1847-06-24, Patriot And Terra-Nova Herald

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TERRA-NO YJ1 &ERJ1LD.
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■ Unawed by influence and unbrtbed by gain,
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11 Pledged to Religion, Liberty; and Law,'*
NEW SERKB^}  ST. JO&N, NEWFOUNDLAND, THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 1847.     [Kb. XXIV
HOUSE OF LORDS, LONDON lone-halfwas the precise  proportion that
TVT A V*  Oft r_i._rl._L in Via rrrantari fn-n tliof m_«>_.ncn     TUa-^a
MA-Y 28.
FIRE ATST.JOE_tFS,NEWFOUNDI- AND.
Lord Portman rose, pursuant to notice,
to call the attention of the house to papers
which had been laid upon their Lordships'
table, respecting the destructive fire which
had soifco time ago taken place at St. John,
Newfoundland.    When in tiie first instance
ought to be granted for that purpose. There
was one more stage of .the proceeding "to
which he would refer: The Bishop of New-
| foundland requested that the njfoney should
be kept in this country, and placed somewhere, so that interest might accrue upon
it, whereby it might become W larger sum,
and be more useful than if sent to the colony at first.    His noble friend {ike secretary
it was thought necessary to bring the sub-[for the colonies consented  to that course,
ject before IPjfcrttament, his noble friend the
Secretary of State consented to lay before
them the papers that were required to develope the whole  transaction.    Those papers had for  some  time  been before the
house ; and  having  considered them,  he
took it upon himself to say thatthe case
was one which did require the attention of
their Lordships.    The money which had
been stflweflbcd in consequence of this disastrous fire was not only not applied to the
purposes specified  in the Queen's Letter,
but was applied, by private arrangement,
to matters which had not been mentioned in j
her Majesty's letter.    Both the purposes to ]
which the money had been applied might |
have been in themselves good, but it was
not for both; it  was  only for one of the
number   that the  subscribers  gave their
contributions.    The Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts had subscribed £2,000 towards rebuilding the episcopal church at St. John's.    But the collection under the  Queen's letter  was made
from door to* door, and many became subscribers who never thought that they were
giving their money for  the purpose of rebuilding an  episcopal church, inasmuch as
many  of the subscribers were Dissenters,
and   who, in   giving their money, thought
that they were  merely contributing to the
relief of their   distressed   brethren.    The
petition praying that a Queen's letter be issued   asked  for   assistance   generally, and
particularly  referred  to the re-building of
the church ; but the answer to   that   petition as well as thc Queen's letter was silent
on  the subject.    What he  complained of
was this, that having in  tlie first instance
taken what seemed to  be  a perfectly safe,
sound and courteous course, namely, referring it to the governor of the colony to inform him whether it was desirable that any
part of the  money collected could be spared for the purpose of rebuilding the parish
church of St. John, and, if so, what portion
could be so   applied,   his noble friend the
Secretary for the colonies did not wait for
the answer of the Governor, but suddenly
but unfortunately another aut|s^rity in this
country stepped in, and the.Lords ofthe
Treasury declined to adopt the suggestion.
It was evident there was great distrust in
from the Officer administering the.govern-
nient of Newfoundland, stating that the
grant of money that had been already made
had had a demoralizing tendency, (a§ the
people seemed to have an idea that; .whether they were in poverty or not, they had
» right to relief out of the money that had
been subscribed, and requesting that (he
rest of the funds might be placed in the
hands of the Secretary for the Colonies, to
be appropriated as he thought fit, and in
particular recommending that a part of ii
should be applied to the rebuilding of the
church. He placed his change of determination expressly on the ground of this
the Authorities ofthe Colony, though from | information, and on the fact that the prin
what cause it was not for him to say : but: cipal sufferers had received almost the
there was this difference between the case' whole amount of their loss, whilst those
ofthe fire in Newfoundland and that of who had not received the amount of their
Quebec* In the latter caa^tlj^ money col- [losses were tlie small shopkeepers, on whom!
lected under tlie authority of the Queen's the expense off restoHng the choreh would
letter for the relief ofthe sufferers was sent principally fall. Besides the Officer Ad-
to Lord Metcalfe, the Governor of the Co- j ministering the. Government had recom-
lony, for his appropriation and distribution ; mended a fixed proportion of the itooney
and he therefore was responsible for the to be applied to this particular purpose.'
whole proceeding ; but upon this occasion j With respect to the Queen's letter, it was
there appeared to have been an under- ! contrary to precedent to notice all the ob-
standing with the London committee and jects to whicii the collections^ were to be
with the Right Rev, Prelate, and also with applied, and it was the usual course to leave
the Noble Earl the.Secretary for the Co- the distribution of the fund raised to a com-
lonies, that the parties who contributed the mittee administering any general subscrip-
money should not be told tbe purpose for tion, the Government having", in fact, no
which their money was asked. In his opi- means of distributing those voluntary con-
nion, however, it was desirable that in eve- tributions. At the same time he saw no'
ry case where the  people of this country objection to the preseat motion. .
were asked to contribute their money for ! The Bishop of SALISBURY said, that
any purpose, they should be distinctly tokl the paities who applied for the Queen's
what the purpose was. The noble Lord Letter, the Authorities in the Colony,* and
then concluded with expressing his hope her Majesty's Government, had all concur-
that their  lordships  would concur  in the  red   in the necessity and propriety of thia
motion he was about to make, that an hum
ble address be presented to her Majesty,
praying her Majesty to direct, that as often
as her Majesty should be graciously pleased
to issue a letter directed to the Archbishops
of Canterbury and York, authorizing the
collection of contributions, an account should
be rendered of the amount of money received, of the parties to whom it was paid,
and of the purposes to which it was applied.
The Bishop of LONDON could not conceive that there had been any breach of
trust, or the slightest deviation from tho
strict line of duty, on the part of the Secretary of State in the course, he had taken.
Earl GREY said it was true that, on the
7th of November, 1S4G, he did refuse to
illot any portion of the money to the purpose of rebuilding the church of St. John's,
but shortly afterwards ho received   a   De-
jumped  as it were tf> thc conclusion tbat[spatch, dated the 26th of November, lS4fi.
application ofthe money; and he believed1
it met with general assent. . .
Lord PORTMAN replied, disciithning^
any intention of imputing blame ,to any of
the clergy, though there was a different interpretation put by them upon1 the Queen's'
letter.—The motion was then' agreed to.-
^"By tbe foregoing remarks it will be
observed that we were perfectly .correct
when we state 1 that the plot for robbing thO
fire sufferers was hatched'at Goye'rnrtibht-
house) but at the time we stated tliis fact,-
we had no idea of the treachery W'hich tfie
observations of Earl Grey disc-loses. Who'
could have imagined i\)i\X tit the time the
Administrator Law replied so pathetically
to the deputation who waited on him soliciting him to transmit the sufferers' complaint
to the foot of tlie Throne—when, laying his
ha:id upon his bosom, he exclaimed, " My*