The following is a copy of this Bill : BILL AN ACT TO VEST THE ENDOWMENT GRANTED BY THE CROWN FOR UNIVER- CANADA, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES THEREIN MENTIONED. Whereas Bills have been passed proposed during the present Session for erect- Preamble. ing a University by the name and style of the University of Upper Canada, and for taking from King's College, all University privileges and powers; And Whereas, the Endowment conferred by the Crown on King's College was When the designed for the purpose of University Education within the Province of Upper Bill for erectCanada, and it is right and just that such Endowment should be applied accordingly: ing University Be it, therefore enacted that so soon as the said Bill erecting the Univer- of Upper sity of Upper Canada shall become law, or as soon as a Royal Charter shall be Canada shall become law, granted, incorporating a University by the same name and style in conformity with or a Royal the provisions of the said Bill, all and every the land and other real estate and Charter be effects heretofore granted by the Crown to the said University of King's College, by granted, prothe name and style of "The Chancellor, President and Scholars of King's College, perty, etc. of Chancellor, at York, in the Province of Upper Canada,” be by any other name or style, and all etc. of King's Monies, Debentures and Securities for money, of what nature or kind, soever, aris- College at ing from the sale or rental of any lands, so granted, as aforesaid, or purchased, pro- York, to be cured, or taken, by, for, or through the means of any such lands, or any sale or vested in leasing thereof, or for the security of any debt due to the said University of King's University of College, now in the possession of the said University of King's College, or to which Upper the said University of King's College is legally, or equitably, entitled, shall be, and the same is hereby declared to be, vested in, and be the property of the University of Upper Canada, in whatever way the same may be incorporated, as aforesaid. Canada. II. And be it enacted, That all debts due to "The Chanceller, President and Debts due to Scholars of King's College, at York, in the Province of Upper Canada," shall be the said Coltransferred and become due to the University of Upper Canada ;-and that the said lege to be University of Upper Canada shall have the same power to sue for, and collect, and transferred recover the same, and to bring any actions, or suits, whatever, in respect of all, or to University of Upper any, of the aforesaid property, estate and effects, or any contract, lease or agree- Canada. ment in relation thereto, in their own corporate name, in like manner, as if such debt had been incurred to, or such property, estate and effects had originally belonged to, or such contract, lease, or agreement, had been made by, and with, the said University of Upper Canada, and to the same purpose and effect, as if such action, or suit, had been brought in the name of "The Chancellor, President and Scholars of King's College, at York, in the Province of Upper Canada." III. And be it enacted, That all debts and liabilities, covenants, contracts Debts and and agreements entered into and incurred by "Mr. Chancellor, President, and liabilities of Scholars of King's College, at York, in the Province of Upper Canada, shall be the said Colpaid, discharged, fulfilled and performed by the University of Upper Canada; and lege etc. to be that the said University of Upper Canada shall be liable to any suit, action, or pro- charged by paid and disceeding, on account of any such debt, liability, covenant, contract or agreement University of which could, or might, have been brought against the said "Chancellor, President Upper and Scholars of King's College, at York, in Upper Canada," in respect of any such Canada. debt, liability, covenant, contract, or agreement. IV. And be it enacted, That nothing in this Act contained shall be held, or University to construed, to entitle the University of Upper Canada to any other lands, real estate, be only entitled to lands, property and effects now belonging to, or held by, or in trust for "Mr. Chancellor, etc. set forth President and Scholars of King's College, at York, in the Province of Upper in 1st and 2nd Canada," than what is set forth in the first and second sections of this Act. Sections of this Act. KING'S COLLEGE DOCUMENTS-UPPER CANADA COMMON SCHOOL ACT, 1846. May 8th, 1846. On motion, it was Ordered, That two hundred and fifty, (250,) copies of the Message of His Excellency the Governor General of the 7th instant, relating to King's College University, and the Documents accompanying the same; and also the Memorial to His Excellency of Doctor William C. Gwynne, the Professor of Anatomy and Physiology in the University of King's College, and other Documents on the same subject, laid before the House, yesterday, be printed for the use of the Members of this House. May 11th, 1846. The following Petition was read: Of Mr. Robert Walker and others, of the Township of Woodhouse, praying for certain alterations in the Charter of King's College. May 12th 1846. A Message was received from the Legislative Council, by John Fennings Taylor. Esquire, one of the Masters in Chancery, as follows: Mr. SPEAKER,— The Legislative Council have passed the following Bill, with amendments, to which they desire the concurrence of the Assembly :— "An Act for the Better Establishment and Maintenance of Common Schools in Upper Canada." LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL CHAMBER, 12th, of May, 1846. R. E. CARON, Speaker. May 13th, 1846.-On motion of the Honourable Attorney General Draper, seconded by the Honourable William Cayley, it was : Ordered, That the amendment made by the Legislative Council to the Bill, intituled :"An Act for the Better Establishment and Maintenance of Common Schools in Upper Canada," be now taken into consideration. And the said amendment was read, and is as followeth : LEGISLATIVE Council, SeparATE SCHOOL AMENDMENTS TO THE COMMON SCHOOL ACT, 1846. Press 17, Line 1.-After "School" insert "and from any Common School District." And the said amendment being again read, and the question being put thereon, it passed in the negative. It was then Resolved, That a Select Committee composed of the Honourable Attorney General Draper, Mr. John A Macdonald of Kingston, and Mr. James H. Price, be appointed to draw up Reasons to be offered to the Legislative Council, at a Conference, for the disagreeing to the amendment made by their Honours to the Bill, intituled "An Act for the Better Establishment and Maintenance of Common Schools in Upper Canada." The Honourable Attorney General Draper, from the Select Committee appointed to draw up Reasons to be offered to the Legislative Council, at a Conference, for disagreeing to the amendment made by their Honours to the Bill, intituled : "An Act for the Better Establishment and Maintenance of Common Schools in Upper Canada," reported that the Committee had drawn up the said Reasons; which Reasons were again read at the Clerk's table, and agreed to by the House; and are as followeth : 1st. Because the effect of the said amendment will be to permit children from several School Sections to attend together at one Separate School, 2nd. Because the share of the School monies to which such Separate School will be entitled. will be regulated by the proportion which the children attending such Separate School, bears to the number of children within the School Section, wherein such Separate School is held. 3rd. Because the consequence will be, that a single School Section will have to bear the burden of the education of not only the children resident within its limits, but also those children of other School Sections who inay attend such Separate School, without any assistance from other School Sections, or any share of the School monies to which these other Sections are entitled. 4th. Because, without other changes in the Bill, it is very doubtful whether the Trustees of the School Section, in which such Separate School is held could make out a Rate Bill and enforce payment from the parents of children who are sent to the Separate School from School Sections other than that within which it is held. On motion it was then Resolved, That a Conference be desired with the Honourable the Legislative Council, for the purpose of communicating to them the Reasons which induced this House not to concur in the amendment made by their Honours to the Bill, intituled :-" An Act for the Better establishment "and Maintenance of Common Schools in Upper Canada." Ordered, That the Honourable Attorney General Draper do go to the Legislative Council, and desire the said Conference. KING'S COLLEGE COUNCIL PETITION TO BE HEARD AT THE BAR OF THE HOUSE. May 14th, 1846. Mr. William H. Boulton brought up, and laid on the Table, a Petition of King's College Council, at York, now Toronto. On motion of Mr. W. H. Boulton, seconded by the Honourable William B. Robinson, it was Ordered, That the Petition of King's College Council, at York, now Toronto, praying to be heard at the Bar of the House with reference to the Bills relating to the said College; and that time be allowed them to prepare for that purpose, be now read and that the Rule of this House of the 28th of June, 1841, be suspended as to the present Petition. This was agreed to and the said Petition was read accordingly. Mr. W. H. Boulton moved, seconded by the Honourable William B. Robinson, that King's College Council be heard by Counsel at the Bar of this House, on this day week, on the several Bills introduced, affecting the Charter and Endowment of King's College. The question, having been put upon the said motion, a division ensued, and it was carried in the affirmative, and it was ordered accordingly. Mr. J. Johnston moved, seconded by Mr. George Chalmers, that five hundred, (500) additional copies of the several University Bills be printed for the use of the Members of this House. The motion was negatived on a division. A Message was received from the Legislative Council, by one of the Masters-in-Chancery, dated this fourteenth day of May as follows: Ordered, That one of the Masters-in-Chancery go down to the Legislative Assembly and acquaint that House that the Legislative Council agrees to the Conference desired upon the subject of the Separate School Amendment made by this House to the Bill intituled: -- An Act for the Better Establishment and Maintenance of Common Schools in Upper Canada,” and that the Managers on the part of this House are to be the Honourables James Crooks and John Neilson, who are to meet the number of Managers required by Parliamentary usage On motion it was Resolved, That four Managers be appointed to meet the Managers appointed by the Honourable the Legislative Council for holding the Conference desired upon the (Separate School) amendment made by their Honours to the Bill in question, and that the Honourable Attorney General Draper and Messieurs Ogle R. Gowan, James H. Price and John A. Macdonald be appointed Managers on the part of this House. May 15th, 1846.-A Message was received by one of the Masters-in-Chancery from the Legislative Council, dated this fifteenth day of May as follows:: Ordered, That one of the Masters in Chancery do go down to the Legislative Assembly and acquaint that House that the Legislative Council do not insist on their (Separate School) amendment to the Bill intituled :-"An Act for the Better Establishment and Maintenance of Common Schools in Upper Canada," to which the Legislative Assembly disagree.* EDUCATION ACTS ASSENTED TO BY THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL. May 18th, 1846.-Mr. Speaker reported that, agreeable to the commands of His Excellency the Governor General, the House had attended upon His Excellency in the Legislative Council Chamber, where His Excellency was pleased to give, in Her Majesty's name, the Royal Assent to the following Bills : "An Act to amend the Act therein mentioned, relating to the appropriation of monies derived from the sale of School Lands in Upper Canada." "An Act to pr vide for vesting in Trustees the Sites of Schools in that part of this Province called Upper Canada." "An Act to transfer to Queen's College at Kingston, certain Estates, Rights and Liabilities of the University at Kingston.' A Message from the Legislative Council, by John Fennings Taylor, Esquire, one of the Masters-in-Chancery : Mr. SPEAKER, The Legislative Council have passed the following Bill:- An Act to enable the District of "Bathurst to receive the School Monies apportioned to it in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-five, (1845) notwithstanding the failure of the Council of that District to levy “an equal sum." 66 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL CHRMBER, 18TH May, 1846. R. E. CARON, Speaker. The following Petitions were read: Of Mr. James Morris and others, of Macnab and Horton; of Mr. Alexander Wright and others, of Renfrew, praying that the Charter of King's Col *See note to the proceedings of the Legislative Council on this subject under date of the 15th of May, 1846, page 56. · lege may be amended by the passing of the Draper University Bill, introduced during the last Session of the Legislature for that purpose. The Honourable Dominick Daly, one of Her Majesty's Executive Council, laid before the House by command of His Excellency the Governor General the Annual Report of the Assistant Superintendent of Education, (the Reverend Alexander Macnab,) upon the State of Common Schools in Canada West for the year 1844, in terms of the Sixty-seventh Section of the Common Schools Act of Upper Canada, 1843, 7th Victoria, Chapter XXIX. (NOTE. This Report will be inserted further on in this Volume.) May 22nd, 1846.-The following Petitions were read: Of Mr. John G. Edwards and others, of King; of Mr. William H. Mitchell of Pickering and of Mr. Timothy Devenish and others, of Scarborough, praying that no partition be made of the Endowment of King's College, but that it be secured from mismanagement, and adapted to the circumstances of the Country. May 23rd, 1846.-The Honourable Attorney General Draper, one of Her Majesty's Executive Council, laid before the House, by command of His Excellency the Governor General, certain Returns and Documents relating to the University of King's College. It was Ordered, That the said Returns and Documents be printed for the use of the Members of this House. (NOTE. These Returns relate chiefly to the financial affairs of King's College for 18411844,- all those of any importance being already given in the proceedings of King's College for those years All these Returns together they will be found in Appendix to the Journals of the House of Assembly for 1846.) Mr. Speaker reported, that, agreeable to the commands of His Excellency the Governor General, the House had attended His Excellency in the Legislative Council Chambers, where His Excellency was pleased to give in Her Majesty's name, the Royal Assent to the following Bills :: "An Act to enable the District of Bathurst to receive the School Monies apportioned to it in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-five (1845), notwithstanding the failure of the Council of that District to levy an equal sum." "An Act for the Better Establishment and Maintenance of Common Schools in Upper Canada," 1846. The Order of the Day for the second reading of the Bill to erect a University by the name and style of the University of Upper Canada, being read ; Ordered, That the said Bill be read a second time on Thursday next. May 26th, 1846. The following Petitions were read: Of the Reverend G. Winterbotham and others, of Brantford, praying that the endowment of King's College may be preserved entire ; and that each Religious Sect may be left to provide Theological Education for its Ministers, without public aid; of the Reverend Charles Fletcher and others, of Chippewa and neighborhood, praying that no partition be made of the endowment of the University of King's College, but that the said University may be established upon a firm and liberal basis. May 28th, 1846.-The following Petition was read:-Of Mr. Elliot Greeve and others, of Westminster, praying that no partition be made of the endowment of the University of King's College, but that it may be secured from mismanagement and established upon a broad and per manent basis. NOTE. The following is a copy of a somewhat different Petition, but on the same subject, from the United Congregation of Oxford, South Gowar and Mountain to the Legislative Assembly. This Petition Humbly Sheweth : That, while the Government of England have kindly bestowed upon the inhabitants of these lands, a munificent grant for the Liberal Education of their children, they have been robbed of their rizhts and excluded, in a great measure, from the enjoyment of those benefits that were conferred upon them. That owing to misrepresentation and false report, the public funds have been monopolized, and diverted from a common to a particular use, and, but a mere fractional part of the population is receiving any advantage from said funds. That your Petitioners, in common with the majority of Her Majesty's subjects in Canada, have, for some time, lab ured under this grievance, and do now conceive it to be their duty to come forward in vindication of their claims. Petitioners feel anxious that the funds be kept together and applied and to their original purpose and no division thereof be allowed, at which an attempt is now being made. That the University was intended to be accommodated to all Religious Sects and Denominations, as far as is consistent with truth. Your Petitioners pray, therefore, that such rules and regulations be established by Legislative Enactment, as will guard againt the teaching of anything contrary to the Word of God, and the fundamental doctrines of Christain religion. And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray. The Order of the Day for the second reading of the Bill to erect a University, by the name and style of the University of Upper Canada, being read; also the Order for hearing Counsel at the Bar of the House against the said Bill, being also read, Robert Shore Milnes Bouchette, Esquire, Advocate, appeared at the Bar as Counsel for King's College Council and addressed the House. He having withdrawn, Mr. George B. Hall moved, seconded by the Honourable Attorney General Draper, That the Bill to erect the University of Upper Canada be now read a second time. Mr. Rolland Macdonald moved in amendment, seconded by Mr. William H. Boulton, to leave out from the word " That" to the end of the said motion, in order to add the words: "It is inexpedient, at this late period of the Session, to proceed any further with the Bill to erect a University by the name and style of the University of Upper Canada. A debate arising thereupon, it was, on motion of Mr. John A. Macdonald, seconded by the Honourable William B. Robinson, Ordered, That the debate be adjourned until to-morrow, and that it be then the first Order of the Day in the afternoon sitting. NOTE. I have thought it desirable to record here what was the general opinion of Members of the House of Assembly on these University Bills, now for the second time brought before the Legislature, and not passed. I have, therefore, procured a brief report from a local paper of the remarks and speeches made in the Legislative Assembly, after the Counsel for King's College had addressed the House. The newspaper report of the 2nd of June, 1846, is as follows: Mr. Bouchette was heard at the Bar on behalf of King's College against the second reading of the Hall-Draper University Bill. Mr. Edward Ermatinger stated that he had voted last year for this measure, when he found it so strenuously supported by the Administration; but now, when he found it an open question, he was anxious for a postponement, he had turned the matter over in his mind, and, until he knew the opinions of the Country, he had determined to vote against the measure. Mr. P. J. O. Chauveau* had last year felt a repugnance to meddle with what the people of Upper Canada considered vested rights; and nothing but the almost unanimous voice of the people of that portion of the Province would have led him to do so, the position taken by the Administration, their declaration that they would stand, or fall, by the measure, and the votes of the members for Upper Canada had led him to the supposition that this measure was almost unanimously desired by the people whom they represented. But this year he did not feel himself in the same position; when the Administration had abandoned the Bill in 1845, and it was no longer a Ministerial measure, he must conclude that the people of Upper Canada no longer desired it. The question had undergone no change, the rights of King's College had received no accession, and he was, therefore, led to one or two conclusions, either that those who did represent Upper Canada did so no longer, or, that the people of Upper Canada no longer desired the Bill. He would not vote for this question, as having any analogy to the Colleges of Lower Canada, for there was no such analogy; but he would deal with it on the grounds which he had stated. He felt that he dared not vote for an interference with what were even conceived to be vested rights, unless he found the measure effecting that alteration supported by the almost unanimous voice of the people of Upper Canada; if they were really disappointed by its failure, let them not blame the Members from Lower Canada, but those, who. after having brought forward this measure, and declared that they would stand or fall by it, abandoned it. Mr. George Macdonell stated that his intention was to support the Bill. Mr. J. Johnston considered this Bill an interference with vested rights; if amendments were required in the Charter, let them be made, but the House had no right to strip the University of King's College of its endowment. * Mr. Chauveau was afterwards Chief Superintendent of Education for Lower Canada, from 1855 to 1873. |