The Sun.
London, England, 1837-03-07 00:00:00

which he would trouble the House. The first resolution,
which was unanimously passed by the Committee of the
whole House, was to the effect that the dispatches contain-
ing the declaration of his Majesty's Government with respect
to various important matters which were brought under
consideration afforded the most entire satisfaction, and that
requisite means be taken as speedily as possible in order
that the views of the home government might be carried into
effect. The second resolution was, that the House of As-
sembly entertained a deep sense of the obligations which it
owed his Majesty's Government for the promptness with
which it had attended to their wishes. These resolutions
were, as he had stated, passed unanimously by the House of
Assembly, which was a completely fair representation of the
inhabitants of the, colony, sensible of their rights, and willing
and anxious to maintain them. They showed the utter ground-
lessness of the charge that the present Government was deal-
ing with those colonies in a severe manner.—( Hear, hear.)
The terms offered to New Brunswick had been offered to
Lower Canada, and, in addition, they proposed to deprive
the. Crown of the appropriation of one million annually, pro-
vided that the support of the judge, and a few other civil
officers was guaranteed by the House of Assembly.. The
proposition was rejected by the House of Assembly—they
misted upon the absolute concession of their demands, in-
volving, as they did the independence of the colony, and its
separation from England.—(Cries of " Hear, hear, hear.")
And though there was a nominal controul, involving a cer-
tain degree of responsibility, it was a most inconvenient re-
sponsibility, and one that did not ensure the existence of good
Government. It certainly was the duty of Government not
to abandon its colonies without sufficient reason being as-
signed. It was impossible, in his opinion, to concede the de-
mands insisted upon by the House of Assembly. The Hon.
Baronet the Member for Cornwall ( Sir W. Molesworth) had
taken a high ground, and said that he denied the right of the
House to interfere in the way proposed. He would not detain
the House with this argument, he would only appeal to a me-
morable instance in which Parliament, by virtue of the right
which the Hon. Baronet denied, proposed to assert that privi-
lege that existed in the case of an extreme emergency, and did
assert it by striking off the fetters of 890,000 slaves, by virtue
of an act of the Imperial Legialature, who, but for this inter-
ference on the part of the Government, would have continued
in perpetual slavery. The only question they had to argue
was, whether, in the present state of the colony, they could
comply with the course proposed. He would ask the Hon.
Baronet the Member for Cornwall, to look at the state to
which the judges of the land, various officers of the province,
and even the gaolers of the prisons, were reduced by the total
stoppage of all appropriation for, not three years, but four and
a half years.—( Hear, hear.) Last year this misery was re-
duced by the payment made by Lord Gosford of those funds
which the Crown had hitherto appropriated, and which, in
order to show the sincere desire of the Government, be was

directed to abstain from appropriating in the usual way so long
as there was any hope of obtaining the supplies from the House
of Assembly. They must, therefore, either abandon the colony
. .

and concede all their demands, or they must attempt to go on
again for years in the vain hope that the House of Assembly,
without the intervention of Parliament, would recede from
their demands. He thought that of this there was now no
reason to hope, and that they would be committing a gross
injustice if they continued public servants in the discharge of a
duty without remunerating them for the discharge of that
duty. This was a condition in which the Government should
no longer allow its public servants to remain.—( Hear, hear.)
It was a question purely for Parliament whether they would
obtain the means of carrying on the Government by a com-
plete concession of all demands, or whether they would take
the course recommended by his Majesty's Government, who
felt that a case of necessity was established to justify them
in the interference which they were compelled with great
reluctance to submit to Parliament. There was another
course that might be taken, which had been glanced at by
the Commissioners. which was, that this House should advance

a sum of money sulfide:A to 1337 off all arrears, and having ob-
tained the opinion of this House on the questions in dispute, that
then they should apply to the House of Assembly, and ask them
xchether they still persevered in their demands ? lie confessed
that ho thought this a still more objectionable and unconstitu-
tional course. Were the ReiTcsentativcs of the people of this
c:-,untry to consent tc, tax the people, in order to pay the public

_, .... .
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set-. an; s (-I a colony, wcwt;;the. colony itself did rot pretend that
the cLirn %vas not founded in justice, but rdused to pay simply
br:•aue ;that (louse refused to assent to all their unjust de-
roi;:,!s ? Lie really thouglA be need rot detain the House by

ar2tting-, the cose ofnecessity, unlescT, indeed, some lion. Mem-
b-r should go beyond anything yet proposed, and were to say
Vat in every thing, whether reasonable or not, the majority'
v.,:s to govern the minority. lie would put it to the lion.
and Learned Member fur ILth in this way. Supposing, in-
stead of going a round-about way to the attainment of their
object, which the lion. Baronet ( Sir William Molesworth)
looked upon' with so much pleasure—namely, their in-
Oependence (for he did not disguise the sentiments he
entvrtained on this subject)—s-appose the majority in the
!louse of Assembly declared Lower Canada a Republic, and
that they threw off their allegiance, and refused any longer to
Dear the character of British subjects, were they prepared to
say that to that proposition an immediate assent should be
v:Yen b:, the British Parliament, because it had already re-
ceived the assent of the majority, whilst the minority of the
pro.inee--a large, powerful, and iafluential minority—consist-
ing not of a few official persons, but 150,000 inhabitants of the
rroviitec (who were daily, nay hourly, increasing by emigra-
tion), protested against the change? Were they prepared to

carry out the principle, to legislate merely with reference to
he division-list of the House of Assembly, and to say that
-whatever the majority decided should be immediately done
There was this difference between the Imperial and Colonial
Government, that from the Colonial Government there was an
a-val to the Imperial Parliament, which would look at the ques-
ti:sn in all its true bearings, apart from jealousy or from factious
motives. It was absolutely necessary that they should rescue the
Government in this country from the discredit into which it
had fallen in Lower Canada. They did not ask that house
to make them independent of the House of Assembly. All
they sought at present was sufficient fends to enable them to
pay the salaries of the judges and the principal officers of the
existing Government. With regard to the general interest of
the provinces he thought that the plan proposed would tend to
n permanent settlement of the differences that existed between
the two provinces. lf, unhappily, the House of Assembly of
Lower Canada should persevere in their present course, after
the recorded opinion of Parliament, a consideration would
arise respecting the connection which this question had with
reference to Upper Canada.—(Hear.) By the 10th resolu-
tion, which had been more particularly referred to by his Hon.
Friend the. Member for Lancaster ( Mr. P. M. Stewart), each
of the local legislative bodies of Upper and Lower Canada
were invited to depute a certain number of Members—four
from each of the Legislative Council, and eight from each of
the Houses of Assembly, to sit as a General Committee, and
,to consult on the common interests of the two provinces, as re-
a lected the internal navigation of the St. Lawrence, the re-
aelatioas respecting shipping dues, the subject of quarantine,
ti, above all, upon the great subject 'so common to the inte-
rests of both provinces—namely, that of emigration. By the
law. as it at present stood, a tax was imposed upon emigrants
passing from the lower to the upper province. He thought it
would be most unwise not to remand any tax which was levied
on persons passing from one province to the other, or in pass-
ins', into the colony at all. Certain monetary regulations were
also contemplated for the consideration of a Committee so to be
appointed, as regarded bankrupts and insolvents, and the esta-
blishment of courts of appeal in both provinces. In suggest-
ing this arrangement, it was not intended in any way to limit or
restrict the legislative powers ; it would be open to the Corn-
mince to suggest the adoption of regulations in these respects,
4iut which must, before they were adopted, receive the sanction
of the Legislatures of both provinces. The power to be confided
to this joint Committee was intended to be merely permissive,
and the Legislatures would have the power of adopting or refus-
ing to receive the suggestions that would thus be made to them.
Ile trusted that this arrangement would have the effect of draw-
ing the provinces together, as regarded matters common to the
itierests of both, and not of widening those differences, and in-
creasing those jealousies, which so unfortunately existed, and
which had been so severely commented upon that night. He
thought if the Hon. Member for Bath would suggest to the
people of Canada the propriety of establishing a local Go-
vernment for the purposes to which he had adverted, he would
do far more good than by setting them up in resistance to
the Imperial Parliament, by asking for a concession of those
demands, the granting of which would be prolific with danger,
and pregnant with injustice. The Hon. Member for Bath
had appealed from the Government to Parliament, and he
( Sir G. Grey) called upon the House to relieve the Govern-
ment from the discredit which had been thrown upon them
by the non-payment of the salaries of the public officers in
Lower Canada. He trusted that the House of Assembly
would recede from the demands that it had made, that they
would be satisfied with the terms which were offered by the
Goverpment, and that they would consider it no badge of
slavery to enjoy the same privileges that were valued and
cherished by every other possession under the British Crown.
Mr. HUME rose amidst loud cries of adjourn, and on the
motion of that Hon. Member, the Chairman reported pro-
gress, the House resumed, and leave was given to the Com-
mittee to sit again on Wednesday, to which day the debate
stands adjourned.