In January, 1832, Governor Young met the house of assembly for the first
time. There was a dread of cholera, now raging in Europe, which led to
the passing of a measure in the assembly “to prevent the spread of
infectious diseases.” A day of fasting was appointed in the month of
May, and, happily, the island was not visited by a pestilence which, in
other places, laid tens of thousands in the grave. In this year an act
was also passed to provide for the conveyance of the mails between
Charlottetown and Pictou, by a steam vessel, a grant of three hundred
pounds yearly having been voted for that purpose. The service was
accordingly performed by the Steamer _Pocahontas_, which ran twice a
week to Pictou,—the cabin passage-money being twelve shillings currency.
In the following year the census was taken, from which it appeared that
the population of the island, which, in 1827, had been twenty-three
thousand, had increased to thirty-two thousand. An act was also passed
in this year by which the duration of the assembly was reduced from the
period of seven to that of four years.
In May, 1834, Governor Young went to England, whence he returned in
September, as Sir Aretas W. Young. In June of the same year died John
Stewart, of Mount Stewart, at the age of seventy-six. He came to the
Island in 1778. He was speaker of the house of assembly for a number of
years, and was one of the most useful public men of his day. We have
read much of his private and official correspondence, which has led us
to form a high opinion of his integrity, industry, and zeal. His book on
the island, published in 1806, is a reliable work, so far as facts are
concerned, though not written with the grace and freedom which
distinguished the letters of his contemporary, John Stuart, the London
agent of the island.
A general election took place towards the close of 1834, and the new
house met in January, 1835. A dispute arose between the assembly and the
council, respecting the revenue bills, which led to the necessary
supplies not being granted, but after a short interval the governor
convoked the assembly in April, and as the result of a previous informal
conference between the disputants, it was arranged that the revenue bill
should be separated from the appropriation bill,—as a solution of the
difficulty,—and thus the dispute terminated. In consequence of the
illness of his excellency, the session of one week’s duration was
prorogued by a commission, who were desired to express to the assembly
his excellency’s pleasure at the satisfactory termination of its labors.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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