| Men. | Women. | Children. | Total. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In the Town of Halifax | 179 | 56 | 101 | 336 |
| Windsor Road | 11 | 14 | 26 | 51 |
| Dartmouth and Preston | ... | .. | ... | 270 |
| Mr. Fairbanks' Estate at Lake Porter | ... | .. | ... | 27 |
| 684 |
The men and women with families were generally in need; none appear to have been located at Hammonds Plains at this time.
James Archibald was tried for the murder of Captain Benjamin Ellenwood of Liverpool, N. S., before Chief Justice Blowers, in Easter term of the Supreme Court at Halifax this year. He was convicted and executed soon after on the Common.
Another attempt to incorporate Halifax was now made. It will be seen that in 1785 the merchants of the town suggested the subject for the consideration of the Governor and Council, but they disapproved of the measure; again in 1790, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, in consequence of complaints regarding the settlement of the poor and the necessity of a police force, etc., drew up the following resolution, which was passed: "Resolved, that it be recommended to this House to present a humble address to His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor, to request that he will be pleased to grant a charter to the Town of Halifax for incorporating the same, and enabling the inhabitants thereof to make such by-laws as shall be sufficient to regulate the police of said town." No step, however, was taken by the Governor and Council relative to this resolution.
The merchants of the town had a meeting on the subject in 1816, which resulted in a definite proposition being made, in which all the details of the proposed charter were fully set out in a pamphlet of some length.
The following preface or introduction to this pamphlet affords a sketch of the plan proposed:
INTRODUCTION.
The following plan for regulating the municipal affairs of this town has been drawn up in the form of a charter, as the clearest and best method to express the extent of the proposed improvements. The objects have been pointed out by a thorough investigation into the various modes of conducting the public business; which was entered into in consequence of a presentment made by the Grand Jury to the Court of Quarter Sessions in the December Term of 1812. The Court having appointed six different investigating committees of the Magistrates to meet the various objects contemplated by the grand Jury, their several reports combined clearly prove the necessity of some reform; but as it would now become an invidious as well as a useless task, to point out the prevailing errors of the present practice, which are but too evident to admit of a doubt, the gentlemen who have undertaken the task of sketching out the means of improvement, have left it to the Public to compare the one with the other.
It will be perceived by a perusal of the following sheets, that the Charter has but two leading objects—to establish regularity in business, and to define and extend the powers of the Magistrates and Grand Jury (acting as a Common Council) to the same limits as (and not a step beyond) the powers granted to all corporations within the King's Dominions.
The only novelty introduced is that of preserving a gradual change of the ruling members of the corporation, without incurring the unpleasant duty of the electing system. This is done by the appointment of ten magistrates to act as trustees, two of whom will go out and two others come in annually, and the appointment of the Grand Jury of the existing year, (or if it is preferred that of the last year, or a draft from the whole list until it is gone through), to act as a Common Council.
By these means the whole of the leading members of the community (likely to take an active part in the affairs of the town) will, in turn, partake of the duties of a respectable office, and become intimate, and thereby feel interested in its affairs. The various articles of consumption and of commerce will be better inspected than they are at present; the revenues will be regularly attended to, and every desirable improvement in possession of other similar communities in His Majesty's Dominions will in time, no doubt be adopted.
The provisions of the Charter have been selected and drawn up with the utmost care to avoid objections by an attentive reference to the London, Philadelphia, New York and New Brunswick Charters, and the East Company's by-laws; and the whole is arranged and worded agreeably to the most approved forms, in order to obviate any difficulties on the part of Government, or from local partialities.
In debating the merits of the following pages, these three queries will naturally occur to and guide every reflecting mind:
1st. Whether the present management requires any improvement?
2nd. If so—is this an effectual plan?
3rd. If not—what is better?
N. B. When the terms of the Charter are agreed on and assented to by His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, it is proposed to apply to His Excellency to grant it for a term of three or five years by way of trial; during which period such amendments may be made to it as experience shall point out to be necessary;—after which, if it proves acceptable to the inhabitants, application may be made to renew it for another term of a few years, for the purpose of improving it still further, as its deficiencies may appear; then the Charter may be made perpetual if the inhabitants approve of it. It will be necessary to have an Act of the General Assembly to confirm the Charter when first granted, and on every renewal of it.
Mr. Sabatier and a few others were principally concerned in endeavoring to forward the object, but the Governor and Council appear to have been still influenced the belief that their own supervision of local affairs was preferable and better suited to the circumstances of the town at that time.
It will be seen that in the plan proposed the idea of a popular election of members of the corporation was not even thought of either by the Government or the people of the town.