sses. One was the concession of bounties to place them
on a level with French and American competition; the other was the
removal of the population (then numbering 17,000) to Nova Scotia or
Canada. Determined to omit nothing which might make them the derision
of history, they added an emphatic opinion that agriculture could
never thrive on the island.

On the appointment of Governor Pickmore, Lord Bathurst had given him
the following instructions:

"As the colony has of late years, from the rapid increase of the
population, assumed a character totally different from that under
which it had been usual previously to consider it, I am most desirious
of receiving from you your opinion as to the propriety of introducing
any and what change into the system of government which has heretofore
prevailed."

The seeds sown by Carson were beginning to bear fruit, and from 1821
onwards the desire for local government in the island grew
continuously stronger. As against the arguments of the opposition, it
was urged that all the British colonies, even the small Bermuda, had a
local government; that Nova Scotia was granted it as far back as the
middle of the eighteenth century; that the older American colonies had
always enjoyed self-government; and that the time had now come for the
extension of the same privilege to Newfoundland. The authority of
Governor Cochrane, who was appointed in 1825, and whose term of office
lasted till 1834, was limited by the appointment of a Council,
consisting of the Chief Justice, the two assistant Judges, and the
Military Commander at St. John's. Under this Governor roads were for
the first time laid out in the island. The irritation of the merchants
at home was intense, and the name of Peter Ougier, a west country
merchant, ought to go down to posterity. In his evidence before the
committee, he protested with real emotion: "They are making roads in
Newfoundland: next thing they will be having carriages and driving
about." Sir Thomas Cochrane was regarded as the best Governor ever
sent to Newfoundland. He was "the first real administrator and ruler
of the colony. An eminently practical man, he not only organized
improvements, he personally superintended their execution. His
activity was unbounded; in the early mornings he was out on horseback
inspecting the roads, directing his workmen, laying out the grounds at
Virginia, having interviews with the farmers, giving them practical
hints about agricult