THE DEBATES OF THE NEWFOUNDLAND LEGISLATURE 1933 Edited by James K. Hiller Published under the authority of The Speaker of the House of Assembly Newfoundland and Labrador 2010

© House of Assembly St. John’s, NL : Queen’s Printer, 2010 ISBN: 978-1-55146-444-2

Confederation Building, P.O. Box 8700, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, A1B 4J6 Tel: (709)729-3404, Fax: (709)729-4820 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY OFFICE OF THE SPEAKER A pivotal turning point in the history of the Newfoundland and Labrador Legislature occurred in 1933 when, because of an econom ic and financial crisis, the Legislature voted to suspend democratic government, effective in 1934. The suspension was meant to be short-term, but lasted fifteen years. The debates presented in this volume provi de first-hand accounts of the state of the Dominion.

The legislators of the day were acutely aware of the enormity of their decision to suspend government, but concluded that unfor tunately there was no choice but to take the actions they did. During the debates Pr ime Minister Alderdice made the following poignant statement: “We know what we give up; but wh en we have to choose between self- government on the one hand, and a rele ase from financial abyss into which we are plunged on the other, who would for a moment hesitate in his choice?

When we have had a chance la id open to us to maintain our people in comfort, to release them fr om the state of semi-starvation which is their lot today, would we not give up almost anything?” (p. 490) The debates of the final three sessions of the Newfoundland Legisl ature (1932-33) prior to Commission of Government have never been published. Meticul ously reconstructed from various sources, this volume presents the most complete version of the 1933 debates of the House of Assembly and Legislative Council than has ever before been available. I congratulate and thank Dr.

James Hiller for hi s important contribution to the historical record of our Legislature and I am pleased to present this long overdue volume. Sincerely yours, ROGER FITZGERALD, MHA Speaker of the House of Assembly

i TABLE OF CONTENTS Debates of the House of Assembly, 1933 .........................................................................1 Debates of the Legislative Council, 1933 .....................................................................549 Appendix: Members of the Legislature .......................................................................709 Index ..............................................................................................................................731

iii PREFACE The debates of the last three sessions of the Newfoundland Legislature before the suspension of responsible government in 1934 were not published at that time, possibly as an economy measure. This volume contains the deba tes of the two 1933 se ssions, reconstructed from the Journals (essentially the minutes) of the House of Assembly and of the upper house, the Legislative Council; from a typewr itten and in places fragmentar y transcript of most of the Assembly=s proceedings (in the Legislative Library); and from extensive newspaper reports. The project was largely funded by the J. R.

Smallwood Centre for Newfoundland and Labrador Studies at Memorial University. I am also grateful to the students and others who helped with what proved to be a long and at time s tedious process. In pa rticular, I would like to acknowledge the valuable contribution of Keith Collier. The publication of these debates has been made possible by the House of Assembl y, the Legislative Library, and the Queen =s Printer. Thanks are due, therefore, to the Clerk of the House, Mr. William MacKenzie and the Director of Information Management, Ms. Kimberley Hamm ond, and to the Information Specialist, Ms.

Trine Schioldan, who prepared the index. JKH EDITORIAL NOTE Extracts taken from the Journal of either House are printed in italics. The debates include sometimes lengthy extrac ts from newspaper reports. When this occurs, the speakers’ names are indented. To the best of my knowledge, no transcript is available of th e debates of the Legislative Council, and the newspapers did not fully report its proceedings. It has been necessary, therefore, to rely heavily on the Journal.

Given that this text is derived from three sources, it has not been possible to impose absolute consistency in such matters as spelling and capitalization. It should be noted as well th at some of the project transcri bers did not always distinguish between The Daily News and The Evening Telegram in their citations.

v INTRODUCTION The result of election held on June 11, 1932, was a landslide victor y for Frederick C. Alderdice’s United Newfoundland Party (UNP), which won 24 out of 27 seats. 1 There were only two Liberals elected - F. Gordon Bradley (Humbe r), who became leader of the tiny Opposition, and Roland Starkes2 (Green Bay). There was one Independent (Harris Mosdell). The new government inherited all the problems faced by its discredited Liberal predecessor.

The Depression persisted, Newf oundland’s major industries faced severe difficulties, poverty and unemployment remained serious problems, and the government’s financial desperation made the country’s continued political independence a central issue. The UNP government eventually concluded that since it could not raise any more loans, and since expenditures had been cut as far as possible, partial defaul t on public debt interest payments was inevitable. Alarm bells rang in the headquarters of Canadian banks, in Ottawa and in London.

Default by a dominion was unpreceden ted, and there were serious (if perhaps exaggerated) fears about its potential impact on the market for dominion bonds in general, and on the Canadian dollar. Eventu ally, it was settled (in December, 1932) that the British and Canadian governments would loan money to cove r the debt interest due on January 1, 1933, on condition that Newfoundland w ould accept a royal commission of enquiry. On February 17, 1933, the commission was appointed, consisting of Baron Amulree (William W. Mackenzie), Charles A. Magrath (a Canadian banker) and Sir William Stavert.

The last of these was also a Canadian banker, and had replaced Sir Pe rcy Thompson as financial advisor to the Newfoundland government, which supported his appointment. Thus there was no Newfoundlander on the body which was to decide th e country’s future. Wh en the Legislature met on April 10, the royal commission was alrea dy at work, taking evidence and later traveling the country. Even so, it was business more or less as usual at the Colonial Building.

The royal commission’s report appear ed on November 21, and the Legislature reconvened on November 27 to consider its re commendations, which resulted from extensive discussions with the British government. It was clear that neither the Canadian government nor the Canadian banks would provide any more financial support, and interest payments on July 1 had been met only with Bri tish support. The report’s cent ral recommendation was that responsible government should be suspended until the country was self-supporting, and there was a request from the people.

A British-appointed commission would take over the government, 1 Legislation in the 1932 session reduced the number of seats in the Assembly from 36 to 27. 2 Sometimes spelled “Starks”, though this is almost certainly incorrect.

vi consisting of three Newfoundlande rs and three British appointees , chaired by the Governor. The debt would be rescheduled and guaranteed by the British government.3 Though there had been talk of a referendum, the Alderdice administration quickly pushed through the Legislature an endorsement of the royal commission’s recommendations. The Opposition’s complaints and amendments had no im pact. Instead the Legislature voted itself out of existence and closed on December 2. It was a sad and hurried end to almost 80 years of responsible government. FURTHER READING Cadigan, Sean T. Newfoundland and Labrador.

A History . Toronto: Toronto University Press, 2009. Neary, Peter. Newfoundland in the North Atlantic World, 1929-1939. Kingston and Montreal: McGill-Queen=s University Press, 1988. Newfoundland Historical Society, A Short History of Newfoundland and Labrador . Portugal Cove: Boulder Publications, 2008. Noel, S.J.R., Politics in Newfoundland. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1971. O=Flaherty, Patrick. Lost Country: the Rise and Fall of Newfoundland, 1843-1933. St. John =s: Long Beach Press, 2005. 3 A White Paper on Newfoundland was issued at the same time as the release of the royal commission report.

vii THE MINISTRY, 1932-1934 UNITED NEWFOUNDLAND PARTY (ALDERDICE) CABINET, JUNE 1932 B FEBRUARY 1934. Prime Minister, Minister of Education, and Minister of Finance: Frederick C. Alderdice Minister of Justice: L.E. Emerson Secretary of State: John C. Puddester Minister of Labour: Kenneth McK. Brown Minister of Marine and Fisheries: John G. Stone Minister of Agriculture and Mines: William J. Walsh Ministers without portfolio: Harold Mitchell; Francis M. McNamara; James S. Ayre; Samuel J. Foote; Harry A. Winter. Outside Cabinet: Minister of Posts and Telegraphs: William C.

Winsor (promoted to Cabinet, March 1933) Minister of Public Works: Herman W. Quinton. [In the absence of the ministers, W.J. Browne acted temporarily as Minister of Finance in 1932 and as Minister of Justice in 1933.] Speaker: James A. Winter Leader of the Opposition: F. Gordon Bradley (Liberal Party)