ee

72 THE EXAMINER.

a

cere ary Fa ew | A LE I A PE AD

ape? ‘VETS LARA. ‘their not having mingled in the exciting scenes insepa-

senor ets” ttehtrd rable from popular assemblies, and being free from the

— i local interests and prejudices he had alluded 6, they

{Having doubled our Suecet this week, we are ©na-| were enabled to do so with that calmness and dispassion

bled to gtve some space to the Reports of Cee eee mqcesesty Una ae of laws, a in the Legislature. We have an immense mass of MSS. 4 so powerful a tendency either to advance or ret:

“ _,|the prosperity ofa country. Such, at all events, he con- in our Drawer, furnished by the Reporters of the two) sidered to be the duty of Legislative Councillors; and i

would consent thus to barter his independenee. He thought the House of Assembly had taken an extra ordinary course in interfering with this branch of the Legislature in this matter. It was to be observed thas the sum voted in the Appropriation Bill, applied Only to one member of the Council, but he would express a ho

that the day was yet distant when an individual} member of the Board would consent to be singled out as an ob.

eo

Branches ; and, from time'to time, we shall select from| he, for one, would never consent to place that branch of|ject for the charitable consideration of the other branch

these such portions as are likely to prove generally in-|the Legislature in dependance on the other; but if they

iv b Ww on teresting to our readers. We recommend to their peru-|received pay, there was not a doubt they would so

: : ; become ly the echo of the House of Assembly. sal the following brief but:instructive Debate, now pub- All eld op 2 Rather! so long as they were at

ished for the first time. The principle of paying mem- | seryjent to its wishes—so long as they were good boys bers of the Legislative Council is very ably discusaed, |and did what it wanted, but no longer. Such would

and shown to be wholly untenable. The sentiments inevitably be the result if pay were accepted by mem-

, bers of that board. A Bill had been sent up to them for expressed by the several speakers will find, we have NO! that very purpose ; to the honor, however, of the Council,

doubt, a ready response in the breasts of all who de- be it said, not a-single member would—he had almost sire to see the Legislative Council filled by men of in- aalinieaimiee his a * oe it ; me = ibe member would take it up or advocate it—so far from this

dependent and liberal minds, no matter whether they conrad nua e suhendud of end “segulbmabibes reside in Charlottetown or not. That Bill could only affect one of their number ; and he We shall insert in our next No. a part of the Debate would, indeed, form : “ty ane of — gan which took place in the House of Assembly, on the pg one character, whom he had known long and well, . + a: : -.» (if he would accept of any interest or benefit that might ‘solution providing an increase to the Salary ofthe Liew: 306 boon interbled fre partie, Abbonacebthe Governor. | ‘risk of periling this Bill (the Appropriation), and none :; ’ 2 : 'would more than himself deplore an event so truly em- Legislative Couneil, barrassing, he would not consent to it nor to the passing 98th APRIL. 1942 of the Legislative Council Pay Bill, nor anything at all

. % : , ithat is ether analogous to, or that may belong to it. PAY TO LEGISLATIVE COUNCILLORS. He knew that in the other end of the building there was

‘ a a party which habitually arraigned their honors, ‘in House in Committee on the Appropriation Bill.—The terns he would not pendula te describe, and if they

‘clause providing Pay for Legislative Councillors being consulted only their own respect, it might be as well, read— perhaps, not to notice it. The movement of a straw

. “indi + directi ri hat Bill might The Hon. Mr. Swubeysaid. The item now under the (Mdicates the direction of the a 4 consideration of their honors was not only a novel one ibe considered as indicating the «commencement of a but one which, if passed, would deservedly brine this SYSt@™ Of intimidation, which he equally detested and branch of the Legislature into disrepute. It weernot to| despised. It would seem that they judged the me | be forgotten that the same subject had ‘been discussed P'NC!P!e and courage of the Council by the standar by the Levislature Of Nove Scctia Ce 4 three | Hey. applied to themselves; but in this matter, more years ago, and even petitioned for; but fortunate] ig} Recticuarly, perhaps, than in any other, involyng’ Gs the credit of the Colonies, that extraordinary and i his| Doroughly anit did, their very neepencenes ete estimation, mean attempt, fell to the ground not havine|2'© branch of the Legislature, they would find they found that favour with the Imperial Boerne: t whick | Were made of sterner stuff than they gave them credit it expected it would, and without which it Lee for, and that they had reckoned without their host.—He < , t } ‘ » ee ia c

"beome law. This might yet be seen See heel moved that the Grant be disagreed to. ig the Despatch which the then Secretary for the Colonies, | The Hon. Mr. Holl, in seconding the motion, begged Lord Stanley, transmitted to Lord Falkland on the sub.'°*¥® t draw their honors’ attention to the Despatch iect. ‘But he hoved their honors sedied teh okt f which had just been alluded to, and which had been. J Pr eed oO , , ¢ the ye : 2 | those’exterior aids to admonish and urge them to <e | ansmitted by Lord Stanley, then at the head of the their country as‘they had undertaken to do when they Coouial Department, to the Governor of Nova Scotia,

4 ‘ ; ; , 2-0 j < 2A f > a4 > “ana | accepted their situations, without fee or or Loe August, 1345. (Here Mr. H. read the Despatch, as|

ee

of the Legislature. [It was obvious that such was the light in which the subject had been viewed in the pre. sent instance by their honors, as the Bill had not been taken up by one of the Council since its arrival from the House of Assembly, but had, in fact, been allowed to die a natural death. The subject ought not to have originated in that quarter. It would be time enough for an exhibition of its liberality out of the public

when their honors sought remuneration for their services, and not before. If ever the subject be mooted at all, if ever in the altered circumstances of the country, i: might be deemed advisable to abandon the course pyr. sued by preceding Legislative Councillors, it should emanate from the Imperial Government, and be based on permanency alone, and not depend on'the fluctuati opinion or caprice of the popular branch of the Legisla. ture. It was his opinion, however, that members of the Legislative Council should not be paid ; and he thought ihe reasoning of the Despatch perfectly conclusive on the subject. In the case referred to in the Document he held in his hand, the Legislative Council of Nova Scotia had itself petitioned for pay, but the Imperial Government had very properly deelined to accede to it, even with the concurrence of the House of Assembly. No- thing could be more explicit than the views entertained by the Government, sufficiently so he would hope to set the question at rest as far as their honors were concern- ed. It wisely‘thought that to assign them salaries would be to diminish their independence. Besides, they should pear in mind their honors were the nominees of the Crown—not of the people; and in order that their actions should be above even the imputation of merce- nary motives, they should tenaciously adhere to that position which enabled them to decide on all matters brought under their consideration without fear, favor, or

‘affection.

The Hon. Mr. Swabey. He believed that arguments bad been urged, both in the House of Assembly and elsewhere, with regard to the difficulty of getting members from the different parts of the country to sit in the Council. He would particularise a few cases of gentlemen, whose names had been brought before the public, and who had once held seats at that Board. There was his Jate friend, Mr. Peter McNutt. Now, it

‘So happened that that gentleman, so far from advocating

the propriety of Councillors being remunerated for their

: : far as it related te this subject): ‘services, he actually protested agai } e \ knew, or he was never more mistaken, they would dis.|<*" it related t this subj t) __, Services he ctu lly -prote sted gainst members of th | ‘ch the duties of their h; Ty ‘Downing Street, 20th Aug. 1945. |House of Assembly receiving pay. It had also been charge the duties of their highly honourable office jn-| es ; E+ 7.3 ‘ dependently,and spurn the very name of pay : for | a ‘My Lorn; alleged that Mr. Warburton had declined a seat from “could deliberately take his place at tl P % ome w ad ‘Thave laid before the Queen ‘the Address to Her Majesty, | the expenses he would be subjected to; but this he enced by ‘such edanitan aie at a , | from the Legislative Council of Nova Scotia, enclosed in your knew was not the fact,for that hon. gentleman had denied eT ee te ves, was—he hac no} despatch of the 19th of June last, No. 323. . . . — nesitation in stating it—altogether unworthy ofa seat at) ‘ in detiberating on the advice which it has been my duty tot - public idee de vo ee co it; and ifthe principle of pay were once admitted, jt) tener to the Queen on this occasion, Her Majesty’s conf.dental | Was Mr. Green, too, Now, rom the published corres- would, without a doubt deprive their branch 67 ‘ | Servants have observed, with-much regret, how serious are the pondence of this gentleman, it was perfectly clear that — Levislat Pees : ; Or {he | difficulties which oppose. the entrance into the Legislative! he refused to-sit, not on account of his not being paid, but . ~wegisiaiure of its independence. ‘It had been asserted!Cov.,cil PN nde ee | itants of the Province who| arse vy . “red | Council of Nova Scotia of those inhabitants of the Province who on f his be alled ur for his Man- Pa elsewhere because th be f tl > ie ; ; me . ,On account of his being callec upon to pay for nis Jan ’ 1¢ mem TS Of the House of As-|are the best qualified by their education, their fortune and their} 4 ;, and by the bold stand he as well as the Hon. Mr sembly took pay, that Legislative Councillors had as |Tank, to oceupy a station at once so arduous and so honorable. | «geting ed Besa digtaageo Ny " 1¢ as Well as » wT. good 2 right to do'so, and might, with equal propriety | ¥¢ should regard the general and settled reluctance of those|Hensley then made, they had exonerated all other L accept of it: but thi ite af, *? \gentlemen to assume such duties as one of the most serious| Councillors from paying sucha tax for gratuitously de- : Pp ; IS Was quite a fallacy, for there was |°. ea hy atl ¢ fea ied : : = l 20 analogy whatever b r , ,evils with which society would be visited, in that part of Her) voting their time to the service of their country. Mr. er SY Whatever between the two Houses. A reason! Majesty’s Deminions. “However considerable, and however!” |, : a? cal ‘os etwy 2ad been a3s d f d in thi eae oe 60 eo -.,,areen still claimed the right of being a member of the 12 ©h essigned for a departure, in this Island, from Just, might be the apologies for declining a service required i ll fe] le h at. ume ike yeneral rule; it was this, that unless Members from |"!Y by the consciousness and by the honor of contribeting so| Board, and he, by no means, felt clear that he was p tage ine Country were paid for their attendance, they co 1q| [atgely to the general welfare, it is scarcely possible but that|He would now come to the case of Mr. McGowan. lol not afford to remai fi | ; ’ Y couic such an example. from so high a quarter, should seriously im-| With respect to that gentleman if not misinformed, for Cc aaU remain for a month or twoin Charlottetown | : } al he: Province lars ; shli - . ; . ° ; ’ : Ad. at their own hare d a pair, throughout the Province at large, the public spirit and the he did not in his case. as in the others speak from his 7 mee a: charges, and that thereby the Council was self-forgetiulness which, in Nova Scotia, as in every free Go- m knowledge. he “wo st that sucl » thin as pay to By unjustly deprived of country members. Now, this was! Vernment, constitute the first and-most essential element of alj| OW? KM 1} ne ” sd me " ae = es . : a. . » aye > ide more a specious than a correct argument. He did not|P¥elic prosperity. BORRONIOE. WORSE CRC, eateyan eke) Ii Aveneae

ba velieve that the pecuniary consideration adverted to.| ‘ Her Majesty’s Government have adverted, anxiously, to}the expense of staying in town, in any degree influence

| was aad «oe . »/every suggestion Ofered by the Legislative Council collective-'him, or operate as a difficulty. He did not believe that a eee difficulty—a fitness for the office he | ly, by an individual: member of it, or by your Lerdship, for|i+ was ok So that the ms of expense. and that was magimea was the chief one. No doubt it was very | averting. or for diminishing, so great a disaster. 7 - pe — esirablate have members from a]] parts of the country ;) ‘The first proposal made with that view~is that the members the only one, was not established by evidence. ; 1A ‘but the remedy at present soucht instead of‘conferri 9 of the Legislative Council shoa!d be remunerated for their ser-| ‘The Hon. Mr. Hensley. The proceedings relative to 7 a benefit, by their adopting a sVitem so un-Enclist ma tices in that Capacity on the same terms as a similiar remune-/this matter have an unusuel and peculiar character. ous pernicious in its very essence it would entail on th lit is. ie le hee "the doa : ae on > cera: seat Dou sly eae up toi their named, ee tagas oe he — s u t e iS most remote from the design of the Ministers of the! ey °. sei dir istance a country consequences tenfold more disastrous and in-| Crown to entertain, or to suggest a doubt that the duties im- lsegislative _ouncillors residing aim oom —— all convenient ‘than any they had ever yet experienced ;|P0sed on the members of the Legislative Council well merit/t0an 20 miles from Charlottetown. This Bill th : out, in fact, practically no inconveniences we resulted |SUch a pecuniary acknowNedgment, but we must venture to|onors permitted to remain unnoticed and untouchec Ms ‘rom thesystem now in operation. The Lecislativ jdoubt whether their acceptance of it, even if it were otiered, | wpon theirtable, thereby exhibiting an almost ungratefu! = ‘Councillors were not-s . egisiative | would be judicious. The members of the Assembly are elect-| indifference to the spontaneous and unsolicited anterest — iot-sent there as the members of the ed by the people, and may, | doubt not, without any €isparage- ich et b fthe H f Assembiy ther House were, to represent the loca} opinions and /™ent to their position, receive from their constituerts a direct which some of the members of t winntentetie ae A wants of particular districts, “Were their honors to| Pecuniary reward for the servicesthey are so chosen to render, |thought proper to bestow upon their pecuniary concerns. t Suppose-so, or act on’ that supposition, they would plac itis otherwise with the members of the Legisiatiys Council. They had now before them an appropriation of £30 for is f ‘themselves in every false position “Ph y ti a They are the nominees of the Crown. Their high and delicate |the object contemplated by that Bill; intended, ne e, ef ‘them by he comet = ton, 4 ne duties assign- duty is to arbitrate between the opposite tendencies of the doubt. by a friendly coercion, to mduce their honors to nD sinfividea! | itetion were dissimilar. Each j Monarchical and the Democratic brenchés of the Constitution, : hae bh ev Phei } ould observe the ne ‘naivigual member of the lower House is presumed to and when necessary, to control and to harmonize’ both. To accept t at bounty. veir honors would © ‘ me snow and to carry out the views of his constituency. s become pensioners, either of the Crown or of the People would |Singularity of that appropriation—that it was confine: mi ‘inthis way the whole éfa country ma: . aid Vs “a be to extract materially from their qualifications for the un-|to such of their honors as might reside at the distance Ber ‘represented. ‘It imposes hiner 7 y h Salc to €| compromising discharge of this important trust. of 20 miles. The difficulties and inconvenience 0 ce Vener the sional Se ever, on each individual ‘Our great solicitude is to secure to the Legislative C ouncil attending to their legislative duties was to be meted out, ’ ws oe ty OF his devoting the whole of his/|the weight sojustly due to their sufirages on the measures of 5 me d the | =| time -and talent for the advancement Of the particular the Local Legislature. We conceive that the absolute inde- measured and recompensed, so soon as they passe on ‘locality he sits’ for. ‘His sphere, therefore, althouch , pendence of their position is mainly conducive to that end, and|imaginary line which separated the cogclusion of the nei ‘had a *voice in ‘the Councils of hi oe 6" DC! that to assign salaries to them would be to diminish that inde-/ twentieth mile from the commencement of the twenty esd ‘certain extent, circt ib iS Country, was, to a| pendence, and consequently wocké be unwise and mmpolitic.’ | first. Perhaps, in some future session, 19% miles might — ‘ce ex “umscribed :—the daty of Legislative No arguments’ of their honors: could ; : eed hg ‘an. or even farther. 7 Councillors “was of a ~somewhat different kind = -it-was| 0 Teeme™s Of their honors: could place the subject) put mits claim to some consideration, or even further, tes ‘ nere’ their's, ‘he imagined, to review “the ait i tend ine clearer hight. ‘For his part, he would consider that| that 19 miles might not be-entirely excluded; in short, Ou not anirequently ‘conflicting views and sions 4F th if he acquiesced m the present Grent, he would be in+'he saw no reason (if such a principle were at al: ad- in € severelemembers cf the lower House ‘eadb abbot tetas ie strumental in dealing the deadliest blow that could be mitted) that ‘there should not be -established a-sort 0! : uae hoa iend bhis! fromshanosition che: ide mflicted on the ‘Constitution of the Council, and he|stiding-scale, apportioning’ to each of their bonors sate sav i . oT ther ecoppied from; t Ade ue ‘ 4 i = : L bs P é cowry of (Det ; : {usted thap thereomac.ndt'acaomber: of that!Boardavhe a remuneration {rem the : overflowigg “Treasuyy of (ine