§ SIR JOHN PAKINGTONsaid, he begged to ask the hon. Under Secretary for the Colonies whether it was true that the House of Assembly of Newfoundland had lately refused to proceed with business unless responsible government was conceded to that Colony; and whether Her Majesty's Ministers had consented to establish responsible government in Newfoundland, and, if so, upon what conditions?
§ MR. FREDERICK PEELsaid, it was the case that the Assembly of Newfoundland, at the commencement of its present Session, had passed a Resolution that they would not do any business with the Council until the decision of the Government with regard to an application from the Assembly, made last year, praying for freer institutions, was made known. In the meanwhile, before the Government were aware of the course taken by the Assembly, they had forwarded a despatch to the Colony, intimating their readiness to concede a system of responsible government to Newfoundland so soon as certain conditions were complied with. Those conditions were, that the holders of existing offices 786 rendered liable to displacement should be indemnified; that the number of members of the Assembly should be raised from fifteen to thirty, not by doubling the number of representatives of the different districts, but by a subdivision of those districts; and, lastly, that the salaries of members, and the expenses of candidates at elections, should not be paid out of the colonial treasury; but, if paid at all, should be paid by local assessment of the different districts.