4thly, to abolish the silly practice ofthe Sheriff’s going to put his foot on the land sold, in or- der to give seizen ofthe land so sold—but he could not con- ceive how he (the Sheriff) could do this, when he could not be sure of where this land was. He agreed with those who said that means should be devised to do away with the evils complained of; and he thought this could be accomplished by the Bill. _Let us confirm the titles of the lands already sold under this Act, and which now are in jeopardy, and next, let us reduce the costs attendant on the sale of‘land in default, andhe thought this could be done without raising up diffi- culties, whilst we agree iii principles. There was no analogy, be conceived, between the mode of collecting this tax and that of Her Majesty’s Customs. How did it appear that the Collector of Customs should or could have it in his power to condemn unheard, any property he might seize, such as rum, brandy, &c., for non-payment of duty? But he could not sell it uncondemned—it was contrary to the principle ofthe Magna Charts. Every one should have atrial, before he was condemned. _He should have an opportunity ofcoming forward, to state his case, and of havinga fair hearing. The doing away Wlih the mode of levying, reduce the ces[s_ The present practice is, the Treasurer comes into Court, makes a proclamation of the land in arrear; the Crown Officers move for leave to issue process, 8w. If these formalities were abolished, as well as selling in separate lots,

f referred to in the Bill.

it would greatly reduce the costs. He would suggest to it Committee the propriety of not coming suddenly to a c 'on on the measure. . . , dilisilr. COLES was glad to hear these admissions ; but he ylvas 0f opinion, that this clause is as likely Ito pass the CounCibas any other of the clauses in the Bill. llie learned morn er for Charlottetown (Mr. Palmer) said, there were four objects In his opinion, they were all pro- vided for, except the confirmation of titles-ofthe lands al- ready sold under the Act.’ Some thoughtut would require a separate enactment for that purpose, but in his opinion the present Bill might, by affixing aclause to that'effect, be made to meet the difficulty without a separate B-ill. Some hon. gentlemen seem to think the principles of the Pump and \Vell Act are different from this; for his part, he could not perceive it. The Assessors issue their precipe to the Col- lectors, who, ifthe tax be not paid, sell accordingly; and he could see no reason why the Treasurer should not issue his order to the Sheriff in like manner, without the formality

«roino through the Sii‘ireme Court. 0f-ll~/lr. li’liiceagooa thought the greatest difliculty would be, to find out what land had not paid the Assessment. The proprietors (most ofthem at least) had, -to his knowledge, plans of their Townships, made from actual surveys, on which every occupied lot of100 acres was laid down, and they should be compelled to furnish copies of them to the Surveyor General. I

Mr. Yso said, some hon. members had said that the tax had been paid where there was no land. This had nothing to do with the Bill. Can a landlord distrain Without gomg into the Supreme Court? The notice should specify what land was sold.

Mr. Losewon'ru thought this Bill was analagous to the

Pump and Well tax. (Here the hon. gentleman read a clause in the Act.) I Mr. COOPER thought that the Bill might be improved; but unless the proprietors were compelled to furnish plans of their lots, he could not see how the sheriff could find out what land to sell.

Mr. Panama said the purchaser paid his money to the Sheriff, for so many acres, without describing that part of the Township where it lay. The terms of purchase _are—- the purchaser selects the land, and brings a description of it to the Sheriff; and then gets a deed. He then brings his ejectme'nt against the occupant. Here professional men object, that the Sheriffcould not legally sell the land, unless he knew, at the time he was so selling it where it lay. The present bill says, the purchaser must give adescriptioti of where the land is. He had heard it argued by counsel, if the sheriff is uncertain wherethe land is, the purchaser will not give so much for the land as ifhe knew where to find it; and then the inconvenience is to the owner or pro- prietor, for then tnore ofthe land will be required; but purchasers, in general, know where the land is situated, so that his not depreciated. Alvpresent he has two years to select.