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(716^ 28S 1 4 609 USA COXHIDKIiATIOXS KK>Pl£i;Tl;X« PROPRIETARV CLAIMS TO fZ^ TO W-^ SHIP I.A^DS iy filial itwtii li^iii, ■j\\ Ui THE HON. WIL'LIAM SWABEY, M. L. G.' 1] coAiaon'fiTowK. PMNTED AX TUB EXAMINEE OTFICTL -^ .«*fe -eX-LIBRI5 J.WebbStanley ! TO HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE, HEll MAJESTY'S PRINCIPAL SECRETARY OP S'^ATE FOR THE COLOMAL .1)EPART3IENT. My Lord Duke, — I have taken the Hborty of addressing to you a few remarks on a subject which I have reason to believe will not fail to interest your Grace, as it has done your predecessors in the high office which you hold under our most gracious Sovereign. Certain popular views of the tenures of Land in Prince Edward Ishind have been long entertained, on the one hand favorable to the present position of the Grantees of tho Crown ; and on the other, denying the validity of the titles under which they hold. My views on this interesting question, in which I am in no way personally interested, iive opposed to the proprie- tary claims ; but I have been slow to adopt them ; and in the following pnges I have collected a few of the main facts and authorities which exist to support the opinion I now entertain. I must, however, premise that Avhat I have put together allbrds a mere abstract of voluminous authorities and documents on which this case depends. I am not aware that the subject has ever been treated in the same manner. When I was recently a. member of the Island Government, I had access to papers, of which, per- haps, it would not be easy for me at the present moment to obtain an equally deliberate perusal. I hr-o thought it expedient and just to treat of the explanatio./? supplied by existing instruments, because I hear it stated broadly, by persons whose position should give the assertion weight, that the original conditions of settlement contained in the C .'ants have been so modified by time and by concessions that their existence can scarcely be said to be now recog- »ii«A,i I believe these assertions to arise either from an [4 anwiUingnetis to give the subject a fair investigation, or a reluctfmce to undertake the labor, or possibly from neces- sary information being withheld. My assertion, however, is this — whatever concessions have been odbrod or modifications made, tliey have been conditional, whilst the conditions have been nover accepted, or if accepted, never performed in such a manner as to entitle the parties to whom thoy were offered to their benefit. I do not greatly differ from those who consider that, with possibly some exception, the whole of the Grants made by the Crown are liable to forfeiture, but my endea- vour has been to shew how such a forfeiture is reconcile- able to substantial justice. I am quite aware that the facts and authorities I have put together are incomplete ; but I leave them to explain whether they are not sufficient to give a general idea of the truth and actual position of affairs — sufficient as a specimen of what may be extracted from existing memo- rials and documents, and to sustain the assertion, that no value has been given by the Grantees in Prince Edward Island for important possessions and privileges, given to them on conditions of things to be done which have never been performed, and paymentij to be made which have never been liquidated. I have the honor to be, Your Grace's very obedt. humble servt., WILLIAM SWABEY, Member of the Legislative Council of P. E. Island. CLAIMS TO TOWNSHIP LANDS IN PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. — ^ rilHE objuct of the following statements is to collect into X one point of view the actual state of the Proprietary claims to Township Lands in Prince Edward Island, and the various transactions respecting them , which have occu- ■pied at variour; times the labors of the Legislature, and filled thp corrcspondenco of the different Ministers at the Colonial Office. From these statements are at present excluded any qiiestiona or facts regarding the several Town and Pasture Lots. The subject wHl be as far as possible treated chronologi- cally, though it may be not uniformly so, and a synopsis only given of the whole case. The full details would be tedious, and are not required. To commence our subject intelligibly— the first thing to do is to extract the conditions on which the Townships are still held, however they may have been demised. To this end we take the grant of Lot 58, made to Joshua Mauger, Esq., and we transcribe the reservations there- from; they are in these words: "Saving and reserving to His Majesty, his heirs and successors, all such part or parts of said tract of land as have been already set apart for building wharves, erecting fortifications, enclosing Naval yards, or laying out highways for the communica- cation between one part of said Island and another ; • also saving and reserving to His Majesty, his heirs and succes- sors, one hundred -es of the said tract for the site of a Church and Glebe or a Minister of the Gospel, and thirty acres for a Schoolmaster, yielding and paying by the said Grantee, his heirs and assigns, (which, by the acceptation hweof, he binda and obliges himself, his heirs, executors • I '5 1 nnJ iissigus), to pay His Majesty King George the Third, his jjuirs and successors, or to any person hiwfully autho- rised to receive the same lor His Misjcsty's use, a free yearly Quit Kent of six shillings st.'rling lor every hundred acre^ so granted ; the first payment of the sauu^ to com- meneo and become p:iyable, on one half of the granted premises, on the Feast of SL. Michael, which shall first hapi)cu alter the expiralion of five years from the; date hereof, or within fourteen days aite: ; and also yielding and paying the like Quit [lent for the whole twenty thou- sand acres' hereby granted, on the Feast of St. Michuel n-xt ensuing after the expiration of ten years from the date hereof, or within foiirtoen days after ; and so to continue payable yearly hereafter for ever. And the said Grantee binds and obliges liimself, his heirs and assigns, to settle the said tract hereby granted within ten years from the date hereof, with Protestant settlers, in the proportion of one person to every two hundred acres, — said Protestant settlers to bo introduced from such parts of, Europe as arc not within His xMajesty's dominions ; or with such persons as have resided within His Majesty's dominions in America two years antecedent to the date hereof. And if the said Grantee shall not settle one third of the tract in the pro- portion aforesaid, within four years from the date hereof, then the whole of the said tract shall become forfeited to His ]^.Iajcsty, his heirs and successors, and this Grant shall be void and cf non effect," &c. There being no reservation for Fisheries in this Grant, we further extract IVom the Grant of Lot 24 in the said Island, the following, in addition to the same conditions above extracted : — " And also saving and reserving for the disposal of His Majesty, his heirs and successors, five hundred feet from high water mark on the coast of the Siiid tract hereby granted, to erect stages, and other necessary buildings for carrying on the Fishery," &c. These words are held by the Crown Lawyers in England and in the Island to convey the freehold to the Crown, conse(iuently any uses made of these Reserves without Hnftnse therefrom is an indefousiblo usurpation. I • 1 "NVe now prooocJ to extract the terms of tho^o reserva- tions, the freeholds in which do not htdong to tlie "'rowri or to tlie Ishitid Government. Thry arc thus ex pre - ' " And further .saving and reserving a free lib ri Ilis ^:.ljcsty^s .sul)ject.s of ciirrying on a free I'lsii....;^. ot Fisheries on any parlor parts of the said Townshlj., ami oi erecting stages and other necessary huiMing^ for Iho .wai-i Fishery or Fislieries, within the distance of fi\f' luu;..;.:: feet from higli water mark." These words of reservation entitle any of I lor Arn). .ly',. subjects to occupy any of this class of reserves f... h ,]:.,, purposes. To regulate the use of these when ii necessafy, the Legislature must pass the reijiii i - , but they cannot be alienated or diverte'd from t! ■ ., i;>t which they arc designed ; and undor no eireuni-i.im r> eau become the property of the persons to whom the iVr-eliold in the remaining part of tbe tract has been grani. .!. Wo now commence the arduous task of rescuing the various places in which they lie concealed the \,n-iou- proofs that none of the conditions of the Grants an- cnu- plied with; or if, in some cases, it can be sliewu that conditions substituted for them have been perform, .l. m' compliance with the condition of paying Quit Rent h.- been performed ; and no claim to such rent has ever been relinquished. ^ It appears from old Council Journals and Royal Instruc- tions, to be found in the Secretary's Office, and Irom tho House of Assembly Journals, that in tho year 1769 it was computed that the Quit Rents annually payable stood as follows : — 26 Lots at 6s Stg. £780 29 do. 4s *♦ 558 11 do. 2s (I 110 i _, 6t. £U4:S stg. per anu. ■ . The 67th Lot was then ungranted. It will be seen in the Assembly Journals, 1833, page 37—" That (by the Royal Instructions there recited) one moiety of the Quit iient originally reserved on such Lets, and to commence at r.u. expiration of five years from the date thereof, shall, by [81 ne terms of those new Grants, commence and become pay- hie to Us, our heirs and successors, from and after the first day of May last past"— (that is in the year 1769)-- *' Thatthe other moiety, the payment of which was to take olace at the expiration of ten years, diall not commence and be.'ome payable until the expiration of 20 years Irom the date thereof." j i tt By this it will be seen that if the tcrm^i named by IIis Majesty's Ministers had been adopted, which they were not, new Grants would have been issued, by which the owners or grantees of Townships would have been bound to nay .luriuu' the fifteen years possession after the ive iirst, datuiLMVom the original Grant, the moiety of £1-148 ster- ling; per annum, and at the date of 20 years from the com- mencement the whole sura of £1448 would become pay- able annually as Quit Rent ; th^ apparently, if we com- mence in May 1769, the accoun. ..ould stand somewhat as follows : — ^_ . ,_^ Twenty years, at £724 £14,480 From 1789 to 1832, 43 ^ go 264 vcars, at £1448 S £70,744 As this arrangement was not made, the whole sum is due, with the exception of the proportion^ which would have been payable on the escheated Lots 5d and lo ; and it must be bonie in mind that we are not including sums pavable on Town, Pasture, and Common Lots which will greatly increase the sum of £76,744, probably making it more than £100,000 sterling. I tWe think the next subject of interest is the actual escheu which took place when Governor Smith was at the d ol affairs, of the Lots 55 and 15. How that came .bua -- under^what authority-and what has become oi that ''''FStlv.---Undcr Avhat authority did Governor Smith net ? It cannot be otherwise than that the ioUowiug /vcl was his authority, as I will, in the sequel, doinonstrate^ This Act was passed in 1803, and is m page b2o the Journals of Assembly for the year 183o. It is a B.ll in- I S] me pay- Iter the .769)— , to take oimence irs I'roiu by His cy were hich the jound to ive first, 48 ster- [he com- me pay- we com- ewhat as ' ^^ le sum is h Avould 15 ; and iug sums 'hich will uaking it al eschea e ' d oi 3 ..boat — ; of that lor Smith iwiog Act aonstvate. 82 of the a Bill in- tituled «' An Act fur revesting iii UU Majesty, his heir* ) and successors, all such lands as are or maij be liable to forfeiture within tliis Island. "Whereas, notwithstanding the various instances of forbearance an.,1 indulgence of our most gracious Sovereign towards tlie Grantees or Proprietors of the several I Lots, half Lots, or shares of Lots of land in this Island, * the said Proprietors, a few only excepte*!, have so wliolly neglected the settlement and improvement of \ their lands, that at this day, now upwards of thirty year3 J from the date of their respective grants, by far the greatest ' part of the Island is abandoned to a state of wilderness, j disconraging and distressing to His Majesty's fiithful •^i subjects, its present Inhabitants— destructive to the ' just views and expectations of Government, and burthen- ; some to our Mother Country, in supporting and main- taining its establishment. And whereas, in consequence of the late humble and dutiful reiiresentation of the late House of Assembly to His Majesty's Ministers, the actual state of the Colony, as above mentioned, has been taken under their consideration • and on the sixth day of August last, His Majesty was aciously pleased to signify his royal pleasure by the Right Honorable Lord Ilobart, one of His Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, to the Lieutenant 'Governor of this Island, that the Government of this Island should be prepared to pursuf, without loss of time, when circumstances should render it advisable, the requisite and legal stops for effectually revesting in His Majesty such lands as might bo liable to be escheated and forfeited to His Majesty, either by non-improvement, non- payment of the Quit Rents, or non-performance of any ot the conditions of the Grants thereof ; and the line of pro- ceeding established in the neighboring Colony of Nova Scotia in that respect, should be adopted and followed in this Island. Wherefore, in ready obedience and confor- mity to Ilis Majesty's gracious pleasure, so as aforesaid signified, and for effeciually promoting and encouraging the settlement and prosperity of this Island : Bo it enacted by the Lieutenant Governor, Council, and Assembly, that on or before the second day of April next, it shall and may [10 1 be I'lwful to and for the Governor, Lieutcaant Governor, or otS-in-Chief, of this Island for t~^^ he is hereby authorised and required wit tlit •'^'l^ice oi ITi Mai^^stv's Council, to appoint and constitute, by Com- i^L^n^t'^ issued' for that V-^^^^^^ ^ ^y^:^^ T^erson for the time being, to be Ooimnissioner ot L^dta ud Forfeitures of Land within this Island, which said tJ^^^^^ is hereby authorised and -I-- '^^^ *;,„o in time on informatioQ being made and lilcil BUoio ton by I 'Ma"esty'. Attorney or Solieitor General for anS on behalf of his said Majesty, his Uerrs and snccessois toneUng or coneorning the performanee or non-performanoe of h conditions of any of the Grants or Leters Pa en^, bv which the Lots or parts or shares of Lots of Land h,uo ^ m Iht have been ut any time heretofore helj, by tl o oath of twelve good and lawful men, fteeho dcrs of land m rtp Island aforesaid, for that purpose to be duly siunmonea tv the Sheriff of this Island, or his Deputy, by virtue of a Seeept to be directed to him, and oiiipamiel ed, sworn S chai-ed to enquire, on the part and beha f ol o« said T ord Kin-', whether the Lots or parts or shales ol Lots of Land' , in tueh inforni.tion respectively men loned and rleseribed, arc or shall bo liable to be escheated and for - ?e?tcd t« kt said Majesty, his heirs and successors, eithr bv non-improvement of the lands, non-payment of the XirKents or jion-performanee of any other of he con- «t ons of the i^spective Grants or Letters Patent thereo; anrthe aid OonLissioner shall have power and a.ithority to summon witnesses to attend and give evidence before IhesSd Inquisition. And the said Commissioner of Escheat and Forfeitures for the time being .>s hereby re- S i" directed duly to return the I"'!"'^"'™' ^^^f b7^ball Irom time to time take by virtue of this Act, into the oH e of the Registrar of the Court of Chancery of the ,Lvi Island under his seal and the'seals of those by whose oS^l leshaU take the same ; and thereupon the lands and ^remUes therein contained are hereby declared to be re- '^ llln lUs Maiesty, his heirs and successors-any forter Oral or L tS Patent thereof notwitlistanduig. And U shaU and may be lawful to aad for the Covernor. [11 J ernor, or sing, and idvice of by Coni- id proper Escheat licli said ■ed, from cd before icral, for icccssors, ffonnanoe :3 Patent, and, have 1^1, by the of kind in summoned virtue of a id, sworn, of our said ,res of Lots tioned and d and for- 5ors, either Lent of the of the con- nt thereof ; id authority ence before lissioncr of 5 hereby re- tion, which ;is Act, into ncery of the ise by whose le lands and •ed to be re- jessors — any withstanding. (jovernor, Lieutenant Governor or Commander-in-Chief of the said Island for the time being, with the advice and consent of His Majesty's Council, to make Grants of such lands so returned, which Grants shall be good, valid and effectual, to all intents and purposes whatsoever. " And be if i ^rther enacted, by the authority afore- said, that the jierk of the Court of Escheat and For- feitures, (who is to bo' appointed in manner aforesaid), shall, within six days next after tlic fdiug of every infor- mation in the said Court, put up at the Court House in Charlottetown a notice signed by him, thereby notifying all persons interested in the Lot, or part or share of Lot of Land, on such information mentioned and described, that the same has been filed for the purpose of escheating and forfeiting such lands and premises, and of the time when an Inquest of Officetwas held and taken before the said Commissioner of Escheats and Forfeitures at the Court House of Charlottetown, which time shall not exceed six months from the publishing the said notice ; and the said Clerk shall, upon each and every information being filed as aforesaid, also publish a like notice in the Gazette^ for and during the space of one month ; and in case no Gazette shall be printed in the said Island, then the said Clerk shall post up within the time aforesaid in the usual manner, and in the accustomed places, such notice in printing or writing. " Provided, that it shall be lawful for all persons interest- ed or entitled to such lan«ls as arc comprised in any OflicG or Inrpiisition so returned into the said Court of Chancery by virtue of this vVct as aforesaid, to traverse the same in the Court within twelve months from the date thereof ; which said notice hereinbefore directed, and Inquisition to be taken in pursuance thereof, shall be deemed sufficient notice to the trayerser and all parlies interested or con- . cerned in such traverse, without any writ of fieri facias being issued ; and if the said Office or Inquisition shall not be traversed within the said time, the Grant of such land by virtue of such Ini|uest by the Governor, Lieutenant 1 Governor, or Commander-in-Chief, with advice as afore- said, shall he absolute, according to the form and effect of Buch Grant." 1 12 1 U, however Itero --»« » ^^^ 'uo/cruor Su.iU> jn>t it ehall presently '*'^>"> V V . is" n.l 55. Yet tluit b.iug i„ force iu tl.e ea.es u L»'= J^;""' j,^^ ^^„t were dropped, Ueue-, iur.l,er P>;oceedu,g u .1 Vac ^^ g„_ and Ave fmd m Ibo-^, J"" '':,;; „,, ,i,c ,„atler. Having vosolation. au-o«ing -^-^^ ".;„,„, i,vumlng, U.e „,a,;e enqnu-y ^71" J .^"l .'^ t,l tUe IVdlowing answer. lUa.sc of Assenib b Inst i.cu^ Ueule.iant Gover- April 1. 1B03 •.- ' U.S '^'j['-fjt^\ ,„i . Au Aet for elledu- „„\. gave his assen to a Ml, ^^ ,„„i ,„eeessors, aU ally^evesling m U.s ^1*. :> J.^, o forfcilnro vvitl.in tins sack lands as arc or may ^e ■ W <|' , ,^ ^^..-e were Bland.' " Tko veso naoa, to ^'^'^^ (,,, f„ii„„i„g :_ j,asscd November 2Ut I, rbOo.^^;;^ „,. ^i^, L^gislalnrc ' .. ],t, &soh<:d< That the "2; p with His Majesty's otlhis Island were '1',^ f/;" f^" ,Jtary of State to Ike Royal pleasure s.gn.kedy ins » ;,/,,;„„ U,„ t.vo l»te L'-'-;-'V"X in. U" ^ -d 'regular payn.ent ^"*?L"Q;;U^K™ls:ta^^^ei«.cstlngUisM.estywmi ously nilbraed by /^;;^^l:^J^\;,,,,,,utce batti great reason "3r(l, i?c6^o/i;cci, -^l^f ^^\>^;-.4y's Royal allo^Yancc, former Act, viz: ior ^^^^"^^^ ^^,neeii graci- rcat reason allowance, Gsentations e Assembly Committee ! under the •egularpay- through the lined by the tlement and ;cd, and iiii^ US rendered lis J We c'oivliiile iroin tho above that the Act respecting the manner of enforcing payment of Quit Rents is still lu force. It will be found ia the Statutes of 1 802, page lUo ; and at the foot of the Act is this note : " It appears by Governor Smith's proclamation of 3rd February, lbl8, (to fliicli we shall in due course advert), "that this Act has received tho lloyal allowance." But when we turnover a few pagc..^ of the laws, wc tinrt on page 208 the following title :— " An Act for revesting in His MMJesty, his heirs and successors, all such Liinds as •nv or may lie liable to forfeiture within this Island ;' but in the niargin is the following, be it observed, without ^late •— " This Act has not received the Royal allowance. The foregoing resolutions of the House of Assembly, taken in coiiiiuctiJn with Lieutenant Governor Smith actually escheating Lots 55 and 15, several years altcnvards, make it indisputable in our minds, that either the Royal allow- ance was duly received and suppressed, or that the .net beciuue law by its disallowance not being notified . ihe o-uilty collusion of the Proprietors and other parties causing U to'be so noticed on the Sratute Book, is very evident. But it must be observed, that whilst we arc ready to luaintain tliat this Act, of which all that is given in^ the Statute Book is the title only, as we have above rcciteu, is now in full force, we are not at all solicitous that it should ])e so, because even were there no Act at all, the common law of tlio land would reinvest all the land which has not paid Quit Rent or complied with the other conddions in the hands of the Island Government, Her Majesty s as- signeesunder the Civil List Bill. „ , ,, , , Here however, let us pause to observe thot the obstruc- tion, concealment, and other contrivances to elude tins enactment, to which we have made allusion, is nothing more than was always in the power of the Lieutenant Governoror Government underthe oldregirae. Long posses- sion of office and unchallenged responsibihty—the imprao- ticability of getting sight of public documents, concerning which no man could be questioned, and al the tricks th it were most abundantly practised, were nothing ifore th. n the consequence natural to a state of things when the oflicorS [14 of th>' Government wore nut depomlent on the people but the L'l-oprictors lor the length of tenure of olUeo -nrl wh^n c, ;in( holding 110 seats in the Legislature they could not be questioned. Further proof of the existence of this uiissing Stati^e (inissincr but for the 'ournals of the Assembly), is atfordcd by extracts we sliall i. ako from Lord I^pbart's despatches, ho thou being Coloni.il Secretary ; and nut only so, but that it was enacted at the command of the Crown, and so could not have had the Jloyal assent withheld from it, as most dishonestly stated by the publishers of the Statutes in those times. Lord 1-Iobart says, in a despatch on the subject, dated Au"-ust 6, 1802, and to be found iu the Journals of 1833, pages 37 and 38 : — "It is highly expedient that a proper and effectual method should be established of collecting Quit Rents. I am, therefore, to signify you llis Majesty's pleasure, that you are in the strongest manner to recommend the Legis- lature of the Island under your Government to pass an Act for these purposes, and I enclose you herewith crtain clauses, &c. " With respect to the measure to be adopted for the recovery of such lands as \my be liable to be escheated and forfeited to the Gn'onraent, either by non-improvement, non-payment of Qait Rents, or non-performance of any other conditions of the Grants, the practice which has pre- vailed in Nova Scotia, (to the Lieutenant Governor of Avhich Province you will apply if necessary,) will, it is conceived, be a sullicient precedent for your guidance and direction ; and it is His Majesfcy's pleasure that, after having fully informed yourself on this subject, you should follow the same line of proceeding." But we think enough has been shewn on this head to remove the least hesitation as to the justice and necessity of immediately commencing proceedings regarding the Escheat of all lands liable thereto. We have omitted, however, the following resolutions of the House of Assembly, passed January 4th, 1833 :— t!l' [Vo\ " Resohed, —Thiit it is tbo opinion of this Conimittcc that {ilthough the Act of 1803, for re^nilutin,ntnittee, that in all probability this Island would hiivo hoeu by this time fully settled, t!io titles of every man secure, &c. if the Act of ISO.'j, authorising an Escheat, hju.l gone into operation, as IlisMajesty at first graciously intended it should." Voting for these resolutions, it is worthy of remark, wo have the names of ^Messrs. Green, Brenan ixnd Cooper, who still reside in the Island. Now, further to shew that the cooking of public docu- ments to support proprietary imposition was no uncommon occurrence in bygone days, wo extract from tho Journals of Council tho following, dated February 3rd, 1818, (page 189 of Executive Council Journals :) " His Excellency was pleased to direct that a proclamation be issued, notify- ing that the marginal note inserted at the commencement of the Quit Rent Act of this Colony of the 33rd of King George III., stating that it does not appear that such Act had received the Royal allownce, is erroneous*." It may, perhaps, be as well, notwithstanding the seeming obscurity of the subject, to take up the history of the * Vide page 194 of the Minutes of Council^ from 1810 to 1820, for proof thiU iho IIuiu riobert Gray and the Hon. W. Johnston were Com- missioners for revising the proof sheets of the Laws of tho Colony; and the Lidex to them, it appears, furnishes prima facie, evidence of their havin* falsified the Statutes. ° various i.roje.-ts as woU a. enactments which have onga^a^a the Government of this Island, it. Legishituvc, and the respoctivo Colonial Socrctancs. The first Act of wliich we have any notice is the hist in the Statute Book in 177^, and is tliere markc.l as repeahHl l,v 43i'd Geo. 3rd, cap. 2, 1802, which hitter Act points oat the metiiod to be adopted ^}^\^^\?^^'''T:7c'[^1\^ Re.it., &c. It has no rohition to that ot the .:...>rd Geo. o d which rohites to rescinding certain proceedings ^y'^'^Jlf^ subject of Quit Rents, so far as we collect from the title. Where the Bill is, we are nnablc to say. Several intermediate records on the proceedings in Coaacil, however, e^ist, of which wo make some extracts, to exhibit the opinions of i^^\^o^^'^^^^ ^f f." 'f > ' - At a meeting of Council, i;:;th March, 178-4 tlie Lieu cn- ant Governor, Walter Patterson, Es-i., a Bill intituled an Act for rep .alio- an Act f.r the eQcctual recovery ot certain of His ALijosty's Qait Rents ' e^., was l^^i'} ^ 'J^ Ooancil ; al.vo part of a letter from the Secretary of State, directing the above Act to be laid before the General As- sembly of this Island. It appears the Council took time to deliberate on this measure which was, no doubt, concocted by proprietary i^Quence at home. On the 13th April they came to some very long resolutions, which rf ^^ "'•'^^ "<■«>« Crown. durtrn'tVearTTc'r' "° """"' '" """y --s then the'forfeltut of thTSs"':,,l-f' . f *« ?™- «» order Colonial Government ' '' "S'" '""' ^"""^'-'"^ »" 'ho ^Jf" ?,'''^^P--\tel> signed "Bathurst," dated lOH, Ar, 1823 addressed to Lieutenant Governor Sm»h • , ^' 40, Journals of ISaf; if „„ """inoi bmitli, vide page censured for not favini Xd'ed ? f ^•^«f"^''o/w!s regard to the Quit'Renls° Th» i ■"" '"^'ractions in ^ •■As it appSis tl^" hecScrof o:irR'"r7--- been regularly eufor<-e,) >ilnl ti! , ! V^"'^ ^^"t^ lias not in ISls! but (hat i, :L " ,* !if °f ^°" P'-°«I»»ation .»y.e„t or tho^Q^ «ttsf ar ctotTet whijh 3 f IM •he Nvill ooujiiilcr hinisuH' uuthuiirffii tu culuicw, and that the levy ol" urretir.-i nuiv bo si/ypt/ultd until you luive remitted to iiio an uccouut of the suins'due by the diflercnt proprie- tora, with the reasons whieh have induced you to allow them to accumulate instead ol" collecting them half yearly, as you were instructed to do in 1818." In the time of Lieutenant Governor Sir Aretas Younj^^ u despatch was laid before the House of Assembly which contains the following- passage : — " The agreement respecting Quit Rents in Prince Ed- ward Island, embodied in the 4 Geo. 1th, cap. 17, — (the Lund Assessment Act since continued and which foregoes the claim for Quit Rents during its operation and that of the subsequent Acts up to 18G3 or 18G4,) — must not be disturbed ; but so far as is consistent with that agreement, 1 am desirous to extend to Prince Edward Island a very advantageous arrangement, which has lately been olfered to the Colonists of New Brunswick. The enclosed extract will explain to you that arrangement. And the following is the manner in whicli I propose that it should be made applicable to Prince Edward Island. "During the first two years after the expiration of the five years for which the claim for Quit Rents has been suspended, the Quit Rents should be redeemable at fifteen years purchase ; during the next period of two years they should bo redeem- able at eighteen years purchase ; at all subsequent periods they should be redeemable at twenty years purchase. The claim to Quit Rents will revive retrospectively and pro- spectively at the termination of the existing agreement ; but following the analogy of the measure adopted in New Brunswick, I am of opinion that the arrears due up to the time, when the plan I have described will come into opera- tion should be remitted." " Having established these conditions, I think that the punctual payment of all redeemed Quit Rents ought to be rigorously exacted. The objections which 1 entertain to a forfeiture of lands under a breach of the conditions re- quiring them to be settled with a certain number of occu- pants, would by no means apply to a forfcituvo of them for If? 'S Ti.o ofTer ,va m. Jo fnr ■ ^TS'»"S Jitio„s°ne7er i 'M 1 h Thill tin r» lia^ hiHMi Uii corr(;sj(Oiidoiicf uii this siiliject inimodiatcly, sinco 183(S, proves only that during (ho ex- istence of the Land Tax Acts tlio subject has been considered I ab**vrf>ncc • but wo believe there was a better reason than ots supply Tor its not having' been taken up by ai. who now ('onsider it their duty to enter on the subjtH -nanudy, a t'orroituro to the Crown would not have groally forwanJod the iutoroKts of tho Island collectively, or of tho tenantry. Who could ^ay what would liave boon lone with the 'orfeited lands ? l>ut if now forfeited, tluy become tho property of tho Island, whose (iovernment, tilder the direction of tl' " Legislature, is I'uUy invested wicli tho power of coniirmiug freehold acquired rights, and of permitting leaseholders on very easy terms, and on tho principle of paying by instalments, to boconie I'reeholders. No reference to tho Colonial Olhcc is needed for this operation. A Conmiission must bo established by vote of the Legis- lature to investigate the state of every acre of land in tho Colony, in order that justice and indulgence may be af- forded to every claimant. The unsettled lands would be, of C( urse, soM to the best advantage, at such times as might be best suited to the operation. The further (questions ou this subject are two : First of all, the liability to Escheat arising out of non-performance of conditions. The second, tho state of the Fishery Re- serves. Under the first head there will be a great deal of con- flicting evidence respecting any relaxation of the original conditions with which the grants were burdened ; and though wo may revert to tho subject, we shall be content now to refer to this same despatch of Lord Goderich, dated 27th January, 1833, in which we have these words, after dealing with Quit Rents, by making an offer for their conditional remission. His Lordship says: — " I shall be very glad to accede to this course, and shall be prepared to advise His Majesty to remit immediately the claim to arrears due from, the persons who may be (iosiroas to effect such an adjustment. I shall also be wiHir..' -. ' nt that they may receive at the same time a fOiiuui lelease from M I ^1 1 N.nv. f,.,„„ this t ,2 d;:,s,n7 '"""■?;' """'■" been nsolos, to tl,o Pro,.™ ^ '';' h" -I: '•'?'■' ""^'^ '""1 t""o to ,v ,ich the oir.T l( tifi f'.,., , "u"" '"l'^" "'■ "'0 m otho,- C.U.SO wlutcv r L hat , ''" ""'"»''>'"■ coul,l bo plcdod. t , Lul IMI rl' """"^ "" •">"' «W<-''- "■■iginal co.„litio .. S , K , ™„^'"'" '■'"I'J-^ol lo tho.o wo.il-1 ombraoo a ,nusi oC 'J Jcncc n.^r'*'",";''-''''''*''""™^. "■i«">cr, porh:,ps, i„ „„ two cas^' ''''''''f. ''? '" "« sa>,,o present iutention to ontor on it = "'"' " " '"'^'"'■' "T Buifi"I!^?to!:'t"^„t-tr•.,![i„r:rtf^^'^^^^^•-• »^ "bsolcto, ,„ul to ch>in, Ihoo, I ^L . *^'".™ '" ""•'•» -f er yet cl.mncl thou, lo, t „■ .1 ^ ~I"-""">-3, who what lapse of tin,„ has occ mod r ''■ o^' """"^'■'^ ■>»' ;;o»l.l not have 01100 6,1,110, 1, ''f ,.'" """^> i-'-oecl, l^'t wei'o it othorwi'so to 1,1 T"^ '""" "'<> Cro'^n • -M tl.:.t the olai,::" ;i ti ' ;; tVt T ' 'T''— '>■ fo lioonso., being f;n,„te,I fo ,0 ™ „f ^^ r^""°^^^^ mio,o,o,i3, an,,l sjiread over ■,! th.^;, ??" l''slicries „-e slio«-„ that tho Pronriotms th ,L "• ^' ''"" ''° f"''"'' S'nio of them, have ,lS to ., ''''''''' "'' "' '"" "H. Vet to authorise the P j. c ,t I , n 'l n' '^l"''"' "'" ''^«er '°««005. So lately .s wi ,i, 1 ' i^ ''r"' ^'■''""'^' '''^ »"'- was b.-o„sht agaiL M fe 'oTjitwf l^?''^ » "^"°" t>«so lights, sai,l by the b te P r • ',\' "'"■''""'''i=^l'«J o'«oIcte, and dm-i,,.. ther > '™"'' M'"is'ere to be Ba"..o,.,«a„ a l""!;.™' t„n^7„nru d^'tf"' ^""•^-"" which no one then donbte,! ,v, ° "'° l"'''P'''cty of o.-oachn,ents on these ResCtl" "'"^"<' "S^''"^' oa- It IS, indeed, true flmf fKn o.. 'i;' Land Ta:;o„ ;L'^fKti':''"t?!!f ".-"'--'.- [2-1] iff it no more can oonfii'in their titles, or afford an firgument for that confirmation, than can the payment of that tax by any of their tenants. As to the relations between the Proprietor.^ and the I^lanl^, they are these : they annually abstract from the Island largo sums which ought to bo expended for its benefit within it. The small contributions they have ever made to any object within it are so few as to form only very partial instances of their having any other object but to exact from it what they can, without any acknowledg- ment of the duty they owe to tho inhabitants and to the Crown of contributing to its welfare. They have disre- garded all the gracious and favourable offers made to them on the subject by the Grown, and set at nought all the conditions on which they accepted the boon the Crown conferred on them. Can it be doubted that a different line of conduct would have placed the concerns and means of this Island on a footing highly different from that which exists ? Latterly they have had conditions far too favor- able offered to them, which they have rejected. It has, therefore, become the duty of those who rule us to claim the property which has been conferred on the Island by the Civil List Bill of 1851. I did myself belong to a Government which thought it adviscable, as there would be no difficulty in demonstrating, to come to a settlement v/itli the Proprietors, without tho process of an Escheat Court. This very proper undertaking has been defeated, between the efforts of the proprietary body and those who are their Agents, and with whom they are associated on the Island. Personally I am prepared to bo told tliat I have occupied formerly a different position in the discussion of these questions from that wdiich I now assume. Tliat is, indeed very true ; for I could not then, with the best con- sideration I could give the subject, convince myself that either' the tenantry or the Island Government would be much bettered by the Crown resuming the lands, by tho substitution of one landlord for another. The case is now entirely altered ; and it is tho bounden duty of every Government to realise to the public purse all the property to which it is entitled, —whilst no difficulty, when tho H ii it tl ■r n *wall mstalmeuts, or hi ^L '"':>'"'="' of low prices '^- ..■owaoa ,., the ^^^J^Z^^Z^^^r^"^^ . WILLIAM SWABFV O-arlottetown, Noveml,„, ISJ^. '