The Sun.
London, England, 1838-01-24 00:00:00

PRIVATE BILLS.

Mr. HUME was of opinion that the House would, by agreeing to the
Resolutions. merely extend the machinery which already clogged the
private business of the House, without in any way doing any good. He
had three years ago proposed a plan which would in his opinion do much
snore good, and he thought the House would do better by then adopting
it, viz., to refer all private Bills to a limited number of persons, who
would thereby be made responsible to the House. He wished to
know whether the Speaker was to examine all Bills, in order
to see whether the breviate was a faithful one or not ?—(Hear.)
He therefore threw out the suggestion to the Government, that Com-
mittees should be limited to a small number of Members, who should be
held responsible for the Bills which they forwarded to the House.
He had no doubt that this would render Bills more accurate and credit-
able to the House, and would put an end to the present system of canvas
and solicitation, by which parties interested in Bills endeavoured to pre-
vail on Members to attend to vote through the influence of their Con-
,stituents.

Mr. AGLIONBY begged leave to call the attention of the House to
the evidence which had been given some time ago before a Committee
Of which he was Chairman, not merely on Public and Private Bills, but
as to the wording of Acts of Parliament. He understood at that time
the Noble Lord, the Secretary for the Home Department, to say that
although he did not wish to originate a measure of such great difficulty,
he would give the matter his best consideration, if any Member should
found upon the evidence a motion for the appointment of an Officer to
draw up all Acts of Parliament. As the matter was conducted at pre-
sent, Bills were drawn by different persons and were liable to different
constructions, so that the House often passed Acts, of which it did not
know the meaning. He only wished to bring the attention of
Ike House to this subject, but did not oppose the resolutions.
Sir It. PEEL said, lie should not make any objection to the bre-
elate. He supposed of course that a particular officer of experience
a.ad ability would be selected for the purpose of preparing
the breviate, and that it would not be left to the parties
themselves. (Hear, hear, hear.) He was fearful, however,
!hat the effect of having this breviate would be to relax the attention of
Hon. Members to the language of the Bills, and he begged it to be un-
derstood that the greatest mischief was generally produced by the in-
sertion of particular phrases in the Bills ; the effect of which phrases
was not clearly understood till the Bills had passel.—(Hear, hear.)
Lord G. SOMERSET would not object to the breviate, but he
suggested that, as the mischievous interpolations which so often crept
into Private Bills were generally introduced in Committee, the breviate
atsould he made, not on the second reading of the Bill, but on the re.
pot.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. S. LEFEVRE said that unless the resolutions were prepared by
a person of great experience, they would tend to great inconvenience
..nd confusion, but he was sure they would be perfectly safe in leaving
stem in the Speaker's hands.
After a few words from Mr. P. THOMPSON 'and Mr. HU3IE the
question was put and carried.
Tile SPEAKER then said, that as the House had imposed on him
this duty he would endeavour to discharge it to the best of his ability,
♦nd in case any difficulty should arise he would at once mention the
matter, in order that if any change in the general laws relating to the
The business of the House were to result from it, he should have the
advice of those who were qualified by experience to assist him.

Sir ROBERT FERGUSON moved for a return of the money ad-
vanced for the uniform valuation of lands and tenements in Ireland,
under the Act 7 Geo. IV., chap. 62, and subicquent Acts. Also a
-copy of the estimate of the sum like;y to be required for the same pur-
p..se for the quarter ending :list March, 1838.—Agreed to.
CANADA—ADJOURNED DEBATE.

The Order of the Day for resuming the adjourned debate on the
Canada Government Bill having been read,
Sir W. MOLESWORTH said—Though I shall feel it my duty to
wrote against the further progress of the Bill, which is now under the con-
Aideration of the House, because it would suspend the Constitution of a
a_ve people, yet I offer no objection to what I understand to be the most
in-,:),,rtant feature of the Ministerial measure, namely, that there shall
Le !ear lc/Canada a person in whom confidence can be placed; whose

duty it will be to administer the affairs of the Province, and to reduce the

people to contented allegiance. It is both a dangerous and delicate thing to

express a decided opinion u to the fitness of any individual for so difficult

a task as that of Governor of this insurgent Province. Ido not, how.

ever, hesitate to state my humble, though decided, approbation of the
choice of her Majesty's Ministers.—(Hear, hear.) If tnere be a Noble-

man in this country, who, for energy, decision of character, manly and
liberal sentiments, is better fitted than another for so desirous a task,
that Nobleman is, I believe, the Earl of Durham. Reluctant as I am to
pin my faith upon any individual, still I feel confident that Lord Durham,

if left to the unfettered exercise of his judgment, will accomplish the
object of his mission.—(Hear, hear.) Understanding, as I do, that the
purposes for which he is deputed to Canada are to restore peace and
tranquillity, to recall the revolted subjects of the empire to their alle-

giance, to enforce in every quarter the majesty of the laws, to sustain
the honour and dignity of this country, best sustained (I will assert) by
acts ofgrace and mercy; and, lastly, to devise, along with the delegates of
the people what form of free Constitution will be best suited to the pro-
vince, and in what respect the existing institutions of the country
ought to be changed.—(Hear, hear.) These undoubtedly are most
onerous duties, requiring for their performance the soundest judg-
ment and discretion ; every requisite power should in justice be given to
the Governor who takes upon himself so weighty a responsibility. At
the same time, for the exercise of his delegated authority, the
Governor should be most strictly responsible ; he alone should

. _
be answerable for every act that is done or emitted ;
all responsibility should be concentrated upon his single head ; and he
should be made to feel, that though he alone will merit all the praise of
success, he must equally bear all the odium, blame, and deep discredit
of failure; that if successful he will render the most valuable and en.
during services to his country, and acquire the greatest political re.
sown; but that failure will make the state of affairs in Lower Canada

still more complicated, and still more disastrous, and failure will be
accompanied by the utter destruction of the political character of
the Nobleman from whom so much is expected, and to whom
so much is entrusted—in short, to him it should and will be a question
of political life or death. Grant t• him, therefore, every requisite
power, make him strictly responsible; but, above all things, leave him
unfettered by any specific instructions from the Colonial Office; for
every impartial person, after a careful perusal of the despatches which
have lately been laid upon the table of the House, must, I think, be
convinced of the ignorance and incapacity of that Offiee.—(Hear,
hear.) The necessity of sending Lord Durham on so extraordi-
nary a mission proves of itself, that the Head of the Colonial Office
has been, and is unable to carry on the Administration of the affairs of Ca.
nada in the ordinary manner—that he has permitted events to occur
which render it imperative to place in other hands an extraordinary con-
trol over the Province.—(Hear, hear.) Her Majesty's Ministers have
selected the person whom they deem fittest for the office of Governor-

General; it would therefore be most absurd to shackle him in any way by
the orders of persons who are ♦irtually acknowledged to be either less
capable than himself, or to be of proved incapacity. In proportion as
Lord Durham is independant of the control of the Colonial Office, or
even of her Majesty's Government, in exactly the same ratio will the
probability of a successful termination of these affairs increase.—
(Cheers.) This country in its conduct towards Canada ought now to
acknowledge that there are long standing grievances, which ought and
must be redressed; that its rulers have been to blame for having so long
neglected those wrongs; that it is most sincerely anxious to make
every reparation in its power for the negligence of the authorities;
that in earnest of its sincerity it has taken the administration
of th'e affairs of the provlace out of the hands of the ordinary
authorities, and entrusted Lord Durham with plenary power to accom-
plish the benevolent intentions of the mother country. The first act
of the Noble Lord should be one of grace and mercy, an oblivion of all
past political offinces, a pardon to all political offenders, a genetal am.

nesty.—(Cheers.) I hailed with joy the mention made by the Noble Lard
of an amnesty, and cannot but observe that the only person who ob-
. ..

jested to that wise and humane proposal—the only person who thirsted
alter slaughter, and called aloud for blood, was the representative of the
small modicum of learning and Christian charity which exist in the
University of Oxford.—(Hear, hear.) The only means by which the
revolted subjects of her Majesty can be reduced to a state of contented
allegiance, are a redress of the grievances of which the House of As-
sembly have so long, so justly, and so consistently complained, and
such an alteration in the Constitution of the province as will
prevent the recurrence of similar abuses ; in short, a general
compliance with the demands, on which the House of Assembly have so
long insisted with such praiseworthy determination. The Noble Lord
the Member for Stroud (Lord John Russell) the other night arraigned
the conduct of the House of Assembly; last night that body was most
ably defended by their agent, my friend, Mr. roebuck-. He contenleti
that in the disputes be.ween the colony and the mother country not the
House of Assembly but tae Colonial Ministers of the Crown were the
' persons to blame. Thos we have heard both sides, the arrzigner and
the arraigned, the accuser and the defender, and it is for this tribunal to
decide who has been iu the wrong. 'That a once most loyal colony
should have suddenly burst forth into rebellion is a matter for grave
and serious inquiry, it proves that blame attaches somewhere—(Cheers)
the people of this country have a right to know who have been chiefly
culpable, and who ought to be held up to public indignation. The
Noble Lard, the Member for South Lancashire (Lord Stanley), said that
he would not inquire into past events, or who were the originators or
the present disasters. This was judicious policy on hi, part He was
wise, for the sake of his party, to attempt to evade this question.—
(Cneers.) From a careful and anxious perusal of all the documents ;
from a strict examination of the Psi liamontary folios in which that evn
deuce is contained, I have come to the conclusion that the Tories have
been to a great extent the cause of the present disasters—
(Hear, hear, hear)—that it was their mischievcus policy, con.
tinued through a long series of years, which first generated, then
aggravated, the grievances of the Canadians, and produced those feel.
injs of discontent and distrust, which rendered conciliation nearly im-
practicable, and led ultimately to revolt. These considerations have
been completely lost sight of in the late debates. The Right Hon. Ba-
ronet opposite has assumed, as an all but acanowletiged fact, that the
Colonial Government of the Tories was nearly perfect, and that a
return of his party to power would be the greatest benefit to
the Colonies. I admired the dexterity with which he made
these assumptions, to which some of my Hon. Friends, I was sur-
prised to find, lent the weight of their authorey by greatly magnifying
the liberality of the intentions of Sir George Murray and Lord Aber.
deer.—(Hoar, hear.) As tar as Sir George Murray was concerned,
am inclined to suspect that those liberal sentiments were only written
with the view of being laid upon the table of the House, and printed—
(Laughter)—as with ample opportunity they never gave birth to any
lit a alactions, and lam induced to believe that on the much wished f r
by Hon. Gentlemen opposite advent of their party to power, the
colonial policy of this empire would not be in any way improved, not
to say not deteriorated —(Hear, hear, and laughter) At least, au I
infer from the result of their policy towards Canada. A more loyal
people did not exist, nor one more firmly attached to the dominion of
this empire than the inhabitants of that province; for a long time they
did not even sufficiently prize the benefit of free institutions; they
looked with indifference Olson the possession of electoral rights,
and of a representative Assembly; their boast was that under
the sceptre of England they enjoyed without trouble all the
advantages of the Government of the United States.— (Hear, hear.)
They were soon aroused from their political apathy by acts of Tory mis-
rule, and taught to value privileges which they had previously but little
cherished. This change of feeling took place under the Government of
Sir James Craig, about the year 1807, when Lord Castlereagh was
Secretary of State for the Colonies. Sir James Craig acted in the most
violent manner towards the people of the province; addressed the House
of Assembly in the most disrespectful terms ; rejected their proposal to
defray the civil expenses of the province; twice dissolved the House of
Assembly in a year ; and in order to influence the elections, caused
the press of a Liberal paper to be seized ; three of the leading members
of the former Assembly to be thrown into gaol on charges of sedition,
which were never attempted to be sustained. This insane conduct of
the Tory Governor destroyed the influence both of the Administration
and of all persons connected with it ; since that period tire Government
has never been able again to command a majority in the House of As-
sembly. These events were soon followed by the American war, du-
ring the continuance of which the inhabitants of Lower Canada lavished
their blood and their treasure in defence of the province, and showed a
zeal and a courage in the cause of this country which has been but
ill requited. From the conclusion of the war in 1314 down to 1818
little occurred worthy of notice. The dissensions occasioned by Sir
James Craig's misgovernment were renewed, and an attempt was made
to impeach some of the Judges for the advice given to the Governor.
In the latter year the House of Assembly obtained permission to defray
the civil expenditure of the Province. In the subsequent year the dis-
putes about the Supply Bill commenced. When in 1810 the House of
Assembly first offered to defray the civil expenditure, that expenditure
did not exceed 40,0001. per annum. In 1817 it had reached 60,0001. ;
and in 1819 the Assembly was called upon for an additional 16,0001.
The House of Assembly became alarmed ; they found that in proportion as
the custom revenues of the Province had increased, the civil expenditure
likewise increased—a fact easy to be accounted for when it is remem_
bered that neither those revenues nor the civil expenditure of the Pro-
vince had been under the control of the representatives of the people.
The House of Assembly in consequence narrowly scrutinised the expen-
diture, struck off several useless expenses, and passed a Supply Bill by
items, which was rejected by the Legislative Council. With this Act of
the Legislative Council commenced the financial disputes of the
province, those financial disputes which have never entirely terminated.
Front the year 1820 to the year 1828 was the disastrous, and I will
even term it disgraceful Government of Lord Dalhousie; of that period
Lord Bathurst was the Colonial Secretary during seven years. Mr.
Huskisson was Colonial Secretary only for a very short time. During
that period it stay be seen what in reality is the conduct of a Tory Go.
vernment in the Colonies when not under the immediate influence
of the force of public opinion; and what acts of injustice
they will then perpetrate. For instance, in 1822, a Bill was sud.
denly introduced for the purpose of uniting the two provinces of
Upper and Lower Canada, without any information whatsoever being
given to the people of the two provinces. This act of gross injustice
was fortunately delayed by the etferts of my Honourable Friend,
the Member for Kilkenny and Sir James Mackintosh, until in-
formation of the intentions of the Government was conveyed to the
provinces. Public Meetings were then held for the first time in
every part of Lower Canada, and the strongest indignation and opposition
to the measure was expressed by the inhabitants of both pro-
vinces, more especially by those of Lower Canada, and in con-
sequence of the universal feeling on this subject the Bill was never
again introduced. In the same year the Canada Trade Bill was passed,
which rendered permanent certain temporary taxes, which had been
granted by the House of Assembly in order to defray the expenses
of the American war : this was most unconstitutional, and in direct
violation of the Act of 1721. The same Act, and the Canada Tenures
Act of 1825 (to which I shall have again to allude) interfered with
the whole tenure of private property in the province, and altered to a
great extent the law of real property. At the close of 1823 the Receiver_
general failed for 96,000/. of the public money, about a year and a half
of the civil expenditure of the province. It appears, says the ComMit-
tee of 1828, that no acquittal could be traced from the Treasury of a
later date than the year 1814. It appears, likewise, that the fact of the
Receiver-general's insolvency, was known to the Governor a considera-
ble time before he was suspended, and the Governor even lent him
30,0001., out of the army chest. Such is the manner in which Hon.
Gentlemen opposite administered the pecuniary affairs of the Province.
No securities had been taken in the province for the Receiver-General.
About the same sime, two Sheriffs failed, in whosehanda were the monies
of poor suitors ; one failed for 37,0001., and another for a less sum.
It appeared, likewise, no securities had been taken for them. During
the whole period from 18‘..,0 to 18'28 only two supply Bills were passed by
the Legislative Council, an account of the disputes between the House of
Assembly and the Colonial-office, with regard to the Civil List, and
with regard to the claim of the House of Assembly to appropriate the
revenues raised under an Act of 1774. The Legislative Council proved
themselves by their conduct with regard to the Supply Bills to be (to use
the words applied to them by the Member for North Lancashire) the
mere tools of the local Government; at one time, at the wish of one
Government, they accepted the same description of Supply Bill which
they rejected at another time at the bidding of the Colonial-office. But
the Government, undoubtedly with the sanction of the Colonial-
office, did not hesitate to seize without authority the monies
in the public chest. The Committee of 1828 says, " that the Local
Government has thought it necessary through a long series of years to
have recourse to a measure (which nothing but the most extreme neces-
sity could justify), of annually appropriating by its own authority large
sums of the money of the province, amounting to no less than 140,0001.,
without the consent of the representatives of the people, under whose
control the appropriation of these sums is placed by the Constitution
tour
Committee cannot but express their deep regret that such a state
of things should have been allowed to exist for so many years in a
British colony without any communication or reference having been
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their rights ; of the sudden and extensive remodelling of the Commis.
don of the Peace, to serve, as it is alleged, political purposes ; of a vex-
atious system of prosecutions for libel at the instance of the Attorney.
General, and of the harsh and unconstitutional spirit in which thes