Kismr'tca and Descr‘wfme

nor allowing others to do so. Even after an extension of the time for settlement and the introduction of British subjects instead of foreigners, not a single township contained the requisite number of settlers. The Island Legislature persistently directed the attention of the Home Government to the non—fulfilment by the landlords of the conditions of their grants, and urged the forefeiture of the same. For many decades, people, parliament and governors endeavoured to devise a remedy; but all their efforts, owing to the influence of the absentee landlords, were in vain. Acts for the revesting in the Crown of the granted lands were passed by the Colonial Legislature and forwarded to England for the Royal Assent but were disallowed or never again heard of. Delegations sent to the old country were not even given a hearing; and. proceedings for the forfeiture of several estates under a Court of Escheat, which was established in 1818, were, by order of the Crown, stopped, and all claim to forfeiture relinquished. At every general election the settlement of the question was made a live issue. only to sink into oblivion when the contest was over. The British Government did, indeed, about 18.1.0, assume pa) ment of the civil list and order that the quit rents be enforced, but the payments were never made. The proprietors not only secured the disallowance of every Act passed by the Island Legislature to remedy the grievance, but procured as well an abatement in quit rents due the Crown. The latter action, howeVer, proved beneficial, as it enabled some of the estates against which were heavy charges, to be sold to parties who endeavoured to bring in settlers—a notable instance being the Selkirk estate. In 1860 a Commission invested with powers to settle all matters in dispute between landlord and tenant, was appointed, sat, and made an award; but upon a technicality raised by the proprietors regarding the manner in which estates should be valued, the award was laid aside. Then began again the contest between the people and land— lordism. The failure of the Commission almost drove

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