The Lehi banner. [volume] (Lehi, Utah) 1891-1917, 1894-08-16

seissioriss Near Quebec stlii Run ON the
frinsipies Laid Down In Psris four
Centuries ago snd hepeaiea Long
ago inc frenen He'o'"'o"'
Par,man and others hate told us all
about the mild feudal system which
prevailed in French Canada down TO
1854. The seignior received grant Of
wild land from the king ON condition
that he should put se ttlers upon IL. lie
had 10 preserve the oak timber for ship
building, aud the rcd pine for the man
ufacture of tar, and to notify the
kings agents ~ he found minerals on
| the seiQniory. lie had To 20 through
| the form OF paying homage and tealty
to the kings Representative ut Quebec
, whom he entered on possession, some
| times oftener, and to pay fifth of the
purchase money II he sold the estate
to the royal Golfers, though he was al.
lowed rebate Of two-thirds for cash
| down. The censitaire or habitant, who
held the land under the seignior, had
10 pay the annual Gems ct rcntcs, often
| a sol (cent), or half a sol, with half q
l pint OF wheat OF few live capons or
eggs for each arpent The land of the
| c<nsataire passed to his heirs, but, in
I case he sold during his lifetime, the
lods ct ventep came into play and one
twelfth Of the purchase money went
TO the seignior. BY the droit de re-
trait the seignior could compel pur-
chaser within forty days Of the sale to
transfer the property to him at the
price paid II he thought IL had not
fetched enough.
The censitairc had 10 get his wheat
ground at the seignior's mill, and on
some seigniorics to have his bread
baked At tho seignior's oven. paying =
toll In each case; TO give 1.-THE Of the
Ash be caught to the seignior, to do
corvee or road work, and to get out
stone and timber for public purposes
Seigniors who could afford to support
local magistrate were empowered to
administer superior. mean and inferior
justice on their estates. but as class
they were very poor and this right fell
into desuetude.
In 1854. says the New York Post. the
parliament OF Canada bought, out the
seigniors. There were 100 of them. ia
possession Of 220 fiefs, embracing o. 900,
600 acres Of cultivated land. The
B censitsire was given his choice Of two
/, things--the Gems ct rentes were CAPT.
, talized, and he could either pay the
capital sum TO the scignior, In which
2 case, Of course. he got clear title "a
his holding, or continue on as a tenan,
at rental equal TO 8 per cent. of the
y capitalization. The tenant l came
D across, or his father before him, had
D like many more, chosen the latter
4 course. The other seigniorial right,
were settled by the government at 4
, cost OF about S5,00O,O00. The system
: would have been abolished before 1885,
, only the Roman Catholic church wa,
afraid that In the debacle, as timid
souls called IL, tho tithes and fsbriqut
taxes which abe collected by authority
of law might be abolished. too
Tho landlord Of whom I have spoken
was good enough TO let me look ut q
batch Of old papers and books In which
the dojngs Of his predecessors In the
seigniory and of their censitaires are
recorded for 100 years. These papers
enabled one TO form q tolerably good
idea of the sort of life the people led.
First rs to prices: In 1867, as otheI
Documents show. wheat sold in the
markets Of Quebec at 80 cents per bush
a., ,ha, rr,co Reef sola Tor carts ana
porlx for 8 cents DER pound. the four
pound loaf for 10 cents. Prices had
, dropped a little by 1888. Wheat wa,
then worth on cents. In 1z4s Il fell /.
40 cents There had been a good cror
in tho region east OF Quebec on the
south shore of the st. Lawrence. which
was regarded as the Rranary of New