for raising revenue. -All this took eighty years, however, for it could proceed only at the pace of the economic and social development of the colony.

The affairs of the Island and its Capital were affected during the first century by the land question, easily the big— gest public issue in the history of the Colony. The land had been divided into “lots” in 1767 and these were distributed to persons in England who had some claim on the favours of the Crown. A few of the landlords took an interest in the devel- opment and settlement of their lots, but the majority could or would do very little. Consequently most of the settlers in the colony could not own their land, but had to rent it from absentee proprietors. As they improved their holdings and they and their families became established they wished for the

rights of freehold tenure. Land reform thus became a major public question and both the home and local governments, as

well as the landlords and tenants, vainly sought a solution that would respect the rights of all parties. Elections were

fought on the issue, and occasionally, as tempers flared, rioting broke out with resulting flouting of the law and intervention

of the militia. The turmoil kept up, however, and the land question was not settled until after Confederation when the Dominion government loaned the Island enough money to buy out the proprietors.

The first newspaper in Charlottetown was The Royal Commercial Gazette and Intel— ligencer published in 1787 by James Robertson, who came from Halifax at the invitation of the Lieutenant Governor to print statutes and other official docu— ments. It was followed by The ,

Royal Gazette and [Miscellany of ~ the Island of St. John in 1791, The Royal Herald in 1800, The

Recorder in 1811 and about

19

/

The Old Court House before’1845.