- ~ 
     
    
   
   
    
     THE EXA 
     
    
   
   
    
     ~~ 
     
    
   
   
    
     a 
     
    
   
   
    
     MINER. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     At SAE ETE VOTE 
     
    
   
   
    
     tint = 
     
    
   
   
    
     EE 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     b — — 
     
    
   
   
    
     —— - * en 
     
    
   
   
    
     o> -~SEiaaeee 
     
    
   
   
    
     qight be, would be made ameaablé io the law, he felt per- | 
     
     fectly satisfied to leave the desision of the matter in the hands | 
     
     of the Comm'ttee, confidcnt thit they would do justice ke- 
     
    

    
     tween himself and the late opposing Candidate. On repairing | 
     
     to the Court fcuse on the day of declaration, he found the | 
     
     poll book open, aud the sea’s broken. The Deputy Sherif | 
     
     informed him, that it had happened accidentally. He then, | 
     
     in presence of some friends, whom he called as witnesses, | 
     
     stated that he would be satisfied w.th the explanation, if the 
     
     book agreed with that kept by his own clerk. On examina- 
     
     tion they were found to correspond. [fe, on that occasion, | 
     
     objected to some? spevia! votes given for Mr. Davies; that 
     
     geatleman, or his agent, did not object to any,—be had sworn 
     
     some votes, bat did not object after they had taken their 
     
     oaths ; yet thes> very votes were marked as objected in the 
     
     pol! book. As only four votes given for him had been 
     
     marked objacted, be did not think it worth while ts object to 
     
     those of his opponent, as allowing that the whole number 
     
     was struck off he would still have a mijority. 
     
    

    
     Ylon. Mr. Yeo was present on te occas oa referred to, and 
     
     was positive no scrutiny was demanded. Mr. John Ram- 
     
     eny was also preseut, as Mr. Davies’ agent, and made no 
     
     such demand. He was satisfied that the Hon. the Speaker 
     
     was legally elected. 
     
    

    
     Hon. Mr. Cotxs—There must ba some mistake, as a pro- 
     
     test against the return of the Hon. tho Speaker had been 
     
     eatered within tae hour after declaration, embodying the 
     
     same objections as those set forth in the petition. There- 
     
     fore, the inference was, that the objections preceded the 
     
     protest. That protest, he presumed, would be found in the 
     
     Sheriff ’s book, returned to the Colonial Secretary’s Office. 
     
     As the law required that the books must be unsealed, and 
     
     the votes added up, and the result declared in open court, 
     
     it was not probable that the Sheriff would attempt, or if the at- 
     
     tempt were mede, could not succeed in falsifying the record in 
     
     presence of numbers of people, among whom would be found 
     
     the Candidates and their repie-entatives, who would readily 
     
     wotice any such attempt. After declaration, an hour was 
     
     given for demand of scrutiny. If, therefore, the poll books 
     
     coincided when compared, as the Hon. Speaker had stated, 
     
     they must have been altered subsequently. It appeared by 
     
     the book hefore them, that 26 votes in favor of the Hon. 
     
     Speaker had been objected to, and but six of Mr. Davies's, 
     
     the majority of the former was but eight. In the present 
     
     position of the matter, he considered that the Committee 
     
     could onty take the book as they found it before them, and 
     
     then send for the Sheriff and poll clerk, and examine them 
     
     on Oath at the bar of the House. He hoped that the matter | 
     
     of the alleged improper alteration would be thoroughly sifted, | 
     
     and whoever was guilty of 
     
     utmost extent of the law. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Hon. Speaker—Although the declaration was made in! subsequently investigated. 
     
     Ile re-| member, Mr. Sinclair, for the candid expression of opinion 
     
    
   
   
    
     open Court, the petitioners remained near the door. 
     
    
   
   
    
     ‘an accusation against the Sheri 
     
    
   
   
    
     Mr. Coles, to the effect, that there was no opportunity of 
     
     altering the poll book during the hour after the declaration, | 
     
    
   
   
    
     he differed from him on that point. He was present at - 
     
     Court House at St. Eleanor’s on the day of declaration, : | 
     
     had left the Court House in company with the Hon. Spea . 
     
     and other gentlemen, to take dinner at Mr. Ness's ee 
     
     there was ample opportunity to falsify the book during their 
     
     absence. He did not, by those ob#ervations, intend to convey 
     
     ff, or any particular individual, 
     
     because he was not in a position to prove who was the guilty 
     
     « rt s : 
     
     i Mr. Tuorxron would not enter into consideration of 
     
     the technical objections which had been taken to the oan 
     
     in the Sheriff's poll book. From what had fallen from the 
     
     hon. member, Mr. Sinclair, and from his own observation of 
     
     the book, which certainly did not present the appearance | 
     
     which it ought to have done, be had strong doubts of the 
     
     authenticity of its contents. Had the votes been objected to, 
     
     and so marked at the time, there would have been no occasion 
     
     for the apparent interpolations of the letters * obj,” which 
     
     did not appear to bim to have been inserted at the proper 
     
     time, or in the proper manner. There was plenty of space be- 
     
     tween the different columns of the book to have inserted all 
     
     the various observations which the law required, without 
     
     abbreviation. : 
     
    

    
     Mr. Connor - was satisfied that the abbreviation “ obj” for 
     
     “ gbjected” had been crowded in subsequently to the time of 
     
     entering the respective votes. As he believed that an attempt 
     
     had been made to falsify the book, he thought it moat im- 
     
     portant and desirable that the guilty parties should be dis- 
     
     covered and puuished. 
     
    

    
     Hon. Mr. \ores—The petitioners complained that they 
     
     could not institute a scrutiny, on account of the eae 
     
     of the electors not having been taken down. No less than 
     
     140 electors had declared themselves aggrieved at this 
     
     omission, and even the Speaker's own book did not contain 
     
     the qualifications referred to. 
     
    

    
     Hon. Spraker—No request was made to have the qualifi- 
     
     cations recorded. . ; 
     
    

    
     Hon. Mr. Havirasp—One thing was evident beyond dis- 
     
     pute—it was impos-ible to believe’that the letters te ghj” were 
     
     placed in the book at the same time as the entries “ sworn. 
     
     The latter were written in full, and in a comparatively larger 
     
     band, very different from the style in which the other abbre- 
     
     viated entries were made. With reference to the non appear- 
     
     ance of the particulars of the qualifications of electors in the 
     
     book, even if the returning officer had been requested to re- 
     
     cord them, and had done so, yet they could not be scrutinized, 
     
     unless they had been objected to, and the entry of the ob- 
     
    
   
   
    
     ch couduct, be punished to the | jection made as the law required, by the word * objected” in 
     
    
   
   
    
     Unless such had been done, the votes could not be 
     
     He gave eredit to the hon. 
     
    
   
   
    
     full. 
     
    
   
   
    
     mained some time after the declaration, then went out, and | which he bad given. He joined in the wish for the detection 
     
    
   
   
    
     on his return found that a protest had been entered in his 
     
     absence. The principal portion of the audience also went 
     
     out; he could not, of course, say what had taken place during 
     
     that period of time, it was not done in presence of many 
     
     people, 
     
    

    
     Hon. Col. Gray was surprised to find, by reference to the 
     
     poll book, that numerous interpolations hud been made in the 
     
     Sheriff's poll book ; and while the word “ objected” was not 
     
     to be found recorded in the bcok kept by the Lon. Speaker's 
     
     clerk, there were no less than ten consecutive votes, purport- 
     
     ing to be objected, found in the other. Was such a discre- 
     
     pancy likely to be caused unintentionally, or through inad- 
     
     vertence? fle bad ran two elections, and he knew that his 
     
     clerk recorded all the objections which were taken down by 
     
     the returning officer. Another remarkable feature was the 
     
     fact which justified him io asserting that the Sheriff's book 
     
     contained interpolations, viz: that while the law prescribed 
     
     that the vote should be marked “ objected,” the instances to 
     
     which he refered consisted of a mere abbreviation of the 
     
     word, and several of them were written across part of the 
     
     word ‘' sworn,” shewing that the additions had been made to 
     
     the contents of the book after the first entry. He most 
     
     eordially azreed in the desire expressed that the guilty per- 
     
     petrators of the fraud should be detected, and punished to 
     
     such a degree as effectually to deter others from following 
     
     the wicked example. If such practises were suffered to go 
     
     uppuuished, there would be no security for the scat of any 
     
     hon. member. 
     
    
   
   
    
     M-. Ccorrr—It was admitted that some objections had 
     
     been made, otherwise no votes would have been sworn; but 
     
     as no particulars of qualification were taken down, parties 
     
     could not ascertain the right to vote in each case. 
     
    

    
     Hlon. Mr. Lonawontn expressed his conviction that a 
     
     henious offence had been committed. He had no doubt that 
     
     fraudu’ent additions had been made to the Sheriff’s book. 
     
     The word “ objected” was not written in full, as it should 
     
     have been, but merely the letters « obj’ in small size, because 
     
     there was not space for more at the time of the addition 
     
     Apart from that objection, the petitioners did not allege that 
     
     the Returning Officer had been requested to record the 
     
     particulars of qualific:tion. That being the case, their ap- 
     
     plication must fall to the ground, for the law was very 
     
     previse on that head—for the Candidate against whom the 
     
     vote is tendered is to question the vote, and direct the 
     
     Sheriff to the enter qualifi ation, and record the name as * ob- 
     
     jected.” It is not necessary to record the qualification un- 
     
     less @ request to that effet should have been made ; and no 
     
     difficulty could arise from that, as the entry of the word 
     
     “objected” wos all that was Tequisite to a scrutiny. The 
     
     allegation in the petition that no serutiny could be held tor 
     
     want of the specification of qualification, was false, and there 
     
     Was nothing to bar the right to a ecrutiny. He trusted that 
     
     the Hon. Speaker would cause a thorough investigation to 
     
     be instituted before the proper tribunal. 
     
    

    
     Hon. Mr. Cores—The form of affidavit prescribed by.the 
     
     election law proved, by necessary implication, that the quali- 
     
     fication should be specified, and taken down by the returning 
     
     officer, for he is compelled to swear to his qualification, “ as 
     
     taken down in the po!l book and read to him.” Therefore 
     
     tho electors must be supposed to have sworn falsely, if the 
     
     qualification wis mot taken down, or they must have been 
     
     very remiss. The whole proccelinzs appeared to have been 
     
     — very irregularly. 
     
    

    
     f. SINCLAIR, iu justics to his hon. colleag: 
     
    

    
     to state the truth on the su'ject, more eetaipanieten 
     
     been personally referred to by the Alon. Speaker. He was 
     
     sarprised at the appearance of the poll beok. He would not 
     
     presuine to say what was the precise number of votes objected 
     
     to at the day of election, but could not Suppress the expression 
     
     of his Opinion, that some names appeired now as objected to 
     
     #9 waich no objection had been mae at the time of voting. 
     
     The votes of those electors who were sworn, were marked go ; 
     
     but it might be that the poll clerk may have thought it hia 
     
     Wp ee mark each sworn vote as objected. The appearance 
     
     . Pe certainly suggested to his mind doubts as to its 
     
     e ; ity. Having been present at the Court on the day 
     
     of declaration. he could not well have avoided hearing an 
     
     request to record any vote ag objected, if such had “8 
     
     made. He sincerely trusted that a searching investigati 
     
     would be made, and that the parties guilty of eanibvention 
     
     ee be punished. PS ee 
     
    

    
     lon. Mr. Cones—It was usual, and rea 
     
    

    
     ane of the voter's qualificatioa oy wind =o 
     
    

    
     Mr. Howat deni i ; i 
     
     went, such was eee ‘he Cobake heme 
     
    

    
     — officer to administer the oath, after wioeh if med 
     
     ot . =. none it marked “ objected,” as the foundation 
     
    

    
     | ay. As to what had been eaid by the Hon. | 
     
    

    
     i 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     and punishment of the guilty party, whoever he might be. 
     
    

    
     Hon. Mr. Patmer had read the petition, and could see 
     
     nothing in the petition to warrant the investigation sought 
     
     for, It is required that every euch petition should set forth | 
     
     'reasons in support of its allegations. The one under con- 
     
     sideration did nothing of the sort. It merely expressed the 
     
     opinion of the petitioners themselves. How was the [louse 
     
     ‘to decide on the sufficiency of these reasons to set aside the 
     
     ‘election? The House cannot tell what were the illegalities 
     
     complained of. Had specitic charges of violation of the law 
     
     been made, the duty of the House would be to decide whether, 
     
     | if substantiated, they would be sufficient to invalidate the 
     
     ‘e'ection—if so considered they could then go into the con- 
     
     ‘sideration of them. The petitioners did not say that they 
     
     demanded a serutiny. The law preseribed that sach demand 
     
     must be made within the hour afier declaration. Had such 
     
     ‘demand been mada, the petitioners wou!d doubtless have 
     
     ‘stated it. It was the duty of either Can ‘idate to demand 
     
     \that the qualification of an adverse elector be recorded, and 
     
     to sce that it was dove,—it was not the province of the 
     
     / Candidate for whom the vote was given. Im this case it 
     
     ‘appeared that no suc d maod, nor one for a serutiny, had 
     
     been made; so that it was uauecessary to occupy the House 
     
     ‘in an enquiry which could have no practical result. The 
     
     petitioners allege that a protest was presented to the Sheriff 
     
    

    
     —that was a document of no effect whatever. It was quite 
     
     junnecoseary. It is of use to protest iu such a case as that 
     
     | of the improper reception of evidence by the Sheriff, but a 
     
     |protest on the day of election could reserve or confer no 
     
     ‘right. If the returning officer, or his poll clerk, have been 
     
     guilty of om'ssion of duty, the petitioners might well come 
     
     to the House; but there was no case before the House on 
     
     ‘which they could take action. He concluded by expressing 
     
     ‘his conviction that the poll book had been falsified, and he 
     
     based that conviction on the same grounds as other hon. 
     
     members who had spoken on the subject. 
     
    

    
     Hon. Mr. Tuornton thought that the gentlemen of the long 
     
     robe were determined to have an argument on whatever sub- 
     
     ject came before the house. When they had a bad cuse, 
     
     they wished to make it good ; when they had a good one, they 
     
     could not rest with endeavouring to make it better. He 
     
     agreed that there was no ground on which the House could be 
     
     justified in going into a scrutiny. The first question was, 
     
     what yote were they to scrutinize? If the Sheriff could not 
     
     do so, how could the House? He had previously expressed 
     
     his opinion of the suspicious appearance of the poll book, but 
     
     after what had fallen from the hon. member, Mr. Sinclair, he 
     
     was prepared, without further argument, to suprort the 
     
     motion which had been made, that the Speaker take the chair. 
     
    

    
     Mr. Sinctarm liked to see all matters argued fairly and im- 
     
     partially. The hon. member, Mr. Palmer, had he read the 
     
     petition fully, would have seen that the petitioners specified 
     
     particular causes as to the groundwork of their comiplaint— 
     
     for they state that votes questioned, and marked objected, had 
     
     ‘not been so recorded—as required by law. His main objections 
     
     .were to the poll book itself. 
     
    

    
     The Committee then rose without reporting. 
     
    

    
     W. M. Hows, Reporter. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Monpar, 25th April, 1859. 
     
     BEBATE ON THE FISHERY RESERVE QUESTION. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     (His Honor the President’s Speech Continued.) 
     
    

    
     The second, third, and fourth olauses of the Bill, only 
     
     fuither provide, on the same obvious principles of reason and 
     
     justice, for the carrying out, in different cases, of the one 
     
     object @f the Bill,—the relieving of tenants from their 
     
     liability to rent for Fishery Reserves,—whilst, at the same 
     
     ‘time, most carefully guarding against giving to such tenants 
     
     any right or power to impugn their landlords’ titles to any 
     
     lands not being Fishery Reserves. 
     
    

    
     The fifth clause properly provides that the right of the 
     
     Government to such Fishery Reserves shall not in any way 
     
     ,be affected by the Act; and how, with anything like due 
     
     consideration of this clause, Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton 
     
     could arrive at the conclusion that the Bill merely provides 
     
     for the abolition of the claims of the proprietors to the 
     
     Fishery Reserves by bestowing them upon the Tenants, I 
     
     cannot possibly, for one moment imagive. In fact, for Sir | 
     
     | Edward’s enunciation of this opinion, I cannot account on | 
     
     apy other supposition than that of his having. consented, 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     aring him | without due investigation of facts, to adopt the views con- 
     
    
   
   
    
     grants of the said Townships shall be plac 
     
     it shall appear that such grants contain a reserva 
     
     to, or to the same effect, 
     
     recited in te preamble of this Act, then the land me 
     
     and-reserved in and by any euch grant, so to be reco 
     
     aforesaid, shall be subject to all and every the enactments 
     
     and provisions in this Act contained.” 
     
     ‘he sixth and last clause of this Act provides ‘ that it 
     
     sball not go into force or operat _ Her 
     
     assent hunt shall be sebats and notification thereof 
     
     published in the Royal Gazette newspaper of this Island. 
     
    

    
     His Honor (Mr. Johnson) having professed almost entire 
     
     ignorance of the nature of the Fishery Reserves question 
     
     and of the facts and interests involved therein, and having, 
     
     at the same time, expressed a desire to be better infurmed 
     
     upon the subject and to be made acquainted with the reasons 
     
     which induced the Legislature to pass the Bill intituled An 
     
     Act relating to the Fishery Reserves, and the Government 
     
     to send it heme for Her Majesty’s assent,—in my very 
     
     sincere desire to satisfy His Honor, I have, perhaps, been 
     
     rather more prolix than some of your Honors may have 
     
     thought it was necessary I should be. If so, the cbject 
     
     which L have had in view will, however, I trust, successfully 
     
     plead my excuse. The reasons which induced the Govern- 
     
     mnevt to introduce and the Legislature to pass the Bill, I 
     
     have, I believe, stated correctly ; and sounder or better,— 
     
     plain and simple as they are,—have scarcely ever, 1 think, 
     
     in any case, influenced legislators~ The Bill, had it been 
     
     allowed to go into operation, would have been only a simple 
     
     act, a simple concession, of justice to the tenants who have 
     
     had ineluded;“under rent, in their leases, any parts of the 
     
     Fishery Reserves or lands which belong to the Crown, or 
     
     rather, now to the Government of this Island, which has the 
     
     sole contro! and management of them ; and all its enactwents 
     
     and provisions have been framed up-n principles so perfectly 
     
     in accordance with reason and justice, that—I again repeat 
     
     it—I cannot possibly conceive how any public man, professing, 
     
     as respects his public acts and decisions, to be governed by 
     
     principles of sound reason and impartial justice, could, unless 
     
     through adventitious or undue bias of judgment, give his 
     
     voice against such a measure. 
     
    
   
   
    
     His Honor o» my right (Hon. Colonel Swabey) has 
     
     distantly adverted to animadversions which have been made 
     
     elsewhere, not only without, but within, the wails of this 
     
     building, relative to the copatitution of this House and its 
     
     individual composition. With any remarks, made with the 
     
     intention of impugnirg the legislative character of this House 
     
     for integrity aud efficiency, in which individuals outside may 
     
     choose to iadulge, under what pretence soever they may be 
     
     uttered, we can here have nothing to do; and neither can 
     
     we, without a positively gratuitous sacrifice of self-respect, 
     
     vouchsafe reply. Our legislative acts are not only duly 
     
     reecrded, but duly made public also ; and, by the estimation 
     
     in which these acts are held by the thinking, intelligent, 
     
     and discriminating portion of the community, must our 
     
     legislative charaeter be established, as entitled to honor, or 
     
     deserving reprobation. None, as we well know, are found 
     
     perfect, whether they be tried in their individual or in their 
     
     collective capacity; but although, as legislators, we may, at 
     
     times, have erred in judgment, [ am happy to think that we 
     
     can safely point to the records of our public acts, and ask 
     
     the intelligent and candid whether these tecords do not afford 
     
     the most satisfactory and convineing evidence, that the 
     
     improvement of the gocial and political condition of the 
     
     people, the protection and extension of their natural and 
     
     constitutional rights and liberties, and the advancement of 
     
     ail their real interests, have ever been the peculiar objects 
     
     of all our deliberations and resolutions. As respects what 
     
     may be said in another Branch of the Legislature, in the 
     
     course of debate, by any of its members, derogatory to the 
     
     legislative dignity and character of this House, the case, in 
     
     some points of view, is widely different. If members of 
     
     another Hlouse so far forget that self-respect by which men 
     
     in their position should be governed, if they so far disregard 
     
     parliamentary courtesies and decorum, as, when speaking of 
     
     this House, either collectively or individually, to asperse 
     
     them in their legislative capacity and characters, in language 
     
     the most unparliamentary and ungentlemanly, as some of 
     
     Your Honors now present bave, I uuderstand, heard them 
     
     do,—the only course, with reference to such unbecoming and 
     
     unprovoked breaches of parliamentary propricty, which we 
     
     can feel at liberty to pursue,—as I am sure Your Honors 
     
     will all most readily admit—is, whilst both condemning and 
     
     deploring that unjust and ungenerous spirit in which they 
     
     seem to have their origin, most carefully, most guardedly to 
     
     avoid, in the course of our own debates and deliberations 
     
     every expression or word which might justly, although only 
     
     for a moment, lay us under the imputation of being governed 
     
     by any such motives or principles as those, the manifestation 
     
     of which in another quarter we at once censure and regret. 
     
     Your Honors must be aware that, in thus expressing royself, 
     
     I am by no means merely simulating a moderation by which, 
     
     as the President of this House, I have not hitherto been 
     
     governed. Qn the contrary, I have never myself, in 
     
     any of our debates or discussions, as Your Honors I am 
     
     satisfied will bear me witness, indulged in any reflections 
     
     injuriously affecting either the private or the public character 
     
     of any individual member either of the Executive or of the 
     
     Legislature; and neither, on any occasion when, through 
     
     momentary inadvertence, any of Your Honors may have 
     
     been on the poiat of lapsing from parliamentary propriety, 
     
     have [ failed to make the admonitory call to order,—a call, 
     
     to which the most prompt and cheerful acquiescence has ever 
     
     been accorded. But, Your Honors, when, after long and 
     
     deliberate preparation, a direct attack is made, by a majority 
     
     in another House, upon our clearly defiued and well established 
     
     constitutional rights and privileges as a Branch of the 
     
     Legislature, and no recognition of our existence as such 
     
     which can, by any possibility, be avoided is accorded to us 
     
     by that ruling majority, it is time, high time. indeed, to assert 
     
     the dignity and independence of our position; and never, 
     
     when such attempts to defraud us of our due constitutional 
     
     weight and importance, as the Upper House of the Legisla- 
     
     ture, are brought immediately before us, and are properly 
     
     under our consideration, will 1 fail individually to use my 
     
     best endeavours to repel and defeat them, or hesitate to 
     
     make manifest, according to the best of my ability, the 
     
     insidious and dangerous character of the designs which they 
     
     ure intended ultimately to effect; and neither, I am certain 
     
     will your Honors fail to interpose every constitutional 
     
    
   
   
    
     ed on record, and | say it shall not become law. ) 5 oe 
     
     tion similar | political convictions of the majority of this House sball eal] 
     
     as the reservation set forth and upon them to oppose the general or ruling policy of the party 
     
     ntioned |now in the ascendant, so long, to them, must an open, 
     
     rded as straight-forward, and uncompromising persistence ia @ course 
     
    
   
   
    
     P 
     
    
   
   
    
     So long as the conscientious 
     
    
   
   
    
     of opposition to that policy be the evident, the unmistakable 
     
     ath of public duty ; and in it, I doubt not,"they will steadily, 
     
     honestly, and honorably persevere ; for their continuance ig 
     
    
   
   
    
     on until Her Majesty’s| such a course of opposition, is quite compatible with theiz 
     
     full recognition of the mejits of any legislative measure — 
     
    
   
   
    
     proceeding from that party which may evidently be for the 
     
     public good ; and every measure of that character which they 
     
     may send up to this House, will, I am certain, be most 
     
     readily and cordially entertained by your Honors. As yet 
     
     the dominant party have not gone so far a8 to call upon us 
     
     to sanction, by legislative enactment, the infraction or 
     
     disruption of the compact entered into by and between Her 
     
     Majesty and the Legislature of this Colony, in 185]; but 
     
     they i really done much worse ‘By that compaot 
     
     Departmental Government, av at the time in practice in Nova 
     
     Scotia, New Brunswick, and Canada, was established in this 
     
     Colony ; that is Responsible Government was, by that com- 
     
     pact, conceded to the people of P. E. Island, on the very 
     
     priveiples on which Parliamentary or Responsible Govern- 
     
     ment subsists in Great Britain, acd in that form, and 
     
     according to that system, in which alone any real or direct 
     
     responsibility to the people has been found, or can be made, 
     
     to exist—government by heads of departments, having seats 
     
     in the legislature, and the chief or major portion of them in. 
     
     the popular branch, having been confirmed in their official 
     
     appointments by the approbation of their several constituencies, 
     
    
   
   
    
     R. B. Irvine, Reporter. 
     
     (To be Continued.) 
     
    
   
   
    
     Che Examiner. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     SIR DOMINICK’S PROTEST. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Tus following is the document referred to in our last 
     
    
   
   
    
     No., which was entered on the Minutes of the Executive © 
     
    
   
   
    
     Council by the late Lieut. Governor, Sir D. Daly, in which 
     
     he gives the grounds of his dissent to the change recently 
     
     introduced into the Government of this Island. The reasons 
     
     for dissenting to the change are very forcibly but concisely 
     
     put, and were it not for the very embarrassing position ia 
     
     which Sir Dominick would be placed, with respect to the 
     
     finanoial affairs of the Coloay, we believe that he would have 
     
     risked another dissolution, rather than submit to the uncon- 
     
     stitutionn] proceedings to which he has so emphatically 
     
     given his dissent. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     EXTRACT FROM THE MINUT#S OF THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL, 
     
     * Councit CuamBer, 8rd May, 1859. 
     
     “ Ata Meeting of the Council, 
     
    
   
   
    
     PRESENT : 
     
    
   
   
    
     *« His Excellency the Lieutenant Qoveraor, &., &o., &2. 
     
    
   
   
    
     ‘* His Excellency laid before the Board a Memorandum, 
     
     which was ordered to be entered on the Minutes, and the 
     
     same was read, and is as followeth : 
     
    

    
     ‘1 deem it necessary to record on the Minutes of the Execu- 
     
     Council, in order to guard against future misapprehension, 
     
     the grounds of the opinion which I entertain with reference to 
     
     the exclusion of all Office-holders from both Houses of the 
     
     Legislature, and consequently from the Exeeutive Couneil ; 
     
     and also my reasons for having acquiesced in the adoption of 
     
     that principle in tho formation of the present Executive 
     
     Council. 
     
    

    
     ‘I consider the change ef system to be unwise and impolitie, 
     
     for the tollowing among other reasons :-— 
     
    

    
     ‘ Because the absence of the heads of Departments from the 
     
     Executive Council deprives it of much of its efficiency. 
     
    

    
     ‘ Because, in the same proportion, the utility of the Exece- 
     
     tive Council to the Lieutenant Governor and the other branches 
     
     of the Legislature is diminished. 
     
    

    
     ‘ Because experience has ever shown that it is not consistent 
     
     with the best interests of a Government, that onerous and im- 
     
     portant public duties should be performed gratuitously. 
     
    

    
     ‘ And, lastly, because the change is directly at variance 
     
     with the great model afforded by the British Constitution 
     
     upon which all Her Majesty’s Colonial Possessions in the en- 
     
     joyment of free institutions, have striven, as far as practicable, 
     
     to construct their respective Governments—a course which 
     
     experience has shown to be that which is best calculated to 
     
     promote the welfare and contentment of the people, which is 
     
     manifested by its successful operation in the neighbouring 
     
     nary wuzes 
     
    

    
     ‘ In acquiescing in the exclusion of the headsof the princi 
     
     Departments from the Legislature, and consequently oe 
     
     Executive Council, I have been solely actuated by a desire to 
     
     maintain the harmonious action between the Executive and 
     
     nore authorities, which is so essential to the general 
     
     welfare—by permitting the trial of an experiment, (for-such 
     
     I must consider it,) and trusting to the effect of experience 
     
     and the increasing intelligence of the constituencies, to discover 
     
     at no distant period that this change is not an improvement 
     
     in any sense ; and that there is more wisdom in endeavouring 
     
     to render a well-known and tried system applicable to the 
     
     circumstances of the Colony than in seeking for improvement 
     
     from the introduction of changes unsupported by the test of 
     
     experiance, and being, as I believe, without any precedent 
     
     that would justify their permanent adoption. 
     
    

    
     (Signed) ‘D. Daty, Lieut. Governor.’?’ 
     
    
   
   
    
     *2e<om >- 
     
    
   
   
    
     THE HON. COL. GRAY’S SETTLEMENT OF THE LAND 
     
     QUESTION, 
     
    
   
   
    
     Tue resolutions proposed by the Hon. Col. Grav when the 
     
     House of Assembly was in Committee on the despatches sent 
     
     down by the Governor, will be found in our present No. 
     
     amongst the Parliamentary reports. A very hasty perusal 
     
    
   
   
    
     _willenable the reader who has not yet seen them to arrive at 
     
    
   
   
    
     a just estimate of their merits, and we imagine that he will 
     
     net be slow in coming to the conclusion that he has seldom if 
     
     ever read more bunkum upon any important question 
     
    
   
   
    
     oe 
     
    
   
   
    
     The preamble—which occupies nearly as much space as the 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     barrier to any arrogant assumption of misconceived authority, 
     
    
   
   
    
     be sent up to ue, for our concurrence, by the majority of the 
     
     House of Assembly, much as [ am opposed to the 
     
     views and principles on which they base their power ; and 
     
     neither, 
     
     moment in which any measure shal! 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     political Crown of “a discreet and i 
     
    
   
   
    
     I trust, will any of your Honors. But the o- | with this Island,’’ to act as Co 
     
    
   
   
    
     be laid before us, the | 
     
    
   
   
    
     resolutions to which~it purports to bea preface — contains 
     
    
   
   
    
     aud to every attempt at encroachment upon our parliamentary | nothing more than a fe i 
     
    

    
     power or privileges, which may auieteiae aekebaal hom ‘the Seeieen pay mise lagen pts 
     
     an overweening majority in another House. [ shall never’ with abu 
     
     make any factious oppositions to the party now in power ; oid 
     
     and vever will I, to promote any merely party views or 
     
     designs, offer opposition to the pas-age through this House. accordance with the views of the Land Proprietors, abound- 
     
     ot any good and wholesome legislative measure which may ing in false premises, and conseque 
     
    
   
   
    
     nt might make in a hustings speech, seasoned 
     
     f those who have advocated the claims of the 
     
     tenantry, or proposed any measure that was not perfectly ia 
     
    
   
   
    
     illogical conclusions. 
     
     appointment by the 
     
     reson, not connected 
     
     oner, to negotiate witk 
     
     the proprietors for an abatement of the tenants’ arrears of 
     
    
   
   
    
        
     
         
     
        
     
        
     
    
   
   
    
     The first resolution recom 
     
    
   
   
    
     object of which is the disruption or violation of the compact Tet» and for the agreement to such terms as will enable the 
     
     into which the Legislature of this Island entered with Her latter to become freeholders without infringing upon the rights 
     
    
   
   
    
     Majesty when she was graciously pleased to concede to us the of the landlo 
     
     establishment of Respoasible or Departmental Governmeat— 
     
    
   
   
    
     rds, &c.—So long as the Colonial Office is under 
     
    
   
   
    
     cerning it which the proprietors, with no regard for anything that very woment will it be our duty to become positively | tbe tnfuence of Sir Samuel Cunard, and other absentee Pro- 
     
    
   
   
    
     but their own interests, had anxiously endeavoured to insti! obstructive, to la 
     
     . | ; y our hands upon the meas.re, to arrest | 
     
     Grants for Townships Numbers 8, 12, 20, its progress, and,—in the hatiieabs exercise of that | 
     
     are not.on record in this Island; and the independent power and judgment with which the constitution ™!8sioner independent of proprietary control. 
     
    
   
   
    
     into his mind, 
     
     20, 44, and 46 
     
     sixth olause of the Bill therefore provides — 
     
    
   
   
    
     ‘That if, at apy time after tlie passing of this Act, any | popular and the executive branches of the 
     
    
   
   
    
     prietors, with respect to the affairs of this island, itis all 
     
     folly to suppose that any person could be appointed as Com- 
     
     The idea of 
     
    
   
   
    
     has invested us, for holding the even balance between the making the tenants freeholders on such terms as may bo 
     
     Legislature,—to | agreed upon by the proprictors and their nominated Comanis 
     
    
   
   
    
        
     
        
     
         
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
         
     
         
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Pea Tapers