The Story of Newfoundland

by Earl of Frederick Edwin Smith Birkenhead

The change came in 1855, a year after the Secretary of State for the Colonies had informed the Governor that "Her Majesty's Government has come to the conclusion that they ought not to withhold from Newfoundland those institutions and that civil administration which, under the popular name of responsible government, have been adopted in all Her Majesty's neighbouring possessions in North America, and they are prepared to concede the immediate application of the system as soon as certain preliminary conditions have been acceded to on the part of the Legislature." At the same time the numbers of members in the Representative Assembly was, at the instance of the Imperial Government, increased to thirty.

It was not long before the Empire had an instructive lesson in the influence with which responsible government arms a colony. A natural rapprochement between France and England followed the Crimean War, and a Convention was drafted dealing with the Newfoundland fisheries. Against the proposed adjustment, involving a surrender by Great Britain of Newfoundland fishing rights, local feeling was strong and unanimous. Petition followed petition, and delegation delegation. "The excitement in the colony over the Convention of 1857 was most intense and widespread; the British flag was hoisted half-mast; other excited citizens flew American flags; everywhere there was burning indignation over this proposal to sell our birthright for a mess of pottage.[40] The resolute attitude of those interested elicited from Mr H. Labouchere, then Colonial Secretary, the welcome expression of a great constitutional principle:

"The proposals contained in the Convention having been now unequivocally refused by the colony, they will of course fall to the ground; and you are authorized to give such assurance as you may think proper, that the consent of the community of Newfoundland is regarded by Her Majesty's Government as the essential preliminary to any modification of their territorial or maritime rights."

So vital is the appreciation of this principle to an Empire constituted like our own, that it is worth while to set out the resolution of the Newfoundland Legislature which killed the Convention:

"We deem it our duty most respectfully to protest in the most solemn way against any attempt to alienate any portion of our fisheries or our soil to any foreign power without the consent of the local Legislature. As our fishery and territorial rights constitute the basis of our commerce and of our social and political existence, as they are our birthright and the legal inheritance of our children, we cannot under any circumstances assent to the terms of the Convention; we therefore earnestly entreat that the Imperial Government will take no steps to bring this treaty into operation, but will permit the trifling privileges that remain to us to continue unimpaired."

In 1858 took place a real advance in the relations between different parts of the Empire, for in that year the east coast of Newfoundland (Trinity Bay) was connected with Ireland by a submarine cable. The messages then exchanged through Newfoundland between the Queen and the President of the United States mark the most decisive point in what has been called the shrinkage of the world. Eight years later a second Atlantic cable was successfully landed at Heart's Content.

A constitutional crisis arose in 1860, which was followed by serious political disturbances. The Government, in which Mr Kent was Premier, introduced a measure to determine the colonial equivalent of imperial sterling in the payment of officials. The judges forwarded to the Governor, Sir Alexander Bannerman, a representation against the proposal; Mr Kent thereupon in the Assembly accused the Governor of having entered into a conspiracy with the judges and the minority in the House against the executive. The Governor demanded an explanation which Mr Kent declined to give, adding that in his judgment he was not called upon to explain his utterances as a member of the Legislature to the Governor. Sir Alexander Bannerman immediately dismissed the Ministry, and invited the Opposition leader, Mr Hoyles, to form an Administration. The election took place in April, 1861. Political passions ran high, and the old feud between Romanists and Protestants was most unhappily revived. At the Protestant Harbour Grace the election could not be held at all, while at the Catholic Harbour Main a riot took place in which life was lost.

The new Assembly was opened in May 1861, and showed a majority in favour of Mr Hoyles. It soon became clear that the passions of the mob in St. John's were dangerously excited; Sir Alexander was hooted and stoned on his return from the Assembly, and a little later an organized series of attacks was commenced upon the dwellings of well-known Roman Catholics. The magistrates thereupon called on the military, under the command of Colonel Grant. The soldiers marched out, eighty strong, and confronted the mob, which then numbered many thousands. Encouraged by their commander, the troops submitted with patient gallantry to insults and even to volleys of stones. Finally, it is alleged, a pistol was fired at them from the crowd. Then at last the order was given to fire; several persons were killed and twenty wounded. Among the latter, by great misfortune, was the Rev. Jeremiah O'Donnell, who had bravely and patiently tried to calm the mob.

The whole incident was unfortunate, but it is impossible to accept the contention that Sir Alexander Bannerman was guilty of an unconstitutional exercise of the prerogative in dissolving the Assembly. It will not seriously be maintained that the representative of the Queen could have maintained relations with a Minister who publicly insulted him in his public capacity, and then curtly declined to explain or withdraw his charges. As to the sequel, it is sufficient to say that the civil authorities would have been grossly wanting in their duty if they had failed to call out the soldiers, and that the mob were not fired upon until the extreme limits of endurance had been reached. That innocent persons should have been involved in the consequences is matter of great regret; but association with a lawless mob, even when the motive is as admirable as that of Father O'Donnell, necessarily admits this risk.

It cannot be doubted that deep-lying economic causes had much to do with political discontent. From the first the financial position of the colony had been unsound. The short prosperity of the winter months had produced a vicious and widely-spread system of credit. Soon a majority of the fishermen lived during the winter upon the prospective earnings of the coming season, and then when it came addressed themselves without zest to an occupation the fruits of which were already condemned. In this way a single bad season pauperized hundreds of hard-working men. Governor Waldegrave in 1797 had been struck by the failure of the law to provide for the poor, and owing to his exertions a voluntary system of poor relief was set on foot. By the time of Governor Gambier, in 1800, these measures had been discontinued and, indeed, permanence was not to be looked for in a system which depended upon voluntary support. The difficulty was that the Crown officers advised Governor Gambier "that the provision of the Poor Laws cannot be enforced in Newfoundland; and that the Governor has no authority to raise a sum of money by a rate upon the inhabitants."