Mr. Chairman Orders of the day. I have before
me the replies of the Dominions Office to the
various questions submitted by the delegation of
the National Convention, which delegation was
appointed pursuant to the resolution of February
28, 1947, and which replies have been brought
back by the delegation which went to London
some three weeks ago.
[1]
[The Secretary read the questions and answers, and the Convention resolved into a
committee of the whole]
[Mr. Cashin read the resolutions passed by the Convention on 28 February and 10 March,
1947, and a despatch from the Dominion; Office dated 18 March, 1947]
Mr. Cashin ....It will be seen from this
memorandum that the Secretary of State agreed
to meet the delegation and requested us to forward a more explanatory memorandum of
the
precise questions which we desired to ask. As a
result, the following memorandum was prepared
by the elected delegation and forwarded through
the proper channel to the Secretary of State.
[Mr. Cashin quoted from the memorandum]
The delegation left St. John's by train on April
24, arriving at Gander the following morning. We
left Gander by BOAC on the evening of April 25
and arrived in London around noon on Saturday,
April 26.
On the morning of April 29, the delegation
was introduced to the Secretary of State and other
members of the United Kingdom government.
We were tendered a luncheon in the Savoy Hotel
by the Secretary of State, and at 3 pm the same
day our first meeting took place in the office of
the Secretary of State in the House of Lords.
[2] The
representatives of the British government who
were present were Lord Addison, Secretary of
State for Dominion Affairs; Mr. W. Glenvil Hall,
Financial Secretary to the Treasury and a Member of Parliament; Mr. A.G. Bottomley,
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Dominion
Affairs; and Sir Eric Machtig, Permanent
Secretary of State for the Dominions, and various
other officials connected with the Dominions
Office and the Treasury. Also there were present
the Chairman of the Commission of Government
and the Commissioner for Justice, both of whom
had preceded us to England for the purpose of
sitting in on the meetings, as well as to advise the
Secretary of State on matters which were to be
discussed by the delegation. As the discussions
proceeded, the impression created with some of
us was that these two members of the Commission had been summoned to London to give
the
Dominions Secretary information which he
might not have, and for the further purpose of
trying to influence the United Kingdom officials
on matters of great importance to our country
which came up for discussion. It was not uncommon to see considerable whispering take
place
when questions of serious importance were put
to Lord Addison. I personally cannot but think
that these two gentlemen, and I refer to the two
members of the Commission government, undoubtedly used their influence and efforts
to justify the actions of the Commission during the past
six or seven years. What I have just said,
Mr. Chairman, I believe. I would go so far as to
say that the memorandum in reply to our questions, which you have before you, had
been
prepared before our arrival in England, and that
the two members of the Commission government
assisted in its preparation,
Mr. Chairman You are making references to a
representative of His Majesty the King. I must
ask you not to do that in future.
Mr. Cashin I was referring to the Chairman of
the Commission of Government.
Mr. Chairman He happens, also, to be the
Governor of Newfoundland.
Mr. Cashin I can understand that. Before I give
any details of our three meetings, let me say
definitely that the object of this delegation to
London to discuss matters with the British
government was not to seek financial assistance
from the mother country. I hold, Mr. Chairman,
that Newfoundland today needs no financial help
from anyone. Our country is undoubtedly self-
supporting. The object of our delegation's going
528 NATIONAL CONVENTION May 1947
to Great Britain was for the purpose of discussing
matters of future interest to the country. The
object was to try and get the British government
to see and think reasonably, as we thought we
were thinking, and as the majority of us still
think. Our primary object was to discuss the
reduction of our public debt by way of refunding,
by the use of our sinking fund, and by the application to that debt of our free-of-interest
loans to
Britain; to discuss future trade relations with the
United Kingdom government; to discuss the future operation of Gander airport, and
to seek the
reason why Newfoundland has been burdened
with any deficit on its operation; to see if we
could in some way or other impress upon the
United Kingdom government the importance to
the future economy of our country of Britain
purchasing a substantial quantity of our fresh and
frozen fish, as well as the product of our iron
mines on Bell Island. These are the matters,
Mr. Chairman, which I contend we went to the
United Kingdom for, and whilst there appears on
our agenda a heading "Development Loans", you
will all remember that we definitely told the
Secretary of State that Newfoundland required
no loans for development purposes from the
United Kingdom government at the moment, and
this matter was dropped from our discussions.
Again, let me repeat for the benefit of the country
as a whole, that our delegation did not go to
London to seek any material assistance from
Great Britain. We need no such assistance. If I
may be permitted to say, Mr. Chairman, Great
Britain is not in a position to give us any financial
assistance at the present time. The fact of the
matter is, Newfoundland has been and is still
helping the United Kingdom government in a
financial way, and at the expense of the Newfoundland treasury.
At this first meeting, which might be called a
preliminary or informal meeting to discuss
generalities, Viscount Addison took each question as outlined in our explanatory memorandum
in sequence. And even though it is quite obvious
that the intelligent discussion of these questions
could only be discussed one with the other, the
Secretary of State insisted that each question
should be discussed separately. The firstquestion
related to the public debt, and Viscount Addison,
in effect, asked us what about it anyhow? In
reply, we tried to convey that the public debt was
one which certainly called for reduction as well
as refunding. We tried to point out that our interest-free loans to the United Kingdom
should be
used for the purpose of reducing our sterling debt.
In our opinion, Mr. Glenvil Hall, the Financial
Secretary of the Treasury, was certainly
favourably disposed to such a proposition, but the
Dominions Secretary was not so enthusiastic in
this respect. The latter then suggested that the
United Kingdom government might convert our
sterling debt, which amounted to approximately
$75 million and bore interest at the rate of 3%
annually, to 2.5%, and that such conversion
would take place on January 1, 1948, after giving
the necessary three months notice. He also indicated at this meeting that the United
Kingdom
government would be prepared to reduce this
particular sterling debt by the application of the
sinking fund, which is held in the Bank of
England and amounts at the present time to some
$75 million.
With regard to the base deals, we were simply
told that these bases had been given to the United
States for a period of 99 years, with the concurrence of the Commission government,
and that in
return Great Britain had received destroyers from
the American government. It was admitted by the
representatives of the United Kingdom government that no effort whatever had been
made to
get any remuneration for Newfoundland in the
way of preferential tariffs on our fisher
products, and that at the present time Great
Britian was in no position to approach the
American government on such a matter.
It was pointed out to us, however, that if
Newfoundland decided to return to self-government, such a government might be in a
position
to further discuss the whole matter with the
United States. We were unable to extract definite
information as to whether or not the United States
government had insisted on a 99 year lease of
these bases, or whether any effort had been made
to make such base deals simply for the duration
of hostilities. On such matters the members of the
United Kingdom government were most evasive
and concentrated their arguments against us, on
the grounds that these bases were absolutely essential to the winning of the war.
The Newfoundland delegation was not slow to point out
that our country and our people had no objection
whatever to granting such concessions to the
May 1947 NATIONAL CONVENTION 529
United States government for the duration of the
war, and further, that the people of Newfoundland as a whole were prepared to make.
and
actually did make every sacrifice necessary for
the winning of the war.
The matter of trade and tariffs was then taken
up, and in particular the possibility for the sale of
our fresh and frozen fish as well as iron ore to the
United Kingdom. These specific matters were
discussed generally at this meeting, and the
Dominions Secretary promised to have some information on these matters for the next
meeting.
It was then suggested by Mr. Glenvil Hall that at
our next meeting we would discuss the whole
matter of our sterling debt, base deals and interest-free loans as one subject, as
he felt and we
felt, that such matters were so interwoven, one
with the other, that they should be discussed
along such lines. I feel sure that the majority of
the members of our delegation left that meeting
feeling that because of Mr. Glenvil Hall's attitude on the matter of our public debt,
some
reasonable consideration would be given to the
readjustment, refunding and reduction of our
sterling indebtedness.
Our next meeting
[1] with the Secretary of State
and his colleagues took place on May 1, and was
held in the office of the Secretary of State in the
Dominions Office building. When we took our
places around the table, the following memorandum was handed us by the Secretarg of
State.
[Mr. Cashin read the memorandum[2]]
Mr. Glenvil Hall did not attend this conference, but one of the permanent officials
of the
Treasury sat in, evidently for the purpose of
giving any information that might be required, or
for the purpose of checking any errors which
might be made in the discussion of financial
matters. This gentleman never expressed any
opinion, nor was he asked to do so. A general
discussion took place on the contents of this
memorandum. We were told that Mr. Glenvil
Hall could not attend because he was busy with
his parliamentary duties, but that he would
probably attend our next meeting.
After this very interesting, and what I may
term heated discussion of Newfoundland affairs,
we were advised by the Dominions Secretary that
we could present a memorandum of our own in
reply to the one received from the United
Kingdom government. This memorandum,
which has just been read by the Secretary of the
Convention, has one or two matters contained in
it with which I regret to say neither Mr. Bradley
nor Mr. Keough could concur.
We will first deal with the public debt. This
had been briefly discussed at our first meeting. It
will be noticed that the British government puts
this sterling debt under three main heads, as follows:
1. The two 3.5% sterling loans amounting
together to about ÂŁ870,000, which mature in
1950 and 1952.
2. The ÂŁ400,000 temporary loan which was
made available to Newfoundland by the
United Kingdom government in 1917 for war
purposes.
3. The 3% sterling debt of ÂŁ17,790,000.
With respect to the ÂŁ870,000 loans, we were
informed that the redemption of these two loans,
coming due in 1950 and 1952 respectively, had
been provided for from our interest-free loans to
Great Britain, by the transfer to the Crown Agents
for the Colonies of ÂŁ800,000, which has been
invested at 2.5%. The accrued interest on this
ÂŁ800,000 will be more than sufficient to meet the
principal of these amounts as they fall due.
We had already known that no interest had
been paid on the ÂŁ400,000 temporary loan raised
in 1917 for war purposes, and this matter was
referred to in the report of the Finance Committee
now before this house. The Secretary of State
advised us that the repayment of this loan would
not now be sought. Therefore the loan is cancelled, and it should disappear from our
records.
With regard to the 3% sterling debt, which
amounts to approximately ÂŁl7,790,000, or in
dollar currency roughly $71.75 million, which
amount has been guaranteed as to principal and
interest by the United Kingdom government, it
will be noted that it is the intention of the United
Kingdom government to convert this debt to
2.5% interest as from January 1, 1948. The
United Kingdom government through Viscount
Addison, and on the advice of the Chairman of
the Commission government and the Commissioner for Justice, told us that because of
the
dollar shortage in Great Britain it would be im
530 NATIONAL CONVENTION May 1947
possible to have the British government take over
this debt. Let me point out at this juncture that
this debt is held in sterling funds and that the only
benefit accruing to Great Britain with respect to
dollars in this connection, is that the interest is
paid to Britain in dollars, and it is for this reason
that the United Kingdom government does not
see its way clear to conceal the debt. They also
told us that the matter of its conversion to a lower
rate of interest has been under consideration by
the Commission government for some time. Such
a statement, in my opinion, is far from the truth,
and I have no hesitation in saying that neither the
Commission government nor the Dominions Office had any intention of reducing our debt
charges until the matter was brought to their attention
through the efforts of this Convention. Again I
repeat what I have so frequently stated before,
that all the efforts of the Commission government
have been devoted to increasing the expenditures
of the country in every branch of the service. The
policies now being adopted and put into operation by the Commission can only result
in the
ultimate spending of all our treasury balances. No
effort whatever has been made to curtail unnecessary expenditures, and each succeeding
year for
the past six years finds the maintenance of
government consistently rising.
The Dorninions Office informed us that upon
the conversion of our 3% sterling debt to 2.5%,
the sinking fund now lying to our credit in the
Bank of England would be deducted from this
particular debt. This sinking fund amounts to
around $7.5 million at the present time, and as
there will be another payment made to this fund
on July 1 next, the total amount will then be
approximately $8.25 million. It has been stated
definitely in the Financial Report
[1] presented to
this Convention, that these annual sinking fund
payments should have been deducted from the
principal of our debt each year, as the monies
were used for the purchase of our outstanding 3%
stock. I say now, that by the manipulation of this
sinking fund, Newfoundland has lost in the
vicinity of half a million dollars, and that the
decision of the United Kingdom government to
use this sinking fund for the reduction of this
sterling indebtedness is no concession on their
part, but really an obligation which they should
have carried out yearly since 1937-38. Neverthe
less, by the conversion of this debt to 2.5% and
the deduction of the sinking fund, the Newfoundland treasury will save in the vicinity
of half
a million dollars annually, and our total sterling
debt outstanding will then be approximately
$635 million.
It will be seen from the memorandum we sent
the United Kingdom government, and their
memorandum to us, that the matter of the disposition of our interest-free loans to
Britain was discussed. It will be observed that the United
Kingdom government informed us that on the
advice of the Commission government, it would
not be prudent to use the balance of these loans
for the reduction of our sterling indebtedness, as
such monies may be required for development
purposes. Neither would the United Kingdom
government undertake to pay the Newfoundland
treasury any interest whatever on these loans,
although the treasury of Newfoundland today is
paying 3% per annum on these very loans.
Our delegation took the position that these
loans should be used for the purpose of reducing
our sterling debt, and we pointed out to the United
Kingdom government that we could not understand the attitude of the Commission in
this matter. The Secretary of State had consistently
pointed out to us that, owing to the shortage of
dollars in Great Britain, they were not in a position to devote this money to the
reduction of our
debt; whilst on the other hand the Commission
government had intimated that they might need
the money for future development purposes. it
can be seen how inconsistent the Commission
government and the Secretary of State were, because to be of any use for development
purposes
in Newfoundland, this money would have to be
converted back to dollars, whilst under the
present circumstances it would not be necessary
to find dollars for the purpose of reducing our
debt, as this debt is principally held in the United
Kingdom and our loans are now in sterling currency. The Dominions Secretary advised
us that
it would be a matter of policy for the future
government of Newfoundland as to the disposition of this money, and this was concurred
in by
both Mr. Bradley and Mr. Keough. Five of us
delegates took the position that it would be good
business to use this money to reduce our debt, as
it would mean a further reduction in interest and
May 1947 NATIONAL CONVENTION 531
sinking fund annually of $400,000 which when
added to the half million dollar reduction in interest charges by the conversion of
our debt to
2.5% as well as using the sinking fund, would
mean an annual saving all told to the Newfoundland treasury of approximately $1 million,
and a reduction of our sterling indebtedness to
less than $54 million.
We pointed out to the representatives of the
British government that the Newfoundland
delegation was deeply conscious of the condition
of affairs generally in the mother country, but that
at the same time we were fully aware of what the
saving of $1 million annually would mean to the
people of Newfoundland, who after all had suffered more than their share of hardship
and privation in the past. We took occasion to draw the
attention of the Dominions Secretary to the abnormal rise in our public expenditures
during the
past six or seven years, when such expenditures
have risen from $16 million in 1940 to over $38
million this year. We suggested that there was no
sound reason for these excessive capital expenditures, and that in our opinion under
no circumstances should the expenditures exceed the
revenues, and that our present cash balances
should be conserved. We further pointed out that
the application of this $9.25 million interest-free
loan to Britain to the reduction of our sterling debt
was a sound business proposition, and that such
a disposition of this money would in no way
effect the dollar situation in Great Britain. Our
efforts to get any commitment in respect to this
matter were of no avail, and as usual we were
informed by Viscount Addison that these matters
had already been considered by the Commission
government.
With regard to the operation of Gander airport,
it will be seen from the interchange of memoranda that under the new arrangement Newfoundland
is being held liable for a minimum of
$250,000 a year deficit on the operation of this
international air highway. Our delegation felt that
because Newfoundland as a country was not interested in the air transport business,
and particularly in View of the fact that several foreign
airlines were using the facilities of the airport, our
country should not be called upon to pay any
deficit that might be incurred in its operation.
However, under the present circumstances it is
quite evident that both the Dominions Office and
the Commission government are satisfied that the
Newfoundland treasury should bear one third of
any deficit that might be incurred. Nevertheless,
it was pointed out to us that in the event of the
country deciding to return to responsible government, the Newfoundland authorities
will have the
right to decide any future policy in respect to the
administration of this particular airport. There is
no doubt in my mind, Mr. Chairman, that the
British government is using this airport for international bargaining.
You will observe that in our memorandum to
the United Kingdom government, we stressed the
importance of some effort being made by the
United Kingdom to induce the Government of the
United Statesto grant Newfoundland some quid
pro quo in return for the 99-year leases of certain
military, naval and air bases in Newfoundland,
and as already pointed out, we were informed by
the representatives of the British government that
under the present trying times which their
country was experiencing, they were not in any
position to take the matter up with the American
authorities.
With regard to matters of trade and tariffs, we
pressed with all our ability the importance of the
purchase by Great Britain of substantial quantities of our fresh and frozen fish.
We took occasion to point out that during the war they had
purchased considerable quantities of
Newfoundland's fishery products at much lower
prices than we could have obtained from the
United States. They invariably replied sympathetically, but stated that their great
difficulty
was the dollar exchange. When the matter of their
buying some 12,000 tons of fish from Iceland and
over 20 million pounds from Norway was
brought to their attention, the Secretary of State
informed us that he was writing the Chancellor
of the Exchequer on the whole matter. It was
pointed out to them that this very year Newfoundland had purchased three ships from
Great
Britain at a cost of some $2.5 million and that in
our opinion they should have taken fish in payment, instead of transferring these
dollars to the
United Kingdom from the Newfoundland
treasury, and not even buying our fish. At this
point the representatives of the United Kingdom
became somewhat indignant, because they felt
that the people of Newfoundland would not mind
them using our monies to their own advantage,
532 NATIONAL CONVENTION May 1947
even though they had evidently not considered
the importance to the Newfoundland fishermen
of keeping our fresh fish plants in operation. We
received information that the fish which the
United Kingdom is buying from both Iceland and
Norway is being paid for at a much higher price
than the same commodity could be purchased
from Newfoundland. Finally, the Secretary of
State gave us his assurance that he would go
further into the matter, and I think we all feel that
some effort will be made to purchase a quantity.
of our fresh and frozen fish during the coming
season.
The same difficulty arises with regard to the
sale of our iron ore to Great Britain It is a
question of being able to find dollars, and we
were informed by Mr. Bottomley that he has been
working assiduously in this respect and that we
shall possibly have an order for our ore this
season. Nevertheless, we obtained no definite
assurance from the United Kingdom government
that they would be in a position to guarantee any
long-term contracts. As usual, they told us that
the Commission government had been pressing
for action on all these matters.
Our third and final meeting with the representatives of the United Kingdom government
took place in the Dominions Office on the morning of May 8. The Secretary of State,
Viscount
Addison, as usual, occupied the Chair and in
reply to our memorandum handed us the following, which I shall now read for the information
of
the Convention and the country.
[Mr. Cashin read the memorandum[1]]
As on the occasion of our second meeting on
May I, Mr. Glenvil Hall was not present, and I
am convinced that the majority of the members
of our delegation felt that because of this
gentleman's reasonableness, and his sympathetic
attitude towards Newfoundland in respect to the
adjustment of our public debt, influence was
brought to bear for the purpose of preventing him
from attending our two meetings. In any case, the
fact of his being absent for the second occasion
is most significant.
After reading this final memorandum, I am
sure that the Convention and the people of Newfoundland will be assured that because
of our
pressing the United Kingdom government for
certain information and action, and because they
realised their embarrassing position, they
decided to cut us off short by simply telling us,
in effect, that we had no business whatever to
discuss with them the administration of the affairs of Newfoundland, that it was not
for us to
suggest policies which we, in our view, considered were a benefit to the country and
its future
prosperity. So they raise the issue of our authority
under the Convention Act. They tell us that our
suggestions and efforts were nothing, more or less
than a condemnation and criticism of the Commission government. They overlook the
fact that
they had asked us weeks before we left Newfoundland what matters we desired to discuss
with them. They forgetthat they agreed to discuss
such matters, and now turn and in so many words
tell us to mind our own business, and that all these
affairs have been, and are still under consideration by the Commission government.
When questioned on the constitutional issue,
Viscount Addison glibly and deliberately
avoided answering any direct questions, and I am
sure he left every delegate with the impression
that no matter what decisions this Convention
might make, the United Kingdom government
had made up its mind. They were going to control
the Government of Newfoundland as long as
there was a dollar left to the credit ofour treasury.
This statement has been made by me on
numerous occasions, and recent indications made
in the budget speech tell us of a three-year
programme which has been planned for Newfoundland by the present Commission government.
The British government has thrown overboard
the agreement or pledge they gave to this country
in 1933-34, and I express the personal opinion
again this evening, that so long as our treasury
dollar balances are available, it is their intention
to hold on to the control of Newfoundland. They
have intimated time and time again that they have
plans for two or three year development programmes as well as reconstruction programmes,
and
they have not shown on their part that they would
agree to any change of government the people
may decide on, even though a plebiscite be taken
this year. They have not even committed themselves to do so. At the present time our
country
is nothing more or less than an international
pawn, and is being used by the United Kingdom
May 1947 NATIONAL CONVENTION 533
government for the purpose of making international deals with both the United States
and
Canada.
That, gentlemen, completes the official record
of the delegation's visit to the Dominions Office.
And we have now passed on to you for what it is
worth all the information which has been given
us. You now know just as much as we members
of the delegation, and are just as competent to
arrive at your own conclusions. No doubt during
the discussion members will have ample opportunity to express their individual opinions.
For
myself, before concluding, I wish to express a
few purely personal opinions.
Firstly, what did the mission of this delegation
to London accomplish? To begin with we were
successful in having the ÂŁ400,000 temporary
loan of 1917, on which no interest had been paid,
cancelled — it's off the books. Secondly, I contend that we were primarily instrumental
in
having our sterling debt which amounts to nearly
$72 million and which now bears interest at 3%,
converted, or rather we were promised it would
be converted, to 2.5% on January 1 next. In
addition, we were successful in having the British
government use the sinking fund of this debt,
which will amount to $8.25 million in July, for
the purpose of reducing this particular debt. By
this action the treasury of the country will save at
least half a million dollars annually.
We are of the opinion, or at least I am, that
because of our representations the Dominions
Office will probably devote our interest-free
loans to the further reduction of our sterling debt,
and that because of our consistent emphasis, there
is a good possibility of the United Kingdom
giving us an order for our fresh and frozen fish
this season. They assure us that they are doing
their best, such as it is.
To me, this whole affair simply represents a
continuance of the policy which has been operating in Newfoundland since 1934. It
is just another
piece in the jig-saw puzzle into which Newfoundland has been cut up. But these pieces
are
gradually being put together, and when the last
piece is put in place, and the puzzle solved, some
people amongst us may be in for a surprise.
Because, if the forces opposed to us have their
way, it will not be a picture of Newfoundland
they will see, not the Newfoundland which the
Commission took over in 1934, but instead a part
of the country we know as Canada. I will have
much more to say on this matter at a later date.
But for the present let me continue my comments
on the delegates' visit.
Let me say that I do not believe that the British
government ever wanted to see a delegation from
this country coming to England. And why should
they? For has not this visit shown that they had
long ago finalised their plans concerning us? But
this Convention decided to send a delegation, and
faced with this request, the British government
had no other choice but to put a good face on the
matter. It would have been very bad politics for
them to have done otherwise. Even so, they
showed very little enthusiasm. Members will
remember that before they would consider meeting us they demanded that we first place
on paper
the matters we wished to discuss. This was hardly
an invitation to the open and free discussion we
had hoped for. You know how it is when someone
calls at your door that you don't want to see. If
you can't say you are not at home, you tell the
servant to ask the man what he wants to see you
about, and so it was with us. Viscount Addison
first wanted to know what we wanted to see him
about to prepare himself in advance. He did not
want to be taken by surprise.
Now compare this with the preliminaries of
sending a delegation to Canada. Did they send us
a guarded request to know what we wanted to see
them about? Did they ask for memorandums?
Not at all. They almost fell over themselves putting out the welcome hand. A delegation
would
be welcomed with a heart and a half. The joy bells
will ring out in Ottawa when they arrive. Now
what does all this mean? ln the first place it means
that the British government has endorsed
Canada's action — that she has encouraged
Canada to give us a big hand. And if she has done
this, it also means that the British government is
prepared to see us go into Canada — that she
wants us to go in with Canada. For myself I see
in it just a further continuation of something
which I have long expected. I have much interesting evidence, which I may place before
this
house at a later date, when the matter of forms of
government eventually comes up. But for the
present I say this, and you may think I am talking
rashly if you wish. I say to you that there is in
operation at the present time a conspiracy to sell,
and I use the word "sell" advisedly, this country
534 NATIONAL CONVENTION May 1947
to the Dominion of Canada. I repeat, some people
may think I am talking wildly, but I would ask
them to remember that long before this I made
statements in this house which were regarded at
the time as wild prophecies, but time proved that
I was right. All I ask you then to do in the present
instance, is to watch events develOp in the coming two months, then pass your judgement
on the
statements I make today. Watch in particular the
attractive bait which will be held out to lure our
country into the Canadian mouse-trap. Listen to
the flowery sales talk which will be offered you,
telling Newfoundlanders they are a lost people,
that our only hope, our only salvation, lies in
following a new Moses into the promised land
across the Cabot Strait. By the way, I note by
recent papers, that there are 30,000 men unemployed in the Maritimes alone. Can it
be that
things are so wonderful in this Paradise that men
don't need to work? Gentlemen, before leaving
this matter I would say just this, look out for those
amongst us who would take ourselves and our
country on a one-way ride.
But let me again return to my comments on
the delegation to England. Now, as I mentioned
in the beginning, there are some people who had
the impression that we went to England looking
for favours and handouts from a starving and
depressed people. Such is emphatically not the
case. We went to investigate and discuss Newfoundland affairs. We wanted to know what
they
were doing with our money. We wanted to know
why they had given away parts of our sovereign
territory, and we wanted to know above all else
what they intended to do about our rights as a
politically free people. For ten years we have
been trying to get this information out of the local
Commission, but in vain. And after our trip we
are little wiser than we were before. But as for
wanting to get any handouts from Britain — why
nothing could be further from the truth. We did
not ask for anything from Britain — not a dollar
of her wealth, an ounce of her food, an inch of
her territory. And I think the other members of
the delegation will agree with me when I say that
in the person of Viscount Addison we had to deal
with a man who was quite competent in protecting his country's assets. Talk of giving
— why
he would not even give us an answer to many of
our questions. And in the two weeks we were in
England we were only granted three meetings. To
my mind, Viscount Addison gave an example of
political economy of the highest order. He was
the soul of economy and political tact. Of course
it would not be fair to place all the blame on the
shoulders of the noble lord, because it was quite
obvious that he was acting under strict orders, and
these orders seemed to be, as regards the delegation, "Tell them nothing and give
them nothing".
We asked him plenty of questions. We showered
him with them, but he shed them like a duck. He
had his orders not to go beyond a certain point,
and beyond that point he refused to budge. Sometimes we thought we had him tied up,
but he
wiggled out with the ease of a Houdini. However,
there were one or two occasions when he found
himself out on a limb. I remember in particular
when he was trying to justify the base deals. He
put up his defence, that the British government
were forced to give the United States these bases
because they were in a hole and Great Britain
desperately needed destroyers. He elaborated on
this point and made much of it, saying that "lives
had to be saved."
I could go on at great length, Mr. Chairman,
commenting on the many phases of this visit of
ours, but I believe it is best summed up in the
London newspaper which refers to it as follows:
"How cold, graceless, ungenerous and chuckleheaded is the attitude of the Government
towards Newfoundlanders." It goes on to say: "It
could not, it dare not go back on Britain's pledge
of 1934, that as soon as the Island's difficulties
had been overcome, Responsible Government on
the request of the people of Newfoundland would
be restored. Yet today it talks of special difficulties of our financial position
and tells the Newfoundlanders harshly that, if they vote away the
present Commission, Britain will no longer
guarantee the interest on Newfoundland's loan of
$71 million. Is this the way to talk to our kith and
kin? When Newfoundland made Britain an interest free loan of ÂŁ25 million for the war
effort, she
did not extract a promise in return. Newfoundland sent her young men to tight alongside
us, sent her sailors to defy the U-boats, she
provided bases, she begrudged nothing. The
statement made to the Newfoundland delegation
by a government which has poured out millions
in dollars to succour strangers from China to
Chechoslovakia in the last two years is contemptible". That is the summary of the
London
May 1947 NATIONAL CONVENTION 535
Daily Express. True, it is an opposition paper —
it probably wishes to make political capital out of
the facts. But does that dispute the existance of
these facts? Does it prove that they are not a true
statement of conditions? Gentlemen, it is my
opinion that we should not waste much time on
this report. The answers to our questions could
have been obtained by means of a registered
letter.
I close my remarks with this message: the
people amongst us who love freedom, who love
the traditions of this fine land, who cherish our
traditions, must prepare themselves to defend
these things if they would preserve them. At this
very moment the lines of battle are drawn up, and
walking amongst us are those whose burning
ambition it is to see this country passed into the
hands of strangers; to haul down the flag of our
fathers and replace it with an alien one; to make
the Ode to Newfoundland a forgotten thing on the
lips of our children, and to extinguish the torch
which our liberty-loving ancestors cherished for
nearly 100 years. All these things they will try to
do under a banner to which they have nailed the
dollar sign. But I tell them they will not succeed.
Once before in our history our country had to
meet such an attack. Once before there were those
who sought to destroy her identity and sabotage
her liberty, but a far poorer country and a less
enlightened people gave them their answer. Shall
we of today, blessed inhabitants of one of the
most solvent countries in the world, fail where
our fathers triumphed? I feel that I have the
endorsement of all right-thinking Newfoundlanders with me when I say that we shall
not fail.
[The committee rose and reported progress, and the Convention adjourned]
