a

CORRESPONDENCE | down the old structures, and rebuild them in '

cue ine, ae ae oes ae, and thus follow the! ec aac | good example already set them by the Rector TOR Uae EKACRE of the Episcopal Church, who bas rebuilt it| Mr. Eprror:— in a much improve d style lately. ae ase | Wher I heard that a new Court Ilouse was The Conference at Quebec, if it has been ,. be built on our magnificent Square, | prodactive of no other good. hae brought to) 4 thought the time had arrived when L should light the talent and capabilities of MANY) payoan oppertunity of distinguishing myself, | hitherto obseure persons. It has given elo-| 04 7 deew in my mind’seyea designof what quence to the stammering, intelligence tel] thought would be a suitable building, not the ignorant, wit to the dull, and profundity) 5, costly, but such as would be pleasing to | to the superficial. The ewarm of orators and | the eve, und useful to the country ; and, Sir, | fanciers that have, as if by magic, made | goarched diligently in the three leading their appearance in the most unl kely aite-| papers of Charlottetown, which I take, for ations, is really wonderful to bebold. The! tie notice of * tenders wanted to build a saying that circumstances make the MAD.! Court-house at Georgetown,” but none have never before received so striking @ verifica-|7 Vn] expected that I should first see an tion. If the American war has not produced ‘offer made of a prize for the bent desian for ite general, the Quebec Conte rence has/ such a building, but none has appeared: and created orators, writers, financiers vod #ates- |» a.y | have been told that the contract tad men by the score. Who, for eal haem already let—that the steereneas nf have expected that ata meeting held in the) oted only in the Reval Gazette; but eaiens on enenetnney alter ae not coedit this aah so eager ge whlieation of the Report, that one gentle-| i+ annoar, until I (alter a good deal o a an would deliver an ‘‘extemporaneous lec- alas found a oof thot diated af tended ture on Confederation, elothed in eloquent) ciscaiation, and there 1 saw that such was language, a delivered aoe “ aan po really the case ; and not only that, but the ability ;’’ and that another would, on the spur of the moment, make a speech ‘both the dfiee of the Commissioner of Public huteresting and instructive, hum urous and/ works in Charlottetown ! Just imagine witty.”’ But this is not all; the favoured) oa 4 Court-house was to be built in Pictou,

| sioner of Public Lands, and his successors in na office, subject only to the provisions and directions pe League is the legitimat | contrary thereof in anywise notwithstanding.

|to the said leaseholder or tenant a deed of con-

/cumstances of any particular case; and on such

| formas set forth in sehedule (D), to this Act}

plan and s;ecification could only be seen at)

of this Act, without any entry made thereon, or | possession given, any law, custom or usage to the |

IX. Immediately after the execution of the said deed of conveyance to the Counissioner of Pubiic Lands, as aforesaid, he shall execute and deliver

veyance of his said farm, in the fori or to the effect set forth in the schedule (C), to this Act annexed, altered when necessary to suit the e1r-

deed of conveyance there shai! be endorsed a me- imorandum or deteazance specifying the amount remaining unpaid, and when and how payable, lu

annexed, also varied where necessary to meet the circumstances of the case; and the amount se specified as unpaid, with interest afier the rate ot 41x pounds per centum per annum, as therein mentioned, shall be, and the same is hereby de- clared a specific lien aud charge on the land des- cribed in the Deed for which payment is due, | superior to, and having priority over every other ‘lien or charge on the said land, created by the purchaser or any claiming by, from, through, under or in trust for hun, Whether before or alter the date of the deed, rights of dower or other- | wise, and payment thereof shall be enforced from time to time, in the same manner as mentioned | and prescribed in and by the Act for the purchase | of lands on behalf of the Government of Prince | Edward Island, and to regulate the sale and) management thereof, and tor other purposes |

' ott . i | nares nant . ’ ] te s , net} audience was, on this oceasion, privileged to) og the plan and specification could only be | therein ue utioued, and of all Acts in amendment |

hear a ‘*peat and approyriate’’ speceh from) .ooy in [falifax ! one gentleman; a tew very ‘*tungible re-| think there are no tradesmen here who could

marks’? from another; ‘‘solid and cogent build the Court-house? | think they must '

reasoning’ from a third, and a speech from) when thoy keep their plans in Charlottetown, |

the wnarobitions and unselfish reporter.) 5, that no tradesman from here can sce them,

which, did not modesty forbid him in dwell-| wighout losing at least two days of time, |

jog Upon its merits, he would no doubt have besides his expenses pronounced as eloquent and as argumentative |», inspect the plan ; as the most brilliant oration made on that memorable evening. Now, sir, | have at- com petitor.

tended many political and other meetings in| Llow rauch easier, how much more econo- country places, but it has never been my) ical, would it not be for a copy of the plan luck to be present at such a one ws that des-) ang specification to be sent to Georgetown, cribed by the graphic pen of Mr. Joseph! where the Court-house is to be built, and Murphy. Il have heard at such meetings! where they could be seen by all the trades- souad sense clothed in tolerably correct Eng-| won of the place who might wish to compete lish, but I have just as often heard the most) goer the contract? I see the same sellish unmitigated nonsense expressed in terms nei- poliey whieh the Government pursues in this ther elegant nor correct. Indeed, at most | case is carried out in all other large contracts meetings there ls a charming alternation of | both kinds of public speaking, and, if | must | advertising such contracts in all the principal speak the truth, a rather unpleasant prepon | papers; in not doing so, they are pursuing

in travelling to the city and then, perhaps, have

but a small chance of being the successful

cerance of the windy, hi-falutin, no meaning | ¢h,4 « penny wise and pound foolish ”’ course |

style. And such, no doubt, would have| 39 course always erroneous, but more par been the character of the major ity of the ticularly so when taken by a Government. epeeches delivered at the famous Lot 10}

Bpirit. i Some one who calls himself Sense,”’

hanger-on about Charlottetown, who may ** Common | know from some of the officials that tenders not duly considering the effects of | ure required ; Lutif be only gives us a good auti-Cnion geal, has ridiculed the idea of a building, one that will be a lasting credit to number of plain farmers talking ina stvle| the architect, and that the traveller may look that would do credit to the most gifted mem-!| on with pleasure, and afterwards deseribe as ners of the highest deliberative as mbly IM something worth seeing in the Architecture the world, and has got roundly abused for) of Georgetown, he shall receive the praise he his pains. ‘letters bave written to prove that he is a ‘cast-off pedagogue,’’ ‘a! eventer jaumper,”’ ** no great th &e..| &e. Since this is the style of argument ad- opted by the cogent reasoners of Lot 10, tw prove themselves to be profound thinkers, brilliant orators, and astute politicians, and | as they appear perfectly satisfied with their own logie, | will, for the fun of the thing use their Own weapon against themselves i We will, to show up the eogeney ©! such rea- | soning, enquire ivto the antecedents of Mr | Joseph Murphy, the brilliant historian of the Lot 10 meeting, and the sturdy asserter of the merite of Lot 10 oratory. A few years! , ; ago Mr. Josenh Murphy was an out-and-out) is entitled, * Leaseholders in the purchase of the liberal. His zeal in the cause of liberalism) Fee Simple of their Farms,” isa measure for the knew no bounds. But J seph was one of) enactment of which the party in power take very those politicians who look well aftor number one. He calculated the value of his services to the liberal party toa nicety. Ino short, honest, unambitious, unselfish J weph had savd pounds, which sum, it contemplates, may be his price. Ile suddenly discovered that it| expended from time to time, ia belping tenants

been will deserve from

‘ J ACK-PLANE. Georgetown, May 5th, 1865.

oy is,

Che Cxraminer.

THE GOVERNMENT LOAN BILL.

Tue Act passed last Session, “ to assist,” as it

It authorizes the issue of debentures to the amount of fifty thou-

great credit to themselves.

wae for the interest of the Island in general! to buy the fee sunple of their farms from their!

and jor that of Lot 11 in particular that he (Joseph) should be elevated to the magis- tracy. The disinterested Josep! bad no Se : personal interest in the matter—not he. The | Close enquiry it will be found to be a mere public good was what he considered —nothing | sham—as worthless as the Land Commissioners’ else. The patriotic Juseph was not the man| Award, and as worthless, too, as the Proprietors’ to wait for a spontaneous reengnition of his! ifteen Years’ Purchase Bill, to which, indeed. merit by the Government. He. with a mo-|

;

desty seldom peralleled, reminded the Go-|! oo ree : ernment thatin Lot 1) thereliveda centleman | Proceed to expose iis worthlessness, we shal! to whose deserts the world had hitherto been! bere reprint the Act for the information of our

jut before we

readers :—

Do the officials in the city |

The Government would save money by |

The policy of the Government will probably | meeting, had it not been for the influence of | have the effect of throwing the job into the the wonder- working anti- Confederation | hands of some needy, perhaps incompetent, | sold by the Commissioner of Publie Lands, under| sad land, created by the purchaser or any

landlords. At first sight, the measure might seem to be a generous act towards the tenantry, but |

thereof.

X. The Commissioner of Publie Lands shall | | cause duplicate cosies of all deeds of conveyance | | executed by him, under this Act, with any me-} morandutm of defeazance relating to the payment | of the purchase money endorsed thereon, as | aforesaid, to be made and executed; and lie shall cause the purchaser to execute the same, and by endorsement thereon to declare it to be a true) copy of the original Deed of Conveyance ; and | every such duplicate copy of any Deed shall be | deposited by the Commissioner of Public Lands | in his office, and remain of record therein. |

XI. The original Deed of Conveyance, and | also the duplicate copy thereof, executed as afore- | said, and attested by the Commissioner of Publie| Lands, shall be evidence in all Courts in all ace | tions wherein the title of the lands under this Act, or those claiming under them, shall come in question, or Wherein any proceedings shall be| taken under this Act for the recovery of the pur- chase moucys due thereon, with interest, aud in all other cases wherein it shall become necessary tu give such deeds in evidence.

XIL. The Comumnesioner of Publie Lands shall | | be entitled to receive a fee of ten shillings from | | the purchaser of avy lands under this Act, for| preparing the deed of couveyance and the dupli- | cate thereof.

XIIL. The consideration Money for all lands |

this Act, shall be paid in the following proportions | and instalments, that is to say, net leas than a

moiety or equal balf part of the purchase money ‘at the time and in the manner hereinbefore pre-| } seribed, and the remainder, with interest at the | j rate of six pounds per centum pertannim on the | mnount trom tine to ttwe remaining unpaid ny teu equal annual instalments; the said interest te | be paid annually with each instalment: Provided, | nevertheless, that any purchaser may, at any time, pay off the whole amount of the purchase money, and interest, if any be due, and obtain a full dis- charge of bis Land thereof.

XIV. Allsums of money paid by any person | purchasing Lands under this Act, on account of the purchase money thereof, or otherwise, when required by this Act, shall be paid to the Com- missioner of Public Lands, who shall enter the particulars of each payment in his books, and | give the person making the payment such certifi- cate, ackuowledging the same, ou his part, by en dorsement on the back of the deed, or otherwise as the circumstances of the case may require; and the said Coinmissioner of Publie Lauds, at the | times and in manger set forth and directed by the | Act for the purchase of Lands on behalf of the Government of Prinee Edward Island, and to re- gulate che sale and management thereof, and for other purposes therein mentioned, and of the Acts in amendment thereof, shall pay over to the Trea- surer of this Island all such sums of money so paid to hun as aforesaid, to and fer the purposes of this Act, and for the use of the Government of this Island.

XV. If the Commissioner of publie Lands shall at any time refuse, or wilfully neglect, to account with and pay over to the Treasurer al! such moneys as he may reeeive under this Act, 01 to Keep an account book thereof, or to allow the inspection thereof, and all other Books, Docu-! wents, Plans aud Papers, by the Government, be | shall, fer every such refusal and neglect forfeit and pay to Her Majesty the sum of filty pounds over and above the amount of any deficiency in | the said moneys, seo by him payable; the same te be recovered by Bill, Plaintor information in the |

, det a put it in foree. | our editorial article show this. We merely said, ant League seems determine

| damage the interests of an honest and indulgent

‘of years to pay off the mortgage ?

‘curity of the mortgagor becomes worthless until

lof the Government advanee.

| prompt the sinall capitalist resolutely to refuse all loans for the future.

Supreme Court of Judicature of this Island, to! breaks down the credit of the borrower.

————

————

eoflspring of the Go- and still say, that the sale of the Government vernment policy, and if it works mischief we school books was transferred fom one shop to the think the Government are to blame for it. other. ee

Now, we see that the holder of - hundred Accent ro 8. 8. ComMerce.—On Thursday acres of land will have to pay sown eigniy-cores night last the Steamer Commerce, of the Boston pounds—(that is, presuming be _—— oareer™ of and Colenial 8. 8S. Line, was disabled off Cross rent since 1858)—before he begs to think of el Island — (some forty miles below Halifax)—by coming a freeholder; he is also compelled to sign blowing off ber eylinder-cap, and in consequence

++2b>>- -

an absolute deed of his farnj to the Government) yt am-tug Neptune was despatched to her as- for the advance of £41 13s. 44., being the second sistance, and towed Halifax. The moiety of the purchase, which they have paid to freight of the Commerce has been despatched to the proprietor; and he mud, return that SUID, | Charlottetown by the Brg Chebucto. As will be with interest, in ten annual instalments. In fact, seen by advertisement in another column, the fine he is a tenant to the Government, very stringently steamer City of Bath has been chartered and bound, for ten years; avd if he be alive at the) 1.004 on the route.

end of the period, he may thank his stars that he has become a freedolder of 100 acres of land, after paying £128 138, 4d. besides in- terest on £41 13s. 4d. for ten years—the interest | nesprvcrioNn OF THE STEAMER ‘NEW ENGLAND’ being reduced, of course, by the payment of the —SAD LOSS OF LIFE.

annual instalments. It would be madness to| The splendid and popular steamer ‘* New suppose that » Bill which proposes such terms England” was oie to = ee en would increase the number of freeholders in the a ad ees eat cat UF ear racer self. Sad to say, three of her crew lost their lives.

As near as can be ascertained the fire ori- ginated in the porter’s room, either by the upsetting or the explosion of a kerusene lamp —-the man being in the room at the time— and although he speedily gave the alarm, and the night watch man had just aroused the crew to their morning duties, yet the fire spread with such rapidity, and the smoke became so thick and blinding, that ail of the hands could not escape. ‘he second cook named Jackson, and the third, whose name we could not ascertain, were probably suffo- cated and then burned. Their remains were found in the cook-house, where, itis thought, they made their way—probably to save some of their things. The baggage-master, Fields —a nephew of the Captain—bas not been found. lie was last seen by the mate, in one of the rooms, and it is thought that he may have jumped overboard and have been drowned.

The flames ascended up along the smuke- stack, and the soldiers on the wharf—placed to keep deserters from going on .board—saw them and gave the alarm. Inthe meantime, the officers and crew escaped as best they could. It was Jow water, and there was no way to reach the wharf but by the landing. Ilaste was necessary. The stewardess and her assistants got ashore in their night clothes. One of the officers jumped out of his berth on the first alarm, ran a short dis- tance, and attempted to go back for his mo-

her into

NEW BRUNSWICK.

Colony. It will only serve to increase the nuim- ber of mewbers in the Tenant Union, and supply them with abundant materials for agitation.

Another serious objection to the Bul arises out of the cumbersome machinery by which it is proposed to work it. No jess than three legal instrurmeuts are required,—Ist, a conveyance from the tenant to the Government; 2nd, a convey- ance from the Proprietor to the Goverument ; aud 3rd, the deed conveying the interest in fee to the tenant when the ten annual instalments shall have been paid. The tenant must, of course, bear the cost of all the legal seribbling, if he has the hardihood te have auything at all to do with the affair.

But still more objectionable than any other feature of the Bill we have yet noticed, is the principle laid down in the ninth section relative to the security which the Government are to pos- sess over the tenant's farm in whose favour an advance may be made. It is there distinctly declared ” that the advance mide by the Go- vernment shall constitute “a speeifie Lien and charge on the land described in the Deed for Which payment is due, superior to, and having priority over every other lien or charge en the

claiming by, from, through, under or in trust tur him, whether before or after the date of the deed, rights of dower or otherwise.’ This principle appears to us to be outrageously dames barred his progress. Captain Fields, in the clothes in which he slept, ran from his room along the saloon, but he could not make way through the dense smoke that rolled uy in clouds. Hle-hurried back, pulled on a pair of pants, threw his coat on his arm and got ashore. lle saved nothingelse. In fact, all that was saved was the clothes in which individual got ashore. The highly painted woodwork was as inflammable aliuost as gunpowder; the curtains, bedding &c., &e., burned like so much tinder. In fifteen winutes from the alarm the fire raged from stem tostern. The hawsers burned through. and the vessel, one masy of flames, swept swiftly down in the eurrent, barely swinging clear of @ acheoner laden with deals. Sie took the eddy, however, and gradaally came back, chains were past round her by the aid of boats, and she was fastened to the wharf The steam fire engines were then enabled to play upon her, but she was toofar gone. In some places the hull is burned through. No one who has not seen the vessel can imagine the wreck she is. There is nothing but the shell left, the smoke-stack has tumbled over, the builer is wrent and twisted, the ma- chinery is mixed ap m almost inextricable confusion. It would be hard to recognize in this burned and charred mass, the nuble looking ** New England.’’ Her present eon- dition reveals the fact that she was a boat of great durability — probably one of the etrongest of her kind afloat. She was bail: in New York, and would have been three years old in June. She cost about £30 000, and had no insurance. She is prineipally owned in Portland and Boston, and a few shares held here.

dishonest, and can hardly help leading to the dis- allowance of the Bill, if it should be noticed at Why,

for example, should Government be allowed to

the Colonial Office, as we hope it will be.

creditor, who, perhaps, tes years ago, made a considerable advance to a poor tenant en a mort-| each gage of his farm, and allowed him a long series The tenant, we will suppose, proposes to buy his farm with the aid of the Government advance; and the se-

the claim of the Governmeat is first satisfied. Ii the mortgagor cannot foreclose, he must take proceedings by ejeetment, or in some other way, to secure himself; and thus will be bring ruin on his poor debtor. Tn short, ths section of the Act very clearly proclaims that the tenant who has borrowed money from any private individual, on landed security, must never think, so long as the security is held, of buying his farm with the belp This

principle goes further in its misebievous tendency

dishonest

It warns the smal] capitalist to get in as speedily as possible the money he has lent to tenants here, there and everywhere, lest the debtors should take advantage of the offer made by the Govern- ment under their precious Loan Bill; and it will

This part of the Bill fills the mind of the money-lender with suspicion, and No

ney, which was under his pillow, bat the |

blind, and that it would be only ri cognizing

bumble unobtrusive worth to make him Jo-|

seph Murphy, Eeq , J.P. Stranze to say, the Liberal Government did not see the mat. ter im the same hight as Mr Murphy did. Tie said Joseph then urged his claims in terms more forcible than polite but the Go-| vernment, fur reasons best known to them-

CAP. V.

| An Act to assist Leaseholders in the purchase of

the Fee-siinple of their Farms. — Passed April 23, 1865

Whereas the creation and continuance of

Leasehold Tenures on Township Lands in this

and for the use of Her Majesty’s Governwent. The first great objection to this measure is that it leaves the tenant to negotiate his sale with the proprietor. In the cases of wineteen tenarts | out of twenty sales cannot be effected. The Pro-| prietors, as a class, have a very decided objection |

tenant will ever again be able to borrew a pound upon bis lease, unless he gives a guarantee that he does not inteud to purchase with the Govern- ment aid—and the loans already effected will be sharply looked after, lest the Governuweut should have a chauce of stepping iu aad waking the first

selves, refused to entertain the modest Jy-| Island, have tended to check the progress and to this mode of converting their estates into smal!) haul.

seph’s claims. These reasons, whatever they | were, must have been pretty strony ones, fur there Was not at that time a very plentifu! supply of Justices of the Peace in those! regivns. Ill-natured people say that if Ju- eeph bad been at all eligible, the Government must have yielded to his uneeasing im porta- | nity. But ill-natured people are always: eaying what they had'nt ought to. The unambditious and unselfish Joseph, disgusted, | nv doubt, with the obduracy and unappre- cliative nature of the Government, and des- pairing of attaining bis end by their means, looked about him to find if there was no other way of procuring the honours he co- vetted than by supporting the liberal party. A general election was at hand, and the as-| tute Juseph saw that by selling his voce and| interest to the Tories, he might purchase the | Ieng-wished-ior honour. Now the said Jo- sepii, your readers must know, is a Catholic ‘7 and for a Liberal and a Catholic to band! himeelf with Tories and Orangemen — with | the supporters of proprietors and the de-| famers of the priesthood, was almost to unite! religious with political apostacy. Stull Ju-| sepl was ready to pay any price for the, privilege of being called an E-quire. What were his own principles, the honour of his! clergy and the sacredness of his Ci.ureh but! mere ideas — airy abstractions; but a seat! among the magistrates and an efice under! Government, these were real tangible goods worth the sacrifice of any quantity of unsub- stantial, unproductive notions. The bargain was accordingly struck, and this i mous * Spud’ showed his reverence tor his) Chareh and bis sympathy for the tenantry | by siding with the enemies of both in one of | the most bitter contests that the I-land has} yet seen. The apostate Joseph—({ had al-| most written Jadas)—las received the wages) of imiquity, and yet be still has the uablush-| ing effrontery to hold up his head among| honest people, and publicly to prate about ambition and selfistiness. [ dont believe | there can be found in the length and breadth of the [sland a more ambitious and a more |

eeliieh wortal than this same J sepl, and one | lawful money of this Island, per aere, and is de-| of the bad would be bought. The value of Go-

that would resort to dirtier means to attain noy object he had set his heart uyon. THAT'S ME. Somewhere, April 27th, 1865. fe To THe Epitor or tue Examiner.

Sir :—The public Square of Georetown is naturally a beautilul piece of ground, which rises with # graceful slope from tue lower tuwards the upper part of the town. Art has yet done nothing to beautify it, for it is at presentdishigured by three publichuildings which any man of good taste and money would, i sufficiently patriotic, pull down at lis own expense, aod rebuild in a wore pleasing and tasteful style of arc! itecture Toe beautiful forest trees with whicle nature firet adorned this plot of ground, have been all destroyed, and in their place appears the Ja:] and Coart House, which resew|les sume Lunatic Asylum of the past century; the Academy which appears to have been pitched vo tu the Square, (probably located at the whim of some local school trustee), with the

sume regard for its position as is die played in its absurd architectural proportions, or rather \ in its want of all just proportion, as well as

retard the prosperity thereof, and it is deemed expedient to aid and assist leaseholders in pur- chasing the fee simple of their Farms from their Proprietors or Landlords:

I. Be it theretere euacted by the Lieutenant Governor, Ceancil and Assembly, as follows: I:

shail be lawful for the Lieutenant Governor in |

Counel, to authorize the issue of Goverument Debentures, to an amount not exeeeding Fifty thousand pounds, of lawful money of this Island, in such form, and the priucipal and interest whereof shail be payable at such periods and places as he shall think fit, but bearing interest

| at the rate not exceeding six pounds per centum | per annum, aud redeemable ata period not ex- |

ceeding teu years trom the date of the issue; and to advance the suin to be raised by the issue of the said debentures as an aid by loans to any leaseholders or tenants of Township lands, who may be desirous of purchasing from their land- lords the reversion in fee-simaple of their farms, upon the terms and conditions contained in this Act. If. For the repayment of all sums of money borrowed onder this Act, and the interest thereon, the surplus woneys Which shall bereaiter cowe to hand, arising from the sale of lands purchased under this Act, and paid into the Treasury, shall, io the first instance, be pledged and rendered liable: and the other pubiic funds, moneys aid securities of this Island shall be, and the same are hereby in the next place, pledged and render- ed liable, subject vevertheless to any prior line or elaiin thereou by any debentures previcusly is- sued by the Government of this Island.

LIL. Tie total amount of the aid which any

| leasebolder or tenant of township lands shall loa | 1t may be said that the tenant in making a bar-

from the Government shall not exceed one halt the purchase mouey that he may have agreed to

uagnanl-| pay his landlord or proprietor for the purchase of |

the reversion in fee-simple ot his farm. 1V. No leaseholder or tenant shall be entitled

to any aid under the provisions of this Act, who |

shall enter into any agreement with his landlord or proprietor to give more than sixteen shillings and eight pence of lawtul money of this isiand, per acce, tur the reversion in iee-simple of his farm.

V. Every tenant or leaseholder of township

j lands, whe has entered inte an agreement with | likely that in any sale to a tenant they would ask

his proprietor er laudiord, for the purchase of the reversion of lis fare in tee-siumple, at a rate not exeeeding sixteen shillings and eight pence of

sirous of obtaining aud receiving aid or assistance

from the Government to the extent of net more |

than one moiety or equal half part of the said

purchase, shall make a written or printed appli-| clearly established at prices rauging from six cation to that effect tou the Commissioner ot} shillings to twelve shillings and six pence —

Public Lande, VI. Upon receipt of the said application, the

Commissioner of Public Lauds shall cause the | ants generally are

title and value of the suid leaseholder or tenant, aud that of his proprietor or landlord, to the said farm, to be investigated.

VII. If, upon such investigation, the title and value of the suid farm shall prove satisfactory, the said leaseholder or tenant shall 1uiuediatel) therealier pay oug moiety or equal balf part of the said purchase money into the office of the said Comuussioner of Public Lands. and, at the same time, sigu and execute an assignment or surrender uf his lease or agreements to the said Comssioner of Public Lands, and his successors in office, in the furm in the Schedule to this Aci annexed, marked (A), or in such other form as the said Commissioner of Public Lands sial! direct.

VILL. The Commissioner of Public Lands shall, upon receipt of the said mviety or equal half part ot the said purchase money, aud the execution of

| (the latter being the highest charge)—that the

freeholds, because they know that by this mode |

jonly the best portions of their land would be |

‘taken and the worst and most unprofitable would | be left upon their bands. Besides, the trouble ov! dealing with the tenants in their new character | of intending freeholders, would be fully as great,

if not greater, than that which the landlords have | to encounter in the collection of rents, while being | less advantageous in a pecuniary point of view. , [t would be more to the advantage of a proprietor | to sell to the Government his lands — good, bad

| and indifferent—at seven shillings and six pence

an acre—which is the maximum price under the | old Land Purchase Bill—and have all his money paid down, or well secured by debentures, than to get sixteen shillings and e:ght pence an acre for an odd spot here and there, by parting with which the value of the whole estate would be very seriously impaired.

The second objection we have to the Act is in regard to the price — sixteen shillings and eight pence an acre. This is entirely too high a price, and would be found to be very far beyond the means of paying vn the part of any considerable number of tenants — certainly very few tenants ned be able to pay it in the terms which the | Act prescribes as to the first part of the payment.

| gain with his landlord is not bound to give so

high a price as 16s. 8d. per acre,—he may get his land very considerably under that figure, but he | must not go beyond it if he would desire to secure ithe Government help. This is true enough, se | far as it goes; but there is nu mistaking this fact, (that the mere mention of the 16s. 8d. is a plain | intimation to the proprietors that such is a rea- sonable charge for their lands. It is not at all

jless, as they would act upon th: principle of making their good land pay for the bad, for none }

| vernment lands on the Worrell and other estates

in the hands of the Government, has been so

unwilling to give a higher price for their farms; and, indeed, we caunot blame them for this unwillinguess. The Government purchases have set a value upon proprietors’ lands which all the legislation that cau be attempted will not be able to alter.

Then, as to the payment of the first moiety. On 3 hundred acres the amount would be £41 13s. 4d. How many tenants are there in the Colony who could pay down that sum, together with the rents which have accrued since 1858 — seven years—amounting to, say, £45 6s.8d. more? We will venture to assert that not one in a hundred could doit. Thatsuperlative Legislative humbug, kuown as the Fifteen Years Purchase Bill, pro-

the said assignment or surrender as aforesaid. pay over to the said proprietor or landlord, by a cheek or order on the Treasury of this Island, the

of all else that could wake it attractive aad| {| amount of the eaid purchase money so agreed |

pleasing to the ee. defies all comparison. If you bave not se

it, L hope you never may; and then, Sr, you

may suppose that it has at least suwe of the

external, if not the mteroal m guisites of such @ structure. Now, Mr. Editor, I have been Jooking at

Bat the Market-house|

to be paid by the said leaseholder or tenant as aforesaid, when and so soon as the said proprie

€O! tor or landiord shall duly execute a Deed of con-

veyauce of the reversion in fee-simple of the said |

farm to the said Coruniss wuer of Public Lands, | paying opie wen ee specdily abolished. We and his successure in ofiice, upon the trusts, and | buow that the Chairwan of the famous Land Cow. and | wission—that pretty plaything which the Govern-

for the intents and purposes of this Act;

which said deed of conveyance shail be in the

these non-deseript structures for some time) @*™ oF to the effect in the schedule to this Act

past, until f determined in my discontent to take the next contract fur # public building here, and erect one in an uspreved style that wight be a credit to our community, and per- pepe also cause the Georgetuniuns w pull

anuexed, marked (B), erin any other form which the said Commissioner may think fit, or the cir- cumstances of each egse way render beecssary ur advisable; aud such deed of couveyauce shall be

good and vuiid in law aud equity, to vest the be required te pay, The tenantry have generally legul estate aud feesimple in thy eaid Cuumis- taken the benefit of the declaration, and the Ten_

eee ee

poses to cancel ouly the irrecoverable rents that weve due prior to 1358. Since that date reuts have generally been allowed to fall in arrear, be- cause the Government policy, or the Government cajolery, for the last six years, has been such as to lead the people to believe that the rent-

meat dandled before the eyes of the tenantry tor & considerable time—declared authoritatively in : open Court that ove year’s rent from the first of May, 1°58, would be all that the tenantry should

This, forsooth, is the Bull which is said to be ae great boon to the tenantry. It proposes to ap- propriate Fifty thousand pounds to their aid un der the conditions we have very briefly referred to. It might as well have proposed to expend a inillion of pounds, for all the good that will come of it.

soviet Hh tthe

THE Protestant, of Saturday, has returned te

the advertisement controversy. We have no

desire to pursue it any further. The smallness of

| the subject, and the meanness which has char-

acterised its discussions ip the columns of the Protestant, are admirably suited to the intellect of Mr. Donald Currie, to Whom Mr. Laird has very unwisely lent his columns for the purpose of traducing the Colonial Secretary, not thinking, perhaps, that other persons would be included in the clumsy misrepresentations of the discharged clerk. We shall notice two palpable falsehoods :—

Ist. “ We have it on good authority that ad- vertisements have been certified by some of the departments as service performed, and at the same time they were never ‘ expressly ordered’ by these departments.”

Here we have a clear, unmitigated falsehood. We deny most positively that any advertise- menta have been certified, and not “ expressly We dare and defy the Protestant to

’

ordered.” produce his “ good authority,” or the smallest particle of evidence to support the lying assertion Donald Currie has imposed upon Mr. Laird with a mischievous Lig in reference to a small affair; but small as it is, it disgraces

above quoted,

the paper in which it appears. Now, we repeat that the statement above quoted is a most de- liberate and malicious Lig, and the writer knew when he penned it that he had not an atom of proof to support it.

The second false assertion we shall notice is the following :—

“Mr. Whelan admits that he received £32 18s. for Government advertising in about twelve months,”

Mr. Whelan never made any such admission at We defy the Protestant lo reproduce the words that convey the aduiissiun. it is a melancholy thing to see a professedly reli- gious paper dealing so recklessly in small false- hoods of this kind, that could not posssibly serve its interests in any way, and that, as its editor must have known, would be surely exposed. We believe Mr. Laird to bea moral and righteous man, and a keen one withal; and therefore are we astunished that he should allow a perverse, empty fool hke Currie te spoil the religious cha- racter of his paper by the publication of dcli- berate falsehouds.