gHAszAnn's gAzr:'rTE. APRIL 6.

45 1

very well, independently of any government money or legislative t. is a peared to e reason on whic the present Iliititicn for

l of the Grant was . ut could the etitiouers, or any tlemau in the House, w took that view ofxtliue subject, ensure, for the future, the continuance of , y means of the unis transit,to the same extentae thstto which it was carried last year! and, if not,was it, not pohable that. without the aid of a legis- Ktive nt, the pcket or packets on that sta- tion mI'g‘ht eit alto ther withdrawn, or at least run with much ess regularity -than public convenience might require. The n

Il’0

E’

mgght be reduced perhaps to £40, or even to £ ; but some grant was ueoessa toenable the Government to exercise some control, for 'c t, wi respect times of sail-

the rates of freight, and passage mone , «kc.

on. r. Insn e fiiought that, if the Grant was to be withdrawn. it would be best to

the Act under which the grant was ads; and to pose anothh: IIKLIIIAOIIB, to enable_

Nails, by that route, by means of a Packet,over which they might have such control as to fix the fares, and rates of frei ht for horses, cattle, &c.

Hon. the strains. t would not be necessary tore I theAct: sllthat seemed to be con- tsm ted was a reduction of the Grant. He did not think the House purposed the total can- celling of it. It would certainly a pear very inconsistent in them, were the , a r having a , last session, to raise t e Grant, from £ 0 to £80, to agree in the resent one, to re- duce it to nothin . Surely e House were ful- ly convinced oft desirableness of such s m e of communication, for the ur so of inter- course and c, between this sland and the Province of New Brunswick; and, after having

witnessed the eflects of the Grant oflast year, in produciu two Packets, both and suficient, be con d not now think t t they

would agree to cancel the grant altogether. Circumstances might warrant a reduction of it; but nothing more was neoesssr .

Hon. Mr. Cons. The Petition against the Grant had, evidently, originated in private pi us and factions opposition : and, he had no don t, that, could the present Contractor be got rid of, the very individuals who had been most forward in getting it up, would be most active again in procuring signatures to another Petition, in

vor of a Grant. lie, for one, was not inclined to give|wsy to a few discontented and interested de gues. Results had proved that the grant of I.‘ , to induce the putting on, and to secure the regular services, for the public accomodation and benefit, of a good commodious Packet, on the Bed us and Shedisc station, was as jlpdicious a nt as the Assembl had ever made

he mere ‘act that the indivi ual fare of the numerous passen rs. last season, between Be- deque and Sbediac, was only 1s 6d, or is, was, in itself, a satisfactory roof, that the 1.80 of the public money, grante for the encouragement of the Packet on that station, had been well applied. It would be absurd to pro se the complete extinction of the Grant: so ong, at least, as ublic convenience and the encourage- ment of oreign trafic should continue to be held objects worthy the regard of the Legislature. If the grant should be withdrawn, how could the Government have it in their wer to impose any restrictions, for the public benefit, either as res ted the fares, rates of freight, or times of sai ing! Government mails were transmit th Packet on that station; and, if the Packet were altogether independent of the control of the Government, as it would be if the Grant were alto ther withdrawn, the owner or owners mig t insist upon having more than £80 for their transmission. He thought, upon the whole, it would be best to leave the Grant as it was. If

it to £30, it would, he feared,

a means of reestablishing the old inaua cut on the station, of the insuficiency of whic the had formerly heard so much. A grant of £8 would ensure, as it had already done, a good, suficient, and in every respect, for the sccomo- datiop of passengers, convenient and comfortable vesse . -

Ma. Moirroonnr. Until then he did not know that any Government Mails were despatched by the Bedeque Packet. The amount of trafic between this Island and New Brunswick and the number of passengers crossing, to and from, between Bcdcquaand Shcdiao, results had shown : " ' “' “ ,‘ , ‘ ‘tworegular Packets on that station; and thd competition between then would, independently of any gislativs t, he suflcient to keep down the fares and mice of freight. The intercourse now established, by that route, between this Island and cw Brunswick, was now so extensive, that private enterprise, independent of Le 'slative aid, would be well recompensed for pine ng and regularly keeping Packets upon the station for the purpose of sustainingit. The people in the Bsdsqus section of the Is nd who were certainly best acquainted with the extent and nature of that intercourse, were, it appeared, fully satis- led that it would, of itsel , makes suficisiit return for the invesnnent of capital to allbrd snihblc means for osrryipig it on ; and the had therefore, petitioned the ouse to have it eft to hir prints competition. Such being the case, he could see no reason wlmtever why it should

be continued . . there were three Packetes

his Yac. Inst on the station for s time. One was, at length,

dro ; and two which continued to run ho did well. The business would pay well ‘without any t. When the House saw that

individuals who were willing to engsgc in it rsqniped no grant, why would they force it upon

air. Wiosritiit. If the House should with- draw the Grant, how could they hsve’any sssu ranes lhsl there would he a Pee at kept upon the station at illl His own opinion was, that, indepen- dently of legislative aid, the running of a regular Peehst hstwsss us and chediss would not pay. Ii was noisdvisahle. therefore, he lhrmght, so make any situation at all with me to the Grain. His opinion was Ilsll it wool he beat to continue it for, 1 least, the whole nfihs period the Act had yet to run ; that was until the end of in three ears for which it was passed. . in.» Grafton, av Governiasnt Packet, ad been greatly law the lion and adven- ihs pahlis; andflhsappnsltion Packet hsd

s;‘si:‘:y the qthzrt, .w.sald i.i»r.u_ 5,. i‘ psadeniy I rent, pri- gpilllifil and good and selcient vessels,

lleil f Win ,5‘ 5.. on or. si neesssny ' yha areas when it was elssr is wiihseilil

Oi-sat wssvtstsic irshls the was

in the asienntef the '

the esishlisrnsni ofa Poet Olfice at Grasn’s Shore. ui ivvciva rnnuilis ago. at which a Msilis made up for the United States and tho Colonies. and directl transmitted by means of that Psclte a most seirablc aocornilodsiinn sfiiracd for direct commercial correspo ‘with the

United Stsisssnil the Colonies; and, he believed,

the advantages sfliirded by the Packet, in that

particular alone, had highly bsnelleisl to that

reaction of the country. If the House, however.

should think it right lo reduce the Great to £80,

he was not shjssi to the reilosilon. But it

would not answer to cancel the grant altogether:

fur, iftliey did, the Government, as he had before

said; would he ubliged in enter into a contract to

secure the 'ieuuLar transmission of the Mall to the

United States. y that route; and the sum to be

paid for sash service might exceed the great for

which it could have been secured.

Mr. DAVIII. From the prayer of the Petition and the manner in which some honorable members had spolieu of the Grant. one might suppose that the running of the Packet concerned no one but the Petitioners; whilst the fact, on the contrary, was that the establishing and keeping ofs regular Packet on the Bedeque and Sliedisc station was ofgrnal importance to the whole Island. Who, he should like to know. would guarantee a Park- et’s being regularly run there at all, ifthe Grant were withdrawn! There was no reason at all in the Petition : it was unworthy the attention of the House. The Grant had been greatly conducive to the public benefit generally; and he would sup- port the Grant as it stood in the Bill of lsstses- sion. With respect to the Grq/Ion, the vessel which had successfully competed for the licence and the grant, he could. nfhis own knowledge. say that she was beautifully and comm_od'ioiis-'ly filled up; and he did not believe that a better vcs. ael could he found in England.

on. the >i>nrn:ri, In deliberating concerning the repeal of the Act. they were acting prema- turely. They could not repeal the Act whilst the Contract which am-‘e out of it was in existence. llon. Mr. WANBURTON. He had been autho- rised, by the Contractor, to say that lie was ready to give up the Contract. lfihey wanted sny more satisfactory information on the siilijeivt, it would be best to move nn Address to His hlncelleiicy to tlniiend. There had been iniich cavillinu about the amount iii the Grant. on Ilie part of some indi- viduals, who were influenced by no motives, but such as arise from private pique and the most eel- fish regard to their own interests : end. so foolish- l_v had they scied, Wllll respect to it. unit. if the course which they prayed nor. should be agreed in by the House, it would prtivr much more injurious to their own individual interests, than iniliuae of the public in flt'n(‘l’lIl. ll would he ajusl and lil- iing puiiiellrm-nl to them should the House deter- mine to let them have their own way; and for such a determination he was therefore, prepared to vole. lu inzillrnu this di-clsrstiun, he ilid not, however. ftlrflrl that ii urn-ii would be ri-quiri-.d to ensure the lllllllllllhlllllll of rho Mails hv iliui YMIIIP,

Hos. run Spnixsn. He knew it had been said that the owner of the Grafton was willing to resign his Contract: but a simple authorised declaration to that effect, on the part of any individual member ofthe Government, or of the House, was not sullicient to alford grounds for legislative action with respect to the Contract. Before the [louse could, with propriety,prooeed to deal with the Grant, with a view either to its extinction or reduction, it would be necessary that in the usual and regular way they should be directl informed that the Contractor had tendered is resignation of the Contract in due form, to the Government, and that the Govern- ment had accepted it. After advertin tothst clause of the Act which prescribes t at the Grant shall expire so soon as a Steamer shall be put on, the hon. tleman ed to observe that the Grant ad been roductive of much

(1. It had, he declared, nefitcd the Colony to four times its amount, by operating so as to produce a reduction, not only in the rats of passage fares, but also in that of freights ; from which had resulted a considerable increase of train and intercourse with the adjoining Pro- vines and the United States. He was not, how- ever, competent to decide as to the fairness or unfairness, with which the Contract had been competed for : but, if the owner of the Grafton should, at his own desire, be exonerated or re- leased from his Contract, and it were quite certain that other individuals could be found willing to put a good and suficient Packet, on the same rout,e under the same regulations as those which had ap lied to the Grafton, for an annual Grant of .t:£0, or less, he thought it would clearly be the duty of the House to re- duce the amount of the Grantfito that lower sum, whatever it might .

Ms.fYlpo. It vrasdwell known that individuals were u re re , should an o rtnni to do so be syfili-dd: them, to put a ppo and girl- cient Packet on the station for a Grant of £2), or indeed in the absence of an Grant whatever.

on. Ms. Loan. Yes, if t ey should be al- lowed to raise the rates of money and freight, at their own discretion an will, he did not doubt parties could be found who would gut on a Packet in the absence of an legislative

rant. The opposition party would not than carry passengers at ls. 6d.a head. No, the passage fare would soon be raised to (is. or more. In his opinion, the best course the

cues could pursue, under existing circumstan- ces, with reference to the question, would be to amend the Act, by a reduction of the annual Grant from £80 to £30, and then for the Govern- ment to let it b means of tenders. If it were left to private com tition, independentl ofs legislative Grant, t ere would, perhaps, two or three vessels—it might be very inferior, if not unsuihble, ones too—put upo tion ; and not being bound by an regulations, they would sail, without regnrti to times or days, and either with or without the Mails. The Grafton having to carry the Mails, in con- sequence of an obli tion to that efiect arising out of the Grant, ha very frequently been pre- vented from sailing. with passeggers and goods, when, otherwise, quite proper to do so, until the Mails should be put on board at the regu- lar and a in time. Such delays were clearly detrimental to the interests of the owner of the Grafton; because an opposition Packet being on the station and st perfect liberty to sail whenever wind an tide would rmit, passen s and lrsighters naturally. w th due regard to their own convenience and interests, re the preference to the Packet which could sail drst. If thirty or forty individuals were

to the amount of the passage side of the opposition-an advan- w lch, but for tcoaipuleor delaywould, mpiobably, have seen by the owner . II. gets sense then oss- thst he would. in cenliriul he had vento thsts , in a r a view to the reduction Grant not its tail extinction ;iir, inde- would‘-

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movsfbrlesvellibrln ineatiofthe Act, id

of ‘::.":a“;.t¢:'.:'.t.~:.. ..

ngihisihs

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-OII 0I’I - I ‘lhnflrahts th '-ed by

.is.I3erssssfis sun

srfifi

es Q. d l , .'2E.£'p.".'i.‘.‘.‘.“'i..‘1'...‘§‘.‘. u'§§.‘“o'.'io3‘...i‘a..-

aeih using Provinces: walls not wi aview thesstablislizgoflalllfiigx la were made up , Os lastsr Gmsrslinchsrlsttstswasn |hsGrent of£80 to the Shediac Packet was not aflralt fbr the eshbllshment of a Mail Packet; but eslya flty toellsnrs erg ularrsnn - cfa sail Packet on that station, hr pu I dlntnrcsapsel‘ ll liithro llI°hflIO.uP'f0h'..Q an wit ,sn u vinoe of New samurai. II first ray Illeh a

in Agra o i'.‘5l’°2'i.."‘.'a.. . 0th

5'‘!

peculation uitc open to private coinptiti mde ndenlil of any Grant. In hot, he fiof op iiion that, if the Grant should be alto r re ed, there would be oppcs ‘petition enough for the rotection

against any exorbitant c srges for

ts

tion an of the. pn fares or . Porn. He would sup rt a toml Grant; but not out o any regard er of the Petition, for the prayer he held ‘to a dishonest one. The Petitioners were well aware t a Contract had been on- tered into by the Government, under the sanc- tion of an Act of the Le ielature for a period of three yes.rs, with aria ividual to run a Packet on the S iacand sq)‘: station : they knew that the. Contract _d a fairly made; and also that all its ob tions had been punctuall and e ciently full by the Contractor, an entire to the satisfaction, not only of the Go- vernmon t, butof thaapublic in neral : and yet, with an evident disregard 0 good faith and legal obligations which, to him, was truly sur- prising, so far at least as it concerned many of them, they came forward and prayed the Hense to repeal the Act, and of course, to violate the contract which could not be done without ren- ring the Government liable to an action, un- less with the consent of the Contractor, which they had no right to expect would be cancelled. The prime agent or mover in the matter of the Petition , however, he believed, was a well known individual, a sort of Nova Scotia Yankee, directly concerned in the opposition set up a inst tlie ‘Grafton. B means of some par- ties, whom he had foun means to use as his pliant tools, and aided by worthy auxiliaries, supplied the establishment of the hon. member from Port Hill, the Petition had been carried about the country, and such represen- tations made by the a nts, so employed, as had, he felt convinced, induced many persons, quite ignorant of e facts and merits of the case, innocently to subscribe their names to a Petition, which had had its origin in nothin but disappointed cupidity, and the only res aim of which was to gratify individual malice toward the Contractor, for no other reason than his having been the successhil competitor for the contract and bounty. Indeed the origina- tors of the Petition had not, in some quarters which they thought safe, made a secret of their dishoniist intentions; for it had come to his knowled , on the suthori of a member of the House, t they had said ey would not allow the Petiton to be presented, I they thought the present conhactor were really goin to lenve the Island and take the Gruflon olf e station. tltwas a a known fact that one rty who was largely concerned in the op sition was a Foreign su t, who managed, in violation of the low, to ld perty in a British Registered vessel, thought e convenient and accommoda- ting conscienoes of other parties, who did not scruple to iriakc thlee declarations of ownership, in order to evade the law, lzwhich they were liable to a penalty of £500 rling. So far as the originators and chief promoters of the Pt,‘ titions were concerned, it would be inflictiug ,just punishment upon them to repeal the Grant : indeed, as the Pet tion was si ed by some two or three hundred individuals, e could scarcely see a reason why the House should not, with the consent of die oontractor,compl with the prey- erofit; andhebc tcsay,t tin the event 0 he wis ing to repeal the Act, he would certainly relinquish his Contract, and then all lepl obli tion, to carry it out would be withdrawn: bu he did not say that he (the Contractor would seek to be freed from that obligation f the Grant were not repealed. His csnoe waste run a Packet, and not any par- ticular vessd, for three , on the Bedeque and Shidiao station, receiving as a bounty for so doing, the sum of £ per aanum run: the Government. If the poo le of that division of the countr who had si this Petition could not pzoper yestimste t e value, to thqnselvee, of vin a firs! rats vessel on the sbtion which won brl hundreds of travellers to our shores, they better return to the old filth and ' mode of conveyance, whic would appear to be more satisfactor to many of them. But it was s most mls en notion to ima ‘us that the running of the Grifion, even with t e aid afiirded by the Grant, had been a a remnnerafing businsw. The sailing ex uses alone col lent upon running her,. been £34 a men , during the whole of the last sea-

9- 0

son, wear and tear, surance, «to. and, to sustain so heavy an outlay it could scarcely he supposed, by suyreasona person, that ca Esssngsrs at ls 6d ahead would, even wi the rant of £80, ahrd a sulcient reins r the ca tal era ed. e felt so I! with the ngrstitu e shown by many of who lmd proltsd by the expendi- ture of a large amount of rats capital, in

providin a vessel, Itted up a style not to be again: in any «fauna, and lbr which the r aanum was

compensation, that he coul scarcely trust lull: self to sayzatything more on the subject, save that the ' on would remain as a lasting dis- snlcd w ‘he. ‘hllvho ha tvirhsghotlnths B use a s 0 . session, at the time that the Grant of 1.80

s to: hedlicbeeapresuit,he woiil have op it. He thought £80 would have been u is enough. last year, it ought to be re was a Petition ii

=.:

:.":‘.'."“" r... y euaslshat wi their

'. fiLDN’.av.r-h.CvI'tcdcwlth the

whstsvw 3] be

at?

Post‘ (I

asssr*t:l to the contrsr ; and, in order to shew who speaks the truth, will request the Chair- man to read a letter relative to the matmr

W W.‘ ow lbs my lion}:- Y . -uy have had any actual Pe ,Iknow not; ut,asI

“ ‘ inted with the hand-

lolne of’ (lurks, I can positive

t sonis ‘ the signatures are in t e

gsfoii them; and, what is more’

cola

hand-wrl _ , , some of signatures, in the hand writing 0 that individual, appear twice on the list of sub- fict which, it must he confessed in mud d _ hble, alike to the individual who added them, and to the parties re _se _y the signatures. lllppoluig the rope tion of their names to have been wit their own knowledge and consent. In other instances, he had also observed that the names of individuals appeared more than once, and in «ii rent acts are certainly very disgraceful ; and msy,.I ' , lie mken as some evidence of the spirit w ieh dictated the petition. '