THE Legislative session of 1850 opened on the 7th of February. The speech of the Lieutenant-Governor referred to the changes which had taken place in the navigation laws of the Mother Country, and expressed the opinion that their effect on New Brunswick would not be injurious. He referred to the desirability of having increased facilities for trade between the British North American colonies. He expressed the opinion that there should be a survey of the River St. John with a view to the improvement of its navigation. He also referred to the schools of the Province and the necessity for improving the revenue laws. He thought that any uncertainty in them must be very injurious to the shipper and importer, but he disclaimed any intention of suggesting any course which would imply a diminishing control over the taxation of the Province by the representatives of its people. His idea was that the revenue bill, instead of being changed from year to year, should be passed for a term of years, so that merchants and others who were engaged in importing, would know what to expect.

His Excellency also spoke of the recent changes in the position of the Governor with reference to the Legislature, stating that the undisputed right to originate money votes was vested in the House of Assembly, and that the members of the Executive Council practically retained their seats only so long as they should continue to enjoy the confidence of the people. He expressed the belief that it was most desirable to define more accurately the responsibility attaching to the initiation of the money votes, and this could only be done by throwing such responsibility on the Executive Government. This matter came up at a later day, and a resolution moved by Mr. Woodward of St. John, declaring the existing system of granting money to be such as to encourage extravagance and improvident appropriations, and declaring that the right of initiating money grants should be conceded to the Executive Government, and the practice of the Imperial Parliament in this respect adopted. This was met by an amendment by Mr. End, declaring that the right of originating money grants was inherent in the representatives of the people, and that the surrender of such right would amount to a dereliction of public duty and ought not to be entertained by the House of Assembly. This amendment was carried by a vote of sixteen to eleven. Thus an important principle connected with the working of responsible government was rejected, it is to be hoped mainly through ignorance of the true meaning of executive responsibility.

The great difficulty with the government at that time was that being a coalition, it had no well defined policy. Its members held entirely opposite views, not only with respect to the initiation of money votes, but on many other questions. Constituted as it was, it was impossible that it should promote any valuable legislation. Every member had a fad of his own which he desired to ventilate. Almost the only question on which its members were united was in condemning Earl Grey's despatch against granting bounties on the growth of hemp. A discussion arose on this question, in which almost every member took part, and, if Earl Grey had chanced to be present, he would have learned that not even a colonial minister can claim exemption from censure. At the instance of Mr. R. D. Wilmot a bill was passed granting bounties to the extent of £3,000 to the fisheries and other industries. This was directly contrary to Earl Grey's instructions to the Lieutenant-Governor, and if it had passed the Legislative Council, Sir Edmund Head would have been bound to refuse his assent. A conflict was avoided by the bill failing in the Council, but the feelings of the members of the House of Assembly on the subject were not less freely expressed. The loyal feelings of the people of New Brunswick had been outraged by the action of the British government with respect to provincial legislation, and a reproduction of some of the speeches then delivered in the legislature would be an instructive lesson as to the extent to which the loyal feelings of men are influenced by the treatment they have received in public matters.

Sir Edmund Head, at an early period of his term as Governor, had begun to study the condition of the province with a view to its improvement and in a despatch to Earl Grey which ha3 been made public, he stated the result of his observation. He came to the conclusion that the reason why the State of Maine was more prosperous and more progressive than New Brunswick was, not because of its protective duties, but from the fact that it enjoyed free trade with the whole United States. He also thought that the township organization and the habit of managing their own local affairs, which had been fostered in the New England States, had introduced habits of self reliance and self government which promoted their prosperity. Sir Edmund Head found the people of the Province to be shrewd and sharp enough, but they had been kept back by their habit of relying on the Government for the management of their roads and schools, and had been taught to look to the Executive Council and the Legislature for help in every emergency. These observations were correct and show that Sir Edmund Head was a shrewd observer. He did not perhaps understand to what an extent the people of New Brunswick had been kept in a state of political infancy by Lieutenant Governors, sent out from England, being given the power to govern them without their consent and by the Colonial Office undertaking to control their legislation by means of despatches in which they were periodically lectured by the Colonial minister. Sir William Colebrooke and Sir Edmund Head had both regretted the failure of attempts to establish municipal institutions throughout the Province, but they perhaps did not discern that this failure was due to the influence of the magistrates in sessions, who did not like to be deprived of their power of controlling the affairs of the counties. These magistrates naturally resisted every improvement, which they denounced as innovations, and they were supported generally by the Legislative Council. The system of county government was as bad as possible, because the magistrates were not responsible to any person. The condition of the county accounts was never made public, and it was not until a comparatively late period in the history of the Province that the grand jury obtained legislative authority to inspect the county accounts. Municipal institutions came in the course of years but not till long after Sir Edmund Head had taken his departure from the Province. Since then the influence of the people upon municipal government had been strengthened by the incorporation of most of the towns in the Province, so that the people have an opportunity not only of knowing how much of their money is being spent but of directing the expenditure.

During the session there was a notable debate on a series of resolutions introduced by Mr. Wark, a member for Kent, in which it was declared that the tendency to advance the manufacturing interests of the Mother Country at the expense of Colonial interests was so apparent as to create alarm and distrust and to lead to the conviction that the-interests of the Province were no longer secure in the hands of a legislative power over which the people of New Brunswick could exercise no constitutional control; and that the well being of the Province required that the powers of its legislature should be greatly enlarged. This resolution was lost by a vote of 24 to 12, but another resolution was carried that the trade and productions of the Province must have a more extended market and that, driven from the markets of England by her present policy, they were forced to the conclusion that the nature of their productions and the geographical position of their country pointed to the United States as the natural market for the staple commodities of New Brunswick, and, therefore, it was essential for the prosperity of the country that New Brunswick should enjoy the unrestricted coasting trade of the American union. This was carried by a vote of 19 to 13, every member of the Government in the House of Assembly voting for it. Another resolution was also passed by a vote of 24 to 11, that in the opinion of the committee such protection having been withdrawn from the staple exports of the Province in the British market, without the least possible prospect of its being restored, notwithstanding the remonstrances of the British Colonies, it was the duty of the House to propound such measures as might have a tendency to avert the commercial evils under which the Province was laboring. The passing of these strong resolutions in the House of Assembly shows to what an extent the members were affected by the condition of public affairs and by the complaints of their constituents. For a long period of years New Brunswick had enjoyed advantages over foreign countries in the markets of Great Britain, and the British Navigation laws had given it a share in the shipping business of the Mother Country. Now these advantages had been withdrawn, and the people of the Province were exposed to the free competition of foreign countries. The vessels of the United States enjoyed the same privileges in British ports as the ships of the colonies, and it seemed to many people in New Brunswick that there was no advantage in the Province remaining a British colony. These feelings lasted for some time, and they were only removed when it was found that the prosperity of the Province had not been at all impaired by the British legislation which was complained of. The people of New Brunswick discovered that they could still go on building ships and sailing them, notwithstanding the competition of foreign nations, and that their market for the timber of the country had not been seriously injured. The British free trade policy which placed all on an equal footing, stimulated business and the demand for colonial products, and so the balance was adjusted.

At this session there was a long debate which resulted in an address to Her Majesty on the subject of making the Legislative Council elective. The address was passed by a large majority, only five members voting against it. The members of the House thought that as the privilege of electing a Legislative Council was to be granted to colonies in Australia and South Africa, the people of New Brunswick ought to be similarly favored. It would have been much more to the purpose if they had asked for the abolition' of the Council altogether. Such a body was no more needed in New Brunswick than the fifth wheel to a coach, and this was discovered at a later day. A bill was transmitted which it was proposed to pass, and in due time an answer was received from the British Government stating that such a bill would be agreed to if the details were satisfactory. A bill to abolish the Legislative Council, as then constituted, was accordingly passed in the Assembly at the session of 1851, but it was defeated in the Legislative Council. As the members of the Council at that time held their positions at Her Majesty's pleasure it could have been carried if there had been any strong desire on the part of the British Government to have the measure passed.

At this session Mr. Wilkinson's final report of the proposed line of railway between St. John and Shediac was laid before the House, the survey of the line having been completed. He estimated its length at 107 miles and its cost, with locomotives, passenger cars and freight cars at £436,000. Another important report was that of Mr. Moses H. Perley on the fisheries of the Province, an elaborate document which had been prepared with great care, as a result of visits to all the different fishing stations in New Brunswick. At that time the fisheries of the Province were carried on in a much less efficient manner than at present, and were much less productive. The total value of the fish exported from the counties bordering on the Gulf Shore, at that time amounted to only about $75,000 annually.

During the summer of this year, a general election took place, the leading cry being for retrenchment and reform. The people certainly desired to have useless expenditures curtailed, and to have the principles of responsible government introduced to their full extent, and they imagined that they had succeeded in that object by electing a number of men who professed to hold these views. At this election a number of new men were returned, who had never before sat in the House of Assembly, the most notable of these being Samuel L. Tilley, a gentleman who was destined to fill a large space in the political horizon, and to attain to the highest honors and distinctions that his country could give. Mr. Tilley was elected to represent the City of St. John and brought with him as a colleague, William Hazen Needham, a man of remarkable ability, who never attained the success that he might have fairly won if he had possessed steadier principles. St. John County sent to the Legislature John H. Gray, a lawyer and a man of fine oratorical attainments, but of little political capacity. Northumberland sent John M. Johnson and John T. Williston, the latter of whom, a man of moderate abilities, eventually subsided into the position of a county court judge. Mr. Johnson, in point of talent, was inferior to no member of the House that was then elected, but his future was clouded by certain habits which destroyed his fine intellect and eventually his life. York sent among its new members, George L. Hatheway, a loud voiced demagogue, who attained popularity simply because of his noisiness and free manner. Westmorland returned Bliss Botsford, who died a county court judge, but whose abilities were not shining or calculated to advance him very far in any field of usefulness in which a keen intellect was necessary. The City and County of St. John at this election, returned six members, all of whom were pledged to reform, John R. Partelow, who had represented St. John County for many years being defeated. Mr. Partelow, however, was able to secure a seat in the new County of Victoria, the elections at that time not being all held on the same day. The strength of the public feeling against the Government may be judged from the fact that L. A. Wilmot, who had been a favored son of York, was the last on the poll, while the Honorable Charles Fisher, who also had been unwise enough to enter the government, was defeated. Mr. Weldon, who represented Toryism, in Kent County, was placed at the foot of the poll, and in Kings County, the supporters of the old order of things were likewise defeated. If the result of the elections had been carried out to its logical consequence the government would have been defeated and driven from power as soon as the Legislature met, but this fortunate result was not reached, owing to the craft of Mr. Partelow, and the faithlessness of some of the men who had been elected to support reform principles. Not long after the general election, Chief Justice Chipman, who had fallen into ill-health, resigned his seat on the bench. In the natural course of events Mr. Wilmot, the Attorney General, should have succeeded him, and if his colleagues in the Government had been faithful to their trust his appointment would no doubt have been made immediately. But they apparently did not desire Mr. Wilmot to go on the bench, and they began to correspond with the colonial office on the subject of dispensing with a new appointment, under the plea that three judges were sufficient to do the business of the Province. Their conduct gave the Lieutenant Governor an opportunity of defeating their object and of likewise placing Mr. Wilmot in an inferior position. He wrote to the Colonial Office recommending that the chief justiceship be given to Judge Carter, who, it will be remembered, was most improperly sent out from England to occupy a seat on the bench of New Brunswick many years before, and that the vacant puisne judgeship should be offered to Mr. Wilmot, and if he refused to accept it, to the Solicitor General, Mr. Kinnear. After all the fine professions on the part of the British Government with reference to the right of the Provincial Government to regulate the internal affairs of the Province, this judicial appointment was made, not only without their consent, but entirely contrary to their wishes. This outrage on the people of New Brunswick, was committed under the administration of Lord John Russell, who professed to be a reformer, and who certainly was one, so far as the British constitution was concerned. The action of the British Government on this occasion was not only wrong in itself, but was highly injurious in its consequences, for it was largely the means of postponing the realization of Responsible Government in the Province for another four years.

The Legislature met on the 0th of February, 1851, and the Honorable Charles Simonds of St. John was elected Speaker without any opposition. Mr. Simonds was generally liberal in his views, although opposed to some of the measures which seemed necessary to make Responsible Government operative. The speech of the Lieutenant Governor referred to the necessity for railways and expressed the hope that the railway between Quebec and Halifax would be proceeded with at 110 distant day. He referred to the existing system of granting supplies which he hoped would engage their attention, and stated that, as long as that system continued, the Government could not be held responsible for the first condition of all efficient executive action, the correspondence of expenditure with income. He suggested it as a subject for their consideration, whether such a change might not be made as would cause this responsibility to fall in a manner more strictly in accordance with the usage of the Imperial Parliament. He thought that such a change would involve the creation of local bodies of some kind, organized in such a manner as to give the distribution and control of funds applicable to local purposes to persons elected by the people. He also thought that some alterations might advantageously be made in the procedure in the courts of law and equity, which would render justice easier of access and less expensive to the suitor.

The battle against the Government began almost as soon as the House of Assembly met. Dr. Thompson of Charlotte moved the address in reply to his Excellency's speech, but to this Mr. Ritchie of St. John immediately moved an amendment,. declaring that the House did not deem it proper to-proceed to business or the consideration of the speech, because his Excellency's constitutional advisers did not possess the confidence of the House nor of the people. This amendment might have been carried by a large majority and the Government ousted from power, but, in the interval between the elections and the meeting of the Legislature, Mr. Partelow and his colleagues had been very busy purchasing the support of members who had been elected to oppose the Government. What consideration Messrs. Alexander Rankine and John T. Williston of Northumberland; Messrs. Robert Gordon and Joseph Reed of Gloucester; Messrs. John Montgomery and A. Barbarie of Restigouche; and Mr. McPhelim of Kent received for their votes has not been recorded, but when a division took place, these men, all of whom were pledged to oppose the Government, were found supporting it, so that Mr. Ritchie's amendment was lost by a vote of 22 to 15. If they had remained faithful to their pledges the vote would have been reversed.

The appointment of L. A. Wilmot to the bench, left the office of Attorney-General vacant, and it was given to John Ambrose Street, one of the members for Northumberland. As Mr. Fisher had retired from the government, the Liberal element in it had been practical^ eliminated, for Mr. Street was a Tory in principle and had opposed nearly every measure of reform which had been brought before the Legislature. Mr. Street had been absent seeking re-election, at the time when the want of confidence debate was going on, but he shortly afterwards took his seat in the House, and brought down a number of measures for its consideration. A municipal corporation bill was passed, but it was a permissive measure, and was not taken advantage of by any of the counties. A bill, appointing commissioners on law reform was carried, and resulted in the production of the three volumes of revised statutes, which were issued in 1854, with which all gentlemen of the legal profession are familiar. Even here, the heavy hand of the Colonial Minister was felt, for among the reforms proposed, was one relating to the action of ejectment, reducing that complicated procedure to a simple form, but this was disallowed by the home authorities. A bill was passed to enable the government to aid in the construction of a railroad from St. John to Shediac, to the extent of £250,000, sterling. There was also an act to assist the St. Andrews and Quebec railroad, the Province being authorized to take stock in that road to the amount of £50,000, sterling. Another measure which was brought forward by the government, was one with reference to the schools of the Province. It provided that the teachers were to be paid in money or board and lodging, by the district, to the amount of ten pounds for each term of six months in addition to the government allowance. This bill was a very slight improvement on the act then in force, and as it was not pressed as a Government measure, it did not become law. A private member, Mr. Gilbert of Queens, proposed to convert Kings College into an agricultural school, with a model farm in connection. The College, although its charter had been amended, was still very unpopular, and the attendance of students was small. It was shown in the course of the debate, that of the fifteen persons who composed 2j the college council, ten were members of the church? of England, and that the visitor, the chancellor, the president, the principal and all the professors and teachers, but two, were members of that church. It was felt that the college required to be placed on a different footing, and Mr. Gilbert's bill, although it provoked much unfavorable comment at the time, certainly would have been more beneficial to the educational interests of the country, if it had passed, than the state of affairs which resulted from the continuance of the old system. An agricultural school was the very thing the Province required, while, judging from the limited attendance at the college from its foundation to the present time, the people of this Province are not greatly impressed with the value of a classical education. In 1851, however, any one who proposed to replace a college for the teaching of Greek and Latin, with a college of agriculture and the sciences allied to it, was looked upon as a Philistine. Then youths were taught to compose Latin and to read Greek, who never to the day of their death had a competent knowledge of their own language ; and agricultural studies, which were of the highest importance to more than one-half of the people of the Province, were totally neglected. Mr. Gilbert's bill was defeated, as it was certain to be in a Legislature which was still under the domination of old ideas. Had it passed, New Brunswick might at this time, have had a large body of scientific farmers, capable of cultivating the soil in the most efficient manner, and increasing its productiveness to an extent hardly dreamed of, by those who only consider it in the light of the present system of cultivation.

During this session Mr. Ritchie of St. John, moved another series of resolutions, condemning the Government, and complaining of the Colonial Office and the conduct of the Governor. These resolutions declared first, that the House was entitled to full copies of despatches addressed to or received from the Colonial Office, and that it was not enough merely to send extracts from a despatch which had been received by the Governor. They declared that all appointments to offices were invested in the Governor by and with the advice of the Executive Council, and that the appointment of the Chief Justice and of a puisne judge by the Governor, contrary to the advice of his council, was inconsistent with the principles of Responsible Government. They complained that the salaries were excessive, and condemned the refusal of the British Government to allow the colonies to grant bounties, for the development of their resources. These resolutions, after being debated for about a week, were rejected, by a vote of 19 to 21, which at the-time was looked upon as virtually a Liberal victory. If the nineteen had been made up of men who could be relied on to stand by their colors, in all emergencies, it would have been a Liberal triumph, but unfortunately, among the nineteen, there were some who afterwards basely deserted their party for the sake of offices and power.

The construction of a railway from Halifax to Quebec was still considered an object much to be desired by the Provinces of British North America.

The people of Nova Scotia were particularly anxious for it, and Mr. Howe was urging it forward with all the eloquence and ability which he possessed. The public men of Canada at that time also seemed to be strongly in favor of it, while in New Brunswick, although there were some who preferred to construct a railway to connect with the railways of the United States, the majority of the people favored the Intercolonial project. During this session of the Legislature a number of despatches were brought down which had been written by Earl Grey to the Governor General of Canada, and to Mr. Howe, who had gone to England as a delegate, announcing the intentions of the British Government in regard to this line. What the Provinces desired was to obtain the guarantee of the British Government to enable them to raise money for the construction of the Intercolonial Railway, at a lower rate of interest than they could borrow it on their own credit. The terms on which Earl Grey was willing to agree to the required guarantee were, that the route of the railway should be approved of by the British Government; that the Provincial Legislature should pass laws, making the loans which they were to raise, the first charge on the provincial revenue, and that the money should be expended under the superintendence of commissioners appointed by the British Government. It was intimated that, in addition to these terms, some others might be required as a condition precedent to granting the money. The whole tone of Earl Grey's despatches was narrow, not to say mean. These British statesmen did not seem to have any adequate idea of the importance of the North American Colonies, or of the position which they might afterwards take as a portion of the Empire. Great Britain, in times past, had expended enormous sums of money and freely shed the blood of her sons in wars, for the sake of European nations who at this day feel neither gratitude nor affection for her. The expenditure of a single year during the Peninsular war would have built all the railways that British North America would require for a century. Yet in a matter which closely affected the interests of the Empire, Great Britain exhibited a contemptible and parsimonious policy, and, if the Intercolonial Railway and Canadian Pacific are constructed, it has been done by the people of Canada, and we owe no thanks to Great Britain for these vast enterprises which have done so much to unite the British Empire.

Earl Grey's despatch was discussed at a later day, in the House of Assembly, and a series of resolutions were carried by large majorities, declining to accept the terms offered in his despatch, on the ground that the public credit had been already pledged to the sum of £300,000, sterling, for the building of the European and North American, and the St. Andrews and Quebec Railways, within the Province, the attention of the people of the Province having been called to the construction of these works in consequence of the refusal of Her Majesty's Government in 1849, to assist in the building of the Intercolonial Railway. Mr. Howe had suggested to Earl Grey that convicts might be employed in the construction of the railway, and the suggestion had been approved of by the Colonial Minister. The proposal to bring convicts to New Brunswick for such a purpose, aroused a great deal of indignation in the Legislature, and apparently it was forgotten that the idea had originated with Mr. Howe and not with Earl Grey. It was generally supposed that the British Government had no serious intention of assisting the Colonies in building this line, and that the terms offered had been made difficult and almost impossible so that no further steps might be taken in regard to it.

At that session there was a conflict between the House of Assembly and the Legislative Council, which arose out of the latter having rejected a bill to make the Council elective. To punish them for this, the House refused to vote any grants for the payment of the members of the Council, as had been done for some years previously, and many good reasons were discovered why members of the Council should not be paid. The Council retaliated by refusing to sanction the payment of members of the House of Assembly. The latter were compelled to recede from this position and the deadlock came to an end.

A remarkable resolution passed at this session was one introduced by Mr. Hanington, reciting the inefficiency of the college and resolving that an address be presented to the Lieutenant Governor, praying that he would be pleased to withhold the issuing of any further warrants on the treasury of the Province for the sum of £1,100, to be paid to the college, unless that sum might hereafter be appropriated by the Legislature. The sum referred •to was then paid out of the civil list fund, without reference to the legislature. This resolution was carried by 18 to 4, a fact that showed that the college had very few friends in the House of Assembly at that time.

The uncertain state of the minds of representatives in regard to principles which should govern the country, was shown by the passing of a resolution introduced by Mr. Scoullar, declaring that it should be a standing order of the House, that the House should receive no petition for any sum of money or make any grant of money, unless such petition and such grant be first recommended by the Executive Government. This was carried by a vote of 17 to 16, but on the very day, at the instance of Mr. Earle of Kings, the resolution was reconsidered and an amendment carried, postponing the subject of the initiation of money grants, until the next session of the Legislature. Twenty members voted for a postponement and sixteen against it. It is a remarkable fact that among those who voted for a postponement of the consideration of the subject, were Messrs. Ritchie, Tilley, and others, who were certainly in favor of the principle of the initiation of money grants being in the Executive. Apparently they voted for postponement for the purpose of preventing a hostile expression of opinion from the House. Perhaps also they were influenced by the fact that the men who were then in power were persons in whom they had no confidence, and whom they desired to see retired to private life.

Early in August it was announced that John EL Gray and R. D. Wilmot, two of the Liberal members for the County of St. John, had abandoned their party and their principles, and become members of the Government. The people of St. John, who had elected these gentlemen by a substantial majority, were naturally chagrined at such a proof of their faithlessness, and their colleagues were likewise greatly annoyed. Messrs. Gray and Wilmot made the usual excuses of all deserters for their conduct, the principal one being that they thought they could serve the interests of the constituency and of the Province better, by being in the Government than out of it. The friends of the four members who still remained faithful, Messrs. Tilley, Simonds, Ritchie and Needliam, held a meeting at which these gentlemen were present, and at which it was agreed that they should join in an address to their constituents, condemning the course of Messrs. Wilmot and Gray, and calling on the constituency to pronounce judgment upon it. As Mr. Wilmot, who had been appointed to the office of Surveyor General, had to return to his constituency for re-election, the voice of the constituency could only be ascertained by placing a candidate in the field in opposition to him. This was done, and Allan McLean was selected to oppose Mr. Wilmot. The result seemed to show that the people of St. John had condoned the offence, for Mr. Wilmot was re-elected by a majority of 273. As this might be taken as a proof that they had lost the confidence of their constituents, Messrs. Simonds, Ritchie and Tilley at once resigned their seats. This act was at the time thought by many, to indicate an excess of sensitiveness, and Mr. Needham absolutely refused to follow their example, thereby forfeiting the regard of those who had formerly supported him. The sequel proved that the three resigning members were right, for they won much more in public respect by their conduct, than they lost by their temporary exclusion from the House of Assembly.

The gentlemen returned for the three seats in St. John, which had been vacated by the resigning members, were James A. Harding, John Godard and John Johnson. Mr. Harding who ran for the city, was opposed by S. K. Foster. Mr. Harding was a Liberal, but this fact does not seem to have been kept in view when he was elected. The net result of the whole affair was, that the constituency of St. John could not be relied upon to support a Liberal principle, or any kind of a principle as against men. That has always been a peculiarity of the St. John constituencies, men being more important than measures, and frequently, a mere transient feeling being set off against the most important considerations of policy.