he Examiner.

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WE S8KlsS.

” PK OD |

OoIASPYNHAIS,

FURTHER FACTS IN REFERENCE TO “THE CONFERENCE.” To run Epitor or Tur Examiner.

Sen, Although | feel persuaded that the course pur- aed by the majority of the Assembly and the position @nally assumed by them, in consequence of the very angatisfactory result of “the conference,” are already daily understood and approved by the people, and that ¢ would amount almost to an insult to their undersiand- mgs to attempt any further elucidation of the inatter, with a view to their satisfaction; yet, baving a few wieure moments at command, { cannot resist the temp- sion I feel to expose the fallacy of argument contained fm the last apology for His Excellency the Governor, jvom the pen of “ Moderatus,” as published in the Gazette of the 16th instant.

* @oderatus” allows that there is inherent in the British House of Commons a legitimate power to refuse ~ prant Supplies for the prosecution of a war of which ay do not approve; and he, at the same tine, besides ' e@imits that iiey may also constitutionally refuse to | gant Supplies fer any other purpose for which they may be demanded.

{f “Moderatus” does not regard the Constitution of af this Colony as nothing better than a delusive mockery

AND SEMI-WE

THis IS TRUE LIBERTY WHEN FREE-BC

af the people, how oes it happen, let me ask, that he asserts the same power fs not inherent in oar Assembly ? Does he not perceive that the power to withhold Sup- | plies is constitutionally claimed and exercised by the | British House of Commons, solely as a means by which w prevent a Government from acting, that 9 raling, in epporition to their wishes, which are or ouvht to be the wishes of the people? Are his “lights of reason” so dim, that he cannot perceive the motive of the Assem- bly in refusing the Supplies, to have been simply the reatraining of a Government, in whom they had no confi- dence, from acting or ruling in opposition to their wishes? The Government, it is due to therm to ad:it, would have retired from office, soon'after the Kezolution

expressing a want of confidence in them had been

agreed to in the Assembiy, at tcast unmediately after |

the Responsibi@ ** Extract” was laid before the House

—ag ministesr usually do after suffering a defeat in|

the House of Commons—bad they been permitted tw doso. And who was it, let me next enquire, who prevented the Government from laying down their power, in conformity with British precedent? Was wtnot His Excellency? Yes, it was His kxcellency who, with all bis avowed respect and veneretion for British Parliamentary and Government ysages: and practices, stepped forward to interpose hig autherity to prévent his Government from taking a step which would have been more acceptable to the people, and, perhaps, more constitunional, than any originating with them- elves, which they have evertaken. Yes, Sir, His Excel- eney not only refused the tendered resignations of lis Seuncil, but actually sent the Sergeant-at-Arms to wmpel the cttendance of two Gentlemen who had re- signed their seats at the Council Board, under the autho- nty of the Mandamus by which they had been consti- mted Executive Councillors. Doew His Excellency suppose that Her Majesty the Queen would have dared ea to interpose her aatority to thwart the wishes and wullify 2 decision of the House of Commons, as he has dawe to traverse the desire and render nuystory a vote ef the Assembly? Surely he does not; aud why he dared to assume to himself the right to exercise a power which his Roval Mistress would doubtless, in the ex- treet case, have hesitated to recognize as coming within the bounds of her prerogative; is a question) which, to Ins confuston and detriment, he may yet be wired to answer. tis.very clear that when Hie Excellency had refused reconstruct His Government, or to allow the mrembers of itto mike way for its reconstruction by their retire-' went from office, that the only constitutional remedy to which the Assembly cou'd then have recourse, was the withholding of the Supplies. The Uouse justly thought (Qat to afford a Government m which they had no confi- dence, the means of sustaining themselves in powe-, world be qaite as foolish as it would be in a British onse of Commons to grant Supplies to an Ad:uinis- ation for the maintenanec of a war which they, the re- Pesentatives of the people, disapproved ; and they evin- ted no inconsiderable degree of firmness and wisdom %@ Acting accordingly. After having thus unintentionally—I had almost said Mupidiy—edmitted the constitutionality of the very

EKLY INTELLIGENCER.

~_

= - ee Br E Gaal he OE A a oe CHARLOTTETOWN, APRIL 27, 1850.

TALI

nothing but condemnation, * Moderatus” next, with the eame unlucky result that has attended his arguments throughout—which, notwithstanding all the care he has bestowed upon them to give them power and authority, have “in his hourof need,” like ungrateful dependents, perversely get themselves in array against him—en- quires whether it would be constitutional in the British Parliament to refuse to provide for the payment of the interest of the national debt. _ To this, Sir, | reply that were the British House of Commons, after having passed a vote of want of confidence in Her Majesty’s Ministere, on a divigion bearing the proportion of 18 to 3, to receive such an answer from Her Majesty as that returned, after such an occurrence, by His Excellency Sir Donald Campbell to the Assembly of this Island, she would sovn perhaps—since nations are beginning fully to comprehend that the sole end and aim of Go- verements ought to be the prosperity and happiness of the people—find that they were not only prepared to refuse ail Supplies, but even to relieve Her Majesty, ip a cons ‘itutional manner, from all the responsibities which attached to her as their Sovereign. That this, however, should ever be the fate of Britain’s well-beloved Queen, may God forbid! whatever severity of justice an arbi- trary assumption of unconstitationel power by Colonial Governors may draw down upon thetr heacs.

In putting his question as he has done, concerning the payment of the interest of the national! debt of Great Britain, “ Moderatus” has shewn that he is not, by any means, a man gifted with sne! powers of mental vision as enable him te discern the signs of the times; other-

wise, he would have been aware that few great national

and political events are or cur be more probable, than that the British House of Commons should recognize and repudiate the great, the grievous injustice of bur- thening and eppressing the people by taxing them for the payment of the interest of an enormous debt, m- curred, not for the preservation and advancement of thetr liberties and happiness, but to secure the wéaltb, and perpetuate the power of the titled and untitled land aristocracy. ‘

{ have just said, Sir, that I think it highly probable that, at no very distant day, the people of Great Britain will be so truly represented in the Imperial Legislature, that the Commons Fiouse of Parliament, strengthened and supported by the trae might and majesty of the nation, will, at one bold and patriotic stroke, free the oppressed and groaning people from the intolerable load of the national debt. but, from this my opinien, f do not wish it to be inferred that I think it-would be just to endeavour to ausihiiate, in a similar manner, the debt of thia Colony, which has been contracted under circumstances widely different from those which gave rise to that of Great Britain. On the contrary, I main- tain that nothing in the cireumstances of this Colony can justify a breach of faith with the public creditor ; although it may not always be practicable for the Le- gislature to meet his just expectations in due season, fam, Sir, 1 feel certain, quite as anxious as “ Modera- tus,” or any other person, can be, that due provision should be made for the satisfaction of the public credi- tor, for the relief of the poor and destitute, for the sup- port of the officers and ministers of Justice, for the aid of the instructors of yeuth, and al] other necessary and justifiable purposes for which a Colonial Revenue is usually granted; and [ lament, as sincerely as “ Mode- ratus,” or any other individual can, the interruption to the proceedings of the Assembly in their last Session, in which is involved the absence of a due provision for such constitutional and legitimate purposes: bat, unlike “ Moderatus,” I have not unjustly aserived the abrupt termination of the unfinished proceedings of the Assem- bly, to any but the true cause, and that is the inability or wnwillingness of His Excellency, Sir Donald Camp- bell, te recognise and pursue the path of his peculiar duty; and I maintain that, if any evil consequences re- sult to the people at large from the measure, unwillingly, hut justifiably, adopted by their representatives in Colo- nial Parliament, they must, in fairness, be_atiributed solely to the incapacity or obstinacy of the Lieutenant Governor.

Whether “Moderatus” would base or build up his arguments upon state:nents, support them by compari- sons, or strengthen them by precedents, he is equally unfortunate in his dependence upon his materials ; for they all, like sand, slip from beneath the strocturee which he would establish upon them, ane only serve, in a manner, to ensure the demolition of the incongruous specimens of architecture raised upon them; which, one after another, as soon as completed, tumble heavily about his eara, and astound him with their fall. How absurdly, for instance, does he compare the conduct of

‘Sastre which he ‘vas labouring to prove worthy of

| tho present representativee of the people with that of

RN MEN—HAVING TO ADVISE THE PUBLIC—MAY SPEAK

mow dt od an he mein et i y= lle as ee Ee eee aS

FREE.’—MuiLton's Eumipipes.

a app nd Rm eh au You. I. Wa. 29

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the Spaniards, when they first landed in Mexico; who, availing themselves of their superior powers ad meane to work mischief and destroy, did not seruple te rod ) awe-struck natives of their gold and silver, tc reduce them to slavery, end to put them to torture or to deat According to the insane perception of “ Modetatas,” he Assembly represent the Spaniards, and ovr Colonie! officials, the barbarous aborigines of Mexico. Nothith. surely, can be much more ridculous than thia; yet it evident that * Moderatus” had in his head materials for aye comparison, but unfortuna‘ely was not possessse of either sufficient wit or honesty te use them ari

* ‘

t Had he compared the officials to the well-armed, and mercenary Spaniards, and the peopte to the ro} enslaved, insulted, and murdered Mexicans, his simil’- tude would not have been either extravagant or UNzUss ; and would, { think, have been allowed among the peo le as some evidence of the rationality of is m The people, or “ the mob,” as “ Moderatus” insulting!y styles them, are not go undiscerning in their judgments as he seems to think they are; and they can clearly die- tingzish between the would-be robbers of the pubis purse and the protectors of it. ‘The Government and the Government officials have, the people plain'yv per ceive, sought, with impudent boldness, to rob them of their money and to divide it, aga spoil or booty, amonge: themselves, in despite of the public voice, which says the public Revenue shall not be appropriated in any other way than as the people shail direct; and the As- sembly, faithful in their stewardship, have greatly wou upon the public confidence by the noble and disinterest- ed stand which they have made in witthbolding Supplies. , But from the first to the last of his Gazelled polities) essays, the progress of “ Moderatus” has been like that of some benighted horseman, who, having in the dark got into an extensive bo, and unconscious!y urging onwards in « wrong direction, has flounced end floun dered on from bad to worse. In his last essay, he seems to have bestirred himse}f with al) his might ja, blindly proceeding in his luckless course, he hae aeta- ally at length stuck fast in the political ‘siough of de- spond”—-campletely to extricate himself from which will, | imagine, require more ability than he is posseée- ed of- I am, Sir, A LOOKER-2N,

To ree Eniror or THE Examiner.

Sin,-—I have been reading a letter or sort of ceciar ation published by the Editor (not Jir. Ings) of the Islander ina late number of that paper, wherein be gives a flat contradiction to the report go currently be- liewed that he is the chosen and paid employes of the “Family Compact” Now, I do not mean to make apy remarks here, as to how far a man’s word may be takea who has publicly professed his dishelir” of the Bibs, but I take it, there is one thing very evident, and about which there can be no mistake, that his e:nployers are getting heartily ashamed of their defender, and Goudt less have compelled him to give a pablic denis! of tne “great fact” not only on account of his infidel opinions, which are calculated te bring diecredit on theiiselves, but fog the broad vein of intense vulgarity ronming throngh the whole of his writings in the Jslancer, whether as leading articles, or in letters from imaginary Correspondents; but I need go no forther than the art» ele in question, signed with his owa name, fora Arlwccte specimen of his refinement.

A NATIVE,

1fho furs a thorough contemp! for the Exrtor of ia Istander.

PUBLIC MEETING AT BELLE CREEK AXD MURRAY HARBOUR ROAD.

Mr, Davies, M. P. P. for the Third District of Queen’s County, having been informed by several per- sons (his constuuents) that a public meeting had beem held at the Back Settlement, near Belle Creek, eon- vened atthe mstigation of certain ‘Tory Mayistrases; the object of this Meeting, Mr. Dayics was tusthes a- formed, was to obtain siguaiures to a Requisition a - dressed to Mr. D., calling upon him to resign jus Beat, inasmuch as that he had deceived his copstituent®, end pursved a Jine of conduct adverse to their wishes &iab opinions, This requisition received a few signatures, but the people of Belle Creek genersily refused to es- tertain it, until they had an opportunity of consuus

Mr. Davies personally, and ascertaining from bin, ihe truth or falsehood of the allegations put forth aganet bim. , 7

Immediatsly on receizt of this intelligence, Mr. Ls

SSE SOSA I Co

caer eon ee en ie me

So BS A a AO