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April, 1838. I PRINTED nv J. BARFIELD, WARDOUR STP.EIT, rn INTER TO THE QUEEN's MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY. To flw Tenantry an^ the other Inhabitants of the Island of Prince EdwariL The aflUirs of tlie Lslaiid have now reached a crisis. It is admitted that they are in a state of lamentable embarrassment and confusion. In con- sequence of the improper publication by the Kmg's , printer of a private circular addressed to the pro- prietors, by his Excellency the Lieutenant Governor, which he intended only for their own eyes, and of the use made of it by persons who have an interest in agitation, the dormant question of escheat has been revived ; the payment of rents has been resisted ; the sheriff has been assaulted in the execution of his duty; strangers entering Belfast, because suspected to be bailiffs, have been fired at by a mob ; public meetings have been }ield, inflammatory resolutions have been passed, and addresses, got up in the same spirit, presented to the Lieutenant Governor. An Island blessed with a fertile soil, a favorable climate, excellent harbours, free fisheries, and a healthy and active population, — with every requisite, in short, to make a country prosperous and a people contented and happy, — has been placed in such a position that the rights of property are endangered, the peace of society disturbed, and an exigency created io which the authority of the Government must soon be exer- A 2 ' i n ' w V. dsed to enforce the laws, by resort to force, if tlie people themselves have not the prudence and good sense to return to tranquillity and to good order. With the sincere desire of promoting this object, — of convincing you that the past agitation can end in no beneficial result, but will only embarrass the Government, and interfere with your own prosperity and future velfare, the following observations are prepared and addressed to you. They are intended to review the questions upon which the late agita- tion has been raised ; to hold up the even balance of justice between the proprietary body and your- selves ; and to explain the recent negociation con- ducted with theGovernment, and the prospect which is now opened to you of a fair, equitable, and per- manent settlement of the unhappy controversy, which has for son»e past years prevailed m Prince Bdward Island. It would be in vain at the present moment to inquire into the policy of a past Government, by which the Island was parcelled out into large tracts, some of which have since passed into the possession of British proprietors. It is clear that these titles now rest upon the King's g^ant, which is the best, because the highest title known to the law. If any one of these could be disturbed, if a proprietor hold- ing under this title, confirmed as it is by the royal seal, could be deprived of his property, ti.ere is not a farmer or freeholder in the Island who would be secure in the ownership of his own land. Every freeholder holds under one of these original grants, and to uphold them is to uphold your own leases and your own title deeds; to aliroj^ute llis in woidd not only be a gross violation of tlie law and of the honour of the Crown, hut disturb every man in his possession, and reduce the afiairs of the Island into a .state of inextricable and irremediable confusion. But however much the policy above referred to may be disapproved of, it is to be recollected that many of the past proprietors have dealt liberally with their estates — that they have sent out a valu- able class of settlers — have given them advantageous leases — have in many cases received no rents — and even, after a period of years of non-payment, have released their tenantry from all the arrears of rents which were due. Many of them enjoy now the cha- racter of being good landlords — their tenants make 110 complaints — they are contented and happy, — and in proof of these statements the following para- graphs are selected from the circular of Sir Charles A. Fitzroy, of the 3rd October last After referring to the existing state of feeling and excitement, his Excellency proceeds to say : — i " I am of opinion that the remedy for these evils rests with yourselves. Give discretionary power to your agents to relieve your tenantry of the arrears of rent in those cases where it is impossible they can ever pay them up. Grant them long leases at the rate customary in the colony, pay- able in the productions of the soil at the market price; or if you object to long leases, let those you do grant contain a clause allowing the tenant to purchase the fee simple within a specified period, at twenty years' purchase, or one to ensure his being paid for his improvements at a fair valuation, on the exi)iration of his term. Such concessions will, I am convinced, remove all just cause of complaint, and render futile any attempt at agitation. " Let me here observe, that I am recommending no visionary nor experimcutiil system, but one that has been i; 6 already tried lure with complete success, on the lands of those proprietors (and I am hapny to sai/ there are many) who act upon it. On these lands there is no agitation or discontent ; on the contrary, the settlements are numerous, the farms well cultivated, and the tenantry flo irishing and tianquil. The whole of the excitement and a ^itation now prevailing is confined to the lands of proprietoi:-8 who have nitherto refused to grant liberal terms, or to their immediate vicinity; and it is to them I would par:;iculxrly address myself, for it is hardly fair that they should be the cause, as they assuredly have been, of bringing odium upon the body of proprietors of land in this Island m general, which the majority of them do not deserve." Upon his Excellency's own admission then, it appears there is no cause of complaint against the **major Hi/" of Ike proprietors; and his statement made, while acting as your friend, will, we presume, be received as conclusive evidence upon the subject. Before quitting the subject of the rights of the proprietors, it ought not to be forgotten, however, that some of them have acquired and now hold their title by purchase — that they have paid for their lands with money — that they were no parties to the ancient grants of 1 767 — and that to deprive them of their property so held and so acquired ■would, in plain language, be an act of robbery ; and has been so characterised in the debates in the House of Assembly. The proprietors are as clearly entitled to the quiet and peaceable pos- session of their estates, as any of you are to your houses, the fields which you have cultivated, the crops you have raised, or the cattle you have reared ; and the Government could deprive them of their estates with as little justice as you, by the same exercise of power, could be ejected from your farm^y or stripped of your property. In short, the con- ilitions contained in these grants are as binding upon tlie Crown, as the terms contained in your leases or deeds are binding upon the proprietors. An argument has been for some time addressed to you by those whose purpose and business it has been and is to foment agitation, that, in consequence of the declaratory act of J 778, the rents now claimed by the proprietors are illegal. By this kct, which is called the charter of the colonial rights, it was simply declared by the British parliament, that they would no longer impose taxes upon the colo- nies having colonial legislatures, except those taxes which should be necessary for the regulation of foreign commerce. Upon what principle can it be said that rents payable under leases, and which you voluntarily have entered into, can be compared to taxes imposed by the Government? Leases are strictly private contracts — bargains between man stnd man. The Government neither created, nor l>us it the power to interfere with them. Would you submit to any law, passed either by the Govern- ment at home or the Island legislature, requiring that you should pay to the proprietor one shilling and sixpence per acre, in place of your present rents of one shilling? Have either the right to do so? Now, if they cannot make you pay morCy neither have they the power to compel the proprietor to take less. The whole argument is a fallacy, and has been so treated by his Excellency Sir Charles A. Fitzroy himself, in the following paragraph taken from his answer to the address from the inhabitants of Bear s It R iver, " Without entering into any discugsion as to tlie circum- stances ander which the original grants of lands in this Island were made, it is my duty to point out to you, that the act of 1778,* on which you ground your claims, refers only to the right of the mother country to tax her colonial subjects without the consent of the local legislatures ; but it in no way bears on the question of the right of th'; Crown to make grants of land in the colonies. This prerogative lias never been disputed; and it is e(]^ually indisputable, that as the Crown has this undoubted right in the first in- stance, under any conditions it might please to impose, it has, unquestionably, equally the power of waiving those conditions. Moreover, as you were acting under no com- pulsion when you became the tenants of the soil, but of your own free will entered into voluntary compacts with your landlords, I tell you plainly, as honest men you are flound to fulfil the contracts you have made, to the best of your ability. Wherefore, I advise, and entreat you, as men of sense, (and I give this advice with as fervent an in- terest in your welfare as any man among you can feel,) to dismiss this subject at once, and for ever, from your minds.'' Having placed these views before you, having thus addressed your good sense and your feelings of justice, we come now to touch upon the question of escheat, and to inquire what you or the Legislature can hope to gain, if the prayer of the agitators were actually conceded, and a Court of Escheat estab- lished. We are satisfied there is not an honest man amongst you, who, if the question were sub- mitted to him, would be prepared to say that a pro- prietor should be deprived of his property contrary to the law ; that is to say, if he had complied with all the terms imposed by the Crown when the grant was conferred upon him, or upon the person from whom he hab bought his estate. A Court of Escheat could only re-invest the lands in the Crown, upon clear proof being given that the conditions, as niodi- * Sec Appendix (A) lor the Act. t'f 9 4 fied by the Ki.ig's Ministers, had not been performed. And it may i>e pressed upon your consideration, >vliether any of those who agitate tliis question have proved to you a single case, in which, if acting as a juror under the solemn sanction of an oatii, you wouhl be prepared to say that the estates stood liable to forfeiture. Do not be led away by general decla- mation ; do not yield to specious and unfounded hopes or promises ; but bring to this (juestion the same sound understanding and honesty of purpose which you apply to the other and the ordinary transactions of life — the same rule of right and of justice which you would seek for yourselves. The proprietors and their friends assert that no case has been made out, and further, that it is impossible to do so. If, therefore, a Court of Escheat were established, it would not, it could tioty produce the effects which are promised ; for be it recollected, that, even if a court and jury could be found in the Island, so corrupt and vicious as to violate the law, the verdict and judgment would be subject to appeal to the Queen in council, and the injured party would there be certain of obtaining substantial justice. It would be tedious to enter more at large into this question. After long agitation and full inquiry, with an anxious disposition entertained by the Ministry to do justice to the tenantry and to promote the peace and welfare of the Island, the Government ^ave declared the policy which they intend to pursue upon it; and your attention is soliciteu to the following extract from Lord Gode- I ■ il: 11 ,:i.n 10 rich's despatch to Lieutenant Governor Young, dated 1st August, 1832. •* I have to express my entire approbation of the discre- tion which induced you to suspend your decision on the ap- pointment of a Court of Escheat, until you could receive instructions from me. The appointment of a Court of Escheat is a measure to which the Crown must always have recourse with reluctance, and which should never be adopted except with great deliberation. In the present in- stance it is proposea, that lands should be forfeited in Prince Edward Island for the non-performance of a con- dition requiring each Township to be settled with a number of inhabitants, forming the proportion of one person to every two hundred acres within the Township. For the purpose of revesting lands in the Crown under a breach of this condition, the Assembly would consider it sufficient, as may be inferred from the proceedings before the committee on this subject, that a Township should be proved to con- tain a certain number of acres, and not to contain a certain number of settlers. The establishment of this point might be enough to justify a forfeiture under the letter of the grants; but I cannot feel that it would form a fair and equitable ground for proceeding to that extent. I am as- sured (and the statement is supported by its intrinsic pro- bability) that some proprietors nave sent out more than the number of persons which would have settled their property in the prescribed proportions, but that the persons have subsequently changed their residence to other lands. These proprietors would forfeit their grants under the mode of proceeding contemplated by the Assembly. Other pro- prietors, on the contrary, without making any effort for the fulfilment of the conditions imposed on them, find their lands settled in the prescribed proportion by the sponta- neous resort of independent emigrants. These proprietors escape under the proceedings contemplated by the Assem- bly. Thus it is obvious, that the proposed course could not be followed without great injustice. A bounty would be given to proprietors whose lands are good and inviting to settlers, at tne expense of proprietors whose lands are inferior. It may be suggested, that the course could be amended, by requiring proprietors, whose laris do not con- tain a proper number of settlers, to prove, v,aat at least they have made the attempt to provide that number of set- tlers. In this manner, however, a long and doubtful in- quiry would often brxome aecessary : while I consider it 11 essential to the institution of proceedings for forfeiting lands to the Crown, that they should be capable of a speedy de- cision, and of one capable of being foreseen nearly with certainty. Unless with these conditions, I never should con- sent to unsettle the minds of the colonists by appointing a Court of Escheat." Two addresses to the Crown were passed sub- sequently in the House of Assembly, in the session of 1835 and 1836, upon the same subject; and in answer to them the following despatch was sent by the Right Honourable Lord Glenelg to his Excel- lency Sir John Harvey, on the 10th August, 1836. " Sir, Downing-street, lOth August, 1836. " I have to acknowledge the receipt of Mr. Wright's despatch of the 5th May, No. 13, transmitting an address to His Majesty from the House of Assembly of Prince Edward Island, praying that measures may be taken for revesting in the Crown such lands as are liable to forfeiture for non-settlement. In Mr. Wright's despatch is also en- closed a former address, adopted by the Assembly in their session of 1835, but not transmitted to me by the late Lieutenant Governor, together with various other docu- ments relating to this subject. " I have had the honour to lay the address of the Assem- bly at the foot of the throne, and His Majesty has com- manded me to return to it the following answer. " The evil against which the measures of the Assembly are specially directed, is the uncultivated state of the Island by reason of the want of settlers. This inconvenience was foreseen at the time when the Island first came into the possession of the British Crown, and with a view to antici- pate it, there was inserted in the original grants a condition requiring the grantees, on pain of forfeiture, to settle their lands with protestants, ' to be introduced from such parts of Europe as are not within His Majesty's dominions, or to be such persons as have resided within His Majesty's do- minions of America' for two years preceding the date of the respective grants. It would not be possible now to ascer- tain, uor perhaps is it important to inquire, whether any exertions were made by the original grantees to perform this condition ; but it is evident that, even up to the pro- •f! 'i ■■ r 12 sent time, but little has been effected towards that object.' Accordingly, as early as the year 1802, the subject was made a matter of complaint to His Majesty's Government, and an act was passed by the local legislature, but appears not to have been confirmed by His Majesty, for enforcing the forfeiture of unsettled estates. In 1817, it would seem that two estates. Lots 15 and 55, were actually revested in the Crown for non-performance of the settlement duties ; but in the following year a modification of the original condition was allowed, by dispensing with the exclusive description of foreigners wno were to be accepted as settlers, while the time for performance of the condition was extended to December, 1826. In September, 1826, Lord Bathurst announced, that it was the intention of His Majesty's Government to substitute for the existing settlement duties others ' of a more easy and commodious nature;' an inten- tion, however, which does not appear ever to have been carried into effect. In 1832, an act was passed by the local legislature, for regulating the proceedings of a Court of Escheat, and an application was made to the Lieutenant Governor for the establishment of such a tribunal ; but on reference to His Majesty's Government the act was dis- allowed, for reasons stated in the inclosure to my predeces- sor's despatch of 19th January, 1835, and His Majesty's Government declined to sanction the erection of the tribunal solicited by the legislature. In each of the succeeding years the question has been before the legislature, and in J 833, 1835, and 1836, petitions respecting it have been addressed to His Majesty by the Assembly. " Such is a very brief summary of what has taken place on this subject. I proceed to explain the view which is taken by His Majesty's Government, of the present state of the question, and of the measures which it would now be convenient to pursue. " At the date of the original grants of land in Prince Edward Island, and indeed Tor many years afterwards, the principles on which the settlement of the Island was to be encouraged, would seem not to have been correctly under- stood. A slight consideration would have shewn, that when land could be so easily acquired on freehold tenure in the neighbouring British Provinces, and in the United States of America, but few settlers would consent to become tenants in Prince Edward Island, or having become so, would continue to remain there. The obligation, therefore, which was exacted by the Goverment, and assumed by the proprietors, was, to all useful purposes nugatory ; because, supposing a pro[)ri('tor fo havj used evrry ett'ort to comply k ' 13 with it, and to have actually sent out to his estate in Prince Edward Island, the stipulated number of settlers, he could have had no security that those settlers would not, after- wards, migrate either to other provinces, or to the other estates witliin the Island. It is confidently asserted, and the nature of the case warrants the belief, that has actually occurred. But before His Majesty's Government could be a party to the forfeiture of any estate for non-performance of the settlement duties, they would require to be satisfied not only that there are not at the present moment, but that there have not been at any time the stipulated number of settlers on that estate, and that this circumstance has arisen from the wilful neglect of the proprietor. It is needless to say that such an inquiry could scarcely he now undertaken with any success, that it would be tedious and expensive in its process, and that it must tend to alarm the public mind, without holding out any fair prospect of a useful result. For these reasons His Majesty's Government must at once de- cline to advise His Majesty to accede to the prayer of the Assembly, as set forth in their address of the 9th of April last." And as a proof that Her Majesty's Government continue to entertain the same opinion on this ques- tion, the following extract is given from a letter ad- dressed by Sir George Grey to Mr. Young, as the professional agent of the proprietors: — *' Downing-street, 2d January, 1838. " Sir, " Lord Glenelg is very sorry to learn from the letter of the correspondent in Prince Edward Island, that the agita- tion respecting the escheat question still continues, and that the tenantry are still under the delusion that the Government can be prevailed on to forfeit the titles of the absent proprietors in favour of the actual occupants of the land. His lordship, however, will instruct Sir Charles Fitzroy to take every means in his power to undeceive the tenantry in this respect — to allay the existing excitement — and to vindicate the law ; and he has no doubt that, by a firm and temperate course of proceeding, this desirable result may be attained. I have the honour to be. Sir, " Your most obedient servant, (signed) " GEORGE GREY." " G. R. Young. Esq." ? 1 I fi 14 Without remarking further upon the good sense and spirit of equal justice which is apparent in the language of the last paragraph of Lord Glenelg's despatch, it ought to weigh with you individually that the policy thus declared of Her Majesty's Ministers has been vindicated and approved of by the Island Legislature. By the message of his Excellency Sir John Harvey, whose friendly feeling towards you is beyond all doubt, the question of escheat was brought under the consideration of the House of Assembly in the session of 1837, and in the face and presence of yourselves, of their con- stituency and of the country, the following reso- lutions were passed by a large majority, and now appear upon the journals. *' Resolved, — That it is the opinion of this committee that the sovereign always had a legal, constitutional, and ever undoubted right to waive any cause of forfeiture which has already occurred, or may yet occur, by the breach of any conditions imposed on the grantees, their heirs and assigns, in and by such grants ; and that such lands could not legally be revested in the Crown, without an inquisition of escheat, or other procei>s of law having the same effect. But while this committee fully recognize the prerogatives of His Majesty, they deeply lament the effect of the repeated indulgences to the grantees, which have been productive of the most fatal consequences to the prosperity of this Island. " Resolved, — That His Majesty having been advised to disallow the establishment of a Court of Escheat, for re- vesting in the Crown such lands as might be found liable to forfeiture for the non-perfonnance of the conditions im- posed on the grantees, and having suggested the adoption of a measure whereby all lands m this Island would be made to contribute towards the general revenue of the colony, and this (temmittee coinciding in opinion with His Majesty's Governnient that such a measure would be the means of inducing the proprietors of large tracts of wilder- ness lands speedily to settle or dispose of the same, and thereby lessen the burthens which have hitherto been borne 15 by the resident colonists only, they reco^Dfncnd to the House to order a bill to be brought in for imposing an assessment on all lands within the Island." t I Upon these resolutions it is unnecessary to offer any comment, except to convey the opinion enter- tained of them by Sir John Harvey himself, in a letter addressed to the proprietors in behalf of the tenantry — soliciting liberal terms of settlement in your behalf — dated the 15th February, 1837. He thus refers to the above resolutions : — , '* I cannot conclude without offering you my congratula- tions upon the satisfactory result of the recent appeal to the popular branch of the legislature of this Island, by which the question of ' Escheat' has been set at rest, as far as the most unequivocal recognition and solemn record upon its journals of all proprietary rights by that body, by which they have been heretofore so often impugned, is capable of effecting that object." , , In the late revival of a question thus deliberately disposed of, no hope of success can be entertained, unless the Government be persuaded to break a so- lemn and recorded pledge conveyed to the proprie- tors, after both parties were patiently heard and had every opportunity of access. As no new facts have been discovered — as the agitators have made out no new C8"''? — as they have not advanced any new argu- ments — it is pressed upon you, whether the language of Lord Glenelg be not entitled to respect — that the further agitation of the question of escheat " must tend only to alarm the public mind, without holding out any Jair prospect of a useful result" The only ground upon which a forfeiture of these tracts had been chiimed, is because the proprietors have not settled upOn their lands the requisite mi if w I , 1-^ m li;;: 10 number of settlers ; and the arguments used by the King s Ministers in these despatches must convince every dispassionate judgment, that at this distant period, when most of the parties and witnesses are dead, and the evidence lost, no satisfactory result could be arrived at, by inquiring into the conflicting statements of the two rival parties. -" Butjthe question remains, whether it is the inte- rest of the present tenantry and the settlers that the lands they now occupy sliould be escheated, and pass into the hands of the Crown. Some of the persons who have agitated upon this question have endeavoured to inflame your minds by holding out this prospect, — that if the estates of the proprietors were forfeited, they would be granted uncondition- ally by Her Majesty to those who occupied them — that from being tenants, without paying for your lands, you would become freeholders, and thus be released for the future from the payment of rents. Now ask yourselves if the Government has held out any such promise — have these hopes the shadow of a foundation from the language of any person in authority? To prevent future doubt or misconcep- tion upon this question, the following extracts are selected from the two despatches before referred to. Lord Goderich, in his despatch of the 1st August, 1832, says: — ** In concluding this despatch, I think it right to advert to a rumour, that much restlessness prevails among certain classes in Prince Edward Island, from an expectation that the property of the owners of Townships will be escheated, and that any portions now occupied will be vested in the occupants, without being subjected to rent or other obli- 17 gation. I cannot attach much-credit to this rumour; but at the same time it may be proper to make one or two ob- aenrations upon it. If any lands were escheated m Prince Edward Island, it is probable that such portions of them as are actually occupied, would be continued to the occu- pying tenants at their present rents. There would, how- ever, be no remmion of the conditions on which the laneU are now held of' the propnctan i and aimiedl^ there would be no free grants. This mode of dealing with tne public property has been abandoned in almost every British colony. You will shortly receive instructions for abandoning it also in Piince Edward Island, and for substituting in its stead, a system of alienating by public sale, such lands as there may be occasion to dispose of. / have taken this notice of the subjectt it order that should a misconception be probable, you may be able to prevent the tenants of lands tn Prince Edwark Island from forming the erroneous notion, that theu would gain any personal advantage by the forfeiture of the Townthtps ou which they are settled" And Lord Glenelg sanctions the same policy in the concluding paragraph of his despatch of the lOth August, 1836:— J- : ' ^ " I have thought it necessary thus explicitly to make known to you the views of His Majesty's Government on the subject, because I feel that nothing can so powerfully militate against the best interests of the colony as the protracted agitation and excitement respecting it. It would appear that an erroneous impression has got abroad among the poorer class of settlers, that oh forfeiture by the present proprietors of' their titles to the land, it would be re-granted by His majesiy in freehold to the actual occupants. This impression, indeed, would seem to have originated as far back as the year 1787, and it may perhaps have derived some confirma- tion from the course pursued with respect to the forfeited lots, Nos. 15 and 55. Nothing, however, can be more un- founded. You will take the most effectual means in your power for making it generally known that even should His Majesty be advised m any case to proceed against lands liable to forfeiture, the Crown woula, in the event of its success, step exactly into the place of the former proprietor, . d would enforce the observance of any contract which ft. ht have oeen made with him by the tenant: and that ui r no circumstances which it is possible to anticipate B 18 would grfttuitoas grants of 4and be conceded to any persons whatever.* But you will, at the same time, announce thnt His Majesty's Mmisters have not, as at present advised, felt themselves at liberty to sanction any proceedings for enforcing the forfeiture of estates on the grownd of the non-performance of the original conditions respecting lettlements." #*#■» iV. ''*T» ■ ■.;5,4,W. This proves that it is better for you to hate to ideal with the proprietors than with the Government; and leads to an inquiry into the )a;te negociation conducted between th^ proprietors and the Govern- ment, touching their and your relative rights. His Excellency Sir John Harvey, it is admitted by all parties, was a good and upright Governor. He was zealous and active in the performance of his duties— courteous and affable to all who ap- proached him — eager to promote and foster every scheme for the advancement of the public good; and it will now be one of the permanent remembrances of his administration, that he undertook the office of mediator, and endeavoured to compose the contro- versy between landlord and tenant, which it is to be hoped will be brought bow to a satisfactory and final settlement. After the escheat question wn» disposed of by the legislature in 1837, his Excel- lency addressed the following circular to the pro- prietors as a body :— ill:' * The Government, or the Local Legislature, would seek the very highest price they could get for the lands ; the price now sought by the Government is twenty shillings per acre ; — would either of them lease lunds to those unable to purchase — would they receive the price in instalments, rents in produce, or accept arrears in the same way now proposed by the Proprietors ? — See Terms pro- posed ia page 2^. >.^ , , s , , fO > ; 5 ;,. : i[ M Government House, Piuice Edward Isi(md\ " 15M Februarif, 18;J7. •* My Lords and Gentlemen, ' " ' ' • *' In inviting your attention to the pfoceedings which have recently taken place in this l8land« upon the subject which has so lon^ agitated the miads of the tenantry upon many of the estates, ' Escheat/ and more especially to the tnessage which I sent down to the House of Assembly on the 3(^h ultimo, and the proceedings* adopted upon it (copies of which are enclosed), I am induced to make this appeal to you on behalf, not only of such of these deluded men as may be in arrear of their rent and incapable of making payment, but of the whole body of settlers in this Island who hold their lands upon ' short leases,* by express- ing my conviction,— -a conviction founded upon that know- ledge of the subject which nothing but a residence in thei Island, and a practical acquaintance with the character, condition, feelings, and sentiments of the people can give,' — that however they may be compelled to submit (as com- pelled they shall be) to the power of law, there are only three measures by which their satisfaction and prosperity can be insured, and as these measures depend wholly upon you, 1 am induced to call upon you to redeem the pledge of co-operation with me, which collectively you so frankly fave me upon my appointment to the government of this sland, by meeting my wishes and suggestions upon the Coiuts to which I have alluded, and which I beg you to elieve are dictated by a due regard to what appear to me lo be the true interests (interests which cannot be dis- severed) as well of landlord as of tenant. " First, — Grant * long leases,' not only of all lands now under lease, but of all which may hereafter be leased ; if, however, you are desirous of reserving & power of resump- tion at the expiration of any period less than Jifty years, the occupying tenant in such case should be remunerated for his improvements at a fair rate of valuation; on no other terms can a man be reasonably expected to commit himself and his children to an outlay of labour and of capital on lands not his own, and to do justice to those lands. " Second, — Agree to receive your rents in agricultural E reduce or in money, at the option of the tenant (as is, I elieve, invariably done in all young colonies, and is more especially just and necessary in one which possesses no metallic currency, or other circulating medium of fixed value, as is the case with respect to this Island;) the rate at W^^h \ i * See ante page 14. II 2 90 ^Iiich produce is to be received in payment of rent, to be fixed with reference to the average market price in the Island. '* Third, — Remit all arrears of rent now due from such as ^ are incapable of making payment, or whose character for industry and integrity may merit the indulgence; or at all events, consent to receive a legal rate of interest from such as are in arrears, without demanding payment of the ^ principal. iv " Grive your agents discretionary instructions to this eX' tent, and I take upon myself to assert that every ground of dissatisfaction will be removed, and you will have tne pleas- ing consciousness of having done all that depends upon you, and that you can reasonably be required to do, to promote the prosperity of the colony, by removing those ODstacIes whicn have hitherto retarded and obstructed it/' if " } li ! Ij; ■ IS I ill This letter did not reach the proprietors till the middle of the month of April. Now, mark the spirit in whicli this proposition was received by them ! Although their property is held under the sanctions of the law — although the arrears of rent were due under leases freely entered into by your- selves in the first instance, and which conld not be disputed in a court of justice — although it was proposed to the proprietors to relinquish the free and unconditional control of property which was their own — to .agree to terms which might affect and embarrass future sales, — they raised no com- plaint, and exhibited no reluctance; but in a prompt and conciliatory temper, at once responded to those suggestions which, in the opinion of your best friend, " were calculated to remove every ground of dis- " satisfaction," and further, to inspire them with " the pleasing consciousness of having done all that " could be reasonably required to promote the pros- " perity of the colony." ii it At a meeting of the proprietors, held on the 20th of the same month, the draft of the proposed answer was prepared and agreed to by those present. Some tliought it objectionable, because it exceeded wltat Sir John Harvey required ; but after correspond- ence and personal communication, a second meeting was held by the proprietors on the 31st May, when the following letter was generally approved of. Indeed several of the proprietors are prepared to prove that they have acted for years upon terms equally liberal, which is acknowledged in the cir- cular of Sir Charles A. Fitzroy. ^ . . ,1' '!l il> ' • '' • ' ' • " Lvudom, 3Ut May, 1837. '•' *' Sir, ' -» .'^j 'I J -■■■': " We, the undersigned proprietors of land in Prince Edward Island, beg to acknowledge the honour of your Excellency's letter of 16th February, and to thank you for doing us the justice to believe that we are ready and willing to co-operate with your Excellency in any such measures for promoting the welfare of the colony as may be com- patiole with the duty we owe to ourselves. We freely and fully admit in your Excellency that knowledge of the sub- ject which, as you very justly observe, * nothmg but a resi- dence in the Island, and a practical acquaintance with the character, condition, feelings, and sentiments of the people can give.' We cordially concur in the principle laid down by your Excellency, that the interests of landlord and tenant cannot be dissevered ; and we hail with ssttisfaction your Excellency's declaration, enforced by your prompt and deci- sive measures with respect to the Itay River meeting, that the disorderly and refractory shall be compelled to submit to the power of the law, a power which, unfortunately for the interests of the colony, has been, at different times and places in the Island, set utterly at defiance. " We feel it no more than justice to ourselves to remind your Excellency, that many of us have had, as landlords, ground of complaint, at least as just and legitimate as any which may have been laid before you against us, by parties in the Island ; but we at the same time, beg leave in the most perfect sincerity to assure you, that our feelings, wishes, and intentions, have not been altered by these un- 'A II 22 ' 3; I,!;. I gracious rcturqs ; we feel, as at first, a lively interest in tho ivelfare and liappiness of our tenants; we wish, as at first, to satisfy all their reasonable expectations ; and we intend, as at first, to give them every proof of our being well and favourably disposed towards them. " Having said thus much, we have now to state,^ that upon the strong assurance of your Excellency that the fol- lowing terms will remove every ground of dissatisfaction, we will give our agents discretionary instructions, as your Excellency suggests, to act upon them, so far as may be found practicable, being no more than what most of us have already done ; and we are confident the predicted success which may attend them, will afford your Excellency a gratification equal to our own. " First, — ^To grant ' lone leases,' not only of the lands now under lease, but of all such lands as may hereafter be leased ; and if a power of resumption be desired and exer- cised at the expiration of any period less than ffty years, then the tenant, in such case, to be remunerated ^or his im- provements at a fair rate of valuation of his interest therein. " Seconc^lv, — ^I'o receive our rents, so far as may be fourtd practicable, m agricultural produce, viz. grain and pork, or other available articles ; such produce to be received at the average marketprice in the Island. " Thirdly, — To receive a legal rate of interest from such tenants as, upon inquiry, shall be found incapable of paying their arrears, without dei^anding the principal, until they are in a condition to make payment : such interest to be reserved, and taken in addition to the accruing rents. To remit rents indiscriminately, would be encouraging the idle, and profligate, and acting unjustly to the honest and in- dustrious who have kept up their payments. "We are happy to fina ^^l^at the Escheat question is completely set at rest;^ and we beg to offer your Excellency our gruteful acknowle4gm6nt oi tlie firm and judicious exercise of your ofil^e o^q t^t point. The present plan, by way of alternative, however, of taxing wilderuess lands at four shillings per one hundred aci;es, would, if carritd into effect, render His Majesty's indulgence and waiving of con- ditions utterly nugatory and of no avail. It will receive from us all the fair, open, and legal opposition which we can give it ; and we confidently trust that your Excellency will not consider that we are acting otherwise than rightly in this particular : to a fair and moderate tax upon land, in common with other property, we should not object. " We beg to congratulate your Excellency on the further honour and promotion to which His Majesty has beeu 23 pleased to advance you ; but had it pleased His Majesty to have continued you in the Government of the colony, we feel assured that candour, impartiality, and firmness, would have been the characteristics of your Excellency's administration. " You will not, we trust, refuse to carry with you to your Hew appointment, our thanks, our best wishes for the health and happiness of yourself and your amiable family* and allow us to add, our regreta." " His Excellency Major-Gen«ral "'' *»«r'< / ' • '' *^ " Sir John Hurvey, C.B. ICCH. &c.'? ft 1 / Mi^^lo Before this letter was transmitted to the Islanti, Sir John Harvey was removed to New Brunswick, and Sir Charles A. Fitzroy, the present liieutenant Governor, was appointed in his stead. Previously, however, to the departure of his Excellency from England, he h^d communications with Robert Stewart, Esq. the Chairman of the Prince Edward Island Association ; and he had his assurance that the majority of the proprietors would agree td those terms, and would be ready to aid him, during his ad* ministration, in every reasonable measure C!ttfculated particularly to propitiate the tenantry, and to com-' pos^ the public mind. ' His Excellency the Lienteri^^.t Governor, in hi's circular of October last, complains that four months had elapsed after his departure from EngYaik}, "wrth^ out his receiving any further comfrmnie^Cion." Some of the proprietors did not Owisider thait aiii imriiedi*^ at6 reply to Sir John Harvey's letter iMas i^equtred; Ak Mr, Stewart had communicated ^dik'Chtit^ A. Htxroy a ropy of that letter, ^nd o!f thte' jiuswer which was pposed to be sent to it; ahd had his Excellency liiadeauy comttii^nication to MV. Stewart that he wUhed to be put in possession of tMt ans\Ver, I li' n ■:.^V■•'■ iii ■ i :. w i 11 it would have been immediately forwarded. Tlie delay which occurred in th^ ransmisMon of the answer arose from this cause — and this cause only — that Mr. Stewart, in whose hands it remained, was anxious to send it to the Island with the signature of every proprietor in England attached to it; and from the S^it of May, up to the receipt of Sir C. A. Fitzroy's circular, he had been con- ducting a correspondence with the proprietors, some residing at extreme points in the United Kingdom and some upon the continent, to effect this desirable object. ,i>.^.i^t,.,fv'wj >*•.-»& w^t^nit^ J ? <. After this explanation, it can excite no surprise in your minds that the proprietors felt the utmost astooishment at the receipt of His Excellency's circular, and consider themselves most deeply in- jured by the unwarrantable piiblication of it in the Royal Gazette. The private and the published copies were received by them by the same packet; and they felt it incumbent upon them to treat as a public document that which was intended to be a private communication, and, moreover, could only be effective to the ends in view by being so dealt with. They felt aggrieved at the charges which had been preferred against them to his Excellency in their absence, when they had no opportunity of answering them» and apprehended that the c ffect of this docu- ment would be what has since actually happened : —the revival pf the question of Escheat, and the open and violent resistance to the King's officers in the execution of the laws. They still cherish the hope however, that, by the moderation which they 25 have since exhibited, and by the regard ^vhicn they have continued to manifest for your welfare and happiness, that these injuries may yet be redressed ; and that the agitation and violence exhibited by some of the tenantry, may be checked and finally suppressed by that honest feeling and respect for the law which, in the opinion of their agents and themselves, yet prevail amotigst the la^^e majority of the respectable part of the population."'**"* *'«*'■'•''■ His Excellency states in his circular, that no com- plaint can be preferred against the great majority of the proprietors; that on *' their lands" there was ** HO agitaiion or discontent; on the contrary, the settlements were numerous, the farms well cultivated, and the tenantry flourishing and tranquil.^' Being anxious, before replying to his Excellency, to know who were the parties amongst them against whom complaints had been preferred, the proprietors ap- plied to Lord Glenelg for a copy of the return, and referred to in the circular ; but as it had been marked ** private and confidential,^* his Lordship, from a nice sense of honour and delicacy of feeling, declined to comply with this request, at the same time stating that he would write to Sir Charles A. Fitzroy upon the subject, and apply for his consent to a copy being furnished. If this should be ob- tained, the accused parties will vindicate themselves hereafter against the charges made, and endeavour to convince his Excellency that he has been mis- informed. If they fail in this vindication, and a case be established against a.iy one or more of the proprietors of hursh or illiberal conduct to their 'I&. 26 I u , 1*'. * ■Ai todantry, the ctherR, so far from cotnplainiug, will he glatl to see them exposed, wit*! IVjudiifti^v/ '>> ^ ^ I am concerned to learn that so strong a feeling against the prpprietors continii^s tp be entertaioe4 ai^d fostered iii the Island — a feeling which I. still consider to be unjust and ill founded, nbtwithsteinding the fbnr charges made against them to your EiCQ^llency, as set iotUji in the piinte4 circular. The nrst of these charges, and which alone ap- pears to m^ to ttfl^t the proprietors, namely, that df hold- ing out promises. p^onfJly or by their agents, whi6h pro* , mises were nevei* fulfilled: this is a very serious chargr and the gnilty parties deserved the severest punishment; but it is so general, that it only can be met by a general denial on the part of those who have not beep guilty of such delinquency. The second charge, namely, that of selling lands and receiving payment for the same dn thid country, would seem to me, as the case is stated^ tp )iave been done by persons who had no titles to the lands which they sold, and consequently could not have been proprietors; but swindl<^rs ; some of whom, unfortunately*, are to be met with in every cou.*ry: similar cases have frequently oc- curred in ibie country, where parties were so impfudent as to accept of defective title^.* The third char^p^, namely, that about the Guernsey settlers, appears more like a fiction theuv teaiity, and I never heard of it until I read your 'Ex- I I I I ; I I I ■ I . ' I I I ■ ■ » i < » I I I I I II I I I ■ II ■ ( II > *. Instances could be adduoed,,even in Prince Edward Island, and also in the adjacent Colonies, where the same land was granted to two different individuals, by the local authorities, and con- sid"i'n|.ion in money takch from each : but wuuld it be fair to charge those autlroritics with intvntiunul frauds for such errors? 9St cellency's letter^ from which it does not appear to me that the dehnquent was a proprietor at all. If ' the land they had paid for did not exist/ allow me to ask, of what was the offending party a proprietor? If the case be correctly stated, it appears clearly to have been an act of swindling ; but a letter which I received from the Island by the last packet states, that the land did exist, but had been erro- neously described. My correspondent says, ' Mrs. ^, of Island celebrity, was, I hear, the offending person ; the land» thoueh nofc exactly situated as she described it, thes ejtift, and the Guernse;^ settlers I am told actually iiold it.' And this is to a certain extent confirmed by the Colonial Herald* of th^ 21 st October lasl^ which states the occurrence to have happened about yor/yy^ars ago. The fourth and last charge, u -nely, that of some person havin? received one thousand pounds towards the purchase of Lot 10, having no right to make the sale ; if tnat were so, he could not have been the proprietor of the lot : but since the receipt of your Excellency s letter I have made some inquiries; into that easei* because tha^ lot was purchased by my brother in 1832, from the executor of the late £ari of Selkirk, and from what I have been; able to collect, I cannot help think «< ing that, your ]S:9LeQl)ency has been inisinlbrmed as to the nature of that tr^iMa/ctioni whioliN occurred about twenty years ago. At that time, and long subsequently, Lot 10 was the property oj^the late Earl of Selkirk, — than whom a man wvfe humane or more h /•-< *HHt- »'«■"■-'■ •I't.'^ .■-■/■■* ^f?*'*!' An up-set price will be set on each lot, regard being had to quality and location, varying from six shillings and threepence Halifax currency to twenty shillings Halifax currency per acre; the great body of lands to be offered at the lesser or intermediate prices, and the higher for those lots only of the first quality, as to soil and convenience of location. The Government demand, for ungranted lands in the Island, twenty shillings Halifax currency, per acre. The average price of land sold by the British North American Land Company last year, was nine shillings per acre. The timber lands, sold in New Brunswick to Americans in large tracts, J t i' 30 I f bronglit from ten sliillings to fifteen sliillin^s per orre. A tract, belonging to the lieirs of Sir John "Wentworth, Hitnate in the district of Pfctou, in the Province of Nova Scotia, sold in 1855, from fifteen shillings to twenty shillings per acre ; mid the nn^ dersigned have the best authority (br asserting their lands to be equal in soil, and more eligible for settlement, than any of tl»e above referred to. By the British Packet, which arrived in December ; one of the undersigned has received a proposal from a resident in the Island, for the purchase of 500 acres of his estate, at the price of twenty shil- lings currency per acre.wi^M^u«wj| i^iAi^^i i^ '* u^^^^^-, . Sale to be offered on the following Tetms and Conditions, ;|«.j.^%t4H^ -^Xf^^, m'.'UffA.:W^'\wm%m.^: \\\wi The purchaser, on paying 25 per cent, of the price, to be let into possession of the land, under an agreement to pay tlie interest annually, and to be en- titled, on owe half of the purchase money being paid, to have a deed in fee simple. The agreement to be in writing, and signed by both parties. Before g^ing into possession, the buyer to execute a Warrant of Attoniey in Bjectment, to be acted upon, if failure be made in the payment of interest or purchase money. To secure the other half of the purchase money, the purchaser to give a njortgage over the land, with a power of sale contained in it, and to execute a Warrant of Attorney in Ejectment, both to be drawn in conformity with the agreement. As the purchaser is to receive the balance, if a 31 sale should take place, over the money owing hy him, it is his interest, as much as that of the pro- prietor, that suits and legal expenses should be avoided. The power of sale and warrant are in- sisted upon to save unnecessary expense. The proprietor to be bgiMid in the said agree- ment and mortgage, to rde«ive the balance of tlie purchase money, with the interest due, whenever tendered. ., , . , .... ^ - -t,^, . . ^ The purchaser to pay the remaining moiety in five equal instalments, with interest, charged at the rate of five per cent., due at the time of each instalment being paid : on failure of payment, the proprietor to have the right of selling the lot. \/ If the proprietor, in default of payment by the purchaser, determine to sell, four months* notice, by advertisement in an Island newspaper, must be pre- viously given ; and, upon a sale being made, the balance, (if any), after deducting expenses, to be paid over by the proprietor to the owner. After the four months* notice, the proprietor to have the power of selling, at any future time, by public or private sale. '"■-' ••'' --■ ■^■, >;^-'^ ■-<,': < ■.''-^"iv;:.=.r:^<-M. ^ The purchaser, after he obtains his deed, to have the right to sell at any time to a third party ; but the proprietor to have the option of accepting the new purchaser, as his debtor for the balance of purchase-money due, or of retaining for such ba- lance the liability of the first purchaser. *^*»»* ^'^ The buyer to take the land subject to the pay- ment of quit rent, and any tax nov^ imposed, or that may hereafter be imposed, upon the laud. •*'' ^ ■^'' 32 m if I Second. Terms of Settlemeni proposed to the present lenanlrv. The occupying tenants to have the option of pur- chasing their farms at twenty years* purchase in every case, supposing the rents to be one shilling per acre; if more rent be paid, tMb sum and proportion to be adopted as the maximum ; and to be allowed the same liberal conditions for paying the purchase- money as already stated ; or they may continue to hold on lease, as may be most agreeable to them.,, It is impossible to fix a standard to meet the cir- cumstances of each individual case. , / ' The Proprietors bind themselves, absolutely, not to exceed the years of purchase above proposed with any tenant ; but they are ready to open a ne- gociation with each of them, and to take into fa- vourable consideration the circumstances, which the tenant is of opinion entitle him to a deduction, ^ The Proprietors have the clearest evidence, to prove, that many settlements have been effected in past years by the tenants upon these terms, and that they will be most acceptable, at the present time, to the feies^t body of the tenantry. ' ^ * t v,. 'Third. Terms proposed to Emigrants and New ,..,7-,.,„.,- Settlers /or Leases, .,j i , ^^ ,fr To those who, in place of purchasing, prefer to remain as tenants, to Emigrants, and to New Set- tlers, the lands will be let in lots of 100 acres each, upon the following terms. ■'■>. 5 1. ■.n i"'i\'. (•.':. i-nf Leases will be granted for sixty-one yeaj*s rer-' tain, or the longest of 7%ree Lives, to be named when the Lease is executed, or for ninety-nine years, upon the following rents : — f v i .f niy;' >ai First and Second year - - No Rent. ^ }&y Third year -----.-- o 3 per acre. "J ^ Fourth year -^- '*-*'--- - 6 ditto f^ Fifth year 9 ditto C s^ Sixth year 1 ditto j .•■■''.'-■ f, ' ■ ' 1 ■ , ^ ■ , ■ , ' ' *I I * And to continue for the remainder of the term, at the rent of one shilling per acre, or five pounds sterling for 100 acres. The tenant to pay the quit rents, and all taxes now existuig, or to be hereafter nnposod upon land. " **^' ^ • ** '^^-^ '- ^ The rents to be paid by the tenant, either in mo- ney, or in grain, salted beef, pork, or butter, raised from the land, at the market price, to be delivered either at Charlotte Town, or at some other ship- ping |K>rt, as may be decided upon by the proprietor; and a written or printed notice to be given to the tenant, or left at his usual place of alK>de, at least one month previous to the day of payment. The grain, and other articles named, to be delivered in good marketable or shipping condition. The rent to be paid in labour, if the proprietor require it; but the tenant to have the option of paying in money, or produce raised from the land. The tenant, at any future time during the con- tinuance of the 1 ase, to have tlie right of pur- 34 ■ i m *;? 'i ■II ■4? ■\" 1l chasing upon the same terms as before detailed. — This will appear as a condition in the lease. <«> >iiH>f The Term Day, for the payment of rents, to be the 20th of November in each year. *''• .riu '^-tr The undersigned hereby agree to be bonnd, ab- solutely, to the terms above stated, for the period of five years, from the 1st of May next. ,> min > They submit these ternjs as to price and for the facility and purpose of settlement, as more liberal and advantageous than if the lands were ungranted, and remained now under the control of the Govern- ment. If still at. the disposal of the Crown, the up- set price would be as high, if not higher, than they demand, and the purchasers could not enter upon the land, or enjoy title, until the whole of the price had been paid down : they offer to receive their payments by instalments. To lease the lands, as they propose, is a plan which the Government has not attempted in any other colony, and which could not be introduced, except at an expense which the undersigned believe would exceed the receipts. Their proposal to accept the rents in labour, or in produce, it is clear, could not be done, except by private individuals. They accept interest at 5 per cent, in place of 6 per cent, which is the legal rate in the Island, and in the neighbouring colonies of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. — Further, the above terms now proposed, are even more liberal and con- ciliatory, than those suggested by Sir John Harvey, while he held the administration of the Govern- ment, and they have his assurance by letter, that 1 II 35 if the terms submitted by Lim were agreed to, every ground of dissatisfaction would bo removed. They refer, in conclusion, to the third head of the proposals, as a fresh proof of the anxiety they really feel, to promote the settlement of the Island, and to carry on a regular and extensive system of emigration ; if the local authorities, and the legisla- ture should employ their influence to suppress the present disturbances, to support the execution of the laws, and to support the rights of the under- signed, which are founded upon the sanction of the law, and entitled as they are to consideration, from the liberal spirit in which they have been, and are still, disposed to exercise them. ,;s' .ua ♦>♦' ij a:f Wi '(: K ..'nXj ;> (Signed) .':i-'' ■■ 'if, ill 'iij^j,^; y.^.i",!;,. I.; t-,', ■: ■•, ....,.,•;■!; !l ,, 1 ,>^i. / ',.U .1 ■'■ : ,-:■„.; • • 'J. . ; ' . / . ( . . ;;; .. '• --.«-!• . ■ I ,. t CEORGE R. YOUNG. Solicitor and Counsel for A. COLVILE, for Earl of Selkirk. SIR GEORGE F. SEYMOUR. SIR THOMAS S. SORELL. DAVID STEWART. .,,,,...„.,^ ROBERT STEWART. ROBERT BRUCE STEWART. REV. T, H. LANGTON. HENRY W. HEMSWORTH, RICHARD J. TODD. ' JOHN HILL. HARRIET HILL, u. SAMUEL CUNARD. H. WINCHESTER, V. Terms approved by the Solicitor of Earl of Westmoreland, and Lord James Townsend, ,'("• c 2 30 ' After various ncgociation8 M'itli his Lonl^iip, in ^vhicli a deep anxiety >vas evinced upon his part to protect the rig^hts of the tenantry and Hcttiers, and to uphold the equal balance of justice as a mediator; his Lordship transmitted the terms to the Isluiid, iu the following despatch. h; i % i W '■I 'I > \i Sir, , »'. • >- ' ■ ' ' The proprietors having thus complied with every request, — having proposed a system for the sale and settlement of their lands, in accordance with the policy recommended by the last and the present Governor, in their offers of mediation, — having secured the approbation of the Colonial Minister to that system, — being prepared to comply in good faith with the terms submitted, and to sell their lands in continuous lots or blocks, at mode- rate prices, and to promote a regular and exten- sive system of emigration, — confidently rely upon tlie support and friendly aid of the people in the Island — that past differences will be forgotten — the laws be respected and obeyed — i.roperty be made secure, and the future welfare and destinies of the colony, proceed in that career of prosperity which y • direct the agitation to be repressed and peace ' j h- maintained for the future, as has been done in Cuada, by tlie employment of military force; or it may deprive you of a local government, by adding the Island, as a county, to Nova Scotia. Sir Robert Peel, in his place in Parliament, has sugjijested the idea of combination, by forming the \o\v:y. provinces of Sritish North America into one govcTiitnent. A feeling in favour of this project j)revails in Parliament; and be assured, that the c il consequences to the Island of the prolonged agitation of the cschtut question, will be among i ff!'; }«,! 42 m ill 'Ui I! 'J the strongest argunents for its union to one of the neighbouring provinces. < Another course is open to the proprietors, and if they did not confidently rely upon the assurance conveyed in the letter of Sir John Harvey, and by his Excellency Sir C. A. Fitzroy, that confidence and good-will would be restored — that the great majority, who are contented and happy, will put down the agitation \rv raised by a discontented few — they might be ii> jed to sell their lands to some of those associations which are now esta- blished, and who, with a view of relieving the over- burdened population of Ireland and England, would pour in upon the Island a race of paupers, who can- not be considered the most desirable class of settlers for the colony. Do you wish to be invaded by the unfortunate, perhaps the vicious, of the Old World ? They are anxious to save the Island from this alarm- ing evil — to sell their lands at fair prices, according to the demand which naturally occurs — and to in- troduce an industrious and moral class of settlers, who will be hailed as kindred and acceptable mem- bers of society by the present population. Further, with the view of annoying the proprietors, applications have recently been made to the Lieu- tenant Governor, by some of the leading agitators, for grants to individuals of the five hundred feet re- served along the shores of the Island for the use of the fisheries. In 1833, an application respecting this strip of five hundred feet along the shore, was made by some of the proprietors to the colonial minister; and to prevent any future misconception of 43 upon this point — to shew that the Government are persuaded they have not tlie power to make such grants — that the shore belongs to the grantees, or those who hold under them, subject to the rights of the public, when required for the prosecution of the fisheries — and that no individual can secure to him&olf that which is free to all, the following letter is published at length. Sir, Downing-street, 6th November, 1833. " I am directed by Mr. Secretary Stanley to acquaint you, that he has had under his consideration your letter of the 24th September, in which, conformably to the willingness he had signified to receive your views on the subject, you point out the grounds on which you conceive that His Majesty has stdl the power to dispose at pleasure of the space of five hundred feet above high-water mark, reserved in all grants of lands on the coasts of Prince Edward Island; and 1 am to apprise you that there appears to be some variance in the accounts of the facts on wnich your opinion is founded. With respect to the existence of fishing esta- blishments, Mr. Stanley understands that such as are at present , formed are small, and that the business for which they are erected is not prosecuted with activity ; but he is by no means informed that there is that entire absence of them which is assumed in your communication. Neither is he advised that the extension of the fisheries is opposed by the natural obstacles or inconveniences to which you refer. As regards the terms of the reservation in the grants, there is an important difference to be observed. In the grants which you have had an opportunity of seeing, the reservation you remark is made to His Majesty, his heirs and successors; but Mr. Stanley has before him extracts of as many of the grants of townships and of islands as are recorded in Prince Edward Island itself, and in these the reservation is uniformly expressed as being * a liberty to all His Majesty's subjects of carrying on a free fishery,' * and of erecting stages and other necessary buildings for the said fishery or fisheries, within the distance of five hundred feet trom high-water mark.' By the words which are employed, a right is reserved to the King's subjects, and not to the Crown separately. Under these circunrotances, Mr. Stanley H Nl.j 44 E^ ir' feeis that he could not authorise leases to be granted of lands of which it seems probable that no appropriation could be made to private individuals, without derogating from a right belonging to the public at large. Mr. Stanley desires me to add that, in coming to this conclusion, he is glad to perceive by the enclosed extract from a recent despatch from the Lieutenant Governor, that the reservation of the strip of five hundred feet along the shore, has in no case obstructed the occupation of the contiguous lands, and consequently, that the present decision cannot be deemed likely to impede any measures which the proprietors may be disposed to adopt for the settlement of their estates in Prince Edward Island. 1 am. Sir, " Your obedient humble servant, " R. W. HAY." *'R. Stewart, Esq." . .1 i' .jt 11 M m m m 1 n'- lit r' m P PP m P The two remaining points upon which it is necessary to address you in this view of a general question, are, — First, the position in which the offer made by the Government for the redemption of the quit rents now remains ; and, — Second, the policy of the two acts passed by the Island Legislature, to impose taxes upon the wilderness lands. It is a fact within the knowledge of all conversant with the past and present history of Prince Edward Island, that the question of the quit rents presents a different aspect there from that which it bears in any other colony of the Crown. The policy of the reservation in the first instance was, no doubt, to comply with the feudal principle of a return or render; and further, to provide a casual or territorial revenue, which the Crown might apply to meet the necessary expenses of the Government. The policy may have been sound when introdur^ed, but in prac- tice it appears that the quit rents have never been col- lected in any other colony of British North America, ah qui 45 except in the Island of Prince Edwartl. The Cd- vernment attempted in 1833 to collect them in NtiW Brunswick ; and after the law expenses were dis- charged, it is stated, in an address of the House of Assembly to the King, that of the sum of £2700 col- lected, a paltry balance of £240 only remained to be paid into the treasury. The collection of quit rents was never tried in Nova Scotia. In both of these provinces they have since been abandoned, the local legislature in each having entered into an arrange- ment with the Crown to contribute a certain sum toward the civil list, in lieu of the quit rents ; and although now under the control of the local legisla- tures, no attempt has been made to revive them, by imposing any tax upon wilderness land.* In the Island of Prince Edward, they are still recognised — they are still paid; the sum of £1400 and up- wards was, in 1837, derived from the land tax imposed in lieu of these rents. The more aged of you will distinctly remember the distress and misery which the sudden collection of the quit rents, after having been allowed to accu- mulate uncalled for during so many years, entailed upon the tenantry during the administration of Lieutenant Governor Smith. Up to this time, although some of the tenantry and of those who live upon their own lands in the Island, may have * In New Brunswick, during the present session of the legisla- ture, a bill has been tntrodured into the House of Assembly, to compensate the owners of ihose lands vshich had been forfeited and sold, by the otficers of the Crown, for the non-payment of the quit rents. tli hi m III In liH' V II Ifll ,1 . 40 escaped, yet the proprietors have been called iipon to pay their quit rents; and there are several of them who, although the owners of large tracts tliickly settled, and of a handsome rent roll upon paper, have, of late years, answered the drafts of their agents for the amount of their quit rents. No funds and no rents cpuld be derived from their property in the Island for this purpose. They have paid the Island tax out of their British funds; they claim no merit for having thus, in good faith and with honourable principle, acknowledged the rights of the Crown and discharged this tax, which had been successfully and sternly resisted in the neigh- bouring colonies. But they ask, would it have been so paid, had the lands been owned by resident pro- prietors? It is left to yourselves to weigh and answer this question. i; . ^ The proprietors, although they have been, and still are, disposed to comply with every lawful demand, and to pay the quit rents due upon their lands, are of opinion that they have just cause of complaint in the severity with which their collection has been pressed, when abandoned in other colonies, and in the ruinous law expenses incurred when they were not paid within the period prescribed. Many of them complain of the rigour with which the law has been enforced upon all occasions against them ; to repeat the language employed by isonie of them to the writer, they say, " The majesty of the law appears then in its full " might: but the moment we appeal to it for pro- " tection, and seek to recover our rents, it is allowed 47 ** to become a dead letter, its arm sleeps nerveless ; ** and we have been told that it cannot be enforced ** by those whose duty it is to persuade or to compel " obedience. The quit rents are exacted from us " with severity, and unless immediate payment be *' made, our property is wantonly sacrificed by the *• very parties who, if they do not actually refuse "justice, dole it out with an apathy and tardiness " which render it a mockery. Can it be just, can " it be reasonable, that the proprietors should be *• called upon to pay quit rents, not only for the " wilderness land (of that they do not complain), " but for the occupied and cultivated land, whilst "the tenantry are persuaded by agitators, free from " punishment, not to pay the rents which are due " to us? What would those in autliority say if we, " by the same means as are employed against us, " endeavoured to resist the payment of our rents? " If we pay, ought not the tenants ? If the law be "rigidly administered to us, why not to them? " While exacted to the last shilling from us for " every acre, whether barren or swamp, is it just " that the resident freeholder and farmer should be " allowed to refuse payment for the rents due on " their cultivated lands, as they have done for *' a series of years?" This language is quoted that you may comprehend the view they take of the question, that you may inquire into the truth of these complaints, and if true, that, as honest men, you may correct this injustice, and apply to the proprietors that golden rule which is the basis of all sound morality. 48 h.-\ it'i l,"-r U,. ' Ahother of tlieir causes of complaint is the highoi' terms for the redemption of the quit rents exacted from them. In 1833, when Viscount Goderich was Secretary of State for the Colonies, a proposition for their commutation was made to the proprietors in a letter enclosing a copy of a despatch sent to Lieutenant Governor Young; and that you may thoroughly comprehend the bearing it has upon the present controversy, the following passage is extracted from the despatch referred to. ,. .vu ^; ** The agreement respecting quit rents in Prince Edward Island, embodied in the provincial statute 11 George IV. c. 17, must not be disturbed. But so far as is consistent with that agreement, _ am desirous to extend to Prince Edward Island a very advantageous arrangement which has lately been offered the colonists of New Brunswick. The enclosed extract from my despatch to the Governor of New Brunswick will explain to you that arrangement, and the following is the manner in which I propose that it, should be made applicable to Prince Edward Island. ' "^ '•' " During the first two years after the expiration of the Jive years for which the claim to quit rents has been sus- pended, the quit rents should be redeemable at fifteen years' purchase ; during the next period of two years, they should oe redeemable at eighteen years' purchase ; at all subsequent periods, they should be redeemable at twenty years' pur- chase. The claim to quit rents will revive retrospectively, as well as prospectively, at the termination of the existing agreement. But, following the analogy of the measure adopted for New Brunswick, I am of opinion that the arrears due up to the time when the plan I have described will come into operation, should be remitted." ; Although the redemption v;as tendered in New Brunswick at sixteen years' purchase, twenty years' purchase were adhered to in Prince Edward Island. The proprietors represented to the Government the injustice of such a distinction ; and although they pressed their claim to favourable consideration 4ft beifraitse they had paid those rents for a series of yfars, after they had been abandoned in other colonies, His Majesty's Government refused to modify the ori^nal proposal, or to deal with them npon the same terms which, at the same time, liad been tendered to the landholders of New Brunswick. They refer to this as another proof that they have not had the good fortune yet to secure the " ear of the Government,'* and cannot rank themselves a- mongst that **J'acUon" so often referred to by the agitators, as having enjoyed for years past the sun* shine of favour in Downing-street. They are at a loss to comprehend the meaning of this insinuation. They are ignorant of the existence of any such fac- tion, or of any other feeling in their favour than that which is founded in justice. They have sought the protection of their rights and common justice, and have been ever content with measures controlled by this standard. They have asked for, they expect nothing more. '^ »» ^i i^m* ii',*^rn,„,Mir « By the above extract from Lord Goderich's des- patch, it is apparent that His Majesty's Govern- ment, when they sanctioned the act of the Island Legislature imposing a land tax in lieu of the quit rents, clearly contemplated that the act should only continue, and the tax be only exigible under it, for the term of Jfve years. This term is men- tioned in words in the eleventh section of the statute. It enacts, "That this act shall continue and be in " force for and during the space of Jive yearSy from the time that His Majesty's royal allowance thereof sliall be published, and from thence to D « (C 50 Ifi'' 111, 3': Iff i ** the end of the then next Bession of the Genernl ** Assembly, and no longer." The Government re- cognised this definite period in the terms of adjii8t--! "•!• i- hu--- ■■■•■^. ^^r.^ ■ -^ir. >/■■'' In the second place, the Legislature are sup- ported in their interference — first, because the for- «ier act 11 George IV. c. 17, which imposed a tax iipon lands, to be collected in lieu of the quit rents, and in which it was expressed " that during ilte ** conlinuance of the act the soUeclion of the quit ** rents should be suspended'' liad received the sanc- tion of His Majesty in council; their right to deal with them for the period of five years was thus con- ceded, and in permitting the quit rents so to pass under their control, the Secretary of State recog- nised, for the first time, that policy which was sub- .eequently more fully declared by Lord Gorericb, in a despatch addressed to Lieutenant Goveruoi -Y'^ung, on the 27th January, !833, and from which -the following is an extract: — ^ ir ii'. ^s ^ Ki u , i ? « ..,, 1.,.,.,,.,.. t-jfK |,t:, ',.■ ~ : r:,,> ■>u;t )l"'Vtt " I admit the policy and the justice of making the owners of the land contribute largely to the internal expenses and improvements of the colony; and while 1 concur i;i the reasons which led my predecessor to object to escheating for non-performance of impracticable conditions of settle- ment, I am decidedly of opinion that a tax, in the nature of a penal assessment upon non-cultivation, is, under the cir- cumstances of Prince Edward Island, a measure at once just and politic. But the an>ount of the penalty ought to be fairly considered, and, if possible, adjusted according to the practicability of fulfilling the intentions of the grant. On iund of good quality, which probably would sell at * ;venty shillings per acre, a tax of four shillings and sixpence per hundred acres, or 4| percent, on the interest of the purchase- money, can hardly he said to be exorbitant ; but if upon a grant of ten thousand acres, one-half be altogether irre- claimable and valueless, the tax is then doubled in effect, and becomes absolutely ruinous. I am aware of the diffi- culty, if not impossibility, of putting different assessments according to the supposed quality of wilderness land ; but if this be impossible, it is the more necessary to see that the assessments are, ca the whole^ moderate and not un- rea'^onable.' ♦w The interference of ihc Legislature is further recognised by Lord Glenelg, in his despatch of the 1st August, 1836, addressed to Sir John Harvey; and in pursuance of that moderate and concilia- tory epirit professed and acted upon in the prepa- ration of these remarks, the passage alluded to in this document is also printed at length : his Lord- ship says, — M m m i •it ■»k ''But althmigli the Ministers of the Crown cannot take on themselves to sanction the proceedings which the As- seinbly point out, they are, nevertheless, fully alive to the serious injury which is caused to the Island by the want of a sufficient number of settlers. Gifted with a soil of un- usual fei'tihty, and possessing every advantage of climate and geographical position,, the advancement of Prince Ed- ward Islancf has hitherto been delayed by the i*!;ade<]uacy of 'its population. In other of the British pro-zinces in North America, and more especially in Upper Canada, a similar inconvenience, although not to so great a degree, was here- tofore found to exist, and various measures were tried for its remedy. Among these was the assessment of a tax on all granted lands of every description ; but a difficulty having arisen in the recovery of this assessment, an act was passed by the provincial Legislature in 1825, to authorise the sale, in satisfaction of the debt to the public, of a sufficient poilion of any land on which the tax should be eight years in arrear. The measure thus supported has been found effisctually to meet the object in view ; and I cannot but believe, that a system of a similar nature might be adopted, with equally good eifect, in Prince Edward island. I nave, therefore, to desire, that in communicating to the Assembly His Ma- jesty's reply to their address of the 9th April, you will suggest to them the expediency of introducing into Prince Ecfward Island the policy adopted in Upper Canada. I enclose a copy of the act passed in that province in the year 1825, as an assistance to the deliberations of the Le- gislature of Prince Edward Island. Should they concur in my opinion as to the advantages of such a measure, the details of any act which might be passed to carry it into effect, must, of course, be referred to their knowledge of the lo'.'.al peculiarities and customs of the Island ; but it will be useful to them to be made acauainted with the regulations which experience has dictatea in a neighbouring colony. It is necessary, however, to observe, that if such an act should be passed by the Legislature, it would be indis- pensable that it should contain a clause suspending its operation until His Majesty's pleasure upon it should be .declared. ^^^ j, .^^j^ ^\tf,A^,.^,.i4\w/r. vviw ' ■ ■ ■»«i> :l *% 'i Having thus admitted the right of the Legislature to interfere, let U8 now [muse, and inquire into the policy and justice with which that right has been exercised. ^■^''■'•' ■ "' » '-.liM. i^~ - . ;,i'*ii:i.>- % *!:t ; ■I'll iJi 55 \^ To the act passed by the Island Legislature in 1830, which imposed a tax upon lands of two shil- lings per hundred acres, equivalent to and in lieu of the quit rents, the proprietors raised no objection; To them it was of no consequence whether they paid their quit rents to the Crown or to the local legislatufe; nay, the majority of them preferred that these rents should pass under the cdntrol of th€ Island Legislature, and be e^cpended in local improvements. They have a common interest with their tenants, and the inhabitants of Prince Edward IfiiktHd, in these improvements being made; for the inevitable result of them is to increase the prosperity of the Island, and thus to elevate the vaiue of pro- perty. They profess their anxiety to cp-operate witii the Legislature in such projects, and to aid in a useful and faithful expenditure of this public fund. .; Why then, it may be asked by you, did the pro- prietors oppose the collection of a, si> year's tax, now in the course of collection undei; die act of 1837, and the other acts which preceded it<^ For this reason, and this reason only, that it was apt encroachment upon the offer of commutation made by> the Government to them in January, 1833; and because, as has been already explained, if they had not remonstrated at the time, it might and would have led to future difference. Neither were they, of opinion that respect was due to that policy of the Legislature which sought to extend to six years, not by a straightforward and open, but by an indirect course, a concession liberally and unconditionally made for the period of five yearfci only. It was, iu 56 m '4i addition, a clear violation of an express contract, secured to them by the nonour and good faith of Her Majesty's Ministers^ and they ivere unwilling that that contract should be disturbed, and they be depiived of the opportunity it afforded of conclud- ing the unpleasant controversy in which they have been involved, upon the question of the quit rents ; especially when they saw the Legislature persevere in that unsound policy, and, as they conceive, that spirit of persecution, which dictated the act of last session. The proprietors wish the Legislature to place their property in the same position as the property of others. * -^^ ^^ ♦< r- t*? -- '•^-♦f •*>!♦« Neither have they raised, nor do they intend to raise, any complaint against Her Majesty's Secre- tary of State, for the language of the last despatch, suggesting the imposition of a tax upon lands. They acknowledge their liability, and profess a readiness to pay such tax, if imposed rateably with a tax upon all other property, according to the pro- visions of the act passed in the Legislature of Up- per Canada, and transmitted by his Lordship as an example for the Assembly of the Jsiund to copy ; they are willing that the quit rents should pass un- der the control of the Local Legislature, and be expended in local improvements, provided the terms of commutation be respected and fulfilled ; but they state, at the same time, without reserve, that the act passed in the last session, imposing taxes upon land, is unjiist, because partial — that it was avowedly framed to effect a virtual Escheat ; and being satisfied, that it in at variance with ju»t 57 policy and wholesome legislation, the proprietors mean to raise against it a resolute opposition ; and after their reasons for their conduct are explained, th^y yet hope to secure your co-operation in havf ing it, eitlier withdrawn by the Legislature or dis- allowed by the Queens ^'''«^^«'*»**^''^»**^«fWiirfcfH*ie«fi»t /f They sustain their opposition to, the. acl.jipou tlii^ following grounds. • • "-■'•• -:rr;l'tih^*r^»'t<> f!M^j;;t»f«> Inrw Fir^i, Because it violates the bfier made to them and other owners of land in the Island, for the comm» tation of their quit rents. .rt,,,„ j,^j i,,,,;^^^ ..j J In the 23d section of the act, " the confident ex- pectation" is expressed, " that His Majesty will be ffraciousljf pleased to forego his chhn to tlie quit retitSf during its continuance ;" and yet, if any pro- prietor had paid up, .or> shciiid now pay up his commutatiopf there is no clause to protect him. — It is clear, therefore, tiiat Her Majesty's Ministers have not the power, consistently with the terms proposed by their predecessors, to sanction the act in its present shape, and they feel satisfied that, when investigated. Her Majesty's advisers will recomn^ead its disallowance, .a ti .^s^^.-t^ MMi>v/'^«t , Second. They of^ose it, because, in place of imposing taxes equivalent to, and in lieu of the quit rents, it introduces an improper distinction be- tween cultivated and uncultivated lands, whiqh, as they believe, is without example in the records of legislatiou. It enacts, fiirin toint^/m^n t-ri'^H*- ■> *• That there «hall be paid, anntially, daring the continu- ance of this act, into the hands of the treasurer of this Island, or his deputies, the sum of four shillings, lawful money thereof, for every hundred acres of wilderness or u p unimproved lands contained in tiie seyerat townships, anf| the several Islands belonging thereto, except, as hereii;i- after is excepted ; and the sum of two shilhngs for every hundred acres of cultivated or improved land, in the said several townships and Islands as aforesaid ; and the sum of four shillings, for each and 6very uncultivated or unim- proved town lot, pasture lot, cdmmon lotj and water k>t» granted in the town and royalty of Charlottetown; and the sum of two shillings for .each and every cultivated or im- proved town, pasture, common, and water lot, as afor^ltid ; and the sum of two shillings and elght-pei|cei for e^h apd every town lot, pasture lot, and water lot, granted in the towns and royalties of Qeorg.^town, and'Princetown; lind the sum of one shilling and fourpence, for each and etery cultivated or improved town, pasture^ and water lot, granted in the said last mentioned towns and royaltie»^--and so in proporticm for a lesa quantity." k- iib'ti>«s>{ i;f,iirt-iU kJ '^^ A tax should bear reflation, either to the value of the subject from which it is exacted^ to the pro- ductiveness of that subject or artide tlixed, or, if upon an individual, to his capability of paying it. Now, it is apparent, thkt Cultivated land is more valuable and more productive, and of course better able to bear tslxation, than vacant and wilderness land, which yields nothing, i^^q :ii9ni ^iU*;<4^'<|^i6i •** In a colony, like Prince Edward listod, where the range of selection ia wide, land will not be cul- tivated, unless it be of'gOod quality,— ^all the land cultivated, may therefore be taxed ; but in a large extent of wilderness, there are, necessarily, tra m "''Tb^ftonfiftn this ai^uhietit, (he followitig extract is taken jfrom the - inetnorial presented to Lord Glenelg against the passing of th^ «ict. » "« ^»^ *fp'**\ '^^^ That in all countries there are tracts 'of land wHicK never can be profitably cultivated, ho^«««er flense* the p6)»ci- lation may become^ and to impose a burthen upon them is opposed to the principles of rational taxation. " That Ireland, fw iMtance, a country as dense^ peopled as any in Europe, contt^ 19,441.^44 acres, being about 2\ acres to each person ; but of which quantity there are 7,300,000 acres uncultivated, and about 4,500,000 acres of this quantity are capable of cultivation and improvement, as appears by the Third Reoort of the Committee on Emigra- tion ; (being more than three times the number of acres in Prince Edward Island), a great portion of whi^h Only re^ auires draining, to re^d^r it ^q\ial in point of fertility to le best land m Prince EdwAttl fsland, and with a climate infinitely superior. «!<; :>."," ><. ?{ :- vated, more thaaDneftnird of the whole quantity, 9,934,000 acres of which are capable of 'Cultivation and improvement, 'being' more than seven timts ^ecnumber of acres in Prince Edward Island; and yetnd person ever proposed to lay an exclusive tax on uncultivatra land in Great Britain or Ire- land, notwithstanding the outcry about:8urplus population, jind the want of employment for labourers. " That there are large tracts of land in Prince Edward Island, known by the names of black-spruce, and other swamps, white sands and barrens, the greatest portion of which never can be profitably cultivated ; much less is it reasonable to expect ttiat any part of such land could be so, when the Island is surrounded with so many milhons of acres of good productive land in the adjoining Colonies of Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, and New Brunswick, from which it is only separated by a strait, in parts not ten miles across.'* • * Some owners would not consent to pay so exorbi- tant a demand. Their properties wouid be levied upon and sold; large tracts would be forced upon the market, for which no purchasers would be foiiud ; the price of land would full furbelow its real and m intrinsic v(|Uie>; 4lie proprietors^ wbo had paid the tax, i>vQuld> suffer, by the deterioration of their pro- perty, to an extent nearly as g^eat.as those who had forfeited their lane's altogether : and in penetrating into these, the certain consequences of this measure, the mover of the act in your Housie of Assembly admitted, that, when it went into operation, it wottid " effect a virtual escheat ;** it would effect that, 1^' indirect means, which the Government had refused to an open and direct applicationi-""'"t* '^**^ ill T^^ shew that this was the opinion of Mr. Secre- tary- Stanley, the following extract is taken froih his despatch of the 28th of May, 1834, already referred to. i- ,.j^^,.,..i «?^^*' Independently of the difficulties and expense of collec- tion, the avowed intention and expected effect is, to bring larse masses of land under escheat for non-payment. Bat, although provision is made for selling so much of the land as may be necessary to cover the assessment, the effect of pouring so large a portion of land into a market already overstocked, may be so far to reduce the price as to render it impossible to find purchasers willing to take it at any price, subject to the amount of the duty ; and in that case the civil government is left unprovided for." ■■ fff^ii i, li i" • jiiiJi»rfji.i. iti' i;' Th^ proprietors seeing these ifeisnlts, are detei*- mmed to guard against them, by the safest remedy •—that of prevention, h-; MM^i»^»*>' .«:..>it^ff=>.-.sU4 ,,,..*. A, The agitators in the Island have frequently as- serted, and the assertion has been adopted by the Secretary of State for the Coionios, " that the ad- vancement of Prince Edward Island has hitherto been delayed by the inadequacy of its population^' Lord Stanley, in his despatch of the 1st May, 1834, recommended that a tax should be imposed upon Atfldetriess laitdti a's' a' penalty-^as ah inditcettiettt or spur to comfiel tli«' proprietors to introduce a greater number of settlers— to sell and cultivate their lands. The proprietors have invariably denied that' the settlement of the Island has been retarded by them. Tjiey claim the merit of introducing^ bodies of settlers, v;tio never would Imve emigrated, had it no| been for the assistance which the pro- prietors had rendered to them. Their system of gf Anting leases^ has enabled many of theiti td emi- grate, and to settle in the Island^ who, from not having the means to buy lands, would nevei* other- wise have crossed the Atlantic. - lA^ ^^ k-v vr /f . ?»ir Some of the most valuable and estimable mem- bers of society, now the owners of extensive farms, and in comfortable and easy circumstances, began their career as teuaptsi, Portioiis of the tenantry are said to be at the present momebt the most in- dustrious settlers in the Island. It has been a'rgqed by some, that the obligation to pay rent, and the prospect afforded them of becoming freeholders, has opet^ated as a spur to exertion, and been the main cause of Jiroducing so lafg^ an export of agricultaral produce. The proprietors deny that any single case qan be established, where a person disposed to buy !420u]id not procure an eligible ;ti^ct of laud at a moderate price. The number of proprietors, and the anxiety felt by majiy to sell, has secured and will se- cure an active competition, which has enabled and willenable persons to obtain lands as freely, and now at cheaper rates, than if the lands still remained at the disposal of the Crown. And to conipWtp this 51 i; m \m:' 1 1 at's^iimeiit, the following additional extracts arc drawn from the uieinorial to Lord Glenelg, before f/^ referned to. ^h- ^" ^'tkat'ttiitifVithin the last fe^>^i-s; (Siwn't^ds'iv^tfe i^nted in the neighbouring colonies upon payment of cer- tain small fee»; that public works to a ^reat extent were carried on in the adjoining colotiies, causing large suins of the pvblic moBtff to be put into circulation, which naturally attrac^ted emi^nints to those colonies ; that the least refleo- tioii must satisfy any person, that emigrants without capital will give a prefefAnce to a colony where there is. a certainty of employofeijt f^od of money wages, to one where no sticn return for labour can be secured, which was and is the case in Prili» ance of this act with greater confidence, because, admitting for the sake of argument that it was before justifiable as a penalty, and that the conduct of the proprietors had retarded the seltlen^ent of the Island, both of which statements they repudiate and are prepared with evidence to prove to be untrue, — hav- ing now submitted to the Government a set of terms, which are admitted to have removed every pretence of complaint, — having engaged to sell their lands at easier rates and upon better terms than either the Government or Local Legislature could do, if the lands were escheated or forfeited, and placed under their control,— having proposed, and some of them m i i § #? :•.'!< ii m It'!" I', -v IM being ready to carry on, an extensive system of emigration from Scotland,— they conceive that t.heir pro|ierty shouhl be placed upon the same terms as that of otliers, and ougpht no longer to be selected as an exclusive subject for partial and unequal taxation. , i t . * . .. ,^ And, in the fourth and last place, they object to the act because it is at variance with the equity and policy of the statute passed by the Assembly of Upper Canada, which Lord Glenelg transmitted to the Legislature of the Island as a model. This act imposes a rateable tax upon different species of real and personal property, as well as upon land ; and that the provisions of it may be clearly comprehended by you, the second section is in trod '.iced here, together with the Table* contained in the Appendix. — •* 2. And be it further enacted, by~the authority afore- said, that the following property, real and personal, shall, after the said first Monday, in Jf^nuary, 1820, and for every subsequent year during the continuance of this act, be deemed rateable property throughout the province, and shall be rated at the rate and valuation herein set forth ; that IS to say, every acre of arable, pasture, or meadow- land, twenty shillings; every acre of uncultivated land, four shdllin^s ; every town lot, situated iu the towns herein- after mentioned, to wit, York, Kingston, Niagara, and Queenston, fifty pounds ; Cornwall, Sandwich, Johnstown, and Belleville, twenty-five pounds ; every town lot on which a dwelling-house is erectea in the towp of Brockville, being composed of the front half of lots No. 10, 11, 12, and 13, in the first concession of the township of Elizabethtown, in the district of Johnstown, thirty pounds; every town lot on which a dwelling-house is erected in the town of Bath, bein^ composed of the front or south half of lots No. 9, 10, and 1 1, in the first concession of the ^owpship of £rnesto\yn, in the midlatid district, twenty pounds; every house built with tiiEnber, squared or hewed, on two sides, of one story in height, and not two stories, with not more than two fire- * See Table at page CD. m 05 places, twenty poundH, for every additional fire-place four pounds ; every dwelling-house built of squared or flatted timber on two sides, of two stories in height, with not more than two fire-places, thirty pounds, and for every additional fire-place eight pounds { every framed house under two stories in height, with not more than two fire-places, thirty- five pounds, and every additional fire-place five pounds; every brick or stone house of one story in hnj;rht, and not more than two fire-places, forty pounds, and for every addi- tional fire-place ten pounds ; every framed brick or stone house of two stories m height, and not more than two fire- places, sixty pounds, every additional fire-place ten pounds; every grist-mill wrought by water, with one pair of stones, onehi\ndred and fifty pounds, every additional pair fifty pounds* ; every saw-mili one hundred pounds ; every mer- chant's shop two hundred pounds ; every store-house, owned or occupied for the rcceivmg and forwarding goods, wares, or merchandize, for hire or gain, two hundred pounds ; eVery stone horse kept for the purpose of covering raares, for hire or gain, one hundred and ninety-nine pounds. Provided also, that if any person shall brin^ into any township in this province any horse, as aforesaid, after the assessment roll sliuU have been made up for such township, and he is hertoy loquired to demand and receive of any such person, the rate for such horse, as aforesaid, unless the owner can satisfy such collector that the rate for such horse has been returned or paid for that year, and in case of a refusal of payment, to proceed to the recovery of such rate by distress and sale of such horse, as aforesaid ; every horse of the age of three years and upwards, eight pounds ; oxen of the age of four years and upwards, per head, fo^r pounds; milch cows, per head, three pounds ; horned cattle, from the age of two years to four years, per head, twenty shillings ; every close carriage, with four wheels, kept for pleasure, one hun- dred pounds ; every phaeton or other open carriage, with four wheels, kept for pleasure only, twenty-five pounds; f»very curncle, gig, or other carriage, with two wheels, kept for pleasure only, twenty pounds ; every waggon, kept for pleasure, fifteen pounds. Provided always, that every stove erected and used in a room where there shall be no fire- place, be deemed and considered as a fire-place. Provided also, that nothing herein contained shall extend, or be con- strued to extend, to any property, goods, or effects, matters, or things, herein mentioned or enumerated, which shall be- long to, or be in the actual possession or occupation of, His Majesty, his heirs or successors ; except the Crown and E ■ m fill' it*", G6 Clergy reserves actually leased tt> individuals, which shall be liable to the same rates and assessments as other lands hereinbefore mentioned." > " •" '• -'•; So far from rating uncullivated at double the value of cultivated land, the first is rated at four shillings per acre, the last at twenty shillings per acre. While the act passed iu the Island taxes wilderness land at four shillings, and cultivated at two shillings per hundred acres — the first double that of the last ; and this proportion is further in- creased, from there being no provision to limit the operation of the act to those tracts only which are capable of cultivation. The wilderness land in Upper Canada, so far from paying double or more than double the tax charged on the cultivated, is charged only one-fifth, that is to say, in the propor- tion of four to twenty, one-sixth less than the quit rent of two shillings payable in Prince Edward Island, and less than one-half of the tax intended to be imposed by the act — the proportion being twenty to forty-eight. By one of the clauses in the Upper Canada act, it is provided, that the tax shall " in no case exceed one penny in the pound " of the valuation at which each species of property *• is rated;" and in am)ther, that the tax on wilder- ness land is not to exceed in any one year, " one •• shiUini^ and eight-pence per hundred acres/" The Proprietors express their readiness to pay a tax npon their landed property, equal to that which is imposed on all other property, under the sanction of an act passed by the Island Legislature, framed upon the same principles as that of Upper Canada ; -/ ^Jii 67 but they declare their unqualified disapprobation of, and their resolute determination to resist by every constitutional means in their power, the act which has been thus exposed. And they now rely upon every honest and intelligent inhabitant of the Island to support them in this determination, if the act, and the policy which dictated it, be persevered in. ■::..' I ■ •> >» -:, ,•; . /" Having thus explained, on behalf of the proprie- tors, their legal rights — the equity of their claims — the sound and liberal policy which has always guided them, and the sincere desire with which they are animated to promote the settlement, the welfare and the prosperity of Prince Edward Island, it is expected, that the Legislature and yourselves will co-operate with them in the promotion of these public objects, and restore the Island to that state, w^ ich will induce respectable settlers to emigrate — sa, is to be effected — and British capital to be trans- ferred to it: and, above all, to introduce that re- spect and obedience to the laws, which will pre- vent the necessity of an appeal to Parliament — an organic change in the Government — and a speedy annexation of Prince Edward Island to the neigh- bouring colony of Nova Scotia. They hope, to re- peat the language of Lord Glenelg, that the new position in which they have voluntarily placed the affairs of the Island, " will beget that happier tone of confidence, and mutual good will," between you nnd themselves, wliich they have never sought to disturb, and which they are anxious to perpetuate, from the sober conviction, that it will promote the 1 ii'i Vffii m m 68 common benefit of both, and give a fresh and grow- ing impulse to the settlement and prosperity of your fertile Colony. u ... >■■. ■.\. Having done their part, the realization of these hopes depends now upon you. And they place this plain statement in your hands, in the confident expectation that the intelligent majority of you will no longer be imposed upon, by the artful, designing, and yet ignorant few; whose misrepresentations, in the absence of more accurate inforuiation, have led some of you to form erroneous opinions, and to entertain suspicions against those, who have been, and are still anxious to be, sincere and valuable friends. ).- , , [TjS d o w } im- m I m APPENDIX. [TABLE annexed to the Act passed by the Legislature of Upper Canada.] ^ O 91 > Names e a St 1 1 Uncultivated No. of Acres of Land 1 Cultivated 1 No. of Lot or other designation (if a part describe which it is) 1 No. of Concession or other description j Oyer 16 Years of Age No. ot Males resident in the Family . Under ditto Over ditto Under ditto » . 1 Total number of Persons resident in each Family 1 Town Lots in Kingston, York, Niagara, and Queenston, at £50 each 1 Town Lots in Cornwall, Sandwich, Johnstown, \ Relville, at £25 each 1 Town Lots in J)roi;kviile, at £30 each Squared or hewed Timber on 2 sides 1 story O c en Additional Fire-places Framed under 2 stories Additional Fire-places Squared Timber 2 stories Additional Fire-placer Framed brick or stone of 1 story with not more than 2 Fire places Adciitional Fire-places Framed brick or stone of 2 stories with net moro than 2 Kire places Additional Fire-places Wrought by Water with 1 pair of Stones g ST ' Additional pair of Stones Saw Mills Merchant Shops Store Houses Stoud Ilcrses for covering Mares for hire or gain Horses of 3 years old and upwards Milch Cows Horned Cattle from 2 to 4 years old 1 Close Carriages with 4 wheels, kept for pleasure Phaetons or other open Carriages kept for pleasure (»uly, with 4 wheels Curricles, Gigs, or otlier Carriages with 2 wheels, kept for jjleasure Waggons kept ft»r pleasure Rate per Pound ^ .- Us ft r^ o c .* a. ii i 1 m i si'?:: l.i.. I %. il LI""'' APPENDIX. (A) (See page Q.) .- . f ' 18 George III., Chapter 12. v ^ft Act for removing all doubts and apprehensions concerning Taxation^ by the Parliament of Great Britain^ in any of the Colonies^ Pro- vinceSy and Plantations, in North America, and the West Indies ; and for repealing so much of an Act, made in the Seventh Year of the Reign of His present Majesty, as imposes a Duty on Tea, imported from Great Sritain into any Colony or Plantation in America, or relates thereto, " Whereas Taxation by the Parliament of Great Britain, for the purpose of raising a revenue in His Majesty's Colonies, Provinces, and Plantations in North America, has been found, by experience, to occasion great uneasiness and disorder among His Majesty's faithful subjects, who may, nevertheless, be disposed to acknowledge the justice of con- tributing to the common defence of the Empire, provided such contribution should be raised under the authority of the General Court, or General As- sembly, of each respective Colony, Province, or Plantation. And whereas, in order as well to re- move the said uneasiness, and to quiet the minds of His Majesty's subjects who may be disposed to return to their allegiance, as to restore the peace M. 71 and welfare of all His Majesty's dominions, it is ex- pedient to declare, that the King and Parliament of Great Britain will not impose any duty, tax, or assessment, for the purpose of raising a revenue in any of the Colonies, Provinces, or Plantations." May it please your Majesty, that it may be de- clared and enacted ; and it is hereby declared and enacted, by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords spiritual and temporal, and Commons in this pre- sent Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same. That from and after the passing of this act, the King and Parliament of Great Britain will not impose any duty, tax, or assessment whatever, payable in any of His Majesty's Colonies, Pro- vinces, and Plantations, in North America, or the West Indies ; except only such duties as it may be expedient to impose for the regulation of Commerce; the net produce of such duties to be always paid and applied to and for the use of the Colony, Pro- vince, or Plantation, in which the same shall be respectively levied, in such manner as other duties collected by the authority of the respective General Courts, or General Assemblies of such Colonies, Provinces, or Plantations, are ordinarily paid and applied. 2. " And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that from and after the passing of this act, so much of an act made in the seventh year of Mis present Majesty's reign, entitled, an act for granting certain duties in the British Colonies and Plantations in America; for allowing a drawback :^M 72 of the duties of customs upon the exportation from this kingdom, of coffee and cocoa nuts of the pro- duce of the said Colonies, or Plantations, for dis- continuing- the drawbacks on china earthen ware, exported to America; and for more effectually pre- venting the clandestine running of goods in the said Colonies and Plantations; as imposes a duty on tea imported from Great Britain, into any Colony, or Plantation in America, or has relation to the said duty, be, and the same is, hereby repealed." mm .,;./ >,!i!:? '•!) v,-'.'. A>^ ■■:■. . , '•*; !•.:■;. H '' ■ \\iii iz]h}>:\'\ l':'^i' '■ . 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BARFIELD, IBINTER, 91, WAIIDOUR fTI M , ■■S '■■ • ■.' 1 . ;■ 1 . < ■ * • > I i * it i 'ni f ""P^nif^lSlfjmJ'iVmJ.i *