Prince Edward Island, on 13111 September instant, I have seen Mr. Bourke, and have obtained infiu‘i‘nation from him

respecting Lord Melville’s Estate, which will be fully.

communicated to the Government, and their views taken on the ofi'er of purchase to be made to him. The follow- ing Letter, received by me from illr. Bourke, gives some of the necessary particulars :—~

“ HONORABLE J osnrn IIENSLEY— “ DEAR Sin,

“ Ilaving received advice from Lord Mevillc, wishing me . to render you, for the information of the Government, a statement of the number of acres of Land llis Lordship holds on this Island, with the rental and arrears due thereon. In compliance with which I beg to send the following statement, viz :

-—-

On Lot 29, 10,013 acres ; Rental, £587 0 O Arrears due, 3lst Dec, 1866, 36133 0 0 On Lot 53, 1183 acres ; Rental, 08 O C Arrears due, 3lst Dec, 1886, 281 O 0 “ Any further infin‘mation which the Government may

require that I can give, I shall be always happy to com- municate. “ I have the honor to be, cc Eiy’ “ Yours, 8.: . “ J. R. BOURKE.”

On 29th July I went to Yeovil, in Dorsetshire, and had an interview with Lady C. Georgiana Fane, (with whom I had previously been in correspondence on the subject), respecting her Estates at Crapaud, on Lot 29, which comprise about 9000 acres of Land. I urged her Ladyship to oll'er her hands to the Government, but found her unwilling at that time to part with them. On 6th August I addressed a Letter to Lady Georgiana Fane, on the same subject, in which I again brought to her notice (as I had pro 'ieusly done) that a very strong desire existed in the Island to abolish the Leasehold Tenure, and give an opportunity to the occupzmts to convert their holdings into Freehold, and that as it was very essential to the public good that this objec‘ should, if possible be. attained, I hoped she would, on further considm'ation, determine to offer her “ Towns} ip Lands to the Government on generous terms." llor Lady-"ship aclniowicdged the receipt of this Letter, and subsequently I had another interview, but I still found that she l ad not made up her mind to an offer of sale. I also had an interview with Sir G 'aham Mont- gomery (who owns a portion of Lot ‘34), at the Treasury, Whitehall, respecting his Lands in Prince Edward Island. Although nothing definite resulted from it, I have reason to expect shortly some further communication on the subject from him, or through his Agent, the llonorablc I‘. II. I-Iaviland, which, when received, I shall at once make known to your Excellency.

Having learned that Messrs. Thomsons, owners of' a moiety of Township No. 26, were absent from the country at the time, I was unable to treat with them respoectrng the sale of their property, but recommend that application shall be hereafter made to them on the subject.

I did not apply to the Reverend John McDonald, be-

cause I had reason to believe that his interest in that 6')

I

ROYAL GA?ETTE EXTRA.

portion of Townships Nos. 35 and 36, from which he re- ceives now his rents, amounts to a life estate only, and, therefore, that he could not dispose of it absolutely in fee- simple, as contemplated by the provisions of the Land Purclmse l'lil .

Having been also authorized to negotiate a Loan under the Act of last Session, I found it necessary, in the first place, for the information of those who might be likely to take it up, to obtain and compile official and authentic statements of the financial condition of Prince Edward Island, its Revenue and Expenditure, amount of Debt, Imports and lilxports, during several yea ‘3 past, and also of the result, as nearly as could be estimated, of the opera— tions of the Government in purchasing Lands under the Land I’iu‘ehaso Act. I applied, therefore, to the Com- missioner ol' i’u‘olic Lands, to Thomas DesBrisay, Esquire, one of the Public Auditors, and to Andrew Mitchell, lilsrpaire, lbrmergv Deputy Colonial Secretary, and obtained from then: the necessary information under their hands which is set forth in the printed papers (13), (C), (D), (F), (U) and (ii), which accompany this Report. I deposited at the Union Bank and circulated else vhere in Loud-2:31 Copies of these printed papers, together with print- ed copies appenxlea‘ Official Report on the reasons for pater-sing the Loan Bil , and my own illemorandum on the subject, dated in London, 8rd July, 1807, both of which are also nurtuvili-h sent ma ‘ked (A) and respective- ly. 0n dti: July, I obtained the following Letter from J. A. Barton, Esaipiire, the Manager of the Union Bank of Londim, stating par iculars of the terms upon which the Bank would a as Agents for the Government in endea- vouring to negotiate a Loan :——

“ Uruon BANK or Lennon, “ 2, Pamela’s STREET,

“ 4th July, 1867.

_d

“ Mr Bean SIR ; O “ Retbrring to the conv rsation I had with you on the subject oi’ the Loan to the Prince Edward Island Govern-

ment, and the commission we should charge for conducting '

that business, I find that, on comparing notes with other parties who have had similar transactions, a Commission of 1% per cent. would not be unreasonable. I am, therefore, prepared to undertake the business on those conditions. “ I am, dear Sir, “ Yours faithfully, “J. A. BARTON, “ General Manager. ‘ ‘ IIOllOl'ttl)lC J OSEPII lIENSLEY. “ 31; per cent. commission if the Loan falls to the ground.”

Subsequently I had numerous interviews with Mr. Barton, and with many gentlemen connected wrth the Stock and Money lilarket, on the subject of the proposed

Loan, the final result of which was a determination upon , my part to delay for a time placmg the application abso— ,

lutely before the public. It was evidently, notwithstand- ing the abundance and cheapness of money, a very unfavourw able time for the operation. A general indisposition to invest in any new securities, Home, Foreign, or Colonial, existed, and this was proved by the failure of several attempts to raise Loans.

An attempt was made during?

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