The Sun.
London, England, 1850-08-05 00:00:00

JAMAICA.

The Dee left Kingston Harbour at three o'clock on
the afternoon of July 8. We have our customary ad-
vices up to the latest moments.
The Legislature of the island was opened on the 25th
of June, when the Governor, Sir Charles Grey, ad-
dressed the two branches in the following speech :
" Gentlemen of the Council—Mr. Speaker, and Gen-
tlemen of the Assembly! You are aware that at the
close of the last session an Act was passed, namely, the
13th Vic., chap. 26, of which the moat immediate object
was to raise, by way of loan, a sufficient sum to enable
the Receiver-General to pay off the island certificates
falling due this year, to the amount of between eighty
and ninety thousand pounds. To that extent, at least,
it was hoped that the guarantee might be obtained, which
her Dlajeay's Government was already authorised by the
Imperial Parliament to give to a loan of greater amount
for other purposes, which purposes the island Legislature
appeared to think of less importance than the punctual
observance of its engagements with the public creditor;
and it is, perhaps, to be regretted that the Act was
not passed, earlier, so as to have enabled me to bring
it under the consideration of her Majesty's Ministers,
before the meeting of the Imperial Parliament.
Coming to them, as it did, in the middle of a ses-
sion, we ought not perhaps to be much astonished
that the Home Government has been unwilling to apply
for authority to guarantee a loan for any other purposes
than those already specified in the Imperial enactment.
But the consequences are important; because, in the ex-
pectation that the guarantee would be obtained, you pro-
hibited your loan commissioners in London from offering
any higher rate of interest than four per cent., and they
have informed the Board of Commissioners here, that
without the guarantee, it is impossible to effect a loan at
that rate.

" Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the Assembly—lt is
a great misfortune that the public creditors of the colony
should sustain any disappointment, but it is in your
' power to make up for it, and everything depends on what
Sou may choose to do. The provision which is made in
the Import Duties Act, 13 Vie., c. 1, sec. 3, secures the
payment during this year of the stipulated interest on
the certificates; and as these instruments are in form ne-
gotiable if the value of them in exchange could be sus-
tained at par, the holders would know no real loss, but
might obtain in the market the repayment of the principal
moneys, which you are obliged to confess they cannot
obtain directly from you at this appointed time. There
are two measures which, without any loss to the colony,
or increase of charge upon its revenues, could scarcely fail
to produce that result, if they were to be adopted with a
willingness and unanimity which should give assurance
to the world of a prevailing intention amongst the in-
habitants of this island that no one should suffer loss for
having put their confidence in them. The duties with
which you have charged me, under the Act of the
13th Victoria, chapter 26—a charge which was not of
my own seeking, and from which I shall not object to be
at any time relieved—must be my apology for pointing
your attention to those measures. The first would be,
to give to the holders of existing certificates the same
permanent as curity fur the interest upon them which you
have offered by the Act to any person who may advance
the money for paying those certificates off. The second
would be to authorise, by express enactment, thatwhich
I have reason to believe is now done by direction of the
Commissioners of Public Accounts—namely, that the
holders of such certificates bearing five per cent. interest
us may become due without y our being able to discharge
them shall be paid what is called the legal rate of in-
terest, or that which, in the absence of express stipula-
tions, is allowed upon a debt by the courts of law
and equity in this island—namely, six per cent.—
that being the rate also at which, as a maxi-
mum, I apprehend you should now authorise
the Commissioners in London to effect any loan
which is not to be guaranteed by the Imperial
Parliament. Seeing that the import duties, out of
which the permanent fund enacted by the Act of 13th
Vic., chap. 26, is constituted, are producing much
larger returns in this year than in the last, and that
there are fair prospects of an increasir'g commerce, es-
pecially with the Spanish Main and Central America,
I cannot believe, if those two measures were to be
adopted, that any negotiable securities of the colony
could be kept below par in the London market by any
other cause than such doubts or uncertainty as to the
intentions of this Legislature, as its proceedings may at
any time either produce or prevent. There are other
provisions which might be introduced with advantage
into any Bill in aid of the Loan Act of the last session,
or which you may substitute for it; but these you
would probably prefer to originate amongst yourselves.
There is one other subject, however, which, whether it
can be incorporated with the Loan Act, or will require
a separate enactment, you have yourselves compelled
me to bring under your notice; I refer to the repre-
sentation which the members of the honourable House of
Assembly, in their capacity as Commissioners of Public
Accounts, have recently made of the difficulty which the
Receiver-General has freely stated he experiences in his
endeavour to find sureties for the large amount of sixty
thousand pounds, required by an Act of the last ses-
sion. Ido not see how it is possible for me to apply
any remedy without your assistance; for, if the law
should remain unaltered, my impression is that any other
person would experience at least us much difficulty as the
present Receiver-General. But in my opinion the diffi-
culty might be easily salved by you. The Receiver-
General's office, as I have before had occasion to state,
is held only under a provisional appointment; and if you
were to lighten the responsibilities of that appointment,
I do not conceive that there would be any injustice in
applying a moderate portion of the present salary for the
accomplishment of such an object. It might be effected,
I clink, by creating a new office of comptroller of public
accounts; in which case I would recommend that the
duties of the office should be stated in the most simple
and general terms to he those of comptrolling the public
accounts, and of publishing quarterly in the Gazette,
the receipts and disbursements of the 'Treasury, and the
issues of loan certificates and other public securities,
and of every description of island paper, or
public engagement. If you should go beyond
this, and attempt a more detailed specification
of the comptroller's duties, I am afraid you
might only afford grounds for opposing a salutary mea-
sure. The existence of such a control would greatly re-
lieve the Receiver-General from responsibility, by pre-
venting the facilities of error in his office, and the public
and its creditors would have a better security than they
now have for the correct management of the revenue.
It' the new office were once well established, I think that
the amount for which the Receiver-General is called
upon to find sureties might safely be reduced from sixty
to thirty, or-even to twenty thousand pounds. On the
part of the Crown, I can undertake that the obsolete
laid
merely nominal appointment of Auditor-General,
which is held under a commission from a former Go-
vernor, shall not be any ob,tacle in the way of such an
enactment.
"Gentlemen of the Council, Mr. Speaker, and Gen-
tlemen of the Assembly,
" I regard the present occasion as a cardinal point in
the progress and fortunes of Jamaica, because upon the
faith you may preserve with the public creditor, I be-
lieve it to depend whether the island shall hereafter
share or be excluded from the advantages of the fund-
ing system, which I take to be the greatest political
lever and most powerful instrument of civilization and
prosperity in the prevent age of the world. Do
not condemn yourselves to permanent insignificance by
repudiating benefits of which I believe that you will find
that some of your sister colonies are even now availing
themselves, and in which under careful, masterly, and
uniform regulation, I believe that the true bond of union,
the bond of mutual benefit between the metropolitan
State and its colonies, will hereafter be found. Be as
cautious as you please, and make no other enactments
on the present occasion than what the strictest justice
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do not let any party differences amongst
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The speech was replied to by the House in the follow-
ing terms:—

" May it please your Excellency,
" We, her Majesty's dutiful nod loyal subjects, the
Assembly of Jamaica, thank your Excellency for your
speech at the opening of the session. We ♦ery much
regret that our reasonable expectations of a guarantee
from the Government fora loan, to enable the colony to