THE NEWFOUNDLANDER
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY.
Wednesday, Feb. 8.
The house met at three o'clock.
Statement of assets and liabilities of the colony on
the 31st December, 1864.
Financial Secretary's statement of expenditure, for
each particular service, for the year, 1864.
Consolidated account of goods imported for the
year ending 31st December, 1864.
Receiver General's statement of accounts, Treasury
Department, for the year 1864.
Statement of public debt 31st December, 1864.
Financial statement of the affairs of the colony for
the year 1865.
Estimate for defraying the civil expenditure of the
Colony for the year 1864.
The hon. RECEIVER GENERAL, in moving that these
documents lie on the table, regretted that he could
not invest this subject with the interest which attaches to the annual statements
of the distinguished
statesman who is at present finance minister of England, or even those of the hon
member for Ferryland,
Mr. Glen, when that hon gentleman was Receiver
General, with an overflowing exchequer. He (hon.
R. Gen.) would, however, endeavour to make his
statements as explicit as possible, and while he regretted that he could not refer
to an expansion of
trade or an improved condition of the people during
the past year, he could show some increase of revenue
and the strictest economy in the public expenditure.
The revenue for the past year, from all sources, was
£106,415 17s., being an increase of £4,356 17s 6d.
on that of the preceding year. The increase on the
Customs' duties was £4,415 9s 9d, of which £1,921
11s 1d was in the outports. The Light dues for the
past year amounted to £4,953 7s 1d, being a decrease of £263 9s 9d. The amount of
Customs'
duties received at St. John's was £81,861 5s 8d; at
Twillingate, #160 18s; at Fogo, £1,052 7s 9d; at
Greenspond, £1290 11i 4d; at Trinity and Catalina,
£1,133 1s 9d; at Hant's Harbor, £55 5s 1d; at
Carbonear, £696 05 5.d.; at Harbor Grace, £11,942
65 1d; at Bay Roberts, £6 13s 1d; at LaManche,
3:303 14s 5d; at Burin, £308 12s; at La naline,
£53 12s 5d; at St. Lawrence, £40 4s 6d; at Harbor Breton, £374 3s 11d; at English
Harbor, £66
4s 3d; Pushthrough, £59 9s 1d; Gaultois, £689
18s 7d; Burgeo, £147 17 4d; LaPoile £1,185 10s
11d; Channel, £437 19s; Labrador, £1,112 2s. 11d.
There was a decrease on the duties collected at Labrador of £210 7 9d as compared
with the previous
year, which was accounted for by the circumstance
that molasses and several other articles for consumption on the Labrador were purchased,
duty paid, in
St. John's, there being no advantage to those having
establishments there in importing those articles from
any other piace, now that the payment of duties could
not be evaded. There was a considerable increase on
the duties collected at Harbor Grace, which might be
accounted for partly by the extension of the business
of that port, but principally by the opening by
Messrs. Ridley & Sons of a branch establishment at
Rose Blanche, for which the importations were at
Harbor Grace, the goods being afterwards sent coastwise. As it might be a matter of
interest to hon.
members to be informed upon what articles there was
an increase, and on what a decrease of duties, he
would read the details. On ale and porter there was
an increase of £200 11s 11d; on butter £60 19s 8d;
cheese £3 16 4d; chocolate and cocoa £28 14s 8d;
cigars £1 15s 8d; coals £1,313 4s 6d; coffee, £47
6s 3d; confectionary £23 2s 1d; teathers £51 16s;
fruit (90,831 lbs.) £567 143 1d; molasses (147,233
gals.) £1,533 14s 2d; pork, £6 18, 7d; brandy, gin,
and whiskey, (44.18 1/2 gals.) £1,104 11s 3d; rum.
(10,744 1-2 gals.) £1641 14s 9d; sugar unrefined
(2230cwt 1qr 91b) £916 6s 5d, bastard £4 10 7d;
wine in bottles £29 11s; not in bottles (1126 gals.)
£281 10s; port, madeira, burgundy and sherry (326
gals.) £35 13s 9d; goods paying 51-2 per cent. and
advalorem, £705 12s 11d. The total increase was
£8,459 4s 8d. There was a decrease on the following articles–bacon and hams, £15 5s
7d; biscuit,
£238 6s 9d; oatmeal and Indian meal £1 12s 4d;
salt (5,688 1-2 tons) £142 4s 2d; cordials (1,701 1-2
gals.) £255 4s 6d; sugar, refined (630 cwt 3qrs
11lbs) £416 7s 2d; tea, sonchong, congou, &c.,
£52 13s other sorts, £69 5s 5d; the total quantity
short imported being 6,483 lbs.; tobacco (107,135lbs)
£1,473 2s 5d; vinegar £16 14s 2d; claret and other
wines (989 1-2 gals.) £154 10s 91; goods not enumerated or described, £210 0s 10d.,
the total decrease being £3,045 7s 11d., which being deducted
from increase, leaves a gross increase of £5,413 17s
7d on the year. He regretted to state that notwithstanding the prevalence of distress
amongst the operative population, arising from the short fisheries of
the past year, there was an increase of over £3000 on
spirits and wines, ale and porter. It was certairly
deserving of the most serious consideration that in
such a year as the past, with starvation staring hundreds in the face, the seal fishery
almost a total failure, and the cod fishery not much better, there should
have been such an alarming incresse in the consumption of intoxicating liquors, and
that two-ninths
of our whole revenus should be derived from the duties on these liquors. The statement
of assets and
liabilities of the colony exhibits a balance against the
colony on the 31st Dec. last, of £36,899 0s 2d against
£32 616 17s 10d, on the 31st Dec., 1863, being
an increase, during the past year, of £3,482 2s. 4d.
The increase is easily accounted for. Votes were
passed in committee on supply last session, not included in the estimate, amounting
to £900, and the expenditure for shipwrecked erews, occasioned by the
disasters of the seal fishery, exceeded the estimate by
£3,103, 17s 5d. and some accounts were slightly
overdrawn while the revenue was only £4254, in excess of its estimated amount. The
public debt account
showed an increase of £4 446 17s 2d, caused by the
issuing of Debentures under the St. John's Sewerage
Act, for £5,000, and some small amounts under the
St. John's Rebuilding Act, from the aggregate of
which there remained to be deducted £733 9s 10d
debentures paid off. The amount of the funded debt
on the 31st December last was £177,261 18s 4d
The Financial statement for the present year was made
out in dollars and cents. The revenue was estimated
at the same amount as last year, which he (hon R.
Gen.) hoped would be realized, the estimate being
$492,509, while the expenditure was estimated at
$480,958, 86. The only increase of salaries was £10
to the High Constable at Harbor Grace, and £20 to
the General Superintendent of Police, for which addresses passed the house last session,
Provision was
made for the expenses of a general election, the continuing of the geological survey,
the erection of a
Government store and workshop, for which the necessity had been experienced in years
past; and $48,150
for the road service. It would be recollected that at
the close of last session an addressed passed both
houses for the payment of the cost of uniforms for
Captain Renoni's Company of Rifle Volunteers, and
that subsequently petitions were presented from the
Captains of the other Companies for similar grants.
The government had decided on leaving the whole
question to the house and a sum of $5,000 was inserted in the estimate towards meeting
that outlay,
should it be passed by the house. The sum of $46,000 was sit down for the permanent
and casual poor.
In some districts the road grant was now being anticipated to relieve the distress
now prevailing, as it was
evident that the circumstances of the coiony would
not admit of any increase in the poor vote, without
a corresponding diminution of the road grant, which
would be obviously unjust to those districts not requiring more that a moderate amount
of poor relief. As
some of the hon members opposite, since the opening
of the session, had recourse to the stale charge so
frequently refuted, that the government had recourse
to the excessive issue of poor relief in certain districts
to sustain their political influence, he (hon R. Gen.)
would refer to the abstract of poor expenditure as
furnished by the Stipendiary Poor Commissioner, and
now laid on the table, which was, for the several districts, as follows:-
| St. John,'s |
Cy £4,141 16 4 |
| Ferryland |
622 5 10 |
| Bay de Verds |
556 13 10 |
| Brigus |
802 0 11 |
| Bonavista |
951 19 3 |
| Carbonear |
300 5 10 |
| Trinity |
653 4 10 |
| Twiligate and Fogo |
693 14 6 |
| Harbor Maine |
317 19 3 |
| Harbor Grace |
604 5 4 |
| Placentia and St. Mary's |
619 16 2 |
| Labrador |
23 0 0 |
| Burin |
664 7 3 |
| Fortune Bay |
15 18 4 |
| Burgeo and LaPoile |
237 14 1 |
|
£11,205 2 2 |
|
Stg. £9,711 1 10 |
In those districts represented by hon members on
the opposition side of the house, with a population of
49,424, the expenditure was within a fraction of 2s.
4d. per head, for every man woman and child, while
in the districts represented by hon members on this
side, with a population of 68,880, the expenditure
was a fraction over 1s. 6d. per head. So much for
the correctness of the charges made by hon members.
Before sitting down, he (hon. R. Gen.) conceived it
his duty to refer to some observations which had been
made on a former day by the hon member for St.
John's West, Mr. Renouf, respecting certain Customs' Bonds taken for duties on goods
imported, on
which a Newfoundland jury had given an adverse
verdict, and respecting which, so far as he could learn,
he had reason to believe the Judges of the Supreme
Court were divided in opinion, The matter had been
referred to on two or three occasions by the hon member, with no lack of vituperative
charges against him
(hon R. Gen.) for, inattention to the duties of his
office. If the hon member had the interests of the
colony at heart so much as he professed, he would
have attached the blame to the system which had prevailed in the Customs department
for the past thirty
years, and expressed his satisfaction at its being
changed—that signing blank bonds, a practice fraught
with most disastrous consequences, and liable to abuse
any time. It was matter of congratulation that this
system had been terminated, although it might involve
a loss to the colony of £2,000 or more. This, of
course, was a matter of uncertainty, as there were
legal points yet to be decided. But he (hon R. Gen.)
might call in question the sincerity of the hon member,
when he affected to deprecate the loss, as calculated
to lessen the means available for many improvements
of urgent necessity, Was not the hon member glad
that he had the opportunity of a fling at the government, and especially at the Receiver
General? And
he (hon R. Gen.) was bold to say that the immunity
which the Reveiver General's accounts had hitherto
received at the hon member's hands. was because they
were beyond his fault flnding ability. He (hon R.
Gen.) had been charged by the hon member with inattention to the duries of his office,
because bonds
with what he termed worthless names to them, had been
taken for duties. Whilst he (non R. Gen.) would be
the last person in the house, to question the right of
any hon member to criticise the acts, of any public
officer, and would readily concede that right in his
own case, he merely demanded that the criticism
should be fair. In the continuance of a practice
which existed when Captain Spearman was at the head
of the Customs' department, and was continued under
the hon members opposite, Mr. Kent and Mr. Glen,
while their attention to the duties of their office was
never questioned, and was not more marked than his
(hon R. Gen's.) he could not be considered by any
disinterested person to have acted negligently; and
he would ask these hon gentlemen whether the practice of signing blank bonds, to be
afterwards filled up,
did not exist when they had charge of the Customs'
department>?
Mr. GLEN-Such a practice existed in the Custom
house in his time.
Hon Receiver GENERAL thanked these hon gentlemen for their admissions. Both outside and inside
the house parties had charged the loss to his (hon R.
Gen's.) neglect. With respect to the sureties to these
bonds, whatever change might have taken place in
their circumstances previous to the bonds coming to
maturity they were regarded at the time of signing
as carrying on a safe business and perfectly solvent,
importers to a considerable extent. and paying a considerable amount of duties. He
(hon. R. Gen) was
sensible that a large amount of responsibility rested on
the Receiver General in respect to bonds. But there
were times when other and equally important duties
called him away from his office; and was the business
of the country to sand still, or were parties giving
bonds to wait his return? In such cases all must
depend upon the discretion of the Assistant Collector.
Without wishing to shirk responsibility, or thrusting
on , the shoulders of that gentleman responsibility
which he (hon R. Gen ) should alone bear, he would
ask the hon members opposite, his predecessors in
office, whether all the bonds taken in their time were
submitted for their approval?
Hon Receiver GENERAL thanked the hon members. But the authorities of the Custom house were
not infailable any more than the Managers and Directors of our Banks. They were liable
to be mistaken
as to the circumstances of parties signing bonds.
When these bonds were presented with the names of
parties of whose solvency there was not a whisper of
suspicion, to reject the bonds was virtually to cause
that suspicion, which might injure parties of whose
integrity there was no question. Between the duty
of protecting the revenue, and avoiding the doing of
any injury to the commercial standing of business
men, the Receiver General and Assistant Collector
were placed in a position of great delicacy and responsibility. But in case of the
bonds in question the
question was not, as to the solvency of the sureties,
but as to the validity of bonds signed in blank, and
afterwards, filled up. Several of the Sureties were
men of undoubted means. That was not the place to
discuss the legality or illegality of bonds signed in
blank; and he (hon R. Gen.) had no desire to remark on the wart of prudence or honor
of the parties
to these transactions, who signed blank bonds to be
passed at the Custom-house for duties, and then repudiate their responsibility. He
could not sufficiently
express his cond-mation of their conduct. The practice of signing blank bonds bad
prevailed for over
thirty years, and was the rule, not the exception with
respect to the bonds given during the whole of that
time. It had now, however, been put an end to, and
although the course now adopted might be attended
with inconvenience to many in the trade, whose honor
is above suspicion, yet the necessity of protecting the
revenue rendered it imperative to adopt the precautions now in use, by which it would
be impossible for
the sureties to a bond to deny their liability. He
moved that the documents lie on the table.
Mr. Renouf.-The duties collected at the Labrador in 1863 amounted to £1,325 10s 81., and there
was last year a falling off of £210 7s 9d. He was
not at all astonished at that. He told the government at the time they were passing
their Labrador
Bill that it would prove a failure. But the medsure
was not passed for the purpose of revenue, but to
make places for their own friends. Where was the
necessity for sending a Judge to the Labrador, for the
purpose of administering justice? Why, his own
report showed that he had hardly any cases to try. But
the object was to give a salary to one of their friends.
Was it not in accordance with the advice of the Fishery Commissioner that the duties
were imposed, and
was not a relative of his employed in their collection?
We were told that the first year was a year of experiment, and that the duties would
be larger next year,
that there was a difficulty in getting to the Labrador
coast the first year on account of the ice. But in
place of an increase there was a deficiency last year.
The measure had turned out to be a complete failure.
The Receiver General endeavoured to account for the
deficiency by stating that a large quantity cf dutiable goods had been purchased in
this market for the
Labrador. He (Mr. Renouf) would take the figures,
and not a mere assumption, and the fixures showed
a decrease in the amount of duties. It was high time
that the system should be put an end to, by which the
colony was put to a loss of £2,000. It was time it
should be abolished. It was somewhat surprising that
the loss should have taken place under the present
Receiver General. His predecessors in the Custom
house lost nothing. It no doubt arose from his negligence. It was no cause of rejoicing
that such a loss
incurred; but we would rejoice if the Receiver General told us that he would pay a
portion of the loss.
It appeared that £3500 had been expended for the relief of shipwrecked sealing crews;
and all that money
was expended in the northern bays; all among the
constituents of the hon members opposite. When the
detailed accounts were laid before the house we would
find who benefited by that large expenditure. He (Mr.
Renouf) was told of the crew of one vessel having received £240 to bring them from
Twillingate to Harbor Grace. When the Receiver General said the poor
expenditure was kept within the estimate, he might
takeſ 2,500 of this sum and add it to that expenditure.
He believed the flnating debt agains: the Colony was
stated to be £36,000. That balance had been accumulated by the present Government,
who boasted
of their economy and practised extravagance. It appeared that the superintendent of
the police at Harbor Grace received an advance of £10. That was a
small sum for Harbor Grace, but it must get something. He (Mr. Renouf) was not aware
that an address passed the house for that sum. He was surprised that something had
not been done for Carbonear. But the hon member for Carbonear understood
it, and had taken up the claim of the police there.
It appeared that the poor expenditure in the district
of Fortune Bay had been only £15. But poor relief
had found its way to the Larbrador coast, and the
small sum of £23 had been expended there for a commencement. The economical government
had extended the system of poor relief.. The merchants on the
Labrador said, if they were to be taxed for the purposes of Newfoundland, let the
Government provide
relief for their poor, as well as in Newfoundland.
Hon. Receiver GENERAL.-Some years before
the present government came into office a supply o
provisions was sent to St. George's Bay, which paid
no revenue to this colony. He did not blame the
late government for that. It was a question of humanity. After the fire of 1846, the
people of the United
States, Nova Scotia, Canada, and other places sent
relief to the sufferers here, and the munificent sum
£30,000 stg was given by the British Government for
their relief. The expenditure ot the Labrador was
for the relief, aged, and infirm persons, who were unable to earn their own subsistence.
Mr. MARCH-In every subject that came before
the house he would always tell the truth, and oppose
what was wrong. The Government had acted wisely,
jusly and honestly in the collection of duties at the
Labrador. He was aware that Judge Sweetland had
given great satisfaction in the discharge of his duties.
He was spoken of by the people in the highest terms.
The collection of duties was a great protection to our
own traders. It was a movement in the right direction. The expenditure at Labrador
in poor relief was
occasioned by a case of great urgency and distress.
it was to save life, and was to be attributed to the
Rev. Mr. Botwood, who had, on his own credit procured over £20 worth of provisions.
He (Mr. March)
intended to stand up and demand a fair proportion of
the public money for Labrador. It was right that the
people who lived there should receive it. They were
taxºd and were entitled to some return for schools,
roads, and other improvements.
Mr. Talbot did not think that the Government
were entirely free from blame in this matter of the
Customs bonds, though he did not see that any particular blame attached to the hon
the Receiver General.There was evidently something wrong in the whole
system; and if so it was the duty of the Government
to correct it, and more particularly when they boast
of intending to correct all the evils in the system of
their predecessors. Now it appeared to him (Mr.
Talbot) that they improved nothing, and that they had
acted even worse in these matters than the former
Government. Again, they shewed themselves less
capable than their predecessors of guarding against
and preventing any disagreeable results which might
arise from the course which they were pursuing. In
that view of the matter then the Receiver General was
equally to blame with the Government. The late
Government saw that the system was a bad one, and
they therefore kept a strict watch upon it. The present Government did not exercise
the same prudence
and caution; and it had worked perniciously, and the
country are the sufferers. Then with reference to the
collection of duties at the Labrador; had it not been
a total failure? It was undertaken in a spirit of mere
persecution, and like all persecutions, had failed. Who
but the present Government would have thought of
pursuing men into a wild savage country, run to from
civilised society, and merely for the purpose of grinding a tax out of them? This
was the grand stroke of
policy upon which the Government had so prided
themselves. He (Mr. Talbot) would like to ask the
hon Receiver General what constable it was at Harbor
Grace who had received an increase of £10 to his
salary? He did not see anything to prevent the
Carbonear constables from being placed on the same
footing. There was no economy in thus giving men
small salaries. They were always discontented, and,
as a natural consequence of that discoutent, would do
their work in an inefficient manner.
Mr. KENT was not prepared to enter into a critical, examination of the accounts just laid
upon the
table by the hon Beceiver Geueraſ. But he saw in
them, at the first glance, nothing upon which to con
gratulate the country, especially in view of the lamentable fact that they represented
a total loss of over
£60,000 to the country. He found an importation of
£20,000 worth of spirits—taking them at their first
cost-paying, duties to the amount of £12,000, to
which might be added, as a natural consequence, an
expenditure of £35,000 for poor relief. Such a state
of things was indeed lamentable. It represented an
amount of extravagant dissipation, and of resulting
poverty, which was alarming, and which could excite
none other than the most fearful apprehensions with
regard to the future of the country.
Ordered the documents lie on the table.
(To be continued.)
[The "continuation" does not appear to have been published in the Newfoundlander and is not in The Confederation Debates Collection]
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