THE QUESTION OF CONFEDERATION. 181 to, and who now submitted, for the approval of their col¬ leagues in the Dominion ministry, the conditions on which they thought the island should be admitted to the union. These conditions received the formal sanction of the Domin¬ ion government, and were duly forwarded to Sir Robert Hodgson , who submitted them to a committee of the execu- five council, who, on the seventh of January, 1870, adopted the following minute : " The committee having under con¬ sideration the report of a committee of the privy council of Canada , wherein certain proposals for a union of Prince Edward Island with the Dominion are set forth, resolve, that inasmuch as said terms do not comprise a full and immediate settlement of the land tenures and indemnity from the imperial government for loss of territorial revenues, the committee cannot recommend said terms to the consider¬ ation of their constituents and the public." This minute was signed by the Honorable R. P. Haythorne , the leader of the government (now a senator of the Dominion), and his colleagues. The government subsequently presented a more detailed statement of their objections to the basis of union. These documents were forwarded to Earl Granville , the colo¬ nial secretary ; and, on the seventh of March, 1870, address¬ ing his honor the administrator, he said : " It appears to me that the government of Prince Edward Island will not act wisely if they allow themselves to be diverted from the practical consideration of their own real interests, for the sake of keeping alive a claim against the imperial govern¬ ment which, it is quite certain, will never be acknowledged." The subject of union came again prominently before the assembly in the session of 1870, on taking into consideration the messages of his honor the administrator of the govern¬ ment, transmitting various despatches and papers. The Honorable Mr. Kelly reported that the committee recom-