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Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clichd, il est film6 d partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. errata to t pelure, on d n 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 i- c » ■ * l t Air. Reeves's EVIDENCE BEFORE A COMMITTEE or the HOUSE of COMMONS ON THE TRADE OF NEWFOUNDLAND, LONDON: PRII^TED FOR J. SEWELL, CORNHILLi J. DEBRETT, PICCADILLY; AND ). DOWNES, N* 240, STRAND. 1793' ■n fa. i I A ADVERTISEMENT. JN the Sefions 1793, a Committee of the Houfe of Commons was appointed to enquire into the State of the Trade to Newfoundland, and to report the fame, as it JJmild appear to them, to the Hoife. This Committee was fitting for many Weeks ; daring which f vera/ Perfons were called to give the Committee Information upon the Suhje^. Some Mer^ chants of the JV.Ji Country took this Occafion to urge Cofnplaints refpetling moji of the Re^ gulations that had been made in the IJland, and its Trade, f nee the Time of King Willianl The Perfons who were foremojl in thefe Re^ prefentations were Mr, Ougier and Mr. Newman, both of Dartmouth, who were fupported in feme Particulars by Mr. Jef- FEREY Of Poole. The Statements of thefe Gentlemen are anfwered principally by Mr Graham, Mr. Routh, and Mr. Reeves • Z^ ^^ Me Points by Mr. Street and Mr. Saunders, both of Poole. Some other Oentlemen 45 ADVERTISEMENT. Gentlemen ivcre examined-, as. Sir Hugh Palliser, Admiral Edwards, Sir Rich- ard KiNG> 'Two of the CommiJJioners of the Cu/ioms, Mr. Irving (the Injpe^or General of Imports and Exports) Mr.\N kl- DRON, Mr. T HOMEY, and fome others. The Evidence delivered by all thefe Gentle^ men makes a thick Folio Volume. The Evi- dence of Mr. Reeves, as it relates to the Judicature of the IJlandy is now re-printed feparate in this Eorm^ and may be made an Appendage to ** The Hifory of the Govern- nient of Newfoundland,'' "X :,i' .» r < ) JOHN REEVES, Efqaire, Chief Jul- tice of the Ifland of Newfoundland, being called in, was afked. If lie had any Informa- tion to give to the Committee refpedting the Government, and the Adminiftration of Juf- tice in the Ifland of Newfoundland ? He de- fired to be permitted to deliver in the fol- lowing Paper of Remarks -, viz. I have read over the Evidence that has been delivered, and the Appendix to it. It appears to me, that the Evidence delivered by Mr. Newman and Mr. Ougier is full of lif- takes, and that in many Places there are Fadis alledged which are not founded. Many of thefe have been commented upon by fonie Gentlemen who have been examined before me, which will make what I have to fay l^Cs prolix ; I (hall alfo confine niyfelf p!*mci;a:ly to one Head of Enquiry before the Coir..ait- tee, namely, what regards the Adminillration of Juftice ; and if I lay any Thing refpecfling the Trade and Fifliery, it will only be inci- dentally. B The .-•SJ f The Complaints of thofc among the VVcfl- crn Merchants, who are pleafed to join in Jioldiiig a limilar Language, being dircded thieflv aiiainft the Alterations that liave been made in Newfoundland within thefe laft Five or Six Years, it feems extraordinary that they Ihould depute nobody to urge tliefc Complaints but Two Gentlemen, wiio Ihwc not bi-en in the ifiand lince the prineipjl Part oF the (grievances complained of luive j-ire vailed ^ one oi' ihem has not bcui there thele lalfc Twelve 'Years ; the other i!'.)t thefe laft Six- tec n Years. "J'he oldefl of tliefc (irievanccs, namely, Stat, i^ Cito. 111. is hardly \vjthin the perfonal Obfervatlon of either of them, as by their own Account it had paiicd feveral \ ears before it was carried Into Execution in ihe Illand. — This is the befl Way of account- in;; for the Inconfiftencics in the Evidence of thefe Gentlemen ; but I know no Way of ac- countIn:i: for their beinir employed on a Service for w'lich they were apparePitly fo ill qualified, rlicfe Cjcntlemen carry on tlicir Bufinefs at Ney/foundland by Agents, in whom they repofe an implicit Confidence ; and if they themfcives are deceived l:;y tb.em, it is not much to be wondered, that they ihould lay before this Committee as true, Vvhat they be- lie \e to be fo. Cbaraacr o? The Committee fnould undcrftand, that the principal Merit of an Agent at Newfoundland is, to eiraw as few Bills upon his Principal as paifibie — in order to compafs this, every de- cent Agents ; ified. ;fs at they the ,■ It the dlar.d 3al as y de- cent ( 3 ) Cent jMethod is employed to poflpone and flave ofF Payments ; this invoKes them in Suits ; they arc ftill lels wiUing to pay the Kxpences that are incurred in fueii Suits ; Attachments are made to execute tiie Judg- ment of the Court ; the Agents then write Home to their Principals, complaining of the Courts and of the Judges, and af.ribing to Injuilice and OppreHion what tiiole upon tlic Spot know fliould be imputed only to theWil- fulnefs and Perverfenefs of the Party. A[i:ents who thus em.broil the Affairs of their Principals calily find People of the fame Temper, and under fmiilar Circum (lances, whom they encourage in the iiime Refinance to the Adminiltration of Juifice ; and then they have an Opportunity to colledl Repre- fentations of the like Kind for confirming their Principals in the Belief of their own Story, and that every Misfortune and Lofs originates from Courts and Officers of Juflicc. The Difpofition Men have to throw Blame on every Body but themfelves, induces Principals, who find their Affairs growing worie, to believe that all their Lofles arc derived from fuch Caufes, and fuch alone. To this Source are to be afcribed, I will Of Pnnci' venture to fay. Nine Tenths of the Com- P*'^' plaints and Grievances that have lately been made rclpediing Newfoundland. This Cre- dulity of fome Principals at Home, as well as the Perfeverance and AfTiduity with which they endeavour to prefs others into the fame B 2 Belief Ni'.vrr.aa's AcUon. X 4 ) Belief with thcmfelves, is a moft cjctraordinary Part of the Difputc refpcding Newfoundland. Sonic Inftances of this Sort came to my Knowledge before I was conncd:ed with the Ifland, One of which I will take the Liberty of mentioning to the Committee ; I will alib bring to their RecoUcc^tion fome Cafes which are among the printed Evlilence ; from thefe it will be better iccn m what Sort of Temper thcfc Complaints are made, and to wliat Sort of Credit they arc entitled. I rcmem.ber a Complaint made by Mr. Nev\^- man to the Board of Trade, of a Jud^^mcnt given by the Court of Common Pleas ag.iinll his Agent for /^.I2, on a Hill drawn on Mr. Newman bv his Ay-ent in Favour of a poor Filherman, who could neither read nor write. This Bill was refufed Payment in l^ngland, and was fent the next Year over to Newfoundland, where Pavmcnt was likewife refufed. As well as I recoiled, the Objection made t(j tiie Pay- ment in both Places was, that tins Man had ind(.>rfcd the Bill, by m.akinf^ his Mark, with- nut any Atteilation bein"; annexed. The |iiu.des ot the Common I'le:"'>s thout{ht this i:(>t a ilinicicnt Gbjcv^lion in a Place where Nine Tenths of thole to Vvhoni fuch little Bills are givcii can neither read nor w^rile ; and that ij' this was eilabliihed as a Point of Newfoundland Law, it would be a great Ob- ilacle to thefe poor Men ever being paid at all : Th?y accordingly gave Judgment againft the Agent, who being of the Temper I have above: th ■a dinar/ cUand. :o my th the liberty ill airo which :hcrc it "emper lat Sort . Nevv- d'.nncnt ai2;.iinlt: on Mr. ■ a poor r write. \\ndy and mdland. As well ic Pay- llan had ., with- 'Ihe tht this where l\ littlj wrile ; 'oint ol lat Ob- paid at arainit I have abovu. ( 5 ) above dcfcribcd, and not thinking hlmfclf juf- tified \*ith his Principal until he had llood out the utniod Procefs of .he Law, reful'ed to comply with the Judgment, which, in confe- cpience, was carried into Execution by an At- tachment and Sale of the Effeds. Tliis Procecdino- was made aSubjctiloFCom- plaint at the Board of Trade j the Injuftice of the Judgment, and llill more the InjulHce of the Execution, were urged in the llrongell Terms ; and the Complainants concluded their Reprefentation with a Prayer (which is the fingular Part of this Bulinefs for which I prin- cipally relate the Story) that all the Judges of the Common Pleas, being Four or Five Per- for.s, together with the Sheriff, Ihould be Lnt for to England to anfwer for this high Offence. This Complaint was refjrred to me as Law OMicer of the Board of Trade, to report my Opinion thereon. It is unneceflary to mention what that Report was; but the Opinion I then formed has been confirmed by what I have fincc i'^en at Newfoundland. Suffice it to lay, the Board of Trade did not think this either an Error in Judgment, or a Malicioufnels of Intention, futiicient to call Five or Six Gentlemen acrofs the Atlantic to anfwer for the Part they had taken in it. Another Example of the Difpofition and Coii^iud of theie Gentlemen I fliall bring to the Recolle(ftion of this Committee from a- mong the printed Evidence. It is rhe Cafe of an Agent of Mr. Ougier, B 7 An ,m Ougier's Adtion. An Adion W£ Court of Common ( 6 ) brought againd him in the Pie as. An Affidavit was made of the Debt, and Mr. Ougier's Goods were attached in the regular Way (fee the Pa- pers relating to this in the Appendix to the Second Report) j it turned out upon a Trial (b'jt not till after the Jury had taken an Hour to confider the Matter) that the Defendant did no. owe the Money. Mr. Ougier has made hf dvy (jijiplaint of this Proceeding, as if he hdd fiiif:rcd unheard of Injuilice, becaufe his Cjoocis were attached where it was proved af- tervards no Debt v/as due. The Abfurdity of fucn Compiaint is fo plain to every One who hears it, that there is no need to fay a Syllable tcj refute it. Tliougli Mr. Ougier has been pleafed to reprelent himfelf to be a Perfon of too much Cr-idit at Newfoundland to be fuhjeded to the uf :^1 Prccefs of Attachment, he will not find any j ly in this Kingdom who will think Juf- tice is to be adminillered with fuch Partiality. One of the principal Grievances nude by Mro Ougier in this Matter of Complaint was, the Manner in which the Attachment was put on^ namely, that it was excellive, and had the Ef- fect of impoundi]ig 6 or ^.7,000 worth of Goo.is, for fecuring 3 or ^.400 of Debt, and fo putting an utter Stop to his Bufinefs. TVhen I was at the Bay of Bulls, where this Tranf- a(flion paiTed, I was refolved to enquire into the Fa6t, in order to fatisfy myfelf, and be ^ble to explain it, Ihould it ever be revived among i W do wa a S Icri any thii the ions mei ( 7 ) among the extravagant Reprefentations that are made refpcdling Newfoundland to Perfons who have it not in their Power to refute them. In the Prcfence of Mr. Lee, Mr. Ouo-Ier's Agent, Mr. Armflrong the Deputy Sheriff, and Mr. Ouglcr's Storekeeper, who v/as the Win- ter Agent, and liad been the Caufe of all tlie Mifchief, I enquired into the whole Tranfac- tion ; and it appeared to me, upon the Decla- rations of Armilrong, and the Admiilions of the Storekeeper, that true it was, for feveral Days Mr. Ougier's Stores were not opened by Rea- Ion of the Attachment ; but that the Attach- ment was declared by the Deputy Sheriff to be only for a fmall Sum, and that the Storekeeper might have had Accefs to the Stores for any Thing he v/anted, provided a Sufficiency icr that Sum was left; but that the Storekeeper ob- flinately refufed to go near the Storehoulc, to fee whether he could have Accefs (as tlie Deputy Sheriff jflatcd) declaring, that as the Property was attached, he would have nothing; at all to do with it. For this, and for no other Reafcn was it that Mr. Ougier's Bufmefs was kept at a Stand for fome Davs : but whatever the In- tcrruption might be, I do not conceive th:it any great Pvlilchief was done to bis Affairs by this blanieable Condud; of his Deputy Agent, the Appointment of which Defcription of ?er- Ibns makes the Affair of Agency more detri- mental than it othervvife would be. Mr. Lee has made an Athdavit cf what 1j 4 pafl'ed. Barter's Cafe. ( 8 ) palTed, when I was at the Bay of Bulls ; and Mr. Ougier, in his Evidence, has made a State- ment of the Matters of that Affidavit -, but what he fiys does not appear to me to corre- fpond with w^hat is fworn in the Affidavit ; and I will allure the Committee, that what is fworn in the Affidavit does not correfpond with the Fad. I might poffibly have admitted, that it was hard on Mr. Ougier to have his Goods attached where no Debt was owing, but that need not i>r;ply any Blame on the Court, or Officers of it ; and if it might be fo conftru- cd, 1 had otherwife very plainly expreffied my Approbation of their Proceedings, and very feverely reprobated the Conduct of the Store- keeper, who by his Frowardnefs had brought on all that had happened in his Mailer's Af- fairs, and in Addition to that, had caufed him to be abufed by very grofs Mifreprcfentations, What I laid upon the Whole of this Subjed:, pamely, of oppollng the Procefs of Courts, and then tranfmitti g to England falfe and inju-r rious Complaints, was v^ry full and pointed 5 an^- I am very much aflonifhed that Lee, to whom it was moflly direfted, fhould make fuch a Relation, and fwear to it. Another Inftance, which Ihews how much thefe Ge.i'lemen are abufed, and how much they afiilt jn deceiving themfelvcs, is the Cafe of Thomas B'lrter. This is another Matter of Complaint againft the Officers of Jullice, which bus been made a Subjed: of great Cla- rnour, and which I examined into while at St. •• jS or I ( 9 ) St. John's, for the fame Reafons as I did the former. This Examination was in open Court, and my Opinion upon the Matter I wrote at the Bottom of the Man's Petition of Complaint : I hoped by fo doing to put an End to an ill- founded Story, and prevent the bad Ufe that I knew had been made of pretended Grievances like this ; but fuch Men, I fee, are not to be fo checked ; the Matter is agaiii brought for- ward by Mr. Ougicr, who takes upon him to fay, " I was deceived and mifmformed ;" and in order to flie.v this, he has added to the other Papers Depofitions of Perfons made fmce to the Fa(^l:, fonie or ail of whom, I believe (but I am not certain) I examined myfelf in Court. To this is fuhjoinid a fcandalous Af- fidavit made by Barter himfelf, higlily rciledt- ing upon me, and utterly falfe. I beg the Committc e to attend to thisTranf- adion, as another ilrong Fad, to fliew the Temper as well as Underftanding of all the Parties concerned in it. That a Mat-er heard before a Chief Magiilratc upon the Spot, wita the Parties prefent, and brought Fa^e to Face, and that an Opinion upon the Tranfadion io plainly exprelfed as nunc is, at the Fol t of that Complaint, Hiould be brought forward in this Manner for this Committee to review it, upon a Hope that on the Face of thefe Papers there is any Thing that will induce the Com- mittee to believe that the Judge was in the wrong and this Man in the right, is fo contrary to I ( 10 ) I'll jl 'f to every Thing I have ever met with, that I am at a Lofs what to fay upon it. Paperiinthe I underiland that none of the Papers which notoidered Were delivered in by Mr. Ougier, relative to to be printed, this and the former Cafe, nor indeed any of the Papers in the Appendix, from Page 3 1 to 54, were intended by the Committee to be printed ; and it is only by Miflake that they got a Place there. As they are there, I have made this Ufe of them, to fhew the Com- plexion and Character of the Perfons con- cerned in Complaints of this Sort. It is how- ever very much to be wifhed that thefe Pa- pers had never got into Print. Firft, Becaufe, as J humbly fubmit, they are moil of them irrelevant to the Matter now immediately un- der Enquiry. Secondly, Becaufe they are of a Sort to gratify ill-difpofcd Men, who obtain all the Triumph they ever looked for in pro- ducing them, if they fee their Names and Story in Print, and have the tranfient Gratification, in this Manner, of calumniating Perfons in Office and Authority. If thefe Papers were to go no further than the Houfc of Commons there would be no Harm, but as they are likely to travel to Newfoundland, it ouglit to be known that they were printed by Millakc, and not becaufe the Committee thought them worthy of fuch Notice. Among the Papers thus undeiignedly put to the Prefs, there is a Summons to appear in Court, iigncd by Mr. D'Ewes Coke, the Comptroller of the Culioms. This Paper was delivered ■t I ; *.-' m M m ( II ) delivered in by Mr. Ougier, as appears by the Second Report, without any Introdudlion, or any Obfervation to fliew for what Purpofc he delivered it in. This I'cems to me a iin- gular Way of furnilliing Information. As he has not explained the Dclign of producing that Paper, we arc left to conjedlure it. I have no Doubt that lie meant the Committee fliould underfland, that the Comptroller of the Cuiloms had iiliied that Summons as a J u dice of the Peace, contrary to the Claufc in the A6: of lall Year, which difqualilicd the Officers of the Cuiloms from adting as Juftices ; but the Paper purports to be illued from the Supreme Court, in which the Comp- troller of the Cufloms was competent to be an Oriicer, if a proper Authority was given him under the Act of Parliament. Whether Mr. Ougier did not perceive this, or whether he did, and thought the Committee would not, they will equally difcover what Sort of a Perlbn they have to rely upon. I have taken the Liberty to premife thusN-wman much with Rea;.rd to the Condud of thofe^"'^ ^^^'^'■*« o appear beiore this CommitCv^, ui crdcrconiidcred. that wliat they fay may be received according to tlie Credit that fhall feem due to them. I jhall now go on to examine Tome of tj\e Fadts and Obfervations wliAth they have ventured to bring before the Committee, and Ihall pro- ceed to give my Opinion upon the diiTcnent Points of their Evidence. I Ihall do this upon the Foundation of fuch Obfervations, as I had an ■A • ( 12 ) an Opportunity of making during my Refi- dence in the Ifland, in the Summer of 1791 and 1792 j and I ihall derive Afliftance from Sources of Information, which are not com- monly accefTible, but which have an Authority that I trufl this Committee will not contro- vert ; I mean the Papers which are to be found among the Books of the Board of Trade, from the Beginning of this Century down to the prefent Time, confining of Letters from the different Commanders and Officers of Govern- ment, and the Proceedings of the Board re- fpeding the Trade and Fiiliery of Newfound- land ; fome of thefe Proceedings (namely, the Reprefentations of the Board made at different Times to Plis Majefly) have already been printed by Order ot the Houfe of Commons. The Letters, and other Information of which I now fpcak, are the Materials upon which the Board have formed the Opinions convey- ed in fuch Reprefentations ; I trull that thefe Materials will be received with all the Credit due to Official Papers, and I may venture to aifure the Committee, that a Perufal of thefe Papers will enable them better to form an Opinion upon the Evidence that has been given, and will throw a new Light upon the whole Subjed: of Nev/foundUnd. In thefe may be feen what has been the Evil com- plained of at different Times on both Sides; how much was real, how nuuh pretended; what Remedies have been fought, and what have been applied for the curing of them. Without ■i ^ ^ ,..,;^ I :f riods. { 13 ) Without this Retrofpedl to the former Illftory Retrofpefi to of Newfoundland, it is poflible the Committee former Pe- will be milled by a great deal that has been fuggefted by the Two Cjentlemcn before- mentioned. The general Aim of Mr. Newman and Mr. (3ugier, throughout the Whole of their Evi- dence, has been to perfuade the Committee that the Trade is ruined by Stat. 1 5th Geo. III. and Stat. 26th Geo. III. and more efpecially by the Courts which have been eftablifhed within thefe Four or Five Years ; that all was Profperity, Peace, and Content before that Period ; that the beft Policy for Newfound- land is to be found in Stat. loth and iith William III. and that the Rules and Regula- tions of that Statute, with the Junldidtion of the Fiihing Admirals, aided by the Captains of the Men of War, is the only Government ne- cellary for Newfoundland ; and that the Efla- blifhment of Juliices of the Peace, and more efpecially of Cuftom Houfc Oiiicers, are all vmneceflary, and fome of them, hurtful ; finally, that all the Trade v/ifii, is to be put again in the Situation where they were placed by the Statute loth and nth William III. This is the Language, and this the Propofal held out by thcfe Gentlemen ; it becomes therefore highly important that Parliament, who are to decide what Policy rtiall be pur- fued in future with regard to this Trade and Fifhery, fhould be informed what was the State of Newfoundland when it had iio other Regulation, Si ( 14 ) Regulation, than that very one founded oi Stat, loth and i ith Williarn III. vvliich thcfe Gentlemen wiiii to have redored. I liope, therefore, the Committee will permit me to lay before them fjme Extracts that I have made from the Papers before alluded to. I fubmit, that it would be very proper to infert them at Length in the Body of this Evidence, in order that they may be brought under Con- lideration in a regular IVIanner, together with the other Matters reported to the Houfj. It v/ill be fcen from thefe Papers, that it was upon a full Experience of the Inctficacy of the Statute of King William, and not till the Diforders in the Illand had become intole- rable, that the Crown came to the Refolution to appoint a Governor and Juftices of the Peace, which was done in the Year 1728 ; it will be feen that this new Appointment of a Governor and Jullices was as much depre- cated, and caufed as much murmuring as any of the Regulations that have been made of late ; and that it was as confidently and as unjullly fald at that Time as at the prefent, that the Confequcnce of fuch Eflabiiflimcnts would be the lluin of the Trade and Fiihery. I il^iall begin with fuch Papers as relate to the Period previous to the Appointment of the Governor and Juflices in 1728, and follow thofe up with fuch as relate to the Difputes which arofe in confequcnce of the Appoint- ' ment of a Governor and Juflices. From the full Set of Extrads it will appear, that .f rm .,1 f ^ ■wt '% [ I ( IJ ) that the Statute of loth and i ith William III, was not from the Beginning a Plan of Regu- lation that was carried into Execution with Effedl. The JuriiUitition it gave was inade- quate, and the Exerciie of it was in every refpedl blanieable. It will alio be feen from thcfe Papers, wliat were the Complaints rc- ipccting the Filhery and Trade in general durin? that Period of Tim.'. o Among the earliefl Information of this Sort, Extra£lsfro« I find a Letter from Mr. Geon^e Larkin, writ- Correfpon- ten from St. John's, in the Year 1701 ; this f^^^'g'^ '^'^^'^ was recently after the pafiingof the Ad:, and the Writer goes more iidly into many Points of the Trade than the Officers of Government ufually did. Thefe Circumftances mr.ke this a valuable Paper ; and it becomes much more fo, when it is conlider '.! that Mr. Li'rkin was a Gentleman bred to the Civil Law, who was fent out for the fpecial Purpofe of making Ob- I'ervations in the American Settlements for the- Information of Government at Home, as to the State of the Plantations, and the Execution of the Laws of Trade and Navigation. [N. B. Here followed Extracts from the Letters of Perfons who corre- fponded with Government ; but thefe are now omitted, as they may be feen in the foregoing Hiftory of the Government of Newfound- land.] Such were the Reprefentations made by the Officers of the Crown on One Hand, and by the f!l f i i6 ) the Merchants on the other, refpedling thcf Trade and Government of the Ifland. I have delivered thcrn in their own Words, and the Committee vi^ill decide hetween them. ExiraAsfrom In the year 1728, a Governor was ap- Correfpond- pointed, with Authority to iiTue Commiflions ,728. of the Peace; I fliall now lay before the Com- mittee fuch Information as will fhew the De- termination of the Weflern Merchants to refift any Regulation that had for its Object to put an End to the Anarchy, Injuftice, and Op- preflion which prevailed while there was no Policy or Government for Newfoundland, but fuch as was provided by Stat. loth and nth Will. III. [N. B. Here followed more Extrads, which for the above Reiifon are now omitted.] I fhall not trouble the Committee with any more Information of this Sort ; I have per- haps already been too long upon this Head, but it feemed to me to be a very material Part of the Enquiry to afceitain what was the real Hiftory of this Stat. loth and nth Will. III. upon which the Weflern Merchants beftow fo much Praife. To what I have faid, I diall only add an Opinion given by the Uoard of Trade on this Statute in the Year 1765, end I Hiall fubmit what they fay upon that Occa- lion to the Confideration of the C rmmictee. " They conceived it highly e :ceptijn:.ble in almofl every Light ia which it coula be ** viewed. (€ '■^ i ^l s as liave been heard from thefc G.-ntlemen. 1 proceed to exarnine what further has been ^^'f tbe Jud!- advanecd by thefe Gentlemen refpedting th( Judicatm-e of the Ifiand. I cannot help re- mar]ci::g, that the greater Part ot what they f^y originates from perional Confiderations; it C 2 i; caturc. (li 1 ■, it ', i*;; ( 20 ) :i !!!:i':ii Is moflly applicable to fome certain Pcrfonf;, and to ionie particular Occafion, and it is not founded upon any fair Ground of Complaint; it has in view Men, and not Principles, and tlieiiee it receives a Bias, which leads to Con- tradictions and Inconliftencies. Mr. Newman and Mr. Ougler happened, through the Milcondudt of their Agents (as I have before mentioned) to be Sufferers in the Court of Pleas j nothing therefore could in their Judgment be worfe than the Court of Pleas, Some fair Pretence was to be found out for revenging themfelves upon all the Judges and Otficers of that Court. Hence the Attack upon the Sheriff, whom they think to difgrace by calling him an American. Hence the Attack upon Mr. Coke and Mr. Ogden, who, they think, may ffdrly be dif- qualified from adting as Juflices of the Peace, becaufe they are Otiicers of the Cuftoms. In purfuit of their Ohjedt they run into a Round of Contradidions that are curious. Firif, they ailedge that People were called from their Bufinels to attend upon Juries in the Court of Conunon Pleas. This Objcciion was the Occafioii of their bein'jr accon^.modatcd with a Court without Tiiry : thev became diilatisfied with, that Inditution, and tliey were after- wards allowed a Jury in Caufes above ;^. lo i they are now diffatisfied with this Concellion, and want Juries in Caufes not under p'ortv Shillings. To help thefe Claims they affert, that the Governors ufed to hear Caufes witli a Jury ; md> tl tl a r :■: ( 21 ) Pcrfons, 1 it is not )n"iplaint; pics, and 1 to Con- nppened, ;nts (as I rs in the could in Court of be found 1 all the Hence icy think merican. ind Mr. 1 be dif- e Peace, . In \ Round ff, they ni their Court was the I with a latisfied after- cellion. Forty affcrt, s wit] I Jury ; J' which Allertion I beli y , vYi^i^ix xAxiv-iLiwii X L^wiieve not to be true. They are diifatisfied with fome par- ticular Caufe (as that of the Indorfement of the Bill of Exchange before-mentioned) be- caufe it was determined according to tlie fup- pofed Ufage of Newfoundland, and then they contend that all Caufes fliould be determined according to the Law of England. Others again deprecate the Uncertainty, as they call it, of the Law of England, and hope all Caufes will be determined according to the Ufage of Newfoundland. They want Appeals to be lor lefs Sums than /. loo, becaiife a Caufe under that Sum happened to be decided againll Mr. Newman lail Year. They have fince intimated in a Paper juft put into my Hands by Mr. Newman, that they wiih to have a whole Year's Time for lodging Appeals, which J fuppofe is fuggefted by the Circumilance of a Defendant in an Appeal now pending hav- ing prayed the Court, that the Appellant may not have fo long a Time as a Year. They ii^'iWQ that the Captains of Ships Ihould de- termine Caufes by the Law of England, and Ihouid be anfwerable to the Governor only, and not to the Chief Juilice, who happens to be the only Perfon of all of them likely to know a little aboi t the Law of England. But it wouki be endlcfs to recapitulate all the Contradictions and Inconfillencics which follow from this Difpofition to cavil at Perfons and Things, in (lead of coming fairly forward to inform the Coinmittee with Liipartiality, C 3 and ^' m ,r!, :^i m what New- man ( ys upon it. Of Juries. ( 22 ) and upon general Principles. I fhall now proceed to examine what they have laid re- Ipecfling the Judicature Ac^ of lafl Year, and ihall berj[in with tlie Evidence of Mr. New- man. In the Firil: Place (Page 26) Mr. New- man prays that Caufes exceeding Forty Shil- lings may be tried by a Jury, if either Party requires it. The Committee undcrftand, that in the pre£'nt Bill the Limitation is at £. 10, and it is upon the Requifition of the Defendant only. Reipedtiiig this Point, I know from my own little Experience, that nothing is fo defireable for a Judge, who confults his own Eafe, as that Matters of Fad of what Kind fjever ihould be tried by any Body but himfjlf; it has how- ever been thought, that in Newfoundland it is more for the Convenience of the People that Caufes ihould be tried without bringing fo many Pcrions out of their Employment as are nccelfary to conilitute juries; and I have no Scruple to give another Reafon, which I think a fiitiicient Objection to Juries ; in a narrow Societ}', like that at St. John's, there are likely to be little Jcaloufies that render feme Perfons very unfit to decide between their Tscighbours, aiid many very unwilling to fub- mit to fuch a Decifion. Ov/ing to thefe Sen- timents, it has happened in Point of Fail, that Juries have very rarely been called together in any Part of Newfoundland -, fo much lo, that at the Quarter Seflions the Julliccs have long 8 been ■'0: #■ m lall now laid re- 'car, and r. New- [r. New- rty Shil- ler Party in the D, and it ant only. my own elireable b, as that :r fhould las how- diand it )ple that ,nng fo t as are nave no I think narrow :re are feme in their |to fiib- fe Scn- 'l, that :her in Ithat at long been 'aM -B ( 23 ) been in the Pra6lice of trying fmall Offences by a Petty Jury, without a Bill being previouily found by a Grand Jury, which they call pro- ceeding by Information. The fummoning of Juries in the Court of Pleas was^, I believe, rather a new Thing, and v/as fo treated, while it could be made a Subject of Complaint; but when that Complaint was in fome Meafure liflcned to, and a fummary Court was effa- bliihed, and the Want of a Jury could be made a Subjedl of Complaint, then came forv/ard I^crfons who railed a Cry, as if the People of Newfoundland had always tried their Caufes in that Way, and were particularly attached to that valuable Piece of Englifli Jurifprudence, of wliich they v/ere now deprived for the Firil Time. I am myfelf able to fay fomething as to the Value the People at St. John's fct upon Trials by Jury ; of the 4 or 5 Caufes that were tried by Jury lall: Seafon, the Majority, I beiicvc, of the Defendants intimated, that they would have been better contented with the Opinion of the Judge, than the Verdidl of their Neighbours ; it is hngular too, that the only .-\ppcal from any of my Deciiions is in a Caufe \vhere tlie Merits were tried by a Jury, and tlie Verdidt was 2;iven acniinil the Defendant. Perhaps I have fome little to anfwer for in this Caufe ; for the PlaintiiT, who was a total Strarigcr in St. John's, delired the Matter might be tried by a Jury; but the Defendant, who is a Relident Merchant in St. John's, faid he A-N'ould rather it fhould be tried by me. I re- C 4 commended J i H Appeal;. ( 24 ) commended to him to pray a Jury himfelf, In order that the Plaintiff, whatever might be the Event, m-ight go av/ay futisfied with the Ad- mJniftration of Juflicc at St. John's; to this, after fome Dehberation, the Defendant con- fented. The Defendant, however, was very dilcontcnted with the Verdict his Neighbours gave againlt him in Favour of the Stranger, and has appealed againil: the Judgment which palled upon the VerdicSl, though I do not fee how he is thereby to obtain Redref. In that Caufe, it was in Agitation to have a new Trial; hut a whole Morning was fpcnt without Ef- fect in getting together another Jury. In the mean Time 1 heard tlic Parties ; it did not appear to m.e that m.orc Jufti.e could be done by another Trial, and I accordingly refufed a new Trial. Upon the Whole, I am of Opi- nion that Trial by Jury cannot and ought not to be in general Practice at Newfoundland; and I do not know that it can be put on a better Footing than it llands upon in the pre- fent Ad. The next Prayer is, that an Appeal may lie in Caufes of £. 30, inilead of being limiiled to Caufes of yT.ico. I am entirely of Opinion againfl this Propoikl for the very lame Reafons which Mr. Newman gives for it. Two of which aiC the Inconvenience and Expence; for both thefe would be in'eatlv ir.creaicd bv al- lowing Appeals in fuch fmall Sum.s. In Caufes where the Sun'iS are large they are ufually be- tween Merchants, who can better attend to thefe Ill he d- is, 11- C 25 ) thefe Matters, who perhaps rcfide in Eng- land, and who at any Rate are better able to ir-raw'i I ■]mh > n bear the Expence and Delay of Appeals; i Caufes of Imaller Value, it is uilially lome poor Refident Boatkeeper who is a Party, and wlio by fiich an Appeal would be completely de- prived of the Effedt of his Suit, as he could never profecute the Matter in this Country. Another Reafon given for Appeals in fmaller Sums is, that there have been fcveral De- cifions where the Party has thought himfelf much aggrieved. As I hardly ever knew a Suit where Perfons of the beft Temper did not think themfclves aggrieved if the Decifion was againft them, this appears to me no more a Reafon for allowing Appeals in Caufes of/^.30 than in Caufes of Forty Shillings. I'his is One of the Inftances where Mr. Newman has given to the Committee as a public Reafon what is only a private Grievance of his own; he alludes to his own Suit with Mrs. Butler. However, Appeals are allowed, not bccaufe par- ticular People are aggrieved, but in Order that Grievances may not abound; and the Griev- ance and. c^-eneral Inconvenience would be mucii greater in permitting eveiy litigious IVIan ro endeavour to fet right v/hat lie thought wrong, by an x^ppeal in petty Caufes, than it w"ould be to trull in fuch Cales to the Difcre- tion ot a Judge, who by his Qualifications may be fuppofed to know v.'hat is right, and who can have no Temptation from Intcrell: to do what is wrong. It is upon Coniiderations pro- bably w M m li^'i '4V- 'f ;;| §'■ '.ft % I Limirat'on of A<5lions. ( 26 ) bably of this Sort that Appeals are not allowed from any of the Colonics in Sums undjr jT. lOO ; I am therefore of Opinion this ought to lland as it docs in the prefcnt Adtj and I think that the Rcqucil: for Appeals to be to the Courts at Weflininilcr lliould not be com- plied with ; for which Opinion I do not give any Reafon, except that it is not allowed from any of the Colonies, and I do not fee that any Ditlindion fliould be made in regard to New- foundland. The Alteration prayed by Mr. Newman rc- fpeding the Clauie of Limitation of Adtions I think ought not to be complied with. In the Fir''- PLice» that is not an Ex po/l fadh Law, as he chufes to call it ; for if the Law uf England h.as been the Rule of Decifion in Newfou!:idland (as they Ibmetinies contend wT.cn they mean to found an A^rgument upon it) then the Limitation of Six Years was the Limitation of Aclions in Newfoundland inde- pendent Oi this Claute in the Adi of Parlia- merit; a'^,d I ihould certainly liave fo held it if tlitrc i:ad been no fuch Law palTed. Li the rxxt r 'ace, the Explanation they require is, in lijv lijd.'iiicnt, an ExDianation tliat (.;u:dit not to [,^e n^.a.ic, becaufe it would con.tribute to perpetuate what the A61 n^icant i]u}uld be li- mited to Six Years. I mull u-'ain obferve to the Committee that the Reaion ''■i\'cn bv ?. •;. Newman for this Explanation anies out of his own Suit with Mrs. Butler, and is another LilVance of his endeavouring to induce the Committc'^ : I '•mi- ( 27 ) Committee to yield to Confuicrations that arc^ partial and pcrfonal, and cannot fail ofmincad- ing thofe who attend to them ; other Perfons mi^ht want a different Explanation ; and after all, any Explanation that is to he made muft be fuhjeft to the Conflrut^ion the Court at Newfoundland may put upon it, of which Conll:rudlion they may perhaps equally com- plain. The next Alteration Mr. Newm.an prays is, of Fees, that the Fees, if any are to be charged, may be particularized in the Aft, becaufe at nre- fent they are extravagant. Though Mr. New- man has chofen to fay th.at the judicial and executive Officers Fees arc extravagant, he has given no Inilance of the former being fuch, and the Inftance he has given of the latter ftanding as it does without any Explana- tion, is no Indance at all. I know that the Court Fees are very mode- rate, beii]g calculated upon a Scale that makes the Adminiilration of Juftice cheaper tlian any Thing that is to be purchafed in the extrava- gant Town of St. John's. The Act of Parliament fays, that the Of- ficers Salaries fliall be in lieu of all Fees and Emoluments ; a Regulation that v/as made in confequence of injurious Complaints by Mr. Newn:ian and Mr. Ougier, who charged the Judges and Officers of the Court of Pleas with encouraging Suits, and multiplying Oc- calions for paying Fees ; which Charges they have repeated in the Evidence given to the Committee. -.*li ■w m \W"\ i If ,f i S'ncrifF's FeeC' ( 28 ) Committee. It appeared to me, tliat the Act had nothing more in View than to remove all Imputation of that Sort, and that it is by p.o Means intended that Jullice fliould he admi- niflered without paying any Fee at all. 1 thought fueh a Proviiion might operate as a Bounty on Litigioufnels. I perceived that the Sort of Perfons who commenced Suits were well able to pay Fees ; and it did not feem to me, that Men like Mr. Newman and Mr. Ougier needed the Piivilegc of profecuting then* Suits in fonnd pauperis -, I accordingly defired Mr. Graham to make out a Table of Fees, which was at leneth fettled in the Form contained in the Paper I now deliver in (which is annexed iii the Appendix, N" 14.) and I can venture to fiv this is by much the moil: moderate Tabic of Fees to be found in any Court in His Maiefty's Dominions ; I am furc it will be thought fo by the Committee on Comparifon with the Prices of Things iu this Kingdom, and much miore would they think it fo, if tliey knew at vv'hat extravagant Prices every Thing is fold at St. John's. Mr. New- man and Mr. Ougier muil b.: confcious of this, as they have contented thcmfelves wiui a mere Infmuation that they are extravagant, lumping ihem with the Fees of the executive Otlicer (the Sheriff) again (1 v.hicii they more particularly have made their Con^.plaints. In the Year 1791, when tl us Table of Fees was fettled, I did not think inyfelf at Liberty to m.ake Enc]uiry i'.ito tlic Fees which the Shcnif c j ( 29 ) Slicrlff took beyond vvhot arc afliG^ncd Iilin in this l\\blc ; he was an OfHccr appointed by the Governor, and I fiippofed lie had Ufc * for taking the Fees he did. In the Adl of lail Seilion I am anthorized to regulate the •Slieriff s b'ecs, and Poundage, which he re- cei\'es independent of the Table ; I accord- ingly made Enquiry into this Matter: I find that he charges Five Shillings per Day for a BailiiF keeping Polfeflion, or travelling by Water, and One Shilling per Mile for tra- velling by Land 3 he fays he takes no Fee for levying Money, which I underfland to fignify alib the attaching of Debts in the Hands of Third Perfons ; but for levying Goods and Chattels, for felling them, and paying the Money over to the Party, he charges 2^ per Cent, which, he fays, is the common /\llov/ance to all Perfons wlio fell Goods by Commiflion ; and thefe are all the Fees he takes. Comparing thefe Fees with the Fees paid for the fime Bufinefs to Sheriffs in Eno;land, the Account will Hand thus: The Sheriff of London, upoi\ levying Goods, (S:c. cliarges /,*. 5 per Ce?it. upon the h^irll j\ 100, and/,". 2} per Cent, upon every /'. 100 be- iides, V hich are hi'/lier Fees than the Sheriff of Newfou.nd'and receives for the fame Bufi- nefs. The Slieriff of London is allowed Half a Crown per ]3ay for a Bailiff being in Pof- feffionj but the Difference between this Half Crown and the Five Shillino;s at Newfound- land mull be charrrcd to the Difference in the Price fill :#:' ;.'!*,. ■ 11 ..:is|;-i! %;;, ( 3° ) Price of Labour in the Two Places. We know that in all new Colonies the Price of Lahour is greater than in an ancient Country like thisi and where there is fo much adive Jnduflry as in the great Filliery of Newfonr.d- land, the Value of Time and of Labour is flill higher. I am told that tlie Waj^es to Carpenters and Mafons is 4J". 5/. 6 s. and 7/. per Day in Newfoundland ; and I know Per- fons who, in order to have fuch Artiiicers upon fome reafonable Terms, are obliged to hire them by the Year, at the Rate of £, 30 or /,'. 40, befides their keeping. In New- foundland it is a common Thing to give d Dollar to a Beggar. As to the i s. per Mile charged by the Sheriff for a Bailiff's travel- ling, I know it to be nothing more than the Price paid to a common Meffenger. Mr. Newman and Mr. Ougier kno;v, as well as I, that a Meffenger fent from St. John's to the Bay of Bulls over Land, a Diilance I believe of 22 Miles, mufl be paid One Guinea and a Pair of Shoes, which Pair of Shoes, out of a Merchant's Store at St. John's, coll 8j\ but mii^ht be bouoiht in a Yorkiliire Ware- houfe in London for Two Shillings, or Half a Crown. The Sheriff of London's £. 5 per Cent. and 2\ per Cent, are Fees for himfelf as Sheriff, befides which his Bailiff, exclufive of Ins Half Crown by the Day, charges alfo to the Party One Guinea for levying the Execu- tion ', and to this are added all the fubfequent Ex])enccs !'i M ( 31 ) Kxpcnccs of the Sale and Dilpoi'il o( ilic Cioods, occafioncd by ;i llrokcr takm^u; -n In- ventory, advcrtiling ihe Pro^^erty, the Auc- tioneer making a Sale, his Men attending it, and fuch other incidental Charges as may ne- celiarily occur hetbre the Money is luiied in tlie Hands of the 5:h' riff to be paid over to tlie Party ; for uii which incidental TroLd:»le it is reafonable rbat the Sheriff of Newlbund- land (hould hkcwife nvake proper Charges; but whether the Charges iVated in the Ac- counts are reafonable or not, mufl: depend upon a particular Examination into the feveial Articles of Charge, and the Circumilances CD ' attending them, without which it is impolTible to form a ludf/ment of the Paper delivered m by Mr. John Thomey. it is true, that Thomey fpoke to me at Newfoundlaml about the Sheriff's Charges j 1 delired him and tiie Sheriff to talk toij:ether, and fuch Matters as they could not agree upon I would endeavour to fettle between them. He was called away to an(jther Part of the iHand en his Concerns, and I left the liland without feeing any more oi him. He wrote to me, as he truly fays, fi nee he liiis been in Kngland, upon the Siib- jcd; but I kr;ew that jioihing could be done witiiout tlie Pre fence of the oh^nlF, either to redrefs hin^, or to underiland the Nature of the Difpute between thei/i ; but thefe Con- iiderations do not feem to h;ive had any In- fluence to reilrain him from laying thefe Pa- pers before the Committee, v\'ho, wiLliout knovv'ing ( 32 ) knowing the F'a(5ls, or hearing the Sheriff', are not more in a Way of getting to the Bottom of tliis Tranfadtion than I am. Upon ca fl- ing my Eye over the Charges, they appear to me to he, in Addition to ofHcial De- mands, a Mixture of mercantile Deahngs, which do not neccllarily belong to his Duty as Sheriff; and I am of Opinion, that unex- plained as tliey now ftand, they are not a Ground for forming any Judgment as to the Sheriff's Condud: with Regard to Fees in the Execution of his Ofhcc. Should it be thought proper for Juflice to be adminiftcrcd at Newfoundland without l\ v- ment of any Fees whatever, though I fee no Reafon for it, yet it may very well be done, as far as regards the Bufmefs of the Court; fuch fmall Salaries as would be neceffary for the Clerks would not be a great Expence ; but it is very different with regard to the Sheriff's Bufmefs and Attendance ; his Time and Trouble, as well as that of his Cailiffs, the Expence of levying, 6zc. &c. muft be paid for in fome Way, but would lead to an Extent of Expence wdiich I fhould never ad- vife to throw upon the Government. In- deed, it feems to me, that whatever is done with regard to lowering or entirely abolilh- ing Fees, thole of the Sheriff cannot well be reduced below what I before ftated them to be. As to particularizing the Fees in the A61 of Parliament, I fee no other Objcdlion to it than this. m '■^f ■£i ( 33 ) this, tli'it fuch a Step would (hew a DilT:ruft of the Perrons who are placed at the I lead of the Court, whic h is not lliewn with regard to the fame Magiftrntes in any of the other C'olo- nics ; and yet if Men ;ire trufted who go to a dilKint Country to refidcfor Years, furcly thofe who return Home at the End of Three Months, and appear here l.o face every Kn- quiry, may he truflied. Befides, what has palled in this I^xaniination has made public and fixed the Fees to every renfonable Purpofc ; and nothing that has been inlinuated refped:- in^r the Sheriff's Accounts could have been prevented or cured by any Act of Parlia- ment. The next Point which Mr. Newman urges ^ifqualify- is, that the Claufe for difqualifying CuH-oin ;"g ^"Jv'r 1 joule Oniccrs from acting as Juitices or UiCcers. Peace may be continued ; to which I object for feveral Reafons. — Firll:, It is another in- ftance of a Suggellion made with no other View than perfonal Confederations. Thefc Gentlemen had Reafon, as they thought, to be diiiatisfied, and they ibught fuch an Occa- fion as this to be revenged on fome of the Judges of the Court, of which Mr. Coke the Comptroller, ami Mr. Ogden the Deputy Col- lector, were the Principal. Secondly, Becaufe there is no Principle which makes the Office of Juftice of Peace and Comptroller or Col- levator of the Cuftonis incompatible. One Reafon given by Mr. Newman, ** that they ** would thereby be both Judges and Parties/' D or n -'M ( 34 ) or US Admiral Edwards exprcflcs it in his Evi- dcncL', " bctli J'.'.d^c and Jury," is not true; for the Revenue OuikG, in whicli they are concerned, are heard bclorc the Judge of the Admiralty, and the Jaflices of the Peace have nothing at ad to do with them. The other Reafon is, I hope, true in Subflance, namely, " that the Onice of Jufriv^e gives '* them an Influence in the Ifland ;" but it is wrong in the Application of it, if Mr, New- man ililcs that Influence *' improper." It may be very well for a Merchant to lay, that the Prefence of a Perfon, wlio has Authority to keep the Peace is an " improper Influence," at a Time when trie Revenue Laws are to be executcdj but everyone elfe knows, that there is a great Convenience in fuch an Aid, and often aNeceir.ty; and it feems to me pecu- liarly proper, that a Comptroller of the Cuf- toms iliould have the Authority of a Juflice of the Peace., to enable him better to difcharge his Duty to the Crovvii; it is hkc carrving a Species of Writ of x\iTi(l:ance always in hi;^ Pocket. In all this, he only a£ls as a mini- ilerial Officer, and what has been laid about Judge and Jury has been faid either ignorant - ly, or with a Delign to miflcad the Com- mittee. The Third Objedlion to this Requeft is, that there are fo few Perfons who can properly be invcfted with the Office, that no new Difficulty fbould be thrown in the Way, by adding anv Difqualification like this. The Cuftom Koufe Officers fhould be Per-- fons fii ai :.■.;' vi- ae; are of ( 35 ) Tons who arc not concerned in the Fifliery ; fo (Loiild Jiifticcs of tlic Peace. So difficult is it to find Pcrfons to execute the firft Office, that they are oM'.gcd* as the Committee have heard, to put the Office of Deputy Comp- troller, Deputy Searcher, and Deputy Naval Officer into the Hands of one Perfon in the Out Ports, becaufe it was thouj^rht that the Incompatibility of fuch Offi.ccs (which after all regards the Revenue merely, and is the Affiiir of the Crown and not of the Merchants) was a lefs Ohjedlion than the Incompatibility of Situation and Circumflances with either of thefe Offices would be, if put into the Hands of a Perfon concerned in the Trade and Fiffiery. If this is not conformable with the Pradice in England, it is juftihed by a great Authority, I mean the Law of Neceility, which mufi: fuperfede the Law of England, and is the Mother of Uiage and Cuftom in many more Inftances than this, in the Ifland of New^foundland. l\o thefe Offices it has been ufual alfo, in the Out Ports, to add that of Juftice of the Peace ; which, what- ever might be tliought of the other Offices, it never entered into the Plead of any Man to lav was incomoatible with either of them. Owing to the difqualifying Claufe of laft Year, the Governor was put under great Difficulty to find Pcrfons in the Out Ports, whofe Situation and Circumilances did not in fome Meafure difqualify them for executing this Office. The Committee fhould alfo be informed D 2 that w. ■'if ( 36 ) that tliis CluUlc was infcrtcd in the Lili of lail Year upon the private Su^^^ellion ol thele very Two Gentlemen, Mr. Newman and Mr. Ougier ; and I believe I may venture to lay, that thofe whole Confidence they thus lur- prized Vvxrc very foon lati.sficd they had given loo mueh Credit to the SuggcAion. I cannot leave this Subject of the Cudoni lloute Oilicers uithout acquainting the Com- mittee, that Mr. Coke, the Con^jpt roller of the Cuftoir.s, is of all I'erfons tlic prcperelf to be a J u Rice of the Peace. He has refided in Nevvfour.diand for Tv/cnty-five Years; he is very well acquainted Vv^ith the Ufages and Cuiloms of the Place; he is extremely fitted for it both by Temper and Underilanding ; he has been at the Head of the Commiilion i^t St. John's for feveral Years ; has acquitted liimfclf to the Satisfadion of ail the Governors, and wiiliout the Iv^all Reproach from the i'eople J and I can f;y of hiiri, what cannot be laid of iinv C)ne oilier Tuf ice in Newfound- land, however refpecilable, that he is perfedlly independent of eveiy Body, i'or lie has left olF his Praciice as a SurL-eon, and lives upcn his private fortune, v>ith his Income of Comp- troller of the Cufloins. This iaft Ccrdidera- tion of being independent, makes him the litteri: Peifon to be employed by Govern- mei^.t in that Country. Commerce- Another Prayer of Mr. Newman is, that Bienrofihe the currcnt Seaion may be explained to liand Current r .1 ^i r\ n. % • t t -kt Seafon. ^'^^ ^"^ 3^^^^ O^ober m the preceding Year; this thi:; woul Inlb: tlian am n preljc j^erh.1 Ocio ,-..,.,. I i 1 I li V 1' irom I a n the!! Kuie this f] kft t O'Jt ol nig fde ■> L rc( i M Pankr , .Powei •net ki ' i^ntorn:- <5:hSc ;clpeci2 AVord f-rencc ' Icail ar the cor 1 ifjii' u ding; lilTion Liitted mors, the lot be und- ah olF his mp- Je ra- the vern- that Hand i^ear ; this ( 37 ) thi:; is nrxther I;i!l:anc2 \\hcre ?.rr. Newman Vv'oulJ imryofe iiDon the Coiiunlct ULICC, '•ene ral Inib/nr.ui' 'H, v.liat is in Truth liOtliiiisr more tli-.in a SLr;-''t::r:i(.!i fiirniilied bv^ his own pii- vatc CoI^ccrr:^^. I tliink I r;..ir,erub'jr, but i am i^.ot lure, that iiis A' t^irc at Nc'^vloandland prc'ljed m.c upc;n this I'oint. Mr. Ncwmar., perhaps, m.ay keep h s Ikoks from the 30th. Odoher to tl'.e 'jodi October; ancthcr Ma:i may keep htis froi/i tbic jtli Novciriber; another iron^i the 2odi Noven'ber; anodier tiom the ii\ December, a"^ I beheve foir.e do: v/hv then ihould ?vir. Newman's Buoks be made a Rule for every Bodiy el'e ? I am of Opiiiiou tiiis ihoidd reir.aln as it i5: ^ and tbicn it \\'ill be left to the C'oiiilrudtion of the Court, arillng ovu of CircLimifances and the Naiure of Deal- • in?;s between Parties, to lav what lliail be con- fulered as Part of the cu.ient or Part of tiie precedipi^^ "^'eiir in any particular Cafe. To iJav d;)wn anv nreciie i'eri< d by Ad: of Parlia- menr wonid he doin;:^ Mil^hicf. Mr. ^^iewman deiires, that in Cafes of Bankruptcy. bankruptcy the Creditor rnay have the fame Power as in England. In this ilequeil: I do net know c;:r(fl:ly what he means ; bat I IJiould inform the Committee, that \\\ h-aming the ><;l!i "ii^tWvAx of the Art refnertin? Iniblveiits, ^ipec.al Cire was taken not to introduce the #Vord " Bankrupt," nor to make any Re- p;:rence to the L-av/ of Bankruptcy in England, ^caft any fiicli Wording m'glit drawafier it all file compiicated Gyfleni which prevails h<;re. D I and ( 38 ) II i ^r;'l1 liil tc^ompared. and which is Co unfit for the Difpatch of Bufinefs at Newfoundland. I think that Caution was proper, and I think Mr. New- man is now allying for what he does not un- derdand ; unlefs indeed he confines his De- mand to reheving Afils^nees from the Security they arc required to give ; and if that is his Aim, 1 flioukl recomi/^nd not to comply with it. OM and new I helievc I have now remarked upon all lU^^l^A^ the Alterations which Mr. Newman has fug- gelted to he n:iade in the Adt of laft Year. To thefe Mr. Newman has added Ibme Ob- fervations upon the State of the Judicature previous to the EflAblifliment of new Courts, and has made a Comparifon of the ancient Judicature and the new. I am ready enough to a^;ree with him, that in the former State of Things there was lefs Litigation than now^ it is not eafy to have Litigation without Courts. Litigation, as he calls it, is moil certainly an Evil ; but it is an Evil which we are obliged to employ, to expel or pre- vent another Evil, I mean, Oppreffion: There has been a lone Strugcrle at Newfoundland be- tween thefe Two Miichiefs i the Merchants never complained of the One, and the poor Inhabitants do not now complain of the other. During the Policy of the Fifliing Admirals, there could be no Chance of any Complaint of Litigation ; the Law as well as the Power was all on one Side ; when thel'c iEvils v/ere ^orrefted, in fome Degree, by the Exertion i! :h of that few- it un- is De- CLirity is his [oniply >on all IS fug- : Year, le Ob- licature Courts, U ancient enougn P r State m now i without f is moll: . which or pre- : There land be- ^rchants he poor of the Fifhing of any well as n thefc , by the exertion ( 39 ) Exertion of the G'jvcrnors and Surrogates hi later Tinics^ the Chec!; given to OpprefTion was but temporary, that is, during the Time they were upon the Coall. Gradually thq Court of Sellior.s and tlie Court of Vice Admi- ralty affumed a Jurifdi^ltion in Civil Caufes; and as th'jfe Courts were rcfident in the Country, they had more Time for the Admlnillratiori of Juflice than the Governor and Surrogate^;, who, during tlicir Refidence, were a good deal employed in pafling from one Place to another. A little n'^ore Check was given to OpprelTjou by Means of thefe Two Courts ; however, their Exertions were but feeble -, for being confcious that their Authority was only af- fumed, they found it prudent to hold their Hand, or to lay it on very gently, when a Trader of any Confideration was the Objecl. I believe, dnrinfr the Reign of thefe two Courts, tl'ic Mer .iants had little to complain ot ; they got more Budneis done for them than acnunil them, and they had no fair Caufe to complain of what they call Litiga- tion. I believe there Vv'as never a ileady and vigorous Adminiflration and Execution of Juf- tice, fufficient to make the Merchants cry out, till the Inflitution of the Court of Common Pleas ; it was tJicn that People began to find out, that P.edrefG could be liad for the Poor as well as the ilich ; and it was pofFible that People might then come forward with many Suits and Complaints. This was in the na- tural Courfe of Things, and not from any D 4 unbecoming .1 Pi t M ( 40 ) unbecoming Induflry of the J'lcigcs in that Cuurt to foir.cnt Sr.i;s, as has been injurioufly iniinuated. Attornitrs may contribute to mul- ti';ly Suits, but it is not in the Power of Judges to do it -, and in Newfoundland there are no Atternies. Now bei-'-un what the Merchants call Liti- gation ; now ccafed that " Harmony, Peace, *' -end Content, when Parties were perfectly *' fatisfiedj" as delcrihed by Mr. Newman. The Inconvenience experienced by the Mer- chants from \^'hat they call Litigation, was, I believe, increafed, \shcn I went thither in 1^/91 and 1792 ; and I muft fay, that I think it very likely to continue, as long as a Judi- cature well adapted to the }^xig;encies of Juf- tice, like the prefent, fliall be open. If the Merchants complain of this, they llu/uid recoiiec^L it is brought upon them by themfeivcs; they may fay what they pkafe about ail Parties bJi\^g faJisficd, but they know ih.at they never let pafs an Opportu- nity, when they felt thenifeives aggrieved, ot^ infulting the feeble and temporizii^g Judica- tures in the Illand. AirainJl: Governors and Surroi^ates, who had a Force under their Com- mand, they feldom ventured to do more than bring A«ftions againll: them in England i but agninft the Juflices in the Court of Sefhon, no Threats or ill Language were ever fj^ared. Thefe Liberties were taken, becaufe the Mer- chants knew, and the Judices were confcious, that their Authority was not founded in Law, I m l-m U G C( C( C( ha ca an C all \ V '% ( 4t ) Law. Thefe UneafinelTcs fnd caufed the Governor to feek a Ic^al Eflablifliment of a Court, and this was attempted in the Court of Common Pleas. They quarrelled with this Court, upon frivolous Pretences, becaufe they had Reafcn to fufpedt it was not legal; it be- came therefore neceflary to go a Step farther, and the Parliament was called upon to form a Court for the Ifland, that might be clear of all Objedion as to its Legality. Since this new Eflablinimcnt has commenced its Career, they have found Reafons to be diilatisfied with it, and are now looking back with Regret to the old Judicature of the Ifland, which they once treated with fo much Contumely. If the Committee fhall think that thefe Notions ** of doing Juflice to the Poor as " well as to the Rich," ought to becontrouled by any Circumdances peculiar to a Fifhery, or peculiar to the Fifhery of Newfoundland : That the Merchant uho lives in England has a Merit, in a national View, which en- titles him to have his Intereil fecured, and his Inclination gratified upon any Terms, and with any Confequences that may follow : That the Intereil of the Boatkeepers, Servants, and other Dependents upon the Merchants, becaufe they refide at Newfoundland, is lefs deferving Confideration, and may be par- tially or wholly poftponed, where it interferes with that of the Merchant who relides at Hom.e : Should the Committee be of that Opinion, I have nothing to fay in Favour of the -I ^ H ' jj|i| Ougier's Evidence conildcred. ( 42 ) the new Court ; and I think it would bo better at once to rehevc the Merchants from the Liti^^ation of which they complain, to conlign the Boatkeepers to a State of De- pendence and OppreiFion, of which they haw^ not equ'il Opportunities to complain ; and after that is done, perhaps the Merchants may reil quiet, and not a fccond Time ftir up the Vigilance of Government to make Regula- tions, by repeating Complaints that were al- ways frivolous, and very often unfounded. I fhall now trouble the Committee with a few Remarks on what is faid by Mr. O.ugier, who befpeaks the Attention of the Committee, by reprefenting himfelf as poflefllng a Deputa- tion of a very extraordinary Sort indeed; he does not come, like Mr. Newman, to fpeak for his Neighbours in the Weil Country only, but fpeaks feemingly for the Merchants of Newfoundland, of Scotland, of Ireland, and of England; after which extenfive Authority, he gives you this fweeping Claufe, *' as well as " from People in general, not immediately ** connected in the Trade, knowing its great ** Utility;" in fuch a Manner he would make the Committee believe, that what he pleafes to fay has the Concurrence of every Body concerned in the Trade, or who thinks about it ; when it is well known that the Two great Towns in England, thofe of Poole and Dart- mouth, do not agree in the fame Plan of Policy, and that many Perfons of Ireland and Scotland are concerned in the Trade in a Manner I -'f bo to 'e- and nay the [ula- al- ( 43 ) Manner diiTcrlng from both, and whom Mr. Nv-wman and Mr. Ougicr for that R.eafon do not 1; il to load with tlic Imputation of not being Fiiliermcn, but mere Traders. I (hall not at prefcnt enter upon thofe Oblcrvations on the I'rade and Fifliery made by Mr. Ougier, in which I am lure this Mixture of fuppoled Conftituents canr.ot go along with him -, and in which I peiceive great Miflake and Mif- reprefcntatlonj but I Ihall content myfclf with proceeding to Notice what he has faid with regard to the Judicature of tlic Ifland. The great Crime with thefe Gentlemen is Judicature^ ** Refidency," and the great Objeds of Re- fentment are the Courts and their Officers ; and therefore Mr. Ouo-ier endeavours to fix this high Offence upon the Court and its Of- ficers. He fays, " That the Courts, the de- " pendent Clerks, and other OlHcers, having " Families, have tended to incrcafe the Inha- " bitants of St. John's, kecpin;]^ a Number " of Female Servants," Sec, This Charge is utterly untrue. The Clerk in the Court of Common Pleas had been a Refident Boat- keeper for many Years at Newfoundland, and upon his failing in Bufmefs was appointed Clerk to that Court. The Clerk and Af- Hftant Clerks in the Court inflituted in 1791, and alfo that in 1792, were all young Men who came out in the Admiral's Ship and re- turned Home in it, and are now in England. The Sheriff lived there as a Merchant before he was appointed Sheriff, Here then is no Increafe twA ■I':! ( 44 ) Increafe of Refidcnis by Rcafon of the Court. I fnould not h.ivp f.iid thus nuich upon a Sn^j^cOion that appears to me fo frivolous, had I not thou;^dit it ncccflary to put the Com- mittee Once more upon its CJuard a^aiuH: Fcrfons who pretend to fpeak of Fadls, which it is wholly impolfihle for them to know, hut which they advance with the fame Con- fidence as if they had been relident in the Ifland. The Hiilory Mr. Ougier has given of the Judicature is not corred, nor is it worth Re- luMtirn. On this Occalion he remind > the Committee of the Fees of the Shcriit, and refers to Mr. Thomcy's Account, upon which I have before remarked. He throws in foine- thing, however, which fliews to the Com- mittee what Mr. Ougier conlidcrs as a good Reafon for taking any Liberty with the bhe- riff; he tells you that the Sheriff is, " an American." I believe this to be true. His Father, who now lives in London, was One of thofc unfortunate Perfons, who, at the Be^ ginning of the War, found it nccelfary to leek an Afylum fomewhere, and he fettled in Newfoundland. The Sheriff has lono- been o a Merchant at Newionndland, and is con- sidered as a thriving Man. I am bound to fay of the Sheriff, that he is an excellent Ofhcer, unremitting in his Attention, and firm in the Execution of his Duty ; and the Eilablifhment of Courts would be ineffedive but for fuch a Perfon as he has ihewn him- felf, m •11 X ( 45 ) fclf, to carry their Orders into Execution with- out any Rcfpcdt of Pcrlbns or Fear of Oppo- fitlon. He is alfo a very humane Man, and I am obliged to him for his Suggeflions, in fome Orders which I made for his Govern- ment, in levying Executions upon Boatkeepers and the poorer Sort of People. It is unnecefiliry to remark on what Mr. Old and new Ougier fays, in his Praife of the old Judica-^^^'*^^J^^'= ture of the Illand, after what 1 have before fiid on the iame Encomiums paffed by Mr. Newman ; but I fliall jufl: remark on the comparative Staten":ent, which Mr. Ougier plcales to make of the old and new Judica- tures : He fays, " Before the Laws of late Years, Matters were determined according to the Laws of England; lince that by Laws very oppreffive ; before, People's Property was late; fmce, it is under con- tinual Attachments ; before, no P'ees of Oriice; fmce. Fees that amount to Sums beyond the PolTihility o^ any Defcrip- tion." What Credit docs this Gentle- man expedl to have, when fuch injurious and unfounded Afilrtions are detefed and refuted r This grofs Abfurdity has been fuf- ficiently expofed by what I have before laid before the Conimittee, and I (\m\ now content myfeif with a Comparifon, which I maintain to be as true as the other is falfe : Thus, " Be- ** fore the Regulations of late Years, the " Auminiftration of Juftice was either par- " tial, uncertain, or feeble, and the Inter po- ** fition (( (( ti *t ti re than any Thing to make the Law certain, and^enable People better to coikIucI themfelves in all their Dealings. The frequent Change of Governors and Surro?;ntcs, the Feeblenefs and Inilability of every Thing relating to Courts, had con- tributed to introiluce the extrtmell Uncer- tainty. The Rule of Decifion changed alniofl with every Change of Men, and People have lived I. nion r madJ Govi inad( thoul too i^, ti w b^- ;l fr'. * ■'.*■■ ( 51 ) lived in a perpetual Diftmfl, whether what was Law under their prcient Rulers would be Law under thole who fucceeded. I was fo ll:ruck with the fiid Effedls of this Fluc- tuation, that I rcfolved to make fome Col- Icclion of the Sort I mention j and if this Plan is purfued, it may very foon grow to a very ufeful Manual for Magiflrates in that Country. I know no other Way of colledling together the Ufages and Cus- toms of that Place; and when they are thus colledted, they will become the LavV of the Place, without needing: any Sandtion from P'iiv iment, in the lame Manner as the Law of) . i nd is to be found in the Books where Dccnions are reported* Mr. Ougier fuppofes the public Fiind lias The Public decrcafed, becaufe it has been taken from the ^u"<^- Juftices and placed in the Haiids of the She- riff. It is a Miftakc to fdppofe that it has at all changed Hands; The public Fund is cer- tainly diniinlflied. One Realbn for its Dimi- nution is, that there are only Twelve Public Pioufcs in St. John's that now pay for a Li- cence ; whereas heretofore there were 60 or more. This Diminution in Public Houfes was made by liis Majefty's Inftrudlions to the Governor, in confequence of Reprefentations made by fome Merchants of St. John's, who thought the Number of Public Houfes there too great. Another Caufe of the Deficiency is, that the Juflices have more Delicacy in E 2 im poling w Ml' 1 t ■I ( 52 ) impofing Fines than they had in thofc Days,, when a Syflem prevailed whicli (eems to have been more asrccable to Mr. Oujiicr's Notions of Juftice than the prclenr. Mr. Oiigi'jr fays, he agrees with Mr. New- man in his Objedlions to llic Judicature A61; he alfo further defn-es that the Charges of Writs may not he calculated according to the nominal Damages given in the Court, but according to thofe wliich are afTelled by the Jury j to which I anfwer, that the Charges of oritrinal Writs muil he calculated according to the nominal Damages, for there is no other Meafure by vvhich to fix the Charg:; at all. As to Writs of Execution, they are already conftantly charged according to the Sum tor which Judgment is given, and therefore no Reo:ulation ©a this Head is necelTarv. As to the DiilindHon, in Caies of Infol- vency, between Supplies furniflied for the Filhermen and Servants that really " neceflarv" and thofe that are r.o:, 1 do nut fee any more Reafon for enterir.g ir.lo uicli an Examination, than for prelaibiiig let Fricci at which the Merchants iLali be obliged to fell their Goods to tiie Boatkeepers and Filli- crmen. As to the Debts of Great Britain being preferred to the Debts of Newfoundland, there is no Difference in the Adt between a Cafe of Infolvcncy and the Cafe of a common Adiou for the Recovery of a Debt ; and in the Re- quell here made, Mr. Ougier departs from the the pref Mei Con Nev Seaf I may 1 "'^^ I were J wa s 4 for a \ traifl! I ceffai Acco there now I iincer Great Th Ouai( o only i dence, I of lall I Argur ?the 11 the Ai requir Bills T be reg ;Mr. C Realbr -toms, i Money mt !fl I ; Days,, o have , New- re Aft; rp-cs ot iing to Court, lild by rharges cording 10 other ; at all. aire ad V' >um tor fore no f Inibl- fcr the |n being ^d, there Cafe of A6lioii Ithe Re- Its from the ( 53 ) the Principle the Weftern Merchants arc prefTing before the Committee. The Weftern Merchants are endeavouring to perfuade the Committee, that there is no need of Courts at Newfoundland, except'-rduring the Fifhing Seafon, for that all Matters of Confequence may be fettled by People when they come Home. Th'^ Framers of the Judicature Adt were of the fame Opinion, and therefore it was provided that no Debts fhould be fued for at Newfoundland, but fuch as were con- trad:e'J rit the place, and w^ere abfolutely ne- ctiTary to be decided in the I Hand, for the Accommodation of thofe who always refide there; but thefe Gentlemen, never fatisfied, now objedl to a Provifion, which, if they were fincere in their Declarations for a Fifhery from Great Britain, they ought to approve. This is all I have to remark on what Mr.ThePaflag* Ougier fays relative to the Judicature. I fhall ^"^^^ only rem.ark on One other Part of his Evi- Idence, which relates to the regulating Bill I of laft Year. Mr. Ougier thinks it a good I Argument againft that Bill, that the Cafh in I the llland would not make a Tenth Part of the Amount of all the PalTage Money thereby required to be paid, and that paying it in Bills would caufe Intricacies impofTible to be regulated. If there was any Senie in what jMr. Ougier here fays, it would be as good 'Reafon for not paying any Duties of Cuf- itoms, for not paying the Greenwich Hofpital Money, for not paying Servants Wages, for E 3 not '" ■■/ I pf% ( 54 ) not paying Servants PafTages as they are palJ at the prcfcnt Moment, and for not paying for any One Thing purchafcd in the Ifland; for the Committee iliould be informed, that there is hardly any Money paffing at all at Newfoundland; all Bufinefs is tranfaded by Bills drawn upon Great Britain or Ireland ; more than Two Thirds of thefe confiil of Sums from £.10 down to 30 j. and what more Difficulty there could be in a Mailer drav/ing Bills for the Paflage Money, as pro- pofed by the regukiting Bill of lafl: Year, than in drawing them for the Greenwich Hofpital Money, or as they now adually draw them for the PafTage Money of their Servants, I can- not fee. The Merchants themfclves know there is not any Difficulty in this Part of the Regulation, and the Difficulties they reprefent in the other Parts are little more than thok which already exill: under the Regulations of the Stat. 15th Geo. III. The Pvlotive for bringing forward the re- gulating Bill of lalT: Year was this ; by Stat. 15th Geo. III. the Hirers and Employers cf Seamen and Fifhermen are authorized and re- quired to flop Forty Shillings out of the Wages of each of their Servants, in order t© purchaie l:im a Pafnige Home, 'i he Mailer is then icquiied to procure him a PalTage, and to convey him on board Ship, and take a Re- ceipt irorn the Captain for the Money. Such was the Regulation whiJi was intended for fecuring to the Mother Country the Return ot d re paid paying Iflandi d, that t all at tied by 'reland ; mfifl of what Mafter as pro- ;ar, than Hofpital them for , I can- is know rt of the reprefent lan thoie gulations L the re- by Stat, iloyers of i and re- le Wages purchiul* : is then , and to ke a P.e- y. Such ended for e Return of ( ss ) o£ Seamen, an Objedl always confidered as of Importance on every Occafion when the Fiiliery had come into DlfcufTion. This Regulation had, however, been difap- pointed of its EfFedl, and greatly abufed. The Mafters never failed flopping the Forty Shil- lings, but there the Diredlions of the Statute have ufually been abandoned, and the Money has in many Cafes been miiapplied. The Statute proceeded upon a Perfualion that every Seaman and Fifherman went out from hence at the Opening of the Seafon, and re- turned at the Clofe of it. Eut this is by no Means the Truth, nor was it fo, I believe, when the Statute pafled. There are now rec- koned from 20,000 to 50,000 Inhabitants in the Illand, who have no other Home. You may be fure all the Males of thefe are bred to the Fifhcry in one Way or other. The Num- bers who are there employed, and are not In- habitants, are reckoned at Seven or Eight thoufaud; but of thefe latter by much the greater Part do not come out and return the fame Year; they return at the End of Two, Three, or Four beafons, efpecially the Irifli, who, when they come out firfl:, make it a Rule to flay Two Summers and a Winter ; and having done that they are very likely to continue longer. When this is confidered, it is eafy to fee that the Inftances where the Mafler is to ap- ply the Forty ShiUings are very few, compared with thofe where it is not, and where it E 4 need I i: '^k ':yi ( 5<5 ) need not be expended. Witli regard to all thofe born in the Illand, and indeed all thofe who by Marriage Cr a Length of Rclidence have made tliat their Home, it is known to the Mafter that they need no Pr.ll'Lige ; with regard to thr.Te who are really Men of Paf- fage, but who ilay a Winter or Two, or more, each Mafter in his Turn may fee a Reafon for flopping the Paflage Money, becaufe that very Summ r may by FoiTibility be the laft the Servant will ftay in the Country. But in both thefe Sorts of Inflances what becomes of the Money which the Mafter has Hopped ? It remains in the Mafler's Pocket, and it is believed that there is Money enough of this Kind detained Yearly by the Mafters out of the Servants Wages to fupport the whole Govern- ment of Newfoundland. It was to corredt this Abufe that the Bill of laft Sefiion was framed. The Remedy tliere intended was, to appoint Receivers, who {hould collect from every Employer Forty Shillings for each of his Men, which would have been done in the fame Manner and with the fame Eafe as the Greenwich Hofpital Money is now coUefled. It was meant, that the whole Bufinefs of providing Paflages fhould be placed in the Hands of the Re- ceivers j and certain Checks were devifed for fecuring the Departure of the Seamen, the regular failing of the Pafiage VefTels, the fuf- .ficient vidtuailing of them, and the like. It \vas meant that the Forty Shillings ftiould be paid ( 57 ) paid back to certain Defcriptions of Servants, namely, thole born or irrJirried in the Illund, or having a Child born there, or bein^ bond fide hired as Winter Servants. Su^h Pcrfons as llaid there, wintering upon their own 1 lands (who are known by the Name of Dieters) would have forfeited their Forty Shillings as Violators of the Law. Thefe Forfeitures, together with the Savings tliat might be made in the Price of Pallages Home, might very fairly have gone to make a public Purie, to be applied to the public Service of the Ifland. The Savings would have been confiderab'e. They are at prefent a Source of Profit to the Mailers, which I have not yet mention- ed; for they are by the Ad: to ftop the cur- rent Price of a PalTage, not exceeding Forty Shillings ; but, in fadt, I believe, they always Aop Forty Shillings, and 1 believe 1 may lay as a Fad, that a Palfage never amounts to that Sum; they are commonly Thirty-five and Thirty Shillings, and the lall Seafon they might have been had for Twenty Shillings. However, I learn from very good Autlio- rity, that in fome Parts of the Ifland, where the Merchants fend Men Home in their own Ships, they make them pay Fifty Shilling?. It is not therefore to be wondered, that the Merchants fet themfelves, with an Unanimity that had never before been feen amongft them, to oppofe the regulating Bill. By this Bill, the Power of taxing every One of their Servants Forty Shillings would have been taken ( 58 ) taken from them in the Firfl: Inrtance, and all the Savings and Profits that could be made, where PafTages were actually to he provided, would go into other Hands. They confi- dered the Forty Shillings as their own, the Law having aiuhorized them to detain it ; aiul, confcious that they had always grudged every Part of it, which they were fonie times obliged to refund, they could not but feel it as an Injury to be deprived of the Whole, tonfiruaion I brought forward this Point of the Pall'age ^^^(^^' TIT ^oney to be difcuffcd in Court ; and fo it a? toPafifige ^^'^s fevcral Times, when Merchants, Boat- Money, keepers, and Servants were prefent. I found that fomeof tlie Merchants thought the Forty Shillings of Servaiits who did not go Home was forfeited to the Mader j but there were very few of that Opinion ; the Generality con- fefl'ed they looked upon it as Money which could in no SenTc belong to the Mafler, but neither did it belong to tlie Servant, the Adl having clearly taken it from him. Some admitted, that it might belong to Servants of a certain Defcription, but not to tliofe who broke through the Policy of the Mother Country, in llaying in the Ifland. But th^y all agreed, that the Difpofal of it in fuch Cafes was a arjhs ofnijjus in the Adl j there being an Authority and Pvcqaifition to ftop it, and to lay it out in a Palfage, but no Requifition, nor even an Authority to return it to the Servant, or difpofe of it in any other Way whatfoever. So that all the Opinions on the Conftruction dall ade, ided, onli- the n it; dged times eel it e. iflage fo it Boat- found Forty lome were con- v'hicli afler, , the Some Its of who other thi:y Jales ig an id to tion, the Wdy the ^ion I I ;-| ( 59 ) Conftru^tion of the Adl tended, as it fecmed to me, to keep as much of this Money as podible from pafling out of the Merchant's ir*ocket. However, I ventured to put a different Conftrudlion upon the Aft. 1 faid, although there were no exprefs Words to direct the Difpofal of the Money in fuch Cafes, it might plainly be coUcdted, from the Whole of the Claufe, in what Manner it was to be djf-^ pofed, and to whom it belonged. It appears, that the Money is to be flopped for the Ufe of the Servant himfelf, to purchafe him a Paflkge Home ; but if his Home is in New- foundland, or if he does not actually have a PafTage Home, the fpecial Application of the Money diredled by the Statute is not made in one Cafe, and cannot be made in the other ; and the life for which it was appropriated by the Adt not arifing, nor calling for it, the Money, in Point of Law, remains in the A/Iafter's Hands as Money had and received, or detained, to the general Ufe of the Servant whenever he pleafes to demand it. Having made up my Mind to this Senfe of the Ad:, I made Orders of Court upon feveral Maflers to pay Forty Shillings, which they had flopped from Servants, Three, Four, or Five Years back ; and during my Stay I caufed feveral Sums of Money to be fo re- funded : In hearing Complaints made by Ser- vants on this Subjed, I met with Inflances of Servants who had been refident Fifteen Years, -t? :l|, ( 60 ) Years, and Tome who were horn in the Iflanit, and never had been out of it, who alledged they had conftantly had Forty Shillings (top- ped out of their Wages. But this Matter was (o often agitated in Court, fo many Examples were made of refnnding, and I fo plainly in- Arudled the Jiiilices upon this Head, that the Mailers, I believe, will hereafter be lefs bold in keeping the Servants out of the Forty Shillings ; at Icaft in thofe Parts of the Illand where there is any Regularity and Flrmnefs in adminiilcrinii luilice; in the refl of it, this Point of Law, like the Whole of the Fifhery Ac^is, will llill go unregarded. The other Part of that Hill confilted of ths Duty upon Rum, on which nothing need bs faid, except that Rum is fo cheap, and i'or that Reafon drunk by the Fiiliermen in fuch Profufion, that there feems every Reafon for endeavouring: to check the Abule of it, that there formerly was in this Country, to correil the Abufe of ftrong Liquors ; in this Light it appears a fair Objec^t of Taxation. Upon the whole, it is fc.r the Committee to confider whether this Piece of Regulation for bringing the Seamen Home, (liould be left as it is at prefenf, in Statute 1 ^th George Third, or whether fome fuch P».egulation as that propofed lafl: Year may not be attempt- ed. The Plan propofed by Mr. Ougier feems to have as m.any Objections to it, as any he can raife againft that in the Regulating Bill. Beiides, the Committee ihould be reminded, that ( 6. ) that the Plan of giving Bond, Is an Offer that was made by the Merchants many Years ago, long before Stat. 15th George Third, and was rcjeded, no Doubt, from a Conviction that it would be inefFedual. It is probable that IMan and others had been fully conlidered, before the Parliament determined upon the One contauicd in Stat. 15th George Third. I (hall make no further Remarks on the Evidence of Mr. Newman an J Mr. Ougl^r, becaufe I have promifed to confine inyfdf principally to what they have faid upi?ii the Judicature, and I fear I have alreai / con iUmed too much of the Committee's T'l.f, on this Subjed: fingly. I fliall now t^occed to take Notice of One or Two Tl mi^". laid by other Gentlemen, who have prelented themfelves here to be examined, where I lee certain Allegations that ought not to pafs un- contradiut in the Pradice of the Law, it has gradually attained the Afcendency. The Argtunent of Law is frequently more thought of, than the Juilice of the Cafe; hence the Debate and Deliberation, which lead to the Delay and Expence, fo much lamented in the Conduct of Suits. But ^hefe Excefles do not enter into the Adminiilration of Juftice at Kewfoundicind. Without Counfel or Attor- nies to make Points or to defend them, the Argument is nothing, and Juflice is every thing; to the accomplishing of which the Court is able to proceed, without the ufual Formalities and Delays. In this the People of Newfoundland have a Privilege beyond all His a J 11 c ]■ Mijei a., S ")L' ( ^5 bisdls. > / til ey COIlfl iirn^ ncn- ther Money or Time in proiccuting their Suits. I will alio inform the Committee, that there is in that Country no Impriibnment for Debt; that i:;, there is no PJaintiff who v/iihes to impnfon the Defendant. It has been ufuai to require the Pkiintiff to make an Allowance to his imprifoned Debtor of (I believe) One Shilling per Day. I thought this a Ufage not to be diflurbed, notwith- ftandine the A6t of Pariiament authorizes Imprironm/ent, and makes no Pi*ovifion for any fuch Maintenance. Durin;^ the Year 1791 and the Year 1792, Procefs was iffued a3;uinft the Perfon on^y in One Inlhuice. This Ma?i was put in Gaol. lie was treated witli this Severity, becauie ic was btfheved he had Money in Ireland, for which he might draw, an.d fo pay his Debt. Lie was kept there, 1 believe, durin? the Months of November and December, when the Sheriit turned him out of Gaol, becaulb the I'laintifr ccaied to po.y 1 KT- liS ivtamtenance. 1 ... •,, T ;| land i;^ well \v /;^:-ranti 'L\2^ of N by the ihi) i.\ature or i^i that Itland, Wiiere Labour is too much wanted to ahov/ offuch Games of Im- ""bnment, and where Perfons are F 't? 1 r no loniTor to iiave a iviaintenance. ^,k;i e the^ -.1 y are cmi^iovca m earnuif^ u. upon the vViiOle, i moll frron:: V recommend this Judicature to be continued at Nc v/ found- dnk that anv Alteration, th^t r woaij 1 ,j r:^a, and I t .IS »■ p ■I '' ti ',h ( 66 ) would givfc a greater Play to the Caprlcioufners and Litigloufnefs of Parties (which many of the Alterations fuggefted by Mr. Newman and Mr. Ougier have a Tendency to do) would be making this Court lefs ufeful, and lefs adapted to the State of the Country. With rcfped to other Courts, I entirely dif- fer from Mr. Newman and Mr. Ougier, who wifh that the Juftices of the Peace fhould have no Authority in Civil Matters ; and that when the Governor, Chief Juflice, and the Surrogates are gone, there fliould be no Means whatfoever for recovering Debts. It is true» that the Confequence of the T'^o Judicature Adls of 179 1 and 1792 has been, that no Caufes whatfoever have been heard, when the Governor, Chief Juftice, and Surrogates were gone 5 but this has been found extremely in- convenient, and hurtful to many Perfons. Whatever Reafons thofe Gentlemen may have for wifhing the A.dminiftration of Juflice to Memorial of be ftill fufpended, the Merchants of Harbour Grace, when I was there, delivered me a Paper, in which they ftate how much they were aggrieved by their old Courts being fuf- pended, and pray they may, as heretofore., have a permanent Court of Seflion. They add thefe Words, to which I beg the Com- mittee to attend. ** It falls particularly hard upon us, who have never made the leaft Complaint, or troubled Government in any Shape whatever, that we fhould be deprived of that Court, which we were (but are ** more the Mer chants of Harbour Grace, « (< a ■ If pt hefs ■the and ibe pted dif- who lould that I the [cans true, :ature It no n the were ly in- rfons. have ice to rbour Ime a they oforcj They Com- hard kail n any rived t are more ( 67 ) ** more fo by fatal Experience) convinced was ** a falutary one, and anfwered the delired ** EfFedt." I now deUver in this Paper (which is to be found in the Appendix, N° 15.) and I again caution the Committee how they fuffer that, which comes only from thefe two Gentlemen, to be received as the Language of the whole Trade, and of the whole Ifland. Thefe Gentlemen have indeed (as the Merchants of Harbour Grace truly fay) complained and troubled Government, and have heretofore been too much liftened to. Conformably with the Requilitipn of the Permanent above Paper, and with the Wifhes and the^°"""^*j Neceflities of the People refident at St. John's and Harbour Grace, I fhould recommend, that in the Abfence of the Chief Jaftice and Sur- rogates, there fhould be fome Court for the Recovery of Debts to any Amount, and for determining Caufes of any Sort or Kind -, and that there Ihould be an Appeal from fuch Court to the Supreme Court at St, John's. Some of the Perfons to lit in thofe Courts can, from the Nature of Things, be no other than the very Perfons who fat in the Court of Com- mon Pleas, and who have been fo mifrepre- fented. I know all the Clamours made againfl thofe Gentlemen to be ill-founded ; I know them to be the moft fit to be put in the fame Station they were then in ; and they ought to be placed there, not only for the Advancement of the public Service, but as a Teftimony that their Condudt is approved, and that the Ser- F 2 vants "m ( 68 ) vants of Government will always be lupported when they defcrve it. Such permanent Courts arc nccelTary, bc~ caufe it is impofTible, within the Compafs of Time while the Governor, Chief Juflicc, and Surrogates are there, to hear all the Matters that it v/ould be convenient to the Parties to bring to a Hearing in the Seafon. The Sur- rogates leave their Stations about the 20th cr 2iil: of Odoher; the Governor and Chief Juftice depart from St. John's by the laft Day of Oclober at fartliefl:. The Merchants do not wind up their Accounts till the middle of De- cember, and fonie of them not till the Firfl Week in January : though there may be a very good Reaion why the King's Ships fliould not be hazarded on that Coaft, at fo iatc a Seafon, there feems to be no good Reafon why, upon their Departure, the Bulinefs left undone fliould not be taken up oy fome Refident Court. It would alfo be extremely convenient to have fome fuch Court to refort to, if necefiary^ during the Winter, and at the Opening of the Spring, before the Governor, Chief Juf- ticc, and Surrogates arrive : fuch Courts might prepare Matters, which they did not choofe to determine, for the Determination of the Chief Juftice and Surrogates, when they ar- rived J in the mean Time the Country would have all the Benefit which is derived from Courts in other Caufes, and fome of it even in thofe. At any Rate, the Stay of the Chief Juflice, more efpecially of the Surrogates, is too ( 69 ) too fhort for beginning and ending all the ju- dicial Bufinefs of the liliind; thefe may be made extremely ufeful, as a fubfidiary Aid to fach permanent Courts, but ought not to be relied upon, in my Opinion, as the only Tri- bunals for deciding Diiferenccs. The Committee have already been detained too long with what I have laid upon the Judi- cature. I (hall endeavour to be very fliort in the few Obfervations I have to make on Two or Three Points that have been fpoken to by fome of the Gentlemen. Something has been faid on the Nature of Property in Newfoundland, and I will lay be- fore the Comimittee my Opinion upon this Queftion. The different Titles under which, :t ap- of different pears. Land may be holden, feem to be re- Titles to ducible to thefe: by Grant; by Occupancy ;^^"^* and by Adt of Parliament. It is very rare that a Title can be traced up to an oricrinal Grant; but where there are any fuch, it is a Grant either from a Governor or One of his Surro- gates. Thefe were made fometlmes generally; fometimes to the Grantee for Life; ap^d fome- times to him and Ins Heirs; thev have of late Years been confidered as nothing; more than Grants during Pleafure, or at moft, during the Time the Place granted is ufed for the Filhery; and Grants of late have been com- monly exprelfed to be during the King's Plea- fure, and for the Ufe of the Fifher).^ Much, however, of the Ground thus granted, is fo fitu- F 3 ated I : 1' iilfcialtf'i ( 70 ) ated as to be of no Ufe in the Fiihery, and I» actually ufed for growing Hay, and other farm- ing or domeftic Purpofcs. The Grants, whe- ther ancient or modern, contain no Rcferva- tion of Rent, or any Acknowledgment or Con- fideration whatfocver ; nor is it believed that any was ever paid for fuch Grants. Some indeed are to be excepted ; namely, where a Piece of Land has been granted in Conlldera- tion of another that had been taken from the Grantee for building Forts, or feme other public Service ; there are feveral fuch Grants, and they are confidered as the beft Titles in the Ifland, on Account of this Confideration being cxprefTed in them. Titles by Occupancy I call fuch where there is no Grant, or any Thing to fhew for the ori- ginal FoflefTion of the Ground as exclufive and private Property; this makes Three Fourths of the Ground that is ufed and pofTefTed in the Ifland, more efpecially in the Cut Ports; where being removed from the Eye of Government, People make Inclofures, and carve for them- felves almoft as they pleafe. Befides thefe Modes of pofTefling Land, there is another which is authorized by the Ads of Parliament relating to Newfoundland ; and the before-mentioned Tenures by Grant and by Occupancy may pofTibly be often fanc- tioned by the Filliery Ads, as far as fuch Te- nures can be brought within the limited Sort of Property conferred by thofe Ads. The Titles that may iland upon the Authority of Parliament, mt ( 7> ) Parliament, are fuch as arc within the 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th Sedtions of Stat, loth and i ith William III. c. 25, and the 2d Sedlion of Stat. 1 5th Geo. 1 11. c. 3 1 , compared together. On confidering thefe Regulations, the Meaning of which is not very obvious or plain, it fliould feem that the Parliament meant to eftabliih Two Sorts of Titles : Firft, they intended to ratify the Titles to all Land which the Inhabitants had converted into private Property before the Year 1685. Having made the Inhabitants eafy in that Point, they re- quired them to yield up all that had been ap- propriated between that Time and the pafling of Stat. loth and nth William III. and that none Hiould be appropriated by them in fu- ture in Prejudice of Ships coming from Eu-^ rope; that Ships coming from Europe, and equipped conformably with the Fifhery Ad:s, fliorld have a Place for curing their Fifli for the Seafon -, but that at a fubfequent Seafon the Spot fo taken fhould be open for any other Ship to take, and might thus change its Maimer every Year, Hence arofe what are called Ships Rooms, whether they are fuch as have long been fo denominated, or whether they are any vacant or void Spaces, under Stat, 1 5th Geo III. which may be taken by any fuch Ship, the fame as reputed Ships Rooms. Thefe Two Parliamentary Titles, namely, that of Property before the Year 1685, and that of Ships Rooms, though they are in the Letter of then> the mod defined and fure, yet F 4 they ■1;'| O^ Slvps Kuoms. ( 72 ) they arc in their Conrcqucnccs of Icfs Value to Individuals than any of the former. In the Firll Place, I do not bcneve that any Owner of Land can flicw a Poffcflion and Property in any Pcribn under whom he Claima fuhfiriing prior to the \car 1635. And al- though there mufi: be maPiy fuch, yet not being able to fhcw their ori:;inal Title, they can claim by nothing better than the Occa- pancy of themfclvcs and their Predeccllbrs, and mufl be reckoned therefore in that Clais of I/indboldcrs. With rce-ird to Shio:> Roon-is, it is caf/ to f^e, in the fliorl Mention I have jiifi n^iude of them, that they are quite the Oppofite to pri- vate Property, arid therc-foi-e liarJly come within the Dcfcrii^tion of Titles which we are now fceking — Ships RooDif, and all va- cant and void Snaccs, which may be turned into Ships P^ooms by thofe who chule fo to occupy them, arc in common for the iirft Taker ; who may polTcfs One 'or the Scafon, at the End of v/hich be miiil: leave it, v/ith all the Improvem.erils he b..is made (\vh)ch he is exprefsly proi^ibiied by the Statute from re- moving) for fomc otb.or Perfon to enjoy the next Scidbn. The Corifeoucnce is, that this commonable Part of the Shore is of very little Value, and in fome Places of none at all. In thofe Harbours where a clean Sea- beach is thrown up in i2;reat Quantities (as at Ferry- jand) and they are in tlic Pradice of drying their Fifh upon tlie Beach, a Ship's Room of that that ( 73 ) that Kind Is of Ufc ^ but in Harbours where there is no Reach, aj; ac St. John's, and Fifh canri( t be dried on a chip's lloom, without tb.e Expence ol buildinc^ a FlaJve, there a Ship's Room is noL worth taki:ig; and we fee in con- lequcnce of It, fome of the choiceH: Spots in the HarbcHir of St. John's lie vacant ; no one thinking it v>'orlh his while to lay out Money on Ground which belongs to the Public. However, it mufl be confcfTcd thai Hnce comnion:d.')ie Ground has funk In Vp.lue, there has been Ic s CoiUciencc or Scruple in ma'd.if- Encroacnments on it: and It is owinn- to ilii^ that Ships P.oonis have been gradually giviii^^ way to the Inclofures that are continuallv llreif?]itonln<>- them on all Sides. Many were interefted in conniving at this; and mofl: Peo- ple, for the above P^eafons, thought it more beneficial to the Public that fuch Ground fhould be fo appropriated. Thefe Innovations were made loni'- a-jo, and are now of fo Ions; fland- in!? that nobody thinks of conteflincr the Point, unlefs it is foir.e litigious Man, who feeks only to vex Ills Neiirhbour, and then the Claim meets v. ith no Er.couragement from a Court. Plowever, this Change in the State of com- monable T/round on the Shore caufed Alarm in fome Perfons who were felicitous to prc- ferve the old Syflem j finding fo little re- maining unoccupied of what ufed to be Ships Rooms, they thouo:ht the bell: Method of recovering the Syftem, without difturbing pri- vate Rights, by exciting dormant and forgot- ten fH ! I ' '! '■ M H ( 74 ) ten Claims, was to create a new Qu 'fv of commonable Ground; and it was acccidingly declared by Stat. 15. Geo. III. that all vacant and void Spaces whatfoever ihould be confi- de red as Ships Rooms. From this Account of Ships Rooms, and the Change they have undergone, it is eafy to fee, that a great Part of the Ground, which might have been held for the Seafon under this Parliamentary Title, has pafTed into the Clafs of Land holden by Occupancy, and fome of it, though lefs likely, into that of Land given by Grants from Governors. Upon the Whole, the Title to an cxclufivc private Property in Ground muft either be by Grant from fome Governor or his Surrogate, by PoflelTicwi before the Year 1685, or by Oc- cupancy ; and as Titles of the Second Sort cannot, I believe, be made out, all Titles may be reduced to Grants and Occupancy, the Title to Sliips Rooms being rather a Right of Common than a Title to Land. Whatever may be the original Title to Land, and the Security in it as againft the Crown, the Owners as againfl one another remain un- difturbed, and they fell, leafe, and mortgage the fame as in any other Part of the King's Dominions. Some of thele Places, where Storehoufes and Dwellings are built, let for very high Rents. Many Perfons have fuch Eftates, that bring in from One hundred to Three or Four hundred P®unds per Annum. Some of thefe live in the Idand, fome refide in f t ( 75 ) in England, and have the Rents remitted to thcni. There are Inftances, where Perfons refident in the United States, and become Ci- tizens there, have received Rents from New- foundland. It is upon Confideration of all thefe Fads that I thought, and flill think, the Crown fhould receive fome Acknowledg- ment, by Way of Quit Rent, for Ground which is fo valuable to the PoflcfTors. Another Subjedt is the State of the wild In- dians in the interior Parts of the Ifland. At a Time when the Legiflature is mani- Qf ^j^^ j^. fefting fo much Anxiety for the Protedtion and dians. Welfare of a People who do not belong to us (I mean the Africans while in their own Coun- try) I make no Doubt of being heard while I fay a few Words in Behalf of thefe poor Peo- ple, who are a Part of the King's Subje e and Mur- ndered an In- y as a Years other ceived either :ies by Vinci- h has at tlie sfit of » and to be rin- is in y> to > get !11S JS ? are [iles, I the hort ( 77 ) fhort Vifit of a Man of War during a few Days in the Suinmer -, fo that People do as they like, and there is hardly any Time of Account for their Adlions. The Perfons who are heft acquainted with the Refort of the Indians, and who are deepcfl in the Outrages that have been committed upon them, are the Furriers of tiie Bays I juft mentioned, and of the Places thereabouts. Some of thefe Men have been converfed with laft Summer, and I underfland, if they were relieved fi'om the Danger of En- quiry into what is pall, they would open upon the Subjecl, and make themfelves ufeful in commencing any new Syflem of Treatment and Condudl. What then do I propofe to be done for thefe Indians, and -what is the Manner in which I propofe it Ihould be accomplJlhed ? In the Firll Place, it feems they ought to be pro- tected from Violence, and that ought to be done by executing the preient Laws againfl: Oifenders. I hope ibmetliing is already be- gun towards attainir.g tliis, by what I laid to the Grand Jury lall Year, and the Apprehcn- lion exprelied, as I underftand, by fome Fur- riers, who feared they lliould be brought to Jullice; but in fo diflant a Part of the Ifiand the Fear of the Law is little Security, and if it was to be executed, I hardly know the Means of doing it in the preient Circum- ilances of the llland and its Government. '..'ut fuppofing this attained, does our bare L Ivy towards thefe People end here? Sepa- rated I M t"^ 'it's mn' ( 78 ) rated as they are from all the World but us^ is it not incumbent upon us to ufe the Means in our Power to impart to them the Lights of Religion and ci%'il Society? or at leafl, Does not our Intereft fuggefl: an Advantage that might be derived from a free and unreftrained Trade with them, in which Furs and other Produce might be exchanged for Britifh Ma- nufa(5lures ? Should any or all of thefe Con- iiderations be thought fufficient for endea- vouring to conciliate the Confidence of thefe People, and to open a friendly Intercourfe with them, there feems no Difficulty or Hazard in the Undertaking. It is fimilar to what has already been done on the Labrador Coaft with a Race of Savages faid to be more untrada- ble, and under Circumftances much lefs fa- vourable. It is only to chufe between hold- ing out Encouragement to the Moravians to fend a MifTionarv, as thev now do to Labra- dor, or employing the prefent Furriers, under the Direction of fome Perfon who has a Ta- lent for fuch Enterprizes. In both Cafes, there Ihould be fome fmall Force; and if One of the Sloops of V/ar upon that Station were to winter in the Bay of Exploits, or Gander Bay, for protedling fuch a Project in the Sea- fon that is moft favourable to it, it would be as mucli Force as could be needed ; bat the Mode and Manner of carrying into Execution fuch a Scheme is for the Confideration of the Committee. Of the Coaft Another Point to which I beg Leave to draw the Attention of the Committee is the 6 p/cfcnt of Labra dur. *|i^ but us, " Means '■ Lights rt:, Does ge that ftrained d other fh Ma- fe Con- cndea- f thefe fe with zard in lat has ft witli itrad:a- efs fa- hold- ians to ^ab ra- il nder a Ta- Cafes, if One were Tander i Sea- uld be at the cution of the ive to is the /cfcnt I ( 79 ) prefent Condition of thofe who carry on the Fifhery on th'^; Coall: of Labrador. Althougli this is not within the CommifTion of the Go- vernor of Newfoundland, yet it fo happens that he is the only Perfon who is in the Way of knowing any Thing about it. The Ship which is fent round the French Limits never tails of looking in on fome Part of the La- brador Coaft; and it appears from the Repre- fentations of the Captains who command thofe Ships, that there is great need of fome Au- thority to interpofe, and fee Juftice done be- tween Mafter and Servant, at leaft as much need as there ever was at Newfoundland. The Employment and Relation of Perfons is the fame ; the Abufes and Grievances are the fame; amongft thefe is that old One of keep- ing Servants on the Coaft from Year to Year; all which is more uniform and infurmount- able, in Proportion as the Merchants are few, and can therefore combine to keep all then- People in a more abfolute State of Depend- ence. The Coaft of Labrador is under the Go- vernment of Canada ; but the Influence it feels from a Center i'o far removed is very fmall ; in Truth, there is no Government whatfoever on the Coaft of Labrador, as I am informed by thofe who have been there. This Coaft was, after the Peace 1763, put under the Governor of Newfoundland, it be- ing very properly thought that, as a Fiiliery, it would make a natural Appendage to this Government. 'Wi I ;iil ,« m \ '-'T. D^reafe of the Trade denied. ( 8« ) Government. But the Governor having fet about applying to the Seal Fiflicry on that Coall: the Syllem of Laws made for New- foundland, which, upon Coniideration, were thought not adapted to the Fiihery on th.at Coad, it was judged proper to disjoin it froni the Ncwfoundlaiid Government -, and this w^s accordingly done by Stit. 14 Geo. III. Jur Ticw modelling tlie (government of Qiic- bee ; and in the lame Acl, Power ^^'::S given Xo His iv'hijcfly io reannex it again to the Go- vcninieiit of Newfoundland, v.'hcn he i'Lould fo pleafe ■^■. it may perhaps be doubted, whether this was the only ur tlu: bcil Wav oi curm? the Evil .; and it i-j very much to be wiChed that this Meafurc was reconfidcred, a^id feme Plan devifcd for afford lug lo tl lat defer ted Coail:, fomelhiiio" In^e the ilffecfl cf a Civil Govern- inenf. It. hiK^ t)cen llronri.lv infixed by Mr. New- man and Ivlr. Ougier, and alio by Pvlr. JciFery,- that the Trade li:is connderal)iy declined of late Years as a jiicraLlvc Employment; but thofe Gentlemen iiitQt Fadts, which are of themfelves the iirongefl: Evidence to the con- trary. They complain, over and over again, of Interlopers in this Trade, v/hom they call HuckflcrG and Adventurers, infmuating that they interceot f'a.'ie of the Profits that belon^r to the regular Merchants alone. I'hey al.a I' * Vide the Hidory of NewfoundLm'j, p. 134. complairt { 8i ) complain of the great Increafe of Refidents ill the Town of St. John's. In Anfwer to which I would afk, why fliould People adven- ture in the Trade> and why fhould Multitudes flock to the Ifland, there to fettle and traffic, if the Trade and Fifliery were not a fiourilli- ing, and a lucrative Employment ? In fid:, there is every Appearance in the Town of St. John's, that the Trade and Fifhery fubfift in great Vigour. But thcfe Gentlemen infifl; upon the contrary, and fome Perfons who hear them, as ftrongly infift, that the Mer- chants ought to be taken at their Word, rela- tive to a iVTattcr in which they themfelves are the befl: WitnefTes, and which is plainly evinced by fo many Bankruptcies. But I fliall contend, that the Merchants are not the bet- ter Witi.\elles for bcinj^^ concerned in tlic Mat- ter; and that having an Oojedt to attain by fuch ReDrefen;:ation,thev fliould be heard with all the C;uirion with which interefl-ed Wit- nefles are alv ..ys heard. Attain, their Evi- (lef.ce is oppoled to tliC ilroij.2cfl. Teilimonv from oflicial Accounts, and ihe Averments of the Oflicers of Government, who have the befl: Opportunities of obtaining Information ; and lean aflure the Committee, that, in look- ing over the Papers of the Board of Trade, i liave fecn, for Years back, repeated Reprefen- tations fro.ii the Merchants, alledging that the Trade and Fifnery v/ere ruined, and could recover, if \yx\\ and fuch Regiilatior;s Fern^s as anv never vvcre iw^^c, aird thcle in as itrong '5J 1 I t 'fl I «| ( 82 ) any ufed on the prefent Occafion, and yet the Trade and Fiflicry have ll:ill gone on, and thofe Fortunes have heen made, which feme Perfons now hving ftill enjoy. This is an hif- torical Evidence, that fhews the Merchants are not entitled to imphcit Credit, when they tal!» of heing ruined. I fpeak of the Trade in general ; I do not mean to deny, that it may, at the prefent Time, be a lofing Concern to feme Perfons ; and it is moft probable that unfortunate In- dividuals were, upon former Occauons, as well as the prefent, the Promoters of melan- choly Reprefentation?^ by which they meant to make Governm.ent believe, that the whole Trade was ruined^ becauie they were. Mr. Newman and Mr. Ouiner flate themfelves to be co]ifiderable Lofers, and that their Trade cannot longer be carried on ; and yet they would not like to be taken on their Word, and believed to be in the Way to Ruin ; though I do not fee why they fiould have the Benefit, in Point of Argument, of being ruined, and l/C permitted at the fimcTime to enjoy all the Credit of thriving Men, which they certainly Avill claim, .lotvvithlbndins; what tliev now iliy; I will take it, if ihey pleaie to declare fo, that them lei vcs, and the wliole Town of Dartmouth fuffain Lolfes that are not to be borne without Bankruptcy ; but when, ail this is admitted, it makes nothin.g to the Point they urge ; other Perfons h;ive been Bank- rupts, and other Towns have been ruined, and the .. they , and ghi icfit, and the ainly now Lire n of :o he this 'oint an le- an d tlie ( 83 ) the Trade has yet gone on. Biddefon^ and Barnflaple were once great Towns in this Trade, and have long ceafed to employ any Ship at all. Perhaps Dartmouth rofe upon the Fall of thefe Towns, and Ibme others may rife upon the Fall of Dartmouth -, and with all thefe Changes, the Fifliery, as a national Concern, may remain the fame. We know that the Place of thefe decayed Towns has been fupplied by Adventurers from other Parts of His Majedy's Dominions; Glafgow is one, Waterford is another; from both of thefe Towns there arc very fuccefsful Trades car- ried on, fufficient to raife the Envy of Dart- mouth, and make them apprehend, that they fliall no longer enjoy an exclufive Trade to Newfoundland. But the new Trading^ Towns that have come into the FiHiery of late Years, thefe Gentlemen never reckon in the State- ments they make ; they reckon all the De- creafe, and pafs over the Increafe in Silence. As to Mr. Jelfery's Difgull, and the Threat he makes of withdrawing from the Trade, he does not mention the Fortune he has raifed in it, nor the other Trades, particularly that of Corn, which, as I am informed, he has lately entered into upon the Strength of the Capital :Kquired in the Fifliery ; and if he has the 1^'ancy to change the zipplication of his Ca- pital, I do not know that it proves any Thing, bvit that he prefjrs the Novelty, Profit, iiiid Convenience of a Corn Trade at Home, to the old Coiicc rn uf a Fifliery acroh the xA.t- G 2 lantic; 4 |: iwil (\ I If' ( 84 ) l.mtic ; which may well be, and yet that Fiili- ery continue as profitable as ever. If Mr. Newman and Mr. Ongier would take the fame Rcfolution with Mr. JefFery, it might be hoped, that Ciovernmcnt would no longer be harraffed with vexatious Complaints about Newfuundland, and I have no doubt their Places vvould be immediately fupplied by FerfonvS of Capital, and of a Spirit to carry on the Trade with Succefs and Advantage to Great Britain ; and the Sum Total of the Fiflicry vvould in fiicli Cafe be as great, or greater than ever. The Truth is, the Newfoundland Trade is thrown much more open than it ufed to be ; inftead of being con^ned to the Weft Country Merchants, and to tliofe of Poole, and fome few other Towns, it has been attempted by Adventurers from different Parts of the Kind's Dominions. It is in the Mem.ory of feveral Perfons, when the Trade at St. John's was in the Hands of Five or Six Merchants; thefc Perfons brought out fufficient Supplies for the People they cm.ployed, either as Ser- vants or Boatkeepers, to catch Filli for freights ing their ovv'n Ships. At thar Time, no Doubt, the Merchants were able to make thofe Profits which ufually attend a Monopoly ; every Body was depend- ent upon them. At prcfent the Number of Perfons who can furnifh Supplies, in the Town of St. John's, is fo increafed, that all Monopoly is broken, and a very adive Com- petition ( 85 ) petition is come in its Place. All the Cen- icqucnces of Competition have followed ; the Prices of Supplies are lowered, and Boat- keepers are leis dependent, having more Per- fons to take their Fi(h and fupply them with Neceifaries; hence the Murmur of the Weft- ern Mcrcliants againft Huckflers and Adven- turers, and hence the Notion that the Trade is ruined. It is true that tome of the Perfons who fell Supplies at St. John's, do not carry on the Filhcry, but they fell their Supplies to thofe who do j the Produce of the Filhery is IliU tlic Objei^t of the Trade ; Fidi and Oil arc ftill the ftaple Commodities, and I do not fee but that Perfons who mike it their Obje(!t to deal in thefc Articles, mufl bo reckoned ainons: tlie Encoura;2.ers of the I'ifli- cry, although they do not thcmfelves engage in keeping Boats or Ships. I know the Weilcrn Merchants hold a high Language refpefling their ov/n Concerns, and the jVIerlt they fuppofe they have in carrying on a Ijritilh Filhery; they are inclined to con- llder the Sort of Perfons I have before alluded to, as little better than Breakers of the Law, in carrying on the Trade in the Manner they do. 1 remember a very refpedhable Merchant cf Glafgow being put down, in the Face of viie (irand Jury, by an Infmuation from a \Vd\ Countryn^an, that he was not fo meri- torious a Trader at Newfoundland as himfelf, who v/as a Fidi^rman. The poor Gentiemaa made no Defence , and. after that I was not G 3 fo r .. ^y :t": '■^'th -,1 ..' ■if ( 86 ) fo much furprifed to fee his Name, and that of feveral others circumflanced like himfelf, among thofe who fign the Paper of Appro- bation to the Weftern Delegates, with wliom they, moft certainly, have no common Caiife, but quite the contrary j yet with whom they would gladly live at Peace, and that they know- can be purchafed on no other Terms than feem.ing to be one of them, and allifting to bear them out in their fivourite Mcafures. As to this Mode of carrying on the Trade, whatever the Weft Countrymen may fay againfc thofc who pradtife it, they certainly introduced it themfelves. It is well known at Newfoundland, that the moft profitable Way of carrying on the l^'iDiery is by ftipplying licat keepers, and taking in Payment for the Supplies the Fifh and Oil they catch. It was this induced the \V\'ftern Merchants, as well as thofc of Poole, to encouraije the Settle- merit of Pcrfons there many Years ago ; as thefe increafed, the Neceffity of bringing Men fromEno-lund muft diminiilj. The ?v1erchants o ibund jt their Intercft to promote tlie former, and it was in vain to depend upon Regulations to force them to another Couri'e j Refidcncy ixpA Population have incieafcd, beawfe it is ge- nerally held the cheapeft and moft profitable Way of carrying on the Fifliery by Rcfidents ; when thh was known, it v/as ealilv fccn that any Man wiio could land at Newfoundland, with a Cargo oi Supplies, was as fitted for car- rying on the Fiihery as a regula'/ bred Fiilier- nian ; that ( 87 ) man ; from this Ohfervation arofc the Num- ber of Adventurers who have of late Years come into the Trade, and who are fo much cenfured hy the Wcflern Merchants for fol- lowing the Example they had fet. Thcfe new Comers liave mollly reforted to St. John's, and to Conception liay, where there is more Population, and where People are lefs united, ami more at Liberty to engage with any new Merchants that prcfcnt themlelvcs. In Tri- nity Bay and PliTCcntia Ba^- I believe thefe new Adventurers make ver) .ale ImprcfTion. Whatever may be iaid by thefe Gentlemen of the Competition now prevailing at New- foundland i it appears to me that it muil be confidered as a Mark of Profperity, which fhews the Trade is in Rcquell;. It may hap- pen, indeed, that through this the great Gains of the Trade may change Hands, or it may even happen that tl-.c Gains in the Trade may be lefs to the individual Merchants con- cerned ; but the Boatkeepers, who catch the Fi(h and Oil, and who thus create the Pro- perty by which the Merchant is to thrive, mufl certainly be Gainers by this Competition, for there are more Bidders lor their Fifli and Oil, and they have more Chances of L'\ittin"- their Supplies clicap ; at any ilate, if the Stun To- tal oi Fj(h cauL'ht and of .'nps and Men em- ployed is the lame, or if v y are increafed, as appears by what fome ■ /cntlemen have iaid; iiiKi if the whole Concern is in the Hands of many Merchanis inftead cf a'few (whi.h in Cr 4 a com- . €>^ <^ w. <^ %^. % IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // 1.0 I.I 1^ |32 m lis 112.0 12.2 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 -• 6" - ► I I It 11 v] <^ /i 'c^l c': >r^ /. '1^ //a ''W '/ Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 o #. A 'I ( 88 ) a commercial Light is deemed always benefi- cial) what docs it Matter that this or that Man or Town is falling to Decay, or this or that Mode of fiipplying is prad:ifed. Thefe Pwlodes all commence of thcmfelvcs, they muffc of thcmfelvcs change and die away ; Fafliions of Trade mufl be taken as they arc, and can- not be controuled by Regulations. O^Popuiati- With refped: to the Population of the Ifland, t)n and Rcfi^aud the Increafe of Refidents, this feems to ^"^^' me an Evil, if it is one, that cannot be fo eafily cured. I repeat, that the Merchants which pretend fo much Zeal agair.fl: Refidents have been and flili are the principal Encou- ragers of Rcfidency; the Rcfidcnt Boatkeepers are the liens that lay them their Golden Eggs; fo long x> they are fuccef^■tul, and are able to pLiy their Way, no Merchant (with all his fuppoil'd Zeal for a Fifhery carried on from Great Britain) ever wiflies to remove them; but as foon as they run not only repeatedly in Debt (for the mxoft thriving are fo, and the jMcrcliant takes pretty good Care to keep them fo) but fo much behind. Year after Year, as not to afford a Profped; of the Mer- chant being any loiiger a Gainer by them, then no Body is fo anxious as he is to fend them out of the Country to prevent th^ir being biirtaLiifome to himfelf; and ibme of thL^fo arc the Ini'iances tlie Merchants cite, when they fay they have brought many Iioir.e v/ith-- out takin;^ anv Thinr^for their Paffacrc. The oihcr Inilanccs are of Servants v. ho are gnvv'. ;i hyy Ithat Is or Ihefe luH: lions :an- and, s to Kints [eiUs :ou- pers :n i1ic ( 89 ) lazy and unprofitable ; but I mufi: have other Teftimony than their own Declarations to be brought to believe that this was ever done out of pure Zeal for a Fiihery from Britain ; and this Want of Faith is not at all removed by the repeated ProfelTions thefe Gentlemen have made ofdoinsrthis and that for the Good of the Trade ; 1 have always thought it enough to expe-^ from Merchants, that they purfued their own Intereft, and in i'o doing were ufcful to their Country; and not that they fliould, for the puhhc Good, purfue fome general Policy which was inconfiflent with, and fometimes contrary to their own Intereft. While i was at Trinity Harbour lift Sum- mer, I faw a Boatkeeper of Perlican, v/ho, with a Wife and Ten Children, wiihed to be carried to England to his Parilh. The Mer- chant, by whom he had been fupplicd till the lafl Two Years, told me, he had fallen fo in Debt to him that he could not fupply him further, and he had offered to convey him and his Family to England, as he faw no Pro- bability of the Boatkctpjr retrieving his Af- f.iirs. The Boatkeepjr, however, wifhcd to try liis Luck again, and perf laded a Merchant at Harbour Grace to fupply him ; he went on for Two Seafons, had no Succefs, fell deeply in Debt to his new Merchant, anJ was, when f law liiin, in Dread oi being refufed Supplies tor the Winter, and his Far.iiiv pcrifhing {ov \Vdn(. 'I'o cfeape this he wit bed to go to En-Har.d , b.it the firll Merchant now refufed Vviiat ;|:r '«;: ( 90 ) what he had before offered ; the Man was out of his Hands ; he was not bound by that Sort of Honour, which is well underftood in the liland, to fupply him during the Winter; a Burthen which always falls on the Merchant who has the Fifh during the Summer, and not being fo bound, he had no need to renew his Offer of conveying the Man and his Fa- mily to England, I thought the iiid Mer- chant perfedtly right ; he had done his Duty> while he had any Obligation on him. I men- tion this only toiliew, that fomething elfe than Zeal for the Trade is the Motive for fending Jlome Perfons without being paid for fo doing. But this Motive, fuch as it is, operates only in certain Parts of the Illand ; in Trinity Bay, for example, it may operate, both with regard to Boatkecpers and Servants who become bur- then fome, and for this Reafon ; the Mer- chants there arc few; every One knows his own Dependents ; their own Boatkecpers and Servants mull, at any Rate, be maintained by the refpedtive Merchants, and knowing that, the Merchants are folicitous to remove the Evil as foon as it appears, and are ready en- ugh to prevent it. Thus in a fmall Society private Interell becomes a public Virtue. Bu: it is very different in Conception Bay, and at St. John's, where the Population is larger, and there is lefs Dependence and Connection be- tvv'ecn Merchants, Boatkecpers, and Servants. In thefe Places Merchants may more eahly fluft ( 91 ) flilft oif from themfclves the Burthen of de- cayed Boatkeepers and unprofitable Servants upon the Public, to be fupported as they ran, I believe there are In thefe Places few Inftances of Perfons being fent out of the Country upon Conliderations cither of a public or private Nature, unlefs by the Interpofition of the Ma- giftrates. It is in thofe Places, particularly at St. John's, that the Application of the Law is more frequently needed, and more refortcd to for enforcing the Policy of the Fifhery Adls; and it is from the Application of them in thefe Places, pi rticularly in the latter, hat moft of the Conrefts between the Merchants and Courts have arifen; and, what is faid by Way of Obfcrvation upon them, ought prin- cipally to be confined to the Experience of them in thofe Places. The Population of Newfoundland has cer- tainly (by the beft Accounts) increafed con- fiderably of late Years: I take the Beginning of this great Increafe to have been at the Time the War with the Colonies broke out; and it li;is increafed, lor fiinilar Reafons, full more fincc the Peace. We find, all thro-igh the Hifiory of this Government, that New- foundland was reforted to by tlic New Eng- landers, as a Place for procuring Fiiliermen, Seamen, and Artificers; that Bounties were given tor that Purpofc by their Government ; and tiiat various Means were pradlifed for I'educing av/ay our l*cople to that Colony ; th-y have b^cn carried to the Number of Three ( 92 ) Three or Four hundred in a Scafon. This Drain was always a Suhjccl of Jealoufy to the Mother Country, and it always made a Part of the Confideration, when the Probability of Newfoundland becoming populous was de- bated. Since this Inteicourfe has been flop- ped, every Perfon who docs not return to the Mother Country Hays in the Iflandi this of itfelf mud add greatly to the Numbers of the lower Clafj of People. The Merchants are alfo increafed, at St. John's at leaft, by Perlbns who have com.efrom the revolted Colonies; but thefe are few in Number compared with thofe who have engaged in tlie TnvJe of late Years from other Parts of the Brit'uL Dominions. That Revolution has m.ide an Alteration in the Value and ImportaiiCe of Newfoundland, which feems to me never to have been fufHci- ently confidered. It appears to n:e, that fmce the Peace 1783, Newfoundland has been more completely our own ; that it has been a more genuine Britidi Fiflicry, and of more Value to the Mother Country, than it ever was before. It is become a Sort of Cul de Sac ; what does not ilay there muft comiC to Great Britain or Ireland; there is no longer the Competition and Interloping Trade of the Nev/ Englanders fo much complained of heretofore by the Mer- chants. I cannot help thinking alfo, that fmce Newfoundland is fo fevered from New Eng- land, fonie of the Topics refpeccing the Po- pulation of the Ifland, and the Pears about Colonization, defjrve lefs Regard. Notwith- llandina; Thh to the :^irt of ity of IS de- flop- to the his of of the |nts are 'erfons -S; hut 1 thofe Years )ns. tion in idland, fuffici- t fi nee n more a more alue to before. It docs ain or etition anders iMer- t fince Eng- e Po- about with- ndinij o ( 93 ) landing the Increafc of Inhabitants, New- foundland is llill nothing but a great Ship^ dependent upon the Mother Country for every Thing they eat, drink, and wear, or for the Funds to procure them; the Number of Inha- bitants feems to me rather to increafc this De- pendence, inafmuch ;is their Neccflities are thereby increafjd. Tlicy all look to the Sea alone for Support; Nine tenths of the People procure from the Soil nothing but Potatoes; tiud thofe who carry Cultivation furtheil reap no Produce but what can be furnilLed by a Carden. In fonie few Places Hay is cut, but Corn is never thought of; neither the Soil or the Climate bavin <^ en.courau;ed the few At- tempts that have been made to grow it. The Population, though laid to be great, is fcat- tered as thinly as the Produds of the Earth. DJllant llarbours and Coves, not cafily accef- iible but by Sea, are the Places cholen tor Refi- dence, the People of which have little Know- ledge, or ConnewUoii with one another, to unite them. The Iflind is little k:\own, and the Ac- counts given of the Population are not to b^ depended on ; it is ihited from Twenty to Fifty thoufand Perrons, who hive no other Home. Be it as lar::^e as the hi^heft of th.:;re Statements, I do not myfclf rhink it an Objed: to be apprehended. It" any think the Collec- tion of People in the Ifiand has a mifchievous I'endency, I hope the above Coiifiderations jiiay contribute to eafe tiicm a little on this Head. ( 94 ) m I" Of the pre- fent Trien- nial floating Govern- inenc. Head. At any Rate, it is a Matter where we are to hope rather for Confolation than Cure; for I do not fee how fuch a Population is to he rooted out, or indeed thinned, fo as to make any confide rable Diminution. There have been Projc6ts, on former Occafions, when the Ifland was thought to be overrun with Inhabi- tants, for fending People to Nova Scotia, and other Places, where Inhabitants were wanted, but I do not remember that thefe were ever carried into effedl. I cannot help faying, that the grand Means employed to prevent the Increafe of Inhabi- tants has, in my Opinion, contributed to their Increafe. It has all along been the Inclination to fay, that there Ihould be no llefidcnt Go- vernment, becaufe, if there was, Newfoundland would become a Colony. None have been, more ftrenuous than the VV^ellern Merchants in keeping up the Cry againft a Governor j they have condantlv a Hedged the above Rea- fon, and that Reafon has always palfed for a good one. I take the Liberty of doubtino: whether this' Reafon was a i^ood one. 1 never can be brought to think, but that placing a Governor there, whofe Bufincfs it fliouid be to prevent People fettling, would have been a more probable Method of preventing it than continuing the prefent floating Government, which has no re- gular Authority to fend Pcrfons Home, and which departs from the Ifland jufl: at the Time when the Seamen and Fiihermen are hefitating whether "V is to make have n the habi- and mted, t ever th Is- le r ( 95 ) whether they fliall (lay the Winter or not, and might be e.iiily turned in their Relokuion by the Apprehcnlion of any Interpolition from Authority. The Confequence hasS been, that Newfoundland has been peopled behind your Back ; you huve abandoned it to be inhabiled by any one who chofc, becaufe you thought appcjintiiig a Governor v^^ould conditutc a Co- lony and encounige Pc^pulation. The Wef- tern Mcrchmts, who found out tlie Rcafon that " a (jovernor would make a Colony," knew p..-rfedlly v/ell what they were about in urging it ; they knew that the Prcfence of a Governor would interfere with their Plan, which Vv'as to go on without Infpetltlon or Controul ; they over reaciied thofe who heard them, and fucceeded iji the only Objccil they propofed to thcmfelves: I'or in the mean time tliey, among the rcH, proceeded to make all the Advantage they couiJ, by adding to the Number of Rcfidents every Year. However it may have oiiginated, the Po- pulation of the Ilhmd is Uich, as now to need the Controul and the Pr()te(ftion otMajnilracv and Officers, like tlie red of the King';; Domi- nions. That Mugiftracy ihould be raifed and ilrengthened, iniiead of being exp::fjd to be difregarded and contemned, as has been at- tenipted by fome late Proceedings ; and in m.y Opinion, it will never be piaccd in a Situation to difcharge its Funcliions properly, till there is fomething more of a rcfident Government. The prclent fkLiXing Government feems to 1 me ( 96 ) nic lb conAitutcd, as to confer the Icaft poiTiblc Advantage of a Government. The (iovcrnor's Appointment continues for Three Years, the Term of his Station ; the Captains of the Squadron, who are his Surrogates, arc often changed during the Station. It happens, there- fore, that the Governor has One Year to fee and learn, another to execute his Authoritv with fonic Knowledge, and a Third Year with fome little more. If the Governor, who is changed every Three Years, has little Time to learn the Pe- culiarities of the Trade and Fiihery, what is to be faid of the Captains of Ships, who are often changed before the Station is out ? And if you add to this that they all come to the Bufinefs of hearing Caufes for the firfh Time in their Lives (unlefs by i'ow.o^ Chance a Cap- tain h.:s been on the Station before) it fcems altogether the moft fingularly contrived Syflem, and mofl: unfitisfadory to every Body con- cerned 'n it. it is therefore not to be won- dered, that the Governors who fucceeded Ad- miral Edwards, finding they could not deter- mine Caufes fo eafily as he fays he did, and lefs liking than himfelf to pay a Sum of Money to compromife * any Adion that might poilibly be brought againfl them for what they did, ceafed to hold Courts, and endeavoured to enforce an Obfervance of the Lav/, more bv * I underftanfl it coH. the Admiral ^, 500 to compromife the their Adlion brought againll him il:, ■■If .w ( 97 ) their Advice than their Authority. I think their Country owes them great Obligations for undergoing the Trouble and Anxiety lb long as they did ; and I think the fame Thanks are due to the Surrogates, who have to the pre fen t Moment, continued to perform the fame un- pleafant Tafk in their fcveral Stations. The llepping thus out of their profcllional Line, can never be fubmitted to from any other Confideration, than an implicit Obedience to all Commands impofed on them by their fu- perior Officer. I was extremely glad, the lafi: Seafon, to lend my AlTiftance in taking off fome of this Load from the Surrogates. This I did in Part, during my V^ifit to Trinity Har- bour and Harbour Grace ; and I afterwards did the Whole of the Surrogate's Bufinefs at Ferryland, which, however, broke in too much on the Time I ought to have fpent at St. John's. It is to be wiflied, that the Captains of Ships fliould fllll continue to lend their Affiftance as Surrogates in the Out Harbours. The Com* munication from Harbour to Harbour is only by Sea; and the Force of a Ship of War, may fometimes be wanted to enforce Obedience to Juflice. In the Out Ports too, the Qjieftions are of a more fimple Nature, ufually about Wages or Charges in an Account, either be- tween Mailer and Servant, or Merchant and Boatkeeper, to which Gentlemen of the Navy may eafily give their Attention ; but at St. John's there are many Queftions which arife H upoji K ( 98 ) Upon complicated mercantile Dealings, which have led to a Length of Enquiry that vvouKi not be very agreeable to the CJovernor, or anv of his Surrogates. Indeed all this was expe- rienced before the Governors gave up the vexatious Employment of hearing Caufes, and it has very much increafed of late Years, fincc the Town of St. John's has increafed in Popu- lation, and there has grown to be fo much Trade and Traffic, which give Rife to mer- cantile Qucllions of various Sorts. In Truth, tiic Surrogates are not able to get through the Bufinefs they are employed upon, without the AiTillance of the Juftices who re- fide on the Spot. I am fure I ihould not have been able to proceed without the continued Afliftance of Gentlemen acquainted with the Place ; during the fird Year I was principally aflifted by Mr. Graham, who had been Secre- tary to the Governors for fevcral Years, and by Mr. Coke the Comptroller; thefe Two Gentlemen were AffelTors in the Court of Civil Jurifdidion. The lafh Year Mr. Graham was no lonL^cr in Otiice, and the Court had no Aireilors, fo that I had nothing to depend on, but the voluiitary Affiltance of Mr. Coke, which he gave me very readily. So long as the prefent Triennial Government continues, there mufl be fome Perfon or Perfons kept in Office, who from long Habit and Experience may be able to keep alive the Knowledge that is necellary for condudling Affairs with Pro- priety. There fhould be a permanent Go- vernor, ( 99 ) vernor, a permanent Lieutenant Governor, or a permanent Chief Jiiflice ; whether any liich Perlbn lliould rcfitic there, or go and return as at prefent, is a Quell ion of a different Sort. I ih:\\\ eonclude what I have faiil, with re- minding the Comtnittec, that the Reprefenta- tions made attain li the late Regulations and Laws, have no Foundation hut the Evidence of Perfons who never faw the Nature or Effed: of them J I mean Mr. Newman and Mr. Ougier, who have not been at Newfijundland, the former fince T778, the latter fince 1780, I believe. And that Mr. Jeffery does not pre- tend to know any Thing of St. John's, where thofe Regulations principally took Place ; that thefe Reprefentations are anfwered by Perfons who have conflantly been on the Spot, Mr. Graham ever lince 1778, I believe, and Mr. Routh ever fince 1781, I believe, and who therefore fpeak of their own Knowledge. I fay nothing of myfelf, who have been an Obferver of a much fliorter l*eriod; but I may truly lay, I have fpared no Pains, by reading as well as Obfervation and Enquiry, to inform myfelf of the Miftory and prefent State of the Ifland, as far as related to its Government and Judicature ; I believe, I have feen more Parts oi he Ifland than any of the Perfons who have appeared before the Committee. Lail Summer I made a Circuit round to Conception Bay and Trinity Bay ; I returned to St. John's, and then made a Vifit to Ferrvland : I held Courts at all thefe Places -, I made thefe Ex- II 2 curfions w§ ( 100 ) curfions to acquaint myfelf with the Nature of the Trade and Fifhery in all its Parts, and of the State of the Illand. This feemcd to me necefTary towards forming a Judgment on the Quell-ions likely to be agitated; and I found it particularly fo in talking with the Merchants, who always took Advantage of the Oiliccrs of Government, by faying they were acquainted with St. John's only; but the reft of the Illand was very different, and they could form no Judgment of the Out Ports. I have, by this Step, acquired a more general Know- ledge of the Ifland, if not fo correal a one, as thofe who have had more Experience : and I am able, in fome Degree, to cope with Perfons who, when they are beaten out of an Argument that applies only to St. John's, flieltcr them- felves in one that is peculiar to the State of the Out Ports, where every one cannot follow them. I truil: the Committee will underftand, that the Animadverfions I may have had Occaficn to make in the Courfe of thefe Remarks, are confined wholly and entirely to the Two Gen- tlcm.en who have appeared before the Com- mittee on Behalf of the Weftern Merchants. I can allure the Committee, that the general Charader and Condudl of the Newfoundland Pvlerchants is very different from what may be colledcd, either from what thofe Gentlemen have faid, or what I have been obliged to fiy in Anfwer to them. They are in general Per- fons very little difpofcd to fliew Difcontent or Diffatisfadion, aturc s, and led to ent on and I h the of the were e reft could have, Cnow- jne, as and I 'erfons ument them- tate o^ follow d, that :cafion is, aie • Gen- Corn - :hants. general ndland oay be :lenien to {i]y il Per- ent or idtion. ( loi ) DiiTatlsfadlion, and the lea ft of any to cavil at Trifles -, as far as I £.iw, from what appeared in Court, I muft iliy they are moft ready to conform to any Thing fuggefted for the Pur- pofe of doing Juftice to all Parties with whom they have Dealings ; and upon the whole, I never was concerned in any Bufinefs that I found more manageable and eafy, and this was principally to be afcribed to the Difpo- fition of the Perfons who were interefted in it. If there has appeared, in the agitating of the Queftion of Newfoundland, any Union or Agreement between the Merchants, which gives Colour for thofc Gentlemen to pretend they reprefent the Whole of the Trade, I will prefume to afture the Committee that this is nothing more than Appearance ; the Mer- chants do, 1 believe, unite in wiftiing to ward off the Regulation propofed Lift Year, which was to oblige all of them to pay the Forty Shillings Palfage Money, into the Hands of Receivers appointed by Government ; in this and in this only, I venture to fay, is there any Union or Concert among the Merchants. It is certainly not a general Wifli to have any of the Alterations made which thefe Gendemen have propofed, nor is there any general Com- plaint of the (grievances which thefe Gentle- men have been pleafed to make : Leaft of all can the Matter contained in the Evidence of thefe Gentlem^en be coniidered as the general Language of the Merchants, or any Thing more ■''t-' ( 102 ) more than the Refult of their own peculiar Method of thinking; I believe the Merchants in general are very well Iritisfied with the pre- fent Regulations, and alfo with the prefent State of the Trade, whatever thefe Gentlemen may alledge to the contrary. Then Mr. REEVES being ajfked, How many Days was he at Newfoundland ? he faid, In 1791 we arrived the 10th of September, and departed the ill of November. In 1792 we arrived the 3d of September, and departed the 30th of Ocftober. — And being afked. What is the Expence of the Eflablifliment of the New Court ? he faid, He does not know, for no- thing has yet been paid to any body, nor as far as he knows any Thing fettled about it.— And being afked. How many Officers arc created by this Court ? he faid. One of the young Clerks belonging to the Ship ad:ed as Chief Clerk the Firfl Year, and feveral other young Men of the Ship affifted in tranfcribing Papers. The lail; Year, Mr. Routh's Son, aged 20 Years, adled as Chief Clerk, and the Writs having been printed in England, there was no need of other Clerks to aflifl:. There is now no need of any other Officer than fuch Clerk. — And being afked. How many Caufes were tried in the Two Years ? he faid, He has a Lift (which he received from the Sheriff) of the Caufes, the Sums for which they were brought, the Fees paid to the Court and the Sheriff' during the Years 1791 and 1792, which he delivered in to your Committee, and is hereunto ( 103 hereunto annexed *. (Vide Appendix, N* 1 6.) — And the Witnefs being further aiked. Where is the Power of controuling the She- riff? he faid. The Sheriff he confiders as an Officer of the Court, and as fuch fubjed: to any Order and Direction the Court fhall think proper to make, but he is appointed by the Governor. — And being afked. Whether there is any otlier Way of punifhing the Sheriff' for Mifcondud: but in that Court ? he faid. Yes, the Governor may remove him from his Office. — And being afked, Whether Damages are to be recovered again ft the Sheriff? he laid, Yes, he is liable to any Adlion for Damages in the Supreme Court, or any other Court, either in New^foundland or in England, that has Jurif- didlion of fuch Suits. — And being alked. What Funds are in tlie Sheriff's Hands ? he faid, He underftood the Sheriff to have no public Mo- ney in his Hands ; but on the contrary, that he was in Advance to the Amount of £, 700, on Account of the Expences of the Diftridt : In Confideration of this, he (the Wiinefs) left in his Hands the Fees received, both in the Years 1791 and 1792, in Eafement of this Debt. — And being afked. From what Period did the Sheriff' become in Advance ? he faid. He does not know; it was before his Time ; • By this Account it appears, that from September the loth 1791 to Odober the 30th 1792, there were Ai^ions brought in the New Court at St. John's, for recovering the Sum of £• 33»74^' *^* 2|« The Fees in which, including thofe to the Sheritf and the Court, were ^^-541. 7. 2. viz. to the Court, ;^. 289 10. I. to the Sheriff, £-z^2' 17. 3. 2 he : ff ' ■ii (^104 ) he believes it was within the lad Two or Three Years preceding. — And being afked, What Monies has the Sheriff received lince he (the Witnefs) has known the Ifland, and to what Amount ? he faid, He does not know, but he beheves very httle, and that muft have arifen from Licences for Pubhc Houfes in St. John's, and from Fines ; and he remembers hearing only of One Fine of £, 10, which was impofed by the Juflices on One Thomas Barter, who has been mentioned in the Evi- dence. — And being afked, What are his Ad- vances on Account of the Diftri6t ? he faid. The Maintenance of Felons, and other Offend- ers, in Gaol ; the Support of cafual Poor, being Dieters, and Servants, who refort to St. John's from different Parts of the Ifland. — And being afked. Whether in the Cafe where he obliged feme Maflers to refund Four Years Paffage Money, did the Servants return Home ? he faid, He does not- know; but he takes for granted, in all thofe Cafes, the Servant was, at the Time, in Service to an- other Mafler, whofe Duty it was to fee he was fent Home. — And beini^ afked, Did he think th:it fufficicnt Security for the Man's Return ? he faid. It is the only Security the Law has yet provided, but the Regulating Eill of iaft Year would have given a better. FINIS. wo or afked, i fince and to know, [I have s in St. embers which 'homas le Evi- is Ad- le faid, )fFend- l Poor, t to St. land. — where r Years return but he ;s, the to an- fee he Did he Man's ity the ;ulating :tter.