صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

CHAP. VIII.

GOVERNMENT OF THE DUKE OF RICHMOND. - CIVIL LIST. EARL OF DALHOUSIE. - SIR JAMES KEMPT. - LORD AYLMER.

IN July, 1818, the Duke of Richmond arrived as governor-general. His administration, if not so active as that of his predecessor, was at least satisfactory; and its duration was suddenly terminated by his unfortunate death at Ottawa, in consequence of hydrophobia, in September, 1819. Under him, the legislature agreed to pay the civil list of the province, and out of this measure arose those financial questions which created discontent and difficulty during the administration of the Earl of Dalhousie. From the death of the Duke of Richmond, until the arrival of Lord Dalhousie as governor-general, in 1820, the government of the province was administered by the Honourable James Monk as president, and afterwards by Sir Peregrine Maitland.

It is difficult to reconcile the amiable private character of the Earl of Dalhousie, and the harmony which characterised his administration in Nova Scotia, with his unhappy administration of the affairs of Canada.

The real causes of the difficulties that disturbed the tranquillity of Canada during Lord Dalhousie's government, may be discovered in the influence of parties who had long arrogated to themselves the

right of advising the representatives of his majesty; but the presumptive cause of discontent is attributed to the legislature agreeing to pay the civil list, and the crown accepting of the same, without any specific constitutional stipulation at the time. The financial affairs of the province continued to move on smoothly, until the death of his Majesty George the Third, when a new provincial parliament was assembled, of whom it was expected, by the executive government, that they should pass a bill providing for the civil establishment of the province. The Legislative Assembly then came to a resolution to appropriate, in separate items, the whole revenue of the province, amounting to about 140,000l., including about 34,000l. of annual permanent revenue, and a small hereditary revenue of about 3400l., both hitherto received and distributed at the pleasure of the executive government. The crown, however, claimed the exclusive right of distributing the latter sums, amounting together to nearly 38,000l., "on the ground that the Quebec Act of 1774, and the Constitutional Act, 1791, imposed on the lords commissioners of the treasury the duty of appropriating the revenue granted to his Majesty by the first of those statutes; and that, whilst the law should continue unaltered by the same authority by which it was framed, his Majesty's government was not authorised to replace the revenue under the control of the legislature of the province." * This formed the grand basis of dispute between the Representative Assembly and the Executive. "Both parties," Mr. Huskisson observed in the House of Commons, "might be fairly considered as standing on their extreme rights." Neither, however, would yield. Lord Dalhousie came to England; and, in his absence, the late Sir Francis Burton, as lieutenantgovernor, administered the affairs of the province. He assembled the provincial parliament, and asked the legislature to provide for the public expenses, in like manner as under the government of Sir John C. Sherbrooke. This they agreed to without hesitation, and with liberality.eff wit

* On examining the acts of 1774 and 1791, we will find this construction not only evasive, but incorrect; nor is the observation of Mr. Huskisson just, in respect to the legislature " standing on its extreme right."

The Lower House endeavoured also to avoid every encroachment that might invade the privileges of the Legislative Councils (pour éviter même de blesser l'amour propre du Conseil, dont plusieurs des membres prétendoient que le revenu provençal de l'Act de 1774 étoit à la disposition de l'exécutif).

Lord Dalhousie returned soon after (1825) to Canada, and the arrangement of the finance question became every day more difficult. He dissolved the Legislature, and a new House was elected; but he refused to approve of the appointment of Mr. Papineau as speaker: the House of Assembly would elect no other: it was prorogued accordingly; and the imperatively necessary legislative business of the province was consequently stopped, and all operations depending on the appropriation of the revenue by the House of Assembly lost to the provinces. It was impossible for matters to continue long in this state. Eighty-seven thousand of the inhabitants petitioned the king. They charged his Lordship with arbitrary conduct; - of applying public money without legal appropriations; of violent prorogation and dissolution of the Assembly; of preventing the passing

of many useful acts; of continuing the receivergeneral in office after he was known to be insolvent, and a defaulter to the amount of 96,000l., and of allowing similar abuses with regard to sheriffs; " of dismissing the principal militia officers for the constitutional exercise of their rights; of the sudden and extensive remodelling of the commission of the peace, to serve," they alleged, " political purposes; and of a vexatious system of prosecution for libel, at the instance of the attorney-general." His Majesty's ministers submitted the affairs of Canada to a committee of the House of Commons, who certainly devoted their serious attention to the subject. Their report recommended, "That it will be advantageous that the declaratory enactment in the Tenure Act, respecting lands held in free or common soccage, should be retained. That mortgages should be special; and that, in proceedings for the conveyance of land, the simplest and least expensive forms should be adopted, upon the principle of the law of England. That a registration of deeds relating to soccage lands should be established; that means should be found of bringing into effective operation the clauses in the Tenure Act; and they entertain no doubt of the inexpediency of retaining the seignorial rights of the crown, in the hope of deriving a profit from them; that some competent jurisdiction should be established to try and decide causes arising out of this description of property; and that circuit courts should be instituted within the townships for the same purposes. That the Canadians of French extraction should in no degree be disturbed in the peaceful enjoyment of their religion, laws, and privileges, as secured to them by the British Acts of Parliament; and, so far from

requiring them to hold lands on the British tenure, they think, that when the lands in the seigniories are fully occupied, if the descendants of the original settlers shall still retain their attachment to the tenure of fief et seigneurie, they see no objections to the other portions of unoccupied lands in that province being granted to them on the same tenure, provided that such lands are set apart from, and not intermixed with the townships.

"That although, from the opinion given by the law officers of the crown, the committee must conclude that the legal right of appropriating the revenues arising from the act of 1744, is vested in the crown, they are prepared to say, that the real interests of the provinces would be best promoted by placing the receipt and expenditure of the whole public revenue under the superintendence and control of the House of Assembly. On the other hand, the governor, the members of the executive council, and the judges, should be independent of the annual votes of the House of Assembly for their respective salaries. That the committee were fully aware of the objections in principle, which may be fairly raised against the practice of voting permanent salaries to judges who are removable at the pleasure of the crown; but being convinced that it would be inexpedient that the crown should be deprived of that power of removal, and having well considered the public inconvenience which might result from their being left in dependence upon annual votes of the Assembly, they have decided to make the recommendation, in their instance, of a permanent vote of salary; that although the grant of permanent salaries has been recommended to a much greater number of persons con

[blocks in formation]
« السابقةمتابعة »