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A'.

f I C- (r C H

THE FUTURE OF NEWFOUxNDLAND

Part I.

Whether Newfoundland was dis-
covered by Eric the Red, that indom-
itable Norseman, "in looi, or by Cabot,
in 1496, is a matter of slight impor-
tance to the present generation. But,
dating the birth from Cabot, in point
of discovery Newfoundland is closely
on to four hundred years of age, and
may be called the oldest colony of
Great Britain, as it is also the nearest
to the mother country. The accepted
belief is that the island was discover-
ed during the reign of Henry VH., in
1496, by Sebastian Cabot, who took
possession of it in the name of that
monarch, and recorded the event by
cutting an inscription, still legible, on
a large rock upon ihe shore. Yet,
despite its age and its nearness to
England, less is known about New-
foundland in Europe, as well as in
America, than of those vast colonial
possessions A' the antipodes — discover-
ies of yesterday in comparison. The
great interior has long remained a /erra
incognita even to the inhabitants of the
island, who, for the purpose of fishing,
reside entirely upon the coast ; for,
with the exception, perhaps, of some
solitary lumbermen, there is scarcely
a habitation situated beyond sight of
the ocean. It was not till the spring
of 1822 that an adventurous f i • IN r
(W. E. Cormack) started upon an
exploration of the interior, and suc-
ceeded in crossing the island, after a
four month's excursion of toil, pleasure,
pain and anx ty. An interesting de-
scription of tiiis journey, by the Rev.
Moses Harvey, of St. John's, was pub-
lished in the N fcw Dominion Monthly
in 1 87 1. The red Indians — the abo-
rigines — Mr. Cormack speaks of as very
athletic men, occupying the Great and

other lakes in the northern part of the
island. But he met with none of them.
Innumerable deer, similar to the rein-
deer are to be found. These, with
various species of wild fowl in great
abundance, and a plentiful supply of
fish in the rivers and lakes, should go
far to attract the English sportsman
from the now overcrowded haunts of
Norway. There is an absurd idea
abroad that the salmon in Newfound-
land do not rise to the fly. Nothing
can be more erroneous. The numer-
ous rivers, on both the eastern and
western shores, would afford a paradise
of sport to the salmon fisher ; while
the climate there, and through the in-
terior, during the summer and early
autumn, is perfection. Besides the deer,
wolves of gtei^i size, bears, foxes, and
martens aboukid". Interspersed with
lake and mountain, vast savannas of
wonderful extent, and valleys of great
fertiliiy, exist throughout the island.
The Hon. Joseph Noad, Sui^eypr-^
General of Newfoundland, after a per-
sonal examination of ihe western shore
in 1847, describes numerous districts
of wonderful fertility, capable of the
highest degree of cultivation, and fit
for the production of Any description
of crop, with limestone readily obtained,
and timber of the most serviceable des-
cription ; and the land could be cleared
at an outlay of about forty shillings an
acre. Timber in 'arge quantities and
varieties exists throughout the whole
extent of the western ^hore, not a quarter
of a mile distant from the coast, while
the numerous rivers flowing into the
sea, and frequeat available harborc,
offer the greatest facilities for lumbering
on the largest possible scale.* To no
colony in Anfierica could emigration be

jr?r- ^6

282

The Future of Newfoundland.

more wisely directed, or with greater
prospects of success.

With all these highly favoring con-
ditions, the question which will strike
the St .nger first is, How corned it, then,
that Newfoundland is so far behind-
hand in population, the development of
its mines, its minerals, its forests, and
all other enterprises which go to make
up the welfare, prosperity and power
of a country ? Before entering upon
any answer or explanation to this query
we will first give a brief statement of the
geographical position and extent of the
country.

The Island of Newfoundland is situa-
ted on the north-east side of the Gulf
of St. Lawrence, between 46^30 m. —
S I °3qm. N. Lat., and 5 1 "ism.— S9«'3o m.
W. Long. It has an area of 42,000 square
miles ; or is nearly as large as England,
and is the tenth largest island on the
globe ; being in length, from Cape
Ray, the south-western extreme of the
island, to Cape Norman, its northern-
most point, about 317 miles ; and in
breadth from Cape Spear, the most
easterly point, to Cape Anguille, the
most westerly, nearly the same distance.
By the census of 1874, the population
of the island, with that portion of
Labrador appertaining to it, amounted
to, in round numbers, 160,000 inhabit-
ants, about 95,000 of whom occupy the
peninsula of Avalon, on the eastern side
of whichwe find the capital, St. John's.
The population of St. John's is variously
estimated at from 20,000 to 30,000 —
the latter probably the more correct.
From customs returns of 1875 there
were :

Persons employed in catch-
ing and securing fish .... 48,200

V>oat-> engaged in fisheries 16,090

Seines and nets used 33,o8l

Number of vessels engaged in

fisheries I»3I5

Tonnage of vessels so engaged. 60, 405

Estimated amount of capital

invested in fisheries. ;^i,34o,ooostg.

The foregoing is, of course, indepen-
dent of the shipping employed in the

British and foreign trade of Newfound-
land, which, by the customs returns of
1873, is given at a total

Number of vessels 937

Tonnage of do 193,902

Crews 10,681

The following items are also given
in the customs returns of 1873.

Revenue £ 174,915

Expenditure 205,238

Debt 245,555

Total imports 1,681,650

Total exports 1,922,222

Of which imports there
were from Great Bri-
tain 606,347

And of exports to Great

Britain 525,509

The revenue for the year ending July,
1876, was considerably over ^200,000.

Since that period the export of cop-
per ore has added largely to the ex-
ports, for the celebrated Belt's Cove
mine alone exported last year (1877)
ore to the extent of about 50,000 tons,
at a valuation of nearly half a million
of pounds. Those desiring more par-
ticular information regarding these
trade statistics, I would refer to a very
useful pamphlet by Mr. Wm. J. Patter-
son, Secretary of the Board of Trade,
&c., of Montreal, published last year
(1876). Mr. Patterson gives the total
imports of Newfoundland for 1875, in
value, at $7,058,372 ; and of exports,
$6,432,003. He states, "An examina-
tion of Table HI. (in the publication
referred to) will show that the average
annua! volume of the trade of New-
foundland for 1874 and 1875 amounted
in value to $14,090,552. The average
value with the United States was $2-
076,419, or 14.74 per cent.; the average
with Canada being $1,241,017, or 8.81
per cent. Adding together the pro-
vinces in the Dominion, however, the
average is $2,445,563, or 17.36 per
cent., which shows that the average
annual value of the existing commerce
between Newfoundland and the Do-
minion is greater than between that

V
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a
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The Future of Nkwfoundi.and.

«83

colony <ind the United States." He
very appropriately adds :

" It has often been questioned, whether Ca-
nadian merchants might not strengthen and
enlarge their trade relations with their fellow-
colonists. Taking the circumstances of the
population into account, and the fact that several
of the leading business firms have strong in-
terests in Great Britain, it must be pretty evident
that the process would be a somewhat slow one
The practical and substantial way to answer such
an enrjuiry is for our merchants and business
men to make themselves better acquainted with
Newfoundland and its people, and its more
evident as well as its, for the present, hidcjen
wealth."

Frona the reign of Elizabeth to that
of Charles II., its trade and fisheries
engaged far more of the attention of
the crown and Parliament than they
do at present. In the reign of i.liza-
beth there were 260 ships employed in
the Newfoundland fisheries, and the
seamen nursed therein mainly assisted
in manning the fleets which defeated
the Spanish Armada.

Among the Ijrilliant names which
adorned the court of Elizabeth, those
of Sir Walter Raleigh and his. half-
brother. Sir Humphrey Gilbert, appear
conspicuous in the early annals of New-
foundland. There, too, Sir Francis
Drake has figured in his semi-piratical
and warlike adventures. That of the
great Bacon stands in the list of dis-
tinguished names formed into a com-
pany under royal sanction for the pur-
pose of promoting the colonization of
the island. Sir George Calvert, one of
Elizabeth's Secretaries . of State, (irst
founded a little colony at Ferryland, on
the isthmus of Avalon, near Cape Race,
before, as Lord Baltimore, he founded
that of Maryland.

The whole of the earlier history of
Newfoundland is full of the romantic
incidents of the wars with the French,
then almost continually waged in that
quarter of the world. To relieve the
monotony of these dry historical and
statistical details, it may not be inop-
portune to introduce here an anecdote
or two taken from a manuscript volume
of some 600 pages shewn to me in St. '

[ John's, being the diary kept at the time
by Mr. Aaron Thomas, an ofliccr of
His Majesty's ship " Boston," during a
cruise on the coasts of Newfoundland
in the years 1794-5.

The "Boston" arrived at St. Pierre
on the 2nd July, 1794, and Mr. Thomas
gives the following account of a dinner
party :

"The Governor of St. Pierre, Major Thome,
of the 4th regiment, gave a dinner to the olTiccrs
of the ' Boston,' in the late French (iovernor's
house in the town of St. Pierre, and as there
were some singularities attending it, I noted a
few of them down.

" It being understood that it was intended by
the British Govfernment »o evacuate and after-
vards burn St. Pierre, of course every officer
here kept up but as small a stock of neces-
saries as the nature of the situation would
admit. Amongst other articles which mustered
short were wine-glasses. Every house in wliich
inhabitants were left (for many of the French
nad beer sent to Halifax) was visited to procure
these useful vessels for this grand occasion. The
day came ; dinner was served to at)out thirty
persons ; the wine went round to a late hour ;
jollity, gaiety, merriment <ind good humor were
prominent in the countenances of all. '(Jod
save Great George, our King,' was repeated a
number of times. Expressions of attachment
and loyalty were cairied to the extreme. Hut
to do the business in a more exalted manner, all
hands , must needs mount the table to drink
'<uccess to the 'Boston.' The table was so cover-
ed with decanters, glasses, bottles, fruit plates,
knives, punch-bowls, &c., &c., that it was with
difficulty a foot could be shoved on. Hut as
there are few enterprises which the British army
and navy will not undertake, so, in this par-
ticular, all im])ediments were overcome, and tlio
table was soon covered with the officers of the
army and navy. Success to the ' Boston ' was
given ; and just as each man's glass came to his
mouth— down comes the table with as terrible a
crash as if the masts of the ' Boston ' had gone
overboard at once. Here was curious sprawling
amongst broken glasses, platters, and bottles.
By the same heavy stroke all the lights in the
room were extinguished ; so that the catastrophe
was the more dark and lamentable. Each man,
not being perfectly himself, and having the
stump of a broken glass in his hand, ran it
against his neighbor's face, maiming and wound-
ing one another. Some of them thought they
had been suddenly assailed bv the enemy, and
that a shot from a cannon had upset the table,
for they cried aloud, ' To arms ! to arms !
beat to arms I' Egad, thinks I, you are at
arms, at legs, at faces too — for old Nick himself
would not wish to be in the midst of ye.

" When candles came, I looked at them, and
saw this heap of superior beings struggling in
friendly agitation to regain their legs ; but to

I !

t'li

284

The Future of NKWFouNni-ANn.

sec .1 rcfl coat and ahluccoaf alternately moving
anil t»iml)linp almiit in a cluster, I could not hut
compare ihcm to a pile of lobsters, some alive
and some boiled.

" Proper assistance havinp ar-ived, and the
parly rcj;aininK ihcir legs, I necu not comment
on the friendly looks given to one another !
Two companies of light-infantry came in and
moved tlie broken remnants ; the wreck was
soon cleared.

" Hut to the great discomfort of all, not a
glass remained ! I mean not only in the Gov-
ernor's house, but not in all the isl.ind ; bowls,
bottles and all shaved the same fate.

" It gelling a late hour, it was proposed, by
way of a finale, that the whole company should
march (as well as they could) in procession,
drums and fifes at their head, rouncl the room
and hill. In the hall the band of the regiment
had been playing all the evening. They had
been supplied plentifully with liquor, and as the
bottles were emptied, they put them under their
table. The procession ame unawares upon the
band. They suddenly moved the table for them
to pass ; but in the hurry the candles fell down ;
it became dark ; the table was withdrawn, but
the empty bottles remained point blank in the
way of the procession. Captain Johnston was
the first. Right in he goes amongst the bottles;
he trod u|)on ten or twelve ; but, like a true
hero, he did not notice them, but advanced.
The rest of the gentlemen followed in tolerable
good order, cracking the flint, cutting their
.shoes, cursing the bottles as they burst, and
Asking if they were full or empty. One or two
of the rear ftdl amongst them, but no serious
mischief happened.

"St. Pierre was the headquarters of the
4th regiment. All their band was here, which
is a capital one. It played all the evening — at
intervals, drums and fifes. Our officers on the
morrow said th-xt they were ' drummed drunk.'
"On our return to the ship, which was late
at night, the band played for us to the water's
edge. .Some were so inebriated as to get up to
their arms in water in mistaking the boat. We
got on board all safe, with the satisfaction of
having left not a single wine-glass within the
Governor's jurisdiction, nor one solitary bottle
of wine in Major Thome's cellar."

This volume, which I perused most
carefully, Ts a valuable addition to the
social and political history of New-
foundland, and supplies many missing
links. Its references to the treaty ar-
rangements with the French, to which
more particular attention will be given
hereafter, si.ow that the opinions cur-
rent at the period (1794) corroborate
all the claims of the inhabitants of
Newfoundland on the question of con-
current fishing on the west coast, or so-
called French shore.

It may not be amiss hrrc to tran-
scribe a short mention which the author
makes about the squid, and also a re-
ference to the existence of the ruttlo-
fish, since become so celebrated. It
may be as well to mention that the
squid, with the caplin and herring,
are used as bait, by means of which the
great fisheries on the coast and banks
of Newfoundland and the shores of
Labrador are carried on by the British,
French, American, and all fishermen
who follow this branch of industry.
The caplin come in first upon the
shores about the latter end of May, or
the beginning of June. They resemble
sardines in size, appearance, and some-
what in taste. They are cast on the
chores, and scooped up. or hauled with
nets in immense quantities ; so great,
indeed, that cart-loads of them are
used for manuring the land. Their
abtindant appearance is hailed with
delight by the fisherman ; for they
indicate the approach of the voracious
':od, by whom they are pursued to th(i
shores. The caplin season is very
brief — seldom over a couple of weeks.
When fresh, for the fish is extremely
delicate and quickly spoils, they are the
most delicate of piscatory food. Large
quantities are preserved by smoking
them ; but they lose the delicate flavor
of their freshness. No doubt if the
proper means and appliances were used,
immense quantities of these caplin
could be preserved by the same process
as sardines are kept in oil, and they
might become a very important trade
to the country. The squid siicceed the
caplin, and last during a very consider-
able part of the fishing season. These
fish are the capital which a fatherly
Providence gratuitously advances his
children fishermen for the prosecution
of their banking operations.

Mr. Aaron Thomas thus describes
the squid :

"There is a fish found on the banks and
shores of Newfoundland after the capling (caplin)
tyne is over, which is the most curious I ever

'1I

ThK KUTrRF, OK NKWKOl'NMIANn.

iis

saw from its color, shape, and i)rnperlies. Its
wcitjlit and Icnplh is al)out oqual to a imall her-
rinp; ; its composition is a tranumrcnt jelly, with ;
a small substance in the miildlc ; if is called a
siiuid. Its formation is very sinjjular ; the tail i
is like the Ihike of an anchor ; from the head
nait extend six filirous and fjlulinoiis t\il»es end- ,
mij in a point, the inner part lookin)^ like a saw, j
and has the property of adhcrinp to any pim-
^ent snlistancc it toiicheth. Within his mouth
IS a hcak, alike, and as hard as the heak of a
parrot. Ki^;ht down the centre of his j»ummy
body is a tube, a part of which is always fdled
with a liciuid as black as ink. This engine so
charged, he can command as freely as an ele-

1)liAnt can his trunk, and whenever a scpiid is
laulcd out of the sea he is sure to discharjje this
li(|ui(l at you, and generally aim-> at your face.
The colors ol 'l.o s(piids are very beautiful ; no
confectioner, when even assisted l)y painted
class windows and a full suu, can (jive to his I
jellies half the variej^ated huis which arc ex-
hibited by the s(|uid when dyinp. A whale is
bait for them, for sipiids f^o in iarpc shoals, and
with their suckers will fix on a whale, and fjnaw
and torment him with their beaks in such a
manner as to worry him to death. When these
teasing creatures are ferreting a whale, he is
followed by an immense train of sf|uids. If any
(Linger suddcidy shows itself, they discharge
their black fluid, by which the ocean is so dis-
colored that they escape from the enemy. A
scjuid can move backwards and sideways. He
is also said sometimes to attain the size of the
largest fish in the sea, though I never met with
a person who ever saw one that weiglied more
than four pounds ; I have heard stories ai St.
John's of one being caught on the Grand Hank
which eight men could not haul into the boat ;
and also of the horn of one being found cast
ashore in Freshwater Hay, which two men with
difficulty could cirry. Wherever squids are, is
found a (ish called jumpers, or squid-hounds,
from their motion in the water, and from the
avidity with which they pursue and eat the
squid. "•

In the old histories of Newfound-
land we so often meet with the term
" Admirals" as to lead us to think
that, in former days, the headquarters
of the British navy had been transfer-
red to Newfoundland. The following
definition of those officials, as given
by Mr. Thomas, may give a better idea
as to what, in those days, were called
" fishing admirals" :

" Amongst the regulations for the better ad-
ministration cf justice in the out-harbors, and
also for the encouragement of the fishery, it was

*Onr readers may remember that during the poat anm-
mer (1877), no leaa than three enormoas ipeulmeni of the
Cephalopod, or Rqnld. have been fonnd or oaptnred on
the ooaat o( Kewfonndland.

orilained that the master of jvery vessel fronr
the Hrifish dominions in Kurope, who, after the
25th of March every year, should arrive first in
any harbor, bay, creek, or cove in Newfound-
land, shoulil, for that reason, be Admiral of the
said harbor, iVc. The vessel which arrived se-
cond, the master of her was ViceAdmirpI : and
the master of the third vessel, which arrived in
the same bay, &c., was Rear Admiral for that
season .

"The Admiral takes possession of the best,
fishing-room, which is annually assigncil for his
use, and has some other little advantages of a
pecuniary nature in his ofhcial < apacity. The
original intent was that he should arbitrate be-
tween parties, ancl settle petty differences, and
the use of th" hshing room was esteemed as re-
ward for his labor ; and the Vice- Admiral an<l
Kcar-Admiral might be considercfl in the light
of constables. 'I'he Rcar-Admiral has the a])-
pellation of a lady. This creation of admirals
was passed into a law in 1690. Hy the act of
Parliament of which I am now speaking, each
admiral was rc(|uired to keep a journal, and -n it
enter every transaction that occurred within his
harbor, as also the number of vessels, boats, and
fishermen employed."

Speaking of the mode of (^ncouragc-
ment given to the Newfoundland fish-
eries in those earlier days, the author
mentions the following particulars of
the bounties then given :

"In 1784 an .act was passed for the better
encouragement of the Newfoundia' 1 fishery.
The act declared that after the first of January
1786, every twenty-five vessels that should at
two trips to the Grand 15ank catch and bring
to Newfoundland tvventy thousand fish by
tale or upwards, should each of them receive
from government the sum of forty |)f)un(ls.
That the succeeding one hundred vessels which
arrivec' afterwards at Newfoundlanrl, having
caught t two trips on the Gram! Hank twenty
thousand fish by tale or upwards, should each
receive the sum of twenty pounds. That the
following one hundred vessels which should
arrive next in succession under the same con-
ditions should each receive ten pounds."

The author also mentions the sum of
five hundred, four hundred, three hun-
dred, two hundred, and one hundred
pounds, as being offered respectively
to vessels returning first, second, third,
fourth, and fifth, with the produce of
one whale or whales killed on the coast
of the island of Newfoundland, or
Labrador ; but the pursuit of whales
seems to have been then very little
followed, for the author states that :
" During my stay in this island I have

f'«

286

The F'uture of KEWFOUNntANn.

not conversed with a single merchant
whose knowledge leads him to say that
there is a vessel employed in this whale
fishery."

There was then an act of Parliament
in force, which inflicted a penalty of
five hundred pounds on the master of
every vessel found carrying fishermen
as passengers from Newfoundland to
America. And the return of fishermen
to Europe was enforced by, enjoining
the masters of vessels to retain a sum
sufficient from their wages to secure
their passage back.

The author gives the following stat-
istics of the population of Newfound-
land in 1787 :

Masters of Families 2,232

Men-servants 7.7i8

Mistresses i>563

Woman-servants 877

Children 5.33^

Dieters (boarders) i>378

19,106
Summer inhabitants wh" come from
England and Ireland and return
at the fall of the year 28,018

Total 47.124

The following is worthy of Baron

Munchausen himself, and is told of

two men, Lacy and Conners :

"When the face of nature was clothed with
snow in last December (1794), two men, of the
name of Lacy and Connors, went intc the woods
to cut wood. It froze so strong that icicles
were fc rmed by the water that dropped from the
eyes and nose. Lacy was bending his head
down near to the stick which Connors was cut-
ting ; unhappily the axe missed the stick, struck
the frozen snow, and rebounded, fatally hitting
Lacy's neck, and severing his head from his
body. But Connors immediately laid hold of
the decapitated head, placed it on the body
ag.iin, which froze, and united the body and
head, and for the f)rcsent saved Lacy's life.
After this Lacy and Connors carried their load
ol wood to St. John's. Unfortunately Lacy
wont into a warm room where there was a good
fire, and while he was relating the narrow
escape he had from death in the morning, he
stooped over the tire to take some fish out of a
kettle which was boiling. In performing this
oftice, his head fell oft" from the body (the
warmth having thawed his neck), and fell into
the pot, and his trunk tumbled backwards on the
floor, and both perished at the same moment.
So much for the death of Master Lacy (as told
by his brother)."

While the caption of this paper
points especially to ihc future of New-
foundland, it may not be inappropriate
to refer briefly to its past and pre-
sent, with a, view, as the French so well
express it, reculer pourmieuicsauler. As
every one is aware, the produce of the
fisheries has always been the main, if
not the only staple element of the in-
dustry of Newfoundland. The post
office was unknown in Newfoundland
till 1805 ; there was no newspaper es-
tablished till 1806, "when," says Mr.
Pedley, in his admirable history, " at
the request of the merchants, the Gov-
ernor gave permission to Mr. John
Ryan to publish the Royal Gazette on his
giving bonds in the sum of ;^ 200 that he
should not insert any matter tending to
disturb the peace of His Majesty's sub-
jects." The same authority states
that " it was not till 1784 that a Catho-
lic priest was at liberty to perform the
functions of his office among the thou-
sands of his communion who had made
their home in Newfoundland ; nor till
1 8 LI. were they allowed a burying
ground by themselves, and their clergy
permitted to officiate at interments of
those of their own faith ; the same
rules applying to all other non-confor-
mists. Not till 181 1 had any inhabi-
tant the right to hold lands or build on
them in St. John's."

Going back to the earlier system of
government, we find that the Acts 10
and II, William III., invested nearly all
the local governing powers in the fish-
ing admirals of the several harbors ;
that is, in the master of any fishing ves-
sel from England as shall first enter
such harbor. Thus, often an ignorant
man, himself engaged in fishing, was
empowered to decide on questions be-
tween those who were his competitors.
This lasted till 1728. when Captain
Osborne was appointed the first Gov-
ernor of Newfoundland ; and it was not
till 1765 that Newfoundland was first
recognized as a colony, and a custom
house established.

The Kuture of Mewfoundland-.

287

In 1750 Governor Draku was invested
with powers to appoint Con.'missioners
of Oyer and Terminer. Ini789theCourt
of Common Pleas was first instituted
under Governor Milbank, and in 1792
the Supreme Court was established,
and the statute so establishing it con-
tinued by an annual vote of the British
Legislature till 1809, when it was made
perpetual ; though it was not till the
Act of 1 824 that the Supreme Court was
invested with its present powers, and the
naval surrogates abolished. Barristers
were first enrolled in 1826. As Mr.
Pedley quaintly remarks, "in 1823 a real
lawyer was sent out from England to
act as Attorney-General," but whether
he intends to note that fact as a sign
of advancement, his meaning is ob-
scure.

It was not till 1832 that an act for a
local legislature was obtained ; and till
January, 1833, that the first local Par-
liament was opened in Newfoundland.
No legislative action was taken in re-
gard to education till 1843. Respon-
sible government was inaugurated in

'755-

The present Government of New-
foundland consists of a Governor ap-
pointed by the Crown ; an Executive
Council of seven, a Legislative Council
of fifteen members appointed for life,
and a House of Assembly of thirty-one
members elected by the people. There
are no divisions of counties or town-
ships in Newfoundland, but the island
is divided into ten electoral districts.
The chief officers of the Government
are the Attorney-General, Colonial Sec-
retary, ReceiverrGeneral, Solicitor-
General, Financial Secretary, and Chair-*
man of the Board of Works. There
are no civic or corporate governing
bodies ; all local and municipal matters
throughout the island being managed by
this latter department — the Board of
Works. Immediately preceding and
subsequent to the inauguration of Res-
ponsible Government, party faction
ran excessively high, and resulted in

many acts of violence. Newfoundland
was a second concentrated edition of
Ireland in its most turbulent periods,
and the division of political party was
mainly formed by the religious creed
of the individual. Of late years this
bitter feeling has vastly subsided, and
the inhabitants of Newfoundland are
now as orderly and well conducted as
those of any oher colony of the em-
pire.

But reverting to our previous ques-
tion, how comes it that Newfoundland
remains so far behind her sister colonies
in development ? According to Chief
Justice Reeves — ihe first Chief Justice
in the Colony — in his " History of
its Government, &c.," there were two
great elements affecting the develop-
ment of Newfoundland.

I St. That of the planters and in-
habitants on the one hand, and that of
the adventurers and merchants on the
other.

2nd. The presence and encroach-
ments of the French.

His Excellency Sir John H. Glover,
the Governor of Newfoundland, in a
short speech on this subject, slated
that '• for the anomalous condition of
affairs in regard to our fishing interests,
the apathy of the Government or
statesmen of Great Britain was not so
much to be blamed as the absolute
indifference of the early trading com-
munity in regard to all interests but
their own. If Newfoundland were ever
to make progress it must be through
the earnest co-operation of Newfound-
landers themselves."

The curse of absenteeism has doubt-
less been one great cause of the pover-
ty, ignorance and depression in which
the bulk of the population of New-
foundland have been kept ever since
its vast fishery resources have been
known. Prosecuted chiefly in earlier
times by merchant adventures from the
west of England, they only looked upon
the country as a mine from whence to
draw enormous wealih. Not one of

288

The Future of Newfoundland,

the numerous individuals who have
accumulated fortunes in Newfound-
land have ever settled in the colony to
spend them, and numerous palaces
adorning the banks of theThames or the
Clyde have been reared with the assist-
ance of the poor Newfoundland fisher-
men. Indeed it has been asserted
that the sum of ;^40o,ooo was raised
from taxes on Newfoundland for the
construction of Greenwich hospital,
while no Newfoundlander ever occu-
pied a bed in it. Settlement of the land,
and other enterprises than the prosecu-
tion of the fisheries, have been discourag-
ed, and the only object has been to realize
a fortune as speedily as possible and re-
turn home to spend it. The system of
credit has kept, and still keeps, the
planter indebted to the merchant, and
the fishermen to the planter. It is not
so bad as formerly, but the system is
still most deplorable in its results.
One or two unsuccessful years of the
fisheries, a business precarious at best,
Dlunges the population into extreme
privation and want. Probably nothing
has more tended to retard the settle-
ment and prosperity of Newfoundland
than the early protracted wars between
the French and English on its coast,
and the unwarranted pretensions of the
former nation, so persistently and arro-
gantly enforced, in regard to a claim
for the exclusive right of fishing upon

the best half of the shores of the is-
land.*

I propose, with editorial approval, to
continue this subject in a succeeding
issue, with a- brief resumi of the French
fishery question, and other matters
concerning the agricultural, mineral,
and lumbering capabilities of New-
foundland, which, with the proposed
railway across it, to open up and
settle ihe country, as also to give to
Canada the great advantages of the
shortest possible route to Europe, go to
make up the elements entering into the
great future in store for that island,
when the iron links of successful com-
merce shall unite in peaceful and happy
unison the fair sister Columbians of the
Pacific with the bold, brave Vikings of
Terra Nova on the sterner Atlantic
shores, under the aegis of our ever-grow-
ing and prosperous Dominion.

James Whitman, B.A.

* I have bestowed some time and research upon
the investigation of this so-called French Shore
fishery question — having prepared a report on
the subject in 1875, which was published in the
same year by the Council of the Royal Colonial
Institute in London, and largely circulated by
them in pamphlet forn(i, and published in the
annual proceedings of the Institute for 1876.

An article of mine, entitled, " The French
Fishery Claims on the Coast of Newfoundland,"
was also published in the January number of
Frazer's Magazine for 1876 ; and I only make
the present refer:nce to these papers that they
may be consulted by any one desiring a fuller
investigation of this, to us British Americans
especially, most important question.