Document Information
Date: 1867-05-13
By: Prince Edward Island (House of Assembly)
Citation: Prince Edward Island, House of Assembly, The Parliamentary Reporter; or, Debates and Proceedings of the House of Assembly of Prince Edward Island, For the Year 1867, 23rd Parl, 1st Sess, 1865 at 120-122.
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City Incorporation Act Amendment Bill.
On motion of Mr. BRECKEN, that the House go into committee on the Bill to amend the Act to incorporate the City of Charlottetown,
Hon. Mr. HOWLAN moved in amendment that the House go into committee this day three months, and that the Bill be published in the Royal Gazette for the information of the public. He observed that the Bill made so many radical changes in the mode of taxation in the city, that it should have been brought forward either. It was better that it should stand over until the citizens learned something of its nature.
Dr. JENKINS replied that the City Council with whom the Bill originated was an elective body, and as such should have the power of levying their own taxes. It was rather arbitrary in the House to say whether or not the citizens should tax themselves.
Mr. MACAULAY feared that some of the taxes proposed in the Bill would work injuriously for the City by driving the business to other parts where there was less taxation. Something similar had occurred in the case of Bristol and Liverpool—the former being heavily taxed gradually lost its business.
Mr. BRECKEN said that there were some clauses in the Bill which he would not support, as they were retrograde movements. Hon. Members should recollect, however, that the city had been at a large expense in organizing the fire department, &c., and that additional taxation was necessary to keep it up. If it were only that the fire department might be maintained in efficient working order he would not like to see the Bill get the “three months’ hoist.”
Hon. LEADER OF THE GOVERNMENT thought that the Bill giving, as it did, such large power of taxation, should have been introduced earlier. Though he was willing to assist the City, it would detain the House too long if they went into Committee on the Bill.
After some further discussion on the subject, several hon. members strongly urging the necessity for passing the Bill to prevent the City from becoming bankrupt, the amendment of the hon. Mr. Howlan was carried by the Speaker’s casting vote.
Hon. Mr. HOWLAN presented a “Bill to appoint additional Small Debt Courts at Somerset and Montague Bridge and for other purposes.” Received and read a first time.
On motion of Dr. JENKINS, the House resolved itself into a Committee of the whole on the Bill to incorporate the Charlottetown Flax Company.
Progress reported. House adjourned for one hour.
AFTERNOON SESSION.
The House in Committee on Loan Bill.
Hon. ATTORNEY GENERAL, in rising to move an amendment to the first clause of the Bill, remarked that it was never contemplated to raise the whole sum of £140,000 sterling, but as it would perhaps be better to limit the amount to that in the former Bill, he would move that the whole amount to be raised be reduced to £100,000, sterling.
Hon. Mr. MACAULAY did not approve of the amendment for the simple reason that he disapproved of the Bill as a whole. The hon. Attorney General in introducing the Bill had brought forward what he seemed to consider a good argument in its favor; namely, the example of other colonies—Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Australia, New Zealand, &c. These countries, however, were in a very different position from this Island. If this Colony were called upon to pay any considerable debt in gold, she could not do it, for she had nothing which she could convert into gold, while the countries named possessed either mines of coal, petroleum, or the precious metals, or forests of timber equally valuable, and these could be converted into gold or exchange. If money were really required, why could it not be raised at home? Under the operation of the Bill, our Island capital would seek investment elsewhere, and the interest of the loan which would be £6,000 sterling per annum would be sent to England. This in sixteen years would equal the principal. How was the gold to be obtained to pay this amount, and the principal when it became due? Much had been said against Confederation, but the greatest argument in its favor was now before the House. Would it not be better to go into Confederation and obtain the $800,000 than to mortgage the Island? This Island in its present position should be almost the last country to contract a loan.
Hon. ATTORNEY GENERAL replied that the difficulty in obtaining gold to meet the payments on the Cunard Estate would be quite as great as in obtaining
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it to meet the payment of the loan and interest. Besides, the Government need not raise all the money—such a thing was never contemplated. The hon. member who had last spoken had said that this Island was poor—that it could not afford to borrow money like other countries. He could not see, with all deference to his hon. and learned friend, that this was the case. If land were to be bought without rendering the Island bankrupt, some means must be adopted to postpone for a period the payments on the estates. There would have to be paid before next January £40,000, in round numbers, and the very fact that the Colony was small was an argument in favor of a loan, that so large an amount might not be drawn at once from our limited circulation. He did not doubt that the late Government made the best bargain they could with the Cunard Estate, but the payment of so much money must inconvenience the mercantile community. With cash in their hands, however, it was far easier to make a good bargain. As regarded the gratuity from Canada, he could not see in what it differed from a loan, as it would really be charged against us in our yearly allowance. It was in fact almost repudiated after it was proposed. Confederation was not, however, now before the House—it had been introduced unnecessarily.
Hon. Mr. MACAULAY did not introduce it; he merely said that the offer had been made—which offer would enable the Government to buy up every inch of proprietary land on the Island. He was in favor of Confederation only thus far. He considered this loan to be an evil from which the Island would never recover, and therefore Confederation as the lesser of the two evils was preferable. He wished some hon. members would inform him how the gold to pay the interest on the loan was to be obtained.
Hon. Mr. DUNCAN.—The amount in the Bill, reduced as it was, was yet unnecessarily large. If it had been smaller there might have been less opposition to it. Or if the Government would come forward and show that land had been offered to them to the value of £100,000 at a price advantageous to the Island, the objections to the Bill would probably vanish. As it was, however, £100,000 was not required to meet the payments which were coming due. As a proof that it was not likely that there was much more land in the market he mentioned that he had heard that Stewart would not sell at any price.
Hon. Mr. DAVIES.—Make him sell.
Hon. Mr. DUNCAN.—His hon. colleague would perhaps bring in a Bill to compel him. He wondered how, holding such opinions, he could remain in the Government, without bringing in a Bill to carry out his principles.
Hon. ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The hon. member should not be in a hurry—he should wait a Session or two.
Hon. Mr. DUNCAN.—Did the hon. Attorney General intend to endorse these views?
Mr. P. SINCLAIR did not see the force of the objections of the hon. member for Belfast, (Mr. Duncan) since the Government were not compelled to borrow any more money than they really needed.
After some further discussion of a similar nature, most of which was a repetition of the arguments advanced at the second reading of the Bill, it was reported agreed to with several amendments.
House again in Committee on the Bill to incorporate a Flax Company.
Mr. BRECKEN explained briefly some of the principles of the Bill, and stated that it was intended to raise a capital of £5000 in shares of £5 each, and suggested that for one share, there should be one vote; five shares, two votes, ten shares, three votes; fifteen shares, four votes, which being moved by the hon. member was adopted, and the Bill reported agreed to.
The Bill exempting property belonging to Her Majesty and the Government from duties or assessments, was read a third time and passed.
The military accounts for the past year were then presented to the House by the Hon. Colonial Secretary, and laid on the table, after which the House adjourned.