' Melissa and Mr. McFarlane. 
     
    
   
   
    
     -4 Whereas the House of Assembly of this Colony bath for 
     
     year! last‘-p1ast endeavoured to procure a forfeiture of 
     
     several Tow 'pa in the same, on the grounds that the 
     
     graatau thereof. and their heirs and assigns, have not com- 
     
    

    
     with the conditions of the original grants from the 
     
    

    
     , and bath repeatedly solicited the Imperial Govern- 
     
     tto direct the establishment of ii Court of Eaeheat in 
     
     thi Colony for that purpose; and whereas such solicitation 
     
     god request of the House of Assenibi hath been refused, and 
     
     no other means appear at present easible or attainable to 
     
     procure relief to the Tenantry from the pressure ct‘ largo 
     
     arrears of rent sought to be enforced against them by the 
     
     aid grantees, their hcers or assigns. than y the purchase of 
     
     the nghtl of the said grantees, their heirs and assigns, by 
     
     the Crown.” 
     
    

    
     N ow, Mr. Chairman, I ask where is the difference between 
     
     the rineiple of this Bill and the Land Purchase Bill in force 
     
     at present time? The hon. member may talk about forc- 
     
     stallers steppin in and enhancing the price to the Government. 
     
     We could not, ir, compel parties tosell their property, we 
     
     had but to decide upon the purchase of what should be 
     
     ofiered to us, and only ask from the settlers what the 
     
     land cost the country. But. Mr. Chairman, it may be 
     
     as well to see the opinion of the House on the question in 
     
     1841. On the Journalsof that year I find, under the date 
     
     of the 17th February, that on a motion that the Bill be read 
     
     the day three months the House divided as follows: 
     
     Yeas—Mr. Palmer. Hon. J. S. McDonald, Mr. Longwcrth; 
     
     Nays—Mr. D. McDonald, Mr. Dalzicl, Mr. German, Mr. 
     
     Mont mery, Mr, Rae, Mr.Fraser, Mr. Clark, Mr. McLean, 
     
     Mr. Lacheur, Mr. Forbes, Mr. McIntosh, Mr. Bock, Mr. 
     
     Now, Sir, at that time, it 
     
     inlght have been possible to have obtained Escheat, if there 
     
     h not been so much division among parties in this House 
     
     and the Island. That Bill, as the division ahews, received 
     
     the support of fourteen members, while only three recorded 
     
     their votes against it. It was introduced while the hon. 
     
     member was Speaker, by his own party, and submitted and 
     
     carried with his consent and approval, and yet,fcrsootli! with 
     
     that preamble, which I have just read, staring him in the 
     
     face. he still talks of obtainin a Court of lnscheat, and 
     
     says there is nothing against it ut Colonial Ministers’ des- 
     
    

    
     tches! Why, Mr. Chairman, I would ask if Lord John 
     
    

    
     umell's despatoh in 1839, the year in which the hon. mem- 
     
     ber was a delegate to England, does not state as plainly and 
     
     emphatically as words can, the determination of the Imperial 
     
     Government not to sanction Esoheat. in this Island. The 
     
     Home Government has been so often applied to for the 
     
     establishment of a court of this nature, and they have so 
     
     firmly and constantly refused to allow it, that the a 'tation 
     
     of the question is not only useless, but mischievous. as ending 
     
     the people to i ‘no that they can obtain what will never be 
     
     coded. I am satisfied that this House has it in its power to 
     
     mitigate the hardships on the tenantry arising from the 
     
     original grants: that remedy is by taxing the lands of the 
     
     printers. Under that system, the pi-oprietois will soon 
     
     bio led to come in and offer their lands to the Government 
     
     or the Land Purchase Bill. The Home Government has 
     
    
   
   
    
     ». been so emu applied to on the subject of Fscheat-, that it is 
     
    
   
   
    
     useless to agitate the question further, and we should turn 
     
     our attention to the best practicable mode of releaving -the 
     
     tenantry from the inconveniences arising from the original 
     
    
   
   
    
     is. 
     
     ‘ulnshall now, Sir, request the attention of the committee 
     
     to the report ofthe hon. member. submitted to the House on 
     
     his return from his second mission to England, which is as 
     
     follows :— » 
     
    

    
     “ From the opinions I had entertained for the settlement 
     
     of the Land Question, that a settlement could not be made 
     
     without the sanction of the British or Colonial Legislature; 
     
     and as Ministers were not inclined to submit the question to 
     
     the Imperial Parliament, norto give any answer to a Dele- 
     
     A to from the House of Assembly of Prince Edward Island, 
     
    

    
     appeared to me that the views of Her Majesty's Govern- 
     
    

    
     ’ ted to the Lieutenant Governor " thro 
     
     the 
     
    
   
   
    
     _ respondence with that 
     
     jiflcar,’ would. in all probability, oouwey aufllcient instruc- 
     
     'tlon\o enable the House of Assembly to legislate fortlie 
     
     ' ' I o'f“the pen ' e, with «some confidence that their 
     
     would meet e views ofthe other branches of  
     
     Ingialature ; and, as it was not likely that I would receive 
     
     any further instruction from House of Aneinbly until 
     
    
   
   
    
     (3) 
     
    
   
   
    
     the end of the Session, I therefore denied it proper to re- 
     
    
   
   
    
     turn to the Island. 
     
    

    
     " Before I left London, I a ed to-Counsel thr advice on 
     
     behalf of the Teuantry, on e plea of the forfeiture of 
     
     Grants and es for the fishery; but the Counsel do- 
     
     olined to give an opinion, as I had not the laws of the Island 
     
     with me, to enable him to see whether or not any of the 
     
     Colonial Statutes went to confirm the Grants, or the purchase 
     
     of them by other persons. 
     
    

    
     “ I also applied to Joseph Hume, Esq., M. P.,to enter 
     
     into arrangements with that gentleman for bringing the 
     
     grievances of the Colony before Parliament, and delivered to 
     
     crgiies of the correspondence that had passed between 
     
     me an the Colonial Oliice: and he, on the perusal of the 
     
     correspondence, frankly declared his willingness to do all that 
     
     laid in his power for the settlement of the Colony, and was 
     
     pleased to add, by way of advice and instruction—it n peared 
     
     to him, the oppression of Tenantr , by none who had not 
     
     performed any of the conditions the Gwrants, was a ques- 
     
     tion at law, which would ultimately be given in favour ofthe 
     
     Tenantry ; if not in the Island, it would, if the suits were 
     
     carried to the Courts in England, as he could not see how 
     
     the Crown, who was the Trustee for the people, and the jud 
     
     sworn to administer impartial justice between subject and sag 
     
     ject, could refuse to put the law in force against the proprie- 
     
     tors, to forfeit the land, and deliver the tenantry from a 
     
     bondage which originated from a neglect of the Crown Olli- 
     
     cers to perform their duty—that for the Courts of the Island 
     
     to take advantage of such neglect, which com llcd British 
     
     subjects to submit to bondage, and then by aw to compel 
     
     them to perform any obligations the proprietors had exacted, 
     
     appeared a case of such iniquity, that be (Mr. Hume) had 
     
     not heard of the like being sanctioned by the British Go- 
     
     vernment. _ 
     
    

    
     H I stated that the tenantry were too poor to go to law 
     
     with the proprietors —- that it was equally as impossible for 
     
     the tenantry to obtain justice by law as it was for them to 
     
     pay the rent. Mr. Hume said, “ then your House of Assem- 
     
     bly should address your Governor, and inquire for the In- 
     
     structions the Minister has sent; and if they will not afford 
     
     redress, inquire whether any Court in the Island will take 
     
     cognizance of the non-performance of the conditions of the 
     
     Grants, to forfeit the land and relieve the tenantry ; and if 
     
     you do not obtain a satisfactory answer from your Gover- 
     
     nor, the House of Assembly should examine the ofiicers of 
     
     your Courts of Justice (if you have any), and inquire by 
     
     what authority they are prevented from enforcing the for- 
     
     feiture of the Grants against the proprietors; and if they 
     
     are prevented, inquire in like manner by what law or au- 
     
     thority they can reconcile it with justice to compel the ten- 
     
     antry to submit to the demands and exactions of the proprie- 
     
     tors; nnd if you find, upon such examinations, that your 
     
     Courts will not afibrd relief to the tenantry, and that your 
     
     Council will not agree to an Act for the settlement of the 
     
     people, it would be proper for your House of Assembly to 
     
     examine several of the proprietors, as to whether they are 
     
     the grantees, or hold their right by purchase or inheritance 
     
     ——the terms on which the tenantry hold of thein—t|ic rents 
     
     received, and in arrears; and also examine a portion of the 
     
     tenantry as to the treatment they have received. 
     
    

    
     ' " A report of such examinations as your House of Assam- 
     
     bly msy think necessary, in support of the charges they in- 
     
     tend to prefer, and a list of the Documents forwarded to the 
     
     Colonial Ofiice, from the earliest periods, for redress of those 
     
     grievances; and also, a list of the despatches in answer to 
     
     such applications, together with a petition to the British 
     
     Parliament, will be suficieut for me to bring the matter be- 
     
     fore Parliament." 
     
    

    
     “ In case the House of Assembly should not be disposed 
     
     to follow the foregoing recommendations, or, if it is followed, 
     
     and, through any utmost event, prove unsuccessful, there has 
     
     been another plan suggested to me for redress of our griev- 
     
     snow. 
     
    

    
     " Several gentlemen, with whom I have convcrscd on the 
     
    
   
   
    
     E’ 
     
     S 
     
    
   
   
    
     ugh subject, are of opinion that the delay of Ministers toredrees 
     
    
   
   
    
     our grievanea, has for its object to induce the people of thi 
     
     Island to seek for annexation to Nova Scotia; and the dele- 
     
     gates from that province, whom I not in London, and several 
     
     influential gentlemen of their House of Assembly, whom «I 
     
     afterwards -met in Halithx. declared that if the people of ‘the 
     
     Island were inclined to be annexed to Nova S_cotia._ they 
     
     would do every thing in their power to have the lnlllbli-IIII