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     VPARI‘NCE EDWARD’ISLAND ADVERTISER." 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     vol. 111.] 
     
    
   
   
    
     COLONIAL LEGISLATURE. 
     
    
   
   
    
     FRIDAY, quary 28. 
     
    
   
   
    
     - Joni! BILL. 
     
    

    
     The House resolved itselfinto a Committe of the whole on the 
     
     further consideration of the Bill for regulating the qualifications of 
     
     Jurors, &c.' ‘ 
     
    

    
     The _Hon. J. S. MACDONALD considered it improper to exclude 
     
     fire-engine men, as reported. Fire-engine men were sufficiently 
     
     exempted already. hey were free from militia duty and statuto 
     
     labour. In case of a fire when in Court, all would turn out as well 
     
     u firemen. 
     
    

    
     Mr. Ran thought that every man of legal age who was a house- 
     
     holder, and who had been resident in the Colony for twelve months, 
     
     abuld be considered qualified to serve as a juryman. He said they 
     
     were not. bound to pay much regard to property. 
     
    

    
     Mr. Fnasnrt observed many young men made much better jur - 
     
    

    
     men than their fathers. The old bill, be thought, did well enoug . 
     
     The further consideration of the honourable member (Mr. 'l‘liom- 
     
     son’s) bill, would be a mere waste of time to the house. The 
     
     honourable member, he thought, wanted to make a bill for himself 
     
     and Georgetown. Juries were sometimes composed in which there 
     
     was nejther landlord nor tenant. He thought no man of legal age, 
     
     sane mind and fair character should be declared incapable of serving 
     
     on lines. ‘ 1 . 
     
     _ r. liars would go so far as to make the selection of men to serve as jurors 
     
     Impartial. A man’s being twenty years of age and a householder should 
     
     berequisite qualifications. The very circumstance of a man’s keepinar a 
     
     house of his own gave a gravcr, a more sedate turn to his mind, and tended 
     
     to make him, as it made it more his interest to be, more observantof social 
     
     order. He wished the bill had not been brought iii; but, as it had been 
     
     introduced, he would go so far as to endeavour to prevent the packin of 
     
     juries.- That persons should be twent years of age and househol ers 
     
     ought to be indispensable qualifications 0 jurors. 
     
    

    
     r. SPIAIER thought it would not be proper to exclude young men of 
     
    

    
     twenty-two or twenty-three years of a e, and upwards, residing with their 
     
     parents, before a division of property, ut having with their parents a com- 
     
     .mon interest in the land the cultivate. 
     
    

    
     Mr. I’LAE objected that this would bring in man who had never been iii 
     
     the habit ofacting u on their own judgment, an who, by previous care 
     
     and anxiety about their own affairs, were not prepared, with due delibera- 
     
    

    
     tion and discretion, to 'udge respecting the affairs of others. He would not 
     
     then, however‘, particu arly press his private opinions, nor harass others with 
     
     .his I nliar views. v 
     
     it r. THOMSON supported the views which had induced him to bri-n in 
     
     the bill. If it would be an experiment, it would be such a one as had 
     
     raved satisfactory and successful in Great Britain and New Brunswick. 
     
    

    
     {e had merely been using his humble endeavours to raise the qualifications 
     
     of jury-men, both as to property and mental qualifications : his main object 
     
     was to have juries fairly drawn to the prevention of packing. , 
     
    

    
     Mr. Ln LACHEvn couldfin no very particular objection to the fold bill, 
     
     except the selection of grandjurors from .the magistracy and high stations. 
     
     He would like a short act to cause grand jurors and petitjurors to be drawn 
     
    

    
     romiscuously from persons of similar qualifications. He once asked 
     
    

    
     twent -four years ago, when youn and inexperienced,) an old gentleman, 
     
     the ol estl‘awyer in the Court in w ich he put the uestion, what was the 
     
     arse of a grand jury. “ Had you asked me," replied the old gentleman, 
     
     “ what was the abuse of a graudjury, I might have been able to answer 
     
     your question. A grand jury is a. secret tribunal, before which aman is 
     
     dragged that he may there undergo a. proper keel-hauling, and from thence, 
     
     frequently on the accusation of the per'ured, seat to trial, and, it might be, 
     
     to condemnation ” A man, said Mr. e Laclieur, from the most base and 
     
     unprincipled motives, might come before a grand jury, and, on oath, pre- 
     
     fera chargeof guilt against the innocent. In consequence, the innocent 
     
     man mightbe sent to trial and degradation; for trial in itself, even of the 
     
     innocent, on criminal charges almost ever carried along with it some of 
     
     '— trees of ' guilt.""l'o have once been suspected and tried, if 
     
     not sufficient cause for future trials, was, at least in many cases, sufficient 
     
     to lay amen under suspicion all his life after. Again, with res ect to grand 
     
     juries, although he was very far from intending to impeach t e conduct of 
     
     any grand jury-man, how easy was it, he would ask, for such a one, over 
     
     a cup ofcofi‘ee, or it might be over a cup of wine, to let slip what had been 
     
     preferred against a man in the grand jury room; and the evd consequences 
     
     which might result to the accused from such indiscretion he need not stop 
     
     to point out. If all were drawn out of one box, the grand jury first. and the 
     
     petitjury next, a man would then, in reality, be tried by a jury of his peers. 
     
     A man accused might then have a neighbour of his own rank and station 
     
     upon the grandjury, whose knowledge of the general character and habits 
     
     of the accused might greatly weaken, as weighing With his fellow jurors, 
     
     the force of the accusation preferred against the man in custody. This 
     
     mode of selectinrIr grand jurors would, if adopted, prevent many persons 
     
     from being unjustly sent to trial. 
     
    

    
     Mr. GORMAN replied to the honourable gentleman (Mr. Le Lacheur), that 
     
     the Chief Justice’s definition of a grand jury differed widely from his (Mr. 
     
     Le Lacheur’s). The Chief Justice had informed them, that the gentlemen 
     
     composinga rand jury were the grand inquisitors of the-country; and be 
     
     (Mr. German was of o inion that grand juries had very important duties 
     
     to rform. So far fgom keel-hauling the character of individuals, he 
     
     thought they quashed a great many vexatious suits, and were the safeguard 
     
     of the pee le. He did not think, either, that the grand juries and petit 
     
     juries shou d be drawn from one box, or that every petit jury-man should 
     
     be ualifiedtobea andjuror. . 
     
    

    
     r. CLARK was ecidcdly of opinion that the qualifications of a juror 
     
     should be mental, and not de endent upon any casual or ’external circum- 
     
     stance of money or land. e saw, however, that ’a discretionary power 
     
     should rest somewhere. It was, be believed, contemplated by the _bill un- 
     
     der consideration, that that power should be vested in the magistrates. 
     
     But magistrates were as likely to prove unfaithful as sheriffs. He was 
     
     afraid too that magistrates mi ht not alWays prove com'petcntjudges in the 
     
     matter. He thought, upon 1 e whole, the sheriff would be the mostlikely 
     
     person to discharge the discretionary power in a proper manner ; and if he 
     
     shouldbe found to be abusin his trust, by a representation of facts in the 
     
    

    
     perquarter,be would don tless be removed. He, (Mr. Clark,) if he 
     
    

    
     manic aware of the abuse of such a” trust b ' any sheriff, whoever might be 
     
     the man, would be’ one of the first to comp aiii and demand his dismissal 
     
     ' from oflice. Again to advert to the qualifications of jurors, he thought it 
     
     would be impossible to make any other distinction than such a one as he 
     
     ' ‘ ’ ; and that distinction, it appeared to him,~was all that was 
     
     called for. It was by no means an easy matter, if the qualifications were to 
     
     depend u the possession of property, in money or lands, to say who 
     
     130559.th qualification. Many mgn were reputed the possessors of 
     
     property, win;- in fact were, literally and truly, nothing but the nominal 
     
     - 3k» Srsaxnn was afraid the duty intended to be imposed upon the 
     
     pagan-Meow not clear understood. .All that was tn be lrequired. of 
     
     ' fireni was, that they shou d give in lists. of such nion,,in thqu respective 
     
     districts, as were qualified'to serve as urors. Erom the lists so given 
     
     'urorswernto be summoned - the names ,0 the men stunnioned were all , to 
     
     he utjnto one box, and from that box names were to be .prorruscuousrly 
     
     Br’awri‘for the formation of “tides. I ‘ ' ' 1. ‘ . . 
     
    

    
     Mr. HOMSON explaiue . It'vhad‘bc'en said by an'honOura‘blc member 
     
     flmtii ‘ibcrifl’s general. knowledge of persons in his neighbonfhdqd was 
     
     ii 134” greater tbtr’n‘thntof the magistrates. v-According to the bill, the 
     
     fit ere Ito be- made out by the Justices of the Peace and the Sherifi‘of 
     
     each county; the knowledgnof'bnth psi-ties wooldtherefore'be tinned: 'r 
     
     .5-Mi’flhz‘. said- liehhdorstood‘. some honourable members, tin-think, {that 
     
     generallyito'beof the la lageof twenty-one would be asuflicient ualifi: 
     
     5ation. In this opinion e could not concur. There should be a ig'her 
     
     qualification than‘merem 'ority. - That jurors shopldl. be householdergwas 
     
     * wise  neqesxary qu mention, and, besides, it was a plain andsiinple 
     
    
   
   
    
     ‘ Quin-Pianist!!! said ljethbadlistened to the debate  lfat attentiolr'ié 
     
     esub'ect was one o ' e very cutest importance. n. y jury 191 
     
     gr]; pé’lladium of the people. Whatever aflects that privtlege, affects the 
     
     all! 
     
    
   
   
    
     power of every individual of the community. He iwould‘wil- 
     
     flngl goheart dbgnd along with_ anyone who would revise and jmproye 
     
     the fury Bill. .  a revoapective view of the conduct of sheriffs, With 
     
     respect to summoning juries, as far as bewas acquainted with it, he saw 
     
     po reasonto com lain of it. He .(the sheriff) does every thing on oath, and 
     
     is amenable to the country on his bond. There was a summary way of 
     
     proceeding 'nstthe sherifl' in any case Of delinquency, according to 
     
     which lie mi t be for unused or fined to any amount. There had been no 
     
     great evil occasioned y the conduct of any indlwdual'slierifl‘. . The. selec- 
     
     tion of sheriffs rests witguflie'GoTvgnogfioichooses {firmfrfi’q oéinézgjgezce, 
     
     rt tenant onri'it.. . t) ‘ samenae pa 0 
     
      ’ MjlsPdecpreaionsilfility renders it higbwly probable that. In all 
     
     cue‘s,be will be anxious to discharge his duty. r.’ Thomson says he 
     
     wishes to raise the qualifications of jury-men. That could no} be done, 
     
     (said MP- Filmer) by simply requiring by_law_ that ajuryman s qualifica- 
     
     titullbodd be oh certain specified character. They would have to take 
     
     such men for jtlloll cube country could afford. The prpper qualification! 
     
     pfjnzypen were of mentatl order, and these could be improved . only by 
     
     the s read of education, among the people. The present onward ,ijiamll 0f 
     
     fingfl’m‘v 5° ""1125! 00 In], lie trusted, would soon effect much that 
     
     hei‘a‘eeiritble on that he ’ 
     
    
   
   
    
     - WhatJhey at all times wanted on juries was 
     
     m“ 
     
    
   
   
    
     ,tbinleiag 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     good, mil judgmenti'aad such. men, happily,*eveii iii the present 
     
    
   
   
    
     state of the Island community, were to be found, and that,'too, in some 
     
     measure, independent of education. It had been said that professional 
     
     men took advantage of ignorant juries, and frequently obtained verdicts 
     
     contrary to justice and the facts of the case. But, were not honourable 
     
     members aware, that when”, from i orance, misa proheiision of evidence, 
     
     and the deceitful arts (if they woul have it so) 0 counsel, a jury gave an 
     
     improper verdict, a new trial was usually applied for and ranted. New 
     
     trials, he admitted, were generally owing to the want of into ligence on the 
     
     part of junes; but still he maintained that jur men were,takin them all 
     
     in all, as intelligent as the countr could a ‘ord. Changin to system 
     
     would not improve the general inte ligencc of jurors; it woqu not affect 
     
     the materials from wliichjurymcn were to be selected. It had been said 
     
     that both the grand and petit juries should be taken from the same anel, 
     
     arid drawn from the same box. To do so ‘would be contrary to the aw of 
     
     England. The duties of grand juries and of petit-juries areseparate and 
     
    
   
   
    
     .distinct. A grand jury is a pointed not to try a man, but to preventa. 
     
    
   
   
    
     man’s being put upon his tria , without a sufficient reason to suspect his 
     
     being guilty of the crime preferred against him. They are supposed to be 
     
     beyond the reach_of all (petty influence; and, without sufficient cause, to 
     
     send no man to trial : aii , w en they do send a man to trial, he is Committed 
     
     to the hands of his peers. The possession of an estate was not a necessary 
     
     qualification of a petitjuror; a man’s understanding was not to be measured 
     
     by the breadth ofhis land. Jurors were notlike electors. Forjurors, sound 
     
     judgment and good characters are all that should be required. The coun- 
     
     try, hc'said, is not ripe for the proposed improvement: an increase of 
     
     population and ofintelligence must he waited for. The time, he was happy 
     
     'to think, was not far distant when the Colony would want neither for 
     
     numbers nor intelligence. At present it would not be expedient to prosc- 
     
     cute the consideration of the bill any further. Mr. Pulnicr concluded by 
     
     sct‘ondtrig the motion of Mr. Gorniuit. 
     
    

    
     The Hon. Mr. POPE confessed he differed in opinion from the honourable 
     
     member for Charlottetown. He had never known juries to be packed, but 
     
     yet the bestpossihle choice, he believed, was rarely made. Sheriff's had it 
     
     not always in their power to make such a choice as the themselves ap- 
     
     proved ot‘. They were obli ed to entrust the discharge of t ie general duties 
     
     of the ofiice to.deputies. Véheu he had the honour to fill the situation of 
     
     Sheriff for Prince County, be determined to select none for petitjurors, 
     
     but men respectable for moral character and intelligence, and gave in- 
     
     structions to his deputy, in accordance with such intention; but, as his 
     
     de uty was not bound under a. penalty in every thing relating to the oflice 
     
     ful y to act according to his instructions, and as in such case no travelling 
     
     expenses are allowed, he (the deputy), to his (Mr. Pope’s) great annoyance, 
     
     selected such men‘forjurors as best suited his own convenience. This evil 
     
     be (Mr. Po c) would ccrtainlylike to remedy, but was‘afaid the bill before 
     
     them woul not effect so desirable an object. He would not like the grand 
     
     and the petit jurors to be drawn from the same panel. The powers of a 
     
     grand jury were of very great extent and of no less importance; and per- 
     
    

    
     aps to none but individuals whose standing in society and whose property 
     
     mightbe considered aguarantee for a faithful and independent dischar e 
     
     of their duties, should powers so extensive and important be entrusted: 
     
     the were called upon to perform many dutics ofa disagreeable and almost 
     
     iiiv1tlious character, for which, were they poor men, a sense of their depen- 
     
     dence might disqualify them. He (Mr. Pope) did not however, wish to be 
     
     understood that he thought a higher degree of inteli once requisite ina 
     
     grand than in a petitjuror; quite the reverse; but what e maintained was, 
     
     that, from the peculiar and extensive nature of his powers and duties, it was 
     
     necessary that a grandjuror should possess that degree of independence in 
     
     society which property confers, and which the less onerous duty of a petit 
     
     juror made less necessary for him to possess. He (Mr. Pope) thought the 
     
     pliesent mode of selecting grand jurors preferable to the one proposed. 
     
    

    
     e would not, however, vote against the bill, unless, after a fnir trial,hc 
     
     should see reason to condemn it. On the third reading, perhaps, he might 
     
     be better able to pro use amendments. . 
     
    

    
     Mr. THOMSON, in support of his bill, said, his great anxrety for 
     
     the success ofso very important a measure as he had presumed to 
     
     introduce, led him earnestly to invite honourable members to give 
     
     the bill their best consideration, and the benefit ofwhatever amend- 
     
     ments mialit present themselves to.- their minds. He was far from 
     
    
   
   
    
     7, aWfifi7‘Wy; 
     
     of honourable rnembers,hc was desirous to advance it as near to 
     
     perfection as possible. At present, he said, the law required no 
     
     qualification of grand jurors, but the bill would raise their qualifi- 
     
     ctttion to that of petit jurors. By the law of Great Britain, the 
     
     qualifications of grand jurors and petit jurors were the sumo; and 
     
     if there was no objection to an equality of their qualifications, why 
     
     should they not be drawn from the same panel? A property qua- 
     
     lification, he insisted upon it, should be indispensab c. It is 
     
     propert , he said, which holds and binds society together. But 
     
     althougi he thought it necessary that. a juryman s iould have some 
     
     property, as o. stake, in the country, he was far from intending that 
     
     such a qualification should render mental qualifications unnecessary. 
     
    
   
   
    
     - A stake ofsome property in the country and the being able to read 
     
    
   
   
    
     and write, were. the two principal qualifications which he wished 
     
     to carry. The honourable and learned member for Charlottetown 
     
     had said he saw no great evil resulting from the old system; and 
     
    

    
     et, on tlie‘first reading of' the bill, be had acknowledged that he 
     
     iud, on some occasions, seen persons in the jur -box who were 
     
     unfit to sit there. If the honourable and learns gentleman was 
     
     iiware oftlie existence of so great an evil as that men utterl des- 
     
     titute of the requisite qualifications, were now admitted to mm a 
     
     constituent part of a jury, to decide respecting property, and, at 
     
     times, u on the life or death of a fellow creature, was it no part of 
     
     the legislative duty of that honourable gentleman to prevent so 
     
     enormous and cr ing an evil ? He (Mr. Thomson) had seen enough 
     
     to know the trut iofthe statement of the honourable member from 
     
     Bedeque. It: was notorious that Under sheriffs frequcn'tll‘y made 
     
     the most. im ropcr selections of men to act as jurors be ten- 
     
     dency ofliis Mr. Thomson’s) bill was tsprevont a continuance of 
     
     the evil. 
     
    

    
     JI‘he Hon. J. S. MACDONALD adverted to what he had said 
     
     respecting the hill on the previous day. 1119 thought the Colony 
     
     was yet too young,its population too scanty, to admit ofthe whole- 
     
     some operation, of such a measure. If it were made a necessary 
     
    

    
     ualification of a petit juror that he should be in the occupation of 
     
     T00 acres of land, and able to read and write, many persons who 
     
    
   
   
    
     jought, in the present state .of the country, to be eligible, would be 
     
    
   
   
    
     _oxcluded from serving onjuries. There was also another objection, 
     
     which 'he had before made to the bill; it went to throw upon the 
     
     magistrates the discharge of an active and important duty, which, 
     
     in fairness, they could not be expected to perform without remu- 
     
     neration for their trouble. He could not see that property should 
     
     be made a necessary qualification fdr pstit 'urors. A good "moral 
     
     character, a plain natural understanding, an a regard to conscience, 
     
     might, in his opinion, in the present state of tho country,vbe admitted 
     
     as a suflicient’qualification in the majority of ajury. . _ 
     
    

    
     1 Mr. Hawaii observed. that 'the rejection of the bill for the pre- 
     
     sent would afi'ord anopportunity for the canvassing of the measure 
     
     Zumong the people, eforc another session. He considered tire 
     
     ‘country to be too youug'to admit of tho salutary working of flip 
     
     fmeasure, but it was reasonable to suppose,-tliat, in a few years, it 
     
     ,would be otherwise. I . I _ V. 
     
    

    
     ’ ’ ',Mr._Srn'A3xr:n said, had thebill come from the hands'of a special 
     
     Commi‘tteé,'i£ w0uld,'mostlikely,havo been so'fiamcd as to meet 
     
     with greater support front the house; and, therefore, in that opi- 
     
     nion, should the motion of the honourable member (Mr. Gorman) 
     
     be lost, he would (that 'the bill might not be quite thrown away) 
     
     ,moye,_that the-bill :be-referred to the couSIderation of a special 
     
     Committee. . _  I ‘ . 
     
    

    
     ' MrIPsLMER said,the country would, doubtless, form a very high 
     
    

    
     'idea of the business qualifications of the house, whcn'the should 
     
     see ,that bills were tossed about in ‘t'liz'iLway. It woul be‘time 
     
    
   
   
    
     . enough to bring in such a bill next session. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Mr. THOMSON said, the bill had been a week before' the house, 
     
     and honourable members had’had suflicient time to propose amend- 
     
     ments and remodel the whole, had they been so disposed. He 
     
     had the more confidence in the bill, that it was not a creation of 
     
     :his own brain. 'It had been tried and approved elsewhere... It had 
     
     been the law of Great Britain ‘four ‘ years. He did, not believe the 
     
     country was too . oung for such a law. The country,fie.‘thlouglit, 
     
     lcoiild now yield e ght hundred such juryrncn as be re ujred, one 
     
     out of every fifty individuals. But he might even-go. arther, and 
     
     'say one out ofevery twenty-five,‘whi¢h.would give sixteen  
     
     man qualified to serve as jurymen, a number, he considered, more 
     
     than sufficient for the Colony. He had not accused physberiff pf 
     
     limproper conduct, with respectto the selection ofjurymcn; but he 
     
     had said the present mode of‘selecting jurymen sometimesrendereji 
     
     the sherifi‘liablo_toa suspicion of unfairness; atl'd by .this bill he 
     
     wished to provide a ainst the possibility of such suspicion. .If the 
     
    

    
     leading'fsatiirés of the bill were recognized bytho house, he cared 
     
     not what they made the qualificationsrofjuron. - 1 ' - u 2 ., 
     
    
   
   
    
     :57. 
     
    
   
   
    
     CHARLOTTETOWN, SATUIlDAY, MARCH 21, 1840. 
     
    
   
   
    
     t. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     [.N5. 133. 
     
    
   
   
    
     it: 
     
    
   
   
    
     The question being then called, the Chairman put Mr. German's 
     
     motion, that the Speaker take the Chair, and the Committee i’ise 
     
     Without reporting. I‘he Committee then divided, and the question 
     
     was carric in the affirmative, by the casting vote ofthe Chai‘rmin. 
     
     ——So the Bill was lost. . “ 
     
    
   
   
    
     v _ gist-1E1“ nEsnnvn BILL. » n - 
     
    

    
     I‘lie Bill for regulating the Fishery Reserves in this Island, was 
     
     then, according to order, read a second time; and the same was 
     
     committed to a Committee of‘ the whole Housc.~ Mr. D. Mando- 
     
     nald took the chair of the Committee. ' . 
     
    

    
     The Committee then went through the bill, clause by clause, 
     
     no very important discussion arising thereon—Mr. Rae made some 
     
     remarks, the main purport of which was, that the marshes never 
     
     l1»  been mentioned in the original grants, the proprietors had 
     
     né‘ _ had any controul over tliem.—Mr Gorman, on the same 
     
     subject, observed that, inmany places, the salt marshes absolutely 
     
     constituted the sea shore, and as such were certainly to be 
     
     considered a part of the Fishery Reserves.—-’l‘he Honourable 
     
     Mr. Pope, speaking of the right given by the bill to fisher- 
     
     men to choose their fishing stations within the Reserves, and 
     
    

    
     v the notice which ought to be given of a. place’s being required 
     
     for a fishing station, showed what a serious injury this liberty might 
     
     sometimes cause to a farmer.‘ He instanced an excellent furm'at 
     
     Bedoquc, of 50 acres, and not more than 7gchains in front. ' The 
     
     farm produced good wlieiit and abundant crops of potatoes. If a 
     
     fisherman should pitch upon this as a station, and choose his time 
     
     well, he might, perhaps,come into the possession oftt plentiful crop, 
     
     without havin taken any pains to raise it; and, as there was a 
     
     mill upon the farm, it would be very convenient for the grinding "of 
     
     the grain. lt wouldjust be the place for Nova Scotians. It would 
     
     not be necessary for them to bring any provisions along with them; 
     
     they would find a supply for the season ready to their hands. 
     
     Esclieat fishermen and land pirates, he thought, were much the 
     
     same. 
     
    

    
     Mr. Speaker resumed the Chair; and it was ordered that the 
     
     Committee have leave to sit againto-morrow. , ” 
     
    

    
     Mr. Thomson then moved the following Resolution :—”That 
     
     this House will, to-morrow, resolve itself into a Committee of the 
     
     whole House, to consider the expediency of establishing a Copper 
     
    

    
     ' Currency in this Island.” Since he came to this Island, he said, he 
     
     had observed that a copper currency was much wanted, and 
     
     business much inconvenienced in consequence of the want. Two 
     
     years ago a person could not get change, either in silver or copper, 
     
     for adollzir. The Colon ', he said, could not lose by it, were they 
     
     to order £1000 worth. trequired six ofthe Canadian coppers now 
     
     in circulation in the Island,'to weigh one penny sterling,'and fo’ur 
     
    

    
     ’coppers, Halifax currency, equalled the same. In the light ofa 
     
     speculation, it would be a good one to order to the amount'h‘e lihd 
     
    

    
     ’ named. People would then be able to carry something decent in 
     
     their pockets, though it should only be coppers. ’ ‘- 
     
    

    
     Mr. Gorman said he would second the motion, provided he.kne'w 
     
     where the mint was to be established. Was it meant to employ 
     
     Macarthy, the tinker? . ‘ 
     
    

    
     Mr. Longwortli having seconded the motion of Mr. Thomson, the 
     
     uestion was put by the Speaker, and the House divided thereon. 
     
    

    
     ens—Mr. Thomson, Hon. Mr. Pope, Hon. J. S. Macdonald, Mr. 
     
     Palmer, Mr. Lonoworth, Mr. Hudson,6. Nays: Messrs. Le Lacheur, 
     
     D. Macdonald, hfontgomery, Dalziel, Fraser. Beck, Clark, Forbes, 
     
     Macintosh, Macfarlane, Macneill, Gorman, W. Dingwell, 13. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     SATURDAY, February 29. 
     
    
   
   
    
     '7'.— " WV UV’V—Ififu‘fi‘m 0 nor. 
     
    
   
   
    
     0n the motion of Mr. Yeo, the‘ House went into Committee to 
     
     consider the expediency of amending the Act, 3 Will.'4, cap. 2, 
     
     intitulcd “ An Act to regulate the performance ofStatufe 'Laboii 
     
     on the I-Iighwa s,” &c.—Mr. D. Macdonald in the Chair; ' 
     
     Mr. Yno sai , an alteration in the Statute Labour Act Was greatly 
     
     needed. The statute labour, as now performed, Wars of little or 'no 
     
     service to the country. All the men in the country, liable to pet'- 
     
     . form statute labour, were called out three or four day in each year; 
     
     but he was ofopinion that onoday’s real labour in each year, from 
     
     eVery men so liable, would effect far more good upon the roads than 
     
     was now obtained by the present Ac‘t', so much was the labour 
     
     imposed by it evaded. He then submitted the following Reso- 
     
     utionz— | 
     
     Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Committee, that it is 
     
     expedient to amend the present Act for regulating the performance 
     
     ofstatuto labour on the highways, on the principle that the Com- 
     
     missioners of each District be directed to appoint pro er Overseers, 
     
     in the month of May, each ear—the Overseer to ta e the census 
     
     ofall people liable to per orm statute labour, and to calculate the 
     
     amount of commutation, according to what the Legislature may 
     
     think proper to lay on each person; viz. fora man offamily, having 
     
     no cattle ofany- kind, shillings; for hired servants, shil- 
     
     lings; for a man having one horse, or one. pair of oxen, —- shil- 
     
     lings; for a man, having two horses and one it of oxen,,-——- 
     
     shillings.—-The Resolution then goes on to provide regulations for 
     
     the conduct of Commissioners and Overseers of road work. ' 
     
     Mr. RAE said, be supposed the honourable member who, had 
     
     introduced the proposal to 'amend the present Statute Labour Ac‘t, 
     
     had said all he had to advance in favour of his motion; and be 
     
     (Mr. Rae) thought the House had best roceed to the consideration 
     
     of the subject without loss of time. he Resolution submitted 
     
     ‘ roposcd a direct taxation, to which he had already expressed 
     
     imself hostile, because the country is not yet ripe enough to bear 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     ‘ it. It seemed the house was called upon to say, that the people are 
     
    
   
   
    
     too lazy to work, too indolent even to make roads for their‘o’w‘n 
     
     , accommodation. lVould honourable gentlemen again meet them at 
     
     the liustings and tell them so}, They petition for money to make 
     
     roads, because they know it is taken from them, because they think 
     
     -they have some right’to a small share of that which is in'. factflb‘elr 
     
     own. \Vhen they see £100 added‘to this man‘s salary”: clerk 
     
     allowed to that, and public-money inconsiderater and profusely- 
     
     scattered away, they tiink they may as well try for somethingto 
     
     serve themsdjves; they think they may as well make a party in 
     
     ithe scramble, and endeavour to secure a trifle. ’If We support this 
     
     Resolution,wc sliall,in fact, declare, thatthe majority off-the * eo- 
     
     iple are too lazy to work. Was the house going to pass‘suchia‘ ibel 
     
     'upon the mass of the eople? =He had indeed heard it great dehl 
     
     xabOlll. how much can e done by money,~ and how little was d‘ode 
     
     by statute labour. But the, honourable gentleman wlio‘hnd:spok§I1 
     
     *to' 'that effect had forgotten or omitted ~to',advei-t to thefnrany 
     
     ,im irovident bargains for'making~ and repairing bridges anil‘i‘t'utdlt, 
     
     an to the general slighting ofsuch job‘s? That the statute slaboor 
     
     rwus not every where throughout: the"Island performed ad it ought 
     
     to be,‘ hewas ready to admitt'but,‘ be trusted, the faults of‘ patties- 
     
     lar settlements would not be indiscriminater visited upon all-fire 
     
     settlements in the Island. If theta}: were paid inmoney,at'way 
     
     would soon ‘he found to divert a part-0f it from the purpose r 
     
     which it whs raised. Whenever a money tax was raised, the hittt 
     
     thing vwis-to-tnke a toll out of it. .He saw no occasion‘for going 
     
     "further into the consideration of thevrnatter. ‘ “ '  " f 
     
     The Hon. Mr. Porn said, the5~Re‘solution proposed gwas pbt ‘ 
     
     applicable to the necessity of th‘eflca‘se. ,He, however,‘-wns’h9t 
     
     afraid to adopt it because itvmiglit be said it'WOUld be telling the ' 
     
     people they Were too lazy tovwork. ' 'VVe're it not fo'r‘vlaziness they 
     
     could commute tinny-two hours’ labour for five shillings. _It was 
     
     not to work, but in reality, to play, that, generally speaking,_they 
     
     -went outupon the roads at the tjme‘whcn the statute labour should . 
     
     be- performed.‘ In-liis district, however, the people were genera y 
     
     industrious, and the road-work 'weli done, although there'wdrd‘hbt 
     
     wanting some instances of idleness The plan proposed h'a‘dibcen 
     
     objected to as being a direct tax; but he deniedthat it would be so, 
     
     'fiirlparsqnswvfould, ‘as. at present, beflstill at, ljberty tape-form the, 
     
     labour personal y or to commute for money. . I‘he present statpte.' 
     
     labour not, lie-said, was certainly unjust in Its Operation; and if 
     
     , any thing coiild justify laziness, it was that [a fior man, possessgd of 
     
     ‘nOtlllng'but bis-wife and children, was ‘taxc‘d. squall with' a man 
     
     worth £500, if he (the latte? did not keep a team. his Was an act 
     
     ofevidentinjustjce,an evi, which on t to be redressed. They 
     
     '- who were possessed of the, loaves a fis’bes should, undoubteiiry” 
     
     be made to pay with some ireference to their means. The ban 1,37, 
     
     able member from ‘Pri'ndetown,-perhaps,'-rtreaited this; hem gbt