, 1875-01-20

that a compact mas Deen entered into between
" the islands and Denmark, which has been
fulfilled by the former and not by the latter,
" and that therefore the islands have a good
illegal claim against the State Treasury for
" the repayment of all the money thus paid,
"as it is evident that the Government Of Den
"mark has not kept faith lOih the islands,"
These terms were at all events of such a
nature as to warrant strong expressions of
regret that such distrust against the Govern
ment should be evinced by a Committee of
the Colonial Council and His Excellency
would leave it to Hon. members to judge,
whether the terms employed by him or those
used in the Committee Report were the strong
er, and whether it was just and proper that
such attacks should be made on the Govern
ment; permitted and sanctioned by the Hon.
Chairman of the Council. The Governor
could of course not hinder any member from
proposing illegal acts, but, like the members
of the Council, he could demand that proposals
laid before the Council should be treated
according to the Rules of Business, and that
the legality of the Councils acts should not
be sacrificed.
The manner in which the resolution of the
Hon 9th Member had been introduced was not
justified by the Rules of the Council. The Hon.
Chairman was not justified in permitting a for
ul6I uISGuSSlOu u 10 I6Op6l6u ny d NlGllb6l vi
the pretext of commenting on the minutes.
When the protocol of a former meeting is read
in Council, it is the right and the duty of the
Members to correct any mistakes occurring in
the minutes as far as regards their own speeches.
But they have not by the Rules of Business any
right to comment on the tenor Of speeches re-
corded in the minutes, and no member has a
right to shield his re-Openlng the argument un-
der the pretext OF discussing the minutes. Yet
in the discussion that was in this manner called
forth in last meeting, the Hon. Chairman in
stead of prohibiting the re-opening of the argu-
ment, stated that he would take the opportuni-
ty of defending himself against the charge of
having unduly hurried the Draft of the New Co.
loniat Law through 1st discussion in the absence
and without the knowledge Of the Governor.
The Hon. Chairman said that The Committee
Report had been sent in to Government 2
F" days before the meeting, and had been placed
&" on the Order of the Day when the Chairman
was not aware thai the Governor was or would
" be absent; and draft and report had been
"passed to second discussion without a single
g diSsentient vote 1t is indeed true, that
draft and report were passed in the manner thus
described, but the fact remains that the Gov
ernor had received no information whatever
about the discussion Which.the Chairman allow
ed to proceed. On the 9th Of June 1874 the
meeting in question was held. On the 18th
June the Governor received the Hon. Chair
mans letter containing a list Of the items that
were to be discussed in the meeting, and, see
Ing that the list did not specify any matter that
required his presence, the Governor went over
to st. Croix on the 7th June on official bust
ness. On the 8th June in the afternoon the
Hon. Chairman sent in a letter Of the same date
to Government, containing 25 copies Of the
Committee Report and information that the
same would be laid before the Council on the
following day. Thus, the matter was actually
in the hands of Government only from 3 O'Clock
in the afternoon to II O'Clock the next day, and
the Governor knew nothing whatever about it.
and hence the Government Secretary, who was
present in the meeting, had no Instructions on
the subject and could only do what he did
point out to the Hon. Chairman that the Gov
ernor knew nothing of the discussion. But this
demonstration did not avail, the discussion pro-
ceeded. Of this treatment tue Governor COM
planned, and he considered his complaint fully
justified. The Draft had been in the hands of
the Committees for more than 2years, the re-
port bore the date of the oath November 1878,
it was sent in to Government on the 6th June
1874, and on the 9th June it was discussed in
the Governors absence and passed. Is it too
much to say that its treatment had been undu-
lY hurried, when even the usual notice required
by the Rules of Business had been dispensed
with The Governor would ask any Hon. gem
tleman present in the Council whether there
was even the least possibility that any one
cO1Id in a NIGHTS raadinO ooma t0 q clear nm.