[The Acting Chairman[1] read a commission appointing John Bernard McEvoy as Chairman]
Mr. Bradley Mr. Secretary, may I avail myself
of this, the first opportunity, to publicly convey
my congratulations to my very good friend, Mr.
McEvoy, our new Chairman, on his appointment
to this most important office.
I do not think that I am unduly egotistic when
I say there is no one in this Convention more
qualified to appreciate the problems and the difficulties which at times beset the
Chairman than
myself, for I occupied the post for a period of
nearly 12 months and I had particular opportunity
to observe those errors which contribute so largely to the Chairman's problems. One
of the very
greatest of our errors has been a casual assumption that we are a political body,
even a partly
political body. The method of our election by the
people has tended to foster that illusion and our
adoption of a parliamentary framework for our
deliberations has tended to confirm it. There is a
tendency to assume that we may speak for the
people in a representative capacity, where no
such right exists. And that for two reasons: the
first, in its nature double, I suppose, has to do with
our election to the seats which we now occupy.
A substantial number of us are here by acclamation and received no votes. Many others
of us
received votes and hold our seats by the franchise
of somewhere in the neighbourhood of 25% of
the electorate of our particular district. We can
hardly then claim to have been sent here as a body
by a majority of the electors of this country.
But there is an even greater reason for this. We
were not elected to carry out any particular
policy, for no such policy could properly exist.
Far from pledging allegiance to any form of
government or policy, our duty under the act
which created us was nothing more or less than
that of investigating and recommending, as a
result of our investigations, to the Crown. We
were and are in the nature of somewhat numerous
royal commissions charged with duties as inves
tigators of facts, and obligated to make recommendations to the Crown just as a royal
commission does. It is fair to say that in reality the only
difference between this Convention and a royal
commission is the method of our selection. Quite
clearly, it is outside our province to advocate
particular forms of government. It is quite
human, of course, that we should have opinions
as to forms of government. I think l am not going
too far if I say that any man who has not got
personal opinions about forms of government is
not a man fitted to be in this Convention at all.
But those views should not be allowed to obtrude
themselves into our deliberations. Our duty is not
to advocate, but simply and objectively to recommend, not the particular form of government
which appeals to us, but those forms of government which may be suitable in the circumstances.
Ours is not the right to decide; we have nothing
to do with decisions. It is ours to recommend
forms upon which the people themselves will
decide. Theirs is the duty, theirs alone the right to
make the ultimate selection.
Speaking for myself, as I see the position
today, I shall have to recommend to His
Majesty's Government, insofar as my vote in this
Convention goes, one form of government which
I do not altogether like, and another which I shall
definitely vote against at the plebiscite. I must
recommend them notwithstanding that I do not
like them — I do not like the one and I am
opposed to the other — because they are forms
which might be suitable and which the people
might select; and I have no right whatever to
debar the people from the right to vote for or
against any form of government which might be
suitable. If we could have kept that one point in
view, many of our difficulties could not have
arisen and much of the ill-will which has
developed could have been avoided. Unfortunately it was not so. Political ideologies
were
adopted and fought for — sincerely enough, perhaps, but definitely erroneous.
592 NATIONAL CONVENTION October 1947
We are now drawing to the close of the activities of this Convention. Our work is
for the
most part completed. And yet the part which
remains is the most important part. The decision
has still to be made on the question of forms of
government which we shall recommend to His
Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom.
Can we not for the remainder of our life as a
Convention, forget our political leanings? Can
we not realise, as I have already said, that we are
not a body of partisans, but rather in the position
of a bench of judges? That we are not a House of
Assembly, but rather in the nature of a royal
commission? If we can do this, we shall recover
that public respect which I fear we have done
much to destroy, we shall remove unnecessary
and improper problems and difficulties from the
path of the Chairman, and we shall have done a
real service to this country.
In our new Chairman I have full confidence.
His ability is great. He is adequate to the task. For
myself, I offer him my fullest co-operation and
support and I trust that all members will feel as I
do on this subject.
Sir, I move that our new Chairman do now
take the Chair.
Mr. Job In rising to second the motion so ably
proposed by our ex-Chairman, which I may call
a motion of welcome to you as our new Chairman, I cannot add very much to the encomium
expressed by the proposer of the motion. I feel
sure that your expert knowledge and well-known
diplomacy fit you well for the office you have
accepted at no small sacrifice to yourself. I think,
moreover, that the government can be congratulated upon the promptness with which
they dealt
with the crisis calling for a new appointment.
I do not intend to discuss those regrettable
events which occurred in this chamber a few days
ago, as I feel that in the public interest it will be
best to entirely forget and overlook them. Nevertheless, I cannot refrain from saying,
without the
slightest equivocation, that in my opinion our
ex-Chm'iman performed his difficult duties at all
times in a fair and unbiased manner, and that he
at no time allowed his personal leanings towards
any particular ideology to interfere with the performance of those duties.
Unfortunately there seem to be many members who have already formed definite opinions
as to the recommendations to be made in connec
tion with the forthcoming referendum without
having heard all the evidence or waiting for the
end of the discussions. This is indeed an unfortunate state of affairs, as our plain
duty is to proceed
with the presentation of facts, and not to utilise
this National Convention as a jumping-off place
for future political partisanship. If we cannot help
forming a definite bias towards one or more
forms of government, we can restrain ourselves
from preventing a hearing for those other forms
of which, at the present time, we may not approve.
Our duties as regards the gathering of facts
have almost reached their objective, and if we
now decide to concentrate our attention on perhaps three phases of our deliberations
which
seem to me necessary before we wind up our
work, we shall be acting wisely. The first of these
seems to be to declare whether the country is at
the present time self-supporting, a decision
which should not be difficult to reach. The
second is to decide whether we have a reasonable
expectation of being able to maintain a self-supporting position in the foreseeable
future, and I
submit that we cannot be expected to prophesy
for any lengthy period, and indeed under present
world conditions it may be dangerous to
prophesy at all. The third phase, it seems to me,
is to debate and definitely decide upon the forms
of government which we consider should be
placed on the referendum paper, taking each form
separately. Perhaps I should add a fourth item,
namely, the drafting of a report covering our
findings and recommendations.
I feel sure, sir, that if you can assist in keeping
the minds of the delegates of this Convention on
these definite objectives you will be doing us a
good service, and we shall be able to wind up our
operations within a comparatively short period. I
believe you will receive the respect and support
of all the delegates.
[The motion carried]
Mr. McEvoy Members of the National Convention of Newfoundland, before assuming the Chair
I should like, first of all, to express to you my very
deep appreciation and sincere thanks for the
warmth and kindness of your welcome and to
assure you I regard your kindness in this respect
as a very great and pleasing compliment. In particular would I address my thanks to
my distinguished and learned friend, Mr. Bradley, former
October 1947 NATIONAL CONVENTION 593
Chairman of this Convention, for his kind
remarks; and to the Hon. R. B. Job who so graciously consented to second the motion.
I feel I should trespass upon your time and
patience in order that I may, at the outset, leave
with you my conceptions of my sworn duty. As I
see it, my position is similar to that of a judge of
the Supreme Court. I come to this chamber under
a Royal Commission issued by His Excellency
the Governor in Commission, and I have sworn
that I will do the duties expected of me, "so help
me God." The extent to which I shall be successful, must, in the last analysis depend
upon the
sympathy, co-operation and support that I receive
from you as members.
I want to make it clear that I regard my sworn
duties in a three-fold way. Firstly, that I must
impartially and fairly discharge my duties to His
Excellency the Governor in Commission who has
entrusted the discharge of the duties of this office
to me. I have, secondly, to fairly, impartially, and
without fear and prejudice discharge my duties to
the people who sent you here; and thirdly, I have
my sworn duty to you as the representatives of
the people.
My task is none too easy. It was a duty I did
not seek and I doubt very much if anybody other
than His Excellency the Governor could have
persuaded me to accept it. But, like the thousands
of people throughout this country who know our
Governor, I think it is a fair statement to make
that he is a great man in the most literal sense of
the term. He is a wise man and what perhaps is
the most important of all, he is a good man.
I am not underestimating the extent of my
duties. May I remind members that the lamented
late Hon. Mr. Justice Fox, because of the exactitudes of his office, in the opinion
of many of us
who were close to him, laid down the burdens and
cares of this life at the untimely age of 54 because
he had accepted the office which I am now about
to assume. I feel duty bound to say that Mr.
Justice Fox sacrificed his life for his country just
as truly as if he had laid it down on the battlefields
of Europe. This country is under an irreparable
debt to him and to his family. Then again, as a
great lawyer, and a judge of the Supreme Court,
his wide parliamentary experience pre-eminently
fitted him to discharge his duties as Chairman.
The high standards set by the Hon. Mr. Justice
Fox will indeed be very difficult for me to attain,
if I ever do attain them. But certain it is, by and
with your sympathy and co-operation, I shall
strive to the best of my ability to maintain the very
high traditions set by him.
I feel, however members may be divided in
their opinions on this subject, that the high standards set by the late Mr. Justice
Fox were quite
definitely maintained by my distinguished and
learned friend Mr. Bradley, K.C. His wide parliamentary experience, his brilliantly
analytical
mind, and his great facility for promptly and
concisely expressing that brilliance of mind,
quite properly entitled him to the respect and
admiration of all who know him.
I come in at a very awkward time. I take over
where one Chairman laid down the burdens and
cares of this life, and the other, because of the
exactitudes of the office, saw fit to resign. I must
therefore appeal to members to remember the
unenviable place in which I find myself. Idid not
seek this office. I agreed to accept it only at the
request and persuasion of His Excellency, but,
having accepted it, it is my intention to discharge
literally the requirements and dictates of my oath
by presiding impartially and without fear or
favour.... I shall expect members of the Convention to obey any rulings that I may
be called upon
from time to time to make, unless and until such
rulings are appealed to and reversed by the whole
House.
I should like to conclude by again expressing
my very deep appreciation and thanks for the
warmth and kindness of your welcome, and to ask
you to accord to me in some measure the respect,
co-operation and support that I certainly intend
to give you, so that together we may walk forward
with dignity, decorum and businesslike expediency, in the colossal task of preparing
our
beloved country to shortly meet its fateful rendezvous with destiny. Gentlemen, thank
you very
much.
Mr. Smallwood
Mr. Chairman, I have no intention whatever of making any lengthy remarks. I
want merely to assure you of my deep admiration
of you, my respect, and my intention to cooperate with you to the fullest possible
extent. I
believe that for the remaining few weeks that the
Convention will last the members will conduct
the affairs of the Convention in a manner that will
deserve the respect of the whole country.
If I cannot speak for the members I can speak
594 NATIONAL CONVENTION October 1947
for myself, and I promise you that, as far as it lies
in my ability at least, while you are in the Chair
and for the remainder of this Convention's life, I
for one will be an absolute model of parliamentary propriety, dignity and decorum.
If the members who smile are inclined to doubt the sincerity
of what I say, I will give you at this moment an
earnest of the sincerity of my statement and intentions, when I offer, through you,
to a member
of this Convention about whom at the last sitting
on Friday last, in the heat of debate and in a state
of anger, I made a remark which now I wish to
withdraw. I refer to the remark I made about my
good and learned friend behind me, Mr. Hollett.
I withdraw the remark. I apologise sincerely to
him, and promise him sincerely that he will have
to provoke me much more than he has ever done
in the past, before I will make another insulting
remark about him....
Mr. Chairman, I wish you every success in
your office, and I believe you will be a success. I
look upon you as one Newfoundlander, amongst
others, who has come up from the ranks by hard
work, great study and brilliance of mind. I acclaim you as a Newfoundlander of whom
we
always can be proud. You have my respect, and
you will have my co-operation to the dying hour
of this Convention.
Mr. Hollett Mr. Chairman, I don't propose to
make any extended remarks in reply to my friend
Mr. Smallwood. I think probably he has the right
to lose his temper once in a while, the same as the
rest of us, and I can say frankly that I do very
heartily accept his apology for the words which
he used towards me the other day, but, as I said,
these words were spoken in the heat of debate and
I am quite sure that he probably did not mean
what he said, and if he did, he has recanted now.
Mr. Smallwood and myself have got along very
peaceably in the past 12 months. We have fallen
out once in a while, but it was always in the
course of debate when we were trying to decide
something which we each believed to be for the
benefit, or otherwise, of our country.
I am rather appalled at the attitude taken by
some of the daily papers in connection with the
little episode which happened here on Friday.
Speaking for myself, I remember being in the
British House of Commons last May at question
time, and there were more cat-calls across the
floors of that assembly than we have cast at each
other in the whole 12 months. There were catcalls and cries of "sit down" and "get
out"; and
nobody seemed to worry about that, it was in the
ordinary course of debate.... I accept this apology
from Mr. Smallwood, and l would like, sir, in
accepting it, to offer to you my heartiest congratulations on this office which you
have assumed, and which I know will tax even you; at
times you will be taxed probably as to the correct
decision to give, but I feel quite sure that I can
add my words to Mr. Smallwood in offering you
my whole-hearted support in this strenuous job
which you have undertaken for your country.
[The Convention adjourned]
