SESSIONAL PAPER No. 18 the same Day, same Proportions. sue upon Judg- so marked on the Writs, such Executions shall have the same Privilege and ments given be satisfied in the same Proportions, and the Sheriff, or other Person to they are to be whom such Writs of Execution shall be Awarded, receiving the same, is satisfied in the hereby authorized and Commanded, after the sale of the whole of such Defendant's Real and Personal Estate, where the Writ shall be awarded against both, in case the same should not be sufficient to satisfy the whole of such Judgments, to pay over and divide the Nett Produce of such sale or Sales, after deducting his own Costs and Charges, amongst the several Plaintiffs, in Proportion to the Amount of their Respective Judgments. Allowance to Art 19. On every Execution the Sheriff shall be allowed all his Disbursements, and shall be authorized to charge over and above at the Rate of Two and an Half per centum, to be deducted out of the Money he levies. the Sheriff. Art XX Proceedings in Actions under £10 Sterling In Matters either not exceeding or under Ten Pounds Sterling, any Person having a Right of Action against another, shall prepare, or procure from the Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, a Declaration in the following Form. 66 Quebec Montreal 66 Day of A. B. Plaintiff. "iff demands of the Defendant the Sum of from the Defendant, for 17 C. D. Defendant.-The Plain due to the Plaintiff which said Sum, though often demanded, "still remains due, therefore the Plaintiff prays Judgment." The Declaration shall be filed by the Clerk, who shall make a Copy thereof, and at the Foot of such Copy write out a Summons in the Language of the Defendant in the following Form, viz. "To C. D. the Defendant in the Above Action "You are hereby commanded and required to pay the Plaintiff A. B. the 66 together with appear in Person, or by Your Agent, before me, at the Court House in "the City of together with your Witnesses, if you have any, on the when the matter of Complaint against you 66 66 as ascertained in the above Declaration will be heard and finally deter"mined, otherwise Judgment will be given against you by Default-E. F. Judge of the Court of Common Pleas." 66 This Summons shall be signed by one of the Judges of the Court, and a Copy thereof, and of the Declaration, served on the Defendant Personally, or left at his Dwelling House, or Ordinary Place of Residence, with some grown Person there; and the Person serving the same shall inform the Defendant, or such grown Person, of the Contents thereof. If, at the Time mentioned in the Summons, the Defendant does not appear (Proof of the Service thereof being produced in Court) the Judges, or any one of Them shall hear the cause on the part of the Plaintiff, and make such order, Decree, or Judgment, and award such reasonable Costs of Suit, as to them or him shall appear agreeable to Equity and good Conscience; but if the Defendant does not appear by himself, or his Agent, and the Plaintiff, or his Agent, does not appear, or appearing does not Prosecute, or prosecuting, fails in his Action, the Judge or Judges shall dismiss the Defendant with Costs. If the Plaintiff makes good his Charge against the Defendant, the Judge or Judges shall give Judgment accordingly, and award Costs and Execution, but the Execution shall not issue till the next Court Day after Judgment given: the Execution shall go against the Moveables only of the Defendant, which shall be seized by some Person to be for that Purpose appointed by the Court, and sold by him in the manner mentioned in the Sixteenth Article of this Ordinance. But the Execution shall contain an 6-7 EDWARD VII., A. 1907 Exception of the Party's Beasts of the Plough, Implements of Husbandry, Tools of his Trade, and one Bed and Bedding, unless his other Goods and Chattels should prove insufficient, in which Case such Beasts of the Plough, Implements of Husbandry and Tools of his Trade, shall be sold, but not the Bed and Bedding. The Judge or Judges, may, if they think proper, order the Debt to be levied by Installments, provided the Time allowed shall not exceed the Space of Three Months from the Day of issuing the Execution. Art XXI. In Matters, as well above as of or under the Value of Ten Pounds Sterling, if the Defendant shall convey away or secrete his Effects, an Execution shall go against his Person, to be taken and detained in Prison until he satisfies the Judgment. Art XXII. For the Satisfaction of all Judgments given in Commercial Matters between Merchants, as well as of all Debts due to Merchants for Goods, Wares, and Merchandizes, by them sold, Execution shall issue not only against the Goods, Chattels, Lands, and Tenements of the Defendant, but also, in case they shall not produce the Amount of the Plaintiff's Demand, against his Person, to be taken and conveyed into the Prison of the District, and there detained until he pays the Amount of the Judgment, or otherwise settles with and satisfies the Plaintiff: Provided, that if the Defendant after remaining one month in Prison, shall make Application to the Court, and make an Affidavit that he is not worth Ten Pounds, the Plaintiff shall pay to the Defendant the Sum of Three Shillings and Sixpence weekly, for his Maintenance as long as he shall be detained in Prison at the Suit of the Plaintiff; such Payment shall be made in Advance on Monday in every Week, in Failure of which the Court from whence the Execution issued shall order the Defendant to be released; but the Plaintiff shall not be obliged to make such Payment, if he can prove, to the Satisfaction of the Court by which the Defendant stands committed, that the Defendant has secreted or conveyed away his Effects to defraud his Creditors. Art XXIII. When any Person against whom Judgment shall be given in any of the Courts of Common Pleas shall not have sufficient Goods, Chattels, Lands, or Tenements, to satisfy such Judgment within the Jurisdiction of the Court wherein such Judgment shall have been obtained, but shall have Goods, Chattels, Lands or Tenements within the Jurisdiction of the other Court of Common Pleas, it shall be lawful for the Judge or Judges of the Court wherein Judgment shall have been obtained to award Execution to the Sheriff of the other District, who, after getting the Writ indorsed by one of the Judges of the Court for the District in which the Goods, Chattels, Lands, or Tenements are situated, shall execute the same, and make Return thereof to the Court from which it issued; and such Writ and Return shall be by him sent to the Sheriff of the District from whence the Writ was originally awarded, to be delivered into the Court that issued the same. The Sheriff executing such Writ shall be answerable for his Doings relative thereto before the Court from which it was originally awarded; and the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas for the one District may, in like manner, award Execution against the Body of a Person residing in the other in Cases where such Execution is by Law allowed; and the Sheriff executing the Writ to him in such case directed shall convey the Body of SESSIONAL PAPER No. 18 such Person into the Prison of the District wherein such Person shall be arrested. Art XXIV. This Ordinance, and the several Provisions and matters therein contained, shall remain in Force only during the Space of Two Years from the Publication thereof. GUY CARLETON. Ordained and Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, and passed in By His Excellency's Command J: WILLIAMS C.L.C. Establishment of a Supreme Court of Criminal Justice, AN ORDINANCE FOR ESTABLISHING COURTS OF CRIMINAL It is Ordained and Enacted by His Excellency the Captain General and Governor in Chief of this Province, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council of the Same, That, Art. I. There shall be, and hereby is erected, constituted and established for the Province at large, a Supreme Court of Criminal Justice and Jurisdiction, to be called and known by the name of the Court of King's Bench, for the Cognizance of all Pleas of the Crown, and for the Trial of all manner of Offences whatsoever; the said Court shall be held before the Chief Justice of the Province, or Commissioners that may be appointed for executing the Chief Justice Office of Chief Justice for the Time being, who shall hear and determine or Commis- the said Pleas of the Crown, and of all manner of Offences whatsoever, executing that according to the Laws of England, and the Ordinances of the Government and Legislative Council of the Province. to be held before the sioners for Office. real. Times of And for the Speedy Administration of Justice, and the preventing Four Sessions; Two at Quebec long Imprisonments, there shall be held, in every Year, Four Sessions of Two at Mont- the said Court of King's Bench, whereof Two Sessions shll be held at the City of Quebec, and the other Two at the City of Montreal, at the Times hereafter following, to wit, at the City of Quebec on the First Tuesday of May and the First Tuesday of November, and at the City of Montreal on the First Monday of March and the First Monday of September in every year but nothing herein contained shall extend to Special Com- prevent the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Commander in Chief for missions to be the Time being, to issue Commissions of Oyer and Terminer and Gaol issued if neces- Delivery at any other Time or Times, when he may think it necessary and expedient so to do. sary. 1 Canadian Archives, Q 62 A-2, p. 594. 6-7 EDWARD VII., A. 1907 Establishment of the Court of Quarter Ses sions. Places and Times of Sitting. Two Commis Art. II. In each of the Districts of Quebec and Montreal, there shall be held and kept, Four Times in every Year, a Court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace, by the Commissioners of the Peace of each respective District, or so many of them as are or shall be limited in the Commission of the Peace, who shall hear and determine all matters relative to the Conservation of the Peace, and whats ever is by them cognizable, according to the Laws of England, and the Ordinances of the Governor and Legislative Council of the Province. The said Sessions for the District of Quebec, shall be held at the City of Quebec, and the said Sessions for the District of Montreal shall be held at the City of Montreal, on the days hereafter following, to wit, on the second Tuesdays of the Months of January, April, July and October, in every year. And Two of the said Commissioners of the Peace shall sit weekly in sioners to sit Rotation, in the Cities of Quebec and Montreal, for the better Regulation weekly. of the Police, and other matters and Things belonging to their Office; and the names of the Commissioners who are to sit in each Week shall be posted up on the Door of the Sessions House, by the Clerk of the Peace, Two Days before their respective Sittings. Captains of Militia impowered in their oners. respec Art. III. As the great extent of this Province may render it often impracticable for the Coroner of the District to give his attendance at the different tive Parishes Places where it might be necessary, the Captains of Militia shall be and to act as Cor- hereby are impowered, in their respective Parishes, when any marks of Violence appear on any dead Body, to summon together Six respectable Householders of his Parish, to inspect the same; and he shall, according to their Opinion, report the manner and cause of such Death in writing, to the nearest Commissioner of the Peace, that a further examination may be made therein, if necessary. Art. IV. Captains of appointed And as great Inconveniences might arise from the want of Peace Officers in different parts of the Province, the said Captains of Militia shall Peace Officers be and hereby are impowered to arrest any Person guilty of any Breach of in their the Peace, or any Criminal offence, within their respective Parishes, and to convey or cause to be con 7eyed, such Person before the nearest Commissioner of the Peace, to be dealt with according to Law. (signed) GUY CARLETON Ordained and Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, and passed in Council under the Great Seal of the Province at the Council Chamber, in the Castle of St Lewis, in the City of Quebec, the Fourth Day of March, in the seventeenth year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Third, by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith and so forth, and in the Year of Our Lord One thousand seven hundred and seventy seven. By His Excellency's Command. J: WILLIAMS C.L.C. SESSIONAL PAPER No. 18 PETITION OF MERCHANTS FOR REPEAL OF QUEBEC ACT.1 To The Right Honorable Lord George Germain, One of His Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, &c &c &c The Petition of the Merchants & such Inhabitants of the Province of Quebec as are at present in London Sheweth, That His Majesty's British subjects in that extensive Colony apprehending the inconveniences which have since really arisen from the operation of an act of Parliament passed in the Year 1774 for establishing the Government of the Province of Quebec, did in the same year Petition his Majesty, and both Houses of Parliament, that it might be repealed or at least amended.2 We beg leave to inform your Lordship, that from the reduction of Canada till May 1775 when the above mentioned act took place, the inhabitants as well Canadians as English lived with great satisfaction in the enjoyment of their liberty and Property under the Protection of the English Government, and that they received the new regulations contained in the act with surprize, and reluctance; for them saw themselves at once deprived of that inestimable priviledge of the English constitution, that grand Bulwark against Injustice and Oppression, the trial by Juries, and of the benefit of the Commercial Laws of England, so wisely calculated to promote a spirit of Trade and Industry and so generally known and understood; instead of which they found themselves obliged to have recourse to the Laws of Canada scarcely, if at all, understood by any Pers n in the Province, and consisting chiefly of occasional Mandates issued, from time to time, by the French Governors. In consequence of this subjection to the arbitary command of their superiors, many of the Canadians have been ordered out upon the public Service, without any pay or emolument whatever, and upon refusal have been thrown into prison under a Military Guard. It cannot be wondered at if under such circumstances, Discontents, and even Dissatisfaction to his Majesty's Government should have crept in. The ordinances lately made by the Governor and Council, in aid of the French Law, have contributed to increase the General dissatisfaction. This Council, when only twelve members were present, and each of them bound by an Oath of Secrecy, proceeded to make laws without requiring the least Information, and with the most Total disregard of an Application from the Merchants who petioned, upon Grounds of general utility, that they might not be deprived of the Mercantile Laws of England. The Ordinances furnish further matter of Complaint because of the ambiguous terms in which they are expressed, of the indefinite Power which they give to the Judges, and of the Prejudice which prevails in them, without exception, in favor of the Laws of Canada, whose forms are tedious, expensive and unnecessary. In particular the ordinance regulating the Indian Trade, without yielding any revenue or advantage whatever to Government, subjects the Trader to insuperable Difficulties, for the pass he obtains is upon Conditions frequently out of his Power to comply with, and his whole Property is in consequence liable to confiscation, by the civil or seizure by the military 5 1 Canadian Archives, Haldimand Papers, B 43, p. 13. 2 Referring to the petitions of Nov. 12th, 1774, See pp. 414 & 417. 3 Referring to the restoration of the French feudal system under the Quebec Act, and the consequent exaction of corvées and other compulsory services. See notes 1 and 2, p. 461. See also Burgoyne to Carleton, as to enforcing corvées; Q. 13, p. 212. 4 Four members of the Council had been captured and were prisoners in the colonies. See Q 12, p. 172. Some of the others were absent, and one or two had died. In Carleton's letter to Germain, of June 27th, 1777, he stated that, having found a sufficient number of Councillors in the Province to proceed upon the business of legislation, he had not nominated any others. 5 Being No. 7 in the list given on p. 463. This is given in full in, “Ordinances made and passed by the Governor and Legislative Council of the Province of Quebec. And now in Force in the Province of Lower Canada. Quebec, 1795." p. 9. The portion more particularly complained of is section V, which requires every trader among the western Indians to have a pass, in default of which he is subject to a penalty of £50. Conviction may be secured on the testimony of one credible witness, other than the informer who is to receive one half the penalty. |