66 BERMUDA. 



ment is provided for the House, and a constant 

 drain is kept up on the public chest, or rather, 

 to speak more plainly, on the private chest; the 

 private pocket of each tax-payer being, in fact, 

 the source from whence all this expenditure is met. 

 As matters now stand, every man, woman, and child 

 in the colony, of aU ages and colours, pay, on an 

 average, nearly 2s. a year for legislation alone ; and, 

 as a large number pay very little, or nothing at 

 all, a great many, of course, contribute considerably 

 more than this. 



The following figures may throw some light on 

 law-making in Bermuda: — In 1850, 17 laws were 

 passed; in 1851, 10; in 1852, 24; in 1853, 11; in 

 1854, 19; and in 1855, 14; making a total of 95 

 Acts. Of these laws, 27 were permanent, and 68 

 temporary. In 1850, of the 17 Acts passed, 6 only 

 were temporary, and 12 were permanent; but in 

 1851 there was only 1 permanent Act to 9 tempo- 

 rary Acts. In 1852 there were 5 permanent to 18 

 temporary Acts. In 1853, of 11 Acts passed, not 

 One was permaiient! 'In 1854, 6 out of 19 were 

 permanent, but several of these 6 were in their 

 nature limited in point of time. In 1855 there were 

 3 permanent, and 1 1 temporary Acts passed. 



As many persons, perhaps, may not know what is 



