]^l NAN a AL DIFFICULTIES OF LOWER "CANADA EXTOAPII® FROM IHE QUEBEC CAZSITE OF DECEMBER 1824 18 2 4 » I V/ - (EXIR,^. '.-yD FEOM THE QUE^BEC GAZETTE OF DECEMBER 1824.) 'W Vfc- ■ i FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES OF LOWER- CANADA. (Extracted from the QUEBEC GAZETTE of December 1824.) " Tt is my opinion that this Kingdom has no right to tax the Colonies. " We give and grant to His Majesty, the property of His Subjects in Arne - " rica! Tt is an absurdity. The Commons of America, represented in " their several Assemblies, have ever been in the exercise of this their con- " stitutional right, of giving and granting their own money. And they " would have been Slaves if they had not enjoved it." W. PITT, Speech Ho . of Commons, Feby. 1766. The commencement of the first Session of the Xllth Provin- cial Parliament of Lower-Canada is fixed, by Royal Proclama- tion, for the 8th January 1825. Differences on the subject of the financial concerns of the Pro- vince have impeded the usefulness of that body, and rendered dif- ficult the operations of the Colonial Executive, during the last six years . These differences have often been the subject of public discus- sion in the Legislative bodies, in the assemblies of the people, in the public Journals and in private circles; one side or other of the question has been embraced, according as information, feeling or interest dictated; the parties have sometimes become heated ; they have appealed to prejudice and passion ; they have invented or re- peated falsehoods; they have abused individuals and whole bodies, freauently without understanding the question, and without giving themselves much trouble to understand it. In order to come to a correct conclusion on the subject of these differences, it is necessary to be acquainted with the nature, histo- ry, management and application of the Public Revenue, and the proceedings and pretensions of the Colonial Administration and the different branches of th» .Legislature, by reference to authen- tic documents and incontestible facts, and to apply to the whole the principles of Free Government as established under the Bri- tish Constitution and the Act constituting the Government of the Province . The whole of the Public Revenue of Lower-Canada, with the exception of the Territorial Revenue, is raised on the Subject in the Colony, by Acts of the British Parliament or of the Colonial Legislature. ( 4 ) i) When Canada was under the French Government, there was a Public Revenue, raistd on the subject within the Colony, by Edict of the French King, on the importation and exportation History of Provin- of certain specified articles, chiefly regulated accoraing to a Ta- cial Revenue. riff of the 25th February 1748. A'f'ter the Cession of the Pro- vince in 1763, and on the establishment of Civil Government therein in 1764, bhe Laws of England were declared to be in force in the country; British subjects were invited .to the Colo- ny and settled in it, under the public assurance of the'^ ^itish Government, that they would enjoy therein, at least, thei^BHfck right, of being exempt from taxation without the consent of ^ Representative Assembly ; the old inhabitants of the Colony had, besides, had their property secured to them by the Capitulations, an express article of which declared them to have become British subjects: His Majesty's subjects in Canada could not, therefore be taxed without the consent of Representatives; neither could the King, conformably to the principles of the British Consti- tution, acquire a Revenue raised on the Subject, without the au- thority of Parliament. The Revenue Laws of France, of right, ceased at the Conquest of the Country; in fact little Revenue could, be raised in conformity to those Laws, as the described articles had nearly all ceased to be imported, in consequence of the change of dominion. At this time, however, the British Par- liament claimed the right of raising a Revenue in the Colonies, and it gave, shortly afterwards, several memorable examples ot the exercise of this alledged right, '^ct 1774 In the year 1774, Parliament passed an Act re-establishing the Civil Laws of Canada, and another Act, 14th Geo. III. Chap. 88, raising a Revenue therein, " towards further defraying the charges of the Administration of Justice and the support of the Civil Government within the Province of Quebec in North Ame- rica," professedly in lieu of the Revenue formerly existing in the Colony under the French Government. The money to be raised under this Act, was to be disposed of under the following Clause : 14th Geo. ITT. Chap. 88. Sect. 2. " Shall be applied, in the " first place, in making more certain and adequate provisions, to- " wards defraying the expenses of the Administration of Justice, " and of the support of the Civil Government in the said Pro- " vince; and that the Lord High Treasurer, or Commissioners " of His Majesty ' s Treasury, or any three or mo re of them for the " time being, shall be and is or are hereby empowered, from time " to time, by any Warrant or Warrants under his or their hand " or hands, to cause such money to be applied out of the saidpro- '• duce of the said Duties, towards defraying the said expenses; " and that the residue of the said Duties shall remain and be re- " served in the hands of the said Receiver General for the future " disposition of Parliament." (The Duty of 56s. sterling on Licenses, from the 5th -?!pril 1775, is stated to be levied "for '.he use of His Majesty," and no provision is made for its application. ) The Acts of* the British Parliament* for raising a Revenue in the old North American Colonies, were openly resisted, and the existence of (he right, in Parliament, of raising such a Revenue, was denied by the Colonists in arms, within a year after the pass- ina of the Canada Revenue Act of 1774. (^) In 17 78, the British Parliament passed a Statute, of which the following is the Title, Preamble and chief Olause. 18th Geo. III. Chap. 12. " An Act for removing all doubts " and apprehensions concerning Taxation by the Parliament • ' of Great Britain in any of the Colonies, Provinces and Pian- " tations'in North America and the West Indies, and for re- " pealing so much of an Act made in the Seventh year of the " Reign of His present Majesty, as imposes a Duty on Tea, " imported from Great Britain into any Colony or Plantation " in Ame*rica or relates thereto, " " Whereas Taxation by the Parliament of Great Britain, for " the purpose of raising a Revenue in His Majesty's Colonies, " Provinces and Plantations in North America, has been found " by experience, to occasion great uneasiness and disorders among " His Majesty's faithful subjects, who may nevertheless be dispo- " sed to acknowledge the justice of contributing to the common " defence of the Empire, provided such contribution should be " raised under the authority of the General Court or General " Assembly of each respective Colony, Province or Plantation ; " and whereas, in order as well to remove the said uneasinesses, " and to quiet the minds of His Majesty's subjects, who maybe " disposed to return to their allegiance, as to restore the peace and " welfare of His Majesty's Dominions, it is expedient to declare " that the King and Parliament of Great Britain will not impose ** any Duty, Tax. or Assessment, for the purpose of raising a " Revenue in any of the Colonies, Provinces or Plantations, " " May it please Your Majesty that it may be declared and enact- ed ; and it is hereby declared and enacted by the Kings Most Ex- cellent Majesty, by and with the consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons in this present Parliament assem- bled, and by the authority of the same. That, from and after the passing of this Act, the King and Parliament of Great Britain will not impose anv Duty, Tax, or Assessment whatsoever, pay- able in any of His Majesty's Colonies, Provinces and Plantations in North America or the West Indies, except only such Duties as it maybe expedient to impose for the regulation of Commerce ; the net produce of such duties to be always paid and applied to and for the use of the Colony, Province or Plantation, in which the same shall be respectively levied, in such manner as other Duties collected by the authority of the respective General Courts or General Assemblies of such Colonies, Provinces and Planta- tions, are ordinarily paid or applied. " Clause II. Repeals the Tea Act 7th Geo. III. Chap. 46. (This Act was preceded by an Act Chap. 11, repealing the Act regulating the Government of Massachusetts Bay, and followed by anofher Chap 15, appointing Commissioners to treat for quiet- ing the disorders in certain of the Colonies, Plantations and Pro- vinces of North America.) Notwithstanding the foregoing Statute, the Act for raising a Revenue and disposing of the amount in Canada, continued to b J enforced. No Colonial Representation was assembled in this Province till 17th Dec . 1792 . On the 29th April 1794, before any supplies were required of the Colonv, the then Governor General fLord Dorchester) informed the Legislature by Message, that " as soon as the Provinces of Upper-Canada and Lower-Canada " shall have passed Laws laying the same or other duties to an Declaratory Act 1788. Proceeding in Ca- nada, concerning Act 1774. ( 6 ) Provincial Act 1799. Other Revenues under Britsh Acts iu Canada . Under local Acts. Territorial Reve- nue. «' equal amount to those which are payable under this Act, and " such Laws shall have obtained the Royal Assent, the King's " Ministers will be ready to propose to Parliament a repeal of. " the Act above mentioned." On the 3rd June 1"99, an Act, in conformity to the foregoing Message, was passed and received the Royal Assent. This Act is printed in the Statute Book of this Province, and is to be in force as soon as the repeal of the Acts of the Imperial Parliament therein mentioned •< shall be signified and made " known by Proclamation of the Governor, Lieutenant Gover- " nor or person administering the Government for the time " being." The Act is perpetual, and appropriates annually with- out limit of time, =£11799 18 1 1-3 Gurrency, for the general expenses of the Government, besides paying off advances from the Military Ghest previous to 6th January 1796. In other respects the condition required in the foregoing Mes- sage, had it been necessary to entitle the Legislature of the Golo- ny to dispose of the monies levied under the Act of 1774, has long ago been virtually complied with, as other duties to an equal amount, under permanent Acts, have long ago been passed by the Legislature of Lower-Ganada, with the consent of that of Upper-Ganada, and received the Royal Assent. A small Revenue under Acts of 'Parliament, viz, 25 Gharles II. Ghap. 7 ; 6 Geo. II. Ghap. 13; 4 Geo. III. Ghap. 15; and 6 Geo. III. Ghap. 5; is also stiil raised in the Golony, which " is paid into the receipt of His Majesty's Exchequer 'in Great " Britain, to be there entered separate and apart from all other " monies, to be reserved to be, from time to time disposed of by " Parliament, towards defraying the necessary expenses of de- " fending, protecting and securing the British Golonies and Plan- " tations in America. The other' Revenues raised within the Golony under British Acts, are subsequent to the Act of 1778, (the Act 51 Geo. III. Ghap._ 97, excepted) and purport to be for the regulation of Trade and Navigation, and are subjected, as to the application of the mo- nies, (excepting the proportion awarded or which may be awarjded to Upper-Ganada under the Ganada Trade Act of 1822) to the provisions of the said declaratory Act of 17 78. All the other Revenues of the Golony, raised on the subject generally, are levied under Acts of the local Legislature, and the fi*m6unt is either specially applied or left unapplied at the future disposal of the Legislature. They are all, in 'conformity to the Royal Instructions, signified to the Legislature in 17 95 • < granted or reserved to His Majesty, His He.rs and 'Successors ! tor t^ie pqblic uses of the Province and the support of the . (.jovernment thereof." Besides the Revenues raised generally on the Subject under Legislative Acts, there is a Territorial Revenue accruing to the Grown from the Tenure of Lands in the Gountry as established kin^^clet^ French Government and the possession of Seicniories 1 his Revenue, which has lately averaged about Twenty thousand Dollars per annum, was ordered by His late Majesty, as expressed in a Message from the Governor in Ghief, of the 29th April 1^4 " to be applied towards defraying the Givil expenses of the Pra- ( 7 ) The total amount of the Revenue, without taking into account the diminution for a short period by the expiration of a temporary Act in 1822, has amounted on an average of the last five years, to about Three hundred and fifty thousand Dollars per annum, after deducting one fifth allowed to Upper Canada for the suppo- sed consumption of dutiable goods from Lower-Canada . The whole of this Revenue, which has increased under the Trade Acts of 1S22, is now permanent^ with the exception of a few thousand dollars per annum, collected under temporary Acts of the local Legislature, upon importations from the United States. Considering that the expenses of Roads and Bridges, Religious Establishments and several other local expenses, are borne by the people apart from the amount of the Revenue, that they are sub- ject to a number of Government Fees, and particularly, that they are restrained from a free trade and a free competition of the ca- pital of other countries among them, and also considering the se- verity of the climate, the amount levied on tha people in Lower Canada is great, comparatively to their means, which is the true standard for measuring the weight of taxation. The actual pay- ments to the Revenue for general purposes, including the fees ef collection, may amount to about one dollar per annum for each person, or five dollars for each family, which is equal, at present, to about seven bushels of wheat, or a fortnight's labour at the ave- rage price throughout the country during the whole year. This Revenue is chiefly levied on articles of imported merchan- dize, several of which can indeed be dispensed with. It is of a nature to increase or diminish with the increase or diminution of the trade or consumption of imported goods in the country, and the increase or diminution of smuggling from the United States. On several articles, particularly Spirits, the amount of duties is equal to fifty per centf on the price of the arlicle in the Province without the duty, which is equal to a bounty of 50 per cent on smuggling in American or Upper-Canada distilled Spirits, or manufacturing Spirits in this Province, which it is found can be made at about Is. per gallon. (1.) ■ The''Revenue from duties on importations, forming about nine nufacture having been verv generally substituted in Upper-Canada, as well as in the United States, where the duties on West India Spirits have long been, systematicaliy, enormously disproportionate to the value of the article. A singular proof of the want of correct information, or great inattention, in the British Parliament, on the subject of the commercial intercourse between the British North American Provinces and the West Indies, is to be found in the Trade Acts of 1822: By one of these Acts British North American Flour is admitted into the West Indies on paying a Dollara Bar- rel less than United States Flour. By another of the same Act», a Draw- back of 6d. a Gallon on R u m imported into Canada, taken country produce was sent in return, is repealed. The value of a Barrel of Flour in the Co- lony, maybe taken at 30s., a Gallon of R u m without the duties, at Is. 6d. ; 20 Gallons of Rum are therefore equal to a Barrel of Flour ; 6d. per gallon on 20 gallons drawback discontinued, is equal to 10 shillings. Thus, while five shillings were professedly allowed to encourage the intercourse, our situation as to that intercourse, was made five shillings worse per barrel of Flour than before. The 5 shillings in our favor, were allowed according to the system of the British Government , and the 10s. against us, it is said, ori- ginated in advice from the Colony. Total Amount, Weight of Taxa . tion. Nature of the Re . venue . Management . Proceedings in lo- cal Legislature. Grant 1795. Occasional Defici- ency, how srpplied. w it is paid into the hands of His Majesty's Receiver General for the Province, who is a Treasury Officer, and who pays over the monies under the authority of the Treasury, and accounts to that body, in virtue of his Instructions and a Clause inserted in all the Colonial Revenue Acts, conformably to the Royal Instruc- tions above mentioned, signified to the Legislature in 1793. The powers and duties of the Treasury in respect to the ordering pay- ments of the Revenue and controuling the expenditure, are exer- cised in the Colony by the Governor and the Executive Council appointed for the Province by the Crown. This system of management and controul of the Revenues of the Province has existed in the Colony, with little variation, since the establishment of Civil Government therein under His Majes- ty. Its abuses and inefficiency have been proved by the rapid in- crease of the expenditure, particularly since the Revenue could be increased in the Colony by the establishment of a local Legis- lature, from which all effectual check has been withheld, while the callsforan increaseof revenue have been urgent and frequently indispensable for the public welfare, (2.) and by a Defalcation to the amount of Four hundred thousand dollars, of the moniesin the Receiver General's Chest, which Defalcation has been partially in existence for upwards of twenty years, and must long ago have been discovered and checked under a proper controul. It was not till three years after the first meeting of the local Legislature in 1792, that the Colonial Government asked for any aid or supply from the Colony, viz. in the Session of 1795, when the whole expenditure of the Civil Government amounted to about Eighty thousand Dollars, and the Revenue to about Fifty thousand. 'The Assembly granted that year by a permanent Act Twenty-two thousand two hundred and twenty Dollars per an- num, besides providing for several items, oh expenditure already incurred. The permanent appropriation is stated to be " towards " defraying the expenses of the Administration of Justice and " of the support of the Civil Government in this Province." Accounts of the Revenue and Expenditure were, from this time, partially, laid before the Legislature annually. No further aids or supplies for the expenses of the Civil Government gene- rally, were, however, asked of the Assembly, till 1818; but that body was called upon, from time to time, to provide for certain specific objects, which it generally supplied without difficulty. Any deficiencies which occurred in the funds raised in the Pro- vince for the expenses of the Civil Government, were covered by Warrants of the Governors, generally also Commanders of the Forces, on the Military Chest. Taking the whole period from the date when the accounts were first laid before the Assembly, till 1823, the monies raised in the Colony have, however, been suffi- cient to pay all the Civil Expenditure, unchecked as it was, by any effective Legislative controul— a large portion of the monies were, however, applied during the late Avar to Militia or Mi-litary purposes. From 1796 to 1809 inclusive, the total expenditure had nearly doubled; and in 1810, the Assembly passed a Resolve of (2.) Various temporary Revenue Acts passed, to aid in suppor late American War and for local objects, which were completed, have un- der various grounds been continued for a short period, on the recommen- dation of the Executive, and they have since been made permanent bv the Canada Trade Act, unless Upper-Canada consents to their repeal. ( 9 ) its readiness " to vole the necessary sums for defraying all the " Civil expenses of the Administration of the Government of the " Province," and addressed the Governor, Sir JAKES HENBY CRAIG, to convey Addresses to that effect to His Majesty and both Houses of Parliament. This proceeding of the Assembly was ill received by the Colo- nial Administration ; the Members of the Assembly who had ta- ken the lead in this measure had been for some time before ob- noxious to the Government, and had been deprived of their Mili- tia and other Commissions. The House was shortly after prema- turely and angrily dissolved by the Governor, for the second time within two 'years, on a question relating to the Judges being elected and sitting as Members of the Assembly. The Mover of the proceedings respecting the Public Expenditure, and two other Members of the Assembly, were thrown into prison soon after the dissolution, on charges of treasonable practices, by War- rants from the Executive Council, authorised by an Act for the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, which the Assembly had long continued, from time to time; and the whole Province was represented by Proclamation of the Governor, with the concur- rence of the Executive Council, to be in a state approaching to rebellion. Several other persons were imprisoned about the same time, under the same Act, in different parts of the Province, and like the Members of the Assembly, detained from three to fifteen months, without any of them having been brought to trial. In- deed the Colonial Government proved by its subsequent acts, that there could have been no good foundation for these odious charges . The departure of the Governor in 1811, the prospect of War with the United States, and its actual breaking out two years after these imprisonments and proceedings, put an end, for a time at least, to the HI blood which they had produced throughout the Colony. All the resources of the Province were cheerfully placed at the disposal of the Executive by the Assembly, every thing that was asked, excepting the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act and Martial Law, was indeed granted for the common defence, and the question of the Expenditure was no longer agilated. Im- peachments were, however, voted in the Assembly in 1814. against some of the supposed advisers of the measures of the Colonial Government in 1810, chiefly on grounds distinct from these mea- sures ; hut these impeachments failed under an alledged want of a tribunal to decide upon them in the Colony, and the want of pe- cuniary means, which were refused by the Colonial Administration, to send an agent to support the charges before the King and Council . Seven years after the vote of the Assembly of 1810, the House was called upon by His Majesty's Government to discharge its engagements contracted in that year. The Expenditure had again nearly doubled since that period ; yet the whole amount required by Sir JOHN COAPE SHERBROOKE, for the expenses of the year 1818, was immediately voted under a reserve of enquiring into the necessity of the expenditure generally, at the ensuing Ses- sion, and the Bill containing the amount of that vote became a Law . His Grace the Duke of RICHMOND, who succeeded Sir JOHN COAPE SHERBROOKE, sent down to the Assembly in the following Vote of 1810 . Subsequent pro- ceedings . Impeachments, 1814. 1818, annual Vote Sir J. Sherbrooke 1819, Duke of Richmond. Annual Supply. ( 10 ) « year, a detailed Estimate for the whole Expenditure of the year,- referring to that of 1818, with an increase of the expenses of the Province as it stood in J817,thetime the Assembly was called upon to discharge it, of about one fourth its then whole amount . The increase was intermixed with the old expenditure, and no suf- ficient explanation shewing the necessity of an increase, particu- larly at a time when the Trade, Revenue and means of the coun- try," and expenses of living had decreased, were given. (3.) It ap- peared also, that the actual expenditure of the preceding year had exceeded the Grant, although all that was asked had been given. The Assembly, after much angry discussion on the side of the Ad- ministration, finally voted, in the same form as the Governor's Estimate, and for the period required, each item of that Estimate, with the amount of the corresponding item of the List of the Ex- penditure of 1817, with the exception of the items of some sine- curists and absentees, against which Committees had reported in 1818, and during the present year. The proposed increase of the expenditure was thus rejected. The House, however, by its vote allowing the expenditure as it stood in 1817, offered to recognize an increase of the expenditure of the Province, made without the consent of the Legislature, of more than triple its annual amount when that body was established in 17 92 ; it indirectly offered its sanction to the whole of the management and controul of a Re- venue raised on the people of this Province, by His Majesty's Treasury and the Executive Councillors of the Province appoint- ed by the Crown, during a quarter of a century; it fully main- tained the implied faith of the British Government, to all its ef- fective Officers in the Colony, and was willing to contract a form- al engagement in the face of the public, to assure to these officers, so long at least as the Revenue and resources of the country could afford it, their increased war salaries, at a time when the rea- sons of that increase no longer existed. At the same time, the vote of the Assembly ensured to the inhabitants of ths country, that the expenditure, and consequently their burthens, could no longer be encreased, without the consent of Representatives freely chosen by themselves. With new motives for mutual confidence and mutual forbearance, there was, by this vote, at least a fair prospect that all would have united in promoting the general wel- fare of the country, with as much harmony as is usual in the other Colonies where a similar controul exists in the Assemblies, and as is consistent with the nature of a Free Constitution. Grant rejected, Lower. Caiuca. The Bill founded on the votes of the Assembly, which was sent ^P to the Legislative Council, was, however, opposed in that body by h;s Honour the Chief Justice of the Province, by His Majes- ty's Receiver General for the Province, by the Collector of the Customs, the Inspector of Public Accounts, by the Cierk of the Executive Council, by a Judge of the King's Bench, and other Executive Councillors, in truth, by a majority of the latter body, who with the principal Officersof the Colonial Government , formed also a majority of the Legislative Council. The Bill was finally re jected by that House, under a resolution, stating in substance, that the mode of granting the Supply was unconstitutional, and (3.) The total of the Expenses of 1817, as estimated in ISIS, was Sterling £fi6281 15 4 The net Revenue of 1818, including the War duties, 79921 15 1 The Estimate of 1819, 81432 5 6 ( 11 ) that if the Bill were to become a Law, it would render the ter- vauts of the Crown dependant on an elective body instead of being dependant on the Crown, " and might eventually be made instru- " mental to the overthrow of that authority which, by their Alle- " glance, they are bound to support." This resolution was re-echoed by the Governor in Chief at the close of the Session. It seemed as if the Assembly of the Re- presentatives of the people of Lower-Canada, instead of conscien- tiously performing an important duty towards His Majesty's Go- vernment and the Country, in strict conformity to the Res’olve of the House of Commons of the 3rd July 1678, on which that bo- dy has acted ever since, had in reality been engaged in an attempt to violate the fidelity of the servants of the Crown, with an intent of making them instrumental to the overthrow of the Govern- ment . All the presses controuled or influenced by the Colonial Administration, its officers and their connexions, teemed with abuse of the Assembly, and its Members; projects of individual hostility were got up against them ; and Plans for changing the Established Constitution, weie forwarded to England, thus lightly renewing the inpolitic system of bringing forward the Government of the Empire to take a part in disputes between the Colonists and the Local Government, which lost , the old Colonies; At this Session the Legislative Council also rejected the usual Bill from the Assembly, appointing Commissioners to treat with Commissioners on the part of Upper-Canada, for the renewal of the existing agreement respecting ths share of duties levied in Lower-Canada on goods which pass for consumption into Upper- Canada, which agreement was to expire on the 1st July following, and this measure on the part of the .Council, and the non-settle- ment by the Executive of claims for arrears made by Upper-Ca- nada under former agreements, without referring these claims to the Legislature, laid the foundation of the misunderstanding between the two Provinces, which, at a future period, had nearly effected the loss of the Constitutional Act of both Provinces. (4.) (4.) In 1820 there was no Session ; in 1821, the Legislative Council passed another Bill sent up by the Assembly, similar to that of 1819. The Com- missioners met at Montreal 5th July 1821. Upper-Canada had, however, already forwarded conplaints to England, without communicating them to Lower-Canada, and much popular clamour had been excited On this subject in the Upper Province. The Upper-Canada Commissioners claimed arrears under former agreements, or during their existence, to the amount of about Fifty thousand pounds. Twelve thousand of which has been allowed by the Arbitrators under the Canada Trade Act. The existence of these claims, which embraced even a proportion of the monies levied under certain Acts of the British Parliament, which, it was notorious, had never ceme into the Receiver General's Chest in Lower-Canada, being unknown to the Assem- bly, and the Executive Government, being the authority whose province it was to determine on point; relating to the execution of former agree- ments, the powers given to the Lower-Canada Commissioners did not ex- tend to them. The Upper-Canatla Commissioners claimed a fifth of the Revenue for the two years preceding 1st July 1821, which was allowed^ " re- ducing the Rum imported in 1820, to the average of the proceeding three years; " a great part of the said^ R u m being stiil in the stores in Lower-Ca^ nada; they asked for the ensuing two years a third of the Crown Duties, and a fourth of all the other Duties on Importations collected at Quebec ; the Commissioners of Lower-Canada objected to any proportion of the du- ties collected in Lower-Canada being allowed to Upper-Canada "beyond the next Session of the Legislature, " but that each Province should allow articles for the other to pass duty free, and oollect its own revenue ; and for facilitating this object they professed themselves willing to enter into any reciorocal arranaement which\\iaht Le thouaht orooer. Thev distinctlv Irritating proceed- ing*. Rejection of Upper Canada Commis- sioners Bill by Le- gislative Council. ( 12 ) 1820, no Session. 1821, Lord Dal- housie, Permanent Mil Grant re jected, legislative Council . 1822,^ Supply for King side refused. Anew Election having taken place, the Assembly was called together in the following year, (1820) before the Returns were complete; and intelligence of His Majesty's death having arrived soon after, the Assembly was again dissolved, so that no Session of the Legislature was held that year. In 1821, the new Governor, Lord DALUOUSIE, departed from the mode of requiring annual Supplies, a practice which had al- ready been sanctioned by Sir JOHN COAPE SHERBROOKE, and His ( j race'the Duke of RICHMOND, and by all the Branches of the Legislature. He asked for a permanent Supply; this was prompt- ly refused by the Assembly; it was however understood, by some Plembers of the Assembly, that an annual supply not detailed by items as in the Bill of 1819, but by chapters, would be agreeable to His Lordship; the majority of the Assembly consented to a Bill of that description, with some increase on the vote of 1819; it however met with the fate of the former Bill in the Legislative Council. The majority of the Assembly even went the length of humbly praying His Lordship by 'Address, to advance the amount of the Bill, which His Lordship refused. On the 6th March of this year, the Legislative Council adopt- ed several new standing rules, one of which states " That the Le- " gislative Council will not proceed upon any Bill of Appropria- " tion for the Civil List, which shall contain specifications therein " by chapters or items, norunless the same shall be granted du- " ring the life of His Majesty the King." What the Honorable Council understood by the Civil List in Lowe r-Canada , has, it is believed, never been explained; neither has the connexion between such a List and the life of the King, been ever clearly pointed out. It has been observed, however, that the first mention of a grant of the expenses of the Colonial Administration of Lower- Canada during the King's life, did notoccur till the first Session after the death of His late Majesty. In 1822, Lord Dalhousie asked for the Supplies'^/- the life of tile jjjfo'^ which the Assembly of course refused, but as HisMa- jestY>s N a m e w a s u s e d to e n f o r c e this demand, the Assembly ad- dressed His Lordship, to transmit the grounds of their refusal, to be laid at the Foot of the Throne. This His Lordship promised to comply with, on the 25th January, and on the 6th February, he sent a Message to the House, inf orming them that he had hitherto advanced on his own responsability, the monies necessary to com- plete the payment of the Civil Expenditure, but that it would not stated that from the experience of the past, they were persuaded that the present system " might, in the end lead to serious misunderstandings, de- " structive of the interests of the two Provinces, which are so intimately " connected by the ties of allegiance to the same Sovereign, and their lo- " cal position." The arrangement in respect to the proportion of duties to be allowed to Upper-Canada under the Trade Act, although Lower-Canada had no opportunity of being heard thereon, is incomparably better for both Provinces than the former system, which brought their inhabitants, by their representatives, at stated periods into a treaty on these duties, upon which it was so easy to occasion or excite misunderstandings. Instead of a third and nfourth which was asked by Upper-Canada, after 1st July 1821, the Act allowed only a. fifth, which was in effect offered by Lower-Canada, till a new arrangement might be made. The present arrangement is, that Upper .Canada shall be allowed a proportion of duties levied in Lower-Ca- nada on goods consumed in Upper-Canada, to be determined by Arbi t ra - tors, appointed under the Act of the Imperial Parliament. Any one of the parties that is dissatisfied may contend with the Government of the Em- pire, but they have no longer any pretext for contending with each other. (13) now be in his power to make further advances or venture a great- er stretch of responsability, and requesting about Thirty— five thou- sand pounds for "local establishments and objects of public charge " which form no part of His Majesty's Civil Government ar.d " are not connected with the Administration of Justice." This was the first time that the Assembly had heard of this new subdi- vision of " all the necessary Expenses of the Administration of " the Civil Government of the Province, " which it had offered to vote in 1810 . Objects of Expenditure, not relating to the Pro- vince generally, but to local objects, had been usually provided for by Bills distinct from the Supply for the general purposes of the Government; a Billof this nature was passed this Session, and up- wards of one Hundred and twenty thousand Dollars had been ap- plied in the same way, in the preceding year, independent of the General Bill of Appropriation . Besides, no Estimate accompa- nied this extraordinary demand, which could clearly indicate the objects to which the money required of the House was to be ap- plied, and this demand was of course rejected, the minority consist- ing of only five. His Lordship closed this Session on the 18th February, a date earlier than usual, while many important and useful measures were before the Assembly, and while His Excellency had in his possession the complaints of Upper-Canada against the Lower Province, transmitted to him to be laid before the Legislature, in consequence of an Address of the Legislature of the Upper Province, dated 8th January 1822, when that body dispatched these complaints with a Commissioner to lay them before His Majesty's Ministers. The tone of His Lordship's Speech on this occasion, however unexampled in Speeches from the Throne in England, since the accession of the present Royal Family, was of a nature, unfortunately for the harmony of the different Branches of the Legislature and the Country, too common in Canada; he stated that the Assembly "had withheld the ne- " cessary supplies, " seemed to doubt the intentions of that bo- dy, complimented the Legislative Council on their maintaining " the true principles of the Constitution, " and talked of employ- ing the powers entrusted to him by His Majesty for the good of His Subjects; a latitude for the employment of the powers of the Sovereign, which is generally thought too extensive for Constitu- tional Monarchies; and which many observed did not entirely co- incide with the declaration in His Excellency's first Speech from the Throne, (16th Deer. 1820) "It shall be my constant study " to administer the Government according to !he Laws . " In the beginning of the month of June following this proroga- tion, vague reports were first circulated in this Province of an in- tention 'on the part of His Majesty's Ministers to introduce a Bill into Parliament for the Union of the Provinces of Upper and Lower-Canada . On the 4th July, authentic intelligence to that effect was made public. Little uneasiness had, previously, existed on the subject of the Upper-Canada complaints. No one con- ceived that they could be proceeded upon by His Majesty's Go- vernment without the Legislature of Lower-Canada being, at least, obbiciaiiy furnished uith these complaints : few were aware that to the complaint itself was appended, presumptive evidence of that having been done. A Bill alledged to be founded on these complaints was however introduced into Parliament by Local Establish, ments, rejected by Assembly. Early close of the Session. Upper-Canada conplaints with- held. Union Hi 11 before Parliament . ( 14 ) 1823. Grant pass- ed. 1824. Defalcation Provincial Chest. the Under Secretary of Stale for the Colonies, and read the first time on the 20th June. Upper-Canada by its Commissioner present in London, chiefly made its own arrangement of these differences, and the portion of the Union Bill which related there-, to, became a L a w on the 5th August . The Bill as it was origin- ally introduced and as printed afterwards containing the Union Clauses only, by depriving the French Canadians and the Inha- bitants of Lower-Canada generally, of their just proporlion of Representatives in the proposed Assembly, by augment ing the qualifications of the Members, and forcing them to go many hun- dreds of miles to the seat of Legislation, at a time which must be either unsuitable to their business or inconvenient for travelling, and in both cases expensive, and by lengthening the duration of the Assemblies, and by the facility which would be afforded by dis- tinct prejudices to foment division, and excite feelings of personal and local intererests in that body and among its constituents, seems to have had in view something more than settling the differences between the two Provinces and preventing their future recurrence. It may have been thought, by some of the adviserr. of the Bill connected with the Colonies, that in an Assembly so composed and circumstanced, a majority of Members might be found, who could be induced to grant as much of the property of their con- stituents, as any Governor with the advice and concurrence of the Gentlemen who spend a great proportion of the public monies, might chuse to ask, and in such mode and for such time as they might think fit to dictate beforehand by a Resolution ad hoc, and without their being subject to any controul but their own, or a controul which must be guided, in great measure, by their repre- sentations to the Treasury in England. The Commissioner for Upper-Canada, the Attorney General of the Province, who knew the ground well, and also suspected the object of these clauses, could not help, as a servant of the Crown, informing His Majes- ty's Ministers, that if such were the objects they would not be at- tained. In 1823, the Assembly protesting against the newly invented distinction in regard to the Provincial Expenditure, granted all that was asked by the Governor, for one year, and the Bill giving effect to this Grant also passed the Legislative Council, under a salvo of their former pretensions. The Assembly also passed this Session several Bills of Indemnity to the amount-of its votes for former years, in conformity to the report of a Committee of the previous Session, to whom had been referred Lord Dalhousie's Message asking an indemnity, of the 8th January 1822. These Bills were, however, rejected by the Council; they were indeed erroneous in point of stile. In 1824, the Defalcation in the Receiver General's Chest, amounting to about Eour hundred thousand Dollars, was officially communicated, by Message from the Governor to the Assembly; and one of the Receiver General ' s accounts was, for the first time since the establishment of the present Constitution, laid before the House. It appeared, on investigation, that the former Re- ceiver General had long owed a large balance, which was stated to be about One hundred and sixty thousand Dollars when he was succeeded by his Son in 1809, 'and that accounts stating this large balance, frequently, rapidly increasing, although occasional- Iv, less than the balance stated bv^ the Colonial Adminstration to be (15) in the Receiver General's hands at the disposal of the Legisla- ture, had been, by the Receiver General, regularly laid before the Colonial Government, and after being reported on by the Execu- tive Council, transmitted to the Treasury in England. The As- sembly, after addressing his Majesty for the recovery of this mo- ney ; proceeded on the Estimates of the Expenses for the current year, and refusing to acknowledge the distinction against which they had protested in 1823, and which was still adhered to by the Executive, voted the whole of the Estimates of the Civil Expen- diture, deducting generally, from each salary 25 per cent, alledg- ing the circumstances of the country, the Defalcation in the Chest, the non payment of the Appropriation by Law of the pre- ceding year, and an unwillingness to have recourse to Loans for the ordinary expenses of Government . The Bill which, in conformity to this vote, omitting however the amount of each item and mentioning only the sum total voted, was sent up to the Council, was rejected by that, body, which came to several Resolutions on the subject, and addressed His Majesty, transmitting Copies thereof, datedSth Mar ch 1824, pray- ing that he would be " graciously pleased to recommend the state • ' of this Province to the consideration of the Imperial Parlia- " ment, to the end that Legislative provision may be made to re- " medy the evils to which we have referred, and to prevent their " recurrence in future, or that Your Majesty will be pleased to " adopt such other measures as Your Majesty in your great wis- " dom, shall deem fit and effectual for this purpose." This Address, which was, in effect, praying for the Union or any other measure on the part of the Imperial Government, which might maintain the pretensions of the Executive and Le- gislative Council in respect to the Public Expenditure, was warm- ly concurred in by Lord Dalhousie on its being presented to him for transmission. During the whole of the difficulties since 1819, up to the 1st November 1823 inclusive, the entire expenses of the Ciril Admi- nistration of the Government, were paid under the authority of the Governor's Warrants with the concurrence of the Execu- tive Council, with very little, if any, regard to the votes of the As- sembly ; generally, according to the Estimates sent down, (ex- cepting perhaps that of 1819, ) and in some instances with the ad- dition of new salaries and increased expenses; notwithstanding the Governor's express declaration in his Message of the 6th Fe- bruary 1822, and his Speeeh from ihe Throne at the close of that Session. New Salaries and expenses are stated to have been al- lowed and paid, while Appropriations expressly made by Act of the Provincial Parliament remained unpaid. Since the half year due on the 1st May last, the Gentlemen who hold Commissions under the Crown in this Province, but "form no part of His Majesty's Civil Govertunent or of the Administration of Justice therein," as well as other necessary expenses of His Majesty's Civil Government in the Colony, have remained unpaid; while the money appropriated by L a w generally, for the support of the Civil Government and the Administration ef Justice, has been divided among such of the public officers, as the Governor and Council have thought fit, in payment of their entire salaries, the Governor and Council, and their connexions partaking of a large proportion of the whole amount; the Lieut. Governor's salary Grant rejected by legLslatif Council, and its Address to His Majesty. Entire Civil Ex- penses paid to ist November 1823, and part omitted afterwards . ( 16 ) exclusive, which was granted by Act of the Legislature in 182J, during his residence in the Province. There remains to deduce from the foregoing statement of incon- Gencral Remark. testable facts and the public docunaentstherein referred to, the pre- tensions of the contending parties, and to apply to them the prin- ciples of Free Government as established under the British Con- stitution and the Act constituting the Government of this Pro- vince. In the me an time, it ma y not be improper to remark, that should some symptoms of irritation in the Assembly and the Country, have occasionally m a de their appearance, under a denial of the right exercised by the Hou s e of C omm o n s , according to the Resolve of the 3rd July 1678, and by all the Colonial Assemblies, to 'direct, limit and appoint the ends, purposes, considerations, " conditions, limitations and qualifications" of all its grants or gfts to the Crown ; and under the avowed application of the mo- ney raised on the Subject in the Colony without the consent of his Representatives; it may be doubted, if the course followed on the other side, has been marked by that moderation, candour, consistency, wisdom, and respect for the Law, which are essential to the dignity and interests of the Crown, the harmony of the Legislature and of ajl classes of the people. There is a mystery concerning the pretensions of the Colonial Executive, the Legislative Council, and the House of Assembly, which it is necessary to explain, in order to give a correct idea of these pretensions. Constitutionally and nominally there are three parties concern- ed ; in reality, it would seem, that there are only two. The Governors are appointed by the Crown, during pleasure; Composition of the they have generally been military men, entire strangers to the Co- legislature, lony, and whose education and habits have not been the most fa- vorable to Civil Government; particularly under a Constitution which allows the governed a voice in the management of their Governor. public concerns. Their stay in the Colony since the commence- ment of the Constitution has not averaged three years, which is less than the duration of the American Presidency, or the term of the Governor's office in many of the States of the Union. It is not possible that they should be well acquainted with the affairs of the Colony on their arrival; they nevertheless have to act im- mediately, and they must, generally, act on such information as they can obtain from those to whom", from the situations which they hold, they are, in a great measure, bound to look for advice. The Governor of a Colony, who is the Depositary of the authori- ty of a Monarch whose powers and prerogatives are limited or de- fined by Law, underwhoseCovernment the L a w i s in fact the supreme rule of conduct for all, cannot exercise despotic or unli- mited power. He ought to act by advice and through established and responsible channels. Our Governors are said to represent the King ; they do exercise some part of the Kingly power ; but they are, far from possessing its reality, its durability 'and its inde- pendence. They are liable to actions" in England at the instance of individuals, to charges before the King in Council, to Parlia- mentary impeachment, and are removeable at the pleasure of the King, acting by his responsable advisers; and this maybe effected with marks of displeasure, which, from the general justice with which these have been inflicted in England, may amount to a ve- rv severe ounishment. If those to whom a Governor is to look (H) For advice, and through whom he must act, should be liable to no certain responsibility ; if they should happen to be bound together by any tie of individual interest; if, in addition to this, thev should have a decided controul over one Branch of the Legislature, and could arrest the whole of its proceedings; if ihey had also the ex- pounding of the Law in the Courts of Justice; a Governor must find himself very powerfully supported both in and out of the Co- lony, who would think it adviseable to take a decided part in op- position t o their views . Sir ROBERT PRESCOTT, Sir GEORGE PRE- VOST and Sir J 0 H N C. SHERBROOKE, all Governors in Chief, ha- zarded SUCh a step in this Colony; but, perhaps, not with that success, which can furnish any very powerful inducement tooth- ers, to follow their example. Those who are acguainted with the history of the Province, must remember, that although the public officers, nominally at least, hold their Commissions during the Go- vernors' pleasure, as acting for the Sovereign, several of them did not hesitate, openly, to oppose the Governor, whenever the Exe- cutive Council was opposed to him. The Members of the Executive Council for the Province are appointed by the Crown, during pleasure, of course on informa- Executive Conn- tion from the Colony, for the purpose of advising the Governor in the execution of the duties of his office. He is not indeed ob- liged to consult them, unless in cases particularly required by his instructions. He may consult whomsoever amongst them he plea- ses, without consulting the others. In England it is held that their advice cannot relieve the Governor from his responsabilities, and of course that the Executive Councillors are not responsable there for the advice they give. Hitherto they have not been ex- posed to muchresponsability in the Colony in the ordinary Admi- nistration of Justice, as members of their body preside or form a majority of the Court of King's Bench at the seat of Govern- ment, and compose the Court of Appeals, the Tribunal of last resort in the Colony. An order from His present Majesty, then acting in behalf of his Royal father, declaring the Legislative Council a Tribunal for the trial of Impeachments preferred by the Assembly, was indeed given to the Colonial Government in 1818 ; but it was held in the Colony to be quite insufficient; and it was finally, indirectly at least, countermanded. Notwithstanding this absence of responsability, the Executive Council has in effect the entire management and controul within the Colony of the Finances of the Province; it audits all ac- counts, allows or disallows the expenditures, makes out the esti- mates, and approves the payments. It i^ the Treasury in Eng- land with all its dependancies, the Ministers and Cabinet Coun- cil, the Privy Council, and the Court of Juslice in last re- sort ; every thing without the severe, the strict, the real responsa- bility which attaches to all and every one of these important Offi- ces and Departments of Government in Great Britain, and with- out which there could be no sieady security for freedom, for justice, for peace and good government . It would indeed seem to be beyond the power of man to perform well, such various and im- portant duties, and beyond the ordinary strength of human vir- tue always to withstand the multiplied temptations to which these Gentlemen may be exposed. It is true, they have a check in the Governor, without whose Sanction their acts are not availing, and who has a real responsibility out of the Province . But it has been shewn that this check maybe unavailing. With us the es- ( 18 ) legislative Coun. Remains , 2 1 tgblished order of the British Constitution is reversed; the person acting in the place of the Sovereign, is responsable; the advi- sers, without whom it is almost impossible for him to act, are not responsable . But it is not only the duties of the more immediate servants, ad- visers and officers of the Crown, the Privy Council, and the Ju- diciary, that the Members of His Majesty's Executive Council in this Province are called upon to perform. They have also un- dertaken to discharge the duties of the House of Lords; that au- gust body, the individuals of which recall to memory all the great, virtuous and patriotic deeds of a long line of noble ancestors, who themselves are stUl the natural aristocracy of the country, who possess a great portion of the soil of the Kingdom, and whose in- terests and prosperity are inseparably connected with those of the nation; thus, equally independent of the Crown and the people, they form the strongest possible barrier against the abuse of pow- er, which is necessarily vested in the Crown and its servants, and the violence of popular feelings, and afford the best security for the permanency of the Constitution and the inviolability of pro- perty, which is the main object of every good government, and the fundamental principle of British Freedom. The EXECUTIVE COUNCIL of Lower-Canada consists of Twelve Members ; 12 Of these are absent: 2 10 Holding Nine of the principal Public Offices in the Colony, with salaries during pleasure, viz. Chief Justice, Speaker of the Legislative Council; Judg- es, K. B. 2, Judge A dm. Collector of Customs, Chairman Board of Audit, Clerk Legislative Council, Receiver General, 7 Holding only the Salary of Councillor, i ¥eidiBg5s3S^?WB0fe©^CP5lL<§:lrS^4e%(i<§5ri8iri|ntl^fts last Jour- na] , appointed by the Crown ^r ]lle. and resident in the Province, 33 Members absent from the Province, 3 Incapacitated by age or infirmity, or not usually at- tending the Sessions, Irregularly attending. Of these are: Members of the Executive Council holding seven of the principal Public Offices, with Salaries during pleasure, in addition to Salary of ^100 Sterling as Executive Councillor, Ditto, holding no Salary but that of Executive Coun- cillor, or Salary not paid out of the Colonial Funds, (19) Other Public Officers holding Salaries during plea- sure, usually attending, 6 Seigneurs, Merchants and others, having no Salary paid out of the money raised on the Subject in the Colony, *7 . 21 I he five Gentlemen who do not regularly attend the Sessions, hold no Public Office. The COLONIAL A S S E M B L Y consists of Fifty Members, elecled for four years, in the Counties by the Freeholders, and in Towns by Freeholders and resident Lease-holders paying not less than :£10 Sterling per annum. Members holding five different Public Offices in the Colony, with Salaries during pleasure, 4 Landholdeis, Professional Gentlemen, Merchants and Traders, — 40 50 From the preceding Statements, it is conceived that it must be admitted that the pretensions in regard to the expenditure of the monies raised on the Subject m this Province, as urged by the Co- onial Executive and the Legislative Council, may, generally speaking, be considered as the pretensions of the same persons. They are the pretensions of those who collect, receive, check, au- thorize payment and spend in part, the public monies. On the other hand, the pretensions of the Assembly are the pretensions of the Representatives of those who pay that money. Pretensions of this sort, have, generally, been much at variance in all parts of the world. It requires great wisdom and a predo- minant sense of the common welfare, to prevent them, on both sides, from running into extremes. Under the British Constitu- tion it has been effected for the longest time and perhaps with the greatest success. If the elements of a real counterpart of the Constitutional au- thorities of the Mother Country do not exist in the Colonies, the fundamental principles and the practice of her Constitution, ought, at least, to be kept constantly in view, by all the Colonial authorities, as the surest means of promoting a harmonious co- operation amongst them and the public welfare, which is the object of their institution. The advice and proceedings of the Executive Council are se- cret, excepting when otherwise provided by the Royal Instruc- tions, or when divulged by authority of the Governor. The pre- tensions of that body, in regard to the financial differences with the Assembly, may be learnt from the proceedings and votes of the majority of the Executive Councillors, who are Members of the Legislative Council, and from the votes of the Public Officers in the Legislative Council and in the Assembly, who, on financial questions have, generally, co-incided with the Executive Coun- cillors. The Documents, sanctioned by the Executive Council, laid before the Legislature by the Governor, are also good autho- rity in this matter. The pretensions of the EXECUTIVE COUNCIL, may be stated from these authorities as follows, in the order of time at which they have been made public; Assembly. ( 20 ) Pretensions of the ^ ° • ^hatanannuai 3 pp]-opriation for all the necessary expen- Executive Coun- ses of the Colonial Government is inadmissible by Items, in the ell. mode offered by the Assembly on the Message and Estimates of His Grace the Duke of Richmond in 1819. {Resolve, L. C. 9.1st April 1819.) 2 ° . That the mode of an annual appropriation by chapters of the same expenses, as offered by the Assembly in 1821, is equally inadmissible. (Resolve, L. C. rejecting BUI App. 1821.) 3 °. That no Bill of appropriation for the expenses of the Go- lonial Government which the Gouncil terms the Givil List, is ad- missible, which shall contain "specifications by Ghaptersor Items, " nor unless the same shall be granted during the life of His Ma- " jesty the King . " 4 ° . That no Bill appropriating public money is admissible, un- 1 ess it has been recommended by the Executive. 5 ° . That no Bill appropriaiing public money advanced upon Address of the Assembly, the expenses of the House excepted, unless on an emergency unforeseen at the commencement of the Session, and which did not allow of a Bill being passed at the’ time, is admissible. 6 ° . That no Bill for any Salary or Pension to be created or augmented, is admissible, unless the quantum is recommended by the Governor. (1.) Resolves, L. C. 6th March 1821.) 7 ° . That certain parts of the necessary expenses of the Givil Government are distinct from the expenses " of the Givil Go- vernment and the Administration of Justice" intended by the British Act 14th Geo. III. Ghap. 88, and the Provincial Act of 1795, permanently appropriating money "towards the expenses, of the Givil Government and the Administration of Justice." and by the Order of His Majesty, signified by .Message of the 29th April 1794, that the Territorial and Gasual Revente "be applied towards defraying the Givil Expenses of the Province. (Message 6th Feby. 1822, and Resolves, L. C, 18th March 1823, 20th March 1823, and 6 March 1824.) 8 ° . That the Golo.nial Government may, of its own authori- ty, determine what parts of" the necessary expenses of the Givil Government and the Administration of Justice, may be so heldto be distinct from the expenses intended by the said authorities, and apply the monies arising from the above mentioned sources t(3 these expenses alone, (lb.) 9 ° . That the residue "may be temporarily provided for" by the Assembly, " by specifications of Items, oiiuts and pDr^oses &c . " (i6.) The Report of the Legislative Gouncil, (Journal \lth March 1823,) contains the Law arguments and authorities on the ri^ht of the Golonial Government and in support of the three last preten- sions. It was adopted on the 20th of that month, and unanimously confirmed6th March 1824. P resent: The Honble. Ghief Justice of money relating to the public service but what is recommended by the Governor." ( 21 ) The gbjects, generally, of the opposition to an annual vote of the Assembly, in addition to the support of the Law, " the su-^. premacy of the Parent State, and the constitutional principles and practice of the Mother Country," is stated in the Resolution of the Legislative Council of 2lst April 1819, and the above men- tioned Report and Resolves of 17th March 1823, and 6th March 182-2, viz. to prevent " an assumption of unconstitutional and il- legal pp-wers" in the Assembly ; the Officers of the Crown from being Tendered dependant on an elective bodv, by which, eventual- ly, their Allegiance ; might be endangered ; the introduction of " republican principles and practice and '•that pernicious annual " dependance upon the favoritism or prejudice of a popular body, " which would gradually undermine the correct discharge of duty " by the public officer, and tend to discourage men of upright anil " independent mind and character from accepting offices, when " the tenure and remuneration would be so precarious." Acting on the foregoing pretensions, the annual supplies of- fered by the Assembly for five years, have been refused. Money raised on the Subject in the Colony, is alledged to have been applied without " the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and Assembly, " which is required by the 47th Clause of the Act of the Btiti'sh Parliament, 31st Geo. HI . Chap. 31, constituting the Government of the Province. (2.) It is besides maintained, by the 7th Resolution of 6th March 1824, to be laid before His Majesty, that the application of the money, " was necessary for carrying on the Government," and being ".of the same description as sanctioned by the Assembly, in 1B18, " it cannot now be fairly objected to." And an Address of the same date, transmitted by His Excel- lency the Governor in Chief, to be laid at the Foot of the Throne, calls for the intervention of the Imperial Parliament, to the end " that legislative provisions may be made to remedy the evils to " which we have referred." [The financial embarrassments of the Colonial Government . ] The pretensions of the ASSEMBLY are to be found in its Resol- ves and proceedings recorded in its Journals. Pretensions of the 1 ° . "That all aids and supplies, granted to His Majesty by Assembly, the Legislature of Lower-Canada , are the sole gift of the Assem- bly of tnis Province, and all Bills for granting such aids and sup- plies ought to begin with the Assembly, and it is the undoubted right of the Assembly to direct, limit and appoint, in all *uch Bills, the ends, purposes, considerations, conditions, limitations and qua- lifications of such grants, which are not alterable by the Legislative Council. (Standing Rule adopted in 17 93, from a Resolve of the House of Commons, nearly in the same words, of 3rd July 1678.) 2 ° . That the net produce of all duties payable in this Pro- vince, be applied to and for the use thereof, " in such manner on- ly, " as shall be directed by any Law or Laws which may be made by His Majesty, his Heirs or Successors, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and Assembly of this (2.) Excess of the Expenditure above the votes of the House to I8£2 only. 1818. made good 1823. 1819. £21124 13 11, 1820. 6245 4 5 1821. 3915 5 4 The expenses also considerably exceeded the Estimates each year, except- ing 1819. ( 22 ) Province. (Entries Journal 1821. Resolves 12th January 1822, 46th and 47th Clauses Constitutional Act 31st Geo. Ill, Chap. 31, set forth in the above Entry of 1821.) 3 ° . That in the present circumstances of the Province, (3) no (3.) These circumstances are set forth in the Address of the Assembly to Hi ® Majesty, of the 21st January 1822, and are in substance as follows : lo. Variable and uncertain revenue and resources, from the severity of the climate, the Acts and power of the British Parliament for regulating trade, and the actual diminution of the Revenue; the abuses and dif- ficulties in obtaining new lands for the increase of settlement, the want - of means of education and diversion of the funds originally granted to the Colony for that purpose. 2 ° . Variable nature of the expenditure of a new country, and insufficiency of the existing check, from the concentration of nearly all the powers of Government and the Judiciary in the same persons, and consequent want of responsability. 3 0. The expenditure of the Civil Government being nearly the total of the the Revenue at the disposal of the Assembly, whilst in Great Britain it is only a small fraction of the Revenue . ° . The permanent appropriations already made, exceeding the total of the expenses of the Civil Government as they stood in 1797. 5 0 , The Revenue levied on the Subject in the other Colonies, never perma- nently disposed of by the Assemblies, as the annual disposal of that Revenue, gives them the only fufficient check on the expenditure, and the means of maintaining and securing the rights, liberties and pro- perty of the Subject. The variations in the amount of the gross Revenue of Lower Canada (without deducting amount paid to Upper Canada) from 1795 to 1820 inclu- sive, is represented by the following figures for the different years in succes- sion. During the seven last years, (from 1814) the variation in the Revenue Laws in force was inconsiderable. (1795.) 10, 18, 13, 21, 25, 20, 26, 31, 31, 32, 46, 35, 35, 40, 67, 70, 74, 60, 99, 203, 149, 130, 108, 89, 117, 112. (1820.) The frail tenure of the greatest part of the existing Revenue, so well se- cured by permanent Laws, may be understood from the following testimony given before a Committee of the Assembly in 1823, by a Gentleman of ex- tensive information and much experience, who has, as he states, been up_ wards of twenty years engaged in trade and mercantile affairs in this Co_ ony . " The honest and innocent peasantry of this Country most unfortunately have a dislike to Corn Spirits; until the manufacturing and consumption of this is generally introduced, there will be a want of demand for the na- tive Grain. This branch of business would afford employment to many hands, and the offals is the best feed for bestial. Let us look to the United States, to Great Britain or Ireland, and the other Eastern or Corn Coun- tries in Europe, and there we see how this branch aids the operations of the cultivator of the ground, and in Upper Canada the people may now be said to deny themselves the use of Foreign Spirits, not by legal enactment, but by their patriotism and good sense, in finding a Home Market for their Grain by distillation and brewing. If Five thousand Puncheons of good Whiskey were annually made in Lower Canada, the Country would be in- dependent of foreign demand for Grain, which is at the best precarious, and this quantity is not half of our yearly supply of Rum now-a-days . The ma- nufacture of Barley into Beer and Spirits, of late years, I estimate from forty to fifty thousand minots, and did not, at any period, reach one hun- dred thousand minots . " The same Gentleman, in a previous examination in 1822, states, that " to his knowledge the Consumption of Upper Canada has changed from Rum to Whiskey within the last four or five years, almost entirely." That at their prices of Grain, it might be manufactured in that Province and on the Arne . rican side of the Lakes and St. Lawrence, at from Is. to Is. 3d. per Gallon, and brought to Quebec for an additional 3d. per gallon. Should imported Spiri^^ not be able to maintain the usual competition in (23) •• additional er an ^ . es of he Ci'^il ? ^PP'^°P»«t™" for the necessary expen- |^e§pf the Civil Government of the Province, ought to be made » by an annual vote of the House. ’^Vote SJ-P f Addressto Lord Dalhou- ary Wi "" "dnfcf uary, Address to the King 21st Janu- ary 1 8 ) Resolves March 1823, and 24th Febru- 2°' yhA ^the Hou^ Sg ought to reslst the pretensions announ- ced in the- Message of the Governor in Chief of 6th February 1822, relating to the distinction of local expenditures. (24th Fe- bruary 1824 . ) 5 . That 'the application of any sum of money raised on the Subject in this Province, otherwise than as authorized and direct- ed by Law, is a misapplication of the public money, for which the House will hold all concerned responsible. (Resolves 12th Ja- nuary 1822, 7th March 1823, and 24th February 1824.) On the 18th March 1821, the House resolved : " That the honourable Legislative Council cannot constitutio- nally, prescribe, or dictate to this House, the manner or form of proceeding on Bills of Aid or Supply, nor upon any matter or thing whatsoever, and that every attempt of the Legislative Council for that purpose is a breach of the rights and privileges of this House . " " That all Resolutions, by which one branch of the Legislature laydown for themselves before hand, and in general man- ner, a rule not to proceed on Bills of a certain form or description, which may be offered to them — by another Branch, is contrary to Parliamentary Laws and usages, to the constitutional Act, and to the liberties, rights and pri- viles of the other Branches of the Legislature, and even of that Branch which adopts such Resolutions." Various other Resolves, in opposition to others of the standing Rules adopted by the Legislative Council on the 6th March 1821, were passed at the same time . tensions. The substance of the pretensions of the Colonial Executive, as recorded in the Documents and Acts above referred to and in the r/!™?,^'' proceedings of the Legislative Council, seems to be: That the Assembly is to furnish the supplies in such mode and for such time as the Executive may think fit. That, if the Assembly do not so furnish them, the Governor and Council may authorize the payment of such Public Expen- diture as they think proper, out of monies raised on the Subject in this Province for the public uses, without the consent of the American side of the Lakes, and even in Upper Canada; their situation from the richness of the soil affording cheap subsistence, and the facility of internal communication, will indeedprobably make them the first extensive manufacturing Districts in North America. The Revenue raised on Impor- tations at Quebec, will also be in danger from these Manufactories. The whole amount of the Duties raised on merchandize at the Port of Quebec, in fact operates as a bounty in favor of Domestic and American Manufac- tures. These Duties are, however, generally, much less than in the Ame- rican Seaports, where they are laid on, in many instances, more with an in- tention of encouraging Domestic Manufactures, than for raising a Reve- nue ; , a p olicy whic h dqqs npt seem suitable tg be adapted fop Canada, as a ro imrfe omiwi .s Im.bRra^rFn'fii d(ainmannFta fchelainbffiiiab of pre„ ( 24 ; General observa- tions. Assembly, and even without confining itself within the Votes of that Body for the amount of the Expenditure. A more complete denial of controul in the Assembly over the Expenditure could hardly be devised. It is not confined to words; it is embodied in acts. If there were any Law to this effect, the advisers of this course, would have been at their ease; but they seem to avow that there is no Law which authorises them, at least, to the extent of their wishes, bv addressing the Imperial Government for " Legislative provision" to relieve them from their difficulties. They, in fact, appeal to the Imperial Government to establish that the Representatives of the people of a Colony, which is call- ed upon by the Sovereign, and is bound to provide for " all the necessary Expenditure of its Civil Government, " a Colony which has, in fact, for thirty years past, furnished the money to pay that Expenditure, and must continue to do so, shall have no controul over the amount of the expenditure, but that it shall be regulated by persons who receive a great part of the money as a compensa- tion for their services, or by others who are not the Representa- tives of the Inhabitants of the Colony, over whom they can have no check, and who cannot possibly be acquainted with their cir^ cumstances, their public wants, and the means they have of pro- viding for them ! It can hardly be necessary to set forth the principles of the Bri- tish Constitution on such an occasion. The Common understand- ing of mankind will pronounce against this pretension and this proceeding. They are in deed in direct opposition to the funda- mental principle of the British Constitution and of every free Government, of which no British Subject, no Freeman, can be presumed to be ignorant, viz: that he has " an absolute property in his Goods and Estates." If this pretension, in the view taken of it, were unfortunately to prevail, it would in principle at least, establish a worse system of Government in this country, than prevails in any othfr coun- try of the civilized world. In the countries where arbitrary Go- vernments prevail, the Rulers have a life interest, a family inte- rest, in the welfare and affections of the people over whose .pro- perly they have an unchecked controul. It is only a vicious, weak or imbecile Despot, who can be disposed to draw from his people, or spend more of their property, than is absolutely necessary for the public uses. He is permanently in the midst of them ; their misfortunes are his misfortune ; as has been so strongly exempli- fied in the history of Europe. Here, those who might exercise this power over the property of the King's Subjects, would not even have a life interest with them, they might draw largely from that property, and be gone ; or they might proceed till arrested bv the general misery and public indignation which their conduct would inevitably produce. It is scarcely possible that the mischiefs which, under the ordi- nary working of human passions and human selfishness, would almost inevitably flow from the principle of those pretensions have been seriously contemplated by any of those who have sup- ported them. On the contrary the proceedings themselves indicate, that they have been put forth under alarm ; under an unwarrantable want (25) of taxation, and which is enjoyed by every other Colony inhabited by natural born British Subjects furnishing the whole or part of the expenses of its own Civil Government. The House of Commons grants an annual sum for the Civil List Expenditure, or in the words of the Law "for the support of the honour and dignity of the Crown," during the King's Reign, in virtue of its undoubted right of granting the property of its constituents, to such amount, for such purposes, and for such period, as it deems expedient. That House is ihe judge of the expediency ; and, at least since the expulsion of the Stuarts, no one has ever attempted to question the right of that body, or to dictate to it on this subject. In the Colonies, the Assemblies have uniformly judged of the expediency, differently from the House of Commons; probably, because the circumstances, which must guide the judgment in the exercise of every right, were different. If the Royal person could in reality exist among us in the full exercise of all his most beneficent powers and prerogatives, du- ring his Reign ; if our Judges held their Commissions, as in Eng- land, during good behaviour; if a proper responsability and ac- countability were established in the Colony, perhaps the circum- stances which have, most probably, pointed out to the House of Commons the expediency of making an annual Gran: during the King's life, or the tenure of office, might have equal weight in this Colony. That the Inhabitants of the Province and their Representa- tives have, at all times, been, liberally, disposed to provide for the support of their Government to the extent of their means, expe- rience does not warrant the entertaining of a doubt ; however jealous they may have lately shewn themselves of their right to grant. It is the poor man' s pcculium; it is all they have to give. It is certainly much to be regretted that in a contestation of this nature, we should have heard so much from an authority so high as that of His Majesty's Executive Councillors for the af- fairs of the Province, about the necessity of supporting " the su- premacy of the parent state," about "republican principles and practice." Persons, at a distance, might be led to think that the people of Lcwer-Canada , as was said in 1810, were ripe for rebel- lion; or that they had all at once fallen in love with republicanism. If any seriously entertain such opinions now, they are assuredly as much in error, as those who entertained similar opinions in 1775, and in 1810 . On the other hand, it would be a great error to suppose that the Inhabitants of Lower-Canada, whether they may trace their descent from the Gael, the Saxon, or the Norman of foimer times, or whether, at later periods, their forefathers or themselves have come from the Islands or Continent of Europe, are not fully aware of their rights as British Subjects, and as determined to maintain these rights, as they have proved themselves faithful and determined in the discharge of their duties. ( 26 ) NOTE. MARTIN has read a Communication subscribed DENIS, which was published in the Quebec Mercury of the 20th Dec. last, and translated and re-published in French in the Gazette published in this City, by authority, of the 30th December . DENIS ’ publication is chiefly in support of the pretension of the ’ Colonial Executive to dispose of ihe monies levied in this Pro- vince under the Act of the British Parliament of 1774, in the payment of such expenses of the Civil Government of the Pro- vince, as it thinks proper to allow and pay exclusively out of these, monies . MARTIN did not enter into any discussion on the subject of that Act ; he merely staled the facts as they appeared to him from the inspection of Documents. The Revenue levied in this country under legislative Acts of the French King does appear to him to have ceased at the Conquest : it was varied and revi vedby an Order of His Majesty in Council of the 22nd November 1765, and ordered to be collected by Proclamation at Quebec, of the 5th July 1766. This Order was publicly objected to at the time, in this Colony and in other Colonies to which the Royal Proclama- tion of the 7th October 1763 extended. It is well known that this Proclamation has been formally decided, in the Courts of Law in England, to have barred the King ' s ri^t as a conqueror, in so far as the common ri^ts of His Subjects in these Colonies are con- cerned. It is probable that DENIS, who appears to 'be a Lawyer, could put his hand on. the case as argued and determined. The Revenue Act of 1774, is pretty good proof that it was so under- stood in Parliament, and Lord DORCHESTER' S Message of 1794, conveying a conditional offer of the repeal of this Act , shews that the British Government, at that time at least, had doubts of its constitutionality. If the King's right, as a conqueror, was good, why have recourse to an Act of Parliament ? Why could not His Majesty dispose of that Revenue as he thought fit, as he has in fact disposed of the Territorial Revenue, which DENIS very singularly confounds with a Revenue raised on the Subject generally ? Why in fact take away from the King a Re- venue which was his at common Law, and apply the proceeds as public money for the use of the Colony, under Officers responsa- ble to Parliament? The House of Assembly in 1819, actedmore prudently in regard to the Revenues arising from this Statute, than those who are opposed to that Body ; it left this Act a moot point. In the Bill providing for all the necessary expenses of the Civil Government 'for that year, as required by the Governor's Estimate and the King' s Instructions, it merely stated that these expenses were to be paid " out of the public monies that now are " or that shall hereafter come into the hands of the Receiver " General ; " and Ihat the appropriations already made by Acts of the Colonial Legislature, " thall be laken in deduction" of the sums appropiiated in the Bill It is obvious that if the proceeds of the British Revenue Act of 1774, were appropriated bevond the operation of the Declarator// Act of 1778, and the Constilu- ( 27 ) tional Act^of 17 91, to the expenses of the Colonial Government, any provision of the Bill of 1819, which might be supposed to af- fect that appropriation wasamere surplusage . No Act of a Co- lonial Legislature, (or even of the King's Ministers) can alter, repeal or suspend an Act of Parliament expressly made for a Co- lony. If the pretensions of the Colonial Executive had been well founded, there was no ground for alarm. By the above mention- ed Bill, the expenses of the Government, as they stood in 1817, generally, were allowed by the Assembly, for the first time, after examination. The right of the Executive, if it had such a right, would still have remained good. The Act of Parliament would have supported itself against every thing; and it would have been quite time enough to appeal to it, when it could have been shewn that the Assembly had made the odious and pernicious use of its right, which the Council in its Report of the 17th March 1824, so unwarrantably seems to apprehend, in contradiction to the con- fidence reposed in the People of the Province and their Represen- tatives by the King's Instructions of 1817, requiring an annual vote of the Colonial Expenditure, and indeed in contradiction to that confidence reposed in the Colony by the Supreme Authority of the Empire, when the present Constitution was granted. MARTIN does not think it necessary to enter into a full discus- sion on the subject of the Revenue Act of 1774, at present; but should it ever be necessary for him to do so, he thinks he will be able to shew the right of His Majesty's Subjects in this Colony, by means of their Representatives, to provide by Bill for the ap- plication of every farthing raised in the shape of Revenue within this Colony, the amount of appropriations already made by Act of the Colonial Legislature, and the proportion awarded, or which ma y be awarded, to Upper-Canada, only excepted; and that the application of no part of that money is legal without their consent . MARTIN is glad to have had the testimony of so respectable a writer as DENI S , to the facts alledged by him in his statement of the proceedings on our Financial Difficulties down to the close of the Session of 1824, "wiih a single exception," which Martin cannot help thinking had better not have been made . He is very willing that DENIS and the Public should draw such inferen- ces from these facts and ascribe suc-h motives to M A R T I N as they thick proper . -Sth January 1824. t- 3. ,r^^ ClL * W ' K # V # ':k > ♦ ' I . .•'’•^v.>^3'-» , ** ’.*■■ '• • ♦T - . ' V ♦ ^ : I \ •. - ^ ; f i 5 , .^'..--flr- • ^ ;. ’;,-'rf_- ;> '»#.•.•. . . A 91886 'z%3 . I ;