as. _ Che Et re JOURNAL OF POLITICS, > UMN eT, LITERATURE AND NEWS. = EDWARD WHELAN] —_____@his is tne Set, when Seeorn Mn, asing to avis the Dale, may spk fre—ronm®, ———~—~—_(HDITOW avo PUDLISIIBE | VoL. VIL. ee CHARLOTTETOWN, direct a commission to some discreet and impartial person, not connected with the Island, or its affairs, to enquire into the | existing relation between Landlord end ‘Tenant, and to nego- tiate with the Proprietors for such abatement of present liabili- = and for such terms for enabling the Tenantry to convert , a their leaseholds into freeholds, as—without infringing on the SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS. rights of the landlords—may be fairly and reasonab!y asked for to ameliorate the condition of the Tenantry. Wenonespay, 4th May, 1859. *¢ 2d. Resolved, That in the opinion of this House the basis of House met at 4 p. m. any such arrangement should be a large remission of arrears of Mr. Loxeworta moved the first reading of a Bill to, Tents now due ; and secondly, the giving every tenant holding amend the Act of Incorporation of the @harlottetown Gas under a long lease an option of purehasing his land at a certain Company, by enabling them to put up gas fittings, &c., in| "*> 9! 8PY time he might find it convenient to do so. private houses, when requested to do so either by the owners “3d. Resolved, That a remission of arrears of rent may be or occupiers of said houses, the company coarging sent fet reasonably asked, inasmuch as the existence of these arrears, t Re gp : ee lthough it is due partly t ill F such fittings, while in use, in addition to th ; : ee ee eee gs, e cost of gas and pay rent, under the idea that Escheat, or some other delusive | rent of meters. The fittings to be the property of the Com-| echeme, would enable them to evade, yet it is also due in part Provincial Parliament. HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY. _ pany, and authorising them to remove such property when to the laches and remissness of the landlords and their agents | their managers shall deem it meet, Kc. in not enforcing it, and because, in many cases, the arrears, Hon. Col. Gray—Mr. Speaker, I rise for the purpose of however incurred, amount to so large a eum, that the exacting noticing a paragraph in the published report of the debate on | Me™ Would prove ruinous to a large number of loyal and in- the address, in which an observation is attributed to me which dustrious people; and would further entirely put it out of their { did not make. I am there represented to have said “ that | Poy her themselves of the plan suggested in eubsequent the Bill guaranteeing the Loan had been abandoned by the Goan ac a ena bee Imperial Parliament in consequence of the falsehoods and | yore Resolved, That as the circus sta: ces of the tenantry misrepresentatious contained im the despatches on the subject | in a re _apaninelongyetig nate ~' -) Bayne sere Bane, elt apie of the financial conditica of the Colony—and not from the} jhe os scsibanctaatiiedadiie-intiiauatancue. ta aien aie pposition of the proprietars.”” Sir, the Reporter has, unin- : would practically constitute every farm a savins’s bank for ts tetitionally, IT am willing to believe, put into my mouth | owner, in which he could, froin tune, invest his savings al language stronger than [ used. I did not use the word | interest towards the purciiase of his farm, an arrangement | * €lsehood” at all, nor did 1 reflect, in any way, upon any oe could be effecied by the following means, viz: that the despatches transmitted by His Excellency the Lieut. Gover: | ao should agree Ww oo “ Seems purchase then ; : | farms for such sum per acre as should be fixed upon ; and pro- uor,—what I intended to convey was to th st the | Cee ' J 7 e effect that I was | viding further, that when any tenant (whose rent was paid up) surprised that the hon. member, the leader of the late Govern-| should be desirous of paying any sum not being Jess than tea, ment, should have assigned as the cause of the abandonment! pounds towards the purchase of his land, he shouid bave the | of the Loan Bill by the British Government, a combination | option of doing soe, and that the interes! on the ten poands, or | of proprietcrs ; while the true reason for the loss of the | other amount so paid, should thenceforth go in reduction of his | weasare was to be found in the glaring misrepresentations yearly rent, and so on for every payment on account of purch=se, eontaired in the financial statements which accompanied the} uoti! the whole was paid, when he should receive his Deed ; ‘and that similar covenants shou!d be inserted tn all futrre Icases ; ms . \for terms over forty years. Such an arrange*per; w Aas Hon. Col. Gray then moved 2nd order of the day—that | 9y) a all “i a ae eet Wenie oe he # santo C : the a 2 only give the tenant the advantage of paying an instalment of } use go into Committee on the despatches sen , siete mail nt 7” ‘ ant O wae rouse € ' ° siches sent GOWD | lus purchase money, and at tbe sanie time reducing his rent by the Lieutenant Governor. ) ’ ; met . Ge: paicau. ,; whenever he chose, Wi'hou! subjecting hun to the vexation and i Te > ¥ >} ha 1c > ld -ostno al ens meriont to ears Hon. Mr. W IGHTMAN hoped Bue Liou: e wouid Posty ne the/ costs incident to ca és of Inability to meet iostelments agreed | tehoc i lé fe aking , he des wit es Th ho the at F } ‘ . ord eS iv rarite, * uf = de pate aol ihe re lead: r of 3 be paid at % particular day, but would, in the opinion of this Her Majesty's Uppusition was unable to attend Irom an ac-| Mouse, gradually but certainly change the tenures, into free- cident, and as the matter of the deSpatches was of the most) P-.ds without the ajd of loans, and the expensive subsistence serious import, it was necessary that the hon. gentleman | of Public Offices, by which heavy habilities have already been | /and would, if persevered into a much greater exten!, be imposed should be present. Mr. Cooper coineided in opinion with the Ion. Mr. Wight-! on the public finances. man, and hoped Hon. Mr. Coles would be able to attend to-| 7 . morrow (Thursday). Ilion. Col. Gray observed that when. IIon. Mr. Palmer had named to-morrow for the despatches, the Opposition objected, | and named Tuesday (yesterday), which was agreed to by the Government. If such delay continued to mark their proceed- ings, he did not know when they should be able to finish the 9% -—-seyeraily proposed by Hon. Mr. Whelan and Mr. Cooper— the above resolutions were earried, with the substitution, un- animeusly agreed to, of 40 instead of 100 years, as the mini- mum period for leases entitling the holders tu the benetits of the proposed arrangements. Mr. Coorer, ina very lengthened speech, stated his objections i 7 ert | business of the Session. . ; : as t ouse pinpeNnz stor singe of She 7 rht all the members should be ant to the Resolutions—entered iwto the history of the original - . — for ee reas he cj y ‘ ir. ) gi ne mbers sii e pres : as ‘ j , said, the report cf the Sehoal sil r ota te a ee Blt to ee pe present. | srants—showed that the conditjons had not been complied with | m. Me. VeRrr sai’, ti port of the Scnoni Visitor, and Hon. Mr. Thornton, Mr- MeNeill, and others, were absent. | “ ote nis that of the Boord of Education, were now before them. In aad th teed te wiene te enter tuto the ai ; et] |—that the origiffal rights conce‘ed by the grants had been ' ; by! n roul ’ e arscuss eis Ps : 42 . ee 7 . i iooKine erthose rer te :t was a depnloraDdie circuims's ce to de tel : : th . s f aso be _ nie b e | forfeited—re-investing them in the Crown. He thought the | PSL aret Se a: <b a 4 tg a sara . 28D € e absence s : y incmobers. + hoped 4 etal c like ‘ He ope were s ipathetic and indifieren ine ho a tye send a ae C c ny 1d t = hi - ‘oped. | right of purchase should extend to Leases of 40 years. Leet. fure. ee te ee eee re r { i 3: ne t 4 Pa ot re . . ed > - ady: aces of nema; ~ »>had kent > bey re nowever, that the Hon. Mr. Coles would be In his place to Hon. Mr. THornTon approved of the spirit of the Resolutions, | * vantages of education Sowe had kept their childremat home | morrow, when he would have no objection to proceed with the | hut objected to the preamble. It was wrong to entrust one a ee mobs ; 1, | Person with the power of eettling the land tenures of the a ha gg ional gree pa ar aoe ese cane 4a] Colony; there should at least be three. He was in favor of ees © DOS. HRS VO. WE) onsent to G0) the second Resolution. It had always been his plan, when he 80. . ; eer clon _|eould not get all he wished, to take what he could get. The The despatches were accordingly postponed until to-morrow} arrears should all—the greater part at least—be struck off (T ureday), at ll o'clock, a.m. “ with one stroke of the pen, as Mr. Cobbeit had proposed to do (he House then went into Committee of Supply, and grant-| with the National Debt. He believed that P.E. Island would ed the remaining fee (already published) the last never be prosperous until she had more freeholders than ten- being that moved by the Hon. Mr. Palmer, £6 12s. 9d.,/ ants. That was his motto. Arrears had accumulated—the ; = ‘ agg} : Pt tees to reimburse the President of St. Dunstan's College for duty many disastrous seasons between the years 1845 & 1857 pro-| paid on a set of Philosophical Lustraments for the use of the) duced an accumulation—the people had nothing to give. The | College. - aii reasons should be stated why the peeple were not able to pay. Adjourned at 7 o'clock. e He could not see any reasons for fixing the instalments at Axtuony Breer, seporter. | ¢10—why not name £5—the smaller the sum the greater the | “we a inducement to pay. He objected also to confine the purchase | { t Tuvrespay, May 5, 1859. | to Leases of 190 years—those having leases of 60 years should | THE LAND QUESTION. likewise he entitled to the privilege. | . alsites . , , . Hon. Col. Gray felt thankfal to the Hon. Mr. Thornton for | House met at 11 o'clock, and resolved itself into a committee his appreciation, in par , of the measure. Te trusted that of the whole = the er oan Yeo iH ene through the negotiation of the Commissioner land would not | Hon. Col. Gray ca a eo eae abiistnd f “a ‘sell too high—such had not been the case in Canada—he | genius, literary talents _ ered art ot an fe aid 7 © | hoped that the Commissioner would battle successfully for the resent Colonial minister, Sir E. Bulwer Lytton. He said the | pi ohts of the poor man, and see that full justice should be done | sugested the mode of its accomplishment ; and if his views of the House. He had always a very great aversion to leases | were met in a friendly spirit, this long agitated question would | 6. 49 years, but should not object to 60. be finally arranged, to the satisfaction of the Proprietors, and| “Phe “debate, which will appear hereafter, continued till ihe benefit of the Tenants. The Resolutions which he had) } ,1¢ past 10 o'clock, when the Resolutions, with 40 years drawn up for the adoption of the House embraced a prospect) instead of 100, were agreed to on the following division :— of satisfactory adjustment—they were in accordance with the) Aga nst them. sug,estions of the minister—suited to the wants of th people, | For the resolutions. and adapted to the state of the Colony. The hon. gentleman | Hon. Col. Gray, IIon. Mr. Whelan, haying, at considerable length, developed his own views with | ** Mr. Palmer, «© Mr. Coles, reference to the relations of Landlord and Tenant, &c., moved | ‘© Mr. Longworth, the following Resolutions :— ss 6 Mr. Yeo, Mr. Cooper, ‘s Whereas certain questions arising ovt of the original grants | ‘6 Mr. Pope, Mr. Sinclair, ‘s Mr. Haviland, 6“ Mr. Laird, ss Mr. McAulay, Mr. Knight, Mr. Doyle, Mr. Satherland.—8. of the lands in this Island, severaliy called the Escheat ques-| tien, the Fishery Reserve question, and the Quit Keat question, | have for many years caused much discussion and difference of | ‘Opinion amonyat the people of this Island, and many delusive Mr. Douse, projects and impracticable measures have been, and are from | Mr. Rawsay, time to time, enunciated respecting such questions, whereby | Mr. John Yeo, the tenantry have been, and ere greatly limposed upon, end | Mr. Owen, induced to support the propounders of such measures, under | Mr. MeNeill, the delusive hope that by doing so they will be relieved from | Mr. Montgomefy the payment of rent; and the attention both of the people and, Mr. Howat, Legislature being occupied with such deceptive schemes, inea-| Mr. Holm, sures teffding to develop the resources of the Colony #re not | Mr. Davies, only neglected, but a state of soc ety, equally opposed to the | Hon. Mr. Perry.—18. PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, MONDAY, JUNE 6, 1859. _ aR Re tinea hgnaaeaivedgetemnapueeae teres aoe : a aleaeaacinetineanin tenant — ET amicable means the long agitated question with respect tothe | Hon. Mr New i tenures of land in this Island ; and as an earnest of that disposi- nearly £400 oe cman aden cae . ao ei tons = was passed in 1853 — which received the sanction law, as it now existed, it was time to ffect such an beeen ee nie eteee ene’ — to purchase the estates ef the as would prevent the repetition of such applications. He felt Saal - rae fixed rates, under the operation of | jt very hard for Teachers to be deprived of their salaries, but which two valuable estates were purchased and’ sold in small | shey had no remedy by the Statute. Who were cul able? tracts a settlers thereon, by means of which their material | ‘he parents, by allowing their children to remain ewe from eter 1as ae much advanced; and the Legislabure of | school, and rendering it impossible for the Teacher to keep up : e ny subsequently passed a Bill to raise a Loan by \the legal average. Some coercive measure must be resorted mperial guarantee, so that greater effect might be given to to, to check the evil. [le held in his hand a petition from Lot en aes i of the Purchase Bill, and which measure was 53, numerously signed, to amend the onan power to aeeras cospmmennty Os ie pigte see, Honey Labouchere enforce the schoolmasters’ fees—making the teachers, parents ogi. 3 - Lord Stan ey, ately Secretaries of State and trustees, mutually responsible, so that those demands shall or the Colonies — But the Loan Bill having been disallowed not be made in future. Thus they would have the power in — by means of private intrigue and gross misrepresentation, 88 ‘heir own hands to apply a remedy to the evils of re stem this Committee believe — and it being inexpedient to effect) which earnestly deminded reform i : : any further purchases of Township lands in the absence of | cae ures into freeholds lies in the adoption of a plan which | | After a protracted debate, and the rejection of amendments, | moral, social, and politica! welfare of the people and their true interests, is produced ; and whereas, various Despaiches have for a great number of years declared that Her M .jesty’s Go- vernment will not consent to any compulsory interference with the laws and rights of the Proprietors, and which has been strong!y reiterated in the Despatches of Sir Edward Bulwer r ' Whercas, Certain despatches from former Seeretaries of Lytton—now Her Majesty’s principal Necretary of State for the Colonies—da‘ed the 20th October. 1858, «Wi 3d Dece nber, | r that any measures for the benefit ron amicable arrangement with 12 agitarionof hostile measures, @ame as Escheast, Fi- Prves, and Quit Rents, must not only result, as they a ave done, in leading the tenan'ry inte costs and trouble, without, in any way, ameliorating their condition, but will also engender a feeling n the Proprietors, rendering them disinclined to listen to proposals which, if suen agitation were st anend, they would be likely to entertain ; and whereas, Sir Edward Bulwer Lytion in his Despa'ches above referred to, while refusing to sanction measures which in England are considered inconsistent with the rights of pro perty, has expressed the readiness of Her Majesty's Govern- ment to co-operate with the Legis'a‘ure in furthering measures 1858, from which it is of the Tenantry wu the Propr etors; an for the settlement of the land tenures, if “ conceived in a spirit | of fairness and conciliation to al} parties” :— Therefore Resolved, \st, What a humble address be presented to Her Mjesty, praying that Her Majesty wil! be pleased to have, } ; Hon. Messrs. Thornton and Wightman, and Mr. Conroy, being unavoidably absent, could not vote. The following are the resolutions which were offered in amendment by the Hon. Mr. Whelan, above referred to, and which were lost on the same division as the preceding :— State fur the Colonies and printed in the Journals of the a House of Assembly of this Island, clearly shew that the Crown never relinquished, l ) Township Lands in Prince Edward Island, its claim to the arrears of Quit Rents or to the controul of the Fishery Reserves, and by the Civil List Bill passed in 1851 ceded to this Colony its interest in those Quit Rents and Reserves. | Resolved, therefore, that measures should be adopted to recover from the Proprietors of Township Lands the amount of Quit Rents of which they have been long in arrear, 50 Soon as the present Act authorising an assessment upon lands shall exvire—the money being requuired for the encouragement of edacation and for the general improvement of the Colony ; and that other measures should be resorted to, to pet in force the right which this Colony has legally acquired to lease or otherwis? dispose of the Fishery Reserves for the benefit of the people of this Island. fe Whereas the Government and Legislature of this Island for several yeare past, shown a disposition to eeitle by : ; | | such a measure, this House regret that they perceive no other | method of effecting a settlement of the question of the Land tenures that will prove satisfactory to the people of this Island than by resorting to their undoubted constitutional right of )demanding an investigation into the original titles of the assumed Land Proprietors. ‘ | Resolved, therefore, that an address be presented to Her | | Majesty, praying that she may be graciously pleased to authorise the establishment of a Court of Enquiry, to investi- | gate the claims of individuals holding Township lands in this Island, in virtue of Crown Grants, the conditions upon which they were made not haying been complied with. J TEACHERS’ PETITIONS. Frivay Foxrxooy, May 6, Ilouse met at 11 o'clock, and resolved self into a Commi'tee (of the whole on Teachers’ Peutions. Hon. Mr, MeAulay is | the chair. | lion, Mr. Panmer hoped that the Committee had carefully considered the cirenme.ances of those Pettuons—the facts con- | tamed in each—a,i assured themselves that the claim was tair jand equitavle ; for puless there were some special circumstances | (a eacd petiiion to warrant the House in interfering, tiey were j a Ju-uned in doing so. ‘The Statute was very full upon the iSuoject, aod they shou'd be most careful in carrying out Us |provisions. They all knew how easy it was for & Veacher to ‘inake out a prima facie case, to warrant him in coming before ‘this House by petition; but yet nt did not follow that they should vote away the public money wFhout feeling satisfied ithat the claim was jast. ‘Those petitions toox up a great deal of tne, Caused much discussion, and gave very great annoyance ‘each session. He hoped to see a better state of things ; and | meantime he repeated, that in dealing with the pe itions, the | Committee should be satisti-d in their own minds that nothing | was asked for but what appeared equitably due. | Hon. Mr. Yeo, Chairman of the reporting Committee, ob- a d, tuat ihe Committee had en'ered fully into an myesti- gation of ali the circumstances of the petiuoss la every j fastance the applic ition was greater ihan the Committee had | recom pended. They reduced the amount iu each case, and lall felt the utmost anxiety to decide amicably, farrly, justly— lio their own conscience, the perivoners, and the country. He | should, tor his own part, wish to see gone plan imroduced which would render i) unnecessary fer dre Teachers in future to app y ' i |_eome withdrawn them from school, because they chanced to bea litle angry with the teacher. Tne poor children suffered |—the country would suffer, and was suffering—in fact, that a large amount of its revenue was appropriated to the purposes of education, while the rising generation did not avail them- selves of the great blessings of which it might be the medium. Message from the Legislative Counci!, informing the House that their Honors had passed the Bill authorising the Supreme | Court to grant Sheriff’s relief against adverse claims, and also ‘the Bill incorporating the Baptist Church of Bedeque, without | | amendments. Documents of Board of Educa‘ion referred to Coiminitice ; | read, &ec. Amount asked for as compensation for Teachers was over £3 0. {ioo. Mr. Latrp thought if a school could not keep up the average of 20, it shotild be closed. The country was not able to support such an immense.number of schools. He believed there was too many, end the proof was that so many petitions were before them, where the average was below 20. If there were fewer schools, the attendance would be greater in each, —the number which the law required kept up—and there wou'd be [ttle cause for complaint on the part of Teachers—they would all have their average. But as the system is at present Minister had proposed a settlement of the land question, and|};°) As to the 100 years lease, that was for the consideration |such 1s imposs.ble, He wished to see a remedy applied to euch an evil. Mr. Howat thought the aversge too high. It was first 30, then 20, and required to be still lower. It was no fault ef the! | Teachers that the average fell below the required standard. 'Tiis was an sgricultural country; labour was scarce, and the | children were often required to assist in the labour of the field | —at school to-day, in the field to-morrow—thus tle average fell, It was surely the interest of the people, when they had to pay the l.and ‘Tax, to send their children to schoo! ; but many } > ss Mr. Kelly, lof the poor were not able to do so. It was, therefore, neither | l the fault of the Teachers, nor the parents of the children, that | the attendance fell belaw the average. Under all those cir- ‘cumstances he thought the Teachers should be paid the full Parmount, Mr. Connor would not deprivea Teacher of his salary, where the average fell through sickness or any other cause! over which he had nocontroui. He would, however, reduce a master’s salary something, making it between £40 and £50 use every exertion to have the required number. Hon. Mr. Yzo thought the present system most unfair. The laverage was 20. wich entitled the maser to his salary ; but if ‘he had only 19, at 30<. each, he could only get £38 10s. | Some steps shou!ld be speedily taken by che Legislature to ‘remedy such an unfair arrangement: In some paces it was impossible to get 20 scholars ; the West Shore wes thus cir- cumstanced, and would it be fair to continue a systema which i j when he had not the average. Such a course would make bim i | punished a poor teacher for not doing what it was Lepossible under the circumstances, than they can perform. for hum to eccomplish. fon. gentlemen showli consider the hardship of such cases, and not expect more from the teachers, Hon. Mr. THornxtron would not aHtow the average to fall below 20,—that amount should be kept up; but he believed ‘that it was necessary that parents should be compelled to send in favour of the assumed Proprietors of | their children to school. Was it fair that parenis who appreci- ated the blessings of education. and wished to bestow those biessings upon their children, should be prevented by the negligence and indifference of other parties who did wot care for education? He shu'd wish to see the law, as regards education. compuisery, penal, effective. He should wish to see children grow up properly educated—fit to imstruct ther parents, who hud never enjoyed the blessings of education. He knew an ertire district so regardless of information that a focal wewepaper was never read among them, ‘They were totallly ignorant, in this advanced period, of science and literature, of all physical, moral, and political intelligence. Lie hoped that such a state of things would not long exist.— that the country wonld be informed; that ere long parents wou'd be bound in low, wader a penalty, to send their children to school ; and ‘hat the Teachers should be made responsible for (ue etrict performance of their duty. thought, entitled to serious consideration. ‘the objections marked ia the poll book before them had not Hon. Mr. Corks thought, that if, when the average fell below (20, the Teacher should be paid with £45, and the parents bound to make up the deficiency, it might remedy the evil. | Mr. Dorie believed the Education Act was the best ever passed in the Colony ; but it was not what it was said to be, free. Anagreement was generally made with the Teacher to pay his board—soime cid pay, and some did not-five or six had to make up the amount. This was not fair; and when parents sometimes took umbrage at a teacher, they kept their children from school, putting it out of his power ‘lo maintain his average. It happered also that the teachers were themselves to blame. Whey located for atime ina district, they often became hegligent. But the children should not suffer for eiiber the spleen of the parents, or the negligence of the Teacher. | He shou'd wish to see power givea to the Trustees to assess the defaulters in the deficiency of the salary of the Teacher. pot gone to the Board of Education,—that was acting contrary tothe law. It was quite enough to pay the large eums for which they were liable, and they should be sure that they were jnot voting away the public money blindfold. Entertaining those views, he would not support any petitions, where epp!!- cation inthe Grst place had not been made to the Board of Education. | Hon, Mr. Perry—The School Visitor had been consulted— ihe was now Secretary to the Board of Education. That was ‘all the information they could obtain; it was reliable, and in justice to the reporting Committee, he felt himself justified in saying, that they had taken great pas in making all the necessary enquiry respecting the petitions, and, therefore, it was not fair to say they were voting away money blindfold. Hon. Mr. Yeo thought it but fair and equitable that every Teacher should have his £50, The Commitiee did not go that length, they allowed £40. Surely.that was not extravagant ? The Petition of P. F. Doyle—whose half-year’s salary had been withheld, and his license suspended for three months by the Board, for falsification of nig register—created a very protracted discussion. Hon. Mr. Patwer did not oppose this application especially, he opposed all similar applications, as by granting their prayer, ithey opened a door for endless petitions, which, if attended to, | would absorb the entire revenue of the Colony. There wae | sufficient, however, in the petition to show that the register 'had been falsified. Such had been admitted before the Board. ‘of Education, and they had thought proper to deprive him of his salary, and suspead his license. ‘They would noi be doing right to treat their decision with contemp! ; besides, the Board | was charged with arbitrary and tyrannical conduct, and under ‘those circumstances he could not feel justified in granting | away the public money. fon. Messrs. Coles, Thornton, Kelly, and Messrs. Howat, ‘Cooper, &e, heving spoken, its consideration was deferred till (arther information could be obtained from the Board. | Jlon. Col. Gray moved an Address to Her Most Gracious Majesty, founded on the resolutions agreed to last night. On motion of Hon. Mr. Haviland, bills to incorporate the Free Churches of New London and Bedeque were read a first | ime. | PRINCE STREET WHARF. Mr. Davies, Chairman of the Committee appointed to report (on the petition of [lector McLean and Duncan McPhee, said ithe Committee were of opinion that petitioners had an equitable claim for compensation. It was for the House to fix the amount They had been charged with the wages paid John Doirant for (107 days, at 12s. 6d. per day, amounting to £66 17s. 6d.— imuleted in a penalty—aod sustained considerable loss by |d.scounting of Treasury Warrants ; although it was stipulated jin the contract that they should be paid in the current money jof the {sland. ‘Fhey claimed over £260. The Committee did ‘not recommend any amount,—that was for the louse. Referred jt9 Committee of Supply. | Antuony Beciey, Reporter. ' i } Famay Arrennoon, May 6. PETITION AGAINST THE RETURN OF TOE HON, | THE SPEAKER. | The House went into Committee—Hoa. Mr. Perry in the ‘chair—on the Petition of certain electors of Princetown and ‘Royalty and Lot 18, against the return of the Hon. Donald 'Montgomery as member for that electoral district. The ‘petitioners alleged that the Poll Clerk having omitted to re- ‘eord in h’s book the nature of the qualification on which ‘parties whose votes were objected to at the time of polling, ‘as required by the 26th Section of the Election Law, the friends of Mr. Davies, the opposiag Candidate, were prevent- led from prosecuting a Scratiny of such votes, which would ‘Lave resulted in the return of the latier gentieman, Hon. Mr. Corus explained the grounds of compiaint of | Petitioners—the 26th clause of the Act was precise and ‘positive ia its provisions, as regarded the case of electors 'who shall be questioned as to their qualification —it provided ‘that all the particulars of the claim to vote, according to the cireumstances of the case, should be takes down in the poll book, and the Candidate against whom the vote is given, er his substitute, may object to the vote, and cause the same to be marked “ objected,” and also eause the elector to be sworn. Sach entries not having been made, the yo'es in question could not be scrutinized. i [lon. the Sveaker would state some facts ia connection with the application before the Committee, which were, be He asserted that been made or entered at the time of polling. He had his own poll book, kept by a sworn clerk that shewed for itself ; and a comparison of the two books would satisfy any hon. member that the one before them had beea altered, he knew not by whom, but would be glad to fin: out the individual, and ascertain the time when the alterations had been made. Neither Mr. Davies nor his substitute asked that the*qaalifi- cation should be entered, Had the returning officer been requested, he would, of course, have done 60. Although that gentieman was opposed to him in political opinions, be felt confident that he would act fairly and impartially in the dis- charge of his official duties. At the election ten yoters were sworn, tot one of whose votes was objected to. His hor. colleague was present at the time, and must have beard any tes marked request that may have been made to have the vo * objected ;” and he referred to him to state if such derma had been made. Trusting that the guilty party, whoever he Hon. Mr. Parmer believed that many of the applicants had ry Be Mage & " 7? . se se sae ss ead . Aan ie ai 1 A aha lh 5 a uty 5p a a ad