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Las diagrammas suivants illuatrant la mAthoda« arrata to I peluro. an A '■'l 2 3 ■»_ -- ■'•f..' -i. -,- — «" •m»0m a ■% T 32X H tx' '■ •*-■ # ^^^F '♦ f t •„!«. > ' • i ■0 A REPORT OF CERTAIN PKOCEEDINGS^ OF THE INHABITANTS OF THE TOWT^ OF 8A1NT JOHN^ IN THE . IjBflanU of NelDfbttttWanl^^ With the tiew to obtain a, REFORM of the LAWS, mwik PARTICULARLY IN TH^ODE OF THEIR ADM^NISTRATIOK » and an INDEPENDENT L|CG|SL^TURB. !*?■ ■A^NT M>H«'a: rniNTBO BY UBWII X. RTA.N, AT Hia orricK, in^ WATBK-«THBBt. mi. \y s / ' -•« /:U-oi T -■ ■ ^ ; »' ■, ,A^J[t£^.„i]>Ja-Udk.«iHj^ i^tifar'- -^'i^t^ ..A.~ih %.\ iA 4 ^ FKEFA€E. T. HE following pages contain an account of the (rial and [Punishment of Butlrr and Landergan — cases which are too well known in Newfoundland to be readily forgotten, and vrhioh are now published from no vindictive feeling, but mere* ly as they are connected with the proceedings to which ibey gave rise, and may hereafter be conducive to the public good. It has been well observed by a popular writer, that the flagrant l^buseofany power in Eagland always produces re^ction^ which either demonstrates that power to be contrary to the con. stitution, or by an expression of public feeling restrains it for the future. The oppression of an obscure -individual was the cause of the famous hahaiM corpus act : the unjust punishment of two poor Planters in Newfoundland may have the effect of raising the people to a level with the other colonists of North America, and s(;curing to their posterity the invaluable privi- leges of British subjects. ^ ^^ IV. PREFACE. One would imagine, that merely glancing at the anoma. \o\ia government of Nev« found land, and the desolate aspect of the country, would be ^u0icicnt for any dispa^ionate and re- flecting man, to connect tt\e cause and effect, and jpoint out to him the true source; of the presec^t condition of the people. We in vain look for any Government poastityted like ours : it stands unique in the history of nations ; ai\d us. vain should we look for such an appearance of neglect i^nd distress. Yet such is the influence of interest upon a few, and habit and prejudice upon many, that every effort at improvement r^i^es an host of enemies. But it is to be hoped that time, and tKe assiduous dissemination of truth, wiU be able to overcome them, and unite the people in one common sentiment of patriotism. It is with this view that the friends of a constitutional; form of Government have united themselves. In the pursuit of this object it was natural for them tp expect opposition, and the usual condomitants, misrepresentation and abuse. T!)py have been accused of arrognting to themselves the power of making laws for Newfoundland. They arrogate ik» such power. They claim nothing for themselves but which shall be common to^al I: but thoy claim, and they will exer. viae the privilege of expressing their sentiments upon what 80 deeply interests themselves, and of using all lawful ways and meai^aof ameliorating their condition. They will be judged by ev^ry man interested in the welfare of Newfoundland, who will calmly look round him and say, whether this country has obtained thai state of natural and social improvement of which it is oapable— whether the best laws have been made for it- — whether justice is ppcedily and uprightly administered' in every part of the Island — whether its foreign trade has been secured by the best treaties — whether its domestic conveniences, its roads, soil and productions, the education, habits and morals of the people, have been carefully improvp on4he cqi»- iii.t,.'mi&iAJL^IiSMJkls^iiJi^'^i-^ ^ ijc&dL,^!,. mmm PREFACE. trary, they Have been neglected, and evfen opposed, he cannot . hesitate to unite inendearoiiring to obtain for Newfoundland a government whidh comprehends in itself part of the people, and is best calculated to know their interests and their wants, and will be most zealous to attend to thcra. One of our political writers says — " Born and having spent the early part of my lifd iu Britain, 1 had learned to value the customs, the institutions^ the laws and government of my native country. On setting my foot in this colony, I in vain looked round me for even a sem* biance of what I considered to constitute the felicity, the pre. eminence of Britain. I resolved to dedicate all the abilities with which nature had endowed me, and all the influence which my circumstances or my situation might command, *to procure for a people with whom, in all probability, I might spend the evening of my life, and with whom my children might live after, the rights and privileges of British subjects. In the pursuit of this resolve, I believe I shall best discharge my duty to i»iip.untry, and that by endeavouring to cherish a similarity of feeling and of sentiment, founded on a similarity of rights and a reciprocity of interests, the connection between this and the mother country will be best consolidated and most certainly perpetuated. I foresaw that in the pursuit of this line of conduct I should create to myself many enepiies ; that I should have to contend against powerful combinations. I pre- pared myself for meeting with insult, opprobrium, and even persecution. I well knew thai ail ipen who come forward with the view to expose error and to ameliorate the condition of (heir fellow men, are sure to unkennel a pack of enemies. — But I have now a commanding vjfw of the Whole political field of Newfoundland. I perceive that the impulse which has been given to liberty and manly feeling cannot be arrested. — Justice, arrayed in robes oi celestial purity, has asserted that station, that superiority, which is its due." vi. PREFACK. /. The present mode of administering justice by floating Surrogates does not give salisfaciidn to a single individuafi beyond tlwse who may find sixty pounds a year useful to them. The Gentlemen of the Navy are said to dislike it, and have it imposed upon them as a point of necessity. The absurdity of having the laws of England administered by men who probably it^ver entered a civil court, until tljey entered it' as Judges, is to^ mueh for any argument to touch. It might be as proper to r^uire a gentleman to expound a difficult text in Hebrew, or giVe a valuable commenlary upon some Greek writer, who never learned these languages. *w i 4 I :-i . , i OF ^ . , CERtAlN PROCEEDINGS of the INHABITAKTS * . - ' ■ . ■■ , • OF THfe tOWN or SAINT ♦TOtiN^a, / IN THE ISLAND OF NJ^FQUNDLAJCIt '' « I N the JWliy la^ilieiiiUbitantsof tKiacbitttflrj^ I^er6 iniioh agitAted, in consequence of certain Jadiciai (nuii^. actions developed in two trials in the Supreme Court of this Islandf ButttSR ««. BtJOHAi^and Litlfiii, and tAnn%MAH v». BncBAN and LBta0.^ A Meeting of the Inhabitants of St. John's was convened on the 1 4th November, bjrpub^ lie Advertisement, and Resolutions^ere then entered into Which may havelonsiderable influence on the destinies of Newfoundland. A fiithful and comprehensive narrative of the proceedings of the Committee then appointed, and of itfubct* V ' ' ' , ■ >^ / n1 I / ./ 2 i J bu?nl town's Meeting, with the cases ^hich^ gave rise U) thSixlj cannot fail to be Interfesting to all wko wish well to the prospe.. r ity, the happiness, and the liberty of ihe Colony^ In.after age* luoh 8 narrative will contain useful Terra Nova. . mt Latter for tbe^istorian of We shall comtncnce with a summary of the trialsifiiiarly " lis they appeared in the Sentinfel Newspaper* SA.INT JOHN'S, lHh NoviMBfeR, 1820. SUPREME (^QURT. •a-^' .-..n-/ ». --^ • ■ ■■■- '. , l^iHIUP BUTLER, vf. DAVID BUCHAN, Esq. and The Rev. JOHN LEIGH. This was abrefidatits are Stnrrogates— th lipase for n^ purpose, but BHiler kept hi« dooruhut bot^ ti^es. and refui^ to^^ive up the property, flllegirtg that it belonged to his wife, j In the Rummer, ofi 8 19, CaptAin Rowley, tt. N. beld/^^ Surrogate Court at Harbor Qrace, and BuUer wv summoiJed before him to slli^ came whjrheiAoTuW npt deliver Ooiha possession, and he attended accordingly, .On being intefrra^ gated by the Court, why*he refused to do so, he *epli6<|^th»t his wife cpnsidered the.property to be her's, and she wou^n^ give it up,' The €ourt, howeTer, arfcwcrf him to do it, w^idi hff promised, but when he returned hope he afain refused.— * Jn the early part of last July the Defpndants, irt Burrogatfes, held a Court Ht ^«rbdr M^iin, end the Plaihtiff was 8ummoiie4 before them; he attended aocordipgly, when a chargfe was exhibited agaiis( him for diners pQHtempts'of the Surrogate Court. 'The Court asked Butler why he continued to hold pes* session'^of the Property, when he urged hia old plea, that (he pro- perty was bis wife's, ^md that *Ae held powession. AU|hc Witnesses concurred in their testimony that hiaoanduol before the Surrogates was ipost resnectful and correct. The Court sentenced him to receive thiriy-nijf Uuhe* on the bareback^ and he was immediately taken to a picket fence, and tightly bound to it by hia handuind legs, when the Boatswain'? mate of H. M. S. Grasshopper, of which Captain Boehan is com- minder» and who M previously brought two cats^'-ninctail* \n the boat with the Defendants, proceeded to carr/ the ieo, tenoe into execution, and inflicted 1 2 lashes. Th^ remainder of the punishment was remilte4 on bis promising to give up th? Foperty. # ^ ^hese facts being clearly proved in evidence, the learn^q J^dge proceeded to charge the^ury to th? (oHoVyinjf cfftoUir; \ ' \ ■ J 1^- 4^ 9 -\ ^' «* That as lH« leltding facf « of (he aTI«g^d li^i^ass were not a^rfjiited, butfiistffied'iindeTtKe^Wertl iteue'alid the statute 4Sih deo'. W-.'thfl Whble cise ttifn«d u|lOtrth«5 defenfte, taidthd kiAiiile tee irni -whleJhef th6 Befendttnfs had A<»ted withm theif fdnWicrtioii i« Surfflig:* UOO. \ The plaintiflTs Counsel stated that he (the Plaintiff) vrae ft Planter residing at Cubit's, who in the year of 1818 becane indebted, to his sufipliers, Messrs. Graham, M^NieoU & Co. in the sum of thirteen Pounds, or thereabouts ; for this sura a writ was issued against him by the Surrogate Court of Harbor Grace the then following winter, and his Plantation, which was proved to be worth about nne hundred and fifty pounds^ was attached by the Sheriff. Landergan haring no defence to make to the action, did not appear at the return of the writ, and judgment was signed against liim by default. Under this judgment a fishing boat belonging to Landergan was taken in ejceoution, which, as well as the pUnti^tion, was sold to satisfy the amount pf the judgment, and also the amount of another judgment obtained by Messrs. Graham, M*NicoU A Co, against a mantiamed HoIIahan, amounting to ^hom fourteen Pounds ; but how Landergan's property opme to be sold tP pay Hollahan's debt was not satisfactorily proved to the (Jourt \ indeed, Kelly, #bo is a Con«tabl«, and also a Clerk to Gra, ham, M*NiooII & Oo. sUted that Landergan and HoIIahan were in par4nership, but by the Repords of the Harbor-Qrace Court it appeared that the judgments were obtained «g«ina( tWm separately. The Boat was purchased for seven Ppunrf*, and the Plantation for tweniy.eight Poundsy (which some- thing more than covered the two debts andoQsIs,) by Mr. Do, paid Graham, a clerk to the firm of Graham, M^NIwll ^ Co, and a relation lo the principal partner jn that house. It appeared in evidence, that after thesaleoftheproperty* Kelly the Constable went to d«m«nd possession, at which time tlie plaintiff was from home, und some words took place blaintiff, r«iuiring hioa to ajjpear the tame dky before the Court. Kelly weat to serve the summoM, accompanied by Mr. Keating, another ConsUble^and thfey found Landergan, with other«, going with a net to hdul oaplia. Mr. Ktating •erved the summonv, and Landergan said ** he eauii not pa*- " «»% ffo, that his children were in want of food, aad he " mxut get them $ome fishy atui that he was almost nakttd^ and ♦' ashamed to go before GentlemetC'^all which Mr, Keating proved he knew to be true. Kelly obsei^ved, that " if he would *\not go with themM should fetch him with a file ofmatinesi^ tt^whidi Landergan replied, ♦♦ I with you and thetnarinema gofi^i^iimeofit,'' Kelly retaroed to the Surrogates, and re- plrted what Landergan bad said, upon whioh they ioimedJateiy issued a. warrant to appreliand him, Which KftUy was sent to eK««ule. H« went once, when Landergan was from hone, and returned again, at ten o^clook at night, and called up Mr. Kett- iag, who aooompanied bin to Landergan^ahousd — Landergan was in bed, but on bearing M|;. Kefttiog'a voioeiie immediatf- iy rose and opened the door, and Mr. Keating declared his errand ; Landdrgan dressed himself as; quickly as possible, aM he was taken in a boat to Bearneed, And put on board bis Majesty's Ship Orassbopperv where h^ was kept a prisoner du- ring the night. The next morning the Grasshopper removed to Port de Grave, wher^ a Court was opened, before which Lan- dergan was brought^ charged with divers^eontempts 6S Court, and resisting Constables in the execution of their duty, and particularly with refusing and neglecting to attend theSw rogate Court held at Bearneed, on the preceding day. It is in- possible to collect from the reoords of the Surrogate Court what 4hese contempts were. Kelly» on his examination in thia c$se, proved that the onl^ evidence he gave, and he alone was exa- mined in the Surrogate Court, was that Landergan had refused to attend the Court tt Bearneed the d«y before, and said ** he ) 8 \ r c /^ makecl htiii, witness, andthemarines a goodjifne of it."— The Sorrogales then inquired of Landergaoi if he had OMd that exppMMMi, yfhichhe odalened, and thej^ sentenced him to noiiv» thirUf-^iftituihts 4m his ban back. His demeanoar beforetheJSttrrogates «ras proved • to be most respeotful^ and thai4ie appeared very much dejeotedi The tmfortuaate man vmm then takeh td it 4ake neat the house; tied to it by his hande and legs. And the Boat^ swaki^s Mate of the Grasshopper infliotecl 14 lashes, wAen tkn fl»inUff^^fainU4^ He sras then oM down and carried into the house where ibftWrt was held, and Jaid onabehch^sHierehe waseomemitiuteaveryttuiehcMivolse^^ Previotis U^hfe^being; .tiedtO'the fla)ie,:hc deeiared he was^ubjeot to iitSjand the Df« ifeudants very^wmme/^ desired a u^djeal frentledian.toattend tioa-of4he aeateftee) by vhose direetion he was«at 'doWni-'- '■' '■'■ ■ ■ V ■ ■ V ' ■ > ' • On 43)e^ first sym^m oeMtarnbg t^eiMetir the unfortunate -^aintiffwas-cc^red by the Suitfogates either to give up poB' .'eesaioltof hiapropei>ty -or • nndergir the remainder of his seiu 'lell0^-^ ^h«s^ the foF»er,#«diiAa vei*y few hours afteswards he, loffetfcerjwith his wife and fottf in^nt ohildrenf tnwe dri- >v«n Wmtlieir home, aikd at the lime of this trini, weft^ Vyi'ix^ itt«o»»edaf in the earth for pr^rtirtg potatoes, amidst the hditorsofaNewfoundltnd win^r, without the possibility *f keeping aire, aod the woman jjn a very ndvalieed stalo of piregnanoyi* K / iThe leartted< Ju4ge sumitieitap the etidenoe, and charged /IbeJopy nearly as follows J— .' ^ J /• i^That tbisoaae was simpl^ whether the defendants, whd i , vf^e Jildgesof ihe-Surrogatt Cedf— That the Thanks of thit Meeting he given to Mr, Morris, for his prq)er and praiseworthy oonduot in the Chi^^r*^ JOHN ROCHFORT, Chairman. The Committee agreed upon the following Petition to owt woat ^rtoiom Sovereigo, ri c> 11' . V. The humble Petitioj^ of the Inhabitants of St. John's, IN TUE Island OF Newfoundland, Shkwrth — THAT we, your Majesty's most dulifiir and loyal Subjects, hunihly beg leave to lay our many and great grievan- ces at the foot of your angust Throne, in the full conviction of that paternal solicitude, with which your Majesty watches over the interest and happiness of all your people, even in the remo- test parts of your extensive Empire ; and we humbly conceive ourselves entitled to your Majesty's peculiar protection, from the circumstance of our having no Colonial Legislative Go- vernment. In thiis appealing to your Majesty, with a claim to especial consideration, we are naturally reminded that we labour under the want of that representative organ »of expres- sion, which is the boast of the British Constitution, and which lias bee^ conoeded to the least considerable of the other English Colonies, but which, for reasons that have never been explained tp us, has been withheld {ron\ us alone. We are satisfied tha^ your Majesty will not interpret any expression pf regret for the singularity of our situation, info a want of confidence in' your Majesty's anxiety for our welfare, or in the wisdom of Parliament. Placed as we are, at the distance oftwo thousand miles from your Majesty's au£ust throne, and without any con- stituted body whatever to sympathize in our wants and represent our wishen, it is hardly possible that our p.etitioB8 or complaints should reach your Royal ear, with that zeal and fidelity in the repor^^which are at all limes necessary to gain attention, and indispensable to obtain adequate relief. As a proof of what we advance, we would only bog leave to recal to your Majesty's recollection, events which, from their magnitude and misfor- tune, could not havo onlircly oscaped it : wc alUnle to the two m 13 great anl deslructive Fires, which in 'the short interval of a fortnight, visited the capital of the Island, and laid one half pf its buildings in ashes. The town of St. John's is the principal depositary for the supplies and productions of the Fisheries of Newfoundland, and it was necessary to rebuild it immediately. But as prudence suggested the propriety of widening the streets, in order to prevent tlie spreading of any future fire, and as a large portion of the ground required was the private property of individuals, it became necessary to obtain the sanction of the Legislature. At the recommendation of the Inhabitants, a Bill wjas prepared in Newfoundland, and sent to England, for tjic purpose of being submitted to your Majesty's Governmpnt and passed into law ; but such was the delay attending, tho measure in England, that although no alteration of any moment was made in the Bill, it did not reach this Island in the form of a Law. until near three years after the town of St. John's had been destroyed. In the mean time a third fire had visited and consumed the remainder of the old town ; and the whole was re-built in the best manner that circumstances would admit, but not exactly conformable to the projected Bill, as there was rfo legal means of compelling its observance. When there- fore the long-expected Bill did arrive, it came with all the in. convenience of an ex post facto law, and placed a considerable number of the most costly and valuable buildings in the Town in the predicament of standing contrary to the Act of Parlia. ment. We have stated this fact not with any feeling of discon- tent, but merely to prove to yotir, Majesty the aegleoted condi. tion to which we are exposed, from having no superintending Legislature in the Island. But, may it please your Majesty, it is not the want of a al Legislature of which we have principally to complain } it is the state of such laws as have been made for us, and still more of the Adaiinistration of the laws. It is the happincw 14 t I '.f of all who bear the honorable lilje of British subjects, to unite in one common feeling of loyalty and affection for the pure and impartial manner in which justice is administered to them. It Ik in this particular that we stand alone and distinguished from every other portion of your Majesty's people. - In the neighs housing colonies in North America, and in all tj^e British West Indies, the judgment seat is filled by gentlemen of pro- fessiona^ducation and previous distinction at the bar. Ia-il^«^ Britimpossessions in the East, the persons wh^o preside in the Courts are selected from the upright aitd cultivated ranks of Westminster Hall, and are only second to the Judged in England ; but in Newfoundland, composed as it is of natives pf Great Britain i^nd Ireland, or their immediate descendants) find iqore closely connected with the parent state by proximity of situation, ^nd frequency of intercourse than any other colony , the adipinislralion of ju«liee is confided to the hands^of Cap- ^jns. Lieutenants, and even Masters of the Navy. The Act . pf Parliapient for establishing Courts of, Judicature, in New-'' foandlaDcl, «^itiiQrix$;s the Governor for the time being to institute Surrogate Courts in different parts of the Island, with fulj poyver to hear all suits and complaints of a civil nature arising within -the Island, and to determine them according to the law of England, In exercise of this important power the Comiiia||lders qf suoh of youfrMajesty's ships as happen to be stationed al Newfpundlaad, are invested with ^Surrogate com- missioQS immediately on tiieir arrival, and sent on maritime airouits to expound th^ law? of England, in the character of Judges, We humbly repre^g^t to your Majesty, thiit it is hardly possible for, an officer in youi^ Majesty's Navy, if ha has been attentive to his own profession, to acquire so oompe- ^en^ a knowledge of the abstruse and difficult science of the law, as to enable hira to dispense justice among his fellow men ; and that he can barelv lake the Judge's oath of office, v^ill^, a. 15 h » toorreol sense of its seriousttesg ami importance. We beg to be understood to speak with every senttmeat of respect for the Navy, as a profession— We feel a pride in the gallantry of it« Heroes, and gratitadie for the sdeurity they afford us ; but we cannot but know, that the fienilemen of the ^avy are educated From their youth in fk system 0/ thefr own, apart from all the civifinstitutions of the country^ and necessarily less conversant with those institutions than any other class of your Majesty's subjects. We speak from experieuQe, ai^ we hope without offence, When we state, that they are the last to preside in civil Courts of Law. Yet to^uch men is tbe dispensation of Justice intrusted in ^Newfoundland, and Justice according to the Law uf finglaad. We are unwilling to tji'espass UQnecessarily on your Ma.^ I je8ty''s valuable time ; but that we may not be supposed to ad- vance what we are hot prepared to prove, we will beg your Majesty's patience, while we state a f(^\ examples which we "^ have selected, merely as being more easy ol access to your Majesty. In tW year 1816, Messrs. Crawford and Company, a mercantile firm\in this Island, were declared insolvent in the Surrogate Court of St. John's, and their Estates vested in Trus- tees, and sold f^r^e purpose of distribution betweea their * Creditors, amongst wb6m were claimants from Scotland to the amount of one hundred and eleven thousand pounds. The Sur- rogates > rejected the Scotch claims, and the case went to the King in Council, upon a nice point of donfiicting bankrupt law. At the hearing, however, it was found that the Surro. gates had forgotten the first essential step of citing and exa. mining the insolvents, before they proceeded to a declaration of their insolvency, and consequently, all their proceedings were null and void from the beginning. In the mean time the Insolvents had^left the country, and the proceeds of their Es- tate had been sent to Scotland, wltere they were attached by /- ^ .%m }f) W I the Court of Sessions ; and ihe Newfoundland titlaiuiants, hav-; ing no longer any coalrol over the P'^Jf^lb^}' ^ property of the Insolvents, were compelled by |l&lpik|^Id'm|»take of their Judges, eaher to compronii^se t^ir,^gf||| or to re-engage in endless litigation^ , ^ ' it^dH^ In the course of the Itlst ifiimiiier,' contain diirerenc(*s had arideh at Sandwich Bay, on the coast of Labrador, rcsp^ctin^ the rights of the parties to a Salnibtt Fishery, and a Surrogate Court was held ther6 for (he purpose of ddcidiu^ them. Bui ^ instead of hearing the prooftj of the case, ^nd determinitig ac^ cording to law, the Smrogate decided without a trmi, or any enquiry into its merits, and thus was the unfortunate party ru- ined without redress, because the Surrogate, aotang as a Judge, is liot responsible by law for his errors'. Your Majesty is informed that a duty of sixpence pei* month is laid by Act of Parliament upon the wages of. Seamen and other persons employed in ships and vessels, for the sup- port of Greeriv^ich Hospital ; and that all persons employed in-open boats on the sea coasts are exempted from the payment of the dutl|^||M|Ptay y as being generallv poor'^mselves, and not falliUj^^pHp benefffeiCWie cfiartty, or the policy of the tax. E^nrHrange construct ion of the Act, all open boats, however small their dimensions, have been subjected to the du- ty in this Island, although it is well known that it is not levied upon open Boats in any other place in yout* Majesty's domini- ons. But the reason of this extraordrnai-y construction may perhaps be explained, by the fact that the Surrogates, who so construed the law, were the collectors of the duty, and as a compensation for their Irouhle, received a preraii;m of twelve and a half per cent, upon all the monips which they collected. But i-t is not of the ignorant tn wilful misconstruction of Ihe Law, as it may affect our properties, of which we complain 4 17 ^.• X to your Majesty, so much ds it is qflhe flagrpt and uoUwful violations of our persons. ' We humbly beg to be pefntitte*! tolkf before your Ma* , jesty two cases which ooourred in the W'«isent year, exaetly as they were developed in the SufMreme C%irt of the Island ; and in order to save your Majesty trouble, we will l^iefly 8ta;te the ontlineofone'^of them. James LaftjdcrgW, a native of this Island, and a respectable Planter at Cul^§ in the district o£ Conception Bay, happened in the^ ftshioflpiOD of 1818 to /~ fall in debt ibt supplies^ to the inoonsidi i uMI amOtnt of twelve pounds, h is not usual with the suppliers ifef the fisheries in this iafand to distress the Planters who iM^ chance to be in arrears to them at the fall of the year, and more especially when they are possessed of fishing rooms as asecutity iotJhtrr debt. But the sum due from Landergan to 2« suppliers waa immediately put in suit in the Subrogate Coart at Harbor - Grace, and Judgment passed against him by defnit. Shortly after which, hisfishing room jvas sold, and the Clerk of his sup- pliers became the purchaser fofa^he amount of the debt. Hft had personal property at the time, fully equal to satisfy the Judgment, and his room was estimated at one hundred and fifty-ptninds^ in value. When the Sheriff's officer went to deli- ver possession of the roomf Landergan waslibsentj and some uncourteous language passed between his wife and the offioer, wlyoh wiis interpreted into a resibtance of his. authority, and made the subject of oomplaiiil to the Coqrt, 'a Acoordinglyy when Captain Buehin, of your Majesty's Brig Grasshopper, and the Reverend John Leigh, the Episcopal Missionary at arbor Grace, held a Surrogate Court at Port de Gravet - Landergan was summoned to appear before them, and beings found in the act of hauling a little fish for the present nso of hia family, he apologized for npt being in a situation just then to attend the Court, and said he would do so the following morn^ °-^ - -- - — 4 — -7^^ — ■— ijl^an 1 .^ *: ^^^^^^^S^^^^S^ Iv . A |fe 18 JHg; on being told by (he officer that a party of marinjs woul4 be sent to bring him, he simply replied, " I wish you and the marines a good time cTf it." The officer reported what had passed to the t^ourt, and for this offence, if offenee it can be called, the unl\appy man was seized in his bed at night, and conveyed on board the Grasshopper, where he was confined until the following morning ; he was then brought before the Court— the Sheriff's Officer wfent through the ceremony of de- posiqg to the facts before related, and Landergan was adjudged tobeguilty of a high contempt of Court,and sentenced to receive thirty.six lashes on his bare back. This infamous sentence was immediately carried into execution by the Boatswain's Mate of the Grasshopper, and Landergan was tied up and flogged until he fainted under .the severity of his punishment. He was then taken down and removed to the Qolllirt.House, where, at the first symptom of returning life, he was required Ui yield up the possession of his room, as the condition upon which the remainder of his punishment should be remitted ; and iaafew hours after, the unfortunate man, together with his wife and four infant children, became outcasts upon the world. Such is the manner in which the Surrogates hold plea of civil suits in Newfoundland; and it cannot be matter of surprise to your Majesty, accustomed as your Majesty is to observe justice administered in the form of a blessing to your People, to learn that the naval circuits are'looked upon rather as the angry vi- sitations of offended power, than as the dispensations of the mild and beneficent precepts of British Law. An opinion has gone abroad, and is not without its abet- tors in this Island, that Newfoundland is regarded by the pll- rent country merely as a Nursery of Seamen ; and with this view, that it is the policy of Government to discourage all set. tjement rn the Island. Supposing this to be the case, it may bf sufficient to explain how it has happened that this Island, the ■■■■i * 19 oldest of the British settlements in America, placed in the same latitude as England, and possessed of a great staple which is peculiarly its own, should remain in the same state as when it was originally discovered— without cultivation, and without roads— the first requi«lte of oiriHzed Society. But we humbly conceive that such is not the policy of Great Britain.-- Before the statute of King William the third, a number of per- sons were settled in Newfoundland, and it was one of the pro- fessed objeclfl of that Statute to regulate the respective rights of the transient and sedentary fisheries. In the treaties between your Majesty and foreign powers, the right of settling those parts of the Island where strangers are permitted to' fish, is ex- pressly reserved to your Majesty's subjects ; and this right of settlement is the only check upon foreign competition in the fisheries. It is well known that Newfoundland contains about one hundred thousand intiabitants ; that its exports have in prosperous years exceeded two millions sterling per annum, and its imports, chiefly consisting of British manufactureaAnd productions, have been more tl>an half that amount; its trade is entirely carried on in British j^iipping, and employs more seamen in navigation, than were ever employed in fishing du- ring the best years of the transient fishery— upward* 6f four hundred and sixty foVeign vessels having entered tli%*f ort of St. John's alone during the present year. We must therefore look toother ctLOnea for our negleoted condition^ than the in- tentional policy of the parent state ; and we are induced to be- lieve that it has been owing solely to the exigencies of the late war, and the more pressing demands of the empire upon the atten- tion of your Majesty's government. But we humbly hope that the time is at length arrived when the state of this Island will, be taken into consideration, and some system adopted which may be more in unison with the altered condition of these extensive, populoup, aud valuable i>ossc8sion3 of your Majfcsty's Crown^ H^BA^^lfiMiim m m 20 Your Petitioners therefore most humbly pray your Ma, jesty will take their ease into your most gracious consideration, *nd endow Newfoundland with all the rights and privileges of your Majesty's other transatlantio possessions, and espepially to cause the Ckiurts of Justice to be reformed, so th^t the laws way be administered to them by competent Judges, . And your Majesty's Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray, c&c. &c. ^ To this Petition thwe were between 200 and 300 signatures of Inhabitants.of John's. The Petitions to the House of Lords and Ho»8t, ith January ^ 1821. 8lR, I have the honour to transmit to your Exoelleocy cer- tain Resolutions, passed ata Meeting of the Committee appoint- ed by a Town's Meeting held on the l4th November last, with a copy of a Petition to his Majesty, and a Memorial to your Exoelleocy, in conformity with the Rebotutions passed fit that Meeting. I have the honour to remain. Your Excellency's Most obedient, humble servant, PATk. MORRIS, Chairman. To His Excellenoy Sir Charles Hamilton, Bart. Govarnor and Commander in Chief in and over the Island of Newfoundland, dec. dc. flHfi ■■IHH wmmm 22 ^ I Tp' His Excellency Sir Charles Hamilton, Bart. f ,; Governor and Commander in Chiei; in and I , ' over the Island of Newfoundland, &c. &c. : We, the undersigned inhabitants oS the town of Saint John, m the Island of Newfoundland, beg leave to approach your Excellency with sentiments of the most profourfd and un- ieigned respect, and to assure your Excellency of the high sense we entertain of the benevolent disposition you have manifested ffyr the happiness and welfare of the people of thi, Island du- *»ng your residence aftongst them, which we presume to say has given to yoijr fixoellenoy a much gceater opportunity of ;knowingtbe1rue state ofthiijitod, than coyld be obtained by I any of your Excellency's predecessors. It must no doubt have . iallen under ydur Excellency's observation, that the people of ;tbis country do notenjoy that most valuable and precious right I of British subjects, namely, of having the laws dispenLd f to th*m by able and enlightened Judges, agreeable to the prac ,tice in all the other o^^his Majesty'* transatlantic settlement.. I From your I^oellency's ^owledge of the importance of ^thw Island to the parent stale, the vast extent of its tride, ifs"^ ,f reatand increasing population, w£ presume to conclude, that your Excellency wiU'admit the existing laws are defective, i and by no means oaloulated for (he improvement of the cpwntry * I or the happiness of the people, and that theiime is at length ar- jj rived for (liem to crave, in an humble and dutiful manner, (through your Excellency) for a system more suitable to the improving and altered condition of tb« country. Fully im- prcMed withjhe hope that our representations will meet wiih due-attention, we have taken (he liberty of. petitioning our * most gracious Sovereign, which pctiiioa we beg in thcmoHt huu>We and dutiful maimer to liauJ lo your XxcelUncy, for the • / purpose of having it transmitted to his Majesty ; and we further beg, that your Excellency will be pleased to give It all the advantage of your valuable countenance and support. And your Memorialists, as in duty bound, shall ever pray. [Signed by a number of the Inhabitants.] Td which his Excellency was graciously pleased to return the following answer : — Government House, Sth January. 1821. Sir, I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Letter of the 4th instant, enclosing the Resolutions of a Com., mittee of the Inhabitants of St. JohnX with a Memorial re- questing me to forward to the Secretary of State for the Colo- nies a Petiiion, to be by him presented to His Majesty, and of which you have also enclosed a copy. In reply, Sir, I beg to communicate, through you, that I shall always be ready to forward any Petition from this com. monity, respectfully expressed, and respectably signed, howe- ver much I may diflFer with, I believe, many others, from state- niehtsso highly coloured— ihe conclusions drawn from them— or the beneficial results which the Petitioners appear to expect rshould his Majesty comply with their wishes) either to the inhabilanti of the Colony generally, or the Commercial interest, on whose capital and exertions the prosperity of the Island to completely depends. But if such measures oould be beneficially adopted for the whole, I will not hesitate to say, that it could not be more acceptable to any persons than to the Governor and the Naval Surrogates, wHo would thereby become relieved from marty duties which must be unpopular in t^eir execution, and therefore onorous to those whom his Majesty has been plea, sed to place here, and who can have no other wish but to dii. •hirge their duty with as much of the approbation of their So. i^a^i^ 24 vf feign and fellow subjects, as 'it may be in their power to ohthm. With these setttiments, I have the honour to remain^ ^ Sir, Yoar most obedient servant, C. HAMILTON, Governor* To pATRrcK Morris, Esq. ChaifmanoT fhe Committee of the Inhabitants of Saint John's. The f PATRICK MORRIS, Chairman* To lii» Honour Francis Forbks, Chief Justiee, Ae. Ae. To the rtortoraW^ France FoftBEs, Chief Justice of the Tsfanrf of Newfoundland. Tke Memorial cf th4 underngned InkabiimU of Saint John''tf ilVMBLV SHR^ETH*-* . * That your Memorialists, in common with the other , „ ^ „.^.^,. 8r to >t. \or4 ija*! )y a ryot our, rn* and her 25 liihabitants of the Island, feel with sentiments of melaQoholy regret, that t^ey have not been hilherto judged by the parent government entitled to those rightj and privileges, \^Hich, they humbly coriccive, naturally belong to all his Majes- ty's Subjects ; and that the seats of justice in the Surrogate Courts of this Island, are filled by men, whose education and habits of life render them but ill calculated to expound the in- tricacies of the English Lawij, and to administer justice. That during the long period which your Honour has pre- sided in the Supreme Court of this Island, the many instances in which the proceedings and decisions of the Surrogatcsj have b^ert reviewed and reversed by that tribunal, must, have pro- ved to your Honour, that as respects the adniinistratiort of jus- tice our grietiancee are great and call loudly fat redress. That your Honour must also have observed that the laws peculiarly framed for this Island are inadequate to the purposes for which they were intended, and instead of being beneficial to its interests are ruinous to its prosperity. - That the late Trials of Butler and Laridergftn against Buchan and Leigh, and of Long and Jennings against Beard, demonstrate that the Inhabitants of this Country are subject to torture and ruin, as the ignorance or caprice of the Surrogates niay dictate. That your Memorialists oan Only hope for an ameliora- tion of their present unhappy state, from a local legislation and a reform in the admitiistration of justice in the Surrogate Courts. That your Memorialists have prepared Petitions to his most gracious Majesty, and to both Houses of Parliament, in the hopes of obtaining those important objects. That the lively interest your Honour has taken in the wel- fare and happiness of this country, and the lovo of justice and of mercy go manifest in all your deoisiows, induce your Memo- E ■Hi ■ i^MlMMHHi ^6 rialietsto hope (hose t'etitiona will have your valuable counte. nance and support, and your Memorialists therefore beg leave' to lay before you a copy of the Petition to our most gracious Sovereign, to which the Petitions to both Houses of Parliament are similar. Your Memorialists therefore most earnestly and respect- fully entreat your Honour will afford them the aid of your wis. dom, your influence and exertions ; ihey will ihen look vyith con- fidence to the period when they will enjoy i\^ blessings of the English Laws and Constitution— when they will be risen from their present neglected and degraded state, to a level with the other subjects of our beloved Sovereign. [Signed by a number of Inhabitants.] to the foregoing letter and memorial His Honour the Chief Jf ostice was pleased to return the following answer :— Sir, Saint John's, Wth January, 1821. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 4th instant, inclosing certain Resolutions passed 8t a Meeting of the Committee appointed by a town's.meetmg held on the I4th Novembel- last, with a copy of a Petition to His Majesty, and also of a Memorial intended to be presented to me J and I must beg you will state to the^Committee, that my offiqiai situation does m lead me to communicate with his Ma- jesty's Government, any further than incases immediately oon. nected with the Administration of justice in Newfoundland.-^ Should his Majesty be graciously pleased to entertain the Peti- tion, and command my advice of assistance, it will ulTord me mm ^■iMiii mm -w'*^- 27 the highest satisfaction to be useful in any measure which may have for ita object (h^ improvement of the laws and judicial system of the Island. I have the honour to be, Sir, Your most ob't. serv't. ^'RANCIS FORBES, C, J. Newfoundland. To Patrick Morrfs, Esq. Chairmas of the Committee, i(c. ^c. The following Editorial Notice relative to the presenta- tion of the Memorials, appeared in the Sentinel of the 3d Fe- bruary { — ** At 1 o'clock this day a Deputation from the Committee* waited on his Excellency the Governor, agreeably to appoint- ment, for the purpose of presenting him with the Petition to his Majesty, for transmission through the proper official- channel. " Mr. Morris, the Chairman, in addressing his Excellency, expressed a hope that the Petition would have his fullest sup- port, as far as he should consider it for the general benefit of the country ; and added, that if the Committee or the Petition-- ers felt any reluctance in proceeding in this important matter, it arose solely from an apprehension lest their motives might possibly be misconstrued into a dissatisfaction with or opposi- tion to the mild and exemplary government of his Excellency ; Ihat though a difference of opinion might exist on other points, the Committee were fully assured but one sentiment prevailed of the good and benevolent wishes of his Excellency for the im- provement of this country, and for the welfare and happinegg of its inhabitants. " The Deputation were very politely received, and his Ex- • The Deputation was composed of Mr. ^ohrib. Dr. Cabson, Mr. DovLE, Mr. HooAN, Mr. Beck, and Mr. L. K. Rvaw. 'JH \ # cellency ui reply, stated, that I., should cerlau.ly take the earl,. ^^,5t .opportunity of foi^uarding the petition to Earl Bathursf' through vvfiom it would be laid .at The foot of the throne; and his Excellency ,.was pleased toob8erv4 ttat although he mighi not be able to agree wholly ^viththc Petition, he had lonrr see\ the nece^ity oi some change, and that he had made it his en. d^avour during hiBr^'dence' here to ascertain what change v^•ouId be most bene^^ for the interests of the Wand ; nor should he fail to make' known to h.s Majesty's government the view he had taken of the subject, and he would recommend such allorations as the present state of the country apneared to him to require. . *" ' ^ « ■ '"Th^ Deputation then waited on \i.s Honour- th6 Chie.f Justice, Wtho Court.House, and presented him the Memorial Irom the Inhabitants ; to which he repli/d in a speech of stm^ length, m the course of which he state/, that his situation did not authorize him to correspond with his Majesty^s Govern n.enl on the subject, but- should he be called upon for hi^ opnuon, he should ^ive the object of the Petit.on his fullest , consideration." ° -. The Committee considering it would tend greatly to pro- mote their objects, if the Petition^^r^re delivered to the Mem, bcrs they wished to present them to the two Houses of Parlia- inent, by a person who felt interested injiieir success, and whq MHsable to explain the views and wishes of the Petitioners re- solved on sending Mr. Dawe t/Englaffd, who sailed early i,^ February, and immediately pn/his arrival ,n London addiessed a Letter to Earl Dathurst, the Secretary pf Stat; for Colonies, informing him of (he object of his visit. The following is an Extract ol the answer which he received from Mr. Goulburn, the Under Secretary of Slat ch-^/^ "I am directed tu acquaint you (ha hat J^ord Dadiurst a. %- 29 f sliort lime Binoe received from the Governoi' of Newfound- *' land the Petition to His Majesty, to which your letter refers, *' and that having taken -the Ii^ing'*s pleasure thereupon, he " duly signified to ihe Governor his Majesty's commands. — *^ But that although instructions have been given to guard */ against the recurrence of those proceedings of the Surrogate " Courts, which appeared justly liable to objection, yet that (f ". you consider that you have any further cause of coqaplaint, V his Lordship .will be ready to repeive frqn\ you any oommi^ ',' nication by vvhich y|)U inay think it advisable to bring them ^'before him, to inquire ioto the justice of the complaints, and . " if just to adopt proper means of redress." A few days after the neqeipt of the above letter, Mr, Pawe was honoured* with an audience of Mr. Goulburn, when Mr. Dawe requested him to lay the Petitions before Parlia. nient, through such M^gibers as he or Lord Bithurst mi^ht think proper to select. This Mr. Goulburn declined, but a^ the same time assured him that Lord Bathurst well knew that the laws and government of Nevvfouhdland required con, siderable alteratipns and amendments; and that if he would i^uggestany measures calculated to effectuate those objects, they should receive every oonsiderationi " „ - » Mr. Dawe therefore felt it his dutV, in co^r^or.mifv with his instructions from the Committee,, to dfeliv«r the Petition to the House of Lords to Lord Holland, and to the House of Commons to Sir James Mackintosh, v^ho very readily undertook tq presei^t, and most ably and zealously supported them. The following are copies of the Letters addressed by tho Committee to these illustrious patriots i*— To the Right Honourable Lord Holland, S[c. Sfc. My Lord, . The Committee elected at a Town's Mcelin^oflhe^ 80 i) Inhabitants of S(. Johfi^s, in the Island of Newfoundland held pn the 1 4th November last, have the honoor to lay Before'yonr Lordsh.p , Petition, addressed by their constituents to the Parlmment of Great Britain ; and they have to request that . yorrr Lordship would be pleased to present'the same to the House of Peers, and give it the benefit of your Lordship's high sanction and support. r b i The Committee trust that the Petition itself will sufficient, ly explain to your Lordship the reason* which have induced aj.Iphabitants of this remote and t the benefit of your high sanction and support. 31 - . "Xhe CommiUee (rust (hat (he P«(itidn itself will suffioicntfy explain to you, Sir, the reasons which have, induced the Inhabi- tants of this remote and neglepted portion of the British domi. nions, to intrude themselves upon the attention of Parliament. In seeking for an amendment of their laws, they could not but call fo mind the philanthropic Lawyer who transplanted the im- partial spirit of English justice into the soil of India ; and whose eloquence, if they could be so fortunate as to engage it in their cause, could not fail to awaken the sympathy of their fellow subjects in the parent country, and produce for them the benefit of those laws, which are declared to be the birth-right of every British subject, and whose excellence mainly consists in the niknnerof their administration. The Committee, Sir, beg leave furtl that they have transmitted the Petition fore the House bi Peers to Lord Holiai reeled their Solicitor, Mr. William Da^ ceiveyour commands, and to communicate any fiu-lher particu- lars of which y6u may desire to be informed. I ^igned by, the Committee.]-^ uaint yoU) IfLid be. ifive di- 'plaibe, to re- On the J 7th May the Chairmari^f the Committee received from His Excellency the Governor the following letter, com- municating His Majesty's reply to the Petili^jn :— ' f^ Fort Townshend, Saint John's, Newfoundland, 17th May, 1821. Sir, The Secretary of State for the CoTonial Department having laid before the King the Petition of ofrtain Inhabitant* of the town of St. John's, presented to me on the 3d February last, by a Committee, of which you were Chairman, I have re- ceived a communication frona His Lordship in\eply, of wl^ch the following is a copy j — • "T \ J^ 32 ^ '« His Majesty will al^rays be disposed^ to cohsider ih, propo8.t,on8 which may be submitted to him hy any porlid.l of h,8 subjects fpr the improvement oPthe Laws or the ame- ^^ liorat.on of the System of Government to which they are sub. jected. It will besatisfactory to the Memorialists to know _^ that h,s Majesty has under consideration how far the altered «tate of Newfduridlatid requires some alteration of the exist- "ing Uws with respect to Jt ; but in communicatin^ infofmation, His Majesty feels himself compelled to di«- •* courage all expectation of his sanction being given to the es. I* tabhshment of an independent Legislalure-for rieiiher do • the particular evils of which the Memorialists complain "(even admitting them to be correctly stated,) appear to aris6 " from the absence of a Legislature, nor does the represenla- ^ tion g.veri by the Memorialists of the stale of the Colony " give any reason to suppose that they could conveniently take "upon themselves the charge now borne l;y Great Britain, and " vVhich would, in the event of the establishment of a Legisla- " ture, neceswrily fall upon the Inhabitants of the Island." I am, Sir, Your most obedient Servant, M ^, ^ -^ ^' HAMILTON, Governor. To Mr. PiTRiCK Morris. ^ I 33 ^ The fbllovring is a report of the Proceedings which took place in the two Houses of Parliament, on the presentation of the Petitions, as copied from the London papers : MAY 1. Smt of NtlofounlKlattJK* Lord Holland presented a Petition, which, he said, wm signed by tWo hundred respectable inhabitants ofthe Town of St. John, Newfoundland, complaining of the imperfect and injurious manner in which justice was administered in that Colony, where Naval Captains generally exercised judicial power. The Petitioneri also complained of not having a local Legislature, and prayed for relief. His Lordship then pre- sented a similar Petition from the District of Ferryland ; but he afterwards withdrew this Petition on account t>f infornuu lity. The first Petition being read and laid on the Table— The Earl of Darnley rose to express his surprise that the Noble Lord opposite suffered a question of so much importance to pass away without any explanation or remark. The Earl of Liverpool replied, that his Noble Fr!end» (Earl Bathurst,) whose department it was to consider subjeeta of ihi« kind, was absent, and that he himself, being ignorant of the facts stated in the Petition, could not give any explanation nt that moment. Lord Holland said the Noble Ear! bad been tpprited of this Petition, and that it was his duty to be in hi» place.— The subject was one of great importance, and ought to be seri. ously attended to. After* few words in reply ttomiU Karl of Llvtrpoof, the House adjourned* f M:.. -V 54 IfiOUSJE OF ILOKBS MAY 10. •f The Earl of Darnley wished, before the order of the day Wfib read, to say a few words on the sfibjeot of the Petition ^hich had heeu presented a few nights since by a Noble Friend of his (Lord Holland*) froh, the Inh.ibiianis uf New- foundland. Upon that occasion he (Lord Darrtlcy) expressed his surprise that tiie Noble Karl at the head of his Majesty's Government did not give some assurance that the grievances complained of in the Petition should be inquired into. The Noble Earl, in reply, stated, that aa the Noble Lord at the head of the Colonial Department was not present, he could say •nothing on the subject. As that Noble Lord was now in the House, be (Lord Darnley) took this opportunity of calling his attention to the Petition, v^'oh contained statements of the most atrocious acts of injustice and oppression, for which it appeared no redress could be obtained from the tribunals of the Colony. Earl Oathurst proceeded, in a very low tone of voice, to reply to the observations pf ^he NoWe Earl. We understood his. Lordship to say, that a Petition nearly word for word the same as that pretonted to their Lordshipi, had been submitted to Hi» Majesty about two months ago, and was now under ooMideration ia the proper quarter. Alluding to the complaint of th« improper inaiction of corporal punishment contained in the Petition, bis Lordship stated that an order had been trans- nitttd to Newfoundland about two months ago, for the abolition o/.tbatd«ori|jtion of punishment. The Noble Karl, then, a^ .^•understood him, proceeded to say, that arrangements had been made for the be lter regulation of the Colony. It used lo •f.J.IIIrfr?'!'!*''*!'!?' m"*'""** for U.."c^n7t^nt 'th« d«y after b. jpwwiued th« iVimon ttiilie I!()iiiie, p 35 be Ihcpraotio* of the Governor to go fo Nenfoondland at the beginning of May or June, and to return to England short Jy afterwards ; but now that officer remained at the Colony du. ring the whole of the year. Earl Darnley observed, that it appeared the aggrieved per- sons had no remedy at law. Earl Bathurst said, there was a remedy at law if the iMtruc- tions sent out were properly executed. HOX^SE OF COMMONS^ MAY 28. Sir J. Mackintosh said he rose to present a Petition from the inhabitants of St. John's, Newfoundland, of an important nature. He was satisfied that the British Legislature would be disposed to listen to the complaints from any colony, howe- ver unimportant. The coloay of Newfoundland was not one of those— it was a colony of great extent and importance, with » population of upward* of 100,000 persons. The Petition which he held in his hand complained of the. manner in which justice was administered in certain courts, and of the severe and extraordinary mode of punishment resorted to by thow courts in oases of contempt. The pMitioners prayed fbr the i>«dress of this abuse, and also for the eatablisbment of a k>cal legislature in the Island. The Courts in question were (^called Surrogate Courts ; the Judges were principally ^mpo. wd of ofioer 8 of the Navy. Punishment for contempt was, he admitted, resorted to by courts of justice in England, bat he believed the use of the lash in sach oases was altogether un- known in this country.; it was, however, the ordinary mode of punishment adopted in Newfouiidland. In order to put before the House the manner in which that distant, defenoelest,^ •nd uHr#prt8cntod island was treated by those SorrogaU 36 Courts, be would rtate one inafanoe— » man of the nam 6f Landergan, who was bolh ignorant and poor, was, through his vranl of acquaintance wiih the forms ufiudioial proceedings, adjudged guilty of contempt in not altendi^lg to a sumtaons- for that contempt he waa sentenced to receive 36. lashes— 1 4 Jashes were inflicted, when the unhappy man fainted ; a sorgeon ^ who was in attendauoe, gave his opioion that it would be dan- " gerous to proceed further with the puniahmeot. The man brought his action against the Judges in the Supreme Civil Court of Newfoundland, and the Chief Justice of that Court declared, that, however reprehensible the conduct of the Judges was, the Court in point of law dould not interfefe^could not bring punishment on the Judges of another tribunal for any *4fi«ision of theirs, t^e bon. and learned gentlelh^ then pro, ceededtoMy.thatthat was not a solitary case; be was in possession of many other easea equaHy oppressive, which Had occurred within th» last few years. There were ten of these |»urt«it eight of them vrere floating courts, and the part kit were ti^ife tried, not aooording to the Common hiw of England^ but tt^tbe maritime laws which still prevailed with respect ta «bipa» He meant to speak with every respect of naval oificers^ but^e must say, he would no more be tried by a luival officer for an offence, than a aavai officer, he was sure, wouJd like to •aHwulerhuoomraaad. The system of the f overnmeoi in that colony, before 179^t, was oae of aoarchy aad the nuMt despotic nature, it was one which forbade the cultivation of the spi V and afforded no protection to the oolooists. The inba. bitaata of Newfoundland made no ooonpiaint of ib« Supreme Court, and added their belief, that the. appointment of iwa Judgei^)rope71y qualiiied would afford them the moet tialerial wrvioe. A local legialature sbooJd be afforded to tbe colony a ita wealth, its popublion, its imporUnce to tbe notber eouMry, could not be doubted, aad loudly patied for it* ^ ancient J J %ii policy of finglaad wiih rPgara to ber colonies thould bd «dopM in tlmt ooMtry ; howerer oolonrw composed of dbn, vied, or of ri^ves, wiifht tiot h^ve the cJtiitt of calling for *i public awcAibly. These people had no one to protect them bat the House of Oommone, and be implored them to gjve lh««« petitions tireir aiostserious consideration. If Ins Maje«y'4 govempent did not shortly take up tbi« subject, he gave them notice he shouhl bring it forwiird at a very early period of th^ next ffession. Sir J. Newport bore hie testimony to the high charaotei- of «iany of the Inhabitants of Newfoundland who had returned to England and Ireland, and of whom he could say, that tatoro than one of them with whom he had the pleasure of being ao*. quainted, would be fully oonpeteat to «>ceupy n t^spectable %u tuaticn in the Hquse of Oommons. The tynem of goverbment which had long prevailed in fhat eountry shoald be altered, if the government tougfat to mako her available to the pvrpose^ of Bagland. Sir I. Coffin gave his testimony to the defeoUve iystem of the Surrogate Courts. He had himself been a Surrogate.—' The mode of proceeding was, whencrer the Sqrrogate or J^ mif*! went on shore at any^^of the settlements, he tobk a SK •wain's aato with him, and when any of the persons «ngage4 in the fishery was brought before him for any oftnce, he order- «d hia a doien laahet, and then «e(it him back again on board hn fishing boat. That waa the law in his time. An horn member, whose name we did qot hear, said, thai while he deprecated the system of law prevalent in Newfoaiid. land, contended that the respectable inhabitatita of thfit colony wero not at •!! desirous of hwring « local gorernment in tba •bape of a Parlimnentk - Mr. Goulburn said, that with respect to the appointment f»f a local tegialattfre^ thtt wife a ^uaation'of great delioacy t ia ^ 3S I I •ome caseB.JocaIaii8en.blie» were found higLly beneficial fo the pomitries where tliey were estdblished ; in others ihey were found pregnant ATitb eviU. With respect tq the other part ofthePe'tition, he admitted that the mode of administerinjr justice in U)e colony was a piode that should not exi3t ; it could only be endured where the House was made satisfied that it would be impossible tp preclude it'; and here he begged to eay, that when the government at home wa* made acquainted with tbe infliction of ^fwj Hevere punishment.complained of, an immediate order was issued to prevent its recurrence. The causes of complaiat were almost always between the merchants and the fishermen, the only two classes in fact in the colony.-^. The government, finding it impossibJe to select justices of th« peacp likely to act impartially, were obliged to appoint naval officers, who were men of hotiour and understanding. He did not defend severe punishment in cases of contempi, but he con- tended that justice was generally administered ia the colonies with impartiality, and with satisfaction to the parties. In the instance complained of, he begged to add that the court was noi composed of naval officers alone, but that they were assisted iiponthat occasion by the Missionary sent out to that place from this country. He did not, however, mean to say, that the sanctity of that person's character could justify the severity of the decision. . - * . Rr. Lushington said, that the punishment by the cit-o'. .nine.tails, in cases of mere contempt of court, was not known in this wuntry for several oenturiei ; and wherever it was prac- tised, it deterv^jd to meet with reprobation and contempt. No Wn opul4 hear, without indignation, of the disgraceful fact (even though it might have l,^en fanctiotied by.a clergyman^ that 36 lashes should have been adjudged to a party in « civil wit fornet having attended a summons at the appointed time ; ¥.vcry m^n of undtrslanding and of humaiutj must joiu him ia mmm mmmm 1 eoudtmning so pdioiw an act . The CKiaf Justice of the Su- preme Court was met only by the" question of law; with re- speot to the act itself, he desoribed it as particularly harsh and uncalled for. Howerer the law might stand, there could be but one opinion in every feeling mind, that the act was in vio- lation ofhumanity and justice. It was no small aggravation of a case, sufficiently revolting, that the unhappy man, though the hurgeon had declared that ii would be dangerous to continue with the whipping, had yet (he remainder of the lashes remitted, upon condition of giving up (he question at issue. . To shew m what mannerjustice was administered in the colony, he would State one case, which came under his own ob8erva.tion, in which the father was Judge, the son the Plaintiff, and the brother the Registrar of the Court-( Hear). It was much to be la- mented that those complaints should always issue from his side of the House ; that Governors of cblonies seldom or never felt it their duty Jo represent acts of oppression to the govern- ment at home, but th^t abuses were allowed to go on until they became intolerable, and met at length with exposure and repro- bation in that house. Mr. Goulb(urn and Dr. Lushington mutually explained* Mr. W. Smith said, he hoped that the complaints of the petuioncrs vvoul^ receive every attention. How defenceless and unhappy was (he case of the poor settler ! In courts of justice, wfTch should be his protection, he experienced nothing but harsh and unconstitutional treatment. He appeals to ano- ther court--there he finds some sympathy, but cm receive no redress, and is at length, driven to petition the British Pirlia. ment. As the petitioners found their way into that House, he l«)ped (hat there they would find redress and protection. Sir J. Mackintosh presented another Petition to 'the same effect from the district of Ferryland, in the Island of Newfound. Innd Th<»yvvcr© ordered" (0 be printed. 'i* 1 40 '^ I #» ;! J I I I I :1 The Committee'r^BoWed to lay their pro^eiifigs before ft Town's Meeting, and «vilh the riew of procnring ii full ttttendance, ihey eau(>»^ the follovting Adrertigement to be inserted in iHc Rpyai Oazettey Mercantile Joumaiy NeWi, foundland i^enfflM^Tand Public Ledger, being all the News* papers published in St. John*«— and likewise ordered Notices to the same effect to be posted in the most public parts of the town. • * FUB1LI€ ME]ETIN I s* ! ^ /■ ;/ f -at* 46 skill in navigatioji, t\f belmof N^wfoiiQdland lawand ju«(iee vvas placed ia his h^nds. Wbeq it happened that th^ person which w« in our days call a youn^ater> became an Admirali it, vtaa expected he was to be under thetuition of the Kinf^ of the harbor, for in those days there were not only Admirals in abundance, l)ut there were Kings without number. I neeci not inform you, Gentlemen, that, those Kings were the oldest Captaias in thjiir respective harbors, and that many of them could cope with the greatest Captains ofantiquity, if their lau- rels vrere to be Mimated by the number of hea49 they cut off. As might be expected, the greatest anarchy i|nd disorder pre^ vailed under y^dminiatratien of the Filbin^ Admirals; and had it liQt beeWor the interference of the Commanders of His Mjijeaty's ships on the station, the litualion of the people would ^s^va been, still worse. In wauy instances they represeoted to ,^07ernment the conduct of the Fishit^ Admirals ai partial, ignorant and unjust— claiming their prerogatives when it suited Ihftir own interest-^displacing the rightful owners of rooms, •od sailing them for themselves or their friendly The necessity ot » civil government I«|6a4)e so apparent, that many well dit« posed persons recommended it to Qovernwent ; and in doing po, nne of them writ«a in ihie strong and emj)batto languag/P t*^"4h»t Uw people of Newfoundland may be governed «i BritoiM, and not «# # fenwi^eo people, without iaw or Opt^ pel/' For years this country received nothing bui a suocessinn «f«ntrage%andtheco«plaiBAs of the people were either not hear^ or anewered by new and axjeumulated injuries .* ih6 ne« ofwilyiofapaMsimplioratiAn became so appar«nt> and the re^ furfffentntionsoftbeCommnnders o^ his Miyesty'a *hips so fr«» qwe»t a^ M Wrong, that at hsngtb, in ) 7;&9, a civil Qovernnr wim app«iatf d. This Ippeiotment ^as most violently oppoaed l»y that f«aJt«»ptibU fiieiion of adventurrri, who were from the bfgiuwdg adverse to the beta latereslii oi the ooumry. It was "^k MHMHli ■■ ■■■■■■■■■■iiHi^HMMHMl ''wl^' 47 •»*. only ftt Ihis late period thai Ihe dawnofflomethiiig lilte gorerit- HieAt taiade itit ap^aranoe in Newfoundland. Ittnediatdy on the ttrrital of the aoternor,!!* appbinted Justioea wf the Peace, ani^nade many other ittpYdvem^nts, highly beneficial to the country. Unhappily fbi- thft people, Ihfe powet tested in him «?a« much too limited, and the adventurers hat! too maohpow- er, not only in thit country, und«T the blasting influence of thft 10th and 1 1th William and M«ty, but lilrfewiae at the Bea|r of Gorernment in England. When Gorernment wanfed infor- mation respecting this country, they applied to the persom «n. gaged in the trade, who gate such information as best suited ^th their own interested and contracted views -j^lhcy kept Government in darkness respecting its true state. Tho appointment of a Governor was partieulariy obnoxious to them: they pel it ioned, and did every thing else in their povwr to prevent it ; and whett a Governor was appointed, they were in'oppOHition to every act intended by him for the good of (he country : they pitted their fishing Admirals againsi his Surrogates and J^ustices of the Peace; Who assumed a greater power than usual— they fined, whipped'Knd plundered at their pleasure^they even had the temefity and insoltnoelo dispute the power of the Governor, pleading their own superior legal authority, as aclting by virtue ^ an act cf Parliament;*-^ The extraordinary and violent conduct of thaltshhrig Admirals was well supnorted'by their prinoipalssthome, who petitioned Government against the Got ertior, his offlcert, and the Justi- ces; and, Gentlemen, yon will be no doubt astonirted when4 iriformyou, that timir representktions were ^Ily attended to, and they prevailed en the government to order the Sorrogatet not to interfere with the fishing Admirals, but to assist them in carrying their iniquitous acts into execution. Little benefit could be gained by the country under such conflicting authori* ties: the adveithirers too well succeeded, in depriving the T^ . 48 country of even t)ie eemblance of civil government. Matters remained in this state for some time, until the ignorance and injustice of the fishing Admirals rendered them so odious and contemptible, that the people despised their authority altoge* tber; when the Governor, and under him the Surrogates, took all tbe power into their own hands, much to the satisfaction of the country at large. The laws were administered by them until the passing of an act in I7d2 for establishiiig Courts of Judicature in the Island. A great advantage was gained to tbe inhabitants by this act, and tbe consequent establishmei^^lll Supreme Court ; but great part of the good that n jjjjp e been done under it, was counteracted by the 'i«)pointiflWtm in- competent persons to preside over tbe infant establishment. 1 1 not only required persons of great legal acquirements and ex- perience, but aUo persons who fell a syropathjr with the for^ lorn and long-neglected situation of the people. Unfortunately, persons of this description were not appointed •, and tbe oonse. quence was, that the country suffered nearly as much un- der the sanction of the Judicature A«t, and by the abuse of it, as it did before from the vi-ant of such a law. I shall not en« ter into the proceedings, nor state the palpable blunders that were committ^^d, not alone under iheact of 1792, but the atort recent on? of the 4©lh of ibe late King, intended by the Legis- lature to establish the people of this country in all the rights and privileges of British subjects—they arc so numerous and manifest that those who riin may read. ,1 now, Gentleraeni wittt pleasure lake my leave of the barren wildernesa, without one solitary green spot tu attract or pleasetheeye, which I found it necessary to carry you through, and have tg call your attention to the period when the princi- ples of justice wore firmly established in the Courts, agreeable to the intention of the Legislature and the spirit, of the Consli- lution, by our present venerated Chief Just i«e—(C'Am«J — ■1^ imam M^HiaAiia^Mtt p;^ 49 He dissipated; By the mtgio spell of bispowerfur geniusj tfie dotidfl of error that so long^ hang-upan the judioialprooeediiigs in this Island. With no guide from the reoordi of his prede.^ lessors, d1ree aimab of tha world ; while NewfoundHand, for the want of swch -protec- tion, ia now nearly in the same barbarous state h was when first diwovered by John Cabot> in the reign of the T^h Henry.— If, GentlMoen, you are oenVinoed (hat th^, statement 1 haire made of the ktws 1^ whi<^ Newfoandlandhas been governed is faithful, you cannot be surprised at the present state of the «coi?ntry. , The most luxuriant country in the world, situated in the mest tempe|«te olUnatej, under such laws would become nn uninhabitable wilderness. Govefned by such laws^ even England would be new in a worie situation than it was at the invasion of Julius Cesar; that country, which is new the boaat of every Briton» and the wonder of an admiring world,, would most probably at this day be farmed out to a company of ' Jews, and its inhabitants only employed in extracting coal aind tin from its niinfs. The policy adopted by the mother ooUnlTy was b epcou* rage a transient and moveable fishery, and to prevent settle>- ment : this policy wai first adopted by the governm^t, not from any hoitility to the country or the people ; it waa im* posed on by the representations of persons whose interest it waa to mislead : they were well aware that it was a fa* Torite object with government to increase the naval power of thf country by theextension of the Fisheries— they falsely stated^ that the sedentary fishery carried on by the nativas would not be con4«oive to that end, but that a transient and moveable fishery, the precise fishery they carried on themselves, wastha only oM that could possibly increase the naval power of th« efOpiCf/ Here, Geiitlemcui the want of a legalited organ of MaiHlltfllii tt^i^^^lMi 51 t»prM«rtn '\n the cootttry i* evident ; Iiad such an authority ex- ieted, how easy could they hive proved tliat the objeets gf go- rernment would be better attained by a resident Fishery— that (he trade and fishery of A people vyould make more seamen and employ more vessel* than a few monopolist* could posslMy do. iBeoTj heart hear.) For the want of sucb an interest, the ad- venturers wereoompletfely established.in-the monopoly of 1he trade and fishery of the Island, to the prejudwje qf the native inhabitants. The wretphed policy so long adopted towards this coun- try--the erroneofiopinfon so indiistjiouslji and so successfully oiroulatedj that the climate was so severe, and the eoil so barren, «8 to render, the Island unfit for. habitation or cultiva- tion, induced the Government tq, view it only as a nurse- ry fbr seamen— formed almost insurmountable obstacles iti the way of any attempt being mad^ to better the condition of the country— -so^'iwich so, that persons weH' inclined to- wards the happiness of the people and the welfare of the country, despaired of doing any good;. Things remain- ed in this state when the feelings of th» people wert rouse* in no small degree by the unfortunate ocourrencee that took place last year in Conception Bay, whipb gave rise to the meeting by which the present Committee- was nomi- nated. - Previotii to my laying before you the proceedings of tbaf JCommittet, I feel it necessary to explain to you the motives by which they were actuated, as an' opinion prevailed, and which ^as industriously circulated, that the object of the Committee was more a personal persecution of (he parties concerned in the transactions at Conception Bay, than the attainmenliofroireia for the injured individuals, or justice fdr a long.oppresfed and intuited country.* On the part of the Committee, I have tore- pel the foul, the unfounded iroputatipn ; the Committee oould' ■■■«■■■■■■ m not b6 governed l)\ysaoK motives— they ttftd no prson^l ennitjr lo^natify. If tbey ^U igiy reluctance in oomii^ forward oq Ihe occasion, it cm^irely ^roae^ from the pereonal respect they Jiadto the p^rtie^ immediately conceroted, v^hick soi^e of the CSonuifltt^e es^ressed on more than one ocQasion^-particnlarly tc^ Mieone who formerly hbid aJiiglt situation in^his. pl^e, vrhen^ ' of^ a yer^ trying occaaioii, he gaye very great aatisfi^otion to the Itttblio. I . will now ^ay before you tbiC proceedings gif t^e Committee. \Bere ihf Ckiirtmn r;ea4 th Petition to th$ Ki^^ w»^ He variout communicationt ia and fiom the Com^\(tf^^ q^^ ih^y appear in order in this ^mphlet,\ , ^ Gentlemeoj you have now before yi)u the proceedings of the Committee^ and it remains with you to adopt such meaif lures ai you may t^ink expedient. It is much easier toi point out eyils than ^o ren^edy them ; but Jl think ii must be ^ow yery clear, (hat the want of a resident govemu^ent, whicb >Vou4d identify itself with the people ^nd the oeuntry, pro- tect it from ittault and aggression fr^jn abroad* and make j/M ineans available at faoiue, have bec4 the primary causea of your nvisfortunes. Wby such a power was not established liere, as well 98 in the other colonies, must i^ppear surprising to the transient observer. -The oultiyi^tion of the toil, and the forming ^mfoKable esta^sbijpents iii tl^^ P^^ world, were the first objeets vivith the adventurers t^ the other 90^o^ie8, whiob weifc moslJy agricuUv* r^tcountries. The I\rogrew of wealth in agripultural countries is slovv, and the labouir of atta^n^ng it very great ^ it require^ time, pcrseyeri^noe and ii\dustry to iroproyc a wild and bar., baroUi) country. To make their impj^ovetntnts perv^anently valuable, it was necessary to adopt that p^untry, of which their ofispriug were to be (he future inhabitants ; |nd, ae many 0(f them fled from persecution, they weed resolved toceeuic f« ^ % f> 54 ,.1) Jir^' is to (nBcavour Id procure « looal gOTernment, to watch and guard your futur^ interests, "^he necessity and justice of such a measure is so apparent, that if you are only firm and tempe. rate, the peritfd is not far distant when it will be granted you. A#iffici|lty may arise as to the form of your future government —in our days a difficulty of that kind is easily surmounted : Mve need not send our wise men to Egypt or Greece to seek after laws. It is not necessary that we should have a Solon or a Lyciirgus amongst us — wie need not ap[>rehend the cruelty of a Draco or the tyranny of a Decemviri; we need not adopt any of those visionary systems thaf^find so many advocates in the present day. Np, Gentlemen, all you have to do is to form your laws under the shade and on tbeVroad principle of the British Constitution— C2/oud Cheers.) Gentlemen, — ^Thp cause you have'embarked in is a good one : hitherto you have heard of tT Dartmouth interest, a Poole interest, a Scotch interest, and an Irish itiiferest— it has , remained for you to form a Newfoundland interest — (Loud and continued Cheers). With the most sanguine hopes for the fu. ture, I place the cause of the country in your hands, with only oneremark, that in. whatever way Providence may please to dispose of me, the interest of the country, and the happiness of the people,- shall be an object ever deat to my heart— (CheersJ^ Mr. Daws then spake nearly as follows :-r Mr. Chairman, — After the able manner in which you havetraned and explained the causes of our present neglected And oppress^ condition, which we allso sensibly feel, and are to anxious to have redrcHsed, for roe to say any thing on that score would 6e at least superfluous v, I vrill therefore cdnfine myself principally to proposing measyres whidi have for their dbj(iot, and I trust will eflTeotualFy prove, the means of emanoi- paitng this unlbrfunat« country from' that unconstitutional sys- tem of government which has reduced its Uidc to ruin and its %f t' ,55 . popultttion to «iav«ry, and in ipite of the efforts of tyranny ^.avii* rice and prejudiee, of obtaining for us^ oar roost inTaloabl* birth-rights, the blessing and protection of the British laws and Constitution. But, Sir, before we proceed to make resolutions for our future welfare, we have an imperative duty to pt^rform, and that is, in some degree to diroharge the debt of gratitude we owe to those whose benevolent and patriotic efforts Jkave opened upon us the glorioas dawn of constitutional freedom, and already wrested the lash of torture from the strong arm of despotic power. I have, Sir, witnessed all the labors of the, Committee, and the effects their judicious measures hav« produced upon the most illustnons and patriotic members of the British jSeoate, and can more justly, perhaps, than any other, appreciate their value ; I therefore beg to move the following Resolution— Retolvedf 1 — That the Committee merit the confidence and Thanks ai (his Meeting, for their judicious and indefatiga* ble exertions in forwarding the objects for which tJiiey were constituted. Which was seconded and carried nnanimously.. * Mr. ShKa then proposed the following Resolution :««> Retolvedy 2— That the Thanks^ this Meeting be given to hit Excellency Vice Admiral Sir Charles Hamilton^ Bart* Oovernnr and Commander in Chief of this Island, for the handsome manner in which he received the Deputation from the Committee, and for his promptitude in forwarding the Petition to oar most gracious Sovereign. Whidb waa also seoend^d and carried unanimously. Mr. Dawk then again rose, and addressed the Chairman ai follows :— Mr. CtiAiiiMiN — The next resolution I have to propose is one in which I am sure you and all the Gentlemen present will most cordially unite i It it that the thanks of this mteting i ■ be giv«n to thM^istinguishedMeihberBof the British ^arlia* mtttt, whoJMre sa zealously and- ably espoused'oiir cause. r us ; and' they. dlBi>layed a mastery of their subject which fhey oould only baiFe acquired by the most indefatigable re- seareh and d^ consideration ;- and of which you can form but a: very faint idea indeed from tlie mangled reports published in the newspapers. I was not present at the debates wliich tooh place in the Htiuse of Lords, but I' have every reason to believe the reports published of them are not more correct. Both those illustrious NobtemeN' who distinguished themselves on those occasions, ex- pressed to me that indignation at our enslav«d and oppressed eonditioff« which such enlightened (patriots and firm advocates fori^itish'libertyeould not but feel ; and they hav« given me assoranoes of their invalnablosupirartand exertions on oUr be. half, till we have succeeded in obtaining our emaneipation. The personatl oivility, the freedom ofaeeess, and the pit- tient hearings I reoeived from them and every other d istinguish- •dicbaraeter with whom my mission to England led me to have anyinlereourse, demand my warmest gratitude ; and even in my oavreepondenee with the Under Seeretary of State, and my iaterview^with that gentleman, T experienced a politeness and alltatioiiwhfieh formed a strong contrast with that overbearing arrogance and;ineo pre^e«HfiMi4ly oonspieaous. I beg to oonclnda by movin|R the- following' res«lo4ion — Resolved^ 3— That the Thanks of this Meeting are dtie, i^nd iNQst sineerety an4 gratefdily given, to thte Right Hon. Ia»d HoM4nd, thie Right- Hon. thte Earl Darnley, Sir Jtmes Mael('ir»tosb, Sir John New^rt, Bart. Doctor .57 Lushington, and William Siniib, Esq. for their ttble and zealous support of our Petitions in both Houses of Par* lianient, and that they be most resp<^ctfully and earnestly entreated to continue, their invaluable exertions in our behalf* Which Resoltitioii, as/well as the one following, mus seciottded and carried unaiiimously. Resolved, 4— That the uncultivated ttate of the Island — th^ depressidn of ih Trade, caused by ii.nwi8e Laws, ruinous Treaties, And /restricted commerce ; the instability of pro* perty, the want of institutions for the insttivctitm of i/outhy and pf an efficient polic6, are principally to be at* tributed tolhe absence of a legal organ ofrepresentationy calculate^ to watch over the interests and to promote and render available the resources of the coiintry. Rekolved, 5 —That ^/ve consider it equally the right, and equally due to the Inhabitants of Newfouttdland, with those o£ Nova $cotia, the Canadas, and his Majesty^s other trans* atlant/c Coioniies, to be endov\'ed with an independent le« gisla^ure. Dr. /Carson, in rising to second this motion, availed himself o^ the opportunity of congratulating the inhabitants of St. Johnfs on the prospect of some amelioration of their politi. cal condition^ and he expressed his hopes that the inhabitants of Newfoundland would profit by existing circumstances, and make elvery legal and constitutional exertion in their power to rescue/ their country from its present anomalous situation. ^e said that it would not become him, as being one of the Committee, to speak of their labours in terms of eulogy; but he might be permitted to say, he believed that there never wer^ a set of men, acting in a political capacity, who felt a pur^r desire to serve their country. There is not one of tbeni tha( can be supposed to be actuated by a selfish feeling— their 15 08 views are entirttlj prO*peotive, pure and patriotic ; th«y wish to consign to oblivion all past wrongs inflicted on their fellovV neo, along with the k^sleth which gave birth to tbeni. They «II, uniformly, dieprecbled th^ slightest attempt to political inno- vation, as destructive to thb rising liberties of Newfoundland ; their wishes were to Jiavii the laws in spirit and in the mod^ of administration assimilated to those of England, and a const itu^ lion on the model of the parient state i a constitution which is th'« proud boast of every Briton^ and emphatically said to be, th^ admiration of the world. 'The British Constitution way had adopted, being convinced that it was the only otie which would finally conduct them to prosperity, to liberty^ And to happiness. The labours. ii>j^§$ Committee had two objects .•— 1st. Ob*, tuining il^irfornit^,ml^Mws^ 'particularly in the mode of their (tdminittrttiioni j^ ^n^^nidependi^t Legislature. . To the first prayer of the Petitionl^ Majesty condescended to reply in these most gfaclouB words—" ilis Majesty has under consi. deration hbw far the altered slate of Newfoundland requires some alteration of the existing laws respecting it.'^ The Bight Uonouratile the Secretary qf State for Qolonies, slated in the House of Lords, that the subject Was under consideratidn irn the proper quarter. After such high and satisfactory assu. i;anc«St the country might rely with oonfidence in obtaining; the first object of the Petition of the Inhabitants of St. JohnV: Although under such cfrcumstancesit might not be decorous to petition further upon this subject, it may be proper to instruct the Committee carefully to watoh over all proceedings in Par^t liament reb{ieotiug thii> country, in order that all enactments may bfiffor its benefit. In regard to the 2d object of the Petition, a^) ifidiipendeHt Legislature — could that be procured, it would 39 bfe tht best channel through whioli^the Laws, and (he mode of their administration, ouuld be reformed. To this ptByer bit Majesty has likewise graciously oondesoended to reply in these words — *^ His Majesty feeU^ himself compelled to dii^* courage his sanction being given to aa independent X^egis. lature ; for nffither do the partiqular evils of which the memo* rialists complain (even admitting them to be correctly stated^i appear to arise from the l^aence of a Legislature, nor does /he representation giVen by the ipemorialists of the state of the 'polony, give any reason to suppose that they could convenient- ly tsike upon themselves the charge now borne by Great Bri^ tain ; and which would, in the event of a^ Legisl4tu]:e, nepes^ sarily fall upon the Island*^* In discussing this reply, he was authorized by the eenstiM tution of his oounitry, to consider it solely aa the answer of hia Majesty ^8 Ministers. At the time the ftnsweF was given, the petitioners and their objects were miarepreaeuted at the office of th tk^ y^etary of State f of the polonies } but soon after a beam oiiigbt on Newfoundlan^affaira was thrown into that office. When (he subject came tiThe dUoussed in Parliament, neither the Right honourable th^ Secretary of State for oolo» ities, in the House of Lords, nor the Honourable the U'ndeif Secretary^ in the House of Commons^ questioned the truth of the statement or the objects of the petitioners. It will be an easy matter to frame a, statement (hat cannot (ail to bring oon^ Tiction to the Royal loi^d,^ that Newfoundland has sustained many and great evils from, (h& absence of 9, Colonial Legisla. lure ; and th^he people not only caii take upon themselves al( the cxpenseliir Legislation and civil Government, but that for many years no part of the charge of the Government of New^ foundtand has been, borne 6y Great Britain, Und er such a view of our situation, his Majeity^s reply 'S «* m f tk) may be considered a^ extremely consoIi,ng. Hemore the rea^ sons of his refusal, and it is natural to expect that he will con- cede to bis faithful and dutiful subjects a req^e^t founded ii\ ^joitice and their right^. j > ■ fie now proceeded to stale the inability of the Britisli, Parliament, in consequence of the want of all information re. spectihg Newfoundland, to Legislate for it with safety and ad. vantage. Mr. Goulburn stated in the House of Commons, in Ihe debate on the Newfpundland Petition, that ** there were on- ly two clashes pf men in that country—merohanta and servants. " It would be quite ridiculous to enter into any tiling like a seri- ous refutation of an assertion soerroneous. So far bftbk as the time of William the Third, the English Parliament recognized a desciriptiop^f People in Newfoundland that were neither merohants nor vervan^ Indeed, the principliL object gf the «tatutie lOth and ] 1th William the. Third was to give to the En. gU/k merchants and their servants an advantage over planters •n4 native ii^hjBrmen. From that period until (lie present, va,. lions have been (be oonfliois between these contending parties : Theooe for power and exclusive right ; the other for equaj laWs and useful institutions. He was borne out in this asser. tion by Mr. Chief Justice Reeves in Uis history of the I^aws of Newfojiudlandi % . . . * I intend/ (say^ the learned author,) * to give a short * History of the Government and Constitution of the Island of * Newfoundland. Thi« will oomprite the struggles and viois. ^ sUudes of iifo contending interests t The planters and inhabi. * (antaon the one hand, who, being settled there, needed rhe 'protection of drovernment and the administration of justice ; * and the adventurert and merchants on the tflher^ who origi* * nally carrying on the fishery from this country, and visiting VU)at Island only for iha season, vaceded no such protection for 61 ^ llicmsclvcs, and Imd various remong ior preventing its being i aflforded to qUiers.' = w'^ which was tranBiniUed t6 England, and appropriated nobody knows how or where* f ' • '""""--^ Marriages were rotme'rlV fednsidered snffictently^ valid4£__ Solemnized by any Clergyman dispelisihg thd holy rites of oul^ common religion. Through indiscreet interrerenoe, at the in- sligation of a few, to put money into the pockets of two orthr^e individuals, the Marriage Act was procured/ Which ias the effect to bastardize three fourths of the children now born ii\ this country. This. is a most serious consideration for all who Feel an interest in the prosperity of Newfoundland. It is confidently said, ihtt a clause in the late act foir >e-building the town of Saint John, was altered By a Gen^ tieman residing in England, (who influences two' ^lembert to the House of Commons,) by which his private property in this town became exempted from the operation of the Aot j aL though such alteration in a great degree destroys the intentions of the Act, which wCre to secure the town (r«itt fire. l^rom these premises, and he l^|^^d hd had stated tl i^* correctly, he tliought himself authori»^ in coming to the elusion, that the British t*arliament, from ignorance of all the rations and circumstances of this country, is hot competent to legislate for us ; and that the only remedy for removing th« existing evils, and fojr msuritig the future prosperity of the country, will be found iii an independent legislature, caIoi4ated to watch over its interests, and to render available those resour- bes which nature has bestowed upon it. ^- He then proceeded to state, that the existin|^ revenues were ample for the support of a. civil government, and an in. dependent legislature, without any assisfanoo from the parent state, ur impojing any new burthens upon the people of this country. » , "Oj ^- C' 64 - He estimated the noo^ssary anutial (expenses asfoildwa : — - A civil Governor,, i £4000 ^ - Secretary and Clerks,. 1000 ^ £5000 A Chief Justice, 2000 ] two Assistant Judges, 2000 ■Clerks and Ministerial Officers,. .... 1000 ^ 5000 ' . . . , " \ Expenses of the Legislative Body, ... 2000 ^ • Town Prisons, Ac 3000 - 5000 , > , ■ \" Total of annual expenses, £15,000 V The Revenue to meet that expense — The existing Duties on Wines and Spirits. ...« . * . , .£12,000 The Rents of Ships* Rooms and Lands. 4 4000 The produce of Writs and Fines, 1500 Lieenoes for Poblic Houses, «... 1000 : Total £18,500 Leaving £3500 in the hand^ of the Treasurer, wiihout adding one shilling additional lo the burilicns of the People, or lh« necessity of drawing upon the British Treasury a single Bill. This Island has many resources within itself for the sup- port of a much larger population than it has ; but even ihe comparative few that inhabit it are beginning lo want employ- mem, and starve in the midst of millioDs of unbullivated acres. This is not the result of chance— it is the unavoidable conse- quence of a system which has forbidden the cultivation of the earth as a crime. Why has this been ? Because it wasthe in- terest of some dozen speculators at home to prevent every in- dueeinent to people to multiply in Newfoundland, in order that ihey'may enjoy a complete monopoly of the fisheries and trade of the Island. The interests of icui of thousands have bcpn !k V^t 6S: ^. C.* sacrificed to a fewer ivumber of individuals. This covid not hftve happened if theop had beeiva local assembly repr«ieiitin||f' the geiteral interei|tsil!>f the Island, and forwarding th&repre*; s^ntatiomttf the people to their Sovereign^ The Government > of the Island has fallen in with the views of the spiraiilatolrfl^ and done its best to check the ^rc^wth of population and thd' produce of breftd. The system has beeti carefully traensmitted ffohi Governor to Gorernor.* He must m)t be supposed |d^. allude-to t4ie present Governor, vvlpJie believec( to be a man of principle and humanity) and^^ad the interests of thd people at heart — ^Cheers). What must be ih^e rtesotirces of a countr^wbioh hat heeir able to forob its way under such a load of obsCaolest - Yet^' ]tt us not be blind to^^our siluation^-^our fisheries are foiling ;: the sp^ulators are withdrawing as fast as they oan^ and leav-^ ing US to starve^ and not a step is taken by the Giovernment toiivert the' evils whiob are coming in broad day-light ttpon.us* Let us but BuppbHe that a different system had beenparsuedior the last hundred years^ what wonld have been the presant state< of the laland^^t is more than probable that it would have had as much oulti^^ifeiibn in it as would have* been. necessary iPortbw ordinary consumption of the inhabitants. It w(Mid not Have . had the dreaditti prospect of famine before it. FeweWortuae* would have beep realized, But the people, the Island w< hare bejjlpar more indepen^|k And if a numerooi, pr rous, anoindependent body i^iople ooitf^utf the wealth Oi aation, the' motker ooantry would hMHk been far rio)|^|g^ itt than she is ai preiant. ' .^^Sl ^^^^' f .. • There ar« two things peculjar. to this ialairfl^ra woft^ is the want of a local power to make laws for the beatit of '■ ■■ ' " ■■ ^ ' I ' I ' I . I I II I., • I » i . 1 I I I I - II I m il -»..d»«l|«i * U it not ponlble that III* moaopoUati rcifdinf In Bofland took *pedBl eare to infli^enet tbfi choie* of an lodividaal as OoraAf ,#iR» would enter into el*iw vltwt and act npon tbsir polky f *^* . > X \;x -«^. w: ■■ m E.i3^::L^a:g^.^^=^Tge » I' Ai&WricftltMBU and Ht nia]|<^b^iF«MOf|aJl)l« ta ex- al'cq^iqiM^ Imvyeen (heift. It thai leaiefl. ua at ■|«^^***' wi» |i fjv.v ^mw9 «rf; a; 1% iP^^p||el^8|bi%#ho regaj^iM iath* ||i|Rit9litasa|rii«iiif«fi^V alwea n^be ^Westi lm^Ka» In what o^her cotojiy can it hap|^ Uml about a doften Qeul leiiien% ISkgluhd ca* BMet lQ^l4ier , and. agvec UfK^a lam, and MRtyjUthrottgUiJw forimof Parttaaiea4,/%viiib ho more communieamjn, or even intimation^ wiib ihe p«»ple «nb««aM td be.gov«rne|;*b|i that- law, tjtaa if ihey weie biftls of tial ftir fa itoaaka vf ^h^ %ftt ^ ^«h< mh tbe mode of Legislation, f0ihKkt«tf(MtaUamk . TiHe iaonly ona rcmedir for all thiai It k.tetoihtiiiiW Hi« povw^#at is hald^oirer ua to aueh hands as banwa cMftitoM iiti8r«»( with as; whq. viili ut^e it nol as a oaiMir l^vt aoH a UffiFing to qi. Tben^ we thaii lume ciUi iwatian Mwouragad^ IMpakalioft) moreaac-, and titadr iouriiib — not • MonapolMed] Hftldffy wb^ob; benefit* ibe few ai Uie ejtfMaae ol tba inanyjihut ibaiif ade^whichialmaya gnowa up aniong«< Quaeraua, amiortiaaliiiMer anil-.a tlnrkviii^. populaliaa* TbaneaaliiHonivbidi thiaaMMobly haajust. paaeed, comreya* iNiaiaai) andiMrcibla langinge, ibe ia^itricai which tlm ooumejr Ibw ■aeluned from thft a^neiiaa of an itide|ieadcn( I3egislai«ub Hci waa haftpy that >J|4: ■> resolutMA would go dowa Uk after taaaainlbAtuiitmBmilHMattonof! th«laliabitant» W St Jlobii'''i. Mb aomrluded^hii! ra«3^g! that b* liadt aat ability^ to* dbampl* juittioe to a BiMMHBUcb paramount iaiperlmc«t0je«l ofthti* UeHoIuiion. '^. -> 67 '.f^ H^dcsirecl to express himself as hmving lixteiwd < «HAh MtKrh featisfaMion (o the detait jast iki4 befdrt thefubiic, otlh* prooeedinj^t of the Committee since thefdrmer ^blic ■taettug'; and he sincerdy oongratalated the pfetiant asKtlbly batie re- sult that promised ta await their ezertioas, iti an a&ir that concerned the welfare and bappinets of aocleff m •mofh^^iitb* due administration of ju8tiDe;~« dhity (hat o^uld (I* fulfiJM only by men who had a eompetenthnovrledgieiQif the kwsof the «oa«try* He had felt hinsdf rvstraiaed from «tteiidiii|| the iwmer public meeting ^ hot iktw, oo«(empla^i% with pleasure thai the ^>bjec(8«f that meeting had been pumacd with that ddioaey ia referenoe to certam imlividuaJs, which rettmiiini their piti* ccedings from any tendeaoy towards pwrsooal impliciKtMiH fcfe felt much satisCactioa in betng fureaanl on this ocoaiion* H4 waS) however^ much ooooerned that he did not see Aromid^hfai • number of persons, iahabiianUi ef this tof^n, who frmn their etation in life, and reBpcotability>of oharMttf, wwild hvn td* dcd weight to the measarei of the day. When he considered haw ihaoh the intere«ti nf tlhott persons were, inooaimon with the welfare of othert, itivt>lftvas the main question i and if so, waf it praclieable ? He, for hip owp part, had considered the subject frequently during the tmt,4f!n years, and he thought he saw several •bjections in^B wayotf sucban in»titution,~-objection8 springing out of the na- tvralinoapdbiliries of the country, and growing out of ihu uu- 69 certain state of iW constantly fluctuating population. These bbjocdons liad presented themselves while he had considered the subject in former times, when 'Newfoundlarfd was ih ft far better caf)acity to support (he expenses incident to a local le^ gislature than she is at present ;— expenses Which would, he thought, far exceed the extent of the calculations offered by one of the gentlemen who had just spoken on the subjecti He CMr. S.) was by no means satisfied that the monies arising* froii the present existing taxes within the Island, and taken into the calculation oi^^ys and means by that gentleman, would be' permitted tu o^ome available to the local government, if th^y were to attain to it. ^Itpi'^ ^as another point Very important (ouonsider, And which ^s, that not only were many persons resident in this Island, as ^^^HPf^ others resident in England, and connected with the trade of this country, inimical to the adoption of a local legisibture, but his Majesty, through t^ usual medium of office, had on that point, in his answer to Petition, expressly noticed that he did not deent a lo«aI legit latnre for Newfoundland requisite in order ta the redress of (he grievances complained of ; and furtherj (hat his l^ajesty did not consider the plre"^injBSfic^'^'°'^ °^ ^^^^ colony adequate to bear the burden of eitj^WM^i^itient to such an establishment.-^ The doubts that he («Mr. S.) had always entertained, were quite concurrent with these sentiments. The subject embraced by (his resolution was certainly one of great Inagnitude, aitth re(^uired considerable experience in the world, and in its basi. ness, to estimate the advantages and disadvantages of the mea- sure, as applicable to this Island. That many disadvantages were sustained by some of the neighbouring and other colonies, in coiisequence of saoh a 8y8(em,. he felt assured. Not, howe. ver, anticipating the discussion of such a 8ubjl|^|l|taK|ay, he had .^not come there prepared to lake a vieW of allSQmidvantaffes ^^'antl djafttivantuj^cs incident to the pr^tei^d hyslciUy much Icsa Hit a. ' i 1 *, 70 diU he propose what be had now offered as embracmg the me. riy^||yiMMB^><>^ which to treat fully, required more atten. IffrBtbaiThe had bo^owed da the subjeet, and more tat^nt than ht possessed to lend to it His present objeiQt was to induce tfcis meeting to pausci before (hey entered upon a resolution, wbloli,for Uie reasons be had stated, he oonoeiTed himself fully jiisti^ed in cbaraet^isingas premature, and inexpedient to be passed at the present moment. His own opinion^as not made up on the subject of local legislation, aiyl before h^ came to a conclusion, he wished to bear the opinions of others better in« forared than himself. As apalicable to the Resent condition of things, he confessed he e^Wtained doubts IttUast the pro- priety of adopting a local legislature, nor did rannceive that ^1 would operate at all as an antidote to the evils wlinkhad blen ^MMuplained of, as arising out of the undue inflWMI of the ^i^riHt^ountry and other merchariiB. If this island were ttiHMre f^Hfttse of iiiBeinbly, &c. who would return the mernb^? |f <4ten they wire to be returned by the whole body of the pec pie, still be would say, t|iat people of property and talent would filways mainly ii^u'enoe, if not entirely direct the return ; and he (^^ pari th^ght^ Chat of two evils, if the influence could not heeg^y di«iU-ibuti^, thajt'least objectionable was, where iiP^l^iiiOTlshQuld predoniitiate on the side of property. H is however itill kept open for further inquiry, andij(;,he UH^ by his own relections, or the arguments of others, §9- lertain thai his doubts were groundless, or not of such impor. taupe in th sent would feei^rol^, and that itnfortuaately, perhaps, at » period too lat%to^ply a remedy. Re therefore proposedy^ that ia lieu of the fifth Resolution, the following be adopts ed:— It is Resolved, that the Merchants, Land.bolders, and 4Hhec Inhabitants of St. John^s, and the Island at large, be re- quested ia meet ia St. John's, on to consider what remedies should be proposed to His Majesty^s Government a« a means to redress the evils referred to in the last resolution^ and to promote the future welfare of this Island. a^ Mr. Daw£ was happy to hear tluit the proceedings oC tite Committee had hitherto met with the approbation of the Gentleman who spoke, last ; and he could not help expressing \ i- ,-i:' \'*f 70 his acknowldilgtnents to Ihat Geiuleman ' for eoiaing fatwatii and declaring his seritiments in the open and candid manner h& had done, however much he might diflferVrom them with r^pect to the 5tb Resolution, and Jie wished those Gentlemen whose alraenoehe (Mr.S.) regretted, had followed his (Example i not because he thought their presence or support would give any efioacy or wetg'A/ to the measures which were proposed — for it was to the weight of the grievances uf which we complained, not to the weight of the purses of the complainants, to which Parliament would direct its attention — but because by ab« senting tliemselves, they either betrayed a total indiiTerenoc to the real Welfare of that country to which most of them were indebted for the respectability and consequence they otairaed) of that they were not at liberty to express their opinions upon the 8ubjeot< It was impossible that their ab« sence could be attributed to an ignorance of the precise objects of the meeting. The Petitions to \ua Majesty and Parliament Imd been publicly read on three different days previous lu their being forwarded to England, and lay open for the inspection of every one who felt inclined to peruse thein ; and he would assert, without fear of contradiction, that there was not an l^oase^holder in St. John's but knew the prayers of those Peti^ tion»werefar a reform inthe inferiorCourts of Justice, and a representative local legislature. At all events the reports of the proceedings in Parliament clearly explained what the ob- jects of the Petitioners were ; and be thought the absentees had rather too much curiosity in their composition to be able to resist the tei^tation of taking a sly peep at the newspapers which contained them. u Although that Gentleman (Mr. S.) had objected to the establisliment of a representative local legislature, he had not suggested any other measure by which the evils we complained ftf might be redressed. He (Mr. Davve) had heard a Council ( c 73 was proposed by some, (not that he for a moment imagined Mr. S. wa8 one of that number,) vvho^no doubt were actuated by the most pure and disinterested motives ; but of such a 9y$m tem he was sure this country had already had enough.^— Were nat those hungry hirelings:Vvho had beset and spell.boand BO many of our successive diovtrnors Virtually a Council?— r &nd if a Council was to be legally organized, would itnQt in ail probability consist of those very men ? — for there was not a meanness Ihey would consider too degrading — not a principle (if they had any) they would not sacrifice, to continue their ^ despotic sway, and glut their avarice on the vitals of this unfor- tunate country. Of the benefits we should enjoy under such a (Government, we had some precious specimens in the numerous proclamations which had issued from the Government office ifrom the time of Sir JElugh Palliser lo (he present — proclama- tions which had been carried into effect as laws ; laws under which every inhabitant of this Island who carries on the fishery on the coast of Labrador was liable to be flogged and his proper, tv confiscated ; audi under which, three unfortunate men, for availing themselves of the bounties of Providence by shooting ^ some ^ea.fowl on a desert island on a remote part of the coast, tpkeep themselves and children from starving, had been whip- ped through the streets of St. Jrohn^s. tt was impossible that we oould have had such a succession of cruel and unjust Gover- nors as those Proclamations would lead us to believe! Ko! .those precious documents were not the edicts of the Governors, but the offiipring of that spirit of despotism which had refgned in the breasts of their evil counsellors, and which bad uniform- ly characterized all iheir actions. He was sure the Gentle- man who last addressed the Meeting, knew them too well to suggest any measure which would tend to add ta jpr continue the little power they possessed since law and jus- tice had pared iheir tajons. And^tif he di.l pot approve -of L A' ^ -^--"■-w n % I-!;; ' f t ll loci! represe'ntaVive legislature, he hoped he (Mr. S.) Would ipoint out sonip dt^^f^odrtre,BD (h. ium^luod^ t\i tWe meeting lo iHempt to Icgislatei for (hi \\ho\t IsJan<), tiiii \\\£x k fature day had better be fixed Ibr another meetin^k V^\\\\ Vfespect 16 Itgi^lathig Tor the tsland, he {Mt. &awe),^i^ ndtt)elrev« such was th6 wish qf the Meeting; ihi neeessiliy of 8diti0-bhil'hjgi6 of the present nysteiii wanffeU and a'c- ' feno%vIedged^y eV«iry individual in thecounti*^, whateve^ hit Btatroh^ eitcejpt the miserable fiQiotlon to whfch he had before al^ tuded. 11)096 who'did not appVove of the iftwtsdres propdsed t)y ttiis daeetirtg could ball another, and/adopt such as |hey might Ihinit prdpeh As to delay ne oouid^ot consent to il ; thepre^ sent iysltetti vVai t,oo iniquitouH longer to OBust f he had, in it ' heighbtiiirihg district, discovered that the Cbortf brilustitte wer* Id obrtrupt^ that all the 6ftoer« belonging^ th^, whether ju- diofal 6r ministeriftt, Wet-is united in oh^' 04^N^^ band (o plutt* . ,«ler tfie eomtkiinity under Iheil- conlroliU" "iJiliJ^f had rcpre* fente^ to the highest ai/tlMriiy, in the Island, but'ttiii r&|)re8ett» Yiiiohs h^d b^ii treated «\ ith Contempt } he Was, hoWevffi oon4 ftdM tltfdei- the idea, that when they Were m«de\o his Majesty^s MittlsleUrlifid the British Parliament, they would meet a dif* titirrttt fatei /th«ltbomet)t WaiT'too Cpivorable to be lost', mti most afafe and patriotic tifietttberp o^that iF*arliament hadM^ dome our charopiont4 they ijel.t for our wrongs^ and tqfadld-ejceri tbeit- pt^werful ta^eiits in our cause ; under gtioh' au^pio^ii' W« ' might with confidence 10d1( for redress. tp the inhabTiaotii of this tsland D^ was Under lU gttkl* <>ft ohligationtj froid t!ktjjirst moment m ael his foot upon ^. — When t^e atrobg arA'Af t^ftnnie poAcr preiwd h«aty, upOtf' hi , .V • «. •■■■ fs i veiled to cru«h him, he was enabled, by thair foicnUly nuj^^rjl, ' to stand unshftken, and smile writh iridiQerenio^ 9t (b,e piwjr 9i» forts of lawless despotism. ' He; had then been many years among i\»i% ar.4 thfy ng^ui^ have been able^o form some estimate of his ^aracter, Piii^ they think he could ever be ungrateful to. a oomraunjty to which he was so deeply indebted?— ^Qid Ihey think he woulji recommend a measuie which he was not oonvin^d was essential 10 its welfare ? No I he would not j and as tli«y had given him many proofs of their confidence, he conjured thfem to ao^ one more, by unanimously passing the $th HcKolutiQn as he bad orij^inally proposed it. : Dr. CAftsoj{, as seconder of ilie motion iiAder diseusaiooi,, deemed himself entitled to reply. He oodd not 'Itefp' e^pres, liing bis furprise that after the preceding motion passing ti|mni, ' mously, there ciould be the sJigi^test objection to the ope . under consideration •, the one appearing to him of nece89i^;]r to follow the x>iher, , . ^ He considered that Mr. SiMMi bad not slated elear^ bis reaions of dissent •, nor had he submitted «ny plan for removing the evils so unanimously felt and expressed by ^h\* auembly. He believed that it was the objifect of a party, is tlxis town, to ojfr tain for Newfoundland a Government consisting of a Qpvernpr and Council. Could a Council be pabcured, feeling all tbe inte. rests of the country^ andaiprewing the 8enti||ents of the people* such a Government would he simple tnnd efficient for every use- ful purpose. But it is the disptpsition of dalllinea, aod of all bodies dS mrn, to invade, as much as in thei|*pp>ver, the rights, V^. And privities of others. Th<^ ,pre.eiinineiv^ of the ipiritish, c6n|,titution, and the aafety of tlia peopled freedoffit* consisted* priocipally, in the■, ^ =^ n I* If- I, •1. m / 76. ^ pelnted by a Governor, if there were no l^gialalive AsBeiiv- Bad as the present Government was, he would far rather have it, than a Government consisting of a Governor and Council. On the appointment of such a Government he ' would, so soon as he heard the number of the Council, venture to name all its members;; and he could assure this meeting that ■ /there would not be one amongst them such as they would ^ choose— npt one possessing their confidence. All would be characterized by a condescending pliability of temper, and ac- cordance with every wish of a Governor. It wouW be an ab- solute and despotic government. He professed himself to be a plain, practical man, adverse to any thing like innovation or experiment on this subject. He wtfuld oppose any plan of go- vernment for this country, that did not accord,-lilerally, with the British constitution. It hadteen said", that Icgisltitive as- semblies had been found in some colonics pregnant with evils. — The evils, he apprehended, consisted in U>e patriotic voices of 'Ihe people asserting through their representatives their consti- tutional rightt and privileges \ and opposing undue patronag*-, extortion, and fraud. He hoped the British colonies would 'be pregnant with such evils until all their liberties were conce- ded to thein. A dovernmeut consisting of a. (Qovernor and Council was at one time established irt Canada ; but it was soon found ^fobe so pregnant with reare^il«,| that the paternal government 'Yound it necessary to sinnihilaleit, and to establish a govern- ~ inl^i iJli its pwH prinoiples. The British flfouse of Commons 'cdulif never sanction a power, in any body of inen, to raise a ■'revVniie, but by a representative body, chosen by the people. Mr. SiMMS bad talked of a meeting of the Inhabitants of the Islthd grnerally, at St. Jolin's, tftdiscuwRthe Riibipot uiid^r eoMiidcration. Such a meeting would be both impraclicablo ,«*«*'(' =>hfc T7 ■% ami unjust. Tlie planters at a dislancacouid not be expected to leave their homes— the adventurers wouIdftU attend. Let the iown of St. Johri's act for jt«elf ; the other parts pf the Island would do the same ; and'he had no doubt but th«t they AvouW nil accord in o^jje sentiment, and uhite in one decla- ration to the parent state.' J^ • t Mr. Morris then addressing himself Ip the Meeting, 6i)okc to the following effect :— Gentlemen,— The handsome manner in wiiieh Mr. Sim^s has spoken of the proceedings apd labours of the- Committee must be highly gratifying; he most fully acquits them of ai\y vindictive feeling towarther8^ ilrho stale that it is on the oapitai of the merchants the prosperity of the country depends; and 1 ttliall tdl y«u wlijrl difinrfroia them t beoau^e i consider thermal wealth 9( thii««u«ffy, fatyofld that of any other I know^ tp consist in the labor, tk^U and ladostry of the people, and. which only raquire to he jttdt6i€«wly tpfilied, to realize ^11 its fesouroes. Jn wliat ' eooatry ikav* 4he fc^pW displayed mo/e courage and skill ff- Onhfi^ki into t«f w tl»e ^ta* ivf of ihk ^Ittand.; withniit edu- option, miM-eiy fremthe UtfW ol hi^nat^al g«oiu»» Jbt builds a vosei, t\git her, takes the ^o#iiMind f f her, proceads in |uer a«the iwst «nek«»iriu aeaspnip the i^^ffrtli^ $nASri>u» itaicy fe* gioif returns to .yovr harbottr* loaded l^uh tl^i most vliUiaUe ettrgo. Gtnutmeit, the fivhcrivH, with tj^ tultivati^l^ of th^ i4 m'^ :\^.i^ ■:K- * '.. <)• «C' ■.''.^* ■HIM • 79 Soil, Which b«s be*n M sadly neglected, constitute the real Wealth of the connfnr, artd not (he capital of the merehantf. It may hte iaine of them vyho did not lose that property ; which proves that local knowledge and industry have been better even for the mert/hant to commence with than capital Mr. SIMMS thinks that an independent legislature is not expedient fbr ds— that colonial assemblies are sometimes (rou. blesome and inconvenient— and tbat some better form of go- vernmc^t might be adopted. Tlie same arguamnt, with equal justice, wight be adduced against the Parl«Mk!tx>f Eng\itnd, Arbitral^ Princes have alwhys found that ^jjppimenl trouble- aoque Khd inoonv^ nf eht ; but it has been initriably when it threw the mighty shield of its protection over the people.— Oentienen, 1l have most earnestly to guard yon againaiihalf maasurea ; aeoept of no hu:ttcring legislation t either get yo«r rights AiDy esttblished, d< rtnkain as you are t jtfar present aituatioti'is muohbelter than it would be. under any other sys- If fU ih6l*l of coroniy-ation, ,which m neither more nor lest than , ■i ^''S,^. ,,*, *, ' X\:.^ .: rh'i A'?i,:^i -e*. VvJ 4. 80 tH« power wiiiiin yourselves of making such local laws, not ih« oonsialent wilh llie general law of the empire, as you may think proper or necessary. I am aware that there are some ^jersons who fire so besotted and wedded to the present system, that they willrepresent^^lonization as a thing too terrible to men* tion— that taxation and every other evil must flow from it. — ■ Surely, Gentlemen, the fiir^^bject with a local assembly would not be to lay burthens an ineir constituents; they of course would first endef^our to belter ih? condition of the country- protect the trade and fishery— encourage agriculture ; and then if the improvement of the country required it, they would only lay on such a moderate impost as could be borne without inconvenience, and which would only be expended for the ge- neral good, and revert back with tenfold advantage to the people. I think it has br'en most ably and fully proved by Doctor Carson, that the present revenue of the country is quitd adequate to support a civil establishment on a more extej fwale than wli^t at present is kept up. Befor^4hew)njTO^ roent of the American revolution, the expenads of t^iaJcfvil esta- blishment in NewYork and Pennsylvania were £4500 per ann* ^%ck\ that of Virginia and South Carolina £8000 each. New Jersey £1 200. We already pay four limes as mueh in taxes as was sufficient to support the government of NeWkYork, which contained four times as many inhabitants as New- : fanndlaftdi how much have we paid to the monopolists?— lio\y much arc we paying every day to our absentee land- loi«ito ? Wc should not be called upon to ' contribute to the de£en«e of the qountry ; it is uot required of the other colomeo. That e*P«"'*« ^»»'* ^^^"» ^ b«Ueve, with little exception, inva- riAbly borne by the mother country. If the other colonies have ,|je«iVprotcftted, Newfoundland has stronger claim* i m ilie di* ml and indirect advantages derived by Great Britain from Uio ivudc and lishn) UT ihis Island, Iravc hvvw f^r grtater than fr. Walsh, when it was Resolved— Ihsii the Thanks of this Meeting be given to Mr. Morris, for bis able and jadioious conduct in the Chair* •-r' « « » - ' 1 V * . , i -, 1 »5 * • • ^ - - , a t tr 1 i ' f f •\ ■ J ■ ' ■ . ■ . .\ \ ' . \ . , . ' v'' ') ■ AFFENIDIX. xVs many allusions have been made in the ooaraeof this nar, rative, to that policy which obstructed the cultivation of the soil, we have thought it proper to say a few Vrords oji this important subject. ffii^ In a country presenting in climate an4 eoif sa ma&y dif- ^^ies to the agriculturist, Governmen,t ought to coooede the most liberal encouragement. Tenures should b* unquestionable^ and the proprietors ought to have unoooirotM power over their lands ; they should have a preference m ahfi'w miirkels, and 6very fawUty should be rendered for the ooaveyaoce of manure and produce ; the Grants should be sufficiei^lly large to ena- ble them to combine tillage With pasturage. Tha^ none of these advantages have been afforded the Newfoundland agri* oi^tirist, will fierhaps be best proved by affording to the pub- lic a oopy of the government leases, which is the only title by whioH hwuis are held in Newfoundland, and by whi«h a pro- prietor oin leave it to his children. GdveKoors restrict their _ aatgto/oM^ acres ! ! the cxpeaMS of grants ar^Jive skiving* ^j)«r ocre, sabject to a rent of twoxmd siJIpeHce per acre per ' aaA. and a fine of seven and eufpenee per acre every thirty liars ! ! '. " In this coaatry a man can neither sell nor purchase itlioutthe Governor'i previous consent !I1 and this '.\ il •■<*, :£•"* •* .«Wi^ II. >rptNDix. power Aa« been caprieiougly exercised froni party feeling ! ! ! — - The Governor reservca twenty feet on Ibe banjos of a// rivers and ponds I ! ! Thereby depriving all\proprietor8 of the delights and advantai^es of water ; and at any time he may deprive them of their lands, by giving an appraised value for them ! I ! It >8 only sev^n years since the inhabitants of Newfoundlat^d first had these advantages conceded to them t f I «t>Cl2:?3>«»- lenj €Bfobentmcnt H^asfc. I By His Excellency Governor and Commander in Chief in and over the Island of Newfoundland and its Dependencies, &c. &c. 6fc. BY Virtue of the povier and authority to me given, I do hereby grant permission to A. B. a resident inhabitant within the district of St. John's, in the said Island, to have, hold, use, occupy and enjoy, for the purpose of cultivation, for the use of his family, a certain spot of Ground, containing fuui^ Apres ; situate, lying, and being ' bounded on the by the river, (along the banks of which a sufficieBl public path is to be left twenty feet wide if requisite), Ac, &o. for and during the full end and term of thirty years, subject to the payment of an annual rent of two shillings and sixpence, sterling mooey of Great Britain, payable unto the Governor of Newfoundland for the time being, or his- Assigns, or to such person or persons as shall be duly autliorized to receive the same, at the Government House, in St. John's aforesaid, on the first diy of September in every year. But if it should be found necessary at any time or times hereafter, that the whole or any part of the said Ground should be possessed and taken for his Majesty's service, that a fair compensation jshall be paid to the said A. B. his hcirsor assigns, for his interest therein. m m tv' jtPPEXDIX. 111. The said A. B. his heirs or assigns, is to encFoae the said •pot of ground with a good and sufficient Fence, a«d to clear and cuUivate one full third part ofiliesaid Ground within three yei(flBn the date hereof, and the remainder within ten years froi^ne date hereof; and shall and will at all times well and sufficiently build, erect, repair, support, sustain and maintain the Fences which shall and may be needful to enclose the said Premises; and shall and will at all limes, joinlly with the per- son or persons occupying the Ground adjoining, bear a just and equitable proportion of the necessary expense in making, re- pairing, and keeping in repair all the partition fences ; and also that he shall and will at all times, bear his just and equita, ble proportion of the necessary expenses in making, repairing, and keeping in repair the public roads near or adjacent to the said preipises, according to sqc^ estimate or estimates as shall \)e approved of by the Governor of Newfoundland for the time being, oar by any person or persons appointed by him for that purpose. .,,, ,. j^nd the said A. B. hU heirs or assigns^ is not to assign <)i'pr, or oth^wise dispose of hii interest in the said Premises^ or any part thereof ^ to any persan or persons whatsoever, without the consent of the Governor of Newfoundland for the time being, first had and obtained!! SLX\d that he will upon any, such Sale or Transfer taking pl^ce, cause the same to be regis- tered in the Government Records, And if the said A. B. his heirs or assigns, at the expira^ tion of the term of thirty years hereby granted, having well and truly done, observed and performed all and singular the cove, nants and stipulations herein contained, and which on his part ought to be donq "and performed,, according to the true interit and meaning of these presents, shall then pay cr cause to be paid to the Governor of Newfoundland, for the lime being, or to such per-son or persons as bliall \ge duly aiithori/^ed to rcpcive y / . / .A 9 % \ '■■ .'^ M» IMAGE EVALUAJION TEST TARGET (MT-3) V 1.0 I.I t us. |2.0 2.5 2.2 1.25 i 1.4 / & -^ -'■-' ■•**;. ^ ^ ^ \ \ ^. ^. • * STRm 48M \ •n.4M» "T^ig fvr "i^ ■« ?*■>/! jm^ '■rjr* .^^ * ^-^ ^ 7 />>^i-^ Jk It- — U— — ^ \ I* ^ ^j-V. .u& nt 1 J«b J^u^^V \_.t;itifti»* jiich civilize oiher countries: without the germ'of .mprovement, it is in vam to aee^ for any amelioration of our condition. Under such hopeless circumstances, we are induced to swp. pfloite the wisdom and protective benevolence of your Ho- nourable House, and to implore that it will be pleased to take all the ciraumstances of our situation inlo^onsiderat.ou, an.l be graciously pleased to endow Newfoundland in all the right, and privilege, enjoyed by his Majesty's other Iransallant.c posiessions. And your Petitioners will evesr pray, &r. •• FINIS.. r?^ * -^ 1 f 4. * « ; ":4'r „I^ -.^t^^a^^SSt*?,^^"- _ 4t^ ^-'^•44&J»->^jfcl!^.$4 'J#il*««9!pse|S ?si«?iS-',3g!Sf fiw"?? "■*!« ?S5.>'-' '^■r-S ,«^ ' 5" '" "vS"? T:?i'yi'vr»?»p"'y • ^ wp uTO,. II ',..< ■•'■•/"ftff'w^i-.'a^j^'^ ifi»' ' tf ' >;}!^^P¥/^^^^^^^:^^j»\^'-i^ ' "^ ti; 1 I ■ ^ ■ F « ■ . Ai i f • ■ • • . 1 1 M i • I t • ^ f F \ ' . ^ ..ij_ .;-•- ( " ' , ;;■' ■^- - .■* .•i* 1 • 4 • * ■ ' ' - « '-■ .^yi: 1 An. ' f lA^S . 'ssj^'^/l ■•^t. if .'_..' - =j«f^i^*-»?^. ^