The political faculty in Newfoundland was so rudimentary at this period that from 1841 to 1843 it became necessary to suspend the Constitution. In the autumn of 1840 an election riot at Carbonear occurred, which was of such a serious character that the sympathies of the British ministry with Newfoundland affairs were alienated, and the Governor was ordered to dissolve the Legislature. He did this on April 26th, 1841, and in his speech pointed out the reason for such drastic action: "As a Committee of the House of Commons has been appointed to enquire into the state of Newfoundland, before which Committee I shall have to appear, I will on the present occasion confine myself to the expression of my regret that such a proceeding should have become indispensably necessary to the tranquillity and welfare of the colony." Until 1849 the government was carried on by a General Assembly--a makeshift Assembly--in which members of the House of Assembly sat side by side with members of the Council, the latter losing their distinctive functions. Under Governor Prescott (1834) and Governor Harvey (1841) began organized attempts to foster the agricultural interest. Liberal grants of land were made to poor settlers, and considerable sums voted for the construction of roads. This was indeed a period of healthy activity, for the development of the seal fishery added in a variety of ways to the prosperity of the island, and the invention of steam, together with the establishment of a regular mail service, brought Newfoundland very much nearer to the home country. On June 9th, 1846, came the last great fire but one which has ravaged the colony. By great misfortune it broke out when a high wind was blowing, and spread with fatal rapidity all over the town. Buildings, public and private, wooden and stone, were involved in a common destruction, and the last touch of horror came when the large oil vats fringing the harbour caught fire. The Custom House, the Church of St. John's, the Courts and Gaol, the Theatre, the Bank of British North America, the Colonial Treasurer's Office, and the Savings Bank, were all destroyed. It was estimated that the aggregate amount of damage done was L1,000,000, and that upwards of 12,000 persons lost their homes. In this crushing affliction the spirit shown by all classes, from Governor Harvey downwards, was admirable. At a representative meeting of the citizens convened by the Governor it was resolved: "That this meeting is aware that the well-established credit and stability of the trade of St. John's, coupled with the natural and inexhaustible resources of its fisheries, will speedily enable it to recover its usual current, but that in the meantime it is necessary that publicity should be given to the demand for provisions and building materials which at present exists in this market."