his party to permit the transaction of no further business under the present form of government; but after passing an address signifying this their determination, to await the decision of Her Majesty's Government upon their application for responsible government.

An amendment to the question was then proposed by Mr. Emerson, consisting of an address complete in itself, and which is herewith transmitted; and which after a lengthened opposition, was on the 13th instant, finally passed on the usual division; five Protestant members voting against it, seven Roman Catholic members and one Protestant (the proposer) voting for it.

On the 15th instant, I received this address, and made the reply herewith transmitted; the address being presented to me by the majority only, the minority absenting themselves on such occasion, to avoid, as I hear, the appearance of their having in any way concurred in its principle.

Having received my reply, the House adjourned to the 20th instant, the day on which the English mail was expected; Mr. Little having first given notice of a future address to the Colonial Office, should no satisfactory information be then received, and his party having expressed their determination then to adjourn for a further period of two months, to await the arrival of despatches from England.

The declaration of their intention to transact no further business, has, in the meantime, been carried into effect by their refusing to permit the introduction of a bill, of which notice had been given by Mr. March, for the better regulation of the seal fishery now about to commence; and by the rejection on the 14th instant, of a bill brought in by my directions, by the Solicitor General, designed to check the ruinous traffic in bait, which has been heretofore

carried on on the southern shores. The latter measure is one earnestly required by the people generally, and considered so imperatively necessary by the Assembly themselves, that during the last session, they unanimously passed an address, praying that I would hire a steamer for effectually carrying out this service. Permitting this traffic is, in effect, a sanction of that theft of our seed which leaves our own district barren.

I need hardly observe, that this entire suspension of business, if continued, will produce a vast amount of mischief. The loss of the Bait Bill alone will most probably be felt in a failure of the fishery in many parts; without a revenue bill, the public creditor cannot receive his dividends, and the debt of the Colony will be much increased, while the want of supply and education bills will occasion great distress amongst many classes.

Three courses present themselves for consideration: First, the immediate unqualified concession of responsible government with its attendant evils and its injustice to the Protestant majority of the population. Second, its concession after a partial subdivision of the electoral districts, and an increase in the representation on a basis to be settled by Her Majesty's Government; and third, a return to the amalgamated form of government.

Having regard to the condition of the country and to the necessity for preventing future difficulties such as the present, the last system could be worked with greater certainty and with less expense than any other. Either course would, I presume, involve the principle of separate councils, and can only be carried into effect by an Act of Parliament.

Should your Grace determine upon either of the above mentioned, or upon any other course of proceeding which

will preclude the practicability of legislative action here before the expiration of the Local Revenue Act (16 Vict., c. 1), which will expire on the 28th of May, I would earnestly suggest the necessity for a short Act being passed in Parliament, continuing it for one or two years. The Assembly could then be dissolved and matters permitted to remain as at present, until the change determined on had been carried into effect. Indeed the absence of any intimation of your Grace's determination on the question is, at present, a fortunate circumstance, as it will afford the opportunity, of which I am informed the Protestant part of the population will avail themselves, to lay before Her Majesty's Government the expression of their opinions.

A report is in circulation here, founded on some private correspondence that it is the intention of Her Majesty's Government to concede responsible government upon certain conditions, which have not been mentioned. If these conditions be a fuller and a fairer representation in the Assembly, I very much fear-looking at the determination evinced by the Roman Catholic Members to accede to no representation which did not secure their present majority that any proposal of that kind will prove nugatory; and, in view of such an event, the Imperial Act, for the continuance of the Local Revenue Act, will still be

necessary.

I annex a copy of the report of the delegates, and extracts from two local newspapers. The "Public Ledger is the organ of the Protestant party; the "Newfoundlander" of the Roman Catholic party, in effect, of the Roman Catholic Bishop.

On Monday the 21st instant, to which day the House adjourned, to wait the arrival of the packet, Mr. Little

being engaged in Court, and the Protestant minority not attending, in consequence of the resolution of the House to do no business, there was an adjournment for want of a quorum. On the next day, the minority still being absent, a vote of thanks was passed to the delegates, and the accompanying address to your Grace was adopted.

With reference to that part of the report of the delegates which relates to the acts of the Council in its legislative capacity, and on which is mainly grounded the necessity, in the judgment of the Assembly, for responsible government, I cannot do better than refer your Grace to Mr. Row, a member of the Council, now in England, upon whose long experience, from his residence for half a century in this Colony, his sound judgment and integrity, your Grace may safely rely for any explanation that you may require of the complaints of the Assembly in this respect. Without wishing to urge any opinion of my own, I may yet say that, except in the matter of the Road Bill, and then only to prevent what the Council deemed a gross injustice, they do not appear to me to have trespassed on the legitimate functions of the Assembly. The other points in discussion between the two Houses were those in which the Council might fairly differ from the views of the Assembly, and in so doing be very far from meriting the charge that they were not consulting the true interests of the country. On the contrary, in all these measures the reasons which guided the Council will, I have no doubt, on full consideration of your Grace, appear to be such as, in the independent exercise of their judgment, are fully as weighty and regardful of the public welfare as if not more so than those which actuated the Assembly. On all these points, however, I am glad to

think that Mr. Row will be at hand to afford to your Grace every necessary information.

While writing this despatch, I have received a letter from the President of the Chamber of Commerce of St. John's, requesting me to forward the accompanying memorial to your Grace, referring to the present position of affairs here; inviting your Grace's attention to their address forwarded in February 1852, on the subject of responsible government; stating that their opinions on that subject are unchanged; and praying that the Revenue Act, now shortly to expire, may be continued by an Act of the Imperial Parliament, for such time as may be necessary to enable Her Majesty's Government fully to deal with the important subject of responsible government. This demonstration on the part of the merchants, shows that there is no desire on their part to take advantage of the opportunity which would occur, by the lapse of the Revenue Bill, of forwarding their own interests; but, on the contrary, a highly laudable desire to prevent that injury to the public credit which must inevitably result from the reckless course threatened by the Assembly.

REPLY OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY TO AN ADDRESS OF THE GOVERNOR1

February 15, 1854

WE, Her Majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects, the Commons of Newfoundland in general assembly convened, beg to assure your Excellency that while we thank your Ex

1 Commons Papers, 1854-55, vol. 36, No. 273, p. 7. Enclosure in the foregoing report; the address itself and the reply of the Council contain no references to responsible government.