P.TMcGi^TH.
THE LIBRARY
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THE UNIVERSITY
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NEWFOUNDLAND
IN 1911.
BY
P. T. McGRATH.
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H.M. KING GEORGE V.
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H.M gUiiEN MARY.
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H.M. QUEEN MARY.
[Lafayette
NEWFOUNDLAND
IN I9II5 Being the Coronation Year of King George V.
and
The Opening of the Second Decade of the Twentieth Century,
By
P. T. McGRATH,
Editor of the" Evening Chronicle," of St. John's, and Clerk to the House of Assembly of Newfoundland.
WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS.
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY WHITEHEAD, MORRIS & CO., LTD.
y &, 10, Fenchuboh Street, E.G.
1911. [All Rights Reserved.]
lO^^H
FOREWORD.
By Right Hon. Sir EDWARD MORRIS, P.C, K.C., LL.D.,
Prime Minister of Newfoundland.
TT affords me much pleasure to contribute a fore- word to this story of Newfoundland, by Mr. P. T. McGrath, than whom I know of nobody in the country better able to do the subject the fullest justice. For twenty years he has been actively connected with its daily journalism, besides which he has won his way^ by his merits alone, into the foremost publications of the outside world, with his writings regarding New- foundland and other topics.
As the Colonial correspondent, for many years past of the London Times, and of leading newspapers in Canada and the United States, he has contributed much towards providing the public abroad with reliable in- formation respecting its affairs during all this period ; and the fairness with which he has presented even the most controversial topics, the accuracy of his information, the wide range of matters on A^hich he is recognized in the colony as an authority, and his rareiy equalled knowledge of its public affairs, should make this volume of his a standard work.
As a frequent contributor to such periodicals as the 'Nineteenth Century and the Fortnightly Meview in England ; and to the North American Review, the
1*7 Hi ^^ O •■>
Atlaiitic Monthly, and the 'Review ofMeviews in America, lie has come to be recognized, and rightly, as an authoritative commentator on its international problems, while his articles on less serious subjects are also promi- nent and frequent in the magazines of Britain and America.
In his capacity as Clerk of the House of Assembly, or Elective Branch of the Newfoundland Legislature, which position he has occupied for several years, he has gained a knowledge of the country's affairs which has helped much to assist him in making this publication so full and complete that it may be regarded as the last word in relation to the Island's progress.
To this task he has brought the resources of a ready pen and a well-stored mind, and while desirous of pre- senting his country's record to the world in becoming guise, he recognizes that it has suffered in the past from exaggerated statements as well as from terms of depreciation ; and so he has been studiously moderate in his portrayal of its resources and possibilities.
I am confident that all who peruse this volume will feel that Newfoundland has become more of a reality to them than heretofore, and that its material interests will be advanced by the story he has told of its past progress and its future prospects.
E. P. MORPJS.
London, CoiiONATiON Day, 1911.
PREFACE.
'T*HE coronation time of a " Sailor King " seems a fitting occasion for the issue of a volume relating to Britain's Oldest Colony — the one, moreover, which saw the beginning of her greatness upon the seas. Our present gracious Sovereign visited Newfoundland twice, and was afforded each time ample evidences of the loyalty and devotion of its people to the British Crown, which will naturally be intensified among a maritime people, when their Monarch is one whose fidelitv to his sea- faring career has been conspicuous, and who can thus all the more appreciate the record of the most ancient and loyal Colony as the nursery of England's naval institutions.
The story of Newfoundland for four centuries is a chapter from the annals of England's growing empire upon the sea. Discovered in 1497, it was by 1511 well known throughout England and Western Europe. A century later, in 1610, the first permanent settlement on its shores was essayed by daring voyagers from Bristol. In yet another century, in 1714, the first George was crowned, following the Treaty of Utrecht, which wrested from the French the part of the Island they had come to occupy meanwhile. Almost a century again, in 1818, the Americans were granted fishing liberties on part of the seaboard. The coronation of the fifth George this
year sees the Island rid for all time of French, and American claims to fishing rights on portions of its coastline.
The Colony's laws, records, customs and traditions all smack of the sea. Its earliest rulers were " fishing admirals," the captain of the first ship arriving here annually being admiral for the year, the second vice- admiral, and the third rear-admiral, a crude and make- shift method that still survives in the admirals of the North Sea fishing fleet. Following these came naval controllers and floating surrogates, who in their turn gave place to governors, all of them warship captains or admirals — who only spent the fishing season in the Island — until 1825, when the first permanent resident governor was appointed. Even until to-day, as is natural in a country whose fisheries are her chief reliance, all other matters are overshadowed by those which relate to the harvesting of its finny wealth.
Of late years, the Colony has been developing sub- stantial interests along other lines, however, and the utilization of its farm and mine and forest resources, has tended to create industrial agencies that, while still subsidiary to the fisheries, will yet, in the aggregate, make them a substantial competitor thereto in the years to come. Its attractions as a sporting and health resort have also been made more widely know^n in recent times, and the future promises to see NcAvfoundland attain a degree of prosperity once supposed impossible, and its people secure for the fruits of their arduous labours a more generous return, to which the hardships and hazards of their main avocation manifestly entitle them.
In these days when Imperial interests are being so assiduously promoted, and mutual enlightenment as to the Motherland and the Overseas possessions is encouraged, it may not be amiss to point to its other natural resources and capabilities, apart from its fisheries. I have therefore devoted special attention to these features and to an account of its possibilities for the settler and the capitalist seeking opportunities of developing industrial enterprise, while the record of its financial progress during the past fifteen years will show how certain and stable has been its material betterment.
The opportunities which twenty years' active par- ticipation in the journalism and public affairs of the Colony have afforded me of becoming familiar with the subject, are my warrant for oifering this volume to the public, which I hope may help to make the Oldest Colony more widely known and better understood.
P. T. McGRATH.
St. John's,
Newfoundland.
May, 1911.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER I. 15
General Summary.
Geographical — Geological — Phj'siographical — Natural History — Economic Resources — Climate.
CHAPTER II. 23
The Colony's New Era.
Reid Contract — What it has developed — New Industrial Departures — Enterprise of Outports — Wide-spread Pros- perity.
CHAPTER III. 29
The Man of the Hour.
The Present Premier — Record of Sir Edward Morris — Notable among Colonial Statesmen — Progressive Policy
inaugurated by him,
CHAPTER IV. 36
Historical Sketch.
Discovery by Cabot — Annexation by Gilbert — French
Aggression — Settlement Discouraged — Unjust Laws —
Fishing Admirals — Better Days.
CHAPTER V. 47
The Aborigines.
The Beothics — Racial Characteristics — Decimated by Settlers — Attempts at Conciliation — Last Red Men
Vanish.
CHAPTER VI.
Roads and Railways. 51
Coast alone Peopled— Settlers all Fisherfolk — Permanent Occupation Forbidden — No Roads until 1825 — Progress
since then.
10
PAGE
CHAPTER VII. 57
The Reid Problem and Recent Political
Development.
Election of 1900 — Contract of 1901 — Arbitrations —
Election of 1904— Bond-Morris Rupture of 1907— Unique
Political Complication — Morris Ministry wins.
CHAPTER VIII. 64
The Reid Enterprises.
Railway System — Splendid Steamers — Dry Dock and '^ Machine and Car Shops— Street Railway and Electric Utilities — Traffic Figures.
CHAPTER IX. 70
Crown Lands.
Laws respecting Crown Lands — Conditions for obtaining same — Generous Concessions for intending
Settlers or Investors.
CHAPTER X. ^^ 77
Lumbering.
Forest Wealth— Potential Value — Grades of Lumber — How Industry has Developed — Favourable Future
Outlook.
CHAPTER XL 83
The Pulp and Paper Industry.
Harmsworth Mills — Albert Reed Mills — World's Records Broken — Possibilities yet unrealized.
CHAPTER XII. 92
Island's Advantages for Paper-making.
Why this Industry was introduced — Factors aiding its success — Figures of Production last year.
CHAPTER XIII. 98
Mineral Resources.
The Mining Industry — Copper Zone and Output — Great Variety of Mineral Products obtained.
11
PAGE
CHAPTER XIV. 105
Iron and Coal.
Wonderful Iron Mines — Among the World's Richest Deposits — A Million Tons Yearly — Coal Beds and
Prospects.
CHAPTER XV. 112
Agriculture.
Old-Time Hostile Policy — Fertile Areas — Quality of Soil — Variety of Products — Prospects of livelihood for
Thousands
CHAPTER XVI. 119
New Farming Policy.
Premier Morris advocates Farming — Agricultural Experts visit Colony — Directions in which progress is possible.
CHAPTER XVII. 127
The Cod and Inshore Fisheries.
Value of Fisheries — Number engaged therein — Enormous catch of Cod — Lesser Fisheries described.
CHAPTER XVIII. 137
The Seal and Whale Fisheries.
Seal Herds and their Characteristics — Growth of Seal Hunt — Modern Whaling and its Commercial Features.
CHAPTER XIX. 144
The French Shore Question.
Fishery Treaties — French Claims — Disputes between Nations — Why France Withdrew.
CHAPTER XX. 152
St. Pierre.'
A bit of old France — History of St. Pierre — Importance of its Cod Fishery — The effect of the Bait Act — Its
unpromising Future.
12
PAGE
CHAPTER XXI. 158
The North Atlantic Fisheries Dispute,
Fishery Rights of Americans — Reciprocity and Fishery Treaties — Newfoundland's Uncompleted Conventions — The Hague Arbitration and AAA'ard.
CHAPTER XXIL 169
The Labrador Peninsula.
Great Fishing Centre — Mineral and Woodland Possibilities — Sporting and Scenic Attractions — Grenfell Deep-Sea Mission.
CHAPTER XXm. 179
Climate and Scenery.
Delightful Climate of Newfoundland — Unrivalled Scenic Attractions — Testimony of Eminent Visitors — A coming
Health Resort.
CHAPTER XXIV. 188
A Sportsman's Paradise.
Hunting and Fishing — Attractions for Tourist and Health Seeker — Game Paradise of Sportsmen —
Game Laws.
CHAPTER XXV. 199
As A Submarine Cable Centre.
Laying of First Atlantic Cable — Fifty-year Exclusive
Privilege — Incoming of other Cables — Dispute with
Commercial Cable Company.
CHAPTER XXVI. 205
Characteristics of the People.
Saxon and Celtic Stock — No Aborigines — Crimeless Record of the Colony — Advanced Temperance Legis- lation— Social Conditions.
CHAPTER XXVII. 211
Governmental.
Form of Government — Legislature — Powers of its Con- stituent Factors — Administrative Department.
13
PAGE
CHAPTER XXVIII. 222
Population and Trade.
Population — Religions — Occupations — Trade and Indus- tries.
CHAPTER XXIX. 230
Education.
First Schools — Denominational System Adopted — How- it has worked — Council of Higfher Education.
CHAPTER XXX. 236
St. John's and Retrospect.
Progress during Past Century — Growth of St. John's. The Island's Metropolis and Commercial Emporium.
CHAPTER XXXI. 242
Prosperity of Newfoundland.
Growth in all Directions — Amazing Progress of Past Decade — Value for Public Debt — Splendid Outlook for
Future.
CHAPTER XXXII. 247
The Morris Government's Work.
Comprehensive Programme — Successful Administration — Colony Prospering — Outlook most favourable.
APPENDIX. 255
Statistical Tables.
Game Laws.
Fire Patrol Regulations.
Customs Regulations.
List of Resfistered Guides.
Ocean and Local Steamship Services.
15
NEWFOUNDLAND
IN 1911.
Chapter I.
Geographical — Geological — Physiographical — Natural History — Economic Resources —
Climate.
THE Island of Newfoundland lies between the parallels of 46 degrees 36 minutes and 51 degrees 39 minutes North latitude, and between the meridians of 52 degrees 37 minutes and 59 degrees 24 minutes West longitude. It is known as " the Norway of the New World " because of its scenic beauties, and as " the sentinel of the St. Lawrence " because it forms the Laurentian Gulf, lying athwart that vast body of water, access to which is only obtained through Belle Isle Strait — ten miles wide — which separates Newfoundland from Labrador on the North, and through Cabot Strait — sixty miles wide — which divides it from Nova Scotia on the South.
The Island is the tenth largest in the world ; is very irregular in shape, with a general outline somewhat like a triangle ; and is bounded on the North, East and South by the waters of the Atlantic, and on the West by those of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Its greatest length is about three hundred and seventeen miles, and its greatest breadth about the same. The great sailing circle followed by ships in crossing the North Atlantic impinges on its South-eastern extension.
16
and because of this, and of its blocking the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Island enjoys a singularly important and valuable strategic position.
It reallv is the key to the coDtrol of Canada's water-borne commerce, and were St, John's, the Capital, fortified, it could dominate the whole of the sea-going traific of the Western Ocean. St. John's is about midway between Liverpool and New York (1,640 miles from Cape Clear, in Ireland), and forms a half-way house for them, being a haven of refuge for most of the crippled crafts that navigate " the herring pond," while the near-by section of coast is also the lauding place for most of the trans-Atlantic cables. It was at St. John's too, that Marconi received his first wireless ocean signals, and when the first ocean airship voyage is made this will probably be the land-fall or departing point.
The area of the Island is about 46,000 square miles. Its coastline is of varied and in places picturesque character, deeply indented all round by bays and inlets, some with scenery striking as Norwegian fiords ; while so broken is its outline that the seaboard has a total stretch of 6,010 miles, as calculated by Professor Howley, the Newfoundland Geologist.
In size it is only one-fifth smaller than England ; it ^ , is 11,200,. miles larger than Ireland ; three times as '-" large as Holland ; and twice as large as Denmark. Compared with its neighbours in North America it is twice as large as Nova Scotia, one -third larger than New Brunswick, and nearly equal in area with the three Maritime Provinces of Canada ; while it is also about the size of the State of New York.
Because of its fiords it is admirably fitted as a home for a fishing people, for every creek and cove teems with fishes, and there are innumerable splendid harbovirs where not alone the toiler's smack, but the largest argosies of commerce can ride undisturbed by storm or tempest. Until recent years the Island had not a settlement beyond sight and sound of the ocean, since
The Right Hon. LEWIS V. HARCOURT, M.P.
Photo.^
[HniiiBS.
Mrs. LEWIS V. HARCOURT.
Pkol O.I
[Lallic Chaties,
17
fishing was the chief pursuit of its people, and they naturally located in as close proxmity to the ocean as possible.
As the map shows, there are many islets around the coast. Belle Isle at the Eastern mouth of the strait of that name, is best known as the land-fall of Canadian shipping in the summer months. Notre Dame Bay is thickly dotted with land-masses, some of moderate size. In Bonavista Bay there are many others. Trinity Bay has Random Island, one of the largest. In Conception; Bay is " Bell " Island, the seat of the immense hematit© iron deposits that supply the raw material for the smelters at Sydney, Cape Breton. Placentia Bay has Merasheen and several others. Off Burin Peninsula is the little French archipelago of St. Pierre-Miquelon, and further West are Bamea and Burgeo Islands — some three hundred in all — the former the starting point of the seaboard where Americans possess fishing rights under the treaty of 1818 ; while on the west coast, the Bay of Islands, as its name implies, is a fiord where these islets are abundant.
Its triangular extremities are Cape Norman, on the north, the entrance to Belle Isle Strait, Cape Bace, on the south-east, one of the world's greatest seaboard outposts ; and Cape Bay, at its south-west, the chief landmark of the Gulf of St. Lawrence route. Other headlands, scarcely less important, are Cape Spear, the entrance to St. John's ; Cape St. Erancis, Cape Bonavista, Cape Preels, Cape John and Cape Bauld, on the east coast ; Point Biche, Cape Gregory, Cape St. George and Cape Anguille, on the west coast ; and Gallantry Head (St. Pierre), Cape Chapeau Bouge, Cape St. Mary's and Cape Pine, on the south coast.
Its principal inlets are the great bays of Notre Dame, Bonavista, Trinity, Conception, St. Mary's, Placentia, Fortune, St. George's, with the lesser ones of Hare Bay, White Bay, Green Bay, Trepassey Bay, Hermitage Bay, Port-au-Port Bay, Bay of Islands,
18
Bonne Bay and St. Jolin's Bay, and many others still smaller round the seaboard, some being bays within the greater indentations. Of the major Bays, Placentia is the largest; Conception, the most populous and important ; Notre Dame, the most mineralised ; and St. George's the most fertile.
Perhaps its most striking physical features are the peninsulas which jut out from its main structure — the Avalon Peninsula on the eastern coast, which is almost another island, the isthmus between Trinity and Placentia Bays being only three miles wide ; Burin Peninsula, between Placentia and Portune Bays, Port- au-Port Peninsula on the west coast, and the great Northern Peninsula, formerly termed by the French the Petit Nord and more recently known as the St. Barbe Peninsula, as it forms the political district so designated.
Since the contour of the Island represents a slightly inclined plane, rising from the east towards the west and south coasts, the principal rivers flow to the eastern bays ; and among these are the Exploits (the largest in the Island), 200 miles long and navigable for 30 miles, draining an area of 4,000 square miles ; the Gander, 100 miles long and with its tributaries draining a similar area ; the Gambo, sixty miles long ; and the Terra Nova, somewhat larger ; all well wooded and the scene of lumbering industries, while there are two large paper mills on the banks of the Exploits. Along the south coast the rivers are smaller, but on the west coast are the Humber, 80 miles long, the St. George's, Hawke's and others.
The principal bodies of water are Grand Lake, 56 miles long by 6 broad and 200 square miles in area ; Red Indian Lake, 37 miles long by 2 broad and 67 square miles in area ; Deer Lake, 15 miles long ; Gander, Gambo, Terra Nova, George IV., and others ; while lesser areas, locally termed " ponds," bespread the interior, and many of them are without names even now, so incomplete has been its exploration.
19
The fireneral cliaracter of the surface of the Island is hilly, hut no marked elevations are reached. The mountain ranges extend north and south, and the principal is the Loncj Range Mountain, which he^ins at Cape Hay and continues north-east for 200 miles, its highest peaks being about 2,000 feet. The cross- country railroad ascends to 1,730 feet to traverse this " backbone " of the Island and reach the western slopes. A lesser range, the Anguille Mountain, fronts the western coast of St. George's Bay, its summits reaching about 1,900 feet ; and at Bay of Islands is found the loftiest elevation in the Island — Blomidon Mountain — 2,085 feet. Others are the LaPoile Mountains, which stretch along the head of La Poile Bay ; the Middle Bange — stretching through the Island from Fortune Bay to Notre Dame Bay ; Black Biver Bange, on the west side of Placentia Bay ; and the West and East Avalon Ranges, intersecting that peninsula. There are hill-ranges elsewhere and isolated peaks, from one of which, inland from the bottom of Conception Bay, called " Centre Hill," over 1,000 feet high, can be seen on a clear day, Fortune, Placentia, Conception, Trinity and Bonavista Bays, and 150 lakes ; while from another, known as '*' Spread Eagle Peak," inland from St. Mary's Bay, and 1,200 feet high, may be seen the waters of Placentia, St. Mary's, Trinity and Conception Bays, and the Atlantic Ocean east of Cape Race, besides 67 lakes.
The geology of the Island is comparatively simple, ranging from the Laurentian to the carboniferous, by far the greatest part of its physical structure being composed of Archaean, Cambro- Silurian, Silurian and Carboniferous formations, in which most of the world's metallic wealth occurs. In Newfoundland the tangible evidences of this already appear in the numerous mineralized areas shown to exist, not a few of which have yielded generous instalments of their merchantable deposits for the enrichment of those concerned in their .development.
20
The more recent geological formations do not appear, except in the form of glacial del^ris and clay deposits, due to the disintegration of the rocks, while peat occupies much of the surface, especially in the less-wooded sections of the interior.
In considering the data supplied elsewhere in this volume as to the Island's mining possibilities, it is important to clearly understand at the outset, that the interior has scarcely been prospected at all, and even the seaboard only partly so, because the people are fishers and not miners, and have not generally taken seriously to the quest for minerals.
The geological survey of the Island, begun in 1864, under the late Alexander Murray, C.M.G., and continued up till now under James Howley, P.Gr.S., has acquired vast reliable information respecting the agricultural, mineral and forest wealth of the Island. These officials and their assistants explored much of the untraversed interior, making topographical surveys in combination with their geological work, and thus securing permanent records of the surface features, traversing the arable areas, forest country, and maoy sections exhibiting evidences of mineral deposits. As long ago as 1760, Capt. Cook, the famous navigator, found coal on the western slopes. In 1842 Mr. J. B. Jukes, an eminent Irish geologist, was sent to Newfoundland by the Imperial Government to investigate and report upon coal areas known to exist, and in 1858, Sir William Logan, the eminent Canadian geologist, predicted that Newfoundland would vield vast mineral wealth.
The fauna of the Island is similar to that of the neighbouring portions of Canada. The principal wild animals arc the caribou, black and brown bear, wolf, lynx and fox (black, grey and silver), beaver, otter, martin, muskrat, Arctic and American hare. The birds include numerous varieties of wild fowl as well as the game birds common in Eastern Canada. Nearly 250 species of birds are found in the Island, and nearly all
21
are migratory. The chief are the sea-eagle or " grepe," hawks, owls, king-fishers, raven, plover, curlew, ptarmigan (locally partridge), sparrow, robin, snipe, jays, black-duck, wild goose, gannet and loon or ** Northern diver." The famous Newfoundland dog is now scarcely to be found of pure breed.
Apart from the cod and other fisheries which make it one of the world's greatest fishing centres in a com- mercial sense, the finest trout and salmon are to be found in the Island ; and it is now in contemplation to introduce the oyster. The sea fishes are the cod, herring, salmon, lobster, halibut, haddock, turbot, caplin, squid, mackerel, plaice, sole, sturgeon, shark, sculpin, catfish, eel and clam. The giant squid, calamary or devil-fish is also found in the coast waters, and reaches an enormous size, the tentacles or arms, often being thirty feet in length. There are no reptiles in the Island.
The flora is equally varied and interesting. The trees include the oak, elm, birch, maple, ash, pine, spruce, fir and hemlock. The ferns are specially numerous and beautiful ; while the variety of fruits is remarkable, these including the strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, blueberrj^, bake-apple, etc.
The agricultural products chiefly yielded are oats, hay, potatoes, cabbage, turnips and fruits. Excellent alluvial land is found in the valleys formed by the great rivers, and on the west coast, plateaus where cattle and slieep-raising can be profitably carried on. Because, however, fishing has been the prime occupation hitherto, farming pursuits have been little practised until latterl}^ though now much more attention is being given thereto.
The material resources are many and varied. The fish wealth of the surrounding seas is unequalled any- where on the globe ; and the Grand Bank, 100 miles off the coast and extending along it for 600 miles, with a breadth of 200, is famous as the home of the lordly cod. The Island's farming products even now are one-third
22
of the fishery valuation, the entire yield, of coursBy being consumed locally. Its forest wealth is enormous, and besides the output of sawn lumber every year, forms the basis for the second largest paper mill in the worlds the paper and pulp industry having been inaugurated here by Messrs. Harmsworth of London, followed by a second English concern, the Albert Keed Co., of London. The mineral output is likewise large, and the annual export of iron ore alone exceeds 1,000,000 tons, besides which much copper is mined and exported.
Its hunting, game, fishing and natural attractions are also drawing each year increasing numbers of sportsmen and tourists, and developing into another important element of economic advantage.
Eew countries have been so maligned as IN'ewfound- land with regard to her climate. The erroneous im- pression is wide- spread that its shores are enveloped by fog in summer and engirt by ice in winter. As a matter of fact, St. John's, near the southern extremity, lies in the same latitude as Paris, and its most northern point, at Belle Isle Strait, is in that of Edinburgh. It is true the isothermal lines curve somewhat differentlv» and that the climate resembles that of Canada, and therefore is colder than that of European countries, but Newfoundland has none of the severity in its weather of Western Canada or even of Quebec and Ontario. Winter rarely begins before the New Year or lasts beyond the end of March. Passenger and freight steamers ply to St. John's the whole year round from New York and from Liverpool ; the cross-country rail- road has maintained its service every winter without a retreat ; and the snow-fall is in no way comppa'able' with that of the North-west Canada, Dakota, or the American border States, while rarely does the ther- mometer go l)elow zero.
23
Chapter II.
THE COLONY'S NEW ERA.
The Reid Contract — What It has Developed —
New iNDUSTRiAii Departures — Enterprise of
OuTPORTS — Widespread Prosperity.
THE modern and progressive era in the Island's history may he said to date from the conclusion of the much-discussed contract with the Reid Company in 1898. The many and varied j)liases of activity which this undertaking implied meant an enormous impetus to the colony, and it required a man of far-seeing capacity and recognised reputation for achievement, as well as unhounded confidence in the country and in his own ahility to promote its development, to undertake such an enterprise as that contract comprehended. The imme- diate effect of the arrangement was to ensure the efficient operation of the railroad, and this meant per- manent employment at good wages of an army of working-men in the various branches of this undertaking. Connecting with this railroad, a flotilla of eight steamers ensured further large employment of working people, and with the development of traffic the strength of this force was still further increased. Statistics quoted elsewhere in this volume will show how this traffic over the railroad has grown ; that of the eight steamers is not available in detail, hut it can he stated with absolute certainty that this has enlarged in a still greater proportion ; so that at the present moment there is a call for yet another steamer to operate on the upper side of Notre Dame Bay and thence north to Belle Isle Strait. Gradually
24
Mr. Keid developed other activities. He established a sawmill at one point to provide lumber for all the needs of his many enterprises ; opened a granite quarry at another place from which to obtain stone for bridge building and for paving the streets of St. John's ; developed a slate area and undertook oil boring, coal exploration and other kindred forms of activity. He began the construction of a hotel in St. John's. He also proposed the establishment of flour mills in the Island, the erection of pulp and paper mills, and had many other projects of similar nature under consideration. Each year has seen a further expansion of the work of this concern, and a larger force of operatives on its pay- roll. The Held Company is the largest paymaster in the Island to-day, next to the Government itself, and it is recognised on every hand that it is only beginning now to gird itself up for still further development in the near future.
Sir Hobert Held has passed away, but his sons have taken up his work. They have lived down those feelings of discontent which were created a decade ago, and in the true light which time has allowed the contract of 1898 to be viewed, it is seen at present that it was a fortunate circumstance for the colony that men of such undoubted financial standing and progressive ideas were induced to take hold of its affairs at that time. Even now, however, Newfoundlanders are only very imper- fectly realizing the great danger which the Island would have faced had it failed to secure the continuance of the Held activities here ; for had the Heids withdrawn then, it is difiicult to say what the outcome would have been. The population was largely made up of fishermen whose interests Avere centred in fish, and who lived near the coast for this reason. The interior was unsettled and capitalists had not been attracted thereto; agriculture was but in its infancy ; mining scarcely attempted ; and the lumbering industry so little developed that lumber was actually imported for building purposes.
25
It requires no argument, therefore, to make it plain that to undertake the operation of a railroad system, steam hoats, telegraphs and other forms of enterprise in such a country, called for courage of no ordinary kind and business acumen rarely attained. Within the past decade the colony has progressed greatly, and there is no question but that this progress is most largely due to the transforming genius of the Pteids and the manner in which they stimulated its development in every direction. Through the agency of the railroad and the steamships, the ordinary trading conditions of the colony are be- coming transformed. Progressive aud prosperous little to\\'ns are springing up in various parts ; fish exporters are branching out into new ventures in all the Bays ; and the future promises to see a remarkable advance in the economic conditions of the great mass of the people who reside in the " outports " — every place in the Island elsewhere than St. John's being comprehended within this term. To-day there are many growing communities as affluent relatively, as progressive and as enterprising as the City itself; Avliile the absence of any municipal or local taxation elsewhere than in St. John's enables the dealers in these places to carry on their operations more cheaply than their competitors in the City. Such a departure for trade and manufacture could not have been possible but for the facilities afforded by the Reid Company, the new spirit of progress it infused into the Island, and the opportunities it has given for the more resourceful and progressive among the population to utilise these advantages for their own, and incidentally, for the general benefit.
The next factor that contributed most widely to the Island's progress in recent years was the development of the iron ore mines at Belle Island by the " Dominion " and " Nova Scotia " Steel Companies, which have con- verted these beds into most profitable properties, the output aggregating a million tons a year, which is sold at a profit of $1 a ton. To gain this ore requires the
26
permanent employment of some 2,000 men, who, naturally, are paid wages in accorclance witli the laborious character of their work. Tlie operations of these companies during the past ten years have created a real race of miners, men who, with the proverbial adapt- ability of the ]N"ewfouudlander, will fish during several months, and, after leavins; their smacks one dav. will
3 7 O f '
transfer tliemselves to a mining centre the next, and prove as effective and capable workmen in the one as in the other.
The mines of these corporations at Wabana, which the section of Bell Island where they are located is named, are among the finest of their kind in the world, being provided with the most modern equipment on the largest scale, improvements made elsewhere being very speedily applied to these plants, which are electric- ally lighted, thoroughly ventilated, provided with the most powerful pumping apparatus, and generally are resrarded as models bv ail visitin£? eng^ineers and other authorities, of whom very many come to the Island in order to study this remarkable deposit and the advanced methods adopted in winning the ore, raising it to the surface, and transferring it on shipboard.
The third great factor contributing to the Island's development has been the initiation of the manufac- turing of pulp and paper in this colony by the Harms- worths and their associates, in what is officiallv known as " The Anglo-Newfoundlnnd Development Company." It required courage of no mean order for a business corporation with so established a reputation to take the risk of setting uj^ in the interior of Newfoundland an enterprise involving an expenditure of some $8,000,000, when its possibilities in regard to this industry were entirely problematical. Until the Harmsworths came, there had been, it is true, authorities who claimed that in its pulp-Avood areas the Island possessed potential fortunes, but there were others who doubted that the venture would ever materialise. Heiice the advent of
27
this Company, followed soon afterwards hj the Alloert Eeed Company of London, proved that capable and prudent English capitalists were sufficiently satisfied of the prospects of this undertaking- and confident enough as to the outlook to invest these very large amounts in tlie Island. To-dav Newfoundland is recoo-nised as being in the forefront of the world's pulp-wood coun- tries ; and valuable as has been the coming of these companies for the industrial influence it has imparted to the Island, it has been doubly valuable because of the testimony it has afforded to all observers as to the limitless extent to which this industry may yet be practised here, since there are numerous other forest areas which can be utilised for such like operations and which it is expected will soon be made the centres of similar industrial activity.
Wise measures have been enacted and are being rigidly enforced to prevent ' forest fires and the destruc- tion of the timber by any other than the legal methods, so that the greatest advantage may be derived by the colony from this immense asset, the possibilities of which are only coming to be realised very recently. The result of the operations of a specially organised fire patrol last year was, that not an outbreak of a serious nature occurred in any of the important forest areas of the colony ; and it is asserted by competent authorities that nowhere else in the world is there so efficient and satisfactory an arrangement for preventing the destruction of wooded areas by fire, as that which is in force in Newfoundland to-dav.
As a fruit of these developments and others, less important perhaps, but not without their influences, the change in this great Island becomes all the more striking every year. Its winter is now over and gone, and the cheering summer is with the people at last ; the voice of the locomotive is heard in the solitudes of the interior ; the unknown wilderness has proved to be a fair territory, with mighty forests, smiling plains, rich mineral
28
teeasiires, and scenery unexcelled in this beautiful world. Capitalists in increasing numbers are finding their way to its shores every season. It is attracting deserved attention in the marts of commerce, and in the places where captains of industry and the progressive spirits of the age plan new conquests.
All things considered, Newfoundland's material advancement of late must be admitted to be really marvellous. She has kept pace in population and in trade with her powerful neighbour the Dominion of Canada, and the future seems destined to be still more remark- able. Yet there was not a mile of railway built in Newfoundland until 1882 ; the electric light did not come until 1885 ; the telephone first appeared even later ; and it was not until within the past decade that street- cars were run in St. John's.
29
Chapteh III.
THE MAN OF THE HOUR.
The Present Peemier — Eecord of Sir Edward
Morris — Notable among Colonial Statesmen —
Progressive Policy iNAuarRATED by Him.
FEW public men of Greater Britain have stamped the impress of their personality more strongly upon the life and progress of the colonies in which they reside than Sir Edward Morris, the present Prime Minister of Newfoundland. Elected to that position on his 50th birthday, lie had for 25 years previously been prominent in its political affairs, and from the very outset won recognition as being a man of unusual capacity, who, it was predicted, would go far and prove himself in time a potent factor in moulding its destinies. Chosen to represent his native district of St. John's West, when barely through his law course, he won a brilliant victory as an independent candidate, contesting this constituency against the three regular nominees of the dominant political party of the day, with all the influences which those interests that had long assumed to control the constituency could exert against him. He headed the poll by a substantial majority ; and from that day until this has, at election after election, not alone held this proud position, but has enjoyed also the unique distinction of never having lost a colleague, this being a boast which no other of the Island's statesmen can make, because at some time or other the vicissitudes of political fortune have cost some leader his weaker colleague in these larger constituencies.
30
At the age of 30, in a colony where rarely do others than greybeards acquire such eminence, Mr. Morris was a Minister (without portfolio) in Sir William "Wliiteway's cabinet, and the recognised political spokesman of the Koman Catholic people of the colony. This latter position, too, has never seriously been disputed since tJiat time ; and when, in 1897, after eight years of Yirtually uninterrupted retention of office, the White way Ministry w^as overthrown, Mr. Morris was the only public man in the Island who could claim that his political prestige had been unshaken.
When, in the subsequent session the Winter Ministry introduced the famous Reid Raihvay contract of that year, one of the most striking incidents respect- ing it was the withdrawal of Mr. Morris from the regular Opposition, then led by Mr. B^obert Bond, in order to vote for this measure, which he conceived to be in the best interests of the country. This decision of his has been amply justified by subsequent events ; but at the time it called for rare courage and fidelity, and no better illustration could be afforded of the character of the man than this fact comprehends. His foresight is recognised by even his opponents. He is admittedly the one above all others in our political life who can^ with almost unerring judgment, estimate the scope and effect of every project that is put forward ; and that he saw good in this measure and was prepared to sacrifice, as it seemed at the time, his political future in order to support it, weighed much with many in influencing them in its favour.
The political whirligig created such altered con- ditions in 1900 that, internal dissensions affecting the Winter administratioD, Messrs. Bond and Morris, by combining again, on a policy of no repeal of the Beid llailway Contract of 1898, were able to overthrow that Government through the defection of some of its dis- contented elements, and secure the direction of the colony's destinies once more. The Bond - Morris
31
llinistry swept the country in the resulting election that autumn so decisively as to carry 32 seats out of 36 ; and when, two years later, a temporary reverse seemed to threaten this administration in its turn, the only one in the Government to whom the then vacant portfolio of Justice could l)e tendered, was Mr. Morris, whose strenu'th in his own constituencv was such, that while the rest of the Island seemed seething with revolt, he was able to secure re-election upon accepting* office, without a contest; a condition all things considered, that was unequalled in our annals.
In the general election of 1904 the Bond-Morris Ministry was again successful, its strength being scarcely diminished, for it held 30 out of 36 seats this time ; but in the summer of 1907, Sir Edward Morris (who, like his leader, had been knighted for his services), displayed the sincerity of his convictions and his indif- ference to possible disadvantages, by breaking from Sir Eobert Bond on a question of policy and going into opposition, to undertake the seemingly hopeless task, as a Boman Catholic, of attempting to gain the Premier- ship in a country two-thirds Protestant, and where one of his faith had not held that position for half a century. The story of the troublous times which ensued is detailed elsewhere in this volume. Suffice it to say, that after a deadlock which created a unique problem in the governing of the British Dominions l)eyond the seas. Sir Edward Morris emerged victorious and at last found himself in a position to give the fullest effect to his statesmanlike views for the betterment of the condition of the people and of tlie colony. An unswerving advocate of liberal principles, a believer in progressive measures in all departments of public life, public- spirited, hard-working, self-sacrificing, capable of conceiving large projects, and possessing the dynamic energy and executive ability to carry them into effect, he proceeded to vitalize again the body politic, to infuse new blood into every artery of domestic endeavour, to
32
launcli measures for ensuring decided advances in every pliase of industrial and commercial activity "within the Island. His inauguration, upon his assump- tion of office, of the policies which are described in more detail in the chapter relating to "The Morris Government's Programme," made itself felt in the remotest sections of the Island, and in every industry, no matter how small. His opponents, pretending to beUeve that the boldness of his projects, departing as they did from the beaten track, endangered the fiscal stability of the colony, sought to weaken public confidence in him hy attacking his proposals in the Dual Election ; but he was able to show at the time how genuine was his advocacy of these matters, and how essential to the colony's progress were the measures he proposed ; and he has since been able to demonstrate conclusively that they are being and will be accomplished successfully, without increasing taxation at present borne by the people. Though this Ministry has been in office but little more than two years, the sum of its achievements is far greater than those of any previous administration during one, or it may be two terms of four years — the normal duration of a Legislature here. Hallway building has been enterprised, paper-making added to local industries, mining increased substantially, farming stimulated as never before, manufacturing encouraged to venture into new nndertakinffs : and various minor industries in different sections of the Island, have also received their meed of assistance, every effort being likewise made to extend and develop the fishing and other occupations which form the support of so many of the people, and to realise more for their products when marketed. The attention of outside capitalists has been attracted to the colony to an extent never before approached. Every facility has been afforded them to invest their money in the development of its resources, and the same wise policy has been pursued in other respects. A believer in sane and sagacious publicity with respect to the Island and its
Sir RALPH CHAMPNEYS WILLIAMS, K.C.M.G.
Phoio.] IHollovay.
Lady WILLIAMS.
Photo.2
[Parsons.
33
affairs, Sir Edward Morris, since assuming office, has left nothing undone to present its resources and possibilities in the proper light before the outside world, and especially before the investing communities of England, Canada and the United States. In the newspapers and magazines, by interviews and addresses, by courtesy to visitors and by facilitating the inquiries of writers and scientists, he has helped to gain attention for the colony^ and to imbue all who come to its shores with the well- founded belief that it is advancing by leaps and boundS' along the highway of progress in the direction of abiding material betterment — as everything goes to show. Because of Newfoundland's varied importance from an international view point, owing to its " Erencli Shore " and "American Eishery" questions, the present Premier has enjoyed an exceptionally favourable training for the position he occupies, having been a delegate to Great Britain more than once in relation to these questions, and being, therefore, well fitted to pursue the negotia- tions which had been begun by his predecessors in reference to the submission of the colony's differences with America to the Hague Tribunal ; and, by his partici- pation in the conference with Canadian rejoresentatives and the British Ambassador at Washington, in conjunction with the American authorities, to lessen the dangers of friction in the future and reduce the number of points in regard to which further proceedings might be necessary. At home the Premier has set a new standard for administrative work by throwing himself unrestrainedly into the task of carrying on the official business of the Island with as much celerity and despatch as possible, and by constantly devising new methods by which its welfare may be promoted. Always accessible, working more hours a day than the hardest-driven labourer, lending a sympathetic ear to every grieva^nce, and a ready hearing to all with proposals calculated to prove in the general interest, he has come to be regarded as a model Premier, a forceful, vigorous and yet
c
34
conservative statesman ; and it is bv no means uncommon to bear even those who were strongly opposed to him at the last election, admit that he is proving a thoroughly satisfactory head to the colony's affairs, and is striving in a fashion that deserves the greatest success, to advance the colony's general welfare.
Despite the fact that in the summer of 1 900 he had to spend three months in England in connection with the Imperial Defence Conference and other matters relating to the colony's affairs ; that in 1910 he was obliged to spend three months at the Hague in con- nection with the Fisheries Arbitration, and that during the current year his participation in the Imperial Con- ference and the Coronation will require him to spend at least three months in England, he has contrived to put in an amount of work in this Island, never attempted by any predecessor. He has made an official and detailed visitation of most of the electoral districts — a pohcy, like many others, inaugurated by him ! — be has actively identified himself with the formation of the Board of Trade, with the launching of the Eestival of Empire and with many other projects, all of which make sub- stantial demands upon his time through meetings that require to be attended and business that arises and calls for consideration and decision. In addition to this, the actual duty of conducting the Government in a colony like this, demands Cabinet action on almost every matter, and this entails meetings of the Executive Council at such frequent intervals that no small share of a public man's time is thus occupied. In addition to the work which fell to his predecessors, he has j)ractically taken it upon himself to create the Department of the Prime Minister and to find, at home and abroad, the subjects with which it iindertakes to deal, so that it is easy to realise how the average observer marvels at the amount and the variety of work which Sir Edward accomplishes from day to day, and at the manner in which he presents new problems for the consideration
35
of the community as well as his Ministry, and all of them designed to promote the interests of the country in some shape or form.
It is a safe prediction, that if tlie health of Sir Edward Morris bears up under the strain of this incessant and exhausting work, the colony will experience the fruits of his labours in such a sustained and far-reaching improvement, in every phase of its economic existence, as will make it prosper beyond the hope of its most enthusiastic and optimistic well-wishers, and earn for the Prime Minister who has contributed so much to this result, the undying gratitude of his fellow-countrymen.
36
Chapter IV.
HISTORICAL SKETCH.
Discovery by Cabot — Annexation by Gilbert — -
Erench Aggression — Settlement Discouraged —
Unjust Laws — Pishing Admirals —
Better Days.
THE history of Newfoundland forms one of the most absorbing chapters in the annals of Britain overseas. This Island is at once the oldest and nearest of the Colonies and was for more than a century England's only possession in the New World. By the knowledge spread through "Western Europe soon after its discovery, that the new isle's seaboard teemed with fish, the West-of-England and Continental mariners were attracted there to reap this finny harvest, and gradually the stalwart, fearless and enduring English- men assumed mastery of the region, overshadowed all competitors, and formally declared it an appanage of the Kingdom.
Newfoundland should be of special interest to the British people, because it was their first foothold beyond the Western ocean, the spot where their adventurous ancestors, when the daring spirit of these prompted them to seek the new lands that form "a vaster empire than has been," had their initial lodgment. It proved a prime factor in the beginnings of England's navy and the growth of England's greatness upon the seas. It became the engendering spot of admirals, the training ground for the sturdy adventurers who rode the billows-
87
m the dawnin^^ days of tlie New World's discovery, •where were bred the men who scoured the Spanish Main, sank the Armada, and carried " the meteor flag " to every clime — Gilbert, Raleigh, Drake, Hawkins, Cook, Rodney and other figures in naval records being associated with its early days.
Newfoundland also enjoys the distinction of being the first Anglo-American plantation, in the sense that here, for long years prior to permanent settlement in the New WorJd, English seamen gathered every summer to fish, and that here were these colonies attempted which later spread from Massachusetts to the Carolinas. It was mainly the wealth of the fishing banks which tempted Pilgrim and Puritan, Cavalier and Roundhead to cross the stormy ocean and root themselves in un- familiar soil. It may seem hard to credit that the nursery of the American- nation was the coast of Terra Nova, but a century before the Pilgrim Fathers landed on Plymouth Rock this " new founde lande " was the common resort of the daring Devonshire voyagers — half pirate, half trader — who scorned the hazards of the unknown West and worked the never- failing mine of the Grand Bank fisheries.
The discovery of Newfoundland followed, within five years after the great achievement of Columbus. Henry VII., jealous of the glory that had come to Spain by the exploits of the great navigator, lent ready ear to the proposals of some " merchant venturers " of Bristol to equip John Cabot, a Venetian mariner, then residing there, for a voyage of discovery into the Western seas. He conferred a charter upon Cabot to " seek out, discover and find whatsoever isles, regions, countries or provinces of the heathens and infidels, whatsoever they be, and in whatsoever part of the world, which before this time have been unknown to all Christians," and the return which the king exacted was, that he was to receive one-fifth of the profits of the voyage, together with the prospect of enlarge-
38
ment of territory, lie having given them " our license to set up our banners and ensigns in every village, town, castle, isle or mainland of them newlv found." En- couraged by the Royal countenance, Cabot prepared for the voyage which, so far as we know with absolute authenticity, resulted in the discovery of the American Continent. His ambition was to discover a North-west passage to Cathay and Cipango, which we now know as China and Japan, and on May 2nd, 1497, he sailed from Bristol in the ship Matthew of about 50 tons burden, manned by sixteen seamen of that port and one Burgun- dian, he being captain-general of the expedition, with the king's commission to " subdue, occupy and possess all territory he can subdue as our vassal and lieutenant." Glancing back upon that period, we may conjure up the picture of the little caravel setting forth from the river Avon on that fair May day, more than 400 years ago, with all the good folk of Bristol thronging the banks to cheer them ; for this tiny craft embodied the pride of the nation, the expedition under the auspices of the king being a defiance to the arrogant Spaniard and represent- ing, as we know, the first step towards the acquirement of far- stretching territories in every clime.
Cabot voyaged onward for 50 days, and then made a landfall in a new country ; just where, is a matter of dispute, but local tradition in Newfoundland implies that he reached Cape " Beunavista," which he named *' Happy Sight " ; that the nearest inlet, now known as " King's Cove," was so called after the British Monarch, and that the next, known as " Keels," was where his boats first touched the shore. Tradition also declares that, cruising southward, he entered St. John's harbour on June 24th, and named it for the the Saint whose festival it was. All authorities a£rree that on liis homeward voyage he cruised along the south shore of Newfound- land and saw wondrous sights — great soles (halibut) a yard long, fish taken up in baskets (caplin), strange animals which he named " sea-cows " (walrus), and
o
0
amazing other new beasts and birds and fishes, so that on returning to England he was able to tell of new territory so rich in all these things, that the English Monarch 2:ranted £10 " to hym who founde the new isle " ; and the next year gave his patronage to a larger expedition and a pension of £20 a year to Cabot, though he was careful to make this a charge on the revenues of Bristol.
Cabot's second expedition made further discoveries, and venturing northward penetrated into a region where there were " wondrous heaps of ice, swimming on the sea, and in a manner, continual daylight," so he shifted helm and proceeded south, supposedly to what is now known as Elorida, whence he returned to Bristol in good time.
The fame of the fishery wealth of Newfoundland soon spread, and other voyagers hurried there within a year or two, for his discovery must have been a momen- tous incident in the history of England in those days. In 1502, three natives of the " new isle " brought home by Cabot, or some fishermen who followed him, were exhibited before the English King, and the records of the period soon refer to English vessels fishing there. Gradually the daring seafolk of all Western Europe gathered there, the Basques and the Biscayans enter- prising it most extensively at the outset, until eventually its harbours became the meeting place of fishers from all these parts, who traded with each other in their various commodities, and made it an international clearing-house. Their presence is perpetuated in its nomenclature down to the present day, by such places as English Harbour, Erenchman's Arm, Spaniard's Bay, Portugal Cove, Port-au-Basques, Biscay Bay and Harbour Breton.
The lure of the gold-yielding tropics, contrasted with the storms and hazards of the Northern waters, and the toil- won spoil of the seas thereof, probably did much to attract the Spanish and Portuguese in time
40
from Newfoundland to Mexico and Peru ; but all through the sixteenth century the "New land" was a famous fishing place. Ey 1550 it was important enough to he included in the Acts punishing officials for plundering the fishermen of Iceland, Ireland and the " New land," and its fishery product became so great that " sack ships " or freighters had to be employed to carry salt cod to market. During this period of course, it was a " No Man's land," the common resort of crafts from every quarter, but on August 7th, 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert put into St. John's harbour and took possession of the Island for his royal mistress, Queen Elizabeth. By that time the harbour Avas known as a shelter port by every mariner sailing the seas ; and Gilbert found forty vessels there, of which sixteen w^ere English, who pre- pared to give him battle, until he sent in a boat to explain his mission ; when, as the narrative states, " they caused to be dischars^ed all tbe great ordnance of their fieet in welcome." His historian tells how he was entertained most heartily by the English at their " Summer Garden," and how surprised were his crews at the importance of the place. "Well might they be, and well might the world to-day be surprised to learn that these humble fisher folk had a " Summer garden " in Newfoundland thirty years before the Dutch occupied what is now New York, and that scores of vessels from Spain northward crossed the ocean every year to fish for cod in its waters, long before the mainland of America was effectively settled, as the Virginia plantation was not established until IGIO, nor did the Pilgrim Eathers land in Massachusetts Bay until 1620.
When Gilbert, in the Sqiiirj^el^ vanished with all his company on the homeward trip, his half-brother, Sir Weaker Baleigh, obtained from the Queen a grant of a large plantation near St. John's, and in 1593 he declared that the New Land fishery " was the mainstay and support of thc"Vyestern Counties," then the principal maritime centre of England ; and that " if any misfortune
41
Itappcned to the Newfoundland fleet, it would be of the greatest calamity that could befall England." By 1600 there were 200 Ensrlish fishin<? vessels in the Newfound- land trade, employing 10,000 men and boys, and garnering a product valued at £500,000 sterling, a handsome sum in these days, and when a pound sterling had much greater intrinsic value than it has to-day. Ten years later Sir William Monson asserted that in the quarter-century after Gilbert annexed the Island, its fisheries were worth £100,000 a year to the English engaged therein, besides greatly increasing the number of English ships and mariners.
Through this fishery were created the mariners who later broke the sea-power of Spain and Erance, and made England what she is to-day — the mistress of the ocean. Queen Elizabeth established a " Protestant Lent," enacting that throughout England fish should be eaten every Wednesday and Saturday ; rations of it were suj)plied to the soldiers in their campaigns, cod came to be esteemed a great luxury, and fetched goodly prices in England, Ireland, Channel Islands and Erance ; and to this day many of these connections are main- tained and sales effected, a commerce unbroken for 300 years, while France provides bounties for her fisher- men in resorting to Newfoundland waters, even in this twentieth century, because from this class she draws the recruits to man her navy and maintain her fleets.
After the defeat of the Armada in 1588, in which the English fisherfolk resorting to Newfoundland played no mean part, Spanish vessels virtually abandoned fishing on the Grand Bank, but were suc- ceeded by the Erench, now planning colonies in the New World, as denoted by Champlain's occupation of Quebec ; whence began the struggle for supremacy in North America between the two nations which con- tinued for 150 years, until France's claims were shattered on the Plains of Abraham in 1763.
42
The first permanent settlement in Newfoundland was made in 1610 by John Guy, a merchant, and sub- sequently Alderman and Mayor of Bristol. He and his followers, 52 in all, located at Cupar's Cove, in Concep- tion Bav, as much of the East coast near St. John's had already been granted as plantations to notables or com- panies in England. Lord Bacon and others were asso- ciated Avitli Guy ; and Bacon declared that " the New- foundland fisheries were more valuable than all the gold of Peru." Pirates had, however, already made lairs in this Island, and their misdoings caused the failure of Guy's colony.
In 1615, Capt. Bichard Whitbourne, of Exmouth, was sent to Newfoundland to oversee the fisheries, and found 250 English fishing vessels there — conclusive evidence of the importance of the cod fishery even then. He was an unusually able and observant man, and wrote a treatise on the Island, entitled "A Discourse and Discovery of Newfoundland," to induce Englishmen to settle there and develop its fishery and farming resources, describing its climate, soil and possibilities in terms now abundantly confirmed. King James so highly approved of his book, that he ordered a copy to be sent to every parish in the Kingdom ; the Archbishops of Canterbury and York commended it to the clergy and laity; and to nobles and commoners the name of the " new Isle " was familiar, so that settlement there was widely discussed as its fisheries were extensively enter- prised. Eor these were stirring times for England on the seas ; the Eastern coast of Newfoundland was the resort of large fishing flotillas ; Devon and Dorset alone sent scores of vessels there, and thousands of quintals of cod were shipped annually to every country in Western Europe, while yet the Indians lighted their camp-fires along the Massachusetts shore.
Sir George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, established in 1623 a plantation at Verulam (now Eerryland) forty miles from St. John's, towards Cape llace. It proved a
43
failure because the Erench, who were disputing the control of the south coast, harassed him so, that he abandoned the place, though some of his colonists remained permanently there. Sir David Kirke succeeded him in 1638 with a charter from Charles I., and resided at Perryland 27 years, governing the territory till liis death in 16G5.
Meanwhile the Erench had secured a footing on the southern seaboard, and in 1635 obtained permission to dry fish there. In 1660 they were ceded Placentia, and fortified it as a fishery and strategic stronghold, whence in course of time they overran most of the Island and captured St. John's more than once. By the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 they abandoned all territorial claims and possessions and relinquished Placentia, ])ut were granted fishing rights on the west coast. Fifty years later, in the incessant wars of the period, they captured St. John's again, but were soon ousted ; and the Treaty of Paris confirmed England's sovereignty, though the Erencli fishing rights continued, thus creating the "Erench Shore" Question, which defied all efforts at settlement for nearly two centuries.
Meanwhile the prosecution of the fisheries by the English came under the control of bodies of merchant " venturers," who thus originated the " chartered companies " trading into Hudson Bay, East Indies, and more recently South Africa, associations which, by conquest and trade, have done so much to enlarge England's territory and prestige, even if at the cost in many instances of human liberty and popular rights.
These " venturers " speedily controlled Newfound- land, which they owned, to all intents and purposes. Then began the record of neglect and misgovernment which makes her sad story without parallel in Colonial history ; for she has suffered as much from British indifference as from French aggression ; and, while her fisheries have been the source of her wealth, they have- also been the origin of the troubles that for centuries-
44
have made lier, as Lord Salishury observed, " the sport of historic misfortune." When one reflects upon the cruelty and oppression she has had to contend with, the wonder is, not that Newfoundland has accomplished so little, as that she has achieved so much. This year, for the first time in her history, the complete overlord- ship of the soil is her own ; no foreign power can claim her strand or block her plans for industrial development ; no alien race can enforce the blastino; influence of oppressive or vexatious demands as heretofore, — prior to the settlement of the " French Shore " Question by the Anglo-Gallic accord of 1904, and the "American Eishery " disjoute by the Hague Arbitration of 1910.
Thouo^h Newfoundland lies at the threshold of the New World, with undoubted mineral wealth, forests covering vast areas, and farm and pasture lands to main- tain thousands ; yet, because of the selfish greed of the early fishing " venturers," colonization was forbidden at first, commerce was discouraged later, valuable fishery and seaboard rights were surrendered, and pohcies of studied neglect were observed towards it, which bear evil fruit to this day. The "venturers" secured the most eligible harbours, and gathered the whole control of the fishins; into their own hands, while thev devised plans for discouraging and eventually preventing per- manent settlement, which deflected the old-time emigration to the American mainland. They never regarded Newfoundland as other than a fishing station, to be utilised during the summer months and not otherwise, because it was only by keeping its magnificent fisheries in their o\^'n hands that they could extract the largest profits therefrom. The enactments of which they procured the passage were barbarous. It was illegal for a man to winter on the Island or to build a permanent house there. If he did, he could be im- j)risoned and his domicile destroyed. Every shipmaster liad to bring back in the fall each man he took out in the spring, under heavy penalty. All
45
fishery requisites, except salt, had to be procured
in England, and no woman was allowed on the
Island. There was no government, judiciary, or code of
laws. Justice, so-called, w^as dispensed Ijy " fishing
admirals." In British history there is surely nothing so
extraordinary as this expedient or ruling a colony from
the quarter-deck of a fishing schooner. The liuv ran
that the captain of the first vessel arriving in a harbour
became admiral for the season, the second vice-admiral,
and the third rear-admiral. The sort of justice these
rough, ignorant seamen administered can easily be
imagined ; yet their regime endured for 150 years, and
until the close of the sixteenth centurv, when the naval
commanders w^ere endowed with superior authority,
there w^as no appeal from their decisions. They were
specially zealous in preventing settlement of the coast ;
harried the runaway fisherfolk, burnt their huts and
destroyed their few effects. This frequently compelled
the victims to surrender, or remove in friendly crafts to
New England, for the " venturers " controlled the coast
and the interior was impossible, because of the
aborigines. But some settlers defied oppression and
retired into the fastnesses, applying torch and axe to
the fish-houses of their persecutors, after these left
each autumn. As the years passed it w^as seen that all
barbarities were powerless to prevent settlement, and
later enactments, if equally oppressive, recognised this
fact. They forbade structures wdthin six miles of the
coast ; required offenders to be tried in England ; and
one edict w^as for the deporting of all the settlers to
America. This brutal order was, it is true, not enforced
because of its difficulty ; but it influenced hundreds to
migrate to New England, fearing forcible expulsion.
These vexatious enactments were continued even to
periods when a more enlightened j)olicy was manifested
towards the Colony, and it was not until within a century
that the last of these was repealed.
The scanty resident population struck root all the
rr 46
deeper at every attempt to remove it. The struggle was bitter and prolonged, but ended by tbe settlers in time becoming numerous enough to assert their rights. Clergymen volunteered to labour among them, and recounted to friends in England the infamies perpetrated, so that gradually the most inliuman enactments were repealed. Governors were appointed, laws framed, and oppressions checked. Naval commanders replaced the fishing admirals, and the country saw peace at last.
Because of its early " plantations," the word " planter " is still current in the insular vocabulary, and the " supplying system " still prevails, the solitary links which connect with these bygone days. A " planter " in NeA^d^oundland parlance, is a fish trader on a moderate scale, the middleman between the merchant who ships the cod to market and the toiler who hauls it from the water. " Plantations " are yet interwoven with local tradition, and show on ancient maps and charts. The tenure of some has never been broken ; the names and locations of others are perpetuated in the existing fishing hamlets which dot the shoreline. Under the "supplying system " the merchants and planters " supply " the fisherfolk each spring with all the essentials for their adequate prosecution of the industry, and when the season ends, take over their produce against the advances made them six months before. The " merchants " are the descendants of the early " merchant adventurers " who exploited the new-found Colony.
Chapter V.
THE ABORIGINES.
The Eeothics — UACi^iL Characteristics — Decimated BY Settlers — Attempts at Conciliation — Last Red
Men Vanish.
THE I3eothics, the aboriginal iniiabitants of New- foundland, are supposed to have been a branch of the j^reat Algonquin tribe, a war-like race occupying the North-east of the American Continent. Little is known of the Beothics in the early days of the island's discovery, save that they were a numerous and power- ful race then, and that a few were taken to England very soon, and proved of great interest to all beholders. Cartier, who visited Newfoundland in 1534, describes them somewhat minutely, and in 1576 Erobisher induced some to go to England with him, while Gilbert in 1583 mentions seeing them on the coast. John Guy, the first colonist, opened trade with them in 1610, and eventually induced them to fish for him. But another shipmaster coming to the coast, and seeing the Indians gather, as he thought to resist his landing, opened fire and killed several, and never again could friendly relatioDs with them be resumed.
Because of their habit of coloring their faces and garments they were known as '• the Ked Indians," and thus they are mentioned in the early records. They frequently stole the white men's axes, knives and other implements, so that quarrels arose ; and they were slaughtered ruthlessly. They were a simple, nomadic people, living by the chase and their skill in fishing, and inhabiting wigwams made of skins or bark. Gradu- ally they were driven from the seaboard into the interior, and ultimately forced towards the Nortbern peninsula, known to the Erench as the " Petit Nord."
48
Later, Micmac Indians made their way across from Nova Scotia and between them and the Beothics bitter hostility developed. Gradually, the massacres of the Beothics grew worse and worse, both Prench and English made war upon them, and the French authori- ties offered at one time, a bounty for their heads. About 150 years ago Newfoundland Governors began to realize the cruelty of the existing policy and friendly overtures were attempted ; Governor Palliser, in 1760, sending Major Cartwright to the region where they still lingered. He failed to get in touch with them, but reported so strongly of their ill-treatment by the settlers, that the Governor issued a proclamation threatening condign punishment to all who maltreated or murdered any in future. Twice about this time Indian boys were captured by settlers, partly civilized, and used for fishery servants ; but they died early, possibly of ill-treatment. In 1803, a settler named Cull captured an Indian woman and brought her to St. John's, where Governor Gambler gave her many presents and sent her back to the tribe, hoping to conciliate them, but there is no evidence that she ever reached them, and the belief is, that Cull killed her to secure the gifts. Governor Holloway, in 1808, had a large picture painted, showing whites and reds in friendly attitudes, and sent it to Exploits by Lieut. Spratt in an armed schooner, with instructions to proceed up the river, to what is known as the " lied Indian Lake," and endeavour to gain the confidence of the natives by displaying this picture in some resort of theirs ; but the expedition failed in its object, not a single red man being seen. In 1811, Governor Duckworth sent Lieut, Buchan on a similar mission, who did meet some of the natives, but the result was disastrous, for, leaving two of his men as hostages with the tribe, while he took four natives to where he had stored presents, some twelve miles distant, he found, on returning the next day, three of the Indians having deserted meanwhile, that
The Right Hon. Sir E. P. MORRIS, P.C, K.C., LL.D.
Photo.']
Lady MORRIS.
ILaiigJier.
49
the tribe had murdered his two mariners, in tiio belief that the naval party had destroyed the Indians aaIio had been taken along. In 1819, John Peyton, of Twillingate, having represented to Governor Hamilton that Beothics were in that vicinity, was empowered to treat with them, and surprised a party in their wigwam by crossing the ice on the Exploits Hiver. He captured a woman, later known as " Mary March," whose husband, the chief, was shot by Peyton as he tried to kill him with an axe stolen from some settler's boat. She was brought to St. John's, treated well during the winter, and sent back in the spring on a naval craft, but died on the way. Her body was coffined, taken to a wis^wam inland, and there erected on a platform, to preserve it from wild animals, with the idea that others of the tribe might come upon it and bury it according to native custom ; and in 1828, when Cormack, the first white man to traverse the interior, passed that way, he noted that the body had been removed, later finding it buried according to the Indian custom. In 1821^, three Indian women, a mother and two daughters, were captured at Badger Lake and brought to St. John's, where they told that the tribe was then reduced to about fourteen, through famine and disease. They were taken back after some months, but preferred to settle with the colonists on the coast. The mother and one daughter died of consumption at Twdllingate a year or two later, and the other daughter, Shawnandithit, returned to St. John's, where she survived until 1829, when she, too, succumbed to the same disease. In 1827 an institution was founded for the civilizing of the Beothics, and the expedition of Cormack was undertaken under its auspices, but it failed to find a single member of the tribe ; and it is believed that all had died before that time. Certainly the last record there of these Indians beino' seen is that they were observed crossinj? the ice at New Bay in 1823, and Shawnandithit's death probably ended the Beothic race.
These natives never attained any knowledge of fire-
50
arms, and were apparently peaceful and disposed to be friendly in the earlier days, though they developed a savagery in later dealings with the settlers, for which the ill-treatment they had suffered was doubtless respon- sible. Their practice was to cut the heads off their enemies wliom they killed, and not to scalp them. They usually inhabited conical wigwams, though in rare cases lived in square hut-like structures covered with bark. They kindled their fires by directing sparks into the down of drv mosses; thev knew nothing of pottery, and though they apparently used soap-stone vessels hollowed out, they boiled their food in baskets of spruce bark. They believed in a future life, for they showed great care in disposing of their dead and interred with them articles apparently of a religious character, and also bows, arrows and fisher}?^ implements, as well as food.
In deer hunting they felled trees, to form fences to stop the caribou in their annual migration and head them towards the rivers where they could more easily kill them. Travellers who subsequently came upon these fences say they often extended thirty and forty miles, and were most ingenious in their construction, the trees being cut so that they fell on one another and their branches being then interlaced in such a fashion as made it impossible for the deer to escape. That the Indians cut down so many trees with the rude imple- ments they possessed is little short of a marvel, and this fact, as well as the excellent workmanship shown in tlieir various relics now exhibited in the Museum at St. John's, proves that they must have possessed intelli- gence of no mean order. In the summer of 1910, His Excellency, Earl Grey, the Governor-General of Canada, who paid a visit to the paper-mills at Grand Falls on his way back from his Hudson Bay trip, stopped his special train on the shore of Grand Lake, which was one of the principal resorts of the Beothics, and at a hunting bungalow there, inspected many relics of the vanished red men.
51
Chapter VI.
nOADS AND llAILWAYS.
Coast alone Peopled — Settlers all Pisherfolk —
Permanent Occupation Forbidden — No Roads
UNTIL 1825 — Progress Since Then.
NEWFOUNDLAND is somewhat of a paradox regarding its transportation facilities. A fishing country before everything else, with its people settled almost wholly around its coast line, it possesses to-day the largest per capita mileage in railways of any coun- try in the world of similar character, while its s^'-stem of coast and hay steamers has no equal in Eastern Canada ; and, winding their way around the coast villages are thousands of miles of highways. The change effected by all these agencies of communication is all the more remarkable because no country has ever suffered so much from repressive laws and official indifference as Newfoundland. Not until 1825, or only 86 years ago, was the first road in the island constructed — all travel previously being over trails or narrow paths, and the draft animals the famous Newfoundland do2:s.
These conditions were the outgrowth of the cruel enactments, conceived entirely for retaining the colony merely as a fishing place, and discouraging permanent settlement or other forms of industry. The laws against the cultivation of the soil, and even against the erection of permanent dwellings, were enforced up to the beginning of the last century. In 1790, Governor Millbanke proclaimed that he *' was directed not to ^Uow any right of private property whatever in any
52
land not actually employed in the fishery." In 1799, Governor Waldegrave ordered fences enclosing a piece of ground in St. John's to be torn down, and prohibited chimneys even in temporary sheds. Only in 1811 were permanent buildings allowed ; and two years more elapsed before grants of land were issued. Not until 1825 was road making begun, though St. John's had then 12,000 people ; and within twenty miles there were probably half as many more.
The first road extended from St. John's to Portugal Cove, on the south shore of Conception Bay, nine miles distant, with a l)oat service to carry mails and passen- gers across the inlet to the thriving towns of Brigus, Harbor Grace and Carbonear, on the northern shore of that Bay, which then held 2,000 people each and were large fishing centres. Gradually, as the years passed, road making was extended, the Colonial Legislature voted funds for such from year to year, and occasionally when circumstances warranted, sums on capital account were likewise disbursed. At present most of the sea- board is provided with roads.
Newfoundland's experience throws an instructive side-hght upon the question as to who should own railways — the country or the corporations ? An analysis of the conditions underlying her case will probably satisfy the investigator, that in this colony corporation control is inevitable.
Perhaps no phase of colonial economics in recent years has evoked more comment than that comprehended in the Newfoundland railway — its construction by the colony and its transfer to the contractor. To clearly understand it one must bear in mind that the principal industry of the colony is fishing — for cod, seal, salmon and herring, and that this pursuit occupies most of the inhabitants. Though the island is the tenth largest in the world, its entire population of 240,000 is scattered around the coast line in fishing hamlets near the sea, which provides them with sustenance. There were not
K
3
until this century opened, tlirce settlements in the island lacking an outlet by sea. Eor a maritime people like this, therefore, to undertake railway building would seem little short of insane. The interior em1)odied possibilities for agriculture and lumbering, admitted though undefined. The value of its minerals, notably copper, was more assured, and the argument for the new departure was that the population, having grown beyond scope of the fisheries, w^as entitled to have the potential -wealth of the interior developed and new industrial avenues opened up for the needy and unemployed. Accordingly, in 1880, the railway policy was launched. An American Company undertook to build a narrow gauge railroad (3 ft. 6 in.) to Notre Dame Bay, with a branch to Harbor Grace, in all 340 miles, for 5,000 acres of land and a mail subsidy of $530 a mile per annum for thirty-five years, and the first sod was turned on August 9th, 1881. Bonds of the Company were floated in England, and with the money thus obtained the work was begun. But mismanagement and extravagance soon dissipated the funds, and after completing sixty miles the Company defaulted, the line reverting to the English bondholders wdio completed the section to Harbor Grace, 84 miles, by November, 1884, the colony being left with the experience, and with a lawsuit which absorbed thousands of dollars of the tax- payers' money in the succeeding years. The Whiteway administration, which had inaugurated the railway policy, was succeeded in 1885 by the Thorburn Govern- ment, which essayed the construction of another section, 26 miles, from Whitbourne to Placentia, as a public work, managed by commissioners and financed out of the colonial treasury. This proved so costly that it had to be abandoned, and in 1889 it was decided to have the line completed by a reputable outside contractor, for Sir William Whiteway had again become Premier and showed himself as earnest for railway extension as before.
54
Among* those wlio responded to the invitation to construct the proposed line was Mr. (afterwards Sir) E/. G. Pteid, of Montreal, who bad successfully carried out several large contracts for the Canadian Pacific Kailway. His tender Avas accepted for $15,600 a mile, payable in the colony's forty year 3J per cent, bonds, he under- taking their conversion into cash. This contract was signed in 1890, the mileage involved behig about 280. By 1893 he had the road almost completed to Notre Dame Bay, but it then became clear, that in order for it to prove of any value to the colony, the line should be extended to Port-aux-Basques, the south-western ex- tremity of the island, whence daily communication could be maintained \Aith the Canadian mainland bv a fast steamer. Accordingly, another contract was concluded with Mr. Eeid for the construction of the w^estern division of the road on the same terms.
Concurrently wdth this arose the question of operat- ing the system when completed, for it was realized that it would be a profitless undertaking for the colony to attempt to nurture this " infant enterprise," so a further agreement was effected with Mr. Eeicl in 1893, by which he undertook to operate the road for ten years in return for a grant of 5,000 acres of land for each mile of track. As he was allowed three years for the construction of the railroad, this really made his operation period only seven years.
His idea was to set on foot many labour-givin^^ industries, and develop the mineral, agricultural and timber lands included in his holdings. He did initiate works of this character, but not on a large scale, because the seven-year period did not justify more ambitious projects, as the road might then pass into the hands of parties hostile to him and his ventures. In 1897 he proposed to the AVhiteway Government to extend his. operating contract, but in the general election which took place that yeai-, the Liberal Ministry was defeated, and the Conservative party, led by Sir James Winter,,
5
r.
assumed power. The Winter Ministry tlic next year concluded with Mr. lleid the compreliensive contract which sul)sequently became famous as the " Eeid deal," or " '98 Contract." Its provisions vrere as follows : —
The llailway : Mr. Reid undertook to operate the entire system of the colony, 638 miles, for fifty years for a further land grant of 2,500 acres to each mile of track ; and he purchased the reversion of the ownership of the property at the end of that period for a present payment of $1,000,000.
The Dry Dock : The colony had huilt a graving dock at St. John's some years previously, at a cost of $560,000. It would make an excellent deep-water ter- minal for his railway and he purchased it for $325,000; as the colony was losing heavily on its operation.
The Telegraphs : To more effectively operate his trains and steamers he agreed to purchase the colonial telegraph system, 1,000 miles in length, for $125,000 its cost to date, and to reduce the rates to the public by one-half at the expiration of the Anglo-American monopoly in 1904.
The Mail Steamers : Instead of casual steamers around the coast, he undertook to build eight modern, high-class boats to serve the whole seaboard, for thirty years, at subsidies aggregating $92,300 annually.
The Lands : Provision for the development of these was made, and they were regarded as being the founda- tion of the possibilities of the whole undertaking.
Dealing with these properties in detail, the situation was : Mr. lleid held that a proprietary right in the railway was essential, as a mere leasehold would be insufficient for financial purposes. The combining of the steamers with the train service ensured the carriage of freights to all parts of the colony on the lowest terms, as the rates Avere assessed by mileage over land or water. The dock and telegraphs were both being operated by the colony at a loss, and the lands were valueless to the people unless they could be developed.
56
The criticism levelled against this deal was that the Government " sold " the railroad to Mr. Reid for barely- one million dollars. The argument, however, on the other hand was, first, that by his compact the operation of the system was assured for half -a- century and the colony relieved of all obligation in this respect, so that the railroad was really converted from a liability into an asset ; second, that by making so wide-reaching an agreement the colony really ensured its own greatest development, as only by straining every effort to this end could Mr. Reid earn a profit on his investment ; third, that he could not remove from the colonv the railway, dock, telegraphs, lands or any enterprises he established, and if he failed in his contract any time in the fifty years, these would revert to the colony and his million dollars become forfeit ; fourth, that a proprietary interest was essential to him in financing the projected undertakings, and that if the colony took his million dollars and deposited it at compound interest at four per cent., the amount it would yield in fifty years would be $7,500,000, or enough to build another railroad alongside of Contractor Pteid's, if it became necessary; not to mention at all by that time new agencies, like airships, might render his railroad so much old iron.
The contract, though much criticised, has since amply justified itself to the country as it did to the Legislature then, as the best arrangement possible in the interests of the colony. It passed the House of Assembly by a vote of twenty-eiglit to eight, five members of the Opposition, including Sir Edward Morris, the present Premier, and his finance minister, the Hon. M. P. Cashin, breaking from their party to support it; and in the Legislative Council by a vote of fourteen to one.
The obligations which it imposed upon the contractor were loyally carried out, and his measur(3s for the development of the country were shaped with a view to assuring the permanent character of the industries which were to be set on foot.
57
Chapter VII.
THE EEID PROBLEM AND EECENT POLITICAL
DEVELOPMENT.
Election of 1900 — Conthact oe 1901 — Aiibithations
— Election oe 1904 — Bond-Mohius Huptuiie op 1907
• — Double Election, 1908-9 — Unique Political
Complication — Morris Ministry Wins.
MU. BEID'S oj)eratioii of the railway and kindred services under his contract was undertaken with the determination to set the colony well on the march towards real progress and prosperity. Splendid modern steamers were built by him for the coast and in-bay services. Sumptuous carriages and j)0werful engines were provided for the railway trains. He improved the road bed, began a palatial hotel in St. John's, and inaugurated several new industries. These develop- ments confirmed the contentions of those who advocated that the transfer of these public utilities to the contractor would be to the public advantage — namely, that he, being saddled with their operation, would have to spend millions in utilizing the resources of the island if he was to obtain dividends and ultimately recoup himself for his original outlay.
Influenced by these views, Mr. Keid then proposed that the Government, whose sanction was essential, permit him to convert his personal holding into a limited liability company, capitalized at $25,000,000; one-tifth of that sum to be raised at once on mortgage bonds, for carrying out the several industries projected, notably a pulp mill, designed to be one of the largest in the world.
58
Sir Robert Bond, who, as leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, succeeded to office on the downfall of the Winter Cabinet, was not favorable to this proposition, fearing that it concealed an attempt by Mr. Reid to rid himself of his personal liability, which was so complete that his entire personal estate would have to respond to any derelictions, but of which obligations it was con- tended that a transfer to a company would relieve him in a large measure. He urged the contrary view ; that he had secured English capital to assist him in turning to profit our wealth of forest and farm, and mine and stream, and tliat the colonj^'s security for carrying out the contract obligations was ample, in that all the immoveable property involved would revert to the colony if he or the proposed company failed to operate the system. The Bond Cabinet, however, insisted that in return for such a concession Mr. Beid should return to the colony the telegraphs, modify his land grants in the interest of the settlers, and so as to ensure the reservation of tracts for various public purposes, give guarantees as to the amount of money to be spent in the colony of the sum raised, and relinquish his proprietary right in the railway. He accepted the second and third conditions, but rejected the others.
On this issue the general election of 1900 was fought, Premier Bond being returned witli a following of thirty-two, while the Opposition carried only four seats, including that of the leader, Mr. A. B. Morine. Despite the result of the election, it was recognized that the operation of the railroad by the Government would l;e impossible ; and that only by the inauguration of diversiiied industries along the line by Mr. Keid could this venture be made a financial success ; and in the benefits of this, the colony and its people must of course largely share.
Accordingly, in the summer of 1901, the Bond Ministry concluded a further contract with Mr. Beid. By its terms he surrendered the reversion of the owner-
59
ship of the railroad on being returned his one million dollars with interest at six per cent, for the time the colony had held it, he accepting a leasehold interest in the railroad for fifty years ; he surrendered 2,550,000 acres of land, Avliich had accrued to him under the 1898 contract, receiving $850,000 in cash therefor ; and he surrendered the telegraphs under an agreement that either side might submit its claim for damages to arbitration. He had meanwhile an outstanding claim for rolling stock and equipment, provided under previous contracts, in excess of those wJiicli he was required to supply, and this was likcAvise arbitrated, resulting in an award for him of $89i,000, while an arbitration in 1905 as to the telegraphs, won him an award of $1,500,000. Before this latter award the general election of 1904 took place, and its approach was waited with keen interest, because in a by-election in the autumn of 1902 the candidates of the Ministry sustained a decided reverse, a result ascribed partly to a short fishery and partly to popular dissatisfaction at the substantial monetary victories secured by Contractor E,eid, who had obtained, as shown above, nearly three million dollars in cash already, and had this telegraj)!! arbitration still outstanding.
The struggle in 1904 was further complicated by the fact that the opposition now really consisted of two factions — one led by Mr. A. E. Goodridge (an ex- Premier), and Mr. Morine ; and the other by Sir lYilliam Whiteway, another ex-Premier and Mr. D. Morison, an ex-judge of the Supreme Court, while Sir James Winter (ex- judge and ex-Premier), also entered the field, the whole combining their forces in the end, so that the persons opposing the Bond-Morris Ministry might be fairly described as having five leaders and embracing every element in the island disaffected with the party in power.
At the mer2:inq: of all these diverse interests the country took alarm, and it being charged agamst them
60
that their underlying object was union with Canada, the aggregation suffered a crushing defeat. Mr. Morine alone held his district, all the other leaders meeting disaster, and he found himself with but five followers in the Assembly. This sweeping victory occasioned no small surprise, seeing that the previous by-elections had gone otherwise, and as the result practically meant the disappearance of most of these Opposition factors from the political arena permanently, it was generally considered that Sir E/oberfc Bond's administration was guaranteed by this election a long continuance in office.
However, in July, 1907, Sir Edward Morris, then Minister of Justice in the Eond Cabinet, resigned his portfolio and broke from that party, having disagreed with the Premier on the amount to be paid labourers employed on Public Works, and he and Sir Hobert Bond having practically entered public life together, been colleagues in the Whiteway Ministry for many years, and Sir Edward being Sir Robert's "right-hand man" in his own Ministrv, it was seen at once that his with- drawal portended stirring events in the political arena. These expectations were soon amply justified. Mr. Morine had left the colony the previous year and established himself in Canada. The Opposition was then being led by Captain Charles Bawe, who, however, was in poor health and died during the ensuing year, when the Hon. B. Morison, the present Attorney- General, succeeded him, having been elected for Mr. Morine's seal. This regular Opposition and prominent supporters of Sir Edward Morris now combined and invited him to assume the leadership of a united party ; and to this he agreed, issuing a manifesto to the electorate in March, 1908, setting forth his policy. He also assumed a vigorous course in the Legislature in that session, and, being remarkable for his energy and foresight, he •speedily secured effective backing throughout the island. The quadrennial general election being due
61
in November 1908, the intervening period was occupied by both sides in plannini^ for a campaign unique in the island's history. Tlie election was held in November — and resulted in Sir E-obert Bond and Sir Edward Morris each securing eighteen seats. This was regarded as a notable achievement for the latter, because he suffered from three disadvantages. First, he was a Roman Catholic and the adherents of that faith numbering but one-third of the total population, and every Premier for fifty years having been a Protestant, this was a serious handicap, as sectarian appeals are not uncommon in the bitter election contests waged here. Then, he was accused of being at heart an advocate of union with Canada, and it was also charged that he was in close sympathy with Contractor Reid ; the exj^iring embers of the fires of political animosity against this corporation being fanned into renewed life in the hope of injuring him.
The Bond Ministry, on its part, enjoyed the advan- tage of possession of office and control of all the election machinery, valuable factors in local political struggles ; but, on the other hand, it suffered from the real or imaginary sins of eight years of power. When the results were finalized and each leader had seventeen followers, speculation as to the outcome was intensified. Premier Bond had elected every departmental officer, and it onlv remained for him to secure an adherent from the Morris side to break the deadlock and, possibly, in a second election, to win easily, wiiile the Morrisites, on their part, if they gained a recruit from the Bondites, would have to face at least six by-elections, consequent upon the appointment of as many members to the departmental portfolios.
The colony was fortunate in having as its Governor at the time Sir William MacGregor, a man of exceptional ability, who studied thoroughly every phase of constitu- tional questions. The problem which beset him could exist in no other British colony. The Legislature had
62
to meet in the early winter, so that the Bond IMinistry might have an opportunity to pass the necessary appro- priation hills, and if they could not do this, that they mii^lit resign and give place to a IMorris Ministry, who should enjoy and fail to profit by a similar opportunity ; and even in such an event time had to be provided for a possible coalition Ministry to be formed ; and if that proved impossible a new general election would be necessary, while to hold this in the spring would be very difficult. Sir Robert Bond was required by the Governor to summon the Legislature ; and having done so, recommended him. on the eve of the Session, to dissolve the Parhament which had been (dected in November, AA'ithout affording it an opportunity to meet, and to grant him another appeal to the electorate. This the Governor declined to do, and then, in accordance with recognized usage, Premier Bond, when the Governor declined his advice, tendered his resignation and that of his Cabinet. The GoA^ernor now invited Sir Edward Morris to form a Ministry, which he did; and, unlike his predecessor, actually had the Legislature meet and attempted to elect a Speaker, but this attempt the Bond party defeated, by voting against nominees from both sides of the House. The Governor next attempted to secure the formation of a coalition Ministry, and called into con- sultation other ex-Premiers, but they were unable to help him, so he granted a dissolution to Sir Edward
Morris.
He was bitterly censured by the Bondites for alleged partisanship in this course, but his reasons for the step he took seem all-conclusive. He appears to have argued that Sir Bobert Bond had enjoyed the advantage of an appeal to the country and had not been sustained ; that Sir Ptobert Bond, when the Legislature met, had pursued an unpatriotic policy in refusing to allow the election of a Speaker, and that if a second appeal to the country became necessary, it was only fair that Sir Edward Morris should be given the opportunity of facing the
63
country with the reins of power, as Sir E-obcrt Bond had been given the previous autumn. Accordini^Iy, the Governor dissolved the Legislature on April 10th, and o)-dered an election for May 8th, which resulted in the Morris Ministry beinr^ confirmed in office, carrying twenty-six seats against ten secured hy the Bond party ; every seat won by the Morrisites in the autumn election being retained by them in the spring and ten others captured from the Bondites, while now every depart- mental officer under the jMorris Administration retained his seat by a substantial majority. The result was regarded by the country generally as amply vindicating the course taken by Sir William MacGregor, who also won the approval of the Imperial authorities, as testified by a despatch from the Colonial Office, signed by Lord Crewe and dated November 14th, in which the Secretary of State observed :
" I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt '•' of your telegram of the 12tli of May, regarding " the result of the general election in Newfound- " land. It will be learned from my previous " despatches and telegrams that your action throughout the difficult political situation, which was created in the colony by the indecisive result of the last general election has met with my approval, but I desire to place publicly on record my high appreciation of the manner in *•' which you have handled a situation practically " unprecedented in the history of responsible " Government in the Dominions. I mav add that I consider your decision to grant a dissolu- tion to Sir Edward Morris — which has, I observe, been adversely criticized in a section of the Newfoundland press, to have been fully in accordance with the principles of responsible
a
a a
" Government."
G4
Chapter YIII.
THE KEID ENTERPRISES.
Railway System — Splendid Steamers — Dry Dock
AND Machine and Car Shops — Street
Railway and Electric Utilities —
Traffic Eigures.
THE railway is very substantially constructed and very efficiently operated : the road-bed is splendidly built ; the rails are the best procurable ; the bridges are of steel with granite abutments, and the rolling stock is the finest that is made. Express trains cross the island every alternate day in either direction, and the present summer will see a daily express service inaugurated. These trains are made up of ordinary baggage and mail cars, coaches for second class and first class passengers ; dining cars and sleeping cars, all of the style used on the Canadian Pacific Line. Through freights trains are run every day, and morning and evening trains ply between St. John's and Carbonear, along the shore of Conception Bay, and likewise to Placentia, the chief town in the Bay of that name. A splendid granite station is the head-quarters of the Reid system in St. John's ; machine shops of the most approved type are established in the vicinity and avail- able both for the repair and construction of railway equipment and for steamers and vessels effecting changes in the Dry Dock near by. At all the principal points along the main line and the branches, substantial and commodious stations have been erected, and at the
Photo.']
A bit of Coast Scenery, Bay of Islands.
\_Holloway,
Photo.']
On the little River Codroy.
[Ho'foii'n;/.
65
terminals point, wliere the several hay steamers connect with the trains, substantial wliarvcs and adequate freight ship.s are provided. The Company's steamers are equally up-to-date and satisfactory in every respect. The Bruce, plying between Port-aux-Basques and North Sydney, Cape Breton, where she connected every other day with the Intercolonial Railway system of Canada, and thus enabled communication to be made with every part of the outside world, had become almost a household word in the colony, during her twelve years' performance of this service, until she was unfor- tunately wrecked on the Nova Scotia coast last IMarch. She wasaseventeen-knot steamer of clippertype, specially constructed to withstand ice, and was the staunchest and stoutest ship in North American waters ; costing $250,000, having excellent accommodation for passengers, and even in mid- winter able to battle with the heaviest ice floes and to make her trips, except on rare occasions, with clockwork regularit}^ Slightly smaller tlian the Bruce is the Glencoe, which plies between Port-aux- Basques and Placentia every week, touching at the principal ports on the south coast and connecting with the Bruce and the west coast by rail at Port-aux- Basques, and with St. John's and the eastern coast via the railway at Placentia. The Argi/le, one of the bay boats, operates in Placentia Bay ; the Dundee in Bonavista Bay ; the Clyde in Notre Dame Bay ; and the Home between Bay of Islands and Belle Isle Strait on the west coast, while the Invermore, a ship of the same size, speed and accommodation as the Bruce, plies between St. John's and Labrador durins: the summer months. All these ships are sumptuously appointed, admirably maintained, and handled by such capable masters and crews that accidents are rare and loss of life unknown ; it being the record of the railroad, too, that it has never killed a passenger. It is proposed to have a daily steamer on Cabot Strait this summer, as well as a daily train across the Island. The growth
£
|
1903-4. |
1909-10. |
|
136,010 |
194,844 |
|
122,935 |
173,343 |
|
150,425 |
207,573 |
|
51,296 |
78,366 |
|
200,821 |
287,529 |
|
$206,940 |
$274,490 |
|
159,941 |
231,266 |
|
41,812 |
42,000 |
|
22,724 |
43,834 |
66
of the traffic of the K-eid system the past six years is attested by the following figures :
No. of Passengers Carried Tons of Freight Carried... Miles run, Passenger Trains Miles run. Freight Trains Miles run. Mixed Trains Passenger Traffic Earnings Freight Traffic Earnings... Mail Traffic Earnings Other Earnings ...
The railroad starts from the Dry Dock in St. John's, which is deep water terminal and runs through the Waterford Valley, a delightfully picturesque suburb of the city, for about four miles, when it traverses the section of the peninsula to Topsail, in Conception Bay, a beautiful watering place, much affected by the city's residents during the summer months. Then it skirts the South Shore of Conception Bay, keeping within sight of the ocean and of farming villages the whole way. From Holyrood, at the head of that Bay, it runs inland a few miles and at Brigus junction a branch line continues alone: the north shore through several populous centres to Harbor Grace, the second town in the colony ; and three miles further, to Carbonear, the present terminus there, though it is proposed next year to extend this branch to Grate's Cove, the tip of that peninsula. Prom Brigus Junction the main line con- tinues to Whitbourne, where another spur extends to Broad Cove in Trinity Bay and across the peninsula also to Harbor Grace. The Broad Cove branch is being extended the present year to Heart's Content, the landing place of five submarine cables. Seven miles beyond Whitbourne is Placentia Junction, whence a line of twenty-six miles extends to Placentia and taps that Bay, all of this country being more or less settled and given over to agricultural pursuits. Thence the road traverses the Isthmus of Avalon, where, from the
67
car windows can be seen the waters of both Trinity and Placentia Bays. Still goin^ north, the railway crosses the Terranova, Gambo and Gander Valleys, throuf^h tracts extensively wooded and which it is hoped will see pulp and paper enterprises in the future.
Two important points passed in this section are Clarenville, the terminal for the Trinity Bay Steamer, and Port Blandford, the terminal for the Bonavista Bay ship. About 240 miles from St. John's, Notre Dame Junction is reached, whence a spur, nine miles long, connects with Lewisport, the terminal of the steamer on Notre Dame Bay, while seven miles further Norris Arm is reached, where the valley of the Exploits is entered and beautiful panoramas of fiord scenery are disclosed. The Exploits is crossed at Bishop Palls, twelve miles from its mouth, and here can be seen the pulp and paper works of the Albert E/Ced Company. Eight miles further up the river, on its north bank, Grand Palls is reached, the home of the great Harms- worth pulp and paper enterprise, the pioneer of its kind in Newfoundland and the second largest, in point of size, in the world. Por some miles the river is in full view, with densely wooded forest country visible in the background, while the nearer tracts promise splendid cultivation. At Badger Brook the road leaves that valley, takes a north-west route across the White Hill plains, climbing these to the Topsails country, the great central plateau being crossed at an elevation of 1,737 feet above sea level. The line then follows the course of Kitty's Brook to the north-east of Grand Lake, continuing along the south side of Deer Lake and down the delightful Humber Valley to Bay of Islands, which it traverses completely, circling round towering blujffs, and then through the Harry's Brook valley to Bay St. George. Prom this point it passes back of the Anguille mountains along the valley of the Codroy Rivers to Cape Bay and skirts the seaboard to Port-aux- BasqueSj which is its western terminal.
68
Last year tlie E^eid Company took further contracts to construct branch lines of railroad ; from Clarenville through the Bonavista peninsula in Bonavista town, the work of which was about four-fifths completed last year and will be finished early this summer; from Broad Cove to Heart's Content; from Carbonear to Grate's Cove ; from St. John's along the eastern front of the Avalon Peninsula to Trepassey, near Cape Bace ; from the Avalon Peninsula south-west to Portune Bay ; and from Deer Lake to Bonne Bay. The total mileage is about 300 and the construction figure is $15,000 a mile, payable in cash, as against $15,600 a mile, payable in bonds in the past ; with 4,000 acres of land per mile for operating for forty years, as against 5,000 acres for the fifty-year operation of the main line, ten years of which have practically expired.
As already stated, the Reid Company maintains eight steamers operating in connection with the railroad system, touching practically every settlement of im- portance in the island and on Labrador, and by their connecting with each other, they enable the traveller to circumnavigate the island, and business to be done most expeditiously and economically between every centre of population in the Island. Por freight and passenger trafiic purposes, the mileage of the railroads and steamers is regarded as one, and through rates are given.
The operations of the combined system are entirely satisfactory to the travelling and business public, and the efficient and up-to-date administration of the whole is commended, both by the resident and visitors.
In St. John's the lleid Company operates the graving dock in the west end of the port on a very large and steadily expanding scale. It is constantly occupied by steam and sailing vessels, the Company's own llotilla and other coastwise steamers, the powerful sealing fleet, scores of fish-freighters, foreign ships, and the hundreds of local fishing crafts ; wliilc in the vicinity the Company has various mechanical enterprises. There
69
are machine shops, where boilers are built, marine and locomotives engines constructed, all parts and fittings for steamers and railway cars made and repaired ; and in car-shops adjoining, the Company now builds its own freight vans and passenger coaches, including sleeping and dining cars; and has undertaken, in its latest contract, to build the locomotives and everv other class of rolling stock required in the operation of the whole railroad. This, as might be imagined, calls for the employment of an army of skilled mechanics and other operatives.
In St. John's, too, the Company operates the street car system and supplies the electric light for heating and power purposes. The necessary electricity is geneiuted at Petty Harbor, some twelve miles from the city, through the agency of a cliain of lakes occupyii^g that section of the country, and which were granted to the Company for this purpose.
In the original project of 1898 the erection of a suitable modern hotel in St. John's was contemplated, and work was actually besrun on it, the concrete foun- dations having been put in and some of the material for the superstructure actually being in course of preparation, when the resulting difficulties caused Contractor Heid to abandon the project. Latterly the movement for a hotel has regained vigor and activity, and while the Heid Company has since shown no special desire to move in the matter again, it is hoppd that eventually arrangements may be made whereby this Company will take a foremost part in the promotion of this undertaking, the necessary complement to the other phases of enterprise and progress with which it has become associated in the public mind at home and abroad in assisting in the material development of Newfoundland.
70
Chapter IX.
CROWN LANDS.
Laws respecting Crown Lx\.nds — Conditions for obtaining same — generous concessions for
INTENDING SeTTLERS OR INVESTORS.
THE public domain of the Colony, including its lakes, streams, and other fresh -water areas, and embracing as well that portion of Labrador which is a dependency of Newfoundland, is vested in the Crown, and, save where grants have been made to corporations or individuals for farming, mining or other purposes, the whole of its areas are known as " Crown Lands," and administered by the Department of Agri- culture and Mines.
The laws which regulate the selling or leasing of Crown Lands for various purposes are most liberal in character, and framed specially to promote the settlement of the country and the development of its natural resources.
Such lands (and waters) may become temporarily or permanently the property of persons or companies for homesteading, farming, mining, lumbering, pulp or paper making, quarrying, peat-making, fish breeding, etc., through the agency of licenses, leases and grants in fee simple. Under the term *' minerals " are included petroleum and other mineral oils, and under the term " timber " are included trees, standing or cut, or cut into logs, but not sawn into board or otherwise manu- factured, it also including the bark of trees.
71
In the past, criticism has been directed against the Keid Company because it has been granted so much of the public domain, but the answer to such complaint is, that a strip eight miles deep, along one side of the railway line would more than comprehend all the lands this company has acquired, leaving the corresponding strip on the opposite side of the track and all the rest of the lands in the Island, as well as on •' Newfoundland " Labrador, available for every other purpose and interest.
Moreover, the E-eid Company has a standing offer to sell lands to any person w^ho wishes them for farming or settlement purposes, at thirty cents an acre, wliich is the Government's upset price therefor ; being prepared as well, to lease or seU them for mining, lumbering or paper-making purposes at reasonable terms. The Com- pany, in other words, realizes that it can only promote the settling and developing of the country by offering favorable inducements to all intending to locate on the land or establish new industries in the colony, since such will mean enhanced prosperity and increasing business for the company's railroad and steamships.
FARM LANDS.
Crown Lands are sold for farming prices at an upset price fixed according to their location and value, but in no case less than thirty cents an acre ; every grant of more than twenty acres requiring the grantee within five years, to clear and cultivate in good faith ten acres for every 100 acres in the grant, no grant of more than 640 acres being made to any one person, except in special cases.
Larger areas up to 6,400 acres are granted, con- ditional on the licensee settling upon the land within two years one family for each 160 acres, and in five years cleariug two acres per year for every one hundred acres, continuing them under cultivation and families thereon for ten years more, when he is entitled to a grant in fee of the said land.
72
Areas of 5,000 acres may be acquired on clearing and cropping specified quantities annually and settling families thereon, as above. The Crown may set apart from time to time, lands to lay out for towns or villages, or other public purposes, and survey and lay out the same ; and set apart lands for the sites of market places, public buildings, court houses, churches, cemeteries, schools, parks, pasturages, bogs, beaches or shores for general public purposes.
The holder in all cases must preserve at least 5 per cent, of all trees or wooded lands as shelter for stock, and, where there are no trees, must plant and cultivate twenty trees annually for ten years, for every acre held, while there is also reservation for public use of not less than twenty-five feet, around all lakes and ponds and both banks of all rivers.
BOG LANDS.
Leases are granted for quantities not exceeding 5,000 acres, of such areas as are declared after survey and report, to be bog lands, holders of which must utilize them for peat-making and similar purposes, for such term, at such rent and subject to such conditions, as the Crown may stipulate.
QUARRY LANDS.
Leases are granted of land for quarrying purposes, for terms not exceedini? 99 vears, and for areas of not more than eighty acres, nt rentals of not less than 25 cents an acre annuallv ; the lessee to besjin work within two years and continue it effectively during the term, while he may obtain a grant in fee on expending $6,000 in quarrying on the land, within five years.
WATER POWERS.
Leases are granted for terms of years of the right to use the waters of any river for driving machinery, subject to such rent and conditions as the Crown may prescribe, and to tlie preservation of the vested rights
73
of all persons holding lands whose interests may be affected by the use of such water with a fine of $100 for each offence for introducing sawdust or other deleterious matter into such water.
FISH BREEDING.
For the encouraging of the breeding of fish, leases are granted for terms of years of the right to use any pond or river, or such quantity of land adjoining the same, as may be necessary for fish-breeding purposes, subject to such conditions as are deemed expedient.
TIMBER AND PULP.
licenses are granted to cut timber on Crown Lands for the manufacture of timber and pulp, for periods of ninety-nine years, subject to the following conditions —
(a) The right to cut timber to be at a bonus per square mile, varying according to the situation and value of the land, and not less than $2 per square mile, this to be paid within thirty days from the date of approval.
(b) The licensee to erect a sawmill or mills or a pulp or paper factory or factories, and to operate the same in good faith and continuously, according to the conditions prescribed by the Crown and embodied in the license. He must take from everv tree cut down all the timber fit for use and make it into sawn lumber or other products ; prevent any needless destruction of growing timber by his men ; exercise strict and constant supervision to prevent forest fires ; make sworn returns quarterly of the quantity of marketable materials taken from his area and the price or value thereof ; and pay in addition to the bonus above, an annual Crown rent of $2 per square mile, and a royalty of fifty cents per thousand feet board measure for all trees cut down — only half this rate beincr extracted as to lands on Labrador ; his books to be subject to inspection by officials authorised therefor, to verify
74
his returns. The license describes the land and vests in the licensee exclusive possession, subject to the conditions of the Act, with power to seize as his property any timber cut therefrom by any unauthorised person and to bring suits against such persons and prosecute trespassers; though other parties may be granted farming or mining rights on such lands, and any fisherman may cut from such lands for the bomi fide needs of the fisheries, fencing, firewood and similar purposes. The licensee becomes forfeit for non-payment of rent or royalties within six months of the date when same are due, and for the infraction of any other condition, the licensee and his assigns are liable to a penalty of not less than $10 and not more than $100 per day while such continues.
Every applicant for a timber license must, at his own cost, have the area surveyed and the boundary lines marked and diasrrams filed within a vear, or his claim is forfeited, but if he can prove that for adequate reasons these conditions could not be complied with, the time may be extended for another year, but not longer, by paying a rent for the year then past and an extra bonus of $2 per square mile.
No persons without license may cut, take or carry away from ungranted Crown Lands, and no licensee may remove timber from his lands until the same has been made into pulp, lumber, etc., under penalty of $20 for every tree, besides its value ; and no holder of any grant, lease or license, or Government contractor, servant, assignee or agent of such person may cut timber on any Crown Lands, other than under the terms of the said grant, lease or license, or purchase timber cut on such lands under similar penalty.
MINERAL LANDS.
Any person may search and prospect for mineral upon all lands in the colony without license to search.
75
and may explore the same by all such Dieans as may be necessary to prove their mineral worth, whether by surface or subterranean prospecting or excavation, provided such is in good faith to obtain a mining location and lease ; but no person may take away any greater quantity of ore than needed for samples, though this section does not apply to any limit reserved by the Crown for any purpose, nor does it give any exclusive right to the searcher.
Any person discovering mineral on Cro^Ti Land and desirous of obtaining a license thereof, must mark the deposit by driving into the ground a stake with his name and the date tliereon ; and then applying for a hcense for a year by fihng affidavit and diagram, with deposit of $10 ; any license granted will cover an area one mile by one-half mile ; and other areas adjoining this may be secured at the same time by paying $10 for each : other parties can also secure areas there, without staking, on paying the same fee. At the end of twelve months, if the lessee notifies his intention, and deposits $20 as one year's rental, he is entitled to a lease for 99 years, subject to the payment of the follow- ing rents :— $20 for the first year, $30 annually for the next five years, $50 annually for twenty-five years, and $100 annually for the remainder of the term, all these rents to be paid in advance. Applic<i- tion for licenses of mining locations may be made without staking if the locations are covered by the sea or tidal waters, or are situated on an island off the coast of Newfoundland or Labrador, which does not exceed an area of 320 acres, or if the whole area of the island be applied for ; but a lease under water does not entitle the holder to construct buildings or carry on works w^hich would prevent the holder of adjoining laud from access to it over such water. The lessee may pay in advance the whole or any part of the rental ; and payment of the whole, for the entire term, entitles him to a lease for 99 years free from liability to forfeiture
76
for any cause whatever, while an outlay of $6,000 durinff the first five vears in surface minin*?, or within ten years in subterranean mining, entitles to a grant in fee simple of the minerals in the area. Every lessee gets fifty acres of imoccupied surface land witliin his location for his mining needs, and can obtain from the Crown right-of-way for trams and roads, sites for wharves and piers, and more surface land, if required, while if he needs to traverse private property with tramways or for mining, or more surface land, and is unable to agree with the owner of the property as to terms, the Crown may adjust the matter by arbitration. Special con- ditions are prescribed for obtaining rights to work submarine mining areas through other such areas.
The Crown officials have free access to all mininsr enterprises for purposes of inspection; and books of account of the working of mines must be kept by the lessee and be open to these officials.
Where sufficient money lias been spent on one or more mining locations in boring for oil, the lessee is entitled to a grant in fee of any one or more as the case may be, which he may select. The holder of a mineral lease naay acquire foreshore and water areas for wharves, quays and other buildings, or other purposes connected with his mine, but no mineral lease may interfere with the granting of surface land over that lease for farming, lumbering or other purposes, except to the extent of fifty acres as aforesaid. Non-payment of mining fees entails forfeiture of the areas.
Chapter X.
LUMBERING.
Forest Wealth. — Potential Value. — Grades of
Lumber. — How Industry has Developed. —
Favourable Future Outlook.
NEWFOUNDLxiND, while not claiming to be re- garded as possessing unequalled timber resources, still holds undisputed forest wealth, and that has helped to swell the volume and value of its exports for many years, besides providing for all the local requirements in the way of lumber. Thus it has afforded employment to hundreds, and latterly the wooded tracts unsuited for lumbering are being profit:^bly utilized in the manufac- ture of pulp and paper, the Island being to-day the home of two of the world's finest paper mills, while others are likely to follow ere long.
Until recently, little or no effort was made to pre- serve the potential wealth represented by the vast wooded areas with which the interior v/as covered ; and not until the present Government assumed office was an effective measure adopted for grappling with this all-important problem, through tlie energetic efforts of Sir Edward Morris, who, in April, 1910, summoned a convention at St. John's of all the parties interested in the utilization and preservation of its forest wealth, wliich resulted in the adoption of plans that have proved successful in effectively patrolling the woodlands and preventing forest fires.
The Prime Minister, in his speech in opening this conference, pointed out that, allowing 14,000 square miles of forest land in the colony, and assuming it
78
worth $45,000 per square mile, according to the estimate of the Harmsworth Company, the valuation of this wooded territory would therefore be, in potential labour alone, $630,000,000 ; but even if this estimate were cut in half, its forest wealth would still represent the very large sum of $315,000,000. Assuming moreover, that one-thirtieth of this area was cut for pulp wood to be used in making pulp and paper every year, and fixing thirty years as the period of rotation for the cutting of the forests, there would thus be provided labour for the people to the equivalent of $10,000,000 annually, an amount equal to the value of the whole of the Island's fisheries at the present time.
This estimate is made up thus : Every ton of paper represents at least $12 paid directly or indirectly to the wage-earners engaged from the time the tree is cut down in the forest to the time the finished product is put on board ship. Every ton of paper represents roughly, a cord and a half of wood. An acre of good forest land will produce about nine cords; in other words, every acre of good average forest land supplies the raw material for about six tons of paper, and thus represents not less than $72 as a potential source of wages. This means further, that every square mile of good forest land protected from devastation by forest fires, represents about $45,000 preserved as a source of wages to the community.
In IS^ewfoundland the forest areas reproduce them- selves so rapidly, that any tract, cut out or burned over, will yield within thirty years wood fit for making pulp and paper. Director Howley of the Colonial Geological Survey, who has had over 40 years' experience in that service, and is the best livini? authoritv on the resources of the Island, has carefully studied this problem, and supplies conclusive testimony that such conditions are to be relied upon. One of the drawbacks frequently incidental to the business in other countries is, the slow reproductivity of the forest growth ; but here it can be
79
definitely apprehended that all denuded forest areas will be again available within thirty years.
The Newfoundland timber is chiefly found in the river valleys and around the shores of the lakes and streams. It suffers somewhat from the trees being normally too thick, so that they crowd each other and their growth is stunted. When, however, judicious cutting is practised and forests are thinned, the remaining trees grow much more rapidly and attain greater height and girth.
The forest wealth is varied and extensive. The trees include white pine, yellow pine, red pine, spruce, fir, juniper, white birch, yellow birch, witch hazel, aspen, aider, white maple and numerous others. The white pine is very superior in quality and the mainstay of the lumbering industry. Latterly profitable markets have been developed for it in South America, and it has even proved possible to make substantial sales of it at New York and Boston on beneficial conditions. It compares favorably with the Canadian article and is sought after by dealers. The trees are from 12 to 36 inches at the butt, and go forty feet before a limb is reached, then stretching 10 to 30 feet further.
The red pine grows plentifully and is used extensively for vehicles and household furniture. It is also used for railway ties. The fir known in England as " balsam " is notably excellent and superior to that of Nova Scotia. It grows to good size and is unusually sound. It is largely used for house-building of late and has been successfully employed in making pulp and paper. Spruce is chiefly used, for this, however, and the island has enormous areas of what is now known locally as " pulp-woods."
Spruce goes largely into local use also, for rough building work, where its great strength gives it a prefer- ence. The juniper, really a species of larch, and known in Canada as tamarack, is in goodly demand for ship building, as it is durable and resists the sea water, while birch is also much employed in the same industry. There are quantities of white birch suitable for spool
80
wood, and this is also used for finishing work in house carpentering and cabinet-making.
The timber belt exists principally in the north- eastern parts of the Island ; and along the Exploits River and its tributaries, the Gander E^ivcr and Lake, the Gambo Pond and streams, Grand Lake, Deer Lake, and the Humber E-ivers, and the rivers flowing into St. George's Bay and Bay of Islands. These timber areas have been more or less cruised and rough estimates made as to the kind and quantity of timber they con- tain. But only small percentages of these timber Kmits have been cut over, so the forests are all virgin growth, except where swept by fire ; and even in this case pine is not necessarily injured as saleable lumber. Decay does not set in for years, and pine lands burnt a decade ago are now producing wood that lumber dealers welcome, being dry, easily handled and not affected by worms, owing to the climatic conditions.
The Government is now carefully considering re-afforesting measures, not so much because it is thought that there will be any immediate necessity therefor, but owing to the desirability in the general interest, to ensure that tbe fullest possible advantages may be given to those who contemplate investment in the forest resources of the colony.
What is true regarding the forest resources of Newfoundland is likewise mainly true of those of Labrador, where Newfoundland owns the eastern section and therefore the outlets to the Atlantic of all the territory drained by Sandwich Bay, Hamilton Inlet, and the lesser fiords which indent that coast, and the timber resources of wliicli are ])elieved to be enormous. Official reports sIioav much of the country to be splendidly wooded ; and Sir William MacGregor, the late Governor of Newfoundland, an (explorer of repute who travelled extensively in New Guinea and Lagos, visited that ter- ritory in the summers of 1906 and 190S, and in his official reports described the great areas of timber he
Photo.]
Marble Head — Humber River.
[Honoicay.
Photo.']
Paddling along a Steady.
lUolloivay.
rhoto.']
Cascade, St. Paul's.
llloUoinuj.
81
had seen, confidently predicting that Labrador would one day become the centre of great lumberini^ industries. One advantage enjoyed by Newfoundland in this respect is, that all its wooded areas are within easy access of the seaboard. With deep bays and inlets, numerous harbours and railway communication, it is possible to transfer these products to shipboard with the least cost and delay. There is no part of the Island more than. 57 miles from the sea, and mostly all of the principal timber properties are located along the railway line or within convenient outlet to the ocean. Other advan- tages enjoyed by the colony in respect of its forest areas are, that it is so near the British Isles and the American continent, being only 1,500 to 1,700 miles f I'om either, and that abundant and efficient labour is obtainable at lower figures than in Canada or America, experience having proved that tlie colonists become as capable lumbermen as any from abroad, after a year's trainin2* in the work.
The official returns for the fiscal year 1909-10 show that during that period 273 saw-mills were being operated, the aggregate output of which was 44,500,000 feet of lumber of different kinds, valued at $624,764, besides w^hich, 85,000,000 feet of timber was cut by the Harrasvvortli Company for use in its pulp and paper mills. The 273 saw-mills employed 3,900 men for al)0ut five months, and averaging their wages at $25 a month for this period, these mills disbursed for labour alone $488,750, wdiich amount shows that this industry returns perhaps a larger percentage of its earnings to workmen than any other in the Island. Of the total number of sawmills above stated, only 16 are being supplied with timber cut from licensed areas, the other 257 drawing their supply from Crown Lands and chiefly from the areas along tlie coast. The export of lumber has declined the past few years, because some of the areas, the product of which was largely cut into lumber, have now been included within the sections devoted to
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pulp and paper production. StUl, durinc^ 1909-10 the sawmill operations were larger than at any time since the inception of this industry, the output of lumber being 10 per cent, greater than for the previous year, when the total cut by 270 mills was 40,000,000 ft., valued at $510,128.
The domestic demand for lumber is increasing largely every year, partly by the upbuilding of new towns, such as those at Grand Ealls and Bishop Palls, and the housing of workmen at mining centres, as well as by increasing ordinary requirements everywhere over the country, furthermore, the cut of logs for the pulp and paper mills is now quite as large every year as that for the whole of the lumbering operations of the colony, and in a few years this will be still further augmented as these works double their capacity and as other similar enterprises take root here. The lumbering industry is worth to the colony every year $750,000, and the pulp and paper industry $1,250,000, or $2,000,000 per annum, whereas the forest products did not realize one-tenth of that sum a decade asro.
A specially gratifying feature of a trip through the interior or along the coast is the spectacle of the large quantities of lumber at the various mills or in the many outports, the neat and comfortable houses, stores, schools and churches everywhere under erection, and the visible evidences on all sides of how the ability to secure an ample and increasing supply of local lumber, excellent in quality and moderate in price, has reflected itself in the increased comfort of the people, in their homes and in the structures in which they do their business, while the development of the shipbuilding industry, extensively practised and utilizing local lumber also, attests the further possibilities in this direction, now that the Morris Ministry is taking steps to further encourage this industry at home and to retain in the colony the $300,000 which it is estimated, is annually spent abroad in purchasing ships for the local trade.
8S
Chaptee, XI.
THE PULP AND PAPER INDUSTRY.
Harmsworth IMiLLS. — Albert Reed Mills. —
World's Records Broken. — Possibilities
Yet Unrealised.
IT is indicative of their reputation for doing striking things, that the Harmsworths, the famous London publishers, brought into existence a pulp and paper industry in Newfoundland, a country previously sup- posed by ill-informed people to be hopeless except for fishery purposes, and still thought by great numbers to be a region absolutely covered with snow and ice and devoid of forest growth. The Harmsworths though, after searching the whole of the available territories elsewhere in quest of suitable pulp areas before visiting Newfoundland, satisfied themselves ultimately, by the most exhaustive inquiries, that the resources of the Island in this respect were such as to warrant them in establishing their industry here. Naturally therefore, this decision, when it was reached, attracted the most widespread attention, and the progress of the construction of the mills was followed with the closest attention by all concerned in the business of pulp and paper making, and in the providing of the necessary supplies of raw material for such purposes.
In Newfoundland, when poor fisheries had occurred in the past, the country suffered serious setbacks, so that the people longed for other permanent industries capable of employing large numbers constantly, that contingents might be withdrawn from the fisheries.
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and occupation afforded those who, during the winter months, when fishing is not possible, were condemned to enforced idleness. Of late years the copper and iron mines at home, and the coal beds and steel mills in Cape Breton, had opened avenues of labour for many who previously lacked this means of utilizing their un- occupied months ; but this was not the most acceptable solution of the problem, because those who sought work abroad had to part with much of their earnings for their own subsistence, and the colony lost this ; besides which, thev often removed their families and settled permanently in these places, so that on every hand the cry was for some styptic to stop the flow of this lif eblood of the colony ; since here, as elsewhere, those emigrat- ing were the flower of the population.
Hence, the news that the Harmsworths had acquired a property in the Island, and would erect there paper mills equal to any in the world, besides awakening all competitor countries to a realization of Newfoundland's possession of other resources than those of the sea, likewise awakened its own people to a better apprecia- tion of its undeveloped possibilities. This altered aspect of the world abroad, respecting Newfoundland as a factor in the pulp and paper business, was intensified as "■'he new proposition took shape, and the plans of its projectors were developed. These materialized in an installation which, in its various aspects, challenged admiration, and soon stimulated another prominent English concern to establish itself in the vicinity ; while other capitalists irom Britain and America are likely to locate here before long.
Six years ago this July, Mr. M. M. Beeton, Presi- dent of tlie Harmsworth enterprise, camped in a tent on the bank of the Grand Falls of the Exploits river to survey and decide on the site of the proposed new pulp and paper mills. The place was then, so to speak, a wilderness almost untrodden and without a solitary in- habitant. To-day it is the site of an enterprise that
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promises to make it within a few years the second town in the Island in point of population and commercial interest. Mill buildin2^s of concrete, coyerin*»: several acres, have been erected there and equipped with costly and up-to-date machinery ; many miles of railway have been built, with large terminal wharves at tlie sea-coast ; and dams, booms and boom-piers constructed in the river, all of which represent many working months of labour and thousands of tons of material, the whole standing for an outlay of some millions of dollars. A town site has been laid out with streets and locations for jjublic buildings; a system of sanitation has been provided ; homes for the staff, hotels for the workmen, and residences for the chiefs of the various departments have been erected ; and the company last year built two hundred more workmen's and foremen's houses. Nearly one thousand men are employed there daily and the payments of wages, including the operations in the woods near Millertown, have been for the last year aggregating $60,000 a month, or nearly $750,000 per annum.
The reason the Harmsworths decided upon estab- lishing in Newfoundland was, that they desired to secure a self-contained area which they might effectively patrol and police ; administer as they thought best, subject, of course, to the general laws ; and wherein it would be possible for them to gain for themselves the maximum degree of protection against the dangers of forest fire and spring-time flood to which this industry is open. Accordingly, they selected the upper section of the Exploits valley, the very centre of the Island, embracing that river and the Red Indian Lake watershed, malcing an area in all of some 2,000 square miles, to which tliey have since added by other compacts, a further 1,100 miles, so that thev control the entire terram above ihc:. Grand Falls of the Exploits on both sides of the river, the Hed Indian Lake, and all the tributary streams and ponds. They are thus in absolute mastery of the
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situation, and their territory is so enormous, that it will be possible for the forest growth to reproduce itself perpetually at the rate at which the cutting of pulp- wood will be necessary for the needs of the present output, and as much more as will follow from the doubling of its capacity.
Having acquired this region and the amplest powers from the Newfoundland Legislature, consistent with due regard for the public rights, the Company began the in- stallation of its plant, which was completed towards the end of 1010, when it was formally opened with appro- priate ceremonies by Lord Northcliffe, the function being attended by the Governor of Newfoundland, Premier Morris and the members of his Cabinet; the leading <iignitaries of Church and State in the colony, and many visitors from England. The mills were absolutely the most modern of their kind in the world, and, with a single exception, the largest. They represented the most complete varied aggregation of pulp and paper- making equipment that had ever been assembled, the very finest of the machinery and contrivances used in the industry being incorporated into their installation from every country where this manufacture had made any progress.
The Grand Ealls mills are made up of 11 steel and concrete buildings, in which all the various processes are carried on; a sulphur tower, 200 feet high, topped ])y a water tank with a capacity of 250,000 gallons, a penstock or double Hume, composed of two circular steel pipes, iifteen feet in diameter and 2,150 feet long, stretching from the mills to the falls farther up the river, where the channel of tliis stream was cut oil" by a dam 800 feet across and 25 feet above the bottom of the river, there being lesser dams of an equal bulk constructed at one side, to direct the water into the forebay, whence it passed to the penstocks, and in time energized the machinery in the power-house, hewn out of the solid rock beside the bed of the stream.
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120 feet below, ibis work occupying buntlrcds of men for several montbs.
Tbe wbole installatiou at Grand Falls is of tbe most permanent and endurinc^ cbaractcr, and so successful lias tbe venture been tbus far, tliat at tbe present time an extension of tbe works is being set on foot, wliicli will double tbe output capacity of tbe mills as tbey are now developed and equipped, wbicb is as follows : —
Ground wood mill : :VoO tons (oi; 2,000 lbs.) mccbanical pulp per day.
Sulpbite mill : GO tons sulpbite pulp per day.
Paper mill : 120 tons finisbcd paper per day.
By next year it is boped to liave tbe extension completed and to be turning out twice tbis daily product; and on tbat basis tbe market value of tbe output will be over $3,000,000 per year.
Tbe wood for tbe pui'poses of manufacture is obtained at present from tbe territory contiguous to lied Indian Lake, wbicb water is used for tbe purposes of log-storage and floatage. Tbe gangs of loggers are distributed around tbe sliores of tbis Lake, and tbe convenient streams and ponds connecting witb it ; tbe Company lias its own steamers for towing tbe logs to tbe booms at tbe foot of tbe Lake ; tJience tbev are conveyed to Grand Falls tbrougb tbe agency of tbe Exploits river, vast " drives " being made every summer, some 2| million pieces or logs being cut eacb winter and so transferred during tbe ensuing montbs, making in all about 50,000,000 ft. of timber, tbis sufficing for a season's needs ; tbougb, of course, it will require to be doubled as soon as tbe new buildings are constructed .
At MiUertown, tbe Company possesses a lumbering village witb some 90 dwelling bouses as well as works, factories, buildings and macbinery ; and tbis place is reacbed by a line of railroad owned by tbe Company and extending some 20 miles from tbe main lim^ of tbe Heid system. At Grand Falls tbe Company possesses quite a
88
town in the vicinity of the works, and has an outlet to the sea hy means of another railroad of its own, which extends from Grand Ealls to Bishop Falls — the seat of the second pulp and paper enterprise — and from there to Botwood Harhour in Exploits Arm, Notre Dame Bay, a total distance of 22 miles, which is the Company's shipping port, and where docks, piers and other accessories have been provided.
In deciding to establish in this colony, the Com- pany resolved that it would erect a model town at Grand Palls ; and this is not the least commendable feature of the undertaking, where a decade ago the forest denizens roamed undisturbed. The scene has chanE^ed entu'elv now ; the stream is dammed and made subservient to the control of man ; the rocks have been riven and mighty structures replace them ; the bush and woods have been succeeded by enormous buildings packed with wonderful machinery, and b}^ shops and houses, streets and clearings, churches and schools, and every other accessory of modern civilization. A sand-filtered water supply has been installed, sewers and mains built, streets and parks laid out, electric light provided, and a hospital erected. An eminent English expert was brought out last year to plan the sanitation scheme, and the Company hope to make Grand Ealls the most healthy town in the Island.
The organs of the American paper trade stated that these mills in the first week of June, 1910, broke all the world's records in the production of '•' newsprint " paper, such as is used in daily journals. Only the previous October were the mills formally opened. Not until Christmas week, 1909, was the making of pulp begun ; and it was March, 1910, before the first shipment of paper was forwarded to England. Yet, so satisfactory was the colonial wood for the purpose, and so completely did every featui*e of the enterprise develop itself, that within three months this notable achievement was eil'ected.
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The example of the Harmswortlis in. establisliing themselves in Newfoundland was followed by the Albert Heed Company, a paper-making concern of Cannon Street, London, which has just completed extensive mills at Eishop Falls, eight miles from Grand Falls, that ai*e being operated the present summer. These mills are about three-fourths the original capacity of those at Grand Falls, and were designed at first for the produc- tion of ground-wood pulp alone, for which this company lias an immense demand ; but the conditions were found to be so favourable, tliat it was soon decided to begin the making of paper as well ; and an enlargement of the plants with tliis object in view, was undertaken and has just been completed.
This Company's advent furnished the final proof, were further evidence needed, of the feasibility of making pulp and paper in Newfoundland on a business basis. It might have been argued that the Harmswortlis' undertaking "\7as an adjunct to their newspaper enter- prise and that, as they required paper as an indispensable auxiliary in their daily operations, they could afford to manufacture it under conditions impossible with a regu- lar paper-making concern, which would have to exist by furnishing wares capable of selling on their merits and at prices comparing favourably with others. Therefore, the Albert Heed Company's decision to establish in Newfoundland made it manifest that the region was regarded by English business concerns as being one where the inauguration of such an enterprise with reasonable prospects of success, was amply justified.
The Albert Heed works at Bishop Falls embrace encrineerino' features altosjether different from those to be seen at Grand Falls. Instead of employing a pen- stock, the requisite " head " of water is secured by means of a f orebav and flume chamber contii^uous to the works themselves. The dam, too, is of the Ambursen or hollow type of construction. Its average height is 30 feet and average width at the base 50 feet, the maximum
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of the widest part ])eing 67 feet. It is not, however, a solid structure, hut consists of a series of almost solid concrete piers, set parallel with the course of the stream at 15 feet intervals. Steel rods connect these and serve as a screen on which a thick layer of concrete is deposited, so that an unhroken surface is presented in resistance to the force of the water ; and, viewed from the outside, the dam seems ahsolutely solid, though there is a means of passing along in its interior as through a tunnel, almost from one bank of the river to the other.
This dam raises the level of the river some 28 feet, and its effects are shown for five miles back along the course of tJie stream. The mills were designed by the same American architect who originated those at Grand Falls, and are constructed in the same substantial fashion, though the equipment is being obtained in the main from Norway, where the Albert Reed Company has many mills already in operation.
A similar policy has also been adopted with reference t-o the construction of the town wdiich must follow the operation of this plant. A town site has been laid out and made readv ; workmen's homes and residences for the officials have been constructed; sewer and water systems have been installed ; the electric light has ])een furnished, and everything has been done to ensure the comfort and convenience of the operatives who will be employed there.
To realize what the establishment of enterprises of such a character in our Island will represent to New- foundland, it is only necessary to take the case of the villaGre of Grand Mere on the St. Lawrence. At this point a Paper Company established its mills, and now the place has a population of five thousand, of whom 1,200 are employed in the works. It is estimated that the value of pulp Avood as cut from the forest and ready for export, is from $6 to $7 per cord, while every cord of wood ground to piilp has a value of $20 ; made into fibre it has a value of $30, and converted into paper it
91
has a value of $10 and upwards, according to tlie quality of the product. Therefore it will be seen that it is greatly advantageous to this, or to any country, to secure the estaWishment within its ])orders of the mills for the making of pulp aiid paper ; and for that reason Newfoundland has cause to feel gratified that these enterprises are now established in its midst.
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Chapter XII.
ISLAND'S ADVANTAGES FOE PAPER- MAKING.
Why this Industry was Introduced — Factors Aiding its Success — Figures of Production
Last Year.
CAPITALISTS and Investors will doubtless be interested in studvinj? the reasons which, influenced these two companies to locate in Newfoundland, and which are influencini^' other corporations to follow their example. These reasons may be briefly stated as follows : —
1. Proximity to the British Isles.
2. Unlimited supplies of Pulp-wood.
3. Abundance and Cheapness of Labour.
4. Security of Tenure in a British Colony. P^viewing' these facts in detail, it will suffice with
regard to the first, to point out that Newfoundland lies a thousand miles nearer to Great Britain than the sections of Canada and America where paper is manu- factured from wood-pulp ; that all Newfoundland's southern seaboard is free from ice the whole winter; and that it thus enjoys open navigation when the St. Lawrence is blocked with floes. As there is no point in the Island sixty miles from tidewater, the long and expensive rail-haul is virtually eliminated; and one of the lari^est items in the cost of American and Canadian pulp is avoided.
With rei?ard to the second factoi' — the abundance of pulp-wood — the foliowing details will be of interest, as
93
they arc given upon the authority of one of the leading Forestry authorities of the Dominion of Canada : —
The Newfoundland forests are cliiefly composed of the woods preferred hy paper- makers, such as spruce and fir, and thus contain greater proportions of pulp- wood timber. Some may claim that even seven cords to the acre — whicli is what lumbermen figure for Newfoundland — is an excessive estimate to make. This might be true as to the State of Maine, the Adirondacks of New York, or the Province of Quebec, which are all well-known as sources of pulp-wood supplies ; but in the places mentioned, and also in Vermont, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Minnesota, that have still moderate stocks of spruce pulp-wood, the proportion of pulp-wood timber to the other timber in the forests is frequently less than one-tenth of the amount, whereas the pulp-wood timber in Newfoundland is often found to be nearly the entire growth of the woods. Surveyors have traversed many miles of pulp- w'ood land within twenty miles of Grand Falls, where the growth of pulp- wood was thirty cords to tlie acre, and competent timber cruisers report the finding of fifty cords to the acre over extensive areas. Indeed, one of the best informed tim])er cruisers on the Island reported that he had cruised a block of green pulp-wood on the Harmsworth limits, forty miles in extent, that he was confident would cut fifty cords of pulp-wood to the acre, which would make over a million and a quarter cords to be got from this comparatively small area ; and another reliable cruiser said he had cut over eighty cords from a single measured acre.
The cost of timber delivered in the booms of the Company at Grand Falls is estimated at $3 to $3.50 per cord, as it is driven by the stream the wliole waj'' from ]\Iillertown to Grand Falls ; but a better idea of its cheapness for these purposes may be gained from the fact that an American concern, possessing other timber land in the colony, undertook to deliver 200 cords per
94
day at $4 per cord, tliougli this figure involved freight charges for raih-oad haulage of fifty miles, and the use of twenty-five cars every day. United States Government reports give the average price per cord of spruce pulp- wood at all the Maine mills in 1907 at $8.34, and at the New York mills at $10.40 a cord; and with present prices in America two or three dollars higher than these, the figures of the delivery of pulp-wood in Newfoundland are illuminating. In America to-day the owner of pulp-wood areas has to pay taxes, dues and other charges on mills, logs, timber lands and lumber, but in Newfoundland no such imposts are levied.
Whilst there are some sections in the Island where white spruce is fairly abundant, the chief product is the black spruce, which is seldom found either in New England or Eastern Canada, averaging in size larger than here. This black spruce is in some respects more valuable to the paper-maker than the white spruce, because a log of black spruce contains fifteen to twenty per cent, more fibre than a white spruce log of the same bulk, owing to the larger size of the wood cells of the white spruce. Moreover, the black spruce of New- foundland is a more durable wood than the white spruce of the continent, as proved by its use for railway ties by the Heid Company, since the white spruce of the Atlantic slope is not considered suitable for this purpose. The black spruce of the colony is declared by expert pulp-men to be the finest in the world for their needs ; and one feature of the colonial forests is the immense area covered by this spruce. Where the country has been burnt over, or where tlie soil is not strong enough for heavy timber, the lighter growth has taken its place and covers thousands of miles. On the basis of 5,000 miles of pulp- wood, a low estimate for the quantity of pulp-wood is 85,000,000 cords. Probably in no part of North America are there such opportunities for carrying on the pulp and paper-making business as in Newfoundland.
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Further, there is an abundance of labour obtainable here for pulp and paper-making as for any other in- dustry, and tlic adaptability of Newfoundlanders is remarkable and has been attested bv all concerns em- ploying them, even for most varied pursuits. Living as they do, in isolated settlements around wide-stretching seaboard, and obliged by this condition to rely upon themselves almost wholly, they become proficient in any kind of handicraft, with a minimum of instruction. They are fishers, farmers, miners, railroaders and factory hands in turn, and, as each new enterprise arises, men are speedily and easily trained to the tasks necessary for its maintenance. One of the predictions when the Harmsworth project was launched here was, that they could not make paper in a country where the people were fishers only, who could not be induced to abandon that work and become mill-men, and who, if they ever were initiated into this industry, w^ould never prove successful at it. Instead, however, it has been proved by the work done on the Harmsworth plant, that these untried and untrained Newfoundlanders became pro- ficient workmen in every department, and the principals are confident that ultimately these extensive plants, and any others that may be established, will be operated wholly by local laboiu*.
When this criticism was developed against the new enterprise, the testimony of independent and unbiased employers of labour all over the country was secured, all of whom declared that local workmen proved most satisfactory, adaptable and progressive, and that no- where could the labour problem be solved more easily, or more satisfactory men be found for industrial purposes. Moreover, strikes are wholly unknoi;\Ti, and the rate of wages is lower than anywhere else in the Western Hemisphere. An illustration of what Newfoundland workmen are capable of doing, is afforded by the residence for Lord NorthclifPe, which was built at Grand Falls. This country cottage of Tudor architecture is 70 feet
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long by 30 feet deep, and three storeys high, and was constructed in less than two months by Newfoundland workmen, not one of whom had ever " served his time." They had a most meagre outfit of tools, but the Super- intendent of Construction, an English architect, stated publicly that with these few utensils they did as good work as experienced English tradesmen, w]io had under- gone a regular apprenticeship.
Another advantage of operating in Newfoundland is, that in a British colony with settled Government, and security as to title and tenure, freedom from inter- ference, and law and order adequately maintained, the industrial investor enjoys a safety which he does not possess in many other countries. The Newfoundland laws are favourable to the progress of this industry, the o])ligations which they impose being comparatively slight beside those which exist in Canada and the United States. The colony, it is true, proliibits the exports of unmanufactured logs, but in view of the present needs of the pulp and paper industry throughout the world, the feeling here generally is that it is Avell the colonial laws should contain this provision, as it ensures that the Island, as the years go by, will become the home of many enterprises having this industry as their biisis.
It is not possible to exactly estimate at present what the product of the pulp and paper mills will be henceforth. But the Customs returns for the past fiscal year, which ended on June 30th, 1910, show that the exports of the products of the Grand Ealls mills from the starting thereof in January until that date amounted to : —
7,866 tons of paper valued at $352,155 6,853 „ „ pulp „ „ 69,164
$4^21,319
The exports of the same products for the six
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months from July 1st to December 31st, 1910, were as
follows : —
11,120 tons of paper valued at $498,208 14,453 „ „ pulp „ „ 144,463
$642,671
It would therefore appear that during the calendar year, 1910, the export of pulp and paper amounted to- $1,063,990. This would not however, represent a- normal output, because the mills at the start were not operated to full capacity, and the output the present year should be much larger. Moreover, this year the Albert Reed Company, at Bishop Ealls, will also be swelling the total volume and value of this export by the results of its operations also.
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Chapter XIII.
MINERAL RESOURCES.
The Mining Industry — Copper Zone and Output — Great Variety of Mineral Products
Obtained.
NEWFOUNDLAND'S mineral wealth is varied and extensive; and deposits of copper and iron are now- being worked largely and profitably. One copper deposit at Tilt Cove, in Notre Dame Bay, yields its owners divi- dends of 20 per cent, annually, and from hematite iron deposits at Bell Island, in Conception Bay, more than a million tons are taken everv vear. which is sold at a profit of a dollar a ton. Gold, silver, lead, antimony, talc, asbestos, coal etc., have been worked at different points, and there is reason to hope, that when the interior is better prospected the mineral output will be much increased.
The physical structure of Newfoundland consists mainly of the most ancient geological formations, it being thus among the oldest countries in the world. Large areas within its confines are occupied by igneous and eruptive materials, evidencing extended volcanic action in the formative periods of its history. During the glacial epoch it was covered by a mighty ice-cap, and when that began to disappear it transformed the surface of the Island, rounding and smoothing the
99
hill-ranges and lesser ridges into the present contour which its topography presents. The geological strata resembles that of parts of England, notably the Cambrian deposits in Trinity Bay, which are similar to those in Wales, slates of the famous Carnarvon deposit being found there, while fossils like those of Europe appear in the eastern and southern bays.
As might be expected of such a country, one of the most ancient geologically and subjected to such physical disturbance in its upbuilding, it possesses mineral deposits of unusual value; and ample proof €xists that it is so endowed, because almost every known metallic substance has been found here; and although mining is yet only in its infancy and prospecting is confined, in the main, to the seaboard, enough has been ascertained to warrant the conclusion that a great future awaits it from a mining view-point.
The mining of copper and pyrites has been almost entirely carried out along the shores of Notre Dame Bay. In this region are large deposits of sulphurets, some yielding as much as twelve per cent, of copper ; and since 1864, work on these has proceeded with more or less vigour, as the price of the metal rose and fell. Associated with these copper ores are large bodies of magnetite and iron pyrites. Quantities of the latter have been worked, and at Pilley's Island in the same region, a large lode, containing over fifty per cent, of sulphur, has been extensively mined and shipments made to the United States.
According to the late Sir William Logan, an eminent geologist, who was at the head of the Canadian Geological Survey, the Lauzon division of the Quebec group is the chief metalliferous zone of North America ; and it is in this Lauzon division, which is developed largely in Newfoundland, that most of the copper mines are located. Respecting the probable extent of the Lauzon mineral-bearing series in the Island, the report of the Geological Survey shows that the following compose
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the Serpentine and associated rocks comprising this division : —
Hare and Pistolet Bays North from Bonne Bay South from Hare Bay South from Bonne Bay South from Bay of Islands Notre Dame Bay Grand Lake and Biver Bayd'Est
-L o tal ... ...
230 sq. miles.
240 sq. miles.
175 sq. miles.
150 sq. miles.
184 sq. miles. 1,400 sq. miles. 2,310 sq. miles.
3(*0 sq. miles.
... 4,989 sq. miles.
The whole shores of Notre Dame Bay, including most of its islands, are occupied by this serpentine formation. On the opposite side of the Island along the west coast, in Bonne Bay and Bay of Islands, there are large developments of this series as well ; and the frequent uncovering of copper deposits all around Notre Dame Bay and the occurrence of the same on the west coast, indicate that valuable areas of this ore will be found in the interior, and profitable industries developed thereby.
A well-known United States mining expert, Professor Stuart, who visited the Island a few years ago and made- an exhaustive examination of this region, observes in the course of his report that : " The copper ore of Newfound- land is a beautiful yellow sulphuret, free from arsenic or any other undesirable ingredient, with a little ii'on, and containing from eight to twelve per cent of copper. Finer copper is nowliere to be found. The character of the rocks in whicli it occurs gives an absolute assurance of perpetuity in the workings."
The Island's mineral history may be said to be only fifty years old. In 1857, a copper deposit was discovered at a smaU fishing village called Tilt Cove, in Notre Dame Bay, where in 1864, the "Union Mine" was opened. Prior to that some mining did take place, but for ten years the output seems to have been only 62S-
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tons. Tilt Covo has been contimiously operated ever since and its annual output is about 50,000 tons of copper ore, valued at about $250,000. In 1875 another copper mine was opened at Bett's Cove, twelve miles from Tilt Cove, and in 1878 a still richer deposit was worked at Little Bay, in the same vicinity. The out- put of these mines placed Newfoundland for some years, sixth among the copper producing countries of the world. Other mines in the same bay were developed at later periods ; the whole of this region is copper- bearing, and promises yet to become one of the Island's chief industrial regions.
Other sections of the country have promising copper areas likewise. One at York Harbour, Bay of Islands, is highly productive; another at Bale Verte, across the peninsula from Tilt Cove, and one at Goose Cove in Hare Bay, near Belle Isle Strait, give similar promise ; and many indications of copper are found all around the coast and on some of the outlying islands, notably on the Southern seaboard, which may any time yield ample returns for their working.
Mr. J. P. Howley,P.G.S., Director of the Geological Survey, writing in March, 1909, says : — " Altogether, the statistics of our copper mining up to date give a total output of 1,319,59J^ tons of ore, 78,015 tons regulus, and 5,418 tons of ingot copper, shipped from all the mines. The percentages of metallic copper contained in these ores have varied considerably, running from 3 or 4 up to 30 per cent. I cannot obtain an average, but taking? it at about 10 per cent., the total yield of metallic copper should be in the vicinity of 110,366 tons."
To promote the further development of the copper deposits and especially to test the value of small areas Avhich people of limited means, within the colony, were endeavouring to exploit, the Legislature at the last session provided bounties on copper ore smelted, of 3^ per cent, on a sum not to exceed
:^
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$50,000 for any one person or company annually for twenty years.
Among other mineral substances of which several large deposits are known to exist, is chromite. It has been found near Port-au-Port Eay, and between 1895 and 1900, some 6,000 tons of high grade ore were mined and exported. Several new and extensive areas have since been discovered in the same locality, and others on the Gander and Bay D'Est Rivers.
Nickels, associated with copper, cloanthite, and nickel pyrites, have been found in the Tilt Cove copper ore and extracted therefrom. Antimonv or stibnite exists at Moreton's Harbour, Notre Dame Bay, and several thousand tons have been exported. Ores of galena or lead also have been found at many places, and mines actively operated, one at Lamanche, Placentia Bay, producing nearly 30,000 tons, while other beds at Lawn and iVrgentia in the same Bay, also gave generous yields. Manganese occurs in extensive deposits on the South shore of Conception Bay. Gold has been found in the Tilt Cove copper ores, and in some years 3,000 to 5,000 ounces have been extracted from the ore shipped there to the refining works at Breton Ferry. Eree gold in quartz veins has also been found in many places and two deposits, at Ming's Bight, North of Cape St. John, and at Sopp's Arms, in Yv^hite Bay, have been worked sufficiently to prove the existence of the precious metal in quantities that elsewhere have w^arranted active operations. Professor Howley declares his belief that " if some of the local gold-bearing areas were carefully and economically handled with up-to-date appliances for recovering all the ore, they might develop into paying propositions." Silver occurs frequentlyy combined wdth both copper and galena. Some of the galena ores show high percentages of silver, and have yielded as much as 400 ounces to the ton of metal.
Among the non-metallic substances of value are
103
asbestos, barytes, feldspar, graphite, grindstones, gypsum, kaolin, lithographic stone, mica, petroleum, salt, slate, talc, etc., and various clays. About 6,600 tons of barytes have been shipped and 6,000 tons of talc.
In 1904 petroleum wells at Parsons' Pond on the west coast yielded 700 barrels, but large quantities have been pumped from the wells since then, while in 1908 several hundred barrels were employed at the Gas- works in St. John's, to enrich the gas product of the coal used there, and gave most favorable results. In 1910 the Morris Government granted special concessions to corporations to develop the oil-bearing areas, which exist chiefly on the west coast, and this stimulated development extensively.
The slate obtainable in the Island and declared to be equal to the best Welsh slate, exists in abundance, and is found in large bodies on both the eastern and western coasts. Some of the product has been exported and has fetched the same prices in England as the finest of the domestic product. Many varieties of building and ornamental stones — granites, porphyries, sandstones, freestones, limestones, marbles of various shades, and others exist, and last year the export of beach stones was begun. The coast is fringed with many beaches, made up of stones worn smooth by the ceaseless action of the waves for ages ; and as these are in large demand in America for use in various forms of manufacturing, and as they are already largely imported from Iceland and France, it was felt that Is' ewf oundland could compete therein, and the venture was begun so excellently, that it is being repeated this year more extensively.
Clays of all kinds — pipe, brick, fire, terracotta, china — and otiier similar substances likely to become of economic import at some time in the future, are also found in abundance in various parts of Newfoundland. Already the brick clays have been utihzed to a con- siderable extent in the manufacturing of brick for local
104
consumption, these articles being produced of excellent quality and of a durability unsurpassed. Indeed, except for pressed brick, used in ornamental work, the local product is largely displacing the imported, and in Trinity Eay,^ where this brick-making is carried on, it forms a subsidiary industry of appreciable value.
105
Chapter XIV.
lEON AND COAL.
Wonderful Iron Mines — Among the World's EicHEST Deposits — A Million Tons Yearly— Coal
Beds and Prospects.
THE Island's chief mineral product at present is red hematite iron from Eell Island in Conception Bay, eiditeen miles from St. John's. Nowhere in tlie world is there such a deposit, and even now its possibilities are but very inadequately appreciated. Towards the south shore of Conception Bay are three islands — Great Bell Island, Little Bell Island and Kelly's Island, The first is the largest — six miles long by two wide — with an area of about twelve square miles. It forms with the other two, the remnant of a great trough of Cambian rock, occupying the entire area of the Bay.
This groap of islands forms one of the most strikingly beautiful pictures in the region wdien observed on a clear summer day, with the unruffled surface of Conception Bay shiniug like a silver mirror and reflecting back the shadow of these land-masses from its gleaming surface, formerly Bell Island was one of the most promising agricultural sections of the colony, and even still it produces farm stuffs to an amazing extent ; but this industry has now become a secondary one by comparison with the great mining enterprise carried on there.
The remainder was submerged in some pre-historic convulsion and extends some miles below the water, north from Great Bell Island, on which crops out the remarkable hematite deposit referred to, from w^hich
106
more than a million tons of ore are taken erery year. Altogether there are twelve hands of this ore, ranging in thickness from one to ten feet. The largest are so accessihle that almost all the ore they contain is mine- able, for the ore easily separates from the under-lying and over-lying strata, has a perfect cleavage and breaks readily into cubical blocks of convenient size for hand- ling. The easy grade of the dip, not over eight degrees, enabled large quantities to be rained for several years by open-cut work, akin to quarrying along the line of the outcrop. The Nova Scotia Steel Company first began mining here in 1895, and four years later, retaining the upper bed, with contents of about 6,000,000 tons, sold the lower bed, of about 28,000,000 tons, to the Dominion Steel Company for $1,000,000. Since then both com- panies have vigorously operated, and each takes out fully 500,000 tons of ore every year. The mineral is very cheaply mined and handled. It is won by exploding small charj^es of dvnamite and is then loaded into cars carrvinor about one ton of mineral each; which an endless cable conveys to shipping piers about a mile distant, where enormous hoppers receive the material and transfer it to the holds of large steamers, w^hich lie below, as twenty-four feet of water is obtainable at the pier head. It is not uncommon for 7,000 tons of this ore to be put on board a steamer in four or five hours, so perfect are the loading appliances; this year both companies are employing 10,000-ton ships in this trade, the first cargo for the season, 13,500 tons, having been taken away by one of them at the end of April.
Most of the Dominion Company's ore goes to its smelters at Sydney, Cape Breton, wliile the " Scotia " Company sells the bulk of its output to various markets in Europe and America. The pig iron and steel pro- duced at the Sydney Works is in large demand all over Canada, and steel rails made therefrom have been sent round Cape Horn to be used in the building of the Grand Trunk Kailroad to the Pacific Coast, while other
107
cargoes have been sent to India for railroad construction there. Latterly extensive holdings of submarine areas, covering the extension of the ore deposit under the Bay, have been acquired by various parties, and notably by these companies, which, during the past three years, have been, driving out below the sea, mining the ore as they go, and finding it not alone maintaining its general character throughout, but increasing both in thickness and quality, as the centre of the trough is approached.
Professor Howley has estimated that, including aE the ore bands now known to exist on Bell Island, the entire deposit, submarine and above water, contains the enormous total of 3,635,548,360 tons, observing " the amount that may be recoverable will largely depend upon the conditions met with, the engineering skill to cope with any difficulties that may present themselves,, and the adequacy of the machinery employed to keep the mine dry and fully ventilate it."
As evidence of the value of this deposit, it might be stated that Mr. A. J. Moxham, the famous American iron and steel expert, who built the smelters at Sydney, declared in a lecture delivered at Toronto in ^February, 1901, that " at the Bell Island mines, the actual price of mining and putting the ore on cars is less than the traditional contractor's price for the- removal of earth ; in fact the ore is capable of being mined as cheap as dirt, and in making steel at Sydney the cost of freight on the assemblage of the raw materials there, being — coal, nothing, as the smelters are built over the coal beds ; limestone, fifteen cents a ton ; and ore, forty cents a ton — or fifty-five cents in all ; the cost of assemblage is the lowest in the world, and represents a saving of $2.45 a ton over the assemblage cost in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania."
An added importance is given to these Newfoundland iron ore deposits by the recent decision of the Canadian Parliament to establish a Canadian Navy and the purchase of nucleus ships from the British Admiralty,
108
pending the construction of squadrons of warships on the Atlantic and Pacific seal)oards by Canada herself. Naturally, this policy will imply the providing of dock- yards and a demand for steel in the form of plates, ingots and other pieces necessary for all this class of work. Moreover, it is highly probable, that as a complement to tliis policy the construction of steel ships for the merchant service will he undertaken as well, which wiU likewise help to increase the demand for the products of the Dominion Steel Company's smelters at Sydney and those of the Nova Scotia Steel Company at North Sydney and at New Glasgow.
Already there is talk of the locating of a ship- huilding plant at Sydney; it has heen declared by the Canadian ]\Iinisters at Ottawa that the new fleet will be built in Canada ; this must be followed by the use of domestic material in the work, and all of these departures open up a vista of largely increased usefulness for the steel products of these smelting centres. Consequently, as the iron ore which they need comes entirely from Bell Island, this will mean a greatly augmented consumption of the raw material and a much enhanced output from the Wabana mines. This will be a welcome circumstance to the colony in every way, and will probably tend to stimulate prospecting for other iron areas, the product of which might be drawn upon to supplement the output from those already existing.
It is currently understood, that the British Govern- ment would be keenly desirous of learning of the discovery of other similar ore beds in this island, as the iron ore resources of many parts of Europe are diminishing of late. The supply of hematite from the Spanish mines near Bilbao is falling off, and the deposits at Narvak, on the north of Sweden, are, it is feared, likely to fall into the hands of competitors of the British Empire. In view of the immense importance of the iron and steel industries to the British Isles, and of how largely Britain's supremacy on the sea depends
109
upon her ability to produce cheap and abundant shipping fabrics, the significance of this fact should not be overlooked. Under these circumstances, it would look as if there was a splendid opportunity for enter- prising mining capitalists and prospectors to devote themselves to the development of the iron ore resources- of Newfoundland.
It by no means follows that these deposits at Bell Island are the only ones of the kind in Newfoundland. On the contrary, some other very promising iron prospects are known to exist, but for various reasons their development has not been energetically pursued. The remarkable feature about the Bell Island mines is, that their existence was discovered by accident rather than by design. They had lain unknown and unused for generations until, somewhere about twenty years ago, so the story runs, a fisherman sailing in his smack from one of the coves there to St. John's, ballasted his boat with lumps of reddish rock that cumbered the strand. When he unloaded this on the wharf at St, John's, an Englishman on a schooner lying at the next pier, saw that it seemed to be highly mineralized and took a portion of it across the Atlantic where he had it assayed and its value determined. The original holders of the property received $120,000 for it from the Nova Scotia Steel Company which, in its turn, was jjaid by the Dominion Steel Company $1,000,000 for the larger of the two beds; and each of these Companies is now producing 500,000 tons of ore annually and selling the same at a profit of a dollar a ton.
Coal Deposits.
According to the Geological Survey's reports Newfoundland possesses extensive coal measures, but their full extent is not yet determined. There are three distinct and well-defined coal-beariag tracts — one near Grand Lake, by the upper reaches of the Humber Biver; another inland from the south side of St. George's Bay ;;
110
rand a third in tlie Codroy valley, farther south and towards Cape Breton, They extend over an area of some hundreds of square miles, and are believed to he •extensions of the vast coal beds near Sydney, Cape Breton and Pictou, Nova Scotia, whence an output of several million tons is now annually made.
Prom Sydney most of the colony's present supply of coal is obtained, and as large sums are sent abroad annually for this commodity, the discovery of workable coal areas at home would mean an important industry, to be enhanced materially with the development of other mining, pulp and paper making and varied industrial undertakin<;s, throughout the Island.
The three coal regions discovered in this Island are conveniently situated for shipping purposes, the deposits in the Grand Lake region being near the line of railway and within forty miles of tide-water on the Humber lliver; in St. George's Bay they are only eight miles from the coast ; and the Codroy coal could be conveyed to Port-aux-Basques, which is a deep water haven, and loaded on steamers there the whole year round. Latterly the Government has expended sub- stantial sums in testing the extent of the coal deposits near Grand Lake, and during 1908 and 1909, an expert American driller was engaged for the same purpose. The true coal measures in the Humber valley are embraced in a long narrow trough, skirting the south side of Grand Lake. Borings have shewn the existence of at least two separate beds in this region, and thirteen seams have been discovered. Professor Howley says : "The importance of this coal-field in the future development of the Island cannot be over-estimated, but on account of the abnormally difficult conditions prevailing all over this region, the work of successfully prospecting it must necessarily prove slow. Sufficient data has certainly been gathered to warrant either the Government or a company of capitalists in entering upon the development of the principal seams known to exist."
Ill
The St. George's coal area lies eight miles inland from the south shore of that Bay, and almost parallel with the coast. Its full extent is not known, but it has been tested for about five miles. Three brooks which cut across it, enable the measures to be estimated. On Earachois Brook twelve separate seams shew, the " Murray " 3^ feet wide, and the " Jukes " 4^ feet wide being the principal, with others of lesser width; but the coal in several being of first-class quality. On the E-obinson river, two miles east, five other seams shew, the " Howley " being over 4 feet wide of good solid coal. The aggregate thickness of nine seams in this trough of over one foot, and including the three named, is 27 feet, which, if they maintained this average throughout, would give for every mile of surface they may be found to underlay, 25,920,000 tons of coal.
The Codroy Valley is of more limited extent — a segment of a trough, cut off by a fault. The greatest thickness of the true coal measures does not exceed 250 to 300 feet in all, but in this are six seams of coal, four small and two quite large. One at its outcrop shewed 9^ feet of good clean coal, while the other was 23 feet wide, 15 feet being a fairly good coal, and the rest, layers of shales and clay. The K,eid- Newfoundland Company has mined coal from all of these areas and used the same in its locomotives at intervals with, it is said, excellent results.
112
Chapter XV. AGRICULTURE.
Old-time Hostile Policy — Pertile Areas — Quality
OE Soil — Variety of Products — Prospects of
Livelihood for Thousands.
SO long has this Island been thought a desolate, fog- hound region, with harsh climate and sterile soil, precluding all attempts at farming, that claims respecting its agricultural advantages obtain little credence abroad. Western Canada was until recent times, believed to be only a wilderness of snow and ice, but now is known as one of the world's granaries. Similarly Newfoundland has farming possibilities to which the leading agricultural authorities of the Dominion do justice.
The farm-lands here lie in belts, mainly in the valleys through which the principal rivers run, or around the heads of the great bays, and are capable of supporting a population many times as great as that which now occupies the Island. This statement might be considered overdrawn, but that the statistics show what progress has been made in agriculture of late, and how much greater it may become henceforth. The reports of the Geological Survey, conducted by reliable scientific men ; the data obtained by official surveyors mapping out the CroTVTi Lands for many years ; the experience of farmers and stockmen and the testimony of experts who have visited the colony, prove that it has an agricultural future by no means negligible. To-day the farm products are worth probably half as much annually as those of the fisheries.
113
That farming is backward here will scarcely occasion surprise, for it was a penal offence to plant a potato in Newfoundland when a royal college was founded in Nova Scotia ; self-Government was denied this colony until eighty years back, though granted that province seventy years before, and the present time is only about the centenary of the recognition of agriculture in this Island, for not until 1813 were grants of land for farm- ing issued.
As recently as 1789, or 121 years ago, Governor Milbanke wrote that " it is not in the interest of Great Britain to encourage people to winter in Newfoundland." Not until 1811 Avas permission granted to erect per- manent houses, and two years more elapsed before Governor Keats was " authorized to grant leases of small plots of land to industrious individuals for the purposes of cultivation, taking care however, to observe an annual quit rent, either nominal or real, according to the cir- cumstances of each individual case."
This tax on land was abolished in 1822 on the advice of Chief Justice Eorbes, who reported " That it was desirable, in order to open up the country and afford employment to the inhabitants, that all restraints upon the cultivation of the soil should be removed, and the breeding of live stock be encouraged " ; and in 1825, Sii* Thomas Cochrane, the first resident Governor, actively encouraged farming, for he was progressive and far- sighted, and believed in husbandry as a material factor for the well-being of the colony. He inaugurated road- making, encouraged agriculture, and chose a country seat for himself in the suburbs of St. John's.
During the next fifteen years farming was further encouraged, and, with the granting of representative Government in 1832, more funds were provided for roads and bridges, the annual vote for these in 1833 being only three hundred pounds sterling. These roads helped materially to encourage people to engage in husbandry, and Governor Sir John Harvey, in 1842, organized an
114
Agricultural Society in St. Jolin's, held ploughing matches and horse races, and in 184-8 prizes were pro- vided for various forms of farming progress.
In 1869, the first agricultural exhibition was held in St. John's, and others have been held at intervals since ; but not until the Exhibition organized by the Morris Government last fall was there any s^eneral display of products from all parts of the Island. The rich farm lands of the west coast were worked even before the railway was enterprised, and some thriving settlements were thus founded. The pubhc men also encouraged the tillage of the soil, but not imtil 1878, w^hen Sir William White way moved resolutions " For a survey for a line of road in the Humber Vallev, Gambo and Grand Lake districts, to open up and settle the agricultural land in those districts," was any Government formally identified with the development of agriculture. He took a further step in 1880 by the adoption of the railway policy, this being the agency that, perhaps more than any other, contributed to the permanent progress of agriculture here ; while in 1886, the administration of Sir Robert Bond granted bonuses for the clearing of land, which gave an impetus to farming all over the Island tbat it would never otherwise have received, because land was cleared and cultivated around everv hamlet and has continued to be used till this dav.
In 1893, railway connecting roads were built, opening up the country between the villages in the various bays and tlie railway line, thus aiding in the clearing of land and the extension of farm- work in these localities. The Winter Government, in 1898, revived tlie land bonus ; and the completion of the cross-country railway, piercing the arable sections of the west coast and enabling farm produce to be conveyed to market promptly, put these districts in direct touch with St. John's, and also shewed how self-supporting communi- ties could be maintained otherwise than by the fisheries. Much of the best farming land of the Island has been
115
opened up for settlement by the railway, while more wiU be made available by the branch lines now bein;^ contracted. These sections can sustain thousands of people, and mere fractions of them can supply the colony with most of the farm stuffs necessary for home consumption.
Agriculturally, the western slope is easily the most important, for it has, besides large tracts of fertile soil, valuable forests, and coal, lime and mineral deposits, yielding essential constituents for the manufacture of pulp and paper. This is the carboniferous region, and the rocks of this formation always underlie good soil. Its climate, too, is superior to that of the eastern or southern shores ; as the easterly winds from the Atlantic are tempered before reaching there. Since this slope has been tapped by the railway, it has shewn clearly that it is destined to become the seat of a large farming industry, ultimately broadening into cattle and sheep raising, on which a successful start has already been made.
The western area comprises the Codroy Valleys, St. George's Bay, Port-a-Port, Bay of Islands, Bonne Bay, and the Great Northern Peninsula to the Straits of Belle Isle — four hundred miles in extent. The Great and Little Codroy rivers drain valleys which form one of the finest farming districts in the Island, being about forty miles long and ten to twelve miles wide, where for the most part the soil is excellent, and extensive husbandry is possilile. The Geological Reports give the extent of land available for settlement in St. George's Bay district at 560 square miles, with soil so good, that the settlers have in some cases, worked the same ground for twenty years without the use of manure. In the Bav of Islands district the chief arable area is the Humber Valley, with 800 square miles, containing soil of superior character, capable of being profitably culti- vated. The forest wealth is also extensive and the other land is equal to most of that cultivated on the eastern
116
seaboard. The Report of the Geological Survey ob- serves : — " Thousands of miles have been laid out into townships, and already settled in Canada, either for lumbering or farming, far inferior in most respects to this part of Newfoundland which without doubt, is capable of supporting a very large population." North of this is another fine inlet named Bonne Bay, shortly to be connected to the main railway by a branch from Deer Lake, and a carriage road already cut between these points, shews that there is much good land in the whole way, giving excellent crops where cultivated, and still larger areas suitable for grazing purposes, the whole being described as a section possessing arable areas not exceeded by any others in the Island.
Prom the west coast to Notre Dame Bay, a level plain extends across the Island, with arable tracts so ex- cellent and extensive, that in 1898 a survey was begun to construct a highway through it. The surveyor's report shewed that thousands of people could settle there and make comfortable homes for themselves, as farmers and lumbermen. The next farming region is Exploits Bay, a deep inlet on the south coast of Notre Dame Bay, with several arms, the greatest leading to the Exploits river, the valley of which drains an area of 4,000 square miles, the stream reaching the sea after flowing 200 miles, the width of its fertile belt varying at intervals, and the fertility of its soil being amply testified wherever cultivation has been attempted, producing roots, potatoes, grass and other crops of the finest description; w^hile for grazing or stock-raising country it can hardly be surpassed. The conclusion of the Geological Survey is that " There are, on the Exploits alone, 512,000 acres, more or less capable of supporting settlement, including arable and pasture lands, and the pine, timber, spruce, tamarack and birch, which cover extensive areas, are of excellent quality and vigorous growth."
The Gander valley is considered by some even better than the Exploits for farming. Including the neighbour-
117
ing Gambo and Torranova valleys, there are, says the Geological Survey, 1,700 square miles, or 1,088,000 acres, available for settlement ; of which large proportions, notably eastward from the main river, are of rich and fertile soil, as amply testified by the indigenous produce, which mainly consists of pine and spruce of superior size and kind. With its facilities for grass growing, the breeding and rearing of stock can hardly fail to become one of its great future industries. Nowhere else in the Island is there anything like the quantity of pine timber to be met with here ; and althouf^h the soil on the western side of the Island is richer in some places, this section, with its other advan- tages, offers more immediate inducement to the settlers.
Smaller farming tracts are too numerous to describe in detail. They exist along the banks of the smaller streams and skirt the heads of all the great bays ; and constitute, in the aggregate, large areas of excellent land. The chief of these are in the inlets of Bonavista Bay ; the north-east section of Truiity Bay ; St. Mary's Peninsula, the Salmonier inlet in that bay; and the Cape St. Mary's shore, or eastern seaboard of Placentia Bay. Moreover, thougli much of the Avalon peninsula is of poor and rocky soil, there are extensive areas yield- ing excellent root crops, luxuriant grass crops and generous fruit crops, as well as oats, barley and other grains. The gardens and farms which surround virtu- ally every settlement in the peninsula attest this ; the neat and comfortable homesteads proclaim the industry of the people ; and the proximity of St. John's gives a constant market, while in the environs of the capital itself are farms which would do no discredit to countries more pretentious agriculturally.
In some quarters the assisted immigration of farmers from Scotland, Sweden and other countries, whose climatic conditions are similar to those of New- foundland, has been advocated ; and as recently as two years ago the Salvation Army took up the question of
118
establishing farm colonies in the Island; but pending the fruition of these projects it looks as if the greatest assurance of success in this industry Avould be throu2:h encouraging the resident population to engage more largely in the cultivation of the soil. The attractive inducements held out by Western Canada and the United States to farming and other immigrants, are so much greater than any this colony could offer, and the reputation of those regions as farming centres naturally so enhances their attractiveness to the intending settler, that Newfoundland would be very seriously handicapped in any attempt to divert immigration from them to its own interior. Nevertheless, it is recognised, and the experience of those who have come from the British Isles and undertaken farming in the Colony, has proved that it is possible for farmers to make a very profitable livelihood here, particularly as the colonial tariff provides a generous measure of protection for the local husbandman.
Dr. Andrew MacPhail, who was invited here last 3'^ear to advise the Government as to potato- culture, observed in a public address at the time, that :
" If I were embarking in farming as a business, it is not to Prince Edward Island I would go, though I own a farm there ; nor to Quebec, where I own another farm ; nor to Saskatchewan, where I own a thu'd ; I would not be attracted by the much-boasted opportunities of the Canadian North-west, but I would come right here to St. John's where, under the beneiicent influence of a 40 per cent, tariff, I would make a comfortable living at the expense of the rest of the community. The soil and climate in your country are as good as that of many parts of Canada, and some of the results I have seen in my visits to some suburban farms yesterday and to-day are really remarkable."
119
Chapter XVI.
NEW FARMING POLICY.
Premier Morris Advocates Farming — Agricultural Experts Visit Colony — Directions in which Pro- gress IS Possible.
SIR EDWARD MORRIS, the present Premier, has always advocated the development of husbandry here, maintaining that large sums might be retained at home by the cultivation of farm products which are to-day imported, and instancing the advance made in this industry alone, even within the past thirty years, as shown by the census returns of 1891 and 1901, and the l^robable further development which the census of the present year will disclose. The agricultural summary in the census was : —
Acres Occupied Land
Acres Improved Land
Acres Pasturage Land ...
Acres Garden Land
Acres Improved Unused Land ...
Wheat and Barley (bushels)
Oats (bushels)
Hay (tons)
Potatoes (barrels)
Turnips (barrels)
Other Root Crops (barrels)
Cabbage (barrels — 50 heads)
Horses
Milch Cows
Other Horned Cattle
|
1891. |
1901. |
|
179,494 |
215,563 |
|
64,494 |
85,520 |
|
20,524 |
35,210 |
|
21,S13 |
35,867 |
|
6,244 |
14,443 |
|
491 |
824 |
|
12,900 |
10,773 |
|
36,032 |
53,867 |
|
481,024 |
541,590 |
|
60,235 |
65,527 |
|
5,041 |
3,560 |
|
81,370 |
258,680 |
|
6,138 |
8,851 |
|
10,863 |
14,160 |
|
12,959 |
18,599 |
120
|
Sheep |
60,840 |
78,031 |
|
|
Swine |
.. 32,011 |
34,676 |
|
|
Goats |
8,715 |
17,307 |
|
|
Fowl |
.. 127,420 |
206,969 |
|
|
Cattle (killed) ... |
7,713 |
7,415 |
|
|
Sheep (killed) ... |
20,216 |
23,590 |
|
|
Swine (killed) |
17,653 |
17,656 |
|
|
Butter made (pounds) |
.. 401,716 |
673,974 |
|
|
Wool (pounds) ... |
.. 154,021 |
199,377 |
|
|
Tbe value of the farm products in each year was |
|||
|
1891. |
$ |
1901. |
$ |
|
Wheat and Barley at $ 1.00 bushel... |
491 |
at $ 1.00 bushel. |
824 |
|
Oats at 50 cents „ ... |
6,450 |
at 50 cents „ . |
5,387 |
|
Hay at §12.00 ton ...432,384 |
at $15.00 ton |
. 809,465 |
|
|
Potatoes at 1.00 barrel ... 481,024 |
at 1.44 barrel . |
.. 779,889 |
|
|
Turnips at 1.00 „ ... |
60,235 |
at 1.20 „ . |
78,632 |
|
Other Root Crops at 1.00 „ ... |
5,041 |
at 1.00 „ |
3,560 |
|
Cabbage at 3.50 „ ... 284,795 |
at 4.00 „ |
.. 1,024,720 |
|
|
Cattle (killed) ... at 30.00 head ... 2 |
31,390 |
at 35.00 head . |
.. 259,525 |
|
Sheep (killed) ... at 3.60 |
72,777 |
at 4.00 ., |
.. 94,360 |
|
Swine (killed) ... at 10.00 „ ... 1 |
76,530 |
at 15.00 „ . |
.. 264,804 |
|
Butter made ... at 20 cents lb. ... |
80,343 |
at 22 cents lb. |
.. 161,754 |
|
Wool at 20 |
30,804 |
at 25 |
49.844 |
|
$1,862,264 |
$3,532,764 |
The figures shew that the occupied land increased by 20 per cent, during the decade ; the improved land by over 40 i)er cent. ; and the pasture and garden land by 50 per cent. each. Hay shewed a similar increase ; potatoes and turnips each increased 12 per cent. ; cabbages trebled in quantity ; horses, milch cows and cattle each increased nearly 50 per cent., sheep 33 per cent., swine 16 per cent., goats over 100 per cent., fowls 70 per cent. The cattle, sheep and swine killed during that year shewed 10 per cent, increase, butter 60 per cent, and wool 25 per cent. Ten years previously the animals imported — horses, cattle, swine and sheep — were valued at $130,000, but in 1901 the value of these imports declined to $97,000. The latest Customs returns shew, that while the total of the animals
121
imported in 1910 was only the same as in 1901, the value was $187,000, or nearly doubled, an enhancement that has applied to the local product as well, so that the raising ol" cattle, sheep and swine for food purposes is receivinc^ unusual attention.
As already shewn, the value of agricultural pro- ducts in 1901, amounted to $3,532,000 ; but in addition to this, there are imported each year animals and farm products of the following kinds, and about the value (for the fiscal year 1908-09) following, all of which
|
e raisea at nome : |
$ |
||
|
Beans |
17,690 |
||
|
Cabbage |
9,758 |
||
|
Peas |
36,635 |
||
|
Potatoes |
35,083 |
||
|
Vegetables ... |
20,464 |
||
|
Apples |
43,829 |
||
|
Animals |
178,099 |
||
|
Butter and Oleo |
106,770 |
||
|
Cheese |
40,074 |
||
|
Eggs |
11,198 |
||
|
Hay |
37,747 |
||
|
Jams |
6,764 |
||
|
Lard |
5,084 |
||
|
Oatmeal |
24,182 |
||
|
Oats |
97,607 |
||
|
Oilcake, etc. |
92,267 |
||
|
Fresh meats, sausages and poultr} |
55,591 |
||
|
$818,842 |
Accordingly, when Premier Morris was firmly estab- lished in office, he took up the subject of agricultural development on progressive lines and invited to the colony Dr. James W. Robertson, C.M.G., the famous Canadian agriculturist, who revitalized that industry in Prince Edward Island, who was Canadian Commissioner of Agriculture for many years, subsequently principal of
122
the MacDonald Agricultural College near Montreal, and is now President of the Canadian Eoyal Commission on Industrial Training and Technical Education. Dr. llobertson came to Newfoundland in September, 1910, to advise the Government as to the best policy to pursue, and after studying the farming features of the west coast, the interior and the vicinity of St. John's, he out- lined his views, declaring himself confident that there was a great future before the Island agriculturally, that the land at present cleared was ample to produce twice the quantity of farm stuffs annually raised therefrom, and indicating the lines along which farming progress might be best directed.
In September also Dr. Andrew MacPhail, a well- known physician of Montreal and a bacteriologist of repute in Canada, visited the colony at the Premier's invitation, to study the question of improving the cultivation of potatoes, to which subject he has given great attention for some years, and on which he is a recognised authority. During his stay he inspected a number of farms near St. John's, and stated that these farms and the potatoes produced therefrom, compared favorably with Prince Edward Island, besides which his opinion was, that without any additional labour or cost, but by the mere utilization of more modern methods, it would be possible to greatly increase the yield from these areas.
The previous year Mr. Beach Thomas, agricultural expert of the London Times, who visited the Harms- worth mills, in an address delivered at St. John's, on the Premier's invitation, observed : " I have visited every centre of agriculture and gardening in England, many in Prance, and several in Holland and Belgium ; so my experience in these countries may ena])le me to tell you something of your interior. On the farm at Grand PaUs are meadows where grass and clover flourish as luxuriantly as in England. In England we do not rear Jersey cows, as they are too tender, but at Grand Palls
123
are Jerseys doing exceedingly well. The potato and turnip crops arc at least as good as could be found on any ordinary farm in England. I am certain, that if you could plant down these Grand Falls farms there, many market gardeners would pay two or three pounds an acre for them, because of the quality of the soil. At Grand Falls grow different flowers, all of which may be seen in England, such as helianthus, bergamot, sweet peas and mignonette. The cauliflowers in the gardens could not be beaten. I cut heads of corn as fine as could be ; and saw turnips, potatoes and cabbage equal to any raised in England."
Professor C. A. Zavitz, of the Ontario Agricultural College, who came here in 1908, to report upon the farming possibilities, stated as follows : " Newfoundland has greater agricultural possibilities than I expected to find. Many crops can be gro^rn with excellent success, and would do better if replaced by other varieties more suitable to the conditions of soil and climate. Other crops which would do well in this climate are practically unknown here. Surprisingly large quantities of farm products are imported from other countries, though many of them could be raised in abundance on the Island. I would not favor the extensive growing of wheat, but I do believe that vegetables of many kinds, oats, barley, potatoes, mangels, turnips, small fruits and certain other crons could be o'rown in abundance to the advantage of both the producer and the consumer, providing proper methods of agriculture were adopted."
Encouraged by these gratifying opinions and the equally conclusive evidence afforded by the statistics of local farm products, the Morris Government decided upon the promotion of agriculture by the formation of some 70 agricultural societies all round the Island, each being allotted a certain amount in cash to be expended as in its judgment seemed best ; the providing of animals, seeds and implements, and their utilisation and distribution by the societies ; the dissemination of agricultural
12t
knowledge by means of newspapers, bulletins and pamphlets ; the preparation of text books on agriculture for the schools ; the application of cold storage to farming products ; the conversion of the peat deposits into fuel, and a demonstration, by an agricultural exhibition in St. John's, of the present status of the industry and what intelligent and earnest effort might accomplish. Very gratifying success has attended the movement thus far. Seed potatoes of approved quality have been obtained through the agency of the Canadian Department of Agriculture, and distributed all over the Island by the societies ; cabbage and turnip seeds of approved qualities have been similarly handled ; Scotch oats of suitable kinds have also been distributed ; cows, sheep, pigs and Sable Island ponies have been procured (the latter a free gift from the Government of Canada) and placed where they would be of the most benefit ; and vigorous advocacy of agricultural effort has been inaugurated by the Premier and energised by an Agricultural Board appointed for the purpose of carrying this policy into full effect. The agricultural exhibition, held at St. John's in the first week of November, 1910, completely surprised even the most enthusiastic advo- cates of farming in the colony. Over 3,000 exhibits were on view ; every district was represented, and some of the remoter ones proved most successful, even in competition with the professional farmers of St. John's and of the west coast. Two officials of the Canadian Department of Agriculture — Messrs. Standish and Moore — were obtained from the experimental farm at Trm'o, Nova Scotia, and their opinions, seeing that they had a unique opportunity to observe the quality of our animal and vegetable products, should be of interest.
Mr. Standish said : "I was more than surprised that Newfoundland could produce such excellent exhibits as are on vicAv. Not for some time have I seen such cabbage, tiu^nips and potatoes. There is no doubt that Newfoundland is rich in soil suitable for the growth of
125
these crops. The liay cxliibit was equal to any I have seen in some of the Provinces of Canada ; and the show in general was superior and better arranged than I have ever before witnessed in this class."
Mr. Moore said : " I was greatly surprised and delighted with the results. I have been present at eight county and provincial exhibitions, and the condi- tions here compare very favorably ; in fact, Newfound- land is not behind any of them. The root crops especially were equal, if not superior, to those exhibited in these places, and yet they can still be improved here, this being notably true of potatoes. I think the poultry exhibit superior to any I have seen in any country show in Canada. The dairy stock exhibit shows that a good start has been made in the selection of pure bred Holsteins, Ayrshires, Jerseys, etc., and also in the other live stock exhibited."
Pour experienced peat cutters were obtained from Ireland and were employed during the summer of 1910, going from place to place through the island, instruct- ing the people in the cutting, drying and handling of peat to serve as fuel. Their advent was warmly welcomed, and the use of peat for this purpose is likely to become very general. A poultry association was organized in St. John's ; a project was launched for the despatch of 30 teachers annually for five years to Canadian Agricultural Colleges to receive a year's course each in agricultural subjects; and competent farming instructors will organize farming institutes and otherwise develop intelligent effort among the farming community. Measures were enacted at the recent session of the Legislature for an inspection of seeds and the further extension of this agricultural policy. Sheep raising is being specially encouraged, that the fleeces may be used in a wool factory, proposed for the making of all the woollens and similar products required in the Island, and of which some 8350,000 worth are imported annually. The developing of the fruit industry, the
126
makini:^ of local berries into jams, preserves and jellies ; the exterminating of dogs in order that sheep and cattle may be introduced into settlements where such is impossible at present ; and other kindred matters are embraced within this movement.
A lesson in comparative values is afforded by the figures of the Island's farming industry. The cabbage crop is twice the value of the seal fishery. The annual product of hay is nearly equal to the mineral output. The potato crop almost approaches in money's worth the lobster, herring and salmon fisheries ; and if the food-stuffs now imported annually, but which can be raised at home, were grown here, they would almost equal the output of the pulp and paper mills. Then, the flour and salt meat imports can be much reduced. Newfoundland's per capita consumption of flour is the greatest in the world to-day, being twice that of Canada, the people making flour the chief item in their some- what limited dietary, though they should be raising their own food stuffs and substituting local vegetables and meats for flour and pork imported from abroad. Thus even if the colony could not all at once raise all of the local products for this purpose, it could gradually reduce the imports ; so it is clear that the possibilities of agricultural development along new lines are very great, and that active work in these directions can accomplish much. Indeed, it has been estimated that to raise within the colony all the farm-stuffs that it is possible to consume, six agricultural townships of one thousand families each could be formed, the inhabitants of which would be assured of as constant and profitable employment as those at any of the industrial centres now existing.
127
Chapter XVII.
THE COD AND INSHOKE EISHERIES.
Value op Eisheries — Number Engaged Therein — Enormous Catch of Cod — Lesser Fisheries
Described.
NEWEOUNDLAND'S fisheries form her great staple industry, the chief occupation of her people for centuiies and the bulwark of her prosperity. Other industries have developed in recent years, but do not as yet compare with the fisheries, for these contribute about 80 per cent, of the total exports, and the following table from the Customs returns for the fiscal vear 1909-10, shews the value of the principal fishery products exported in that period : —
|
Codfish (dried) |
$7,307,778 |
|
Codfish (otherwise) |
38,158 |
|
Herring- |
302,355 |
|
Salmon |
69,850 |
|
Lobsters |
337,835 |
|
Other Fish ... |
60,599 |
|
Cod Oil |
379,018 |
|
Seal Oil |
459,814 |
|
Sealskins ... |
460,220 |
|
Whale Oil ... |
147,840 |
In passing, it might be noted that the value of the fisheries of the United States in 1909-10 w^as $64,000,000 and that of the fisheries of Canada about $30,000,000.
The principal fish taken in the Island's waters are cod, herring, salmon and lobsters, seals being hunted
among
the ice off the north-east coast and in the
128
St. Lawrence Gulf, while whaling in its modern form, was begun some thirteen years ago, and has been pursued with varying success since. The census of 1901 shews that of the total population of 220,984, no fewer than 62,674 were engaged in catching and curing fish; 41,231 males and 21,443 females, against 54,775 in 1891, and 45,419 in 1894; that the fishery stock comprised 24,342 boats or small skiffs, 1,350 smacks, 1,424 larger crafts, and 204 schooners ; and these used 34,915 nets and seines and 4,055 cod traps. In the seal fishery of 1911, occupying the latter half of March and the whole of April, there were 19 steam vessels crewed by 4,000 men. These of course, engage in other fisheries later in the year.
The cod fisheries of Newfoundland are very much larger than those of any other country. The average annual export of cod is about 1,500,000 quintals, whereas Canada exports not more than 700,000 quintals and Norway not more than 800,000. The total annual catch of cod in North American waters (including those taken on the Banks) by French, American, Canadian and Newfoundland fishermen, is estimated at nearly 4,000,000 quintals, and allowing 50 fish to a quintal, this means 200,000,000 taken every year. Yet so prolific is the fishery that it has withstood this enormous drain for centuries. Indeed, the catch in Newfoundland in 1908 was by far the largest ever obtained, the export totalling 1,732,387 quintals, nearly twenty per cent, more than any previous year's.
Until 1890, the fisheries were conducted without any efficient administration, but a Fisheries Commission was then organized, and the services of an able scientist as Superintendent of Fisheries were secured. The artificial propagation of cod and lobsters was begun, and modern methods were adopted. In 1898, a regular Department of Marine and Fisheries was created, with an official head in the legislature, being also invested with the control of marine works, lighthouses, shipping,
Photo.^
A load of Codfish.
'[IloUovay.
Photo.'}
Removing the fat from a Seal Pelt.
UitUovay.
129
etc. An Advisory Fisheries Board was associated with the Minister, and gradually the powers of the Depart- ment were enlarged, the sphere of its usefulness increased, and the scope of its ordinances made more comprehensive.
The principal branch of the cod industry is what is known as the " shore " fishery, that prosecuted directly from the coast of the Island by the thousands of sea- farers settled in its countless coves and creeks. Here for 400 years fishermen have been reaping the harvest of the ocean floor. The waters are well-stocked with fishes ; every river and estuary forms a haunt for the lordly salmon ; on the beaches of golden sand the silvery caplin, somewhat larger than a sardine, appear in myriads, and in the deep waters beyond are still greater draughts of fish to be made. Every harbour has its fishing village, the lime-washed houses perched among the cliffs like match boxes on a wall, and the fishing places lining the strand.
The life of the fisherman in one of these coves, daily buffeting the billows, exposed to the storms which frequently sweep the coast, is not an enviable one. Yet among them one finds the noblest characteristics. Kindness and hospitality are their cardinal virtues. Simple in their habits, they are fearless and hardy, facing appalling danger as unconcernedly as their daily work, and enduring hardships that would seem almost too great for human strength. They are strapping, stalwart fellows, who will make admirable material to supplement the crews of British warships in time of need, the Naval Beserve having been extended to the Colony some years ago. They build their owti fishing vessels, rig and sail them, and are unexcelled navigators.
The Labrador fishery involves the annual migration of 16,000 people — men, women and children, — from their homes in Newfoundland to the seaboard of that vast peninsula, which is the theatre of one of the world's greatest fisheries. This migration employs
130
about 1,200 schooners, into which are crowded fisher- folk, their live-stock and household belongings. They make their temporary abode in the many harbours along Labrador, where they have houses and fishing stations, or " rooms " as they are termed. Here they remain for the months of July, August and September ; the men trapping codfish in the ofiing and the women salting and drying it ashore. A branch of the Deep Sea Mission was established on Labrador some twentv years ago by Dr. Grenfell, the medical missionary, who has through his self-sacrificing labours there, become a historic personage. Now the Mission has two hospitals and a hospital ship on Labrador, with doctors, nurses and launches attached to each, and treats about three thousand patients each season. In the Autumn the Newfound- landers rejoin their vessels and journey homeward again. During 1910 there were 12,050 persons engaged in the Labrador fishery, a decrease of 2,938 as compared with 1909, and 1,126 schooners employed, besides which some 750 permanent residents of Labrador were also engaged in the industry.
The " bank " fishery is somewhat like the North Sea fishery of the Mother Country. It is pursued by staunch vessels which cruise on the Grand Banks between May and October, running home at intervals to land their catch and renew their stores. The Grand Banks stretch past the East coast of Newfoundland, from Labrador to the Gulf Stream, being 1,200 miles long by 300 wide, l.^'hey are favorite haunts of the cod, haddock, halibut and mackerel, and formerly were the resort of fishermen from all Western Europe, though in these modern days the fishing is confined to Newfound- landers, Canadians, Americans and Erenchmen. Trawls are chiefly employed. These are unlike the ones used in the North Sea, which are really great bag-nets. The Grand Banks trawls are warps 2,000 feet long, with hooks attached to smaller lines every yard, and the whole then sunk to the bottom and moored by small
131
anchors at either end. The vessels, termed "bankers," carry twelve to twenty men, and flat-bottomed boats, known as " dories," each two men. In fishing^, the vessels anchor and the dories, going some distance off, submerge the trawls, the hooks baited with herring, caplin or squid, smaller fishes on which the cod and its kin greedily feed. The trawls are allowed to lie over- night, cleared of their catch next day by the men, and the hooks rebaited. Skill and daring are required to overhaul and bait these lines in all weathers, and the " bankmen " are all crewed by picked fishermen.
The export of dried cod the past ten years has been as follows : —
|
Year ending |
Quintals |
Value. |
|
June 3Uth. |
(112 lbs.) |
|
|
1901 |
1,233,107 |
$5,171,910 |
|
1902 |
1,288,955 |
5,509,728 |
|
1903 |
1,429,274 |
5,633,072 |
|
1904 |
1,360,373 |
5,943,063 |
|
1905 |
1,196,814 |
6,108,618 |
|
1906 |
1,481,025 |
7,864,719 |
|
1907 |
1,422,445 |
7,873,172 |
|
1908 |
1,509,269 |
7,820,092 |
|
1909 |
1,732,387 |
7,398,536 |
|
1910 |
1,502,269 |
7,307,778 |
This fish is chiefly exported to Southern Europe, Brazil and West Indies. The livers of the cod yield the oil so extensively used for medicinal purposes, and they are converted when fresh into this commodity, which finds its market in Great Britain, Canada and United States ; while enormously large quantities of livers which become rancid, yield an oil that is in large demand for tanning leather.
LOBSTER FISHERY.
The returns of the lobster fisherv for 1910 shew a total of 24,602 cases, and it is estimated that 6,900,649 lobsters were caught, 18,170 traps being employed for the purpose, while licenses to pack were issued to 2,081
132
persons, a decrease of 269, and 4,487 men vrere engaged, a decrease of 1,451, in this industry during the year. The large decrease in the numher employed is prohahly due to the falling off in the fishery during the seasons which preceded 1910, whereby these men engaged in more remunerative employment. The pack shows an increase of 2,276 cases over the product for 1909, and there was improvement likewise in the quality of the j^ack, the lobsters being larger, a fact ascribed to the strict enforcement of the regulations against taking small lobsters. The prices paid in the local market for the article varied from $13 to $17 per case of 48 one-pound tins. The value of the lobsters exported for the fiscal year 1908-9 was $343,619, while for 1909-10 the figures were $337,835. An attempt was made last year to save and manufacture the shells, claws and bodies of the lobsters ; and in view of the enormous number taken every year, and of two-thirds of the bulk not being convertible into food products, a promising industry ought to be possible in this direction.
The lobster fishery in Newfoundland is compara- tively of recent origin, the packing or tinning of these crustaceans for export having begun in 1874. On the neighbouring continent, of course, the industry has been enormously developed ; first, through the marketing of boiled lobsters in the shell and when fresh ; and more recently, through the increase in the facilities for marketing by the shipment of live lobsters j^acked in ice, from the place where they are caught to the neigh- bouring cities, where there is a big demand for them. In Newfoundland, however, all the lobsters are canned, and, naturally, the returns from an equal product are not as great as in these competing countries. Still, the lobster fishery has become an imjiortant subsidiary industry, valued at about $350,000 annually. Conditions have entirely changed in regard to it during the forty years that it had been prosecuted.
133
In the earlier years the catch was very great and the price comparatively small. But the lobsters reproduce slowly, and the decline in the available supply has been very marked all over the world, so that to-day the quantity taken is little more than one-third of what it was twenty years ago, and the price has in- creased in the same ratio as the supply has declined. In New England and Maritime Canada, where the lobster industry is of substantial importance, there have been agitations latterly for enactments to help ensure the perpetuation of the industry, and lobster hatcheries have been established by both the American and Canadian Governments to assist in this object. New- foundland ventured into lobster hatching some years ago, but did not pursue it, the belief being that the results did not warrant the outlay ; the experiment has never been renewed, although the neighbouring countries, with the best scientific knowledge that money can produce and the experience of the world render available, still persist in this policy.
The figures of the lobster exports for the past ten years are as follows : —
|
fear ending |
Quantity in Case of |
|
|
June 30th. |
48 one pound tins. |
Value. |
|
1901 |
86,271 |
$448,501 |
|
1902 |
88,369 |
412,256 |
|
1903 |
81,881 |
387,466 |
|
190-4 |
81,575 |
410,405 |
|
1905 |
48,522 |
512,062 |
|
1906 |
81,828 |
376,490 |
|
1907 |
26,661 |
379,237 |
|
1908 |
26,060 |
418,605 |
|
1909 |
25,826 |
348,619 |
|
1910 |
26,058 |
337,835 |
THE HERRING FISHERY.
The herring fishery is now chiefly prosecuted during the autumn and early winter at Bay of Islands and Bonne Bay on the west coast, and, because of
134
American participation therein, formed one of the main issues of the Hague Arbitration. For many years past the resident fisherfolk actually caught the fish and the visiting Americans bought the daily fares thus secured, Canadian and local traders competing with them in this traffic.
The herrings are salted early in the season, before the weather becomes cold enough to freeze them ; after which, this method is mainly adopted, the fish being exposed over-night on scaffolds and usually congealed by morning. The salted herrings are chiefly used for food, and some of the frozen ones also, the remainder serving as bait for the catching of cod and other fishes on the Grand Banks. The herring fishery was, until some few 5^ ears ago, also extensively prosecuted in the Southern bays between January and April, but latterly the herring have resorted more to the west coast and virtually the w^hole of the fishery is centred there.
The exports of herring for the past ten years have been as follows : —
Year ended June ;?Oth.
1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910
Barrels.
Value.
|
112,274 |
$231,501 |
|
156,970 |
361,324 |
|
192,759 |
457,384 |
|
151,865 |
328,630 |
|
176,633 |
379,938 |
|
146,032 |
344,205 |
|
153,809 |
406,409 |
|
152,504 |
413,817 |
|
100,891 |
237,026 |
|
139,228 |
302,355 |
THE SALMON nSHEllY.
The chief output of the commercial salmon fishery is in the form of pickled salmon, the fish being so treated to preserve them, but since the trains have traversed tlie west coast, and there is regular steamer traffic with Canada, opportunity has been afforded of
135
sending salmon forward preserved in ice and moss. formerly the salmon fishery in the estuaries, which was in those days altogether for pickling, was much larger than of late, because the continual netting of the tish resulted in their depletion. In recent years, through the enforcement of judicious regulations, whereby the salmon are enabled to enter the inlets to spawn, the fishery is reviving and salmon are reported much more numerous latterly than for some time past.
Salmon lishing as a pastime, is of course distinct altogether from this, but the effect of these laws is to increase tlie chances of this sport, the largest salmon ever taken in the Island, of which there is record, having been secured last year by an American angler in the Codroy section, which tipped the scale at 41 pounds.
The export of salmon for the past ten years has been as follows : —
|
Year |
Fresh |
Pickled |
||
|
ended |
sahnon. |
Value. |
salmon. |
Value. |
|
June 30th. |
lbs. |
Tcs. |
||
|
1901 |
91,103 |
$ 6,710 |
6,647 |
8139,101 |
|
1902 |
134,766 |
10,267 |
5,838 |
87,446 |
|
1903 |
167,208 |
11,463 |
2,885 |
53,214 |
|
1904 |
129,475 |
8,768 |
3,118 |
65,400 |
|
1905 |
192,054 |
14,383 |
3,604 |
72,083 |
|
1906 |
251,156 |
17,931 |
4,924 |
88,005 |
|
1907 |
164,302 |
12,260 |
4,716 |
73,660 |
|
1908 |
154,670 |
11,721 |
2,384 |
41,354 |
|
1909 |
139,085 |
10,618 |
1,774 |
34,345 |
|
1910 |
161,931 |
13,005 |
3,074 |
56,845 |
The export of various other fishes — halibut, haddock, ling, hake, caplin, trout, smelts, etc., makes up a total of $66,000 annually, but the promotion of a much more vigorous prosecution of these fisheries is now being considered, and is expected to result in a very much increased output of these within the next few years.
An estimate of the value of the bait fishes used in Newfoundland for a year is $1,577,930, while the total value of the export of fishery products of all branches
136
for 1910 was $9,578,984, as compared with $9,346,246 for 1908-9, to which should be added $1,500,000 for home consumption, making a total of $11,078,984. Of these figures the cod represents in round numbers seren- ninths of the total export value of the fisheries ; but to this there might in a very few years be added at least $250,000 annually, if the lesser fisheries were more extensively developed.
137
B
Chapter XVIII.
THE SEAL AND WHALE EISHEUIES.
Seal Herds and their Characteristics —
Growth of Seal Hunt — Modern Whaling
AND ITS Commercial Eeatures.
E CAUSE the fur seal of Behring Sea has hecome a diplomatic issue the past twenty years, few are aware of the importance of his congener, the hair seal or ice-riding pinniped of the North Atlantic, whose habitat is the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. Here, every Spring occurs a seal fishery which, in the size and value of the catch, far exceeds that of Behring Sea ; for during the six weeks it lasts, some 300,000 seals are killed, worth nearly one million dollars, and there is little diminution of the herds, despite centuries of this slaughter.
The Pacific seal is noted for his fur, which is con- verted into one of the most fashionable of ladies' garments. He haunts rocky islets, and here the young are born. The seals are stalked on the beaches by the hunters, and also pursued when swimming, being speared or shot ; this being the " pelagic " sealing which has provoked such friction between the nations interested in the preservation of the herds.
The Atlantic seal is covered wdth hair, and valued chiefly for his skin and fat, the former being converted into leather and the latter into oil. The " pups " are bred on the ice floes which everv winter skirt the
138
Labrador seaboard, and the seal ships seek the quarry- there and kill them by thousands, until the floes break up, when they hunt them in boats with rifles, as in the Pacific.
The earliest settlers captured seals in nets fixed along the coast, and converted the skins to various uses. Later, men went from the shore across the ice to hunt them ; and in time boats were used to chase them among the floes. Gradually stouter crafts were employed for this purpose ; until about one hundred years ago scores of vessels were fitted out each season for the seal hunt, this armada reaching its zenith in 1830, when it numbered 600 sail. In 1863, steam was introduced into the business; powerful wooden ships were built and engined, whose superior strength and propulsive force sounded the knell of the old-time '•' wind jammers " ; so that to-day the industry is confined to steam alone, being carried on by about twenty specially built steamers, the older ones constructed of oak and sheathed with iron to withstand the rasping of the jagged ice-masses through which they cruise, and the newer ones of steel, specially strengthened, like the modern ice breakers in use in E/Ussia, Canada and the Great Lakes.
While many details of the natural history of the hair seal are at best merely conjectural, the story of his birth, habits and migration is among the most fascinat- ing in zoological records. The seal, like the whale and the walrus, formerly abounded in the shoal waters near the Grand Banks, but now has been forced further north, though he has withstood extermination better than his larger kindred. It is supposed that during the summer he frequents the Greenland Ocean, feeding on the fish life there, and that as it becomes ice-clad, he moves south. Early in February he leaves the open water and mounts the ice-floes of Labrador, where the progeny are deposited, which at birth are covered with creamy fur, pallid as the snow-clad waste on which they lie, and are known to the sealmen as " whitecoats." These are the
139
chief prize of the hunt, their fat yielding the finest oil, and their skins the softest leather.
These hair seals are of two species — " liarps " and "hoods." The latter, which are larger, fierce and solitary, ohtain their name from a cowl-like appendage hehind their necks. The "harps" are gregarious and more peaceful, and are so termed from a lyre-shaped mark on the l)ack. The mother seal when she goes off at daylight to seek food in the waters below the ice- fields, will inevitably nurture her own off-s23ring at sun- down ; and when sealman have changed about some " whitecoats " to puzzle the creatures, the maternal instinct has sufficed to send each mother to her own "pups."
The young seals grow rapidly. At birth they weigh about five pounds, but within a month are about fifty, at which weight they are fit to kill, their coat of fat being three to four inches thick, though their only sustenance is their mother's milk during all that period. They are in their prime by tlie middle of March, and when that month opens, the sealmen gather at St. John's to join their ships. These sail on March 13th, and the men will walk fifty or sixty miles, through snow-drifts and biting frosts, with kits on their backs, to secure " a berth to the ice," as the local parlance puts it. Each ship is filled with coal when leaving, which is thrown over- board if she gets among the herds and has a chance to fill up (coal being worth about $4 a ton, and seal $80), but is consumed in cruising among the floes for scattered batches of jDinnipeds, if she is unlucky at the outset. An ample stock of food is also put on board, for occa- sionally a ship is "jammed " in some remote bay by the ice and held fast for weeks, so that this contingency must be provided against.
The ice with the main herd of seals is usually found two or three days after leaving port, and the hunters scatter over it in every direction, killing as they go, often travelling eight or ten miles from the ships,
]40
and as the men are divided into squads or watches, each under a master, they heap the pelts on " pans " or flat sections of ice, topping the pile with the ship's flag, so that she may pick them up as she steams slowly along in the wake of her men. Sometimes a herd will show a total of 200,000 seals within the range of a field-glass from the crow's nest at a sealer's masthead, and several steamers will load from it, in eight or ten days.
The south side of St. John's harhour is occupied chiefly by large warehouses, fitted up expressly for refining the oil and cleaning the skins. The sealers land their cargoes there, and expert skinners then separate the fat from the hides. The former is steamed into oil, purified and refined, and shipped to Europe and America, being used as a substitute for medicinal cod- liver oil, as a constituent in high-class soaps, and as an illuminant in light-houses. The skins are cleaned of the adhering fat, grime and hair, pickled, and then shipped to England, Germany and America, where they are tanned and converted into " kid " and " patent " leather for boots and like articles, while the past few years they have come into great demand for the making of bicycle saddles and kit-bags. During the past year, a local tannery has been built for the manufacturing of them into leather. The refuse is converted into guano, and the profits of the business are such, that for ten months of the year the " sealeries " are idle and the wooden ships lying up, except when they are chartered for Arctic voyages.
The industry is safeguarded ])y restrictive legislation, no ships being allowed to sail on the seal hunt before March 10th, so that immature seals may not be killed, or to continue at it after April 30th, as in shooting the pinnipeds not more than one is secured out of every three shot. Only one trip a year is permitted, and sealing on Sundays is penalised by a fine of $4,000 for every breach of this regulation. The hunt is ended early in May, and the men, who at most make only about
141
$80 each, are released to engage in the cod, salmon, her- ring and lobster fisheries, which occupy them during the summer months. The sealins^ fleet is owned bv the great fishery firms of St. John's, and the business is conducted on the principle that they stand all risks, taking two-thirds of the catch in return, the remaining portion being divided among the men.
The value of the exports of seal-skins and seal-oil the past nine years has been as follows : —
Year ended
|
ne 30th. |
Seal-skins. |
Seal-oil. |
Total. |
|
1901 .. |
. $420,869 .. |
. $379,445 |
.. $800,314 |
|
1902 .. |
325,137 .. |
. 453,684 |
.. 778,821 |
|
1903 .. |
. 258,987 .. |
303,067 |
562,054 |
|
1904^ .. |
370,261 .. |
. 374,974 . |
745,235 |
|
1905 .. |
314,048 .. |
297,430 |
... 611,478 |
|
1906 . |
144,300 . |
. 447,967 |
.. 592,267 |
|
1907 .. |
. 140,137 .. |
308,997 |
.. 449,134 |
|
1908 .. |
433,620 .. |
252,262 . |
685,882 |
|
1909 .. |
. 460.220 .. |
459,814 |
920,034 |
The Whale Fishery.
In 1898, the modern method of whale fishing was introduced into Newfoundland from Norway, where it has been practised for more than thirty years. It proved so successful in Terranovan waters, that participation in it became a real " craze," and within a few years no fewer than 18 concerns were thus engaged, with the inevitable result, that, as the whales from their enormous size are necessarily limited in numbers, the killing of these at the rate of 1,000 a year depleted the herds and obliged several companies to abandon the industry, though these that survive are conducting it more economically and judiciously, and are paying reasonable dividends, with every prospect that on the present scale of operations, it will prove a remunerative enterprise for many vears.
Modern whaling, as practised in Newfoundland, represents the chase of the rorqual or racer whale, the
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fleetest of all the cetacean tribe, and one which could not be pursued until modern times because of its alertness and speed. This species of whale consists of three classes : " blue backs," " fin backs " and " hump backs." These are to be seen in scores on the Grand Banks daily £^ambolling amid the fishing schooners and indifferent to their presence. In capturing them, the crude old time method of employing sailing ships or row boats has been abandoned, and small but speedy steamers of about 100 tons burden are employed to chase them. These ships make about twelve knots, and are armed for the business with small mortar-like i^uns fastened to the bows and throwing explosive-headed harpoons, fired by time-fuses, and bursting usually in the interior of the fish, killing it almost at once. These steamers operate from stations or factories along the coast, kill their prey within a day's run, and tow their catch back to the factory, where the whole of the gigantic carcass is cut up and every morsel put to commercial use.
Some idea of the nature of this business in its hey- day may be gained from the fact that one ship killed no fewer than six whales in a single day ; a week's kill for another was twenty-three ; and a third secured a total of two hundred and fifty-eight for a year ; whereas, on the other hand, one station operated for two seasons without the ship killing a whale at all ; and another station's record for a season was four.
In old-time whaling, when the lubberly ])oats sailed the remoter seas for months and days, the custom was to strip the outer coat or blubber from the giant body, "try out" or render the oil from this in an imperfect manner through the agency of boilers or " try-works " built on a brick foundation on deck, and allow the " crang " or remainder of the body to drift away and become a prey to the sharks, so that no more than one-third of the bulk of the whale was put to use. But in modern whaling, with a factory available, the blubber is first rid of aU its oil ; then the meat and the
143
refuse of the blubber, as well as the bony skeleton of the creature, are made into fertilizer ; the blood and juices are converted into glue ; and the " baleen," or whalebone of commerce, the peculiar substance which frinsres the mouth of the cetacean and does duty instead of teeth, is saved and cleaned, and fetches a ready market in Europe and America for employment in various manufactures.
The value of the whale products exported is now about $200,000 a year.
144
Chapter XIX.
THE PEENCH SHOEE QUESTION.
EiSHERT Treaties — French Claims — Disputes BETWEEN Nations — Why Erance Withdrew.
ALTHOUGH the dispute known as "The Erench Shore Question," was terminated in 1904 by the Anglo-GalKc entente, which chiefly referred to Morocco, a statement of the conditions under which Erance retained a footing on the coast of Newfoundland for two centuries is appended.
The Treaty of Utrecht (1713) allowed the Erench to catch and dry fish on the west and north-east coasts of Newfoundland, to erect stages of boards and huts necessary for drying fish; and to resort to the coast only during the fishing season. They were not to winter there, erect permanent buildings, or fortify any places; and they admitted British sovereignty over the island.
The Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded to Erance the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon as a shelter for Erench fishermen, but not to be fortified, and to have only a guard of fifty men for police purposes.
The Treaty of Versailles (1783) confirmed Erance in the occupancy of St. Pierre, but changed the boundaries of the Erencli shore, previously Cape Bona- vista and Cape Riclie, to Cape John and Cape Bay, prescribing however, that the fishery should be carried on as already provided by the Treaty of Utrecht.
Declarations were attached to the Treaty by the
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The Humber River.
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145
two Monarchs with respect to this treaty coast. The King of England agreed, in order to prevent quarrels, to restrain his subjects from interfering by their com- petition with the Erencli, and from incommoding them in the cutting of wood necessary for their fishery purposes ; wdiile the French King undertook that his subjects should not deviate from the settled plan of the fishery, building only their scaffolds, repairing only their fishing A'essels, and not wintering there.
The French, however, afterwards read into these Treaties provisions which could not be found in them and which their phraseology did not warrant. These may be stated as follows : —
(1) That the French right to fish on the Treaty Shore was exclusive, not concurrent ;
(2) That all permanent British structures there
(like French) were illegal ;
(3) That " fish " included all marine animals, even crustaceans ;
(4) That Frenchmen could take salmon even in the rivers above salt water ;
(5) That their " drying " privileges gave them the
strand for half a mile above tide-water ;
(6) That they could force British subjects out of fishing locations they desired for themselves ;
(7) Tliat they were entitled imder the Treaties to set up and work lobster factories there ;
(S) That they had a prior right to take bait fishes there for their fleet on the Grand Banks ;
(9) That they could prevent mining or other pursuits there as contrarj'- to the treaties.
To the enforcement of these claims they set all their energies ; utilizing the machinery of British law and the agency of British warships until the colonists were made almost helots on their own shores. The naval oflicers had orders to avoid offendimr the French fishers, although these grossly magnified the extent and value of their Treatv ri^-hts. Their concession to catch
K
146
and dry was manifestly concurrent, not exclusive as the context proves. Likewise " fish " meant cod, for that was the onlv fishery there when the treaties were made. E,iparian fishing would not come under that head ; removal of permanent British structures and ofi'ensive overtures against colonists would be impugning British sovereignty ; control of the strand was a usurpation merely ; canning of lobsters was unknown till recent years ; lobster factories were permanent buildings ; and to hamper mining and other industries had no shado^v of justification in the treaties.
Yet the Newfoundlanders were " pin-pricked " in every way. On the Treaty Shore the Erench would not allow mines to be opened, though the region is rich in minerals. Other forms of industrial endeavour were similarly " throttled." In 1899 two wharves were torn down by British bluejackets because l^rench fisher- men objected to them, though in one instance the nearest Prench station was twentv miles distant. The famous refusal of the Erench Government in 1874, to permit the trans-insular railroad to have a terminus on the shore is recorded in the blue-books ; this action postponed the pro- ject for twenty years, and woefully retarded the develop- ment of the western seaboard. The expulsion of colonists from prolific fishing grounds at the instance of Erench- men Avho wished to fish there, was an annual occurrence, British warships being required to undertake this distasteful task at their bidding. The fishing gear of the colonists was wantonly destroyed by Prench rivals, without redress. Legal enactments exempted British officers from liability for losses caused to the coastfolk in preventing them from fishing, ejecting them from their trawl-berths, or otherwise harassing them. Indeed, no grant of land issued hj the Colonial Government, was deemed to be effective on that coast, unless it contained the proviso that it was subject to the Treaty rights of Prance.
It was the lobster industry, though, which provoked
147
the greatest iDitterness ; being grafted on the main issue some thirty years ai?o. Prior to that the crustaceans were a nuisance to the cod-catchers, entering the nets and 2:or£:in2: themselves on the fish therein. Lobsters were valueless there until the process of canning them was devised. In 1883 this was begun by settlers on the Treaty Shore, where shellfish abound. The Erench cod- fishers, whose industry was failing, sought to do the same. But so little shadow of right had they, that their own Commodore ordered the removal of the first Prench cannery set up, as contrary to the treaties, because it had an iron roof. That was in 1885, but the next year the opposite policy was adopted and Erenchmen were aided to establish more canneries, until by 1899 they had 15, as against 49 colonial ones. By this time the Colonial Government was vigorously protesting against these Erench factories, as having no status, contending that the treaties dealt with cod-fishing alone, as proved by theu' wording, which described the " drying " of fish on " stages of boards," and the erection only of tem- porary buildings " usual and necessary for the purpose and to be occupied only during the fishing season." That a lobster may be a fisli is an open question, but lobsters are not " dried " on stages, nor is a cannery a temporary w^ooden erection ; for it is iron-roofed, with boiler and furnace set in brick and mortar ; while the catching and curing of cod, and the trapping and canning of lobsters, are as different as any tv.o in- dustries could well be.
Instead of supporting the colonial contention and insisting on the removal of the Erencli canneries, the Imperial Government weakly proposed to arbitrate this lobster issue. Had the arbitration embraced the whole " Erench Shore Question " there could be no cause for complaint ; but to select this isolated ofi'shoot was a humiliating backdown. Nor was this the worst. A modus Vivendi was arranged between the two Powers, whereby the factories of each which were tlien in
148
existence were recognized as legal, and no others were permitted to be erected, save by mutual agreement of the two commodores, a French one to be oii'set by a British, and vice versa. This was signed on March 13th, 1890, and the first intimation the colony — the party most concerned and likely to be the greatest sufferer — had of its provisions was through the Press despatches. Naturally, there was widespread indignation, and meetings, to protest against what was termed "an infamous contract," were held all over the Island, for it violated the pledge of Secretary Labouchere in a despatch to Governor Darling in 1857, termed the " Magna Carta of Newfoundland," which read : " You are authorised to give such assurances as you may think proper, that the consent of the Community of New- foundland is regarded by Her Majesty's Government as the essential preliminary to a modification of her territorial or maritime rights."
When Sir James Perguson, Avho framed the mod its Vivendi, was assailed in Parliament for his violation of this pledge, he pleaded in excuse that the " modus " was merely temporary and for one year only. Yet it was continued for fourteen years until France gave up the coast. At first naval officers were supposedly empowered by some ancient law to enforce this makesluft, but suits taken against Commodore Sir Baldwin "Walker for closing one cannery revealed the contrary, and the British Government was cast in $5,000 damages. Imperial legislation was then introduced to give naval officers such power, and the colony, to prevent the passage of this permanent " Coercion " Bill, had to enact temporary local measures to the same effect, renewable from year to year up to 1901.
A Ptoyal Commission was sent out by Mr. Chamber- lain in 1899 to enquire into the whole matter ; and its report, which was pigeon-holed in the Colonial Office, included affidavits of hundreds of settlers who had suffered in person or property from French aggression
149
;nid this iniquitous arrangement. The report, indeed, disclosed such an amazing state of affairs on British soil, that its issue would have provoked a crisis greater even than followed the Eashoda affair, and hence it has never been published.
The spirit in which the Prench acted towards the settlers is shown by the orders which M. de Freycinet, while Premier and Foreign Minister, in 1895, gave to the Commanders of the French warships on this station, viz. : " To seize and confiscate all instruments of fishing belong- ing to foreigners (British subjects) resident or otherwise, wiio shall fish on that part of the coast which is reserved for our use." This was equivalent to asserting territorial sovereignty, and represents accurately the average Frenchman's view of the matter then.
It might fairly be supposed that France had substantial interests where such far-reaching claims were advanced on her behalf, but really she sent only 402 fishermen to that Avhole seaboard in 1903. In 1898, on a coastline where nearly 20,000 Newfoundlanders were settled in 215 harbours, there were but IG French stations and 458 men on the SOO-mile shore ; in 1903 only 13 stations and 402 men. But within those five years the French grip on the territory had become far less effective than those figures would imply. In 1898, all were employed by fishing concerns, in regular locations on the shore. In 1903, however, 97 were boat fishermen. The cod-fishery failed there meanwhile, so several French operators left the coast, and the St. Pierre traders promoted a law " for the re-occupation of the French shore," providing an annual bounty of 4,000 francs for distribution among such Pierrois boat fishers as would locate on that coast every summer. The regular crews came in tlieir own vessels, operated from well-known harbours, and occupied regular stations ashore. The " boat fishers," though, were brought along each spring with their skiffs and gear, by steamer, occupied huts on the foreland, and fished in twos and
150
threes, being picked up again with their catch by the steamer in the fall.
The coclfishery, which was the subject of the original treaty, had by this time dwindled almost to nothing, even with a bounty equalling two-thirds of the value of the fish itself. Twenty years previously, the annual cod catch there was tenfold that of 1903, and the retention of any stations by the Prench then, would be impossible except for the lobster industry, which in value more than doubled that of the codfishery. Erance had, however, for some years been preparing to withdraw, as was shewn by the letters of Admiral Reveillere, Lieu- tenant Loir (Marc Landry) and M. Ptiotteau, one of the Deputies for Brittany, the province most largely interested in the fisheries in these waters.
Admiral E^eveillere, in the Paris " Matin " in 1900, declared : " We have there (on the Treaty Sliore) unquestionable rights, but our presence there produces perpetual danger of conflicts which have been avoided only by the extreme goodwill of the two Governments. It will certainly be a benefit to both nations if we exchange our rights for some equivalent. I positively/ affirm and cmi sure that I shall not be contradicted by any officers cognizant oj" the ^eivfotmdland station, that the French shore has no kind of interest for the navy."
Lieut. Loir observed that : "If it is true, as Bismarck said, that no portion of the soil of Africa is worth the bones of a Pomeranian Grenadier, so I hasten to add that the Prench shore is not worth the blood of a Prencli sailor. We should be well advised in accepting compensation for this stretch of coast, and it might even be prudent to take steps to arrange at once for this com- pensation and exchange."
Deputy Riotteau proclaimed that : " The Bait ques- tion is the most important of all. We do not use the Prench shore any more. But the supply of bait we now find on the banks will be exhausted eventually, and if we have not the right to take other bait in the New- fonndlnnd bays, our industry Avill disappear. Abandon-
151
ment of the Erench shore may, if necessary, be admitted ; but we must have compensation in the right to take or buy bait in fortune Bay or Placentia Bay."
Tliose three utterances shewed that France wished to use the cession of the Treaty shore to exact from Newfoundland the right to take bait on her south coast for French fishing vessels on the Grand Banks. This the colony could not do, unless the French abandoned their bounties, for it was those whicli had enabled them to undersell Newfoundland in the European markets, until the colony enacted her famous Bait Law, proliibiting the supplying of bait from her waters to Erench fisher- men, which measure crippled them completely. France wasted four million francs every year in bolstering up these Newfoundland fisheries. This sum, if properly applied, would provide her with 4,000 excellent recruits for her navy, yet it was wrung from the provincial peasantry, and transferred to the pockets of the Breton fish-merchants, who were the chief beneficiaries by it.
France, in 1904, finding Newfoundland adamant in the refusal to relax the Bait Law, and realizing that if she herself persisted in retaining her hold on the treaty shore for another five years, its valuelessness would have been so completely disclosed that not one of her fisher- men would venture there at all, and that she would then be obliged for very shame's s?.ke, to abandon it without any compensation, made the best of a bad situation when the Moroccan accord was being negotiated, and agreed to withdraw entirely from the Newfoundland seaboard in return for concessions in Africa and compensation for those of her fishermen who were dis- possessed ; which compensation was subsequently fixed by arbitration at £55,000, a sum the British Treasury paid, recouping itself, at any rate to a trifling extent, by selling these properties later to Newfoundlanders who were willing to purchase them.
Thus ended the "French Shore Question." That of St. Pierre still remains ; and a description of the little French Colony will be found in the next chapter.
152
Chapter
ST. PIEREE.
A Bit op Old France — History of St. Pierre —
Importance of its Cod Fishery — The Effect of
THE Bait Act — Its Unpromising Future.
|F the once vast empire ruled by France on this continent, the Miquelon Isles alone remain. They consist of Miquelon, Langlade, and St. Pierre, the latter being the seat of government, and practically serving to identify the entire group. The archipelago has a total area of 81 square miles, and a population of 4,500, nine-tenths of whom live on St. Pierre islet. This is only seven miles lona: bv about two broad, its selection as the capital being due to its having the only anchorage in the group, formed by the Isle-aux-Chiens, a smaller mass of rock, where the fishing vessels can ride in shelter, larger craft having to anchor in the roadstead outside. The isles lie twelve miles off the Burin Penin- sula, on the south coast of Newfoundland, and constitute a most tempting objective for the tourist. It is a bit of old France which the visitor is confronted with, set down in the raidst of the sea, with a horizon of Anglo- Saxonism surrounding it.
The coves in the rock-ribbed face of Miquelon shelter a hundred or two of hardy fishermen and as many farmers till the sterile soil of Langlade. The centre of interest is St. Pierre. The town fronts on the roadstead, extending gradually backward to the ridGce of the hill which forms the backbone of the islet. The houses are of the type we know as French, with
153
liingecl windows from floor to ceiling, openino,- on to little floAver plots contrived by infinite labour and unceasing attention. The houses are all of wood, those in the main street being faced with brick or stucco, while the poorer ones are clapboarded. This wood has all to be imported, as the isles are untimbered, even the firewood beinsr broucrht across in schooner lo.ids from the neis^h- bouring Newfoundland shore.
St. Pierre lives and tlu'ives upon the great cod fisheries of the Newfoundland banks, which yield a generous annual harvest to Americans, Canadians, New- foundlanders and Frenchmen alike. It is the head- quarters of the Gallic fisherf oik, and for generations has occupied a position in Erench history analogous to that which St. John's has held in English eyes in regard to this important industry. When the West countrymen selected St. John's for their fishing base, the Bretons chose St. Pierre. It was finallv annexed to Erance in 1660, and fortified in 1700. Two vears later the British overran it, but later Erance sought and obtained its restoration as a shelter port for her fishermen, the existing English population being deported. In 177S, during the American War of Independence, England recaptured it, and retaliated by shipping to Erance all those then living on it. Eive years later the Treaty of Versailles restored it to Erance, but in 1793 England again asserted her mastery. She held it imtil 1815, when it once more passed into Erench jiossession by the Treaty of Paris, and has since remained under her un- disputed control.
Its history since that time has been uneventful. It gradually grew in population and importance as the fishery was more extensively prosecuted, and despite the setbacks occasioned bv destructive fires in 1865, 1867 and 1879, in which the wooden structures largely contributed to its demolition, it continued to hold its place as the most thriving of Erench colonies until 25 vears asfo. Then the enactment of the Newfoundland
154
Bait Act struck a severe blow at its trade supremacy. St. Pierre never recovered from tlie dislocation of trade created by this statute and is not likely to recover ever again. Its prosperity has been waning, and the smuggling traffic of which it had long been the centre, and from vrhich it reaped a rich profit, has been very largely stamped out by the Canadian and Newfoundland Governments.
Still, during the summer months while the fishery is in progress, St. Pierre is a busy, bustling place, its population swollen by thousands of fishermen who cross from the mother-land to prosecute this industry, and its business augmented by the needs of this host of sun- tanned voyageurs. Every Pierrais who is fit for work, goes oif the banks in a fishing schooner in quest of cod. The Pierrais armateurs (outfitting or supplying mer- chants) maintain such large fleets for this purpose that the able-bodied population of the isles is inadequate to crew them, and men are brought across from Erittany to undertake this duty. Besides these, there are also the ships fitted out from " Metropolitan " ports — St. Malo, Dieppe, Grenville and other fishing centres — which sail to the banks direct, and, as their catch of cod accumulates, run into St. Pierre with it for disposal to the local dealers, or to have it cured and exported. All these, except the actual residents of the group, return to P'rance each autumn when the fishing is over, their vessels being moored together in the inner harbour, heavilv anchored and bound in a mass with chain and tackle, to defy the midwinter gales wliich wreak their fury on the unpro- tected archipelago, and frequently work havoc amongst their forest of shipping, in spite of all the precautions taken to guard against the cyclonic force of the snow- laden gales.
This inner harbour is protected by a breakwater of stone, with substantial stone wharves. The Government pier fronts on the public square, the sides of which are formed by the official buildings, court houses, barracks,
155
ministry of marine, custom house and the Governor's mansion. The people are, to all appearances, comfortable and contented. The streets are clean and the houses trim and neat ; the curing of fish is not permitted within the mimicipal limits, the operations incident thereto beins: carried out on the beaches Avhich encircle the islet. The street scenes are extremely picturesque. The tricolour floats everywhere ; the men wear gaudy shirts and loose blue trousers ; the women are gay in spotless linen caps, bright blouses and short dark skirts; the children are clad in bright colours, and evidence their nationality in every movement, while wooden sabots or canvas shoes with rope soles, are the footwear of all except the "aristocracy." Heavy waggons lumber through the streets in the wake of mild-eyed oxen, and little " go-carts " drawn by dogs are the vehicles of the poorer classes. Horses are not numerous, for the islet being not three miles across there is but little need for them, and they symbolize affluence rather than industrial activity. The town is policed by flfty gendarmes armed with swords, and some ancient cannon, placed at points overlooking the harbour, enable salutes to be fired on the fete day of the E/Cpublic or when a French or British warshij) enters port. The town is sent to sleep nightly by a drummer, who makes his rounds at ten o'clock, when the tv/enty-three cafes which it boasts must close, and all stragglers betake themselves to their homes. Every morning a crier makes his way up to the square with flourishes upon his bugle, and announces such news, including auctions and shipping items, as may interest his hearers.
The isle is encircled by beaches of round stones, worn smooth by the action of tbe waves for countless ages. On these the fish are spread to be cured, and a strange picture is made — acre on acre of stones with that remarkable covering. As the cod are brought in from the banks they are landed at points adjacent to these beaches, and taken in hand by the owners. The
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iisli are thrown into crates sulimerged in the land-wash, and are stirred around by men with long poles until they are thoroughly cleansed, wlien they are sj)read on the beaches, exposed to the full, strong sunlight, with a current of dry air circulating beneath. When the rain or fog threatens, the fish have to be taken up and stacked under tarpaulins until the weather clears again, for the best cured cod are absolutely devoid of moisture and are as hard as leather. Much of the codfish in Erance comes from St. Pierre, and the industry is maintained by an elaborate system of bounties covering every phase of the business, and every implement used in it. The fishery is held by the French to be a nursery for seamen for their navv, and even the " beach-boys " — lads too young for the Banks, but able to handle the fish on the beaches with the women, by whom most of this branch of the work is done — are provided for in this scheme of government paternalism.
St. Pierre was the " nerve-centre " of tlie '^ Prench Shore Question ." Through these bounties alone, were the Pierrais enabled to maintain a footing on the Treaty Coast of Newfoundland. Through the French ownership of the group alone, was Prance crippling Newfoundland's fish trade in Europe. However, even with the bounties the Pierrais could not conduct the fishery profitably on the "Prencli Shore," and each summer saw the lessening of their number and equipment, until, by the Anglo- Gallic entente of 1904, Prance surrendered her claims to the western seaboard of Newfoundland. To-day the
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activities of Prencli fishermen in this resiion are confined entirely to trawling on the Grand Banks, and even at this they are growing fewer each year, because successful and profitable trawling requires an ample supply of bait, and this they cannot procure, since the Newfoundland supply is denied to them, so that the Prench authorities are now faced with the problem of how long it will prove possible to retain St. Pierre at all.
St. Pierre enjoyed for many years an unenviable
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reputation as a smuggling centre, whence a large contraband trade was carried on with the neighl^ouring centres. American fishing vessels smuggled opium, costly drugs and high-grade brandies to Boston, New York and Philadelphia ; the Maine coast was flooded with cheaper spirits in contravention of the prohibital law in force there ; the Province of Quebec was reached from the St. Lawrence, and absorbed immense quantities of "corn-spirit" and "tangle-foot" whiskey ; and the south coast of Newfoundland was one vast depot of tobacco, liquors and fishermen's requisites. St. Pierre being practically a free port, with revenue laws so elastic that they were utterly disregarded, this became perhaps, an even more profitable business than the fishery, and the per capita total of the imports to the islets abundantly testified to the extent and ors^anization of this illicit trafiic. The smuggling has now been largely stamped out, through vigorous concerted action on the part of the Governments victimized ; and the shrinkage of the imports to St. Pierre the last few years would be incom- prehensible to the student of political economy unaware of the underlying circumstances.
It is believed that before many years. Prance will be ■prepared to surrender the Miquelon archipelago to Britain in return for some compensating advantages elsewhere, and either abandon these fisheries entirely or prosecute them under such altered conditions as will enal)le more amicable relations to be maintained with the Newfoundlanders.
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Chapter XXI.
THE NOETH ATLANTIC EISHERIES DISPUTE.
EiSHERT Rights op Americans — Reciprocity and EiSHERT Treaties — Newfoundland's Uncompleted Conventions — The Hague Arbitration and Award.
THE adjudication by tlie Hague Tribunal last September of the Atlantic Eisheries Dispute, removed the last permanent source of friction between Great Britain and the United States. In these modern days we little knoAY and less regard the seriousness of fishery imbroglios in the troublous times that preceded the American revolution, when the colonists, from the St. Lawrence to the Delaware, possessed little more than the fringe of the continent and fishing was one of their chief pursuits ; nor can we easily credit that Lord North seriously proposed, in the British Parliament, as one of the methods of curbing these rebel colonists, that they should be prevented from fishing on the Grand Banks. In those times, as subjects of the British Crown, the inhabitants of these colonies participated equally witli those of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Magdalen Islands, Newfoundland and Labrador, in the fisheries of the north Atlantic waters; and so important was this fishery, that in 1775 more than 1,200 American fishing vessels annually operated in this region.
In 1783, after the war, when the Treaty of Versailles was negotiated, the Americans held out for the same rights as previously, but compromised on the right to take fish in the deep seas, and the liberty to
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take (but not to dry or cure) fisli of every kind on some parts of the coast of Newfoundland and the neighbouring provinces.
On this basis the fisheries were prosecuted until the war of 1812 abrogated that Treaty ; and clashes occurred frequently thereafter, and a new Treaty was concluded in 1818, intended to eliminate all causes of further friction by granting them fishing rights on part of the seaboard.
All that period the Gulf of St. Lawrence was the great resort for cod, halibut and mackerel, and large fishing fleets loaded there annually. But subsequently the fish deserted these waters, and now the chief trawling areas are on the Grand Banks, whither, of course, the several flotillas have betaken themselves. The Americans, therefore, lost aU the advantages they possessed on their treaty coast, in having a base at hand which would greatly facilitate them in carrying on their operations.
Prom the Grand Banks, where all now catch fish, the nearest land is the eastern coast of this Island, to which the Americans possess only the right of entry if in distress ; and, as an essential to successful fishing is an accessible seaboard to procure cheaj) and abundant supplies of provisions and outfits, hire men or transfer cargoes, they find themselves greatly handicapped there.
After endless disputes in the early half of the last century, they obtained these facihties by the Keciprocity Treaty of 1854-18G6 ; regained them by the Washington Treaty of 1871-1886, and enjoyed them once more by the models vivendi in the abortive Eisheries Treaty of 1888, which, though originally intended for but two years, was continued by Newfoundland until 1905, and is still recognized by Canada. Under the Washington Treaty an Arbitration was agreed to, which was held at Halifax in 1877, to decide what certain fishery privileges were worth to the United States, and the award was Canada taking $4,500,000, and Newfoundland $1,000,000.
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Canada invested lier share and uses tlae $160,000 of annual interest thereon in paying bounties to her fishermen, while Newfoundland spent hers in lighthouses and marine works.
With the abrogating of the Washington Treaty in 1886 begins the modern epoch in this dispute. Messrs. Bayard (U.S.A.) and Chamberlain (Britain), negotiated a new fisheries Treaty in 1888, but the United States Senate rejected it. To avert friction wliile it was before that body, an arrangement was reached for two years, granting inshore fishing privileges to American vessels, by their paying an annual license fee of a dollar and a half per ship ton. In 1890, when this was expiring, Newfoundland concluded the Bond-Blaine Convention, and to expedite its acceptance continued the modtis Vivendi meanwhile. Canada, not included in the com- pact, contended, that as these fisheries wei'e the common property of all British subjects, Newfoundland could not barter them for concessions for herself alone. This colony replied that the arrangement did not injure Canada, as her fishermen had the same right of entry as always, and the Americans were granted no greater con- cessions than Canadians. The British Government, however, hearkened to Canada's protest, and held over the accord until Canada could negotiate a similar one.
Newfoundland, in return, made legislative war on Canada's fishermen and taxed imports from Canada. Three years passed before amicable relations were re- sumed. In 1898 the Fisheries Question was submitted to the Canada- American Joint High Commission, but this attempt to dispose of the matter was also fruitless, and both Canada and Newfoundkiaid thought it was better to continue the modus vivendi, and allow American fishermen to enjoy for nominal sums privi- leges of steadily increasing value.
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the "Bond-Hay" convention. But this, after being held hy the Foreign Relations Coniraittee for two seasons, was "amended to death" by the Senate at Washington in February, 1905, which body was then asserting its co-ordinate authority as a treaty-making power, by rejecting various treaties negotiated by President Roosevelt.
The reason why two Washington Cabinets in 1890 and 1902, favored a Fisheries Treaty with Newfoundland and not with Canada, was that they regarded one as favorable and the other as detrimental to American interests. Canada is territorially attached to the Republic. Her Maritime Provinces are mthin easy train and steamer connection with the most populous Eastern States. Her fisheries are very large — $30,000,000 against only $60,000,000 in the United States. Her home market is trifling— 8,000,000 people against 80,000,000. The American Cabinets held that the granting of Reciprocity to Canada would mean flooding the Republic with cheap fish and destroying the American fishing industry, since the Canadians are nearer the fishing grounds, conduct their operations less expensively, and could undersell the Americans in the latter's markets, but for the import duty now levied on foreign fish entering there.
The burking of the Bond-Hay Treaty was performed at the instance of the American fishing interests, who counted on being able to play off Canada and Newfound- land against each other stUl longer; raising the cry that the training-school of the American Navy would be destroyed if this compact were ratified. This plea is fallacious. The American fishing vessels are no longer manned by Americans. Not five per cent, of their per- sonnel are American-born, not 25 per cent, naturalized ; the great bulk of the men are Nova Scotians and New- foundlanders, who join the vessels each spring, returning to their homes in the autumn after the fishery is ended.
Newfoundland therefore, feeling that she had
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been unjustly treated, resolved to retaliate, and in the session of her Legislature in March, 1905, enacted the " Eoreign Eishing Vessels Act," to deny American fishing crafts the modus vivendi and other privileges they had previously enjoyed. She also enforced against them the Bait Act, already applied with such destructive effect against the French at St. Pierre. The American vessels frequenting the Grand Banks every summer had always previously obtained bait in Newfoundland ports ; now they could only do so on the west or treaty-coast, and even there, must catch it them- selves. In this they would suffer from three disad- vantages. They do not carry the proper gear nor enough men for such work, bait is not obtainable there until late in the season, and this area is too remote from the cod-fishing grounds. The Bait Act could also seri- ously cripple their winter herring fishery at Bay of Islands, for the practice had been to allow the Americans to buy herrings and now they would have to catch them, an equally difficult matter with their small crews. Premier Bond further tried to prevent them fishing in the inlets there, on the plea that their treaty rights did not include access to the bays.
The American Government protested to the British against these enactments and eventually an Imperial liescript under the Georgian Statute of 1819, was pro- mulgated, over-riding the colonial procedure and placing supreme authority in the hands of the naval officers, pending a settlement by arbitration, which was finally arranged for.
Accordingly the differences arising out of the con- flicting interpretations of the Treaty of 1818, framed to determine the liberties which were to be enjoyed under it by Americans fishing in these waters, were submitted in June, 1910, to the Hague Ai'bitration Tribunal, and resulted after an exhaustive liearing, in an award which was notably favourable to the British contentions.
The Treaty, or Convention, concluded in London
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on October 20th, 1818, granted to " the inhabitants" of the United States the liberty of fishing for ever in common with British subjects, on
(a) The south-west coast of Newfoundland, from Kamea Islands to Cape Hay, with the further concession of landing and drying their catch on the unsettled portions of the coast.
(b) The west coast of Newfoundland, from Cape Ray to Cape Norman, but without the concession of landing and drying their catch on this coast. (The Prench had already been conceded this Kberty there).
(c) The shores of the Magdalen Islands, but without the right to land and dry their catch.
(d) The bays, coasts, harbours and creeks of Labrador from Mount Joli, opposite Anticosti, eastwards through Belle Isle Strait, and northward indefinitely, with the landing and drying privileges as on the south-west coast of Newfoundland.
The Americans, on their part, renounced any liberties as to fishing, previously exercised by them elsewhere in British North American waters, and agreed not to visit these areas in future "for any purpose whatever" except wood, water, shelter or repairs.
This Treaty was designed to end the embroilments constantly occurring between the rival fishermen in those days, though it is needless to say now that it not only failed utterly in this, but also provoked more friction as the years went by. Nearly every clause contained a debateable issue, and this " fishery question " was a cause of difiiculty down to the present time.
At the Arbitration, Great Britain was represented by the Hon. A. B. Aylcs worth. Minister of Justice for Canada, as the agent or solicitor charged with the conduct of her case; while the counsel were : Sir W. S. Hobson, Attorney-General ; Sir R. B. Finlay, ex- Attorney- Gen- eral ; and Sir Erie Uichards, all of England ; Messrs. J. S. Ewart, G. W. Shepley and A. S. Tiiley, of Canada ; Sir E. P. Morris, Prime Minister; Sir J. S. Winter,
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ex-Premier ; and the Hon. D. Morison, Minister of Justice of Newfoundland. The agent for the United States was Mr. Chandler P. Anderson, and the counsel were, Senator Elihu Root ; ex-Senator Turner ; and Messrs. Elder, Warren, Scott and Lansing.
A Court under the Hague scheme is created by- choosing five "impartial jurists of repute," from the roster of international nominees to be the Permanent Court 6f Arbitration. Each party to the dispute names one " national " member, or one of its own subjects, and tlien'chooses a second nominee from some f oreisrn country not interested in the dispute; while the two nations mutually agree on the fifth member of the Tribunal, who is also its President. Thus Great Britain chose Sir Charles PitzPatrick, Chief Justice of Canada; and America chose the Hon. George Grey, of the Federal Circuit Court, as their national members of the Tribunal. The former chose Johnkeer Lohman of the Dutch Senate, and the latter Dr. Drago, of the Argentine Parliament, as their " extra-national " nominees, and both agreed upon Professor Heinrich Lammasch, of Austria, as the Presi- dent of the Tribunal. The selections apjiear to have been admirable ones, and the choice of Professor Lammasch as President, was admittedly unapproachable.
The instrument or " submission " on which the arbitration was founded, comprised seven questions, whicJi may be briefly summarized thus : —
(1) PtEGULATiONS. — Were Americans fishing in Treaty waters, boimd by such fishery ordinances as Canada or Newfoundland might enact from time to time?
(2) Inhabitants. — Could American vessels so fishing, employ "non-inhabitants" of the LTnited States among their crews ?
(3) Customs Obligations. — Were such American vessels obliged to enter and clear at Custom-Houses in Canada or IS^ewfoundland ?
(4) Coastwise Assessments. — Need such American
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vessels pay light or harbour dues to the Canadian or Newfoundland authorities ?
(5) Territorial Water. — Did the Territorial waters follow the sinuosities of the coast, or stretch seaward beyond a line drawn from headland to headland ?
(6) Coasts or Inlets. — Were Americans fishing on the western shore of Newfoundland, restricted to the outer coast, or were they free to the inlets also, as on Labrador P
(7) Commercial Privileges. — Could American fishing vessels, enjoying specific treaty liberties, also enjoy the ordinary commercial privileges of trading crafts ?
The proceedings at the Hague in this trial were the most protracted in modern arbitrations. The printed " cases," " counter-cases " and " arguments " comprised eight volumes, aggregating nearly i,000 pages. The oral addresses of the eight counsel Avho spoke, totalled some 2,500,000 words, and over 1,100 exhibits were put in. The sessions began on June 1st, and lasted till August 12th, and all records were broken by the opening speeches of Messrs. Einlay and Turner, who occupied a fortnight each.
The decision of the arbitrators Avas filed on September 7th, and its most notable feature was, that it was virtually unanimous on all points. Dr. Drago dissented from liis colleagues in their finding as to question 5 ; but his objection was rather an argument that the Tribunal should go further and sj^ecifically delimit certain inlets to which the "headland" theory as to territorial or geographical bays, should apply.
The award, in brief, was as follows : (a) American fishing vessels are bound to conform to all reasonable fishery regulations enforced by Canada or Newfoundland and a subsidiary IVibunal was credited to determine what were " reasonable ;" (b) these vessels may employ "non-inhabitants" of the United States among their
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crews, but such persons enjoy no immunity thereby; (c) these vessels must enter and clear at Custom-houses when humanly possible so to do; (d) they need not, however, pay light or harbour dues, unless such are collected from Canadian or Newfoundland vessels;
(e) the bays are all sea-areas within headlands ;
(f) American vessels can, however, fish in the inlets on the west coast of Newfoundland ; (ff) but such vessels cannot exercise fishing liberties and commercial privileges in the same vova^e.
All the honors of the encounter lay with Great Britain. She secured for Canada and Newfoundland practically every point of importance involved in the award. Only two regulations of any importance are questioned as *' unreasonable " — the j>rohibition of fishing on Sundays, and the prevention of purse-seining, an exceedingly destructive method of fishing. As colonists are subject to these restrictions already, it is improbable that the Americans will secure their reversal, especially as purse- seines were forbidden on the New England coast for some years. Then under the clause as to "non- inhabitants," Newfoundland can prevent her ownpeo23le from hiring aboard American vessels to fish in treaty-coast water. The requirement that such vessels shall report at Custom Houses when humanly possible is imperative, in order to prevent smuggling and illegalities, while, on the other hand, they are exempted from payment of ligbt dues when colonial vessels are exempt. The affirming of the " headland " doctrine respecting bays, gives Newfoundland absolute control of the inshore fisheries ; the permission to Americans to fish in the west coast inlets is due to their having done so for ninety years; but American vessels cannot pose as traders and fishers in the same voyage, ])ut must qualify as one or the other and remain so during the cruise.
The effect of the award then, so far as Canada is concerned, is to exclude American fishermen entirely from the bavs and coastwise waters save in the Mai?dalen
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Islands and Canadian Labrador, and this will seriously hamper them in fishing off her Atlantic seaboard, besides being restricted in her treaty waters to carrying on tlieir industry under her " reasonable " regulations.
As regards JSTewfoundland, they are excluded from yirtually all of her seaboard except the west coast, though entry is essential to them to secure bait for cod fishing on the Grand Banks. On the west coast they can, however, fish subject to "reasonable" regulations. But the only fishes they seek there are herrings, and these during the last three months of the year, whicli business requires larger crews and outfits than their small schooners could carry from American ports. Therefore, their practice has been to buy cargoes from the coastfolk under permits granted by the Colonial Government ; and latterly they have hired local fishermen beyond territorial waters. The award disallows this, denies them trading privileges, and grants Newfoundland virtually absolute masterv in her own waters.
The harmonious outcome of this arbitration is the most decided advance towards an Anglo-American accord in the history of the two nations. Every previous arbitration between them resulted in bitter protests from one side or the other. The Maine boundary and the Oregon boundary provoked much discontent. In the " Alabama " arbitration, the British Commissioner refused to sign the award ; in the Halifax arbitration, the American nominee did the same; when the Paris Tribunal in 1894 decided the Behring Sea sealing dispute, it was against the protest of the American members ; and the story of the refusal of Canada's delegates to sign the Alaskan boundary award in 1903 is too familiar to need more than the briefest reference.
It therefore augurs well for the future that there was unanimous award by the International Tribunal on this fishery dispute ; that such sturdy exponents of national spirit as Judges Eitzpatrick and Grey were able to find common ground for their decision ; that the press
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and people of both nations fully recognised the honesty and good faith of the arbitrators ; and that the award was received without captious criticism from the news- papers of the whole English-speaking world.
When one recalls the tone of Canadian comment upon the Alaskan award, or the condemnation by colonial newspapers of the " supineness " of British diplomacy as lately as two years ago, in regard to this very fishery dispute, the conclusion must be that a great advance has been made, and a new era in Anglo- American relations opened up by the submission of this matter to the judicial impartiality of the InterDational Supreme Court.
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Chapter XXII.
THE LABRADOE PENINSULA.
Great Pishing Centre — Mineral and Woodiand
Possibilities — Sporting and Scenic Attractions —
Grenfell Deep Sea Mission.
NEWFOUNDLAND'S chief depenclency, where one of her greatest cod fisheries is prosecuted, is Labrador, a territory half as large as Europe, and yet containing a resident population of only 3,500 whites, or " livyers," though every summer 15,000 fisherfolk — men, women, and children — emigrate there for cod- catching and locate along the coast-line which forms the base of the enterprise.
Labrador is that portion of the Canadian mainland between Belle Isle Strait and Hudson Bay. It is ^aid to take its name from a Basque fisherman named Bradore, who settled in the bay of that name about 1520. Cartier charted it in 1534, and it soon became the centre of a large fishery. Prance maintaining a garrison of 500 men in a strong fort at Bradore, relics of whose occupa- tion are still found there. About 1760, they abandoned Labrador because of the incursions of sea-raiders during the wars preceding the surrender of Quebec. It was then placed under the jurisdiction of Canada, next of Newfoundland, then of Canada again, and in 1809 of Newfoundland once more, whose appanage it has since been. It has no settled form of Government, justice being dispensed by the medical missionaries who labour there and who hold commissions
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of the peace. Such trivial disputes regarding fishery matters as arise in the tiny hamlets along the coast, where a peace-loving people have their ahode, are then- only cases.
The shalIo\?s off the Labrador coast are the resort of countless " schools " of cod, and the fishermen net them from suitable points. The whole coast is fringed with barren islands of naked rock, engirt with wide, deep channels. Great fiords eat for miles into the granite steeps, and countless harbours are formed wherein the fishing crafts can lie in safety. The scenery along the coast is wild and impressive, the rugged plateaus being scarred by prehistoric glaciers in their resistless sweep across this flinty track. The southern section has many wooded areas and forest tracts lying in the ravines sheltered from tlie ocean, and here herd the game birds and animals of the region in such abundance, that only its comparative isolation prevents its becoming one of the great resorts of the world.
Although Labrador is at present chiefly noted for its fisheries, there is no question that it is destined for a great future as a mineral, forest and sporting country. Its mineral wealth is varied and extensive ; the valleys of the interior arc richly covered with forest growth, and its attractions as a hunting ground, a game-fishing resort, and a region rich in scenic beauties, are no whit inferior to Norway's, so that in years to come, and perhaps not distant ones, it may develop into a country with a future as promising as that of Alaska.
Indeed, it is much akin to Alaska in all its charac- teristics. Geographically, it occupies the same relation to the North American Continent on the east that Alaska does on the west ; and its geological formation is mucli the same. There are many confident observere who predict that some day gold will be found in Labrador as abundantly as in Alaska. The peltries of Labrador are the finest in the world and fetch the highest prices to-day in the great fur markets. Its
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forest areas are already being worked and shipments of lumber made from Hamilton Inlet every summer ; and many travellers have told of its abundance of game in fin, fur and feather.
Eastern Labrador is roughly divided into two sections by Hamilton Inlet, a mighty fiord Avhich strikes back into the territory for some 200 miles. South of it is a resrion riclilv dowered with forest areas and the two-thirds of the region which lies north of it, are those in which it is believed the mineral wealth thereof will yet be found, further into the country. British warsliips, Newfoundland mail boats and ocean freighters to load lumber, safely navigate its waters. About fifty miles back from the coast, the wooded country begins on both banks of the Inlet which is here about twelve ixdles wide. All this region is thickly covered with excellent timber which stretches back from the water in scores and per- haps hundreds of miles.
Sir William MacGregor, late Governor of New- foundland, Avho, while filling similar posts in Piji, New Guinea and West Africa, made extensive explonxtions of these countries, visited Labrador officially in 190S and navigated Hamilton Inlet in the colonial cruiser Fiona. In his official report to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Governor MacGregor says that " We had time to examine the North-west Kiver only as far as the southern end of the Grand Lake, from which it debouches. But this enabled us to see that there is in the vicinity a large area of forest suitable for pulp manufacture. At a lumber camp where we stopped, we saw trees with a diameter of three feet, and showing 170 rings, each representing a year's growth, and I personally examined two, one of which was G ft. 6 in. in circumference at the butt and 4 ft. A in. at the top, and the other 7 ft. 1 in. at the butt and 4 ft. 8 in. at the top, and the rings on the first were about 212 and on the second, about 240. These two logs were perfectly sound at the core and were the largest I saw, but I was
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assured that there are larger than those on the Kennimau Kiver. It may safely be said that there are trees in that district 210 years old. At the mill in this vicinity the smallest logs for sawing had a diameter of about 15 inches, and counted about 00 rings. The Company exported some 800,000 feet of himber the previous summer, and I had then on hand some 450,000 feet/'
It is quite evident that a country of this size and area must possess immense water powers, and Sir William MacGregor also testifies to this fact in his report wherein he observes as follows : — '* To at least superficial and hurried examination it would seem that the Muskrat Ealls would provide very valuable water power. The volume of watei* that descends there is probably twenty or thirty times as great as that of the Exploits Eiver, supposed to be the largest stream in Newfoundland. The form of the river at the Muskrat Fails would seem to fit it most favourably for supplying power, probably best by tunnels through the little hills. It Avould be difiicult for one to see these falls with this immense potential power, without thinking of the extensive forests of that country which could he converted into paper pulp ; and without putting to oneself the question whether a line of electric railway will not, one day, traverse the Hamilton Watershed to the Atlantic."
Travellers who have visited Labrador speak in the highest terms of its scenic aud sporting attractions. Dr. Grenfell, who has been constantly voyaging there for nearly twenty years, says :
" After manv vears' cruisin"* the coast as master of my own vessel, after having visited the coasts of Norway and Iceland, as well as having coasted all round the British Isles, I consider that none of these European shores oifers a more fasciuatini;' and safer field for pleasure cruising than the coast of Labrador. If the visitor to Labrador desires scenery of a Avild aud rocky nature, he should certainly aim for the northern half of the north-east coast. So far as known, no white man
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has ever climbed any one of these hornlike, rocky piles ; their heights have been variouslv estimated at from six to ten thousand feet. The probable heights seem to be from six thousand to seven thousand feet. Many of the beautiful inlets in the southern half of this coast may be explored with small, open boats or even with canoes. Some of the inlets canbe easily reached by leaving the mail steamer. But the universal attraction of the coast — the ever changing- glory of the atmosphere — cannot be localized or described. Color is everywhere, with a gamut that few parts of the world can equal. Prom the hilltops the land is a giant opal, changing in a million moods, from the tenderest gray or blue, through vivid emerald or most royal purples, to the unsurpassed gold and reds of the long twilights and dawns."
But the fisherman cares little for its mines or its forests, its scenery or its sport. He is concerned only in reaping from its ocean floor sustenance for his family, and he allows nothing to interfere with this. The world has probably nothing so unique as the annual migration of these Newfoundland fisherfolk to this region, nor an industry so strange as they pursue. About May in each year they embark in their vessels with their goods and chattels, shut up their homes and sail for Labrador, where they disperse along its extensive seaboard. The fishermen are of two classes — "stationers" and "floaters.'* The former have homes in certain harbours and fish near by, shippini? much of their cured product direct to market from the coast. The latter carry on their venture from their schooners and cruise farther north as the season advances. About 1,000 to 1,200 vessels classed as " floaters," are annually engaged in the Labrador fishery.
In October the season is over, and these hardy voyagers return to their homes, the 8,500 " livyers " residing there permanently. These "livyers" (live heres) are so called to distinguish them from the summer fishermen, and there are one or two families in every harbour. During the summer, they reside along the coast
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for the fisliing, but in winter most of them retire to the wooded tracts at the heads of the bays, where there is shelter, warmth and a means of increasing their food supply by the killing of game which abounds there. The trapping of fur-bearing animals is also undertaken, the peltries being exchanged for food and clothing when the traders are on the coast in summer.
During the summer, clergymen of the different denominations are to be found on the coasts, and now and again one volunteers for a winter sojourn there, but the seaboard is so sparsely settled, that it is almost impossible for them to reach their scattered flocks. Only a few years ago, however, a young Anglican cleric decided upon a six years' stay among the heathen Eskimos in Ungava Bay, on the borders of Hudson Bay.
Further south than this, in the region extending to Hamilton Inlet and known locally as " Northern Labra- dor," dwells a tribe of Christianized Eskimos, about 1,500 in all, whose uplifting is due to the Moravian missionaries from Germany who have been labouring among them for a century past. These missionaries maintain six stations — Hopedale, Zoar, Nain, Okak, Hebron and Bamah — and have done most commendable work amom? these Innuits.
Beaming the wooded interior, are Montagnais and Nascopee Indians, a branch of the great Cree tribe. Tliese number about 3,000, and are hunters and trappers almost entirely. Tliey live in the forests and visit the fur posts which are located in tlie inlets, where communi- cation by sea can be easily kept up and supplies secured without losing touch with the interior to which they are almost the only avenues. Steamers belonging to the Moravian and the Hudson Bay Company visit the coast each summer with stores for the stations, and to take away the stocks of peltries accumulated during the winter.
The outlook for agriculture in the sheltered inlets
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of Labrador is decidedly favorable. The climate in that section is by no means as harsh as it has been represented. The soil is loamy and free from rocks. In the vicinity of the lumber mills there, the Companies operating the same have cleared ground and planted it with vegetables and grains; and splendid crops of potatoes, cabbage, turnips, radishes, beets, spring beans, as well as grasses, hay and oats, are grown tliere annually ; while alders, willows and other growths are very abundant and advanced.
The Labrador peninsula is the home of countless herds of caribou, and these have been slaughtered by the Eskimos and "livyers " on such a scale in the past, that thousands of skins have been exported from there every season. Latterly, however, this practice has been discouraged, and the kill has been much more limited.
The fur-bearing animals have been taken chiefly by the settlers with traps, but the feathered game has afforded a never-ceasing abundance to all who would try for such. The river fishing is equally excellent. Dr. Grenfell says : " The river fishing of Labrador should be a great attraction to friends from the Old Country to visit us. In Canada all the salmon rivers are leased for large sums, largely to wealthy Americans. This colony has preserved all its river fishing for its own people, and, though all netting is forbidden, anyone may fish with a rod and line for salmon and trout. With my skipper and a young friend, I landed an evening or two ago and fished awhile. In two hours and a half we had all we could carry, though we were still all three fishing in the same pool we began in, and the trout were taking the fly just as freely as when we began. Our bag weighed 125 lb. The largest fish weighed 1 J lb., and the average fish weighed 1 lb. This is no new experi- ence. I have had to take off two flies from a cast of three, owing to the fish taking them all three at once. Naturally, the salmon are not so greedy, but good
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salmon fishing can be enjoyed free by visitors in any part of the Colony."
No article respecting Labrador would be complete without a reference to the work of the branch of the Hoyal National Mission to Deep Sea fishermen which was inaugurated on that coast nearly 20 years ago by Dr. W. T. Grenfell and which has enormously increased its activities since then. The lack of medical aid for the fishermen attracted the attention of prominent members of that Mission in England, and Dr. Grenfell, then its Superintendent in the North Sea, was empowered to visit Labrador and inaugurate a branch there. This he did in 1892, in the hospital ship Albert, a sealing craft, and established an hospital at Battle Harbour. Experience taught him that a steam vessel v»'as necessary, and he procured a large launch, named the Frincess May. His next venture was the establishing of a second hospital at Indian Harbour at the mouth of Hamilton Inlet, and tJien he secured a second launch, the Julia Sheridan. Next came a larger ship, the Sir Donald, and finally the splendid steam hospital yacht, St7^athcona, largely the gift of that eminent philan- thropist. The steamer is known to every fisherman from Ungava Bay to the southern end of the mission, 1,000 miles away. She follows the fleets, travelling up and down the coast ; and is eagerly watched for by the fishermen and their families. She has an hospital on board, and conveys patients from their homes to the mission's land hospitals. The people flock to her when she comes to port, seeking treatment if they are sick, and news of the fishery's progress if they are well.
By this means, the mission has been able to give a practical demonstration of the Gospel of Love, which wins the hearts of the people as nothing else could. Dr. Grenfell and his stafi: have become " fishers of men," and they have been rewarded with continued and large catches. Dr. Grenfell has built three hospitals in NeAvfoundland territory and one in Canada. These
w
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hospitals liave done a splendid work. The men and Avomen who have been taken in, have been carefully nursed, liave been cured of their diseases, and have returned to their homes, deeply grateful. The mission has l)een an immense benefit physically, morally and spiritually. Dr. Grenfell and his assistants go about among the thousand fishermen in the summer, minister- ing* to their physical wants, holding services eitlier on shore or on the sea as the need arises — simple services with nothing at all savouring of creed or denomination — the broad fact of God's love, which is understood by these simple people, whom the sea and its solemn mysteries have made reverent.
Dr. Grenfell's latest undertaking has been to introduce Lapland reindeer into Labrador, 300 of these having been procured by him some three years ago, which have since increased to 800, and which he has at present herded in Northern Labrador until he is able to transfer them to Labrador, where ]>e proposes to distribute them among the " livyers " in substitution for the savage dogs of the region which are now used as beasts of burden, and which he hopes to have the owners then decide to exterminate, because they are destructive to every living animal on the coast ; human beings not excepted at times. The reindeer is more satisfactory as a draft animal and can be fed on the mosses with which the country is covered to such an extent, as to form a virtually inexhaustible supply, and he hopes to repeat in Labrador the success of the experiment undertaken in Alaska twenty years ago by Dr. Sheldon Jackson on behalf of the United States, there being now some 1,500 reindeer in that country ; and they have proved the salvation of the native races there.
In the "Business Man's Magazine" of New York, of March, 1906, Dr. J. S. Johnson, the editor, who visited Hamilton Inlet, Labrador, in the Summer of 1905, as the accredited press representative to the Canadian
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Government solar Eclipse expedition sent to North-west River, which echpse was also ohserved by Governor MacGregor, in an article on " Business Possibilities in Labrador," says as follows :
" When the truth about Labrador is known, the silence of centuries will be broken by the j)ick and hammer and spade of the prospector, the throb of the lumber mill, the pulp mill and the factory. Like all the areas underlying glaciated archaen rocks, it contains innumerable drainage basins, discharging through a network of streams flowing to every point of the compass, and contributing to a rich forest growth in the interior valleys. Climatic conditions in Labra- dor, except among the coastal highlands, where the eternal dampness of the sea is felt, are much the same as in Canada. In the wooded tracts of the southerly inlets and valleys from early June to the end of August, one might imagine himself among the Adiron- acks or the verdure- clad hills and lakes and islands of the Makoka region of Ontario. Eorest areas — chiefly of spruce and larch — are widely scattered, these trees being found in most of the glens up to the extreme north. Along the sides of the river valleys the soil is richer, and supports trees in greater size and variety. On the southern watershed, the wooded areas expand. Here the forest growth becomes even more luxuriant. Large tracts, especially along the waterways, are richly covered with trees of commercially marketable size — vir£?in forests that awaits the woodman's axe. The forest areas of its southern watershed, easily accessible, contain sufficient pulp - wood, under same forestry practice, to supply the paper mills of the world for ever."
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Chapter XXIII.
CLIMATE AND SCENERY.
Delightful Climate of Newfoundland — Unri- valled Scenic Attractions — Testimony of Eminent Visitors — A Coming Health Eesort.
THERE is an idea abroad that Newfoundland is somewhere near the North Pole, and that ice, snow and fog abound. No impression could be more erroneous. As a matter of fact, Newfoundland is much less cold than the neighbouring proAdnces of Canada, and in no parts of the country does the thermometer but rarely drop below zero. In the interior and on the western slopes fog is unknown, and on the east coast much rarer than supposed ; while a more delightful climate it would lie impossible to imagine. The natural growth of the Island includes wild berries, fruits and flowers, which only ripen with a great wealth of sunshine ; and the fact that the whole of the wilderness interior is covered with these berries attests more conclusively than anything else to the salubrity and mildness of its climate. More- over, nearly every fisherman now has his garden, in which home-^rown vegetables and fruits are raised for the family table, and throughout the interior are found extensive areas suitable for cattle grazing, sheep raising and pasture purposes.
The temperature of Newfoundland does not undergo nearly so many alterations as the temperature of Quebec, JMontreal and Ottawa, as may be seen from
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these figures, compiled hy Sir William MacGregor, the late Governor of Newfoundland, and now of Queensland :
|
Mean Tempera- |
Mean Tempera- |
Mean Tempera |
|
|
ture of year. |
ture of January. |
ture of July. |
|
|
St. John's... |
... 39-37 |
.. 21-09 |
56-51 |
|
Quebec . . . |
... 38-12 |
9-14 |
66-02 |
|
Montreal ... |
... 41-34 . |
.. 12-38 |
... 68-90 |
|
Ottawa . . . |
... 40-64 . |
10-58 |
69-26 |
As much as — 33 C, which is equal to 59-40 degrees Pahrenheit, of frost has been registered at Montreal, and as much as — 47 C. at Winnipeg, which represents 85*5 degrees Pahrenheit of frost. The Newfoundland winter temperature is thus less trying to vegetation than is the case in the nearest provinces of " Britain's Granary."
The spring is a somewhat backward season, but the snow and frost help to break up the soil and moisten the earth, so that once vegetation sets in, the growth is rapid, crops ripening much quicker than in the Eastern hemis- phere. Sir William MacGregor remarks on this point : —
"The growth that sets in with the early autumn was comparable only to what one sees in a well-conducted forcing bed. The whole country seems to be transformed in a few days into an enormous greenhouse. The contrast between the beginning and end of July Avas such, that I doubted if I had ever seen greater vegetable growth in the same time in the tropics. There can be no doubt whatever that the vegetables grown in this country for human food are of very superior quality. This they probably owe to some extent to the extraordinary rapidity of their growth, which favours the develoj)ment of the cellular element and gives little time to the iibrous tissue to toughen and harden. From the point of view of health on the other hand, the climate gives an atmosphere of somewhat Arctic purity, to which is added the aroma of extensive pine forests."
The winter season is remarkable for two phenomena ; one, an ice condition known as " silver thaw," and the other, a meteorological condition known as the " aurora
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borealis." The silver thaw, so called, is caused by rain falling with a low temperature, being congealed as it descends, and depositing itself on every object which obstructs its passage in a condition of translucent ice, Avbich goes on increasing as the storm continues, until every tree and leaf seems to be coated with crystal, the effect of which when the sun shines, is splendid beyond description. The aurora borealis is a mighty display of what is known as " the Northern Lights." The brilliant illumination covers the whole heavens and the manv hues of the amazing coruscations flood the entire celestial dome.
The summers are remarkably equable and pleasant, the temperature ranges from 70 to 80 degrees, and the extremes of heat and cold which are common in Canada and the United States are not experienced here. Even when the days are warm, the nights are cool, and the breezes always invigorating. From June until December the weather is ideal, and as a health resort the colony is increasing in popularity every year. The fogs to which the country chiefly owes an unenviable notoriety, are confined to the " Banks " out in the Atlantic, hundreds of miles from her coasts. The causes of the fogs farther south are the commingling of the Arctic current and the Gulf Stream on the Grand Banks ; the frigid and torrid waters sending up a mass of vapour which, during the summer months, enshrouds this region in brumous mist. The fog rarely penetrates inland, and there tlie sun usually shines brightly, the air is dry and balmy, and the ozone is salubrious to a degree. The mean annual temperature the past ten years was 41'5 : the average height of the barometer was 29'39 inches. The existence of ice-floes in winter and the presence of bergs that are ferried do\^Ti from the Greenland coast, have done much to perpetuate the impression tliat Newfoundland is constantly fog and ice bound, but for the greater portion of the year such conditions do not exist at all, and some seasons pass without the great
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mass of the people ever looking upon a fragment of sea-borne ice at all.
The testimony of representative persons who have resided in Newfoundland will be valuable as evidence of the truth with regard to the climate. Sir Richard Bonnycastle, who spent some years in the Island, says in a history of Newfoundland, which he published in 1842 :
"We find that the extremities of temperature in Newfoundland are trifling compared with those of Canada. There the thermometer falls as low as twenty- seven degrees below zero, and even lower at times in winter, and rises to ninety in summer. Here (in Newfoundland) the lowest temperature in winter scarcely exceeds zero, or eight or ten degrees below it, excepting upon rare occasions ; and in the height of summer does not attain more in common years, than seventy-nine degrees. "Winter may really be said to commence here towards the latter end of November only, though fires are comfortable adjuncts during most of that month ; and its severity begins after Christmas, runs through January and Eebruary, and becomes less and less stern until the middle of April, when it ceases altogether. In the winter of 1840, ploughing was going after Christmas. It is generally supposed in England that Newfoundland is constantly enveloped in fog and Avet mist; nothing, however, could be further from the truth. The summers are frequently so hot and dry that for want of rain the grass perishes — the summer of 1840 was one of these — and the nights are unusually splendid ; wliilst in winter fog is very rarely seen."
He kept a register in regard to foggy days, from which it appeared that in 1841, there were only seventeen and a half days of thick fog in St. John's, " which is more exposed to the Bank weather, as it is called, than any other part of the Island ; " and light fogs were prevalent only nineteen and a half days ; giving thirty-seven days of foggy weather on the shore throughout the year. He remarks further on the light clothing with Which the
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labouring classes went aboiit in winter, and on their robust appearance, and pronounces the climate salubrious in the highest degree.
The late Dr. Mullock, Roman Catholic Bishop of the Island, in one of his lectures, says : " We never have the thermometer down to zero, unless once or twice in the year, and then only for a few hours and for a few degrees, three, four or perhaps ten ; while we hear of a tempera- ture of ten and twenty below zero in Canada and New Brunswick ; and this life-destroying cold continuing for days, perhaps weeks. Then see another effect of this — the Canadians and other North Americans of the same latitude are obliged to keep up hot stoves almost continually in their houses, while we have open fire places, or at most Pranklins ; our children^ I may say, are lightly clad as in summer and spend a larger portion of their time in the open air ; and thus while our neighbours have the colour of confinement tingeing their cheeks, and their children look comparatively pale, our youngsters are blooming Avith the rosy hue of health, developing their energies by air and exercise, and j)i'eparing themselves for the battle of life hereafter, either as hardly mariners or healthy matrons — the blooming mothers of a powerful race. The mean temperature of 1859 was 44 degrees."
Sir Stephen Hill, who was Governov of the Island for six years, says : " The chmate of Newfoundland is exceedingly healthy. The robust and healthy appearance of the people, and the advanced ages to which many of them attain, testify to the pmity and excellence of the ah' which they inhale and the invigorating qualities of the breezes of British North America. "
Alexander Miu-ray, C.M.G., Geological Surveyor, who spent sixteen years in the Island, traversing it in all directions, says : " The climate of Newfoundland is, as compared Tvdth the neighbouring conlinent, a moderately temperate one. The heat is far less intense on an average, during the summer than in any part of Canada,
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and the extreme cold of Avinter is much less severe. The thermometer rarely indicates hiarher than seventy degrees Eah., in the former, or much below zero in the latter, although the cold is occasionally aggravated hy storms and the humidity consequent on an insular position. The climate is undouJjtedly a very healthy one, and the general physique of the natives, who are a powerfully-built, robust and hardy race, is a good example of its influence."
The Rev. Philip Tocque, in a history of Newfound- land, published by him in 1877, says of the climate : " The winters of Newfoundland are not by many degrees so cold as in the neighbouring provinces or the northern states, nor is the climate so changeful. It is admitted that the climate of Newfoundland has gradually under- gone an alteration the last forty years, and is now much warmer than formerly. St. John's, the capital, is nearer the Equator than London, Dublin or Edinburgh, and actually lies in the same latitude as Paris. In New- foundland, the sea fog prevails only on the eastern and southern shores, and then but at intervals during the summer months. I saw more dense fog during a fortnight I spent in St. John\, New Brunswick, than I saw in St. John's, Newfoundland, for years, and I have seen much more fog in Halifax and Boston than I ever saw on the eastern coast of Newfoundland. According to a register kept at St. John's, Newfoundland, the average of thick fog and partial light fog extending a short distance inland was 17^ days of thick fog and 19^ days of light fog and mists, making a total of only 37 days of cloudy weather throughout the year. A register kept at the Citadel Port, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and kindly furnished me by Mr. G. Moulds, Royal Artillery, shews that there were in Nova Scotia 42 days of thick fog and 60 days of light fog, making a total of 112 days foggy weather, besides 110 days of cloudy weather, in a year."
Mr. J. P.'llowley, P.G.S., and present Director of the Geological Survey, in one of his reports, says : —
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" I myself spent four months during the past season in the interior without experiencing" a genuine foggy flay. During the entire months of July and August the weather in the interior was delightful."
SCENERY.
Newfoundland contains some of the crrandest and most beautiful scenery in the world, as a glance at photographs depicting its natural attractions, will convince the most sceptical. It resembles Norway in many respects and in none more than the picturesque features of its coast line and the mighty bays in which yachtsmen and travellers can delight. The deep inlets which cut up the coast every few miles, the lofty cliffs which evoke the admiration of the beholder, and the tree-clad valleys through which its beautiful rivers run, are strikingly similar to the Norwegian panoramas, and are as attractive in their scenery. The delightfully exhilarating summers, the bright skies and sunlit days, the genial and invigorating atmosphere, and the favouring climate which is so delightful a change from the torrid heats of other countries, make it a res^ion that every year attracts an increasing number of visitors."
As time goes on, these numbers will still further increase, and the best evidence of the growth of traffic is furnished by the Reid Company deciding to establish a daily steamship service between Cape Breton and Port- aux-Easques, with a daily express service across the Island. Hunters and fishers to trail the lordlv caribou and the gamey salmon ; artists and photographers to carry away views of its natural beauties ; and vacationists to regain their shattered health — all are crowding into the island in recent years. Nor are its attractions confined to the inanimate beauties of the country and the game with which it abounds ; but an equally pleasant experience is it, to move about among the people in the fishing villages, seek for cod with them in their boats
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and skiffs in the coastwise waters, and to see them ply their arduous avocations along this rugged seahoard.
Admiral Sir William Kennedy, R.N., who, as commander of H.M.S. Druid, spent several years ia Newfoundland in the Fisheries Protection Service, and who knows the Island thoroughly, published some years ago " Sporting Notes on New^foundland," this extract from w^hich will show his opinion of the climate and scenery : — " To one who, like the writer, has had the opportunity of seeing the country, of mingling with its warm-hearted inhabitants, of penetrating into the vast and almost unknown interior in quest of sport, Newfoundland presents a deeply interesting aspect, whether it be from a sporting, an artistic or a social point of view. I have no hesitation in saying, that during the five summer months the climate is far superior to that of Great Britain, while the winters are undoubtedly milder than those of Nova Scotia or New Brunswick. During July, August, September, and part of October, the w^eather is magnificent, the thermometer ranging occasionally as high as 95 degrees. At this time the country presents a most beautiful appearance, resembling in parts the Highlands of Scotland. The mountains are clothed to their tops with many kinds of woods, conspicuous among which are the fir, the pine, maple, birch and hazel. The " barrens " are covered with a rich carpet of moss of every shade and colour, and abound in all sorts of wild berries, pleasing both to the eye and taste. The banks of the rivers are also at this time fringed with wild strawberries, raspberries, currants and blueberries, and adorned with many kinds of lovely ferns and wild flow ers ; while foaming torrents and tumbling cascades complete a picture delightful to the eye of the artist and the salmon fisher. The scenery of the south coast is of the grandest description; deep gorges in the coastline lead through narrow entrances, with precipitous cliffs on either hand, to magnificent harbours where the navies of Europe may float secure from
187
every gale. In the interior are thousands, aye millions of acres of good land, suitable for growing crops or raising cattle or sheep, as is shewn by the magnificent wild grass which grows in all the swamps and upon which the deer feed unmolested, save when the solitary hunter intrudes upon their sanctuary. As regards salubrity of climate, K ewf oundland has no equal. On our visits round the coast the doctor's duties were absolutely nil. I believe that few countries have such advantages as are possessed by Newfoundland, with her magnificent harbours and her boundless stores of wealth ; but no country has ever yet progressed without railroads, or even roads. With the completion of the railway, with copper mines in full blast along her shores, and other industries in like activity, the proud boast of every Newfoundlander: *' This Newrf oundland of ours," will be no idle one.
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Chapter XXIV.
A SPOETSMAN'S PARADISE.
Hunting and Pishing — Attractions for Tourist and Health-Seeker — Game Paradise of Sportsmen —
Game Laws.
Newfoundland is each year becoming more and more the objective of sportsmen and tourists, attracted by the certainty of employment for rod, gun and camera among the wild game and fish, and the natural beauties of the sea-board and interior. As the Island is virtually unpeopled save around the sea-board, and as, apart from the railway which runs through the interior with stations at intervals, affording access to the coast towns, the country is in its primeval state with countless lakes and streams abounding in trout, broad stretches of upland moor tenanted by vast herds of caribou, the sea-board broken up by numerous estuaries that are the home of the lordly salmon, and the diversified natural beauties of the region increased by the presence, all through the summer, of brilliant Aveather, making a sojourn there an unending delight; the rush of visitors is constantly increasing.
Of large game the caribou stand foremost, but there are also bears, wolves and lynxes, fur-bearing animals such as foxes, otters, marten, minks, musk-rats and rabbits, while of birds, there are willow- grouse, spruce, partridge, Canada goose, Brant goose, and many varieties of duck, snipe, woodcock and plover. For the rod, there is trout and salmon fishing as fine as the world can afford, to be
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had in such ahunclaiice as to satisfy the most exactin<^, and for the camera an unceasing variety of strikingly beautiful natural pictures.
Caribou shooting in the Island is now a favourite pastime. . The best season is the early autumn before the snow comes, but some sportsmen wait until November. The caribou migrate during the summer from the south of the Island into the wildest northern area, and at the end of winter retreat back to the forest's shelter, where they remain during the period of snow-fall. In this migration they cross the railway track, and some years ago local fishermen would camp there and shoot down the passing deer; then packed the meat into barrels with salt to preserve it for their winter's food. It was no uncommon sight from the railroad to observe them at this work, with glistening heaps of salt and piles of barrels dotting the landscape.
E/Cahzing that caribou would meet the fate of the buifalo if this practice was continued, the Colonial Lescislature set aside a reserve for the deer, in which no shooting is permitted, and this has curtailed the butchery. The south coast fishermen also went inland during the winter and killed hundreds of caribou, sending the carcasses to St. John's, where they often sold for one cent per pound ; this practice is also abolished, so that now the chase is confined chiefly to genuine hunters, who are permitted to kill three stags during the season.
Some of the best sportsmen journey many miles from the railroad into regions rarely penetrated. E. C. Selous, the noted African hunter, spent two seasons in Newfoundland, and explored new regions on his own account, coming upon previously unsuspected haunts of the deer where the best of sport was found. He says : " I know of but one really wild country where big game is still plentiful, which can be quickly and easily reached, where shooting trips can be undertaken at small cost, and that is Newfoundland. The deer are the finest race of the woodland caribou, and carry
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splendid antlers, worthy of foremost places in any sportman's collection of hunting- trophies. To my mind the way to enjoy a trip there, is to leave the railway and make for the interior, with a good canoe and two hardy Newfoundlanders — and l)etter men you won't find any- where in the world — and follow up one of the many rivers. Soon you will reach as wide a country as any on earth, with caribou in abundance, and perhaps a black bear, or a wolf or lynx ; and should you tire of deer meat, there are trout in plenty in the streams and ponds, while willow grouse of the most delicate flavor fattened on cran-berries and blue-berries, swarm on all the barrens. Personally I never enjoyed any hunting trip in my life as much as I did my last visit to Newfoundland. I found caribou plentiful and secured two really tine heads. I got into a wild country where the game had long been undisturbed."
The caribou of Newfoundland are the ran^ifer or woodland {cervus taraudus), distinct from the Arctic, or moorland caribou, better known as reindeer. Both are of the same species, being sturdy, strongly- built animals, the woodland caribou larger, heavier and stronger, and carrying liner antlers. Unlike most deer, both male and female are thus equipped, the stags carrying splendid trophies, but the horns of the doe are inferior. The caribou are supposed to be indigenous to Newfoundland, for the oldest Beothic relics indicate their existence. They are like Alderney cows, vritli short legs and broad feet, enabling them to rapidly and easily traverse the snow and wet marshes. They weigh from five hundred to seven hundred pounds, stand about 4 ft. 6 in. high, and afford excellent sport. The hunting season extends from July 15th to Eebruary 1st, excepting the first twenty days of October, which are barred for the mating period. But, except for the meat, the cariljou are not worth shooting until about September ; lOtli to 30th is perhaps tlie finest time, and the weather is fairly pleasant. The suspense time in October draws a clear line, and
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from that until the middle of November, most of the local hunters (I use the word in its true sense) go out, though the weather at the last gets too cold for the alien.
Every visiting hunter must take out a license, which costs fiftv dollars and allows him to kill three stags. These licenses are to he had from any magistrate or game warden, and require the licensee to make oath that he will not violate or permit the violation of, the game laws ; to convey such meat as he may not use into some settlement or else bury it ; to prevent his hired helpers killing caribou unless they are licensed ; and. to return his license when it expires with a true endorse- ment thereon of the number of caribou killed by Mm and his party. It is forbidden to hunt caribou with dogs or any weapons save firearms, or to set traps or snares for them. A licensee may take away from the colony the antlers, heads and skins of the deer shot under his license, on making oath that they are not being exported for sale. The Act is framed to afford every facility to visiting sportsmen, while at the same time providing such safeguards as will prevent abuses in the pursuit of this noble pastime by pot-hunters and others.
The visiting sportsman can secure guides before- hand, through the good oflfices of the Ministry of Marine and Fisheries at St. John's, or of the E>eid Newfoundland Company. The rate of pay for ordinary guides is $1.50 to $2.50, for helpers $1 a day. If one is venturing into lake regions, a canoe is needed. It can be got for about $15, or hired for fifty cents a day, all damages to be made good. A tent is necessary in any case, and it is best brought along by the visitor, the ligJiter the better. The same applies to a portable cook-stove equipment. As to the hunter's outfit, it is difficult to advise, as tastes differ so greatly. Some hunters use the rubber boots common among the Grand Bank fishermen. Others prefer the sealskin boots which the local sealers use at the ice fields. Others pin their faith to high goloshes
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because of tlieir warmtli. "Waterproof footwear of some kind is essential, and plenty of heavy woollen socks should not be overlooked. These can he obtained in the Island, if a guide is engaged beforehand, for the village women knit them well. Sleeping bags are convenient, as they can be utilized for packing the impedimenta. Rubber mattresses or cushions are desirable, and spreads of the same serve many useful purposes. The guides, where the country permits, will soon erect a shack or wigwam of boughs for themselves, which not infrequently is more comfortable than a tent, as it retains the warmth better.
'* The game laws of Newfoundland are sounder than those of any country I have visited," writes Mr. H. Hesketh Pritchard in the Cornhill Mao-azine for November, 1909. " They do not permit the guides to shoot when accompanying a sportsman, though of course at other times each guide has his right, as a citizen, to kill three deer. This is an excellent regulation, for when the sportsman has shot his three heads he can kill no more, and may as well leave the country. In other circumstances he mis^ht buv from his men their rio'ht to shoot the three each to which they are entitled, and a, certain number of sportsmen would undoubtedly do so — an evasion of the law which could only lead to bad results. If Newfoundland would but add an absolute prohibition, under a heavy penalty, of the sale or exposure for sale of the trophy of any indigenous wild animal, her game laws Avould be nearly as perfect as one can expect such laws to be. Perhaps, however, they might be altered in one other point. A £10 license permits the foreigner or visiting sportsman to shoot three stags. This places the person who goes up to the Howley station and in two days shoots that number of prickets as the deer cross the line on their migration, on the same footing with the man who spends six weeks in the interior looking for three fine heads. If the rule were a stag for every week spent hunting, the law would
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be more iust and fewer stags be unworthily slain. Incidentally the conntiy AYOuld benefit, as the hunter who goes into the interior spends, say, £100 as against the ten pound note of the railway sportsman."
Mr. J. G. Millais, author of "The Mammals of Great Britain and Ireland," who hunted in the colony several seasons, says: " Eor its size, Newfoundland to-day contains more caribou than any other part of the world, and, owing to the nutritive qualities of its excellent mosses and lichens, they grow to great excellence. It is almost a platitude to say that a fine caribou head of, say, thirty-five points, is a trophy worth winning, for it is of such size and form that no really good collection is com- plete without a couple of good specimens. Big heads are just as rare or as frequent as ever they were, and after seeing large numbers of stags, I should say that any hunter who goes far enough afield and works hard is sure to see at least one forty-pointer for a season. In 1902, I killed stags of thirty-five, forty-five and forty- nine points, the two last being splendid specimens. It must not, however, be thought that such heads are common or easy to get. Though the deer are just as plentiful as ever they were, they have grown more suspicious and retreated farther into the interior; and to see a large number of stags, the hunter must be prepared to journey inland by canoe and portage, and then have large areas of country entirely to himself."
It is possible for anybody with the slightest know- ledge of wood-craft to kill caribou in Newfoundland bv his own unaided exertions, but it is preferable to engas^e guides. The stalking of the caribou calls for very little wood-lore, and by taking ordinary precautions in the matt(^r of clothing, avoiding unnecessary noise, and availing of every patch of cover, the antlered monarchs may be approached closely enough to be picked off with- out risk of losing the quarry. Caribou are still very abundant in Newfoundland, and likely to remain so, as the whole interior between the railway and the south
N
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coast, as well as the great northern peninsula, except the coast line, are uninhahited, and form safe breeding grounds for the great herds of deer which wander at will over these vast areas.
In addition to the shooting of caribou, which can be enjoyed in almost any section of the island, the pui'suit of bears, wolves and lynxes forms a diversion at present practised chiefly by the local hunters, though there is no reason why visiting sportsmen should not also indulge in it. The local hunters add to their income bv this means, disposing of the pelts to the furriers. Almost every fisherman has a trapper's outfit, and lays snares and traps in the woods inland from the coast. More venturesome trappers winter in the interior, and make the fur business a paying one. Moose have recently been introduced into the island jrom New Brunswick, and it is believed will thrive well here, but, of course, the kiHins: of them is forbidden till thev have had an opportunity to propagate.
The country is equally rich in game birds. Around the coast are countless sea-pigeons and guillemots, or " murs " and " turs " as the residents know them. On the fresh water, wild ducks and wild geese are equally numerous. The latter is of the Canadian varietv and a notably fine bird. The black duck is hard to approach, but there is no better table bird. But the finest sport of all is the ptarmigan shooting in the autumn. These birds are locally called " partridge," but they are really willow grouse. There is little difi^erence between them and the Scotch red grouse. In summer they are brown in colour, but with the snow-fall their plumage becomes pure white.
Fowling in one form or other affords satisfying sport for the whole year. Geese and ducks arrive in thousands early in May and are shot in great numbers on their way north to Labrador for the summer, by the local fishermen who are adopts with fowling-piece or rifle, their proficiency being acquired
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from shooting seals on the ice. Sea-fowl, too, can be had every mornins^ and evening in their flights about the headlands, and everv cotta<]fe around the coast is supplied with the finest feather beds. Throughout the summer, the black duck, sheldrake, widgeon, teal, canvasback and other fowl are procurable, and in the autumn snipe, as well as partridge, enable sportsmen to indulge in this favourite pastime to their full satisfaction.
The partridge and willow^ grouse may be shot in large quantities at forty different "barrens" within as many miles of St. John's, and wdien the shooting season opens in September, every man about the city who can procure dog and gun starts for the grounds and usually does well. The birds sell in the city for fifty cents a brace. Hares or rabbits are shot or snared in the fall and winter, and are constantly purchasable for twenty cents a couple. The poor of St. John's are thus able to enjoy game at low rates, for since the opening of the railway the snaring of rabbits has become quite an industry, they being shipped in carloads to that city for disj)osal.
More than 300 distinct species of birds are found in Newfoundland, mostly migratory. Among them are the eagle, hawk, owl, woodpecker, swallow, kingfisher, s^ix species of flycatchers, a like number of thrushes, Avarblers, finches, ravens and geese. There are no snakes, lizards, toads, or any reptiles, poisonous or other- wise; and frogs were unknown until recent years, being brought in from Nova Scotia.
Newfoundland offers equal attractions to the angler. Salmon, sea-trout and lake-trout abound, and the people are keen rod-fishers. The salmon and sea-trout are to be found in all the large rivers, though the streams on the west coast are considered the best, because they have not been so much fished, being less accessible. In the spring and early summer, fishing is at its best. Salmon, grilse, sea- trout and brook- trout are abundant, and there are hundreds of streams inland that have never wet a line.
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Ply-fishing is less expensive than hunting. It can he got within easy reach of St. John's, and no camp is needed, as there are inns near many of the hest spots. A guide, however, though not absolutely necessary, is very desirable. The best salmon fishing is to be had directly the salmon start going up the rivers, generally about the second week in July. After they are once well up the streams, they are far harder to catch, and indeed, rarely take the fly fairly and squarely after they have reached the upper pools. A good catch however, can be depended upon, given favourable weather and no east winds, in the middle of July. Grilse, weighing from five to six pounds, are even more plentiful and afford good sport. Next come the sea-trout. Like the salmon, 3^ou must follow them up stream, where the pools are filled v/ith them, w^hile they are very good fighters. An ordinary catch is five to ten dozen, scaling from 1 lb. to 5 ]b. The brook, or fresh-water trout, though smaller, often supply a very good day's diversion. They can be got in nearly every pond, and even those close to St. John's, although most assiduously fished, yield excellent results. In the evenings or early morn- ings, scores of enthusiasts are to be seen whipping the waters and making good catches. As one goes farther afield the sport gets better, and within a radius of twenty miles of the town the visitor can, by driving to or from the pool or lake, secure such enjoyment as nowhere else in America, east of the E-ocky Mountains.
The possibilities of lake-trout fishing have been increased l)y a local sporting club for some years past stocking the inland waters with California rainbow trout, hatched in a hatcherv of their own — a work that is easily doubling the attractiveness of the Island in this respect. Loch Leven trout Avere introduced some years ago and extensively distributed, and the native trout, so called, but really a species of char, is amazingly abundant. One of the unique features of the holiday season in St. John's is that " trouters' trains " are run
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fifty miles alons: the raihrav line, and several hundred men and boys engage in this pastime and return in twentv-four hours Avith thousands of dozens of fish.
If the visitor, however, desires to see the country as well as to secure ample sport, he cannot do better than take the trip across the Island by rail to tlie western shore, where he will find the Codroy and George's rivers afford him excellent sport and splendid scenery. The four large rivers on the East Coast — the Terranova, the Gambo, the Gander and the Exploits — are also frequently visited by anglers.
Last year a " Game and Inland Eisheries Board " was appointed, composed of twenty representative local sportsmen who give their services voluntarily, and to whom the administration of the laws respecting these subjects is entrusted. A rod tax of $10 was at the same time imposed on local anglers, and all the funds there- from, as well as from caribou licenses were handed over to this Board, to be expended in improving the sporting attractions of the Island. This Board has provided for efficiently patrolling the moors and rivers, appointed game wardens and secured deer reserves, and promises to amply justify the expectations which this policy inspired.
Mr. A. Badclyffe Dugmore, in " Country Life in Americfi," tells of his experience in Newfoundland. His feelings at the critical moment of striking his first salmon, are best conveyed in his own words. He says: —
" My fish was not a monster, probably not more that fifteen pounds, but he took the fly on a very long cast, and as he made the first frantic jumps, the rushing water against the bellying-Une proved too much of a strain, and the leader parted. Not more than five seconds of intense excitement had I experienced, but the thrill was beyond all things I have ever known, and the sense of loss when the strain so suddenly left the rod cannot be conveyed by words. The following morning, I cast a Jock Scott on the running water at
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the head of the pool. No sooner had the fly sunk an inch or so than a fish rose, rather lazily and without touching the fly. My heart was throbhing vigorously as I cast again and again. I was just about to change the Jock Scott for a (Silver Doctor when the water broke about the flv, which was well below the surface. A glimpse of a dorsal fin, and I felt the line tighten, and instantly the reel began to hum as the fish run down stream before making its first jump. Over the pool we went, the fish tugging and jumping and in every way opposing my efforts to bring him to still water. There was no sulking ; when not run- ning, he jugged with such force that I doubted whether we could ever see each other at close quarters. But though a fierce fight, it was not a long one. The end came after less than twenty minutes of the keenest excitement I have ever felt, and though the fish weighed but eight pounds, I must own to a sense of happiness that no other sporting experience has ever given me. Trout and l)ass fishing are well enough, but — well, we don't talk al)out ffoin"- trout and bass fishini'- next vear. The Newfoundland salmon will suit us perfectly."
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Chapter XXV.
AS A SUBMARINE CABLE CENTBE.
Laying of Eirst Atlantic Cable — Eifty-tear
EXCLUSIVE privilege —iNCOilING OF OTHER CABLES —
Dispute with Commercial Cable Company.
NEWEOUXDLAND has been for over fifty years the half-way house of the pioneer Atlantic cable, and has latterly been utilized by all the other English- speaking cable companies for the same purpose. The story of the Island's part in the launching of the sub- marine cable project, is most interesting. About 1850, the late Cvrus Eield and Erederick Gisborne were planning the extension of the telegraph across the ocean, it having been shewn that the electric current could be transmitted under water through an effectively insulated conductor. In 1854, the Newfomidland Legis- lature granted exclusive rights for fifty years to the New York, Newfoundland and London Telegraph Com- pany (subsequently the well-known Anglo-American Telegraph Company), which undertook the construction of telegraph " land-lines" through Nova Scotia to Cape Bret(m, whence a submarine cable of one hundred miles was laid to Cape Ray in Newfoundland, and another telegraph line constructed along the southern coast of this Island from Cape Ray east to St. John's, and thence south to Cape Race. Here was obtained from passing west-bound liners the latest news of the European continent, enclosed in air-tight packages and thrown overboard with fiags thereon, these receptacles being secured by the news-boat, and taken to the telegraph
200
station ashore, whence the messages were transmitted to the United States ; while east-bound steamers were supplied with despatches in the same way, containing the news from the time they left New York until they reached Cape Race, carrying these to the Irish coast, where they were landed and sent to their destination in like manner. In 1858, the first trans-Atlantic cahle was laid hetween Ireland and Newfoundland, hut as is well known, the electric nerve failed after a few days, and eight years elapsed hefore the successful permanent connecting of the two hemispheres was accomplished in 1866, since when, either half of the world lias never heen without daily information of the events of the other, nor is ever likely to he again.
The success of the suhmarine cahle having thus been proved, other electric cables were submerged, and in due course competing companies entered the field ; and finding the fifty-year monopoly as to Newfoundland a serious handicap, attempted to overcome it. The Direct United States Cable Company laid a cable across the ocean right into Conception Eay in 1875, when it was enjoined from landing there by the Newfoundland Supreme Court, which injunction was sustained ujoon appeal, by the Imperial Privy Council. This decision compelled the other companies to land their cables at St. Pierre, Miquelon ; North Sydney, Cape Breton ; Canso, Nova Scotia ; and points on the Ncav England coast. The *' Anglo " monopoly was effective against everybody except the Newfoundland Government, provision being made, as to this, that the Government might establish land-lines itself in parts of the Island where the Anglo Company was indisposed to do so ; and in 1905, after the Anglo monopoly expired, the New- foundland Government arranged with the Commercial Cable Company for the Company to lay a cable for the Government between Port-aux-Basques, Newfoundland and Canso, Nova Scotia, there to connect with the " Commercial's " system of cables and land-lines, and
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transfer traffic to and from Newfoundland. This contract was for ten years, and it is important to note that in the same summer, just before this cable was laid, the " Commercial " submerged an Atlantic cable from "Waterville, Ireland, to Canso, passing the southern coast of Newfoundland, for the transmission of its own growing volume of business. The " Anglo " had, mean- while, four effective working cables across the Atlantic, between Valencia, in Ireland, and Heart's Content, in Newfoundland, and the requisite connections for these, via Placentia and North Sydney, Cape Breton, giving through connections with the Western Union Telegraph Company all over the United States and Canada.
In .February, 1909, in the height of the political deadlock in the colony, within two weeks of the Bond Ministry vacating office, and when its resignation was in the hands of the Governor, it framed an alleged agreement with the " Commercial" Cable Company — to continue for twenty-five years — by which that Company was to cut one of its cables on the Grand Banks, land it in this colony, and thence extend it to New York ; and to transfer over this cable any European cable business to or from the colony, and to do the same with the colony's western (Canada and America) cable traffic when its own cables or laudlines might be interrupted, the Company to pay the colony $4,000 a year as a license for the landing of the cable, and to receive back a similar sum for affording these facilities to the colony's cable traffic ; the Company, farther, to pay ,^1,000 each for anv future cables it mis^ht land, a cable entering aiid
«/ O ' Til
a cable leaving being considered as only one cable, and to be taxed at but $4,000, with a maximum tax of $20,000 a year, no matter how many cables it might land.
It should be said that in 1904, the Legislature under Premier Bond, enacted a law requiring every trans- Atlantic Cable Company landing a cable on the shores of this Island, to pay a tax of $4,000 for each such cable,
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Avith a maximum of $20,000 annually ; and under the terms of this Act, the Anglo-American Telegraph Company was obliged to pay the sum of $20,000 a year. The first effect therefore of the alleged agreement with the "Commercial" Company, would he the Company securing entry for its initial cable for nothing, as the payment by the colony of $4,000 a year for the so-caJled privilege of obtaining transit for its business over that cable, would olf-set the landing tax of $4,000, while for future cables it would gain entry at $4,000 for each incoming and outgoing line, while the " Anglo " Company was paying twice that amount ; the same liability attaching to any other ca])le companies subse- quently entering the colony, for such would be unable to make similar terms with the Government of the day, because this alleo'ed aoTeement with the " Commercial " bound the Government to transact all its business with the world abroad throusrh the " Commercial " system on both sides of the Atlantic.
This alleged agreement was considered too extreme in its scope and unfair to the colony and to other cable companies. The Ministry, therefore, on taking office, declined to recognize it ; as it contained no provision for its ratification by the Legislature, as prescribed by the llules of the Assembly and the well-known usai^e of the colony, they contendinsr that a moribund Ministry, with its resignation in the Governor's hands, had no power to bind the colony for twenty-five years to any such agreement without reference to the Legislature. The " Commercial " Company protested very strongly against this, but was met by the argument that its contract of 1905, for a ten- year concession, was ratified by the Legislature ; and in due course the Government demanded of the Company $16,000 for the year's landing tax, which was refused, and suit was thereupon taken in the Supreme Court to secure the amount. When this was written a decision had not been rendered, and so it is not possible to say what the outcome will be; but it may serve here to
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summarize the arguments on both sides, in view of its importance from a constitutional, as uell as a legal, standpoint.
The Commercial Cable Company contends that it made the alleged Agreement in good faith ; that, relying thereon, it went to the expense of nearly two million dollars to cut its cable on the Grand Banks, extend it to ^Newfoundland, and then submerge a new section to New York ; that it would not have made this change and incurred this outlay but for the concessions in this alles:ed aa-reement; and that the incominii; ]\Iinistrv departed from British usage in not implementing it.
The Government replies that the outgoing Ministry, in making this alleged agreement, was arrogating to itself powers which belonged to the Legislature alone ; that the practice of ratifying Ministry contracts was well recognised; that the " Commercial " Company came to Newfoundland, not to facilitate the colony, and not for the sake of the local traffic, but because of the advan- tage to accrue to it from securing a landing place in this Island, as the experience of fifty years had determiued that, in the working of trans-Atlantic cables, the shorter the distance from point to j^oint, the greater the the speed and efficiency ; and newspaper statements by the President of the "Commercial" Company, were quoted, wherein he was represented as declaring that this terminal facility in Newfoundland would increase the efficiency of the cable 35 per cent., it being pointed out, moreover, that from the reports of the Government's postal telegraph department, inter- ruptions in its cable and land-line system during four years meant a loss only of $300, or $75 a year, and yet this alleged agreement proposed to pay $4,000 a year for facilities which, in actual operating, cost the colony only $75 a year;- and finally, that negotiations were actually in j^rogress by which the Western Union Telegraph Company and the Direct United States Cable Company were prepared to enter the Island with their
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cables, and pay the landing tax on the basis of $8,000 each for a through cable, which negotiations have since culminated in the Morris Government elf ectinj? contracts with these companies on these terms, that were ratified in the last Session of the Legislature.
The trans- Atlantic cables in actual operation to-day are as follow : —
Four " Anglo-American " cables between the British Isles and America, via Heart's Content, New- foundland.
Three " Western Union " cables ; one between the British Isles and America, via Bay Boberts, Newfound- land, and two, via Canso, Nova Scotia.
One " Direct U.S." cable between the British Isles and America, via Harbour Grace, Newfoundland.
Eive " Commercial " cables ; tvro between the British Isles and America, via St. John's, Newfound- land ; two, via Canso ; and one, via Horta, Azores.
Two French cables between Brest and New York, via St. Pierre, Miquelon, and one, via Cape Cod.
The German cables l^etween Borkum and New York, via the Azores.
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Chapteu XXVI.
CHAEACTEP.ISTICS OF THE PEOPLE.
Saxon and Celtic Stock — No Abohigines — Crime- less Record of the Colony — Advanced Tem- perance Legislation — Social Conditions.
THE population is derived entirely from the Saxon and Celtic races. Newfoundland, alone, of all the overseas possessions of the Empire, has no aboriginal peoples and no subject races. Except for a handful of not more than two hundred Micmac Indians, emigrants from No via Scotia, it is occupied entirely by a white, English-speaking element, 214,738 of its 220,984 residents, or 97*5 per cent, of the whole, owning the Island as their birthplace ; wdiile those of English birtli are 1,082, of Scotch, 324, of Irish, 545, and of British- Colonial, 2,102, leaving only 2,193 persons in the whole colony who cannot claim to have first seen the light within the British Empire. In forty years the number of natives increased from 90 to 97'5 per cent, while in the same period the number of old-time settlers from Ireland and the west of England has been dwindling, the tide of immigration being stayed, for in 1857 these numbered 9*1 per cent, and now represent only "7 per cent.
The people being thus entirely of British stock and the Saxon and Celtic races being mingled here as perhaps nowhere else, the product has been a people with all the energy, courage and self-reliance of the Saxon, coupled with the brilliancy and daring
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of tlie Celt, so that they are equally at home in facini^ the hazards of the ocean's surges, the risks and perils of the ore-mine, and in more recent times the log-drive. They have developed an adaptability, growing out of necessity ; a readiness in all handicrafts which is the wonder of those who come in contact with them, and which has arisen through their having to practise every trade and occupation in the small settlements that are their homes. Their intellectual development has received special attention ; and they are proving themselves, in outside universities, in Imsiness centres in the world abroad, and in the commercial progress of their country at home, to be able to use their en- dowments in these respects in a manner to bring no discredit on themselves or the land of tlieir birth.
The country is absolutely crimeless, law-abiding, moral and temperate. Serious crime is practically unknown. During the past decade, among these quarter million people there has not been a murder or a serious affray. The Colonial Penitentiary is often scarcely occupied, so few are the offenders. Por the past eighteen months the Supreme Court at St. John's has had but one important case on its criminal docket, and the magistrates around the coasts are rarely required to deal with other than civil suits. The Island is, perhaps, the most temperate portion of the world, as, except in St. John's, " local option " applies everywhere ; a measure which allows the people of each township to decide, by a majority vote, in a plebiscite, to prohibit the sale of liquors herein ; and even in St. John's, the sale of intoxicants is now restricted to the hours between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. on week days and absolutely prohibited on Sundays. The moral character of the people is very high, and their kindness and iiospitality are proverbial. As cliurch-gocrs tliey are probablj^ unexcelled, but while devotedly attached to their difi"erent religious persuasions, their toleration is remarkable, and is perhaps best evidenced by the fact that, following Canada's example,
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the colony at the last sjcneral election, thoiii^h the electorate is two-thirds Protestant, returned a Roman Catholic as Prime Minister. Charity and consideration for those in distress are notable characteristics of all classes. Collections for every deserving object are liberally recognized. The care of the poor is made a special matter, and clergymen and physicians, like Dr. Grenfell, testify to the manner in which, in seasons of adversity, the fishermen in a settlement Avill help eacli other even to sharing their last morsel with those more destitute than themselves. Among none is more generous liberality shown to suiferers by calamity or misfortune, and nowhere is the life of the people in its every respect more commendable.
'with tlie extension of the facilities for intev-com- munication in recent years, the connecting of remote regions by the railway, and the advantages for travel provided by the steamsliip service, the spread of education, and the increase in the number of clergymen, the social life of the people has shown a marked improve- ment. To their material welfare the more assured financial status of all classes, as a result of continued good fisheries, high prices and new and diversified industries, have contributed materially ; and the result has been, that the disadvantages of isolation are being counteracted; the newspaper, the telegraph and more recently the telephone, have been playing their parts in assisting in this result, and the material and social status of the people in even the smallest hamlets is being greatly improved. Taken all in all, the fishermen of Newfoundland — for they constitute the great mass of the population — compare favorably as to their condition with the working classes of other countries. To com- pensate them for the privations and hardships they endure, they enjoy an open-air life, robust health, capacity for simple pleasures, and genuine happiness in material respects. They live practically untaxed, and in this probably stand distinct from any other English-
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speaking people. They own their own homesteads, and pay fee to no landlord ; if they desire more land for cultivation, they can acquire it practically free of cost ; they can obtain water from every stream, firewood from every thicket, and the material to huild their homes, their vessels and their fishing stations, from tlie forests of the "hack -lands." The indispensable neces- saries of life to them — foodstuffs, fishing gear, farming implements and mining requisites — are admitted to the colony free of duty ; there are no municipal, district or other rates to he paid ; the Colonial Govern- ment, through the taxes it collects on the imports of luxuries, and of necessaries not regarded as indis- pensable, obtains the revenue to meet the cost of cai-rying on every branch of the public service ; and much of the monies appropriated for the various depart- ments, returns directly to the people through the disbursements for roads, wharves and similar public works in the several districts ; and, as already stated, the schools are maintained by the sums voted by the general Government.
Picturesque and comfortable are the homes of the Newfoundland fisherfolk ; and every village has its churches, schools and lodges of the benevolent organi- zations which are founded amon^r them. There are to be seen in some places the old-time houses wdth large open fire-places, dog-irons and the other ac- cessories of a vanished period, while curiosities, in the shape of old furDiture, old silver and other articles of this kind, are often to be secured. No matter how small the village, the traveller can always rest assured of a hospitable reception, and of the best accommoda- tion that the place can afford ; and the settlers think no trouble too s^reat to undertake for a visitor.
In no respect are the Newfoundlanders more re- markable than in their strict Sabbatarianism. They will not, under any circumstances, engage in fishing or other work on Sundays ; and even in the seal hunt,
Photo.
Salmon Two Beauties.
[Holloway.
Photo.']
Salmon — 20 and 2^ lbs.
[_Hollov;ay.
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when a change of Avind may disperse the herds and make it impossible for tliem to make a successful catch, they iidhere to their principles so firmly, that some years ago the Colonial Legislature was deluged with petitions, and had to enact a law to prohibit the killing of seals on Sundays ; because one or two captains, of a " viking " spirit, persisted in enforcing this practice against the conscientious convictions of their crews, and the latter and their fellows in the other ships, resented this strongly. Now the killing of seals is prohibited absolutely on Sundays, and 4,000 men cease from this work on a Saturday night, and, regardless of the weather condi- tions, refrain fi-om it until Mondav mornin";. One of the principal issues before the Hague Tribunal in the International arbitration last year arose out of this very matter, the enforcement against Americans by the local authorities of the Newfoundland law, forbidding all forms of fishing on Sundays. Indeed, thirty years ago, the settlers in one harbour forciblv resisted Americans undertaking to fish on the Sabbath, and provoked an International complication wdiich cost the British Government $75,000 to adjust, as the Americans claimed damages for the unauthorised interference with their work.
The fisherfolkare a physically splendid race of men, whose daily occupations bring out the finest qualities. Children learn to sail boats at six or seven years old. These fishermen know their boats as well as a jockey knows his horse ; and all skiffs are tested for their work before they are put into actual daily service; and if there is reason to fear that they will fail in an extremity, they are run ashore and left to rot, because there are times in the life of every fisherman when only the proved stability of his craft will save him from destruction.
The men are keen with the rifle and shot-gun. They hunt their own game in the forests as they shoot seals in the ocean ; and there is rarely a farmhouse round the seaboard lacking trophies of caribou heads or skins
o
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of fur-bearing animals, in which besides, there is a large trade done in the Island. Eormerlv there were thousands living along the remoter sections of the coast who rarely had any intercourse with the outside world, and to whom the ordinary everyday conveniences of more advanced civilization, such as the street car and the electric light, were little short of marvellous ; but they are becoming more familiar with these conditions, and consequently more ready to recognize the advantages which will flow to the Island itself from the extension of the railroad system, steam boats and other utilities.
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Chapter XXVII.
GOVEHNMENTAL.
PoRM OF Government — Legislature — Powers of ITS Constituent Pactors — Administrative
Departments.
UNTIL 1832, the Island was ruled solely by the Governor, instructed from time to time by the Imperial authorities. In that year Representative Government was granted, a limited form of autonomy with a Legislature to which, however, the Governor and his Executive Council were not responsible. In 1855, the more extensive autonomous authority, known as Responsible Government, was conceded. Newfound- land now possesses this as amply as does Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, which are now officially styled the over-seas " Dominions," New- foundland is the only colony besides these larger appanages which is in that category, for she declines to unite with Canada, preferring to remain independent. The over-sea possessions, peopled largely by colored races, governed without autonomy and formerly known as " Crown Colonies," are now termed " Colonies," while the autonomous possessions are distinguished as " Dominions."
In Newfoundland the Government consists of three estates — the Governor, the representative of the Sovereign, appointed by the Crown and usually one who has filled various posts in Crown Colonies ; the Legis-
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lative Council, cousistino: of 21 members, holding oJ0Bce for life, vacancies being filled by the Ministry of the day ; and the House of Assembly of 36 members, elected four years by the votes of the people. Manhood suffrage and secret ballot prevail. The administration is modelled on that of the Mother Country. Prom the dominant party in the House of Assembly a Ministry or Executive Council is formed, consisting of nine mem- bers, and this body controls affairs, subject of course, to its continuing to retain the support of a majority in the elective chamber. In the Legislature is vested, collectively, the power of making laws; jurisdiction over public debt and property ; taxation of civil powers ; the raising of loans upon the colony's credit ; and the conducting of all the public services. The right of the Assembly or elective House to originate money bills is fully recognized, and the Upper Chamber never inter- feres with such enactments.
The administrative power is vested in the Governor and his advisers, the Ministry or Executive Council now consisting of : —
Hon. Sir Edward P. Morris, Kt., P.C, K.C., LL.D.,
Prime Minister. Hon. D. Morison, K.C., Minister of Justice. Hon. Robert Watson, Colonial Secretary. Hon. Michael P. Cashin, Minister of Finance and
Customs. Hon. Sydney D. Blandford, Minister of Agriculture
and Mines. Hon. Charles H. Emerson, K.C., ) Hon. llobert K. Bishop, | Without
Hon. John C. Crosbie, f Portfolio.
Hon. Michael P. Gibbs, )
Departmental Officers not in Council : —
William Woodford, Minister of Public Works. Archibald W. Piccott, Minister of Marine and Pisherics.
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The Legislative Council is at present composed of : — Hon. Sir E. D. Shea, Kt., Hon. James S. Pitts, C. M .G.
R. K. Bishop J. D. Ryan J. Anderson J. Harvey S. Millev M. P. Gibbs Wm. Carson Job John Alex. Robinson „ Marmaduke Geo. "Winter One vacancy
The House of Assembly, alphabetically arranged, and giving the name of the District for which each Member is returned, is as follows : —
President. James McLoughlan James Angel John Harris Dr. Georsje Skelton George Knowling Daniel J. Greene,
K.C. James Baird Edgar R. Bowring John B. Ay re
J5
J5
J>
55
|
Bennett, J. R., |
St. John's, West. |
|
|
Blandford, Hon. S. D., |
Bonavista. |
|
|
Bond, Rt. Hon. Sir R., P.C, |
Twillingate. |
|
|
Cashin, Hon. M.P., Clapp, W. M., Clift, J. A., TC.C, |
Eerryland. St. Barbe. Twillingate. |
|
|
Crosbie, Hon., J.C, |
Bay-de- Verde. |
|
|
*Davey, E. K., Devereux, R. J., |
Burin. Placentia and St. |
Mary's. |
|
Downey, J. E., Dwyer, J., Earie, H. J., |
St. George's. St. John's, East. Eogo. |
|
|
Emerson, Hon. C. H., K.C, |
Eortune. |
|
|
Gear, H., |
Burin. |
|
|
Goodison, J. R., |
Carbonear. |
|
|
Grant, E. G., Howley, W. R., Kennedy, M. J., Kent, J. M., B.A., K.C, |
Trinity. Placentia and St. St. John's, West. St. John's, East. |
Mary's. |
|
Moore, P. E., |
Eerryland. |
|
|
Morison, Hon. D., K.C, |
Bonavista. |
214
Morris, Hon. Sir E. P., Kt.
Morris, P. J., K.C.,
Moulton, R.,
Murphy, J. J.,
Parsons, E.,
Piccott, A. W.,
Roberts, Geo.,
Seymour, A. H.,
Shea, G.,
Squires, R. A.,
Warren, W. R. (Speaker),
Watson, Hon. R.,
Winsor, W. C,
White way, J.,
Woodford, W.,
St. John's, West.
Placentia and St. Mary's.
Burgeo and La Poile.
Harbour Main.
Harbour Grace.
Harbour Grace.
Twillingate.
Harbour Grace.
St. John's, East.
Trinity.
Port-de- Grave.
Trinity.
Bonavista.
Bay-de- Verde.
Harbour Main.
• Died March 10th, 1911.
The 18 electoral districts which send these 36 Members to the House of Assembly, are as follows
Bay-de- Verde ...
Bonavista
Burgeo and La Poile . . .
Burin
Carbonear Perry land
Po<?o
Fortune Bay ... Harbour Grace Harbour Main Placentia and St. Mary's Port-de-Grave...
St. Barbe
St. Georc^e's ... St. John's, East St. John's, West
Trinity
Twillingate
55
55
2 Members.
3 1 2 1 2 1 1 3 2 3 1 ]. 1 3 3 3 3
55
55
>5
55
Total
36
215
Partv lines are not strictly drawn in the Legislative Council, and its Members, speaking generally, do not admit any political affiliations. In the House of Assem- bly the Government — or " People's Party " as it is politically known — holds 2G seats, and the Opposition, or " Liberal " party, 9 seats. One is vacant by the death of the sitting member, in March of this year, who was also a Liberal.
Powers of the Governor.
The Governor, who is also Commander-in-Chief in and over the colony and its dependencies, has the power, in the King's name, to commute the sentences of courts of justice ; to summon, open, prorogue; and, on occasions, dissolve the local Parliament ; to give or withhold assent to, or reserve for the lloyal consideration, all bills which have passed both Chambers. His salary is $10,000 and travelling allowance of $1,000 per year, with permanent residence and other perquisites, are provided by the colony.
The Legislature.
The Legislature must meet once a year, and is usually summoned "for the despatch of business" in the month of Eebruary. Either House may originate measures, except money bills, and these must originate in the popular chamber on the initiation of the Ministers, and the recommendation of the Governor, proposals contemplating increases not being allowable even there, unless accepted by the Government. The sessions usually occupy two or three months.
The President of the Legislative Council is paid $2-10 per year as such, and each member of that branch receives $120 a year as a sessional indemnity. The Speaker of the House of Assembly is paid $750 a year, and each member receives $200, while those Avho reside outside of St. John's are allowed an additional $100 towards meeting their expenses while attending the sessions.
216
The Leader of the Government, formerly known as the Premier, but since the more formal recognition of the " Dominions," as the Prime Minister, receives no pay for this post, though he may take one of the six portfolios with it. These Departmental offices — Miuistry of Justice, Colonial Secretaryship, Ministry of Pinance and Customs, Ministry of Agriculture and Mines, Ministrv of Public Works, and Ministry of Marine and Fisheries — carry salaries of $2,000 each, and the holders must occupy seats in one or other branch of the Legisla- ture, usually in the popular branch.
The Department of the Prime Minister is entrusted with the direction of ^Yhat may be called the foreign affairs of the colony, including the international fishery disputes with which it is concerned; the effecting of trade connections with foreign countries ; and the development of new industries at home ; besides which the Prime Minister exercises a general supervision over the affairs of the other Departments of the public service. The present Prime Minister, Sir Edward Morris, is the first who has occupied this post without any salaried office attached to it, and given his whole time to its steadily increasing volume of work. Indeed he has virtually created the post and shewn the possibilities it comprehended for promoting the material interests of the colony and its people. His predecessor. Sir Robert Bond, held the Colonial Secretaryshij) with the Premier- ship ; and Sir James Winter and Sir William Whiteway, who preceded them, each held the Attorney-Generalship.
The Department of Justice administers all matters relating to the Supreme and subordinate courts ; the magistracy and peace commission ; the constabulary and Prison Bureau ; civil and criminal prosecutions ; and the legal work of the public service. The Supreme Court consists of three Judges, a Chief Justice at $5,000 a year, and two assistant fFustices at $4,000, with a High Sheriff for the Island, and a Duputy in St. John's, and sub-sheriffs in the principal post-towns. There
217
is a District Court in St. John's, with a jndi^e at $2,100, and one at Harbour Grace at $1,200. Thirty magistrates liave jurisdiction in lesser matters in as many districts all over the Island. The constabulary is a colonial force, modelled on the lloyal Irish, and is officered by an Insi^ector - General at $2,000, and a Superintendent at $1,200 in St. John's ; a District Inspector at Harbour Grace and anotlier at Bay of Islands, and non-commissioned officers and men, making up a total of 103 in all, half being stationed at St. John's and available for emergency duty, and the rest being in ones and twos in the principal towns. Besides these, there are 20 local constables in as many places, avail- able for temporary duty. The policemen perform a multiplicity of duties, like the famous Canadian Mounted Police. Associated with the constabulary is the Eire Department of St. John's, towards the upkeep of which the city contributes $12,000 annually ; the control and working of the force however, being entirely in the hands of the constabularv, the combination beincr found to work most effectively. This force consists of a chief, three assistants and 24 fire constables ; the members of the Police Department being also available as assistants when required. The Prison Department consists of a Penitentiary at St. John's, to which arc transferred long-sentence offenders from all parts of the Island, as well as the casual offenders in the city of St. John's, while jails for misdemeanants are established in the various district towns.
The Department of the Colonial Secretary has j urisdiction over the llegistration of Vital Statistics ; the Registration of Companies ; the Inspection of Weights and Measures ; and the Copyright, Patent and Trade-Marks Laws. This Department likewise directs the sub-Department of Public Charities, which embraces the relief of the poor all over the Island ; the adminis- tration of the Lunatic Asylum, Poor Asylum, General Hospital and Fever Hospital at St. John's ; general
218
health protection matters and supervision of tlie Medical, Dental and Pharmaceutical Boards, which regulate the practice of these professions throughout the colony.
The Postmaster-General, being a permanent official, and not having a seat in either branch of the Legislature, the Colonial Secretary is the Parlia- mentary head of the Postal and Telegraph Departments as well. These embrace the working of the Post-Office system, the operation of the inland telegraphs, and the direction of the bay, coast and ocean- steam services, railways, couriers, etc. There are 620 post-offices in as many hamlets, besides those on the trains and mail boats ; and 420 courier routes, as well as 66 post- offices in Labrador ; and the Telegraph Department comprehends the maintenance of 2,500 miles of telegraph line and nearly 200 offices. The postal rate for local letters, for those within the British Empire, and for those to and from the United States is two cents an ounce ; elsewhere the rate is 5 cents ; while there are also parcel posts maintained with Canada, United States and Great Britain, and, through the latter, with countries having a parcel post with the United Kingdom. The parcel post rate to Canada is 12 cents per pound, with a maximum weight of 11 pounds. The same rate applies to the United States. To Great Britain the rate is 24 cents for parcels not exceeding 3 pounds, this being the minimum ; for parcels 3 to 7 pounds, 48 cents ; parcels 7 to 11 pounds, 72 cents. Por other foreign countries, the foregoing rate plus the rate between Britain and such countries. The administration of Educational affairs is also under the department of the Colonial Secretary. The subject of Education is treated in another chapter.
The Department of Pinance and Customs has control over all matters relating to the public debt ; and the administration of, redemption of and payment of interest thereon. It lias also charge of the collection of customs and excise duties ; the enforcement of the
219
revenue and preventive laws ; the compilation of statistics of the annvial trade and commerce of the colony; administration of bank fishermen's insurance ; collection of light dues ; survey of coast- wise passenger ships and Labrador fishing vessels ; and to the duties of the Department has been added, by legislation of the last Session, the administration of the Old Age Pension Fund, newly created.
The Department of Agriculture and Mines has control of the Crown Lands of the colony ; the adminis- tration of the laws relating to mining, quarrying, lumbering, pulp and paper making, and, by recent enactments, the dev(?lopmeut of the agricultural resources of the colony by means of an Agricultural Board is also placed within the purview of this Department.
The Department of Public Works has to do with the maintenance and upkeep of public buildings and other institutions. The administration of the roads, bridges and ferries throusjhout the Island also comes within its province, as well as, through the Government Engineer, the supervision of railway construction and similar undertakins's.
The Department of Marine and Fisheries is devoted to the maintenance and operation of the lighthouses, fog alarms and other coast aids, breakwaters and wharves ; preservation and encouragement of the fisheries ; enforcement of the bait, lobster and other fisherv laws ; carrvino; out of the meteorolosrical service ; examination of masters and mates and marine engineers ; inspection of boilers and machinery, and the examination of persons employed in connection therewith ; as well as dredging, cold storage, and vessel inspection for bounty on ships built ; while it also, through the Game and Inland Fisheries Board, enforces the hunting and game fishing laws.
Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court was instituted in 1826 by the promulgation of a Boyal Charter. To it and to the
220
magistrates is entrusted the correct interpretation and proper enforcement of the laws. It is in session all the year at St. John's, except during the " Long Vacation " — July, August and September — when each judge remains in the Capital for a month to deal with matters which may be disposable "in Chambers"; another conducts a circuit around the Island at such times and places as ma}^ be fixed by the Governor, and tlie third enjoys the resulting triennial holiday.
ComT OF Labrador.
The Court of Labrador has civil and criminal jurisdiction over such parts of Labrador as lie within the jurisdiction of Newfoundland. It is presided over by a Judge who is nominated by the Governor-in- Council.
Central District Court.
The Central District Court is a Court of Record held in St. John's for the said District, for the adjudication of civil causes, and sits whenever business requires. The Judge of this Court is also the police magistrate for the town. There is also a District Court in Harbour Grace with jurisdiction over the electoral district of Conception Bay, presided over by a judge with similar powers.
Quarter Sessions.
Courts of general and quarter sessions may be held in the Island, in such places as determined by the pro- clamation of the Governor. They are presided over by the stipendiary magistrates or justices of the peace.
Law Society.
" The Law Society of Newfoundland " is constituted by Statute and is under the inspection of the Judges of the Supreme Court for the time being. No person is admitted to practice as an attorney by the Supreme Court unless upon actual service of five years with some
221
practising attorney of the Island ; or if a regular graduate of any college of His Majesty's Dominions of four years ; or who, having been entered on the books of " The Law Society "as a Student-at-Law, shall have been subsequently called to the Bar in England, Scotland or Ireland, or any of the Colonies, upon producing evidence thereof, and undergoing a satisfactory examina- tion, may be called by "The Law Society" to the Desrree of Barrister. Recently the Act was amended to allow women to study for, and be admitted to the Bar on the same terms as men.
222
Chapter XXVIII.
POPULATION AND TRADE.
Population — Religions — Occupations — Trade and
Industries.
The first estimate of the resident population of New- foundland was made in 1654, shewing that about 350 families were scattered around its sea-board in various harbours, which, allowinq; five to a family, would mean a total of 1,750 persons. In 1680, the naval commanders policing the fisheries, collected statistics shewing the residents to be 2,280, while the west of England merchants carrying on the fisheries, had that year 4,000 men temporarily there, all of whom returned to England in the autumn. The followino- table shews the resident population in the years named : —
|
Year. |
Population. |
|
1654 |
1,750 |
|
1680 |
2,280 |
|
1698 |
2,640 |
|
1763 |
7,000 |
|
1780 |
8,000 |
|
1785 |
.. 10,000 |
|
1804 |
20,380 |
|
1825 |
.. 55,719 |
|
1827 |
59,571 |
|
1832 |
... 60,000 |
|
1836 |
.. 75,094 |
|
1845 |
... 98,703 |
|
1857 |
... 124,288 (Labrador included) |
|
1869 |
.. 146,536 |
|
1874 |
... 161,374 |
|
1884 |
... 197,589 |
223
Year. Population.
1891 202,040 (Labrador included).
1901 220,984
1911 (Estimated) 240,000
From 1874 to 1884, the increase in population was 36,209, or at the rate of 22*4 per cent in ten years ; while from 1884 to 1891, the increase was only 4,705, or at the rate of 3'40 per cent, in ten years. This fallings oft was caused bv emigration to Canada and the United States, owing to failing fisheries, but in the 'nineties this outflow was arrested somewhat, and the increase for the decade 1891-1901, was 18,944, or at the rate of 9-37 per cent. In 1891, a record of vital statistics was inaugurated, and shewed that for the decade there were 66,954 births 35,505 deaths, and the excess of 31,449 births would be the natural growth of the population, which, by these figures would have totalled 233,489 in the ten years, being an increase of 15*5 per cent for that period ; but the population numbered only 220,984, and as immigration was practically nil, the shortage of 12,505 must be regarded as the number emigrating during the period. The decade respecting which an enumeration will be made this autumn, is expected to shew a some- what better result than the last, because the enhanced prosperity of the people, and the greater number of industries existing in the colony have helped to retain them at home.
It was not until 1845, that the different religious denominations were distinguished in the Census returns. The following table shews the respective numbers of the Protestants and Roman Catholics in the years named, according to the Census returns : —
Year. Protestants. Koman Catholics.
1845 ... ... 49,505 ... ... 46,983
1857 67,743 57,214
1868 ... ... 85,496 ... ... 61,040
1874 ... ... 97,057 ... ... 65.317
1884 122.2.59 75,330
1891 (Labrador inc.) 127.947 ... ... 72,696
1901 .. ., 144,995 ... ... 75,989
1911 Estimated 160,000 ... ... 80.000
224 Subdivided, the denominational exhibit is : —
|
Year. |
E.G. |
C.E. |
Meth. |
Pres. |
Cong. |
S. Arm; |
|
1845 . |
.. 46,983 . |
. 34,298 . |
. 14.239 . |
478 |
... .539 . |
— |
|
1857 . |
.. 57.214 . |
. 44,285 . |
.. 20,229 . |
838 |
... 347 . |
— |
|
1868 . |
.. 61,040 . |
.. 55,184 . |
.. 28.990 . |
974 |
... 838 . |
— |
|
1874 . |
.. 65,317 . |
. 59 561 . |
. 35,702 . |
. 1.168 |
... 461 . |
— |
|
1884 . |
.. 75,330 . |
. 69,626 . |
. 48,943 . |
. 1,478 |
... 768 . |
— |
|
1891 . |
.. 72,696 . |
. 69,824 . |
. 53,276 . |
. 1,449 |
... 782 . |
2,092 |
|
1901 . |
.. 75.989 . |
. 73.908 . |
. 61,368 . |
. 1.497 |
... 954 . |
6,594 |
In 1845, the number professing other creeds was un- known ; in 1857 there were 44 Baptists and others ; in 1869 there were 10 Baptists; in 1874 there were 165 Baptists and others ; in 1884 there were 65 Baptists and others ; in 1891 there were 487 of the Beformed Church of England, 37 Baptists and others ; and 1,397 Moravians on Labrador ; and in 1901 there were 174 Baptists and others, and 1,377 Moravians on Labrador.
The number of churches in 1901 was as follows : — Church of England ... ... 174
Church of Borne ... ... ... 1 51
Methodists ... ... ... 155
Other Denominations ... ... 4)9
The ecclesiastical exhibit was : —
Church of England — 1 Bishop and 70 clergymen.
Church of Bome — 1 Archbishop, 2 Bishops, 65 Briests, 4 communities of Christian Brothers ; 12 convents.
Methodist — 80 clersjvmen.
Of
Salvation Army — 124 officers, besides 64 out- posts attached to corps and worked hy officers.
The following are a few more figures of interest which appear in the Census of 1901. In the twelve montlis preceding the Census year, there were 7,914 births ; 3,291 deaths ; 1,244 marriages. The number of males who could read was 57,079 ; of females who could read, 58,857 ; of males who could write, 59,260 ; of females wlio could write, 48,823. There were 36,936 married males; and 37,007 married females; 3,370
The Cabot Tower, St. John's.
225
widowers ; and 6,849 n-idovvs. There were 39,419 inhabited houses.
The Census returns as to occupations show : —
Clergymen ...
Teachers
Lawyers and J)octors
Merchants and Traders
Office or Shop Hands
Government Service
Catching and Curing' Eish — Males Pemales...
Farmers
Pishers and others who culti- vate land
Mechanics
Lumberers ...
Miners
l^^actory Hands
Otherwise employed...
AVhile only 2,475 persons are put down as farmers (an increase of about 50 per. cent, over any previous Census) it will be seen that there are over 40,000 fisher- men and others who cultivate land, more or less, in addition to their usual occupation.
The trade figures shew that during the past twenty years, there has been stea,dy and substantial improvement in the colony's imports and exports ; conditions partly due to better prices for the fishery products, the development of the mines, forests and farmsteads, and the enlarged opportunities for labour created for the people through the railroad affording them a means of reaching the neighbouring provinces daily, where they can secure work in the smelters and other industries.
A noteworthy condition however, of this increased prosperity is that the benefit has accrued entirely to the
|
1891. 186 ... |
1901. 243 |
|
606 ... |
789 |
|
105 ... |
138 |
|
771 ... 1,952 ... 614 ... |
1,040 2,353 739 |
|
86,694 ... 18,081 ... 1,547 ... |
41,231 21,443 2,475 |
|
36,303 ... 2,682 ... |
40,438 3,111 |
|
625 ... 1,258 ... 1,058 ... 8,686 ... |
1,408 1,576 1,626 11,639 |
226
United States and Canada. Britain iias enjoyed none of it; on the contrary, slie has suffered an actual loss in trade, and the rest of the world has i]^ained very little. The colony's imports from Britain in 1890 were about $2,500,000, and in 1910 were only about the same figure. In other words, while British exports were 84 per cent, of the total twenty years ago, they formed but 22 per cent, of the total last year, an actual decline of 12 per cent., so that not alone has Britain not been able to retain her share of increased purchasing power of the people of Newfoundland, but she is actually selling them no more to-day than she did twenty years ago.
Nor has Canada's position in this trade struggle improved to the extent that might be supposed, seeing the proximity of the Dominion to Newfoundland, the fact that they are under the same flag and are fellow- British colonies, and that most of the railroad and steamboat agencies oj)erating with the outside world, have their connections in Canadian territory. New- foundland's trade with Canada has undoubtedly grown very substantially in the past twenty years, but the trade of the United States with Newfoundland has grown to a still larger extent. The imports from the United States have shewn the greatest increase, the percentage lost to Britain havincr been 2:ained almost entirelv bv America, for whereas these represented only 22 per cent, in 1S90, they reached 32 per cent, in 1910, Canada's imports amounting to 22 per cent, in the former year and 30 per cent, in the latter.
With regard to this colony's imports, it miglit be stated that Newfoundland procures from abroad almost everything her people require for everj^ purpose — except lumber and a certain amount of agricultural produce — and of these imports about 90 per cent, altogether come from Britain, Canada and America, Britain's share in round figures being about $2,500,000 ; Canada's share $4/,000,000, and America's share about the same. From the rest of the world the colony now
227
imports some $700,000 worth as against $500,000 worth twenty years ago, of which total nearly $300,000 is represented hy molasses and sugar from the AYest Indies $100,000 hy wines and spirits from various countries, $120,000 hy salt (for curing fish), from Italy and Portu- gal ; and the remainder by various minor products from different parts of the world.
During the past twenty years Canada and America have heen striving strenuously for the supremacy in tbeir sales of commodities to Newfoundland, and it is unlikelv that the existing conditions will he materiallv altered in the near future. Newfoundland, curiously enough, is Canada's fifth best customer, buying from her (after disregarding Canada's enormous trade with Great Britain and the United States) almost as much as the whole West Indies, or as the whole of South America, and more than Australia, Belgium, Pranc(;, Germany, Holland, China, Japan or Italy purchases from the Dominion. Newfoundland's $4,000,000 worth of purchases annually are not, of course, of anything like as much concern to the United States, but never- theless American dealers trading with Newfoundland are in no way desirous of seeing this trade lessened.
In analyzing Newfoundland's imports it will be seen, that of natural products and articles which represent httle labour in their production, including animals and their products (butter, cheese and eggs), vegetables and fruits ; flour and meals ; fresh and salted meats, hay, oats and cattle feed ; lumber and woods ; tobacco and coal ; the imports from Canada and the United States in these commodities total each some- what over $2,000,000 a year, thus reducing the total of "manufactured products "imported from these countries to about $2,000,000 each per annum. Therefore, as the imports from Britain are almost entirely of manufactured goods, it is evident that, excluding " natural products " ?3ritish imports total over 40 per cent, of the whole of the former class, while Canadian and American imports
228
do not exceed 32 per cent, each ; and, consequently, so far as the British manufacturer is concerned, the situation is not so unfavourable as would appear at first sight.
The latest Table of returns of local manufactures was compiled by Sir WiJliam MacGregor for the year 1906, and shews as follows : —
Aerated Waters, 55,428 dozens valued at ... $24,740
Bed Furnishings ... ... ... ... 18,000
Furniture ... ... ... ... ... 12,775
Leather— 36,052 sides ; 3,814 skms 131,710
N'ails— 281 tons 19,200
Clothing— 113,945 pieces 206,500
Bope, Twine, Nets and Lines ... ... ... 308,000
Soap and Candles— 21,000 boxes 50,240
Boots and Shoes— pairs, 167,320 299,315
Waterproofs — 47,790 pieces ... ... ... 41,000
Tobacco— 324,766 lbs. ; Cigarettes— 807,000. . . 86,029
Biscuits and Ship's Bread— 8,025,000 lbs. ... 346,352
Confectionery— 535,000 lbs 64,200
Jams— 25,000 lbs 2,000
Fruit Syrups — 3,000 dozen ... ... ... 5,500
The above items amount to a total production from Local Manufactures of
$1,615,56 L
During the past five years there has been con- siderable enlargement in the output in these directions, besides which otlier local industries have been established, and there are still further possibilities in the way of both. The output of all these factories is most excellent in quality, and whereas formerly a prejudice existed for some reason against local articles, this has now been dissipated, and they are becoming more popular. In connection with the Agricultural Exhibition in St. Jolin's last autumn, the local Manufacturers' Association lield another display ; and it proved a most agreeable
229
revelation to all who were present, to see the number and variety of articles that were produced at home, and the admirable manner in which these were turned out. The representative of the Association in his speech on the occasion, declared that the weekly wage-list in St. John's on this account Avas $35,000, that there were 5,000 operatives permanently employed in these works locally, and that the output at present was valued at nearly $3,000,000.
230
Chapter XXIX. EDUCATION.
PiRST Schools— Denominational System Adopted- How IT HAS Worked — Council of Higher
Education.
NEWFOUNDLAND has succeeded in keeping her educational system free from friction by early adopting the principles of mutual toleration and the recognition of denominational rights. The system in operation in Nev.^foundland is denomiDational in its widest and completest sense. The beginning of common school education in the Colony dates back to 1823. In that year "The Newfoundland School Society" was founded in London by Samuel Codner, a merchant trading with the Island, which established schools in St. John's and elsewhere, some of which its successor "The Colonial and Continental Church Society," still maintains. This organization created the nucleus of education for the Protestants, while the Catholic Bishop, Dr. Fleming, in time formed Convents with Nuns from Ireland to help meet the scholastic needs of his flock. Not until 1834 did the Legislature appropriate any money for education, when §5,000 was set apart for common schools and a lesser sum for a non-sectarian academy in St. John's. It was not a success however, and was discontinued in 1850, after which three sectarian academies— for Catholics, AngHcans, and Methodists — were estabUshed, a fourtli being added subsequently for Presbyterians. Since then the principle of denomina- tional schools has always been recognised, though until
231
1875 there Avcre only Catholic and Protestant common schools. Eor a period prior to that year the two leading Protestant bodies, the Auglican and the Methodist, had been desirous of a further division, and to-day, for all practical purposes, there are three bodies to be considered throughout the Colony — Catholic, Anglican and Metho- dist— which rate in population in the order named. The Presbyterians and the Coucrreirationalists maintain schools in St. John's, and some few other places, and the Salvation Army during the past tAventy years has made such strides in the colony, that it is becoming a fourth factor in educational aifairs.
The State provides an annual appropriation for educational purposes, which is divided among the de- nominations on a capitation basis. At present it is $325,000, or, roughly, $1.33 per head of the estimated existing population to-day of 2 1^0,000. This grant in- cludes an increase of S 72, 000 by the Morris Govern- ment since taking office two years ago — $30,000 in the extraordinary session held in June, 1909, $25,000 at the regular session of 1910, and $7,000 at the regular session of 1911, making the largest increase ever given in so brief a period.
The disbursino' of the funds lies in the hands of the superintendents of schools and the Boards of Education for the various districts into wdiich the Island is divided ; the grants being allocated among the denomi- nations proportionately and tlie pro rata principle carried out in the allocation for each board.
The latest ligures supplied by the Suj)crintendents of Education shew that there are in tbe colony 636 settlements where schools are conducted for the school year (200 days) ; 200 places whore schools are conducted for more than half the school year; GO settlements where schools are conducted for less than half the year ; and Q4i settlements with 25 or more children of teachable age, where no schools are maintained at all. The Legislature at its last session pro-
232
vided a special grant of $7,000 towards making good the deficiencies in the latter classes, to be supple- mented by $13,000 more next year for the same pui'pose, which sum will provide schools for every settle- ment where one can be practically maintained. The whole problem could not be solved in one year, as teachers were not procurable, but with a year's notice this drawback can be overcome. Although it might be thought, from the denominational system being in vogue, that there were schools of each creed in every inlet, the fact is, that out of the 636 settlements, there are but J 02 in which schools of more than one denomination exist.
Three collei^res are situated in St. John's and managed by the Church heads. Thus the Catholic College is governed by a Board composed of the Bishops, leading clergy, and representative laymen ; the Anglican Bishop and his associates occupy similar positions with respect to its college ; while the president of the Methodist Conference is the official head of t)ie institu- tion provided for that body. The educational district school boards are each presided over by the clergyman officiating there.
Each denomination has a sujjerintendent for its schools, wlio inspects and examines them and super\"ises tlie educational affairs of that body. He receives a salary of $].,600, and has an assistant at $800. The stipend for the colleges is fixed by law, and grants in aid of the support and training of teachers arc provided at these colleges and at the Catholic Convents, an allowance of $100 yearly for males and 880 for females being made to those who Avould pursue the teaching profession. The salarv of the teachers is fixed bv the means of the board employing him or her, as the case may be, but within the past few years, they having represented the Jieed of further help in this direction, 820,000 is voted annually to be disbursed among them as supplemental 1o their salaries. It is impossible to quote the average
233
stipends, because they vary so much with the different districts, but male teachers get from $250 to $700, according to grade, and females from $200 to $500.
The boards of education are always chosen from the most representative men in each district, and their services are given gratuitously. These boards have extensive powers ; the schools, property and effects being vested in them, with power to lease or purchase buildings or lands for school purposes, the latter contin- gent upon the locality paying half the sum needed, when the board makes good the balance. A pension scheme is provided for teachers and bonuses granted to induce these to qualify for higher grades by passing more strin2:ent examinations from time to time. Caref u I regulations are also in vogue for the working and governing of schools and colleges, and for the granting of scholarships.
The average results of the system have always been regarded as creditable, considering how the popu- lation is dispersed over a far- stretching seaboard. The census figures bear eloquent testimony to the difficulties attending the advancement of education in this colony. In no other country do like difficulties prevail. The towns and settlements are mostly separated from one another by water. The avocations of the people hold them on the fringe of coast. The difficulty of making roads to connect so manv and such remote settlements must be at once apparent. There are 1,372 communities in the Island. Of these, 893 have from 1 to 100 persons only ; 376 from 15 to 25 persons ; 255 from 25 to 50 persons; 157 from 50 to 75 persons; and 105 from 75 to 100 persons only. There are 8,462 children living more than one and a-half miles from school; and 72,956 persons over live years of age, who cannot read. Out of that number probably some attend school, but are not so far advanced as to be rated able to read. Allowing for these, there is still at least 25 per cent, of the population without any of the advantages
234
of school training. There are 51,783 children between 5 and 15 years of age. 01* these, 32,20i! attend school, leaving 16,584 who do not; doubtless because there is no school in the settlement where thev reside, or the nearest school is too remote for them to attend.
Under these circumstances, an appreciable develop- ment of education was not secured until the establish- ment of a central non-sectarian board some eighteen years ago, termed the Council of Higher Education. Its object Avas to promote sound learning and to advance tlie interests of hio-her education, bv holdinsj examina- tions and by a^varding diplomas, prizes and scholarships to successful candidates at such examinations, and to encourage teachers in the preparation of candidates by awarding them premiums. Eor these purposes it has a special grant of .87,500 per year. The Council consists of 2o members, 17 nominated by the Government (the denominational proportion being always maintained), with the three superintendents and tlie headmaster of the three colleges, ex-officio. This Council owes its creation to the present Prime Minister, Sir Edward Morris, who lias always warmly advocated educational endeavour.
The benefits of the Higher Education movement will not be fully apparent until the generation of teachers produced by its means have enjoyed an oppor- tunity of sliovving its effects upon the minds of the chil- dren they are set over. The most marked effect to-day is, in the levelling up of educational work, the widening of the aims and scope of the different schools, the tolerance and mutual rcsp(3ct engendered, and the healthy rivalry caused by the efforts of each denomina- tion to make the best possible show ing. The educational future of the colony is regarded by those interested as most hopeful, and certainly every atom of influence that churchmen and statesmen can exert in behalf of the betterment of the people in this respect is being applied to that end ; and the authorities hold, that while there is
o " ■";
J.OO
much to l)e clone to reiicli an ideal standard, tliey may not unreasonably claim for the system that its i-esults warrant the annual expenditure.
In 1897, the colony provided a scliolarship, in com- memoration of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, tenable for three years at $200 a year, to help the student who secured the highest marks in the London Matriculation Examination each year to pursue his or her studies at a University outside the colony ; and in 1909, this amount was doubled b}^ tlie present Govern- ment.
Newfoundland was also accorded an annual scholar- ship by the ilhodes' Ti'ust under the terms of the bequest of that famous Imperialist, and has sent a student to Oxford every year since the Rhodes Scholar movement was instituted.
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Chapter XXX.
ST. JOHN'S AND EETROSPECT.
Progress During Past Century — Growth of St. John's — The Island's Metropolis and Commercial
Emporium.
IT is curious and instructive to note the contrast between the condition of Newfoundland at the opening of the nineteenth century and the opening of the twentieth century. When the last sands of the eighteenth were running out, the colony was still under the repressive system which had obstructed its growth from the outset. It was regarded by the Imperial Government as a fishing station and a training post for naval seamen, not as a home for a civilised community. It was governed by warship commanders, who spent only the summers here and enforced with quarter-deck discipline, laws prohibiting settlement, refusing grants of land for cultivation or building, and reserving the shores for migratory fishermen who came from England each spring and returned each autumn.
At the dawn of the last century the total popula- tion of the Island was under 20,000, scattered in small hamlets around the shores. St. John's, the capital, contained about 3,000 people, sheltered in wooden huts, huddled together and in continual danger of fire. The principal street was in one place only six feet wide ; and all were narrow, unpavcd and unlighted. Conditions in the smaller fishing settlements were deplorable. Generations lived and died without education and almost without religious teaching. The lives of the people under these cruel and senseless laws were
237
rendered hard and miserable for the express purpose of dri\'inf^ thein away and preventing any settled popula- tion growini? up.
These bad old times have passed away ; and at the opening of the twentieth century what a marvellous change for the better is seen ! St. John's has grown into a city of 30,000 inhabitants. Its streets are lighted by electricity and electric street-cars 2:irdle it. All the appliances of modern civilization exist — railways, tele- graphs, telephones, fire-brigades, water and sewerage. Its cathedrals, churches, and public buildings, its banks, shops, stores and wharves compare favourably with those of auy other city of the same size. A memorial tower of John Cabot crowns Signal Hill, at the entrance of the harbour. The hum of industry is heard on all sides. Busy crowds throng its streets. Its harbour shews forests of masts, and steamships are constantly arriving and departing.
In 1696, St. John's was over-run and captm'ed by the famous D'Iberville. Another French expedition attacked it in 1705, burnmg the town, l)ut failing to cupture the forts. Three years afterwards, these succumbed to an expedition under St. Ovide : but the French were driven out finally, and the town rebuilt the following year.
These struggles attracted English official eyes to the colony ; and as the little town had survived the indif- ference of the Stuarts and the horrors of war, a more enlightened policy was adopted, and the rule of the fishing admirals was abolished. Captain Osborne being appointed the first Governoi- in 1727, fifty years before Australia was discovered and thirty years before Wolfe's victory at Quebec "gave England a continent."
For the last time the fleur-de-lys floated over St. John's in 1762, Avhen D'Aubusson captured it with 1,500 Frenchmen; but Sir William Amherst speedily dislodged him, and the French fleet fled from the port, leaving the land forces prisoners in his hands.
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The town was destroyed by fire in 181G, 1818, 1846, and 1892, the last of these conflagrations involving the loss of property to the value of £4,000,000, rendering 13,000 people homeless, and reducing to ashes nearly all the principal public buildings and religious edifices. Commercial disaster likewise contributed its share to retard the growth of the town in 1814, 1860, and 1894, the last being remarkable for the collapse of its two banks and many of its leading business houses. Heligious intolerance also played its part, the Catholic religion being proscribed until 1784 ; education was also dis- couraged ; and the colony was not granted " home rule " until 1855. St. John's now has a population of 30,000, all of British stock, the sons of English, Scotch and Irish emigrants who flocked here in the past, when it was the half-way house to the western hemi- sphere ; and the rest of the population is of the same old-country races — a hardy, generous people, who, in their isolation, have preserved the noblest virtues of the race from which they sprang, unsullied by contact with the great ^^ orld outside. This isolation — almost unique in English-speaking peoples — forms one of the great charms of the Island for the visitor.
The harbour of St. John's is entered through a gap in the beetling hills, seeming as if some fabled giant had cleft it with a blow of his battle-axe. In these placid waters a fleet could ride undisturbed by storms outside, and yet the entrance channel is deep enough to admit the largest ironclad afloat. The " Isarrows " is about 500 feet wide, and the cliifs rise 700 feet high on either side, crowned with dismantled forts, which it is hoped to see soon restored. In the " good old days," when Erencli and English contended for its mastery, night attacks by sea were avoided by stretching a heavy chain across the " Narrows " each evening at sundown ; the ring-bolts and fastenings on " Chain Kock " are still pointed out.
The town is built on the northern hillside. It
239
rises in regular tiers from the landwasli to the plateau above, and overflows out to the charming valley of h>esh water, lying behind the hill. The south side of the harbour is devoted chiefly to seal oil refineries, and here are moored the steamers in which the seal-fishing is prosecuted. The town is chiefly remarkable for its splendid churches and kindred institutions. The Iloman Catholic Cathedral surmounts the crest of the hill, and is visible for many miles out at sea. It is, with tAvo exceptions, the largest church in North America ; it holds 7,000 people, and cost £120,000. The sister Cathedral of the An2:lican bodv, destroved in the fire of 1892, has since been restored. It is the finest specimen of Gothic archi- tecture in this hemisphere, the design of Sir Gilbert Scott, and it cost £150,000. They were generous in en- dowing their churches, those old colonists ; and colleges, schools, halls and orphanages also uplift themselves to bear testimony to their liberality. St. John's is the seat cf the Colonial Government, Newfoundland being the only British possession in North America which clung to its legislative independence and declined to join the Canadian federation.
Government House, the residence of tlie Governor, is a square rambling stone structure, set amid thick woods and surrounded by spacious grounds. The Colonial Building, where the Legislature meets, shows a hand- some Ionic portico, a-nd its grounds are now being con- verted into an attractive park. The Court House is an imposing structure of native granite. The town is also the great business centre, the mart or depot for the com- merce of the Island. Throuijrh the " Narrows " comes fully 1)0 per cent, of the imports — food, clothing, necessaries and luxuries for the quarter-million people settled around its coastline; and through the same channel is borne as large a proportion of the exports — codfish, sealskins, oils, lobsters, salmon, herring, &c. Every spring, hundreds of fishing crafts from the coast settlements gather at St. John's for their fishing outfit ;
240
and every fall, return again to barter tlieir catch for food and clothing.
St. John's owes its prosperity to codfish. As one enters the harbour one sees the fishing stations with the platforms on which the cod are spread to dry. The water-front is lined with wharves, at which are schooners landing tlieir catch and merchantmen loading for market. The substantial warehouses behind are packed with codfish, and on a fine day wharves, roof tops, coves and all available spots are covered with the salt- eucrusted staple export, drying in the sun. Water Street is the business thoroughfare, Avhere the Island's commerce is controlled. It is lined with splendid shops, where one may buy the finest fabrics or the smallest fish-hook.
But it is to the tourist, the sportsman and the artist that St. John's offers the chief attraction. If Nature has been churlish in other respects, she has made up for it by lavishly dowering the Island with natural beauties. From the hills above the Narrows one views a seascape rarely equalled. The mighty ocean stretches away below one's feet, sheer to the Irish coast. On the horizon float the fishing flotillas. Within a few miles are typical fishing villages, perched in coves and crooks, which delight the artist's heart. Well-tilled valleys and wooded hills strike the eye on every hand, beautiful smiling pastoral country is disclosed by drives in the suburbs, and the salubrious climate enhances the visitor's enjoyments.
From St. John's, steamers take the traveller to any part of the Island and to Labrador peninsula ; and the variety of beautiful scenery to be enjoyed in such trips cannot but satisfy the most exacting. The fiords surpass those of Norway, the beauty of tho Humber and Exploits Hivers equals any on the Rhine, and the scenery of Bay of Islands is the admiration of all yachtsmen and tourists who have visited there.
The social hf e of St. John's is a noteworthy feature.
4i'
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Each summer sees British and "French warships resort to the harhour. These, and the city people entertain largely ; indeed, the hospitality of the toAvnsfolk is pro- verl3ial. The wealthy classes, mostly, are educated in England, only a week's voyage distant, and combine the culture of the Mother Country with colonial cordiality and open-heartedness.
Some anticipate that before long, St, John's will be again fortified by the Imperial authorities. Its strategic importance cannot be exaggerated, dominating as it does the commerce of the North Atlantic, since most of the ocean steamers pass within a few miles of the harbour. It also commands the water-borne trade of Canada, and if seized by an enemy and hastily fortified in war time, it would become a veritable thorn in England's side. It is naturally so suitable, that to arm it would not be a serious undertaking, and British warships could lie securely within, ready to dash out and sweep the ocean of an enemy's shipping. The discovery of coal in the Island forms another reason why it should be made a military and naval base ; already the Admiralty has established a training-ship here, where boys — the sons of fisherman — can be trained for the E^oyal Navy. St. John's, if fortified, would become what it was in the early days of its history, a nursery for seamen to carry Britain's banner over the seas and to uphold the Empire.
n
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Chapter XXXI.
PROSPERITY OP NEWPOUNDLAND.
Growth in all Directions — Amazing Progress of
Past Decade — Value for Public Debt — Splendid
Outlook for Puture.
It is doubtful if any possession of the British Empire has made more real progress, comparatively, the past decade than has Newfoundland, and in view of what has been related in the preceding chapters respecting the drawbacks which she has had to overcome, it is safe to say that her record of late, and especially since this century opened, has been amazingly encouraging. Por instance, whereas Newfoundland's population in 1869 or say 40 years ago was but 146,536, it had in 1901 increased to 220,984, or 52 per cent, in one generation, while the population of Canada's tliree maritime provinces — Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, which for 1871 was 769,415, had only increased to 893,943 in 1901, an advance of but 14 per cent, in the same period. It is quite true, of course, that within the past ten years Canada has gained enormously through the inrush of immigrants, especially to her western provinces; in the decade between 1890 and 1900, Newfoundland's population, with no immigration what- ever, increased 9'37 per cent., whereas Canada's was only 10'14 per cent., inclusive of considerable immigration.
Canada's commerce increased 115 per cent, in the past ten years; Newfoundland's commerce shows an advance of almost 110 per cent, in the same period ; that of the United States has only grown by 83 per cent. ; and Great Britain's betterment has been but 77 per cent.
243
Newfoundland's sui'plus revenue of $120,000 in the fiscal year 1909-10, was better in proportion to her population, than Canada's surplus of 314,000,000 during tlie same j^eriod ; and the colony's revenue has doubled within the past decade, in spite of reductions of taxation equivalent to one-tenth of the total income, and in- creased appropriations for the administrative services, aA'eraging a similar sum, while she accumulated surpluses during the decade amounting in the whole to almost a million dollars also. Her mineral output has grown from $500,999 to $1,250,000 since the century opened. The lumber product has swollen in the same ratio ; and the pulp and paper industry, although only in its infancy yet, will produce an output this year equal to one-fifth of the value of the fisheries, and will enlarge in its scope in each succeeding year. Its agricultural industry is steadily developing ; the product of its farms becomes greater and more valuable each year, and its manufacturing interests are also enhancing in value and importance. The gradual develoj^ment of this factor has made it a potent force in improving the condition of the people generally, creat- ing a decided demand for raw materials of either internal or foreign origin; providing constant employment for goodly numbers of people, and daily evidencing other possibilities tending to diversify the colony's industrial interests ; to transform the economic condition of the people, and to pave the way for still greater prosperit}'^ than has heretofore been their lot. All of these con- tributaries have assisted in promoting the colony's substantial well-beino\
The exports, during twenty years, have exceeded the imports by almost a million dollars a year, giving the colony a favorable balance of trade to that extent, and enriching its people thereby. The doubling of the revenue within ten years, though the population has only increased by 10 per cent, within the same period, conclusively attests how the material welfare of the
244
people lias been improved, since this increase in revenue has not been effected hy increased taxation, but has resulted concurrently with the reduction of taxes and the realizing of surpluses every year. The conditions under which all forms of business have been transacted in the colony have been greatly modernized and improved of late years, with highly beneficial results to every interest concerned. Increased efficiency in the carrying out of the customs and revenue laws ; suppression of smuggling from the Prench Islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon ; the regaining of markets in Europe which the French were invadino^ until the colonv's Bait Act crippled them; the gradual abolition at home of the uneconomic and undesirable " supply system " ; the stimulating influences of education and intercourse with the outside world in inducing people to rely on their own efforts and to develop self -resource and progress — all these factors have contributed to work an industrial and commercial revolution that has justified itself through the improved circumstances of the fishermen; the increased value of the fishery and other exports ; and the enormous advance that has been made in every other direction among the population.
The nett public debt of the colony is in round figures about $22,000,000 or, say, about $90 per head. This is somewhat lower than the burdens borne by the people of the neiolibourins: Dominion, because in addition to the federal debt of Canada, each province has its own obligations, and the municipalities and townships have local debts as well ; but in Newfoundland there is no municipal debt except in St. John's, the colonial debt covering every public accessory, the advantage of which is enjoyed by the people.
This indebtedness is represented by some 700 miles of railway, by 100 lighthouses, marine works, roads, public buildings, 2,500 miles of telegraphs, and all the other utilities, on the providing of which i\\Q colony's funds have been expended. Probal^ly in no country is
245
the burden of debt borne more lightly than in Newfoundland, because there is no direct taxation what- ever, and the people tlierefore do not feel so much what is imposed indirectly through the agencies of duties on imports. Moreover, counting the reductions in duties during the past ten years and the increases in the appropriations for the public services which come directly v/ithin the touch of the people, it can be said with truth that the financial condition of the colony is highly gratifying, and that the outlook for the future is most encouragmg.
The best evidence of how the colony has progressed is afforded by the fiscal and trade statistics which are published in the appendix, while a further proof of this is seen in the figures contained in the following letter sent to the colony's London bankers in relation to the proposed railway loan of 1910.
London, 24th June, 1910.
Messrs. Glyn, Mills, Currie & Co.,
67, Lombard Street, E.G.
Gentlemen,
In connection with the proposed issue of £800,000 Government of Newfoundland 3J per cent. Inscribed Stock, for which you are authorised to receive subscrip- tions, I beg to state on behalf of the Government that : — The average Annual Uevenue for the ten
years ended June 30th, 1909 was ... $2,478,726
The average Annual Expenditure for the
same period was ... ... ... ... 2,388,242
The total Surplus of Revenue over Expen- diture for the same period was ... ... 904,840
The average Annual Surplus of He venue
for the same period was ... ... ... 90,480
The Hevenue for the fiscal year ended
30th June, 1900, was 2,110,234
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The Revenue for the current fiscal year is
estimated to reach ... ... ... 3,380,000
The Surplus for the current year is esti- mated at ... ... ... ... 450,000
Out of the surplus revenue of $904,840 mentioned above, $500,000 has been set aside and is on deposit as a liquid reserve. The balance of the surplus revenue has been expended on public works.
The proceeds of the present Loan will be applied to the building of five branch lines of railway, about 300 miles in length, to connect with the main trunk line of railway between St. John's and Port-aux- Basques ; the building of such branch lines has been authorized by Parliament (10 Edward YII., chap. 12.)
The financial position of the colony is eminently satisfactory, and its material interests are steadily improving. Large investments of capital have recently been made in developing pulp and paper industry in connection with the immense timber resources of New- foundland. The same remark applies to the extensive oil deposits which are being opened up ; and the mineral and other resources of the colony are also attracting considerable attention.
I am. Gentlemen,
Your obedient Servant,
(Signed) Edward Patrick Morris,
Prime Minister.
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Chapter XXXII.
THE MORRIS GOVERNMENT'S WORK.
Comprehensive Programme — Successful Adminis- tration— Colony Prospering-^Outlook most
Pavourable.
THS administration headed by Sir Edward Morris took office on March 3rd, 1909, following upon the resignation of Sir Robert Bond's Cabinet, and had to await the general election in the following May for an endorsement by the electorate, which was given unmis- takably ; the legislature, then elected, comprised twenty- six Morrisites and ten Bondites. The leader of the Morris Party, in his election address, pledged himself that he would not be a party to union with Canada, but would maintain its separate identity and independent existence, and would do his utmost to carry out the following programme : —
Construct branch railways to certain sections of the Island hitherto without these facilities ; introduce cold storage for the export of fishery products, and open up new markets for the sale of this staple product ; provide steam subsidies to countries where such markets could be developed; establish bait freezers at points around the coast to assist the fishermen in securing large catches of exportable fishes ; encourage the prosecution of the minor fisheries ; develop better trade relations with Canada and America ; promote industries for the market- ing of the various local fishery products ; extend telegraph and telephone facilities in the Island, and the Marconi
248
system along tlie Labrador ; establish a weatlier bureau ; provide a daily telegraphic fishery service, and inaugurate more modern methods of compiling informa- tion regarding the progress of the fisheries. Eurther, he undertook to construct lighthouses, fog alarms, break- waters, wharves and other marine works ; improve the coastal steam service by adding more ships ; and provide a dredge to deepen shallow harbours. Likewise, he promised to promote the development of agriculture , to secure lower rates by ship and rail for ferm products ; and to encourage farming colonies in suitable localities ; as well as the utilization of peat for fuel. Moreover, he agreed to stimulate research for minerals by a money grant to the original discoverer of any mine ; promote the housing of workmen at mines and other industrial centres ; protect miners by stricter laws regulating the use of explosives ; ensure the payment of workmen at industrial enterprises weekly ; and bring about the examination of the coal fields. He advocated, too, increased educational grants ; the adoption of an Old Age Pension scheme ; the establishment of hospitals on the remoter sections of the coast ; and the upholding of the colony's treaty rights; declaring his confidence, moreover, that this lengthy and comprehensive pro- gramme could be carried out without increased taxation. This latter he has fully made good. All of these measiu'es, though they have involved substantial outlays from time to time, have been efi'ected without addins; to the burden of taxation ; on the contrary, his first step was to stipulate in the contract for the construction of the branch railways enterprised last year, that the men should be paid $1.50 per day ; this had the effect of increasing wages all over the country, which was equivalent to indirectly reducing taxation somewbat, as it gave the people greater earning powers. His next step was to effect a friendly compact with the companies operating iron ore deposits in the Island, whereby they contribute a royalty of 7| cents per ton on their output
249
annually for tlic next ten years, an amount yielding- the colony <^100,000 a year ; which sum yields large additions to various public grants. He then completely altered the existing policy regarding the disposal ot* Crown Lands for mining, lumbering, and pulp making, the revenue therefrom being increased four-fold the past year, as a result — from $60,000 annually, to 8250,000. His vigorous and progressive measures in different directions likewise contributed much to encouracje the employment of local and foreign capital in various industries in the Island ; and there has been a steady and marked increase in the value of the Customs imports, and in the revenue derived therefrom — the duties on imports makiug up the bulk of the Island's income, so that the revenue has increased from $3,000,000 to $3,500,000 within two years. This, of course, has made it possible, not only to successfully finance the construc- tion of the branch railways, but to improve other public services.
The vigorous manner in which Premier Morris and his associates have upheld the colony's contentions before the Hague Arbitration Tribunal, and undertaken the development of local industries, and their progressive action in stimulating the development of the colony's economic and commercial relations, dispelled any fear that may have existed as to an intention on their part to force the colony into union with Canada ; besides which, the financial success of the Ministry's operations since taking office, has made it clear that doubt as to the ability of the Government to fully carry out its programme is no longer justifiable. So excellently have the financial affairs been handled, that the last fiscal year saw a surplus of $420,000 realized, whereas the best previous surplus the colony had ever seen was only $256,000, and for the current fiscal year ending June 30th, 1911, a surplus of $142,000 is estimated, despite a similar sum being set aside for increased appropriations for public services. Among the first undertakings abroad which the
250
Premier essayed, was the raising of a loan of $4,000,000 in London last year, for the construction of the branch railways, and so favorable a showing was he able to make as to the colony's financial condition, that this 3 J per cent, loan was floated at 97^, a higher rate than had ever been realized by the colony for its securities before. This was conclusive proof of the manner in which outside investors regarded the plans of the administration, and the confidence they had in the efficiency and honesty of purpose of the Government's intentions, the colony's position as an applicant in the money market being, of course, materially strengthened by the arrangement which had ])een effected with the iron-ore companies, and which, as stated, increased the revenue by nearly $100,000 a year. The building of these branch railways is proceeding apace. Last year, some seventy miles of road were completed, from the trunk line towards Bonavista; and this year, besides finishing that branch, others will be started, and work continued until all have been completed. This was the largest item in the Government's programme, and the most costly ; but it was so successful that a scheme of Old Age Pensions was inaugurated. Out of the surplus of $420,000 last year, $200,000 was set apart to form the nucleus of an Old Age Pension fund, being permanently invested in colonial debentures, which yield four per cent, interest ; and to the $8,000 thus secured, $12,000 was added from the current revenue, and this sum of $20,000 will be distributed amongst 400 aged poor, at the rate of $50 per annum. It is hoped next year to be able to appropriate a similar sum, and again the year after, this policy being continued annually as the financial circumstances of the colony will permit, until a sufficient sum is available to meet everv deserv- ing case.
Generous provision was also made for Education, $30,000 being voted in the session of 1909 ; $25,000 in 1910 ; and $7,000 in 1911 , the latter sum to assist in establishing schools in places in the colony where there
251
are none at present ; and the Government has promised to add $13,000 more, next year, with the same object in view, so that everv localitv will now be assured of at least rudimentary education.
An amount of $100,000 was likewise provided by the Government to complete the lighthouse system of the colony, and this work is being pushed forward with- out delay, some $43,000 having already been expended thereon, whilst provision is also being made for the extension of telegraphs and additional Marconi stations ; $30,000 has been expended already on telegraph extension, and $10,000 on wireless equipment ; and a special feature in the latter direction will be the erection of two stations on the north-east coast for the con- venience of the sealing fleet during the spring months, as eight of the twenty ships now engaged in this industry are fitted with this asrencv.
Out of the surplus of last year, another $200,000 was set aside for the repair of marine works, roads and bridges throughout the colony, a sum equivalent to one year's grant for these works, and this will have the effect of immensely improving these public utilities.
In the recent session a measure was introduced for the confirming of a contract concluded by the Govern- ment with an American cold storage company for the construction and operation within the colony of five stations or plants, each with a capacity of 500 tons of cold-stored fish ; with a fish-packing house, a glue factory and a guano factory as an auxiliary to each, to enable the utilization of every portion of the products secured. One of the laro:est New Ensrland fishins^ concerns, with great experience in the operation of cold storage warehouses, has been induced to undertake this venture, the Government guaranteeing up to 5 per cent, annually on the capital stock to the amount of half a million dollars. It is believed that this enterprise will have an immenselv beneficial effect on the whole fishinsr trade of the colony, by stimulating a large export of
252
cod, lierring, salmon and lobsters chilled and frozen, besides increasing the price of all these commodities. To the fisherman an increase of 10 cents per quintal on IjSOOjOOO quintals of fish would mean $150,000 put into their pockets, of which one -third would go back to the revenue in the shape of duties on articles of import which would be purchased, the colony thus obtaining twice the amount of the sum it would have to pay this company if the venture made no profit at all ; and the fishermen themselves would have a clear $100,000 of personal profit in addition.
Trade Commissioners have been appointed in Spain and Brazil ; new methods of pickling and curing fish have been encouraged at home ; the Admiralty and War Office have been moved to introduce canned codfish as rations for sailors and soldiers in the Imperial service ; and plans are now maturing for the extensive develop- ment of the lesser fishing industries of the colony.
In the providing of coastal steam services, the present Government has been unusually generous. Two excellent steamers have been provided for the districts of Eogo and Eortune Bay, while others are being arranged for the north and west coasts. The Heid ]S'ewf oundland Company is now planning a daily express train service across the Island, and a second steamer on Cabot Strait, which will give a daily connection with the whole of the Korth-American continent ; and provision is likewise being made for an improved ocean service between Britain, Canada and the United States.
To advance local fishing interests, an Act has been jmssed prohibiting the employment of steam vessels in the fishery on Labrador coast, fearing that such condi- tions may in time ensue there as in the North Sea, where the independent fisherman, with his own smack, is being displaced by the steam vessel owned by a corporation, in the profits of which he shares but little; a daily weather bureau service has been inaugurated ; the Labrador coast is to be surveyed ; new lighthouses are
253
bein^^ established there ; and, in addition to the existing steamship now operated on the southern part of that coast in the summer season, a second steamer is being' provided for the northern section.
In nothing has the Government shown more energy than in the development of agriculture. Last year, seventy agricultural societies were established all round the Island ; seeds, stock and implements were dis- tributed to these ; eminent experts were brought to the colony from Canada to advise in regard to agricultural progress ; men were brought from Ireland to instruct the people in. cutting, drying and using peat for fuel ; and an Agricultural Exhiliition was held in St. John's in the autumn, which amazed everybody by its revela- tion of what could be grown in the Island — vegetables, grains and fruit ; while the examples of stock raised locally were equally creditable.
The Government has also stimulated mineral development by providing a money grant for original discoverers of mineral deposits ; by providing aid and bounties to mining investors ; by undertaking to assist in developing the oilfields of the west coast, the coal areas of the interior, and others of the mineral resources ; and efforts are being made, in conjunction with capitalists abroad, to stimulate the investment of further sums herein, and to actively interest prominent people in the Mother Country in the various directions in which financial effort has been chiefly conspicuous of late in Newfoundland.
A bounty has been offered for the manufacture of woollens, with the idea of inaugurating a sheep industry ; a British manufacturing concern has undertaken the establishment of factories for the making of explosives, both for local use and for export to Canada ; another concern has undertaken the manufacture of peat for fuel by mechanical processes ; and farther plans of the same character are in comtemplation.
These advances, however, are but a foretaste of what
254
the Government hopes to accomplish as the years go by. The opening up of the new branch railways will give access to excellent farming, mining and pulp-making tracts. It will encourage development in various directions, and should he followed by the settlement of numbers of people on the land, and their engaging in various small industries, which while, perhaps, unim- portant as compared with others, will nevertheless tend to the greater employment of capital in the colony. The success of the pulp and paper-making establishments at Grand Ealls and Eishop Falls has excited universal interest in the paper trade, and much attention has been given to the possibility of similar work elsewhere in the Island, so that within a few years it is hoped to see many other similar establishments in active operation. Newfoundland has suffered greatly in the past from ignorance and misunderstanding as to her position and possibilities, but the work of the present Government has been largely educational, and has been unsparing in the endeavour to enlighten the outside world as to the country's possibilities.
255
Appendix.
Fiscal Statistics for the past Fifteen Years.
|
Year ended Jime 30th |
Eevenue. |
Expenditure |
Surplus. |
|
1896 |
$1,564,467 |
$1,360,455 |
$204,014 |
|
1897 |
1,610,788 |
1,866,811 |
*256,023 |
|
1898 |
1,789,874 |
1,784,826 |
4,998 |
|
1899 |
1,753,736 |
1,719,834 |
33,912 |
|
1900 |
2,110,234 |
1,850,630 |
258,604 |
|
1901 |
1,991,154 |
1,955,525 |
35,629 |
|
1902 |
2,193,526 |
2,129,466 |
64,060 |
|
1903 |
2,328,044 |
2,270,028 |
55,016 |
|
1904 |
2,513,633 |
2,393,286 |
120,347 |
|
1905 |
2,574,069 |
2,443,814 |
130,255 |
|
1906 |
2,660,805 |
2,591,235 |
69,570 |
|
1907 |
2,759,690 |
2,625,336 |
125,854 |
|
1908 |
2,829,078 |
2.785,835 |
43,183 |
|
1909 |
2,947,868 |
2,947,868 |
|
|
1910 |
3,447,938 |
3,137,774 |
310,214 |
* Deficit.
Trade Statistics for the past Fifteen Years.
|
Year ended June 30th |
Imports. |
Exports. |
Total Trade. |
|
1896 |
$5,986,861 |
$6,638,187 |
$12,625,048 |
|
1897 |
5,838,334 |
4,925,789 |
10,864,123 |
|
1898 |
5,188,863 |
5,226,933 |
10,415,796 |
|
1899 |
6,311,245 |
6,936.315 |
13,247,560 |
|
1900 |
7,407,147 |
8,627,576 |
16.024,723 |
|
1901 |
7,746,503 |
8,859,978 |
16,606,491 |
|
1902 |
7,836,685 |
9,552,524 |
17,389,209 |
|
1903 |
8,479,944 |
9,976,504 |
18,456,848 |
|
1904 |
9,448,664 |
10,381,897 |
19,830,561 |
|
1905 |
10,279,293 |
10,669,342 |
20,848,635 |
|
1906 |
10,414,274 |
12,068,276 |
22,500,550 |
|
1907 |
10,626,040 |
12,101,161 |
22,727,201 |
|
1908 |
11,016,111 |
12,315,769 |
23,331,880 |
|
1909 |
11,402,737 |
11,848.913 |
23,251.650 |
|
1910 |
12,799,696 |
11,824,997 |
24,624,693 |
256
Movement of Imports for the past Fifteen Years.
|
Year ended |
Total |
United |
Dominion |
United |
Other |
|
June 30th. |
Imports. |
Kingdom. |
of Canada. |
States. |
Countries. |
|
1896 |
$5,986,861 |
$1,875,754 |
§2,231,641 |
§1,473,721 |
§405,745 |
|
1897 |
5,938,334. |
1,960,999 |
1,593,931 |
2,135,008 |
248,396 |
|
1S98 |
5,188,863 |
1,519,253 |
1,823,238 |
1,671,134 |
175,238 |
|
1899 |
6,311,245 |
1,935,025 |
2,088,093 |
1,928,834 |
359,293 |
|
1900 |
7,497,147 |
2,224,353 |
2,805,490 |
1,993,505 |
473,799 |
|
1901 |
7,476,503 |
2,328,622 |
2,489,499 |
2,088,465 |
569,917 |
|
1902 |
7,836,685 |
2,244,178 |
2,612,042 |
2,501,806 |
478,659 |
|
1903 |
8,479,944 |
2,143,464 |
2,869,898 |
2,920,914 |
545,668 |
|
1904. |
9.448,664 |
2,479,138 |
3,423,225 |
2,991,002 |
555,279 |
|
1905 |
10,279,293 |
2,654,908 |
4,105,569 |
2,750,114 |
768,702 |
|
1906 |
10,414,274 |
2,651,196 |
3,521,939 |
3,609,192 |
631,947 |
|
1907 |
10,426,040 |
2,669,931. |
3,669,098 |
3,417,359 |
639,649 |
|
1903 |
11,516,111 |
2,668,802 |
4,257,647 |
3,859,892 |
729,730 |
|
1909 |
11,402,337 |
2,403,670 |
3,937,009 |
4,232,680 |
738,978 |
|
1910 |
12,799,696 |
2,940,401 |
4,559,789 |
4,571,192 |
728,314 |
Movement of Exports for the past Fifteen Years.
|
Year ended |
Total |
United |
Dominion |
United |
Other |
|
June 30th. |
Exports. |
Kingdom, |
of Canada. |
States. |
Countries. |
|
1896 |
$6,638,187 |
§1,727,852 |
§638,741 |
§489,027 |
§3,782,567 |
|
1897 |
4,925,789 |
1,347,273 |
478,110 |
533,518 |
2,564,888 |
|
1898 |
5,226,933 |
1,355,920 |
482,512 |
427,478 |
2,961,023 |
|
1.S99 |
6,936,315 |
1,443,266 |
541,727 |
620,056 |
4,331,266 |
|
1900 |
8,627,576 |
1,942,093 |
520,137 |
1,005,525 |
5,159,821 |
|
1901 |
8,359,978 |
1,831,941 |
711,716 |
884,068 |
4,932,223 |
|
1902 |
9,5.52,.521. |
2,104,932 |
1,046,109 |
1,207,461 |
5,194,022 |
|
1903 |
9,976,504 |
2,173,030 |
1,102,659 |
1,357,031 |
5,343,724 |
|
190 i |
10,381,897 |
1,993,] 95 |
1,102,708 |
1,470,497 |
5.814,697 |
|
1905 |
10,669,342 |
1,940,945 |
1,135,848 |
1,418,625 |
6,173,925 |
|
1906 |
12 086,276 |
1,662,6] 2 |
1,777,169 |
1,278,997 |
7,367,498 |
|
1907 |
12,101.161 |
1,394,269 |
1.611,480 |
1,492,795 |
8,028,657 |
|
1908 |
11,815.769 |
1,177,709 |
] ,863,784 |
1,209,428 |
7,558,858 |
|
J 909 |
10,848,913 |
1,426,229 |
1,542,090 |
848.176 |
7,032,418 |
|
1910 |
11,824,997 |
1,824,235 |
1,454,314 |
1,163,313 |
7,383,135 |
Photo.-]
Crosbie's Steamer " Fogota."'
[Pni-soJis.
Photo.]
Leading Tickles.
[Honoicnt;.
257
Some of the Principal Imports for the Past Five Years, in
which Britain, Canada and the United States can
compete on fairly equal terms.
|
Articles. |
1905-06. |
1906-07. |
1907-08 |
1908-09 |
1909-10 |
|
Dollars. |
Dollars. |
Dollars |
Dollars |
Dollars |
|
|
Total Imports of all Arti- |
|||||
|
cles (including Specie) |
10,414,274 |
10,426,040 |
11,576,111 |
11,402,337 |
12,799,696 |
|
Coal |
526,927 |
565,208 |
648,391 |
605,997 |
691,734 |
|
Leather and Leatherware |
332,637 |
352 235 |
346,562 |
347,338 |
421,641 |
|
Dry Goods |
331,177 |
376,462 |
368,989 |
388,716 |
432,036 |
|
Cotton Fabrics |
319,440 |
262,250 |
252,688 |
342,622 |
323,935 |
|
Hardware |
305,686 |
300,207 |
293,585 |
256,242 |
347,380 |
|
Small wares |
226,397 |
232,101 |
211,155 |
216,766 |
249,742 |
|
Hemp Yarn |
225,029 |
211,835 |
251,715 |
158,685 |
91,411 |
|
Eeadymades |
209,360 |
206,831 |
183,518 |
181,155 |
215,293 |
|
Tweeds |
179,786 |
162,763 |
133,968 |
138,674 |
160,355 |
|
"Women's Dress Goods ... |
146.082 |
129,767 |
123,744 |
108,305 |
127,853 |
|
Salt |
136,693 |
101,737 |
142,865 |
111,388 |
105,835 |
|
Machinery & Locomotives |
363,073 |
368.849 |
400,326 |
336,624 |
516,404 |
|
Groceries |
127,530 |
136,335 |
144,437 |
138,985 |
144,035 |
|
Fruit |
127,585 |
130,208 |
151,714 |
133,154 |
116,115 |
|
Stationery |
107,811 |
128,000 |
100,325 |
103,372 |
142,546 |
Imports from Great Britain of above articles during the
Past Five Years.
|
Articles |
1905-06 |
1906-07 |
1907-08 |
1908-09 |
1908-10 |
|
Total Imports from Great |
Dollars |
Dollars |
Dollars. |
Dollars |
Dollars |
|
Britain of all Articles |
|||||
|
(including specie) |
2,657,196 |
2,669,934 |
2,668,802 |
2,493,670 |
2,940,401 |
|
Coal |
43,952 |
32,457 |
24,513 |
44,389 |
48.167 |
|
Leather and Leatherware |
16,032 |
17,147 |
16,267 |
16,396 |
23,138 |
|
Dry Goods |
236,978 |
278,410 |
254,925 |
273,413 |
305,345 |
|
Cotton Fabrics |
236,207 |
190,245 |
179,398 |
178,986 |
221,947 |
|
Hax-dware |
134,156 |
141,730 |
129,640 |
107,858 |
151,498 |
|
Smallwares |
196,552 |
193,691 |
179,337 |
182,866 |
209,587 |
|
Hemp Yarn |
164,024 |
156,869 |
173,572 |
89,067 |
69,164 |
|
Readymade Clothing ... |
159,309 |
159,762 |
144,524 |
138,£98 |
168,504 |
|
Tweeds |
167,484 |
154,794 |
127,986 |
134,373 |
157,274 |
|
Women's Dress Goods ... |
137,860 |
122,276 |
117,498 |
103,008 |
122,550 |
|
Salt |
1,028 |
1,189 |
1,114 |
911 |
676 |
|
Machinery & Locomotives |
37,524 |
79,399 |
102,371 |
47,649 |
114,330 |
|
Groceries |
61,658 |
66,007 |
73,768 |
66,222 |
62,597 |
|
Fruit |
37,825 |
44,269 |
44,960 |
39,745 |
36,892 |
|
Stationery |
25,589 |
28,876 |
28,208 |
31,496 |
36,190 |
258
Imports from Canada of above articles during: the past
Five Years.
Articles.
Total Imports from Canada of all Articles (including Specie)
Coal
Leather and Leatherware
Dry Goods
Cotton Fabrics
Hardware
Smallwares
Hemp Yarn ...
Eeadymade Clothing
Tweeds
Women's Dress Goods
Salt
Machinery and Locomotives Groceries
Fruit
Stationery
1905-06
Dollars
3,669,098
405,781 141,253 34,071 14,406 63,007 17,315
10,523 10,947 6,069 25,084 31,280 27,494 11,337 38,691
1906-07
Dollars
3,669,098
449,235
120,796
34,998
10,398
48.981
20,272
2,051
8,206
7,295
6,557
22,319
128,987
22,737
14,976
53,512
1907-08
Dollars
4,257,647
540,462
122,114
34,519
10,479
59,891
16,152
398
10,280
5,958
5,737
19,115
147,966
26,893
11,581
45,818
1908-09
Dollars
3,937,009
513,292
120,883
42,410
8,096 50,577 20,529
5,876 11,643
4,259
5,189 13,860 154,140 30,037 15,324 46,179
1909-10
Dollars
4,559,759
539,946
120,355
46,918
12,302
63,954
22,668
21,913
13,954
2,976
4,202
17,849
198.655
35,648
18,787
61,967
Imports from United States of above articles during the
past Five Years,
|
Articles. |
1905-06 |
1906-07 |
1907-08 |
1908-09 |
1909-10 |
|
Dollars |
Dollars |
Dollars |
Dollars |
Dollars |
|
|
Total Imports from United |
|||||
|
States of all Articles |
|||||
|
(including Specie) |
3,417,359 |
3,447,359 |
3,859,892 |
4,232,680 |
4,571.192 |
|
Coal |
77,522 |
80,815 |
83,272 |
48,150 |
99,851 |
|
Leather and Leatherware . . . |
175,243 |
214,267 |
208,161 |
209,982 |
188,106 |
|
Dry Goods |
57,863 |
61,301 |
75,222 |
70,102 |
78,223 |
|
Cotton Fabrics |
62,989 |
58,485 |
59,093 |
53,822 |
88,117 |
|
Hardware |
99,233 |
98,468 |
92,998 |
86,667 |
117,876 |
|
Smallwares |
13,178 |
18,032 |
12,716 |
12,197 |
16,894 |
|
Hemp Yarn |
57,760 |
50,560 |
75,286 |
63,742 |
— |
|
Keadymade Clothing |
37,276 |
35,431 |
27,565 |
28,615 |
31,587 |
|
Tweeds |
1,348 |
390 |
44 |
42 |
105 |
|
Women's Dress Goods |
2,082 |
934 |
509 |
62 |
848 |
|
Salt |
2,128 |
427 |
6,914 |
4,270 |
7,282 |
|
Machinery and Locomotives |
127,672 |
158,643 |
148.477 |
123 255 |
193,363 |
|
Groceries |
30,502 |
869 |
39,455 |
36,047 |
39,303 |
|
Fruit |
25,978 |
39,492 |
31,019 |
38,864 |
31,108 |
|
Stationery |
37,273 |
35,237 |
24,205 |
24,460 |
43,474 |
259
The Game Laws of Newfoundland.
Caribou or Deer.
Sec. 3. — No person shall hunt, kill or pursue with intent to kill, any moose or elk within this Colony, at any time before the 1st day of January, 1912. Maximum penalty $200 or three months' imprisonment.
6. — No person shall hunt, kill or pursue with intent to kill, any caribou from the 1st day of February to the 31st day of July in any year, both days inclusive, or from the 1st day of October to the 20th day of October in any year, both days inclusive.
7. — No person other than a licensee under this Act shall, during the time by this Act allowed for killing caribou, kill or take more than two stag and one doe caribou in any one year.
10. — No person not actually domiciled in this Colony shall hunt, kill or pursue with intent to kill, in any season any caribou without having first procured a license for the season, nor shall more than one license be granted in any one year to any one person.
11.— Such licenses to hunt caribou shall only be issued by a Stipendiary Magistrate, a Justice of the Peace, or the Department of Marine and Fisheries. A fee of $1 for each license shall be paid to the person issuing same.
13. — Any person not domiciled in this Colony shall be entitled to hunt, kill and pursue with intent to kill, caribou on taking out a license, for which a fee of $50 shall be paid, and such license shall entitle the holder thereof to kill not more than three stag caribou. Licenses may be issued to Officers of His Majesty's Ships of War employed on this station for the Fisheries Protection without payment of any fee upon application to the Minister of Marine and Fisheries.
14. — Licenses shall be issued to all guides by any of the persons named in Section 11, but the fee of $1 in the said section mentioned shall not be charged. Every non-domiciled guide shall pay for such license a fee of $50. Every applicant for such license shall make oath or affirmation that he will use his best endeavours to have the provisions of this Act carried out, and that whenever any breach thereof may occur he shall forthwith report the same to the nearest Magistrate, Justice of the Peace or Warden, with a view of prosecuting the offender to conviction,
15. — No person holding a license to hunt, kill or pursue caribou shall employ as a guide, valet, or personal servant, laborer or bearer in a hunting expedition any person who has not obtained a license under the next preceding section.
16. — Any person obtaining a license to hunt, kill or pursue caribou shall make oath or affirmation before the person granting the said license that he will not violate or permit the violation of any portion of this Act.
260
17. — No person holding a license to hunt caribou shall kill or take more stag caribou than the number indicated by his license, and no member of a hunting expedition, whether a guide, bearer or laborer, or otherwise in the employ of the holder of such license, shall kill any caribou other than under the said license, and as a part of the number indicated therein.
18. — It shall be the duty of the holder of a license to hunt, kill or pursue caribou to return his license at the expiration thereof to the Magistrate or other person authorised to issue the same with a state- ment thereon in writing under oath or affirmation specifying the number of caribou killed by him and his party under the said license.
19. — Save as provided in this Act, no person shall export the antlers, heads or skins of any caribou, nor shall the owner, master, officers or crew of any vessel permit the exportation therein of any such antlers, head or skin, or any part thereof, save as provided and under a permit of a Customs officer. Penalty $500 or six months' imprisonment.
20. — If any master, owner, or officer, or any one of the crew of any vessel shall be convicted of a violation of the last preceding section, he shall, upon such conviction, be liable for every such offence to a penalty of $•500 or six months' imprisonment, and such penalty shall constitute a claim against the said vessel, and become a lien thereon, and may be collected and enforced by the seizure, confiscation and sale of the said vessel, despite any change of registry or ownership between the date of the offence and the seizure of the vessel.
21. — Any person holding a license to hunt, kill or pursue caribou under this Act may export the carcasses, antlers, head or any part of any caribou killed under the said license, upon entering the same at the Custom House for exportation and receiving a permit therefor. Such person shall make oath or affirmation, specifying the articles which he intends to export, and that the same are portions of caribou killed under license held by him, and stating the name of the person from whom he obtained the said license, and the date thereof, and that the articles about to be exported are not being exported as articles of commerce, and he shall thereupon pay a fee of 50 cents to the officer of Customs before whom such export entry is made, which fee the said officer is hereby authorised to retain. Such affidavit or affirmation shall be forwarded to the Department of Marine and Fisheries.
22. — No person holding a license to hunt, kill or pursue caribou under this Act shall export from this Colony the carcasses, heads, or antlers of more than three stag caribou.
23. — Any person not holding a license to hunt, kill or pursue caribou, but who is domiciled in this Colony, may export the antlers, heads or skins of caribou upon entering the same for exportation at a Customs House in the Colony, and receiving a special permit therefor. Such permit shall not be granted except upon an affidavit made before the Customs officer to whom application for a permit is made, stating the
201
name of the owner of the articles to be exported, their destination, and the person from whom and place where obtained, and that the same are not being exported as an article of commerce. Such affidavit shall be transmitted by the officer of Customs to the Department of Marine and Fisheries.
24. — Any person who shall put up the flesh of caribou in cans or tins or other packages shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding two hundred dollars, or, in default thereof, to imprisonment for any period not exceeding three months.
25. — Any flesh of caribou found put up in cans, tins or other packages may be seized, and may be destroyed by the order of a Justice of the Peace.
26. — It shall not be lawful for any person to purchase, or to receive in exchange, from any other person, any venison or any portion of the flesh of caribou, at any time between the first day of January and the thirty-first day of July in any year, and any person offending against the provisions of this section shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding two hundred dollars, or, in default, to imprisonment for any i^eriod not exceeding tnree months.
27. — If any Customs officer is informed or becomes aware that any antlers, heads or skins of caribou are being exported except by a person who has complied with the provisions of this Act in all respects, it shall be the duty of such officer to seize the said antlers, heads or skins, or any portion thereof, and to make complaint before a Stipendiary Magistrate or Justice of the Peace that a violation of this Act has been committed.
28-29. — All persons are prohibited from setting any snare, trap or pit for the destruction or capture of, or killing or pursuing with intent to kill any caribou.
(a) With dogs ; or
(b) With hatchet, tomahawk, spear, machine, contrivance or
weapon, other than firearms leaded with ball or bullet ; or
(c) While swimming or crossing any pond, lake, stream, river or
watercourse. No person is allowed to hunt or kill caribou within the area as hereafter described, that is to say : —
Commencing one and a-half miles south of Grand Lake Station, on the shores of the lake, to a point at the same distance from the railway at Howley ; thence to Goose Brook, one and ahalf miles from the railway line ; thence east to the railway line near Kitty's Brook Falls ; thence northwardly six and a-half miles ; thence to a point at Junction Brook, three miles north of Grand Lake Station ; and thence south- wardly along the course of the brook and shore of the lake to the place of commencement.
All fines and penalties under this Act shall be sued for and recovered in a sunamary manner on information or complaint before a Justice of
262
the Peace by any person who shall inform and sue for the same ; and one-half of all fines and forfeitures imposed shall be awarded to such complainant who shall prosecute the offender to conviction.
Any person who shall violate any section of this Act for which no penalty is herein provided shall be liable to a fine not exceeding |200, and in default of payment to imprisonment for any period not exceeding six months.
Birds and Wild Rabbit or Hare.
No person shall hunt, kill, purchase or have in his possession any ptarmigan or willow-grouse, commonly called partridge, or the eggs of any such birds within this Colony between the 15th day of December and the 20th day of September in any year under a penalty of not exceed- ing one hundred dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding three months. Provided it shall not be held unlawful to sell, etc., or have possession of such birds where the party shall prove that the said birds were killed between the 20th day of September and the 15th day of December in any year.
It shall be unlawful for any person to export from this Colony for sale as an article of commerce, any willow or other grouse or partridge, under a penalty of five dollars for each bird so exported.
No person shall hunt, etc., sell, purchase or have in his possession any curlew, plover, snipe or other wild or migratory birds (except wild geese) or eggs of any such birds within the Colony between the 15th day of December and the 20th day of September in each year, under a penalty of not less than $25.00 nor exceeding §100.00, or in default of payment, of imprisonment not exceeding three months.
No person shall trap or snare any wild Rabbit or Hare between the 1st day of March and the 20th day of September in any year under a penalty of not less than 525 and not exceeding $100, or imprisonment not exceeding three months.
Any person except a traveller on a journey found on Sunday carrying firearms, shall be subject to a fine not exceeding forty dollars, and in default of payment, to imprisonment for a period not exceeding one month.
Any person, except a traveller on a journey, found on the shooting grounds carrying firearms with or without dogs between the fifteenth day of December and the first day of October, where such game is known to frequent shall be subject to a fine not exceeding fifty dollars, and in default of payment, to imprisonment for a period not exceeding one month.
No person shall hunt, kill, wound, take, sell, barter, purchase, receive or give away, or have in his possession, any Capercailzie or Black Game, or the eggs of any such birds within this Colony, at any time from the
263
12th day of October, 1907, to the 12th day of October, 1917, under a penalty not exceeding one hundred dollars and costs, and in default of payment, to imprisonment not exceeding two months.
The following description of the birds is published for general information : The Capercailzie Cock is a large bird weighing from seven to twelve pounds, of dark blue plumage, but white from the crown downwards and with white spots on the upper wing coverts. The Black Cock which is larger than the Partridge, is also of dark blue plumage, with white feathers under the tail and wings. The hens of both species are colour of the local Partridge in early summer — a light brown.
Nothing contained in these Rules and Regulations shall extend to any poor settler who shall kill any birds (except those prohibited for a term of years from being killed) for his immediate consumption or that of his family.
Otters, Beavers and Foxes.
No person shall hunt beavers or export beaver skins till October 1st, 1913.
No person shall, in any year, take, kill, wound or destroy any otter or beaver between the first day of April and the first day of October, under a penalty of twenty-five dollars or imprisonment not exceeding one mouth.
Any person who shall purchase, receive or have in his possession any skin or carcass of a beaver killed or taken in violation of the law, shall be liable to a penalty for a first offence, not exceeding two hundred dollars or in default, imprisonment not exceeding two months ; and for a second offence shall be imprisoned for six months with hard labor.
Possession of a carcass or skin of a beaver shall be ^^'WJd facie evidence of a violation of this Act.
No person shall hunt foxes from March 15th to October 15th in any year.
Trout and Salmon.
No person shall catch, kill, capture or take any salmon, trout or inland water fishes in any river, stream, brook, pond, lake or estuary in Newfoundland by any other means except rod, hook and line.
No person shall by spearing, sweeping or hauling with any net or seine, take or attempt to take any salmon, trout or inland water fish, and the use of lime, explosives or other deleterious compounds for killing or catching fish of any description is prohibited.
In every mill-dam, rack or framework erected or built across any pond, lake, river, brook or stream where salmon and trout have been known to enter, there shall be put a proper pass-way or fish-ladder not less than four feet in width, capable of allowing salmon or trout of any size to enter the waters above. Any logs or timber of any description which may be so
264
placed as to impede the passage of salmon or trout in a river or stream shall be instantly removed, and no sawdust or mill rubbish of any kin shall be cast into any pond, lake, river, brook, stream or watercourse.
No person shall catch, kill or take any salmon or trout in any river, brook, stream, pond or lake in this Colony between the 15th September and the 15th January next following in any year.
No person shall buy or sell or have in possession any salmon or trout which have been taken contrary to these rules, and every salmon or trout so taken may be forfeited to the complainant by any Justice.
No person not being a resident of this Colony or its dependencies or not having a fixed place of domicile therein shall take or fish for any salmon, sea-trout, ouananiche, trout or charr, or any fish inhabiting or resorting to the inland waters or estuaries of this Island or its Dependencies, unless such person shall first have taken out and obtained an Inland Fishery License. Provided, nevertheless, that this section shall not apply to ofificers of His Majesty's ships upon service on or visiting this station.
The conditions on which the said license is granted shall be : —
(a) That the licensee shall in all respects conform to the laws of this Colony, and especially to the Statutes and the Rules and "Regulations of the Board having reference to the taking of fish in inland waters, and shall do all in his power to prevent the infraction of such laws, rules and regulations, and to promote the protection of the Inland Fisheries ; (h) That he shall pay to the Board or its authorised Agent the sum of ten dollars as a fee for said license ; (c) Upon proof to the satisfaction of the Board that such licensee has been guilty of any violation of the law the Board may declare the said license to be cancelled, and the said licensee is thenceforth deprived of all rights and privileges under the same.
Fire Patrol Regulations.
The Government has appointed a Chief Woods Eanger and Fire "Wardens for the better protection of the game forests. His duties are, in part : —
(1) To periodically travel over all woodlands, whether belonging to the Crown or private owners under lease from the Crown.
(2) To trace the origin of every woods fire and fully report same to the Government.
(3) To act in the capacity of an officer for the enforcement of the game laws of the Colony.
(4) To see that the following notice is conspicuously displayed: — " Camp-fires must be totally extinguished before breaking camp, under penalty of not to exceed twelve months' mprisonment or $400 fine, as provided by law."
The Government of Newfoundland having leased to the Anglo- Newfoundiand Development Company certain and land water areas
265
situate in the districts adjoining Red Indian and Victoria Lakes, tourists and sportsmen will please note that, before entering upon the lands of the Anglo-Newfoundland Development Company — whose lands extend along the line of railway from Grand Falls to Gaff Topsails (Summit), inclusive — it will be necessary to first take out a permit, which can be obtained by applying to the Company's headquarters at Grand Falls. It is also required by the terms of the contract arranged with the Government, that " Every tourist or party of tourists shall be required to employ one at least of guides or fire wardens employed by the Anglo-Newfoundland Development Company, as guide at the usual fees when entering on the lands of the said Company."
Customs Regulations.
When Tourists, Anglers and Sportsmen arriving in this Colony bring with them Cameras, Bicycles, Angler's Outfits, Trouting Gear, Fire- arms and Ammunition, Tents, Canoes, and Implements, they shall be admitted under the following conditions : —
A deposit equal to the duty shall be taken on such articles as Cameras, Bicycles, Trouting Poles, Fire-arms, Tents, Canoes, and Tent equipage, A receipt (No. 1) according to the form attached shall be given for the deposit and the particulars of the articles shall be noted in the receipt as well as in the marginal cheques. Receipt No. 2 if taken at an outport office shall be mailed at once directed to the Assistant Collector, St. John's, if taken in St. John's the Receipt No. 2 shall be sent to the Landing Surveyor.
Upon the departure from the Colony of the Tourist, Angler or Sports- man, he may obtain a refund of the deposit by presenting the articles at the Port of Exit and having them compared with the receipt. The Examining Officer shall initial on the receipt the result of his exam- ination and upon its correctness being ascertained the refund may be made.
No groceries, canned goods, wines, spirits or provisions of any kind will be admitted free and no deposit for a refund may be taken upon such articles.
266
Licensed Guides, 1911.
|
Names. |
District. |
Address. |
|
Walter B. Shears |
... St. George's |
Bay St. George. |
|
Chas. Gilliam |
... Robinson's Head .. |
>> |
|
Charles M. Benoit |
... Stephen ville |
11 |
|
Reuben King |
... Bank Head |
») |
|
Francis King |
... ,, „ |
>j |
|
Joseph Young ... |
... „ ,, |
11 |
|
William H. Gilliam |
... Robinson's Head .. |
>) |
|
Thos. Webb |
... Flat Bay |
>» |
|
William Young ... |
,, ,, |
»t |
|
James Young |
... „ „ |
>5 |
|
Robert Shears ... |
... Robinson's Head .. |
?? |
|
Thos. A. Shears ... |
)» 1! |
)1 |
|
Jas. A. Shears ... |
... ), ,, |
)) |
|
Geo. Shears |
... ft f9 .. |
U |
|
John P. John |
... Flat Bay |
)» |
|
John Bourgeois ... |
)t )) |
r) |
|
Walter Perrior ... |
... )) }t ... |
>» |
|
Chas. Hines |
... Port au Port... |
n |
|
Thomas Legge ... |
... Robinson's Head |
»? |
|
James W. Legge |
J5 »> |
)) |
|
Eichard Gill ... |
J) )) |
j> |
|
Maxim Young ... |
... Bank Head |
?? |
|
Allan Mclsaac ... |
... Highlands ... |
») |
|
John Ed. Parsons |
... Sandy Point |
»> |
|
Peter Benoit |
... Barachoix Brook |
M |
|
Wm. Webb |
... Main River |
5> |
|
Frederick Webb |
... Flat Bay |
») |
|
Wm. Allen |
... Curling |
Bay of Islands. |
|
John A. Pennell |
,, |
^ |
|
William Messervey |
,, |
>t |
|
A. Wells |
... ^j ... ... |
:$ |
|
Wm. J. LeMoiue |
... ,, |
n |
|
Dennis Callahan |
... Corner Brook... |
>t |
|
John Gillett ... |
... ,, „ |
)5 |
|
John Arnold |
... ,t 9^ .. . |
)5 |
|
Edward P. Brake |
... Humbermouth |
»1 |
|
Wm. P. Brake ... |
,, ... .. |
» |
|
George Snooks... |
»> |
J> |
|
William Pennell |
)» |
Grand Lake. |
|
William Joy |
... Halls Bay |
Kotre Dame Bay. |
|
Henry Whitehorn |
... Springdale, Halls Bay |
»» i> >i |
|
George Gillard ... |
... Halls Bay |
• >? »» »i |
267
|
Names. |
District. |
ADDRE33. |
|
James Ludnow |
... Norris' Arm ... |
... |
|
Alfred Beaton . . . |
>> )) |
... |
|
George Beaton |
... ), ,, |
... |
|
William Oke ... |
J) )) |
... |
|
Jenkins Price ... |
... Gambo |
... |
|
John Wells ... |
... Alexander Bay... |
... Bona vista Bay. |
|
Bonald Ralph ... |
... Troy town |
••• >5 ») |
|
Bobert Saunders |
... Glovertown |
M >» |
|
R. B. Stroud ... |
••• •< •■• ••■ |
••• »• 5» |
|
Alexander Butt |
• ■ • •) • . . • . . |
"•• M ?» |
|
John Dowy |
••• •) ••• ■•• |
M »» |
|
Robert Brooking |
••• }f ••• •■• |
?5 J» |
|
Ezekiah Ralph |
... )) ... ... |
») 1? |
|
Daniel Burton |
... .1 •.• ... |
> > ■ )f ft |
|
Walter LeDrew |
J) )5 |
|
|
Frank Strickland |
... La Poile |
. ■ * |
|
Joseph Jeddore |
... Bay D'Espoir ... |
.. • |
|
Nicholas Jeddore |
)> )t |
* • • |
|
Noel Jeddore ... |
>) >> |
• • • |
|
Matthew Burke |
... ,, ,, ... |
* . • |
|
Bernard John |
... f, f, ... |
... |
|
Stephen Bernard |
... Long Harbour ... |
... Fortune Bay. |
|
John D. Jeddore |
,, ,, |
)» )i |
|
Stephen Joe ... |
i» )» |
n >» |
|
George Kelly . . . |
... South East Arm |
... Placentia. |
|
Michael Walsh |
... Salmonier |
... St. Mary's Bay |
|
Patrick Hurley |
... ,} ... |
• •• )» »f »> |
268 OCEAN AND LOCAL STEAMSHIP SERVICES.
THE ALLAN LINE.
The Allan Steamship Company maintains a fort- nightly service between Liverpool and St. John's, thence to Halifax and Philadelphia, returning from the latter port to St. John's direct, and on to Glasgow, from which place the ships move to Liverpool in order to begin another round voyage. An important improvement in this service is being effected the present year through the employment of the steamer "Pretorian," a much larger, faster and finer ship than those previously used, and it is expected that either this season or next, two other steamers of the same class will be substituted for those that are performing the contract with her during the present year. The Allan steamers enjoy a well- deserved reputation for comfort and security, and this has been amply maintained in the Newfoundland service, in connection with which there has not been a serious mishap to an Allan liner for almost a quarter of a century. The passage rates are very reasonable, approximating $60 for first-class, and the voyage between Liverpool and St. John's is made within a week. The ships are fitted with wireless telegraphy, and the service is deservedly popular and draws a constantly increasing clientele. Messrs. Shea & Co., of St. John's, are the Newfoundland agents.
FURNESS LINE.
The Purness- Withy Steamship Company maintains a line of steamers between Liverpool, St. John's and Halifax, plying alternately with the Allan sliips, so as to aiford the colony, really, the advantages of a weekly service. These Purness steamers are excellent sea-
269
boats, specially adapted for the traffic, and give accommodation for a limited number of passengers, they being chiefly intended for the carriage of the enormous quantities of freight, which are transported by these means, and which are growing very much in recent years owing to the development of new industries within the colony. The rates on these steamers are somewhat similar to those on the Allan ships, and the service is excellent. The time occupied in the passage is about seven days. Messrs. J. & W. Pitts, of St. John's, are the Newfoundland agents.
RED CROSS LINE,
The E-ed Cross Steamship Company operates two excellent passenger ships between New York, Halifax and St. John's, giving a weekly service for most of the year, and a ten-day service for the remainder. Two years ago the powerful new steamship "Plorizel" was constructed for this service, one of the strongest and stoutest passenger ships afloat. She formed a remarkable innovation, inasmuch as she was designed to engage in the seal fishery in March and April, and perform this *' liner" service during the rest of the year. She proved so successful in the seal hunt, though of 3,000 tons gross bulk, that the Company built a still larger ship, the "Stephano," on the Clyde the past winter, with the same objects in view, and she begins the passenger service in June of this year. These siiips do a large tourist traffic in summer of Americans desirous of a change from the torrid summer heats of their own country to the cool, salubrious shores of Newfoundland, and trans-Atlantic passengers also avail themselves of these means of reaching the Island. The first-class rates approximate $40 for the voyage each way. The ships carry wireless equipment. Harvey & Co., of St. John's, are tlie Newfoundland agents.
270
BLACK DIAMOND LINE,
The Black Diamond Steamship Company carries on a service between May and December between Montreal, Charlotteto^ai, P.E.I., Sydney, N.S., and St. John's, making weekly trips with the steamers " E-osalind " and *' Bonavista." The former ship was employed on the New York service until replaced by the " Stephano," and has more than ordinary passenger capacity, while the " Bonavista " is a ship that was specially built for the route, and is also excellently provided in this respect. The service is a popular one, and the scenic beauties of the St. Lawrence attract many passengers to it. Harvey & Co.. of St. John's,, are the Newfoundland assents.
"O'
GULF LINE.
Steamers carrying passengers and freight are run during the summer between Montreal and St. John's, giving excellent accommodation and afford- ing opportunities for enjoyable voyages. Shea & Co., of St. John's, are the Newfoundland agents.
TRANS- ATLANTIC LINE CONNECTIONS.
Passengers by all trans-Atlantic steamships plying via Canadian and United States ports, can make con- nections with Newfoundland by any of the foregoing steamer lines, or by utilizing the Railroads to North Sydney, N.S., where they can connect with the Reid- Newfoundland Company's steamships that ply across Cabot Strait daily, and really form part of the railway system of the Island. These sliips leave North Sydney or Port-aux- Basques about midnight, and traverse the 90 miles in six to seven hours, enabling travellers to enjoy a comfortable night's rest and awake in harbour on the other side.
271
REID COASTAL STEAMERS.
At Port-aux- Basques or St. John's, from whichever side the traveller enters the Island, he can effect con- nections with all the eig'ht ships of the Reid system and make numerous tours along the coast or in the hays, extending his voyage to farthest Lahrador if he so desires. This Company's system is very complete and perfect. Through tickets are sold, comprehensive tours are arranged, every choice of route can be effected, and as the Company has its agents at every railway station and in the various ports of call, every facility is afforded passengers for availing of all its resources.
THE BOWRING STEAMSHIPS.
The firm of Bowring Bros., Ltd., of St. John's, despatches two coastal steamers — the " Portia" and the "Prospero" — one plying between St. John's and Belle Isle Strait, touching at the principal harbours in the northern bays, and the others performing similar services on the south and west coasts. A round voyage in either ship occupies 10 to 12 days, and during the summer months special rates are given, while the opportunities which such trips afford of enjoying varied scenic attractions bring them generous patronage.
THE "CROSBIE" SHIPS.
The Newfoundland Produce Company, of which Crosbie & Co. are the St. John's agents, likewise run two fine steamers, the " Pogota " giving a weekly service to Eogo district and the principal intervening ports, and the " Susu " carrying out a weekly service on Fortune Bay. These ships afford splendid opportunities for travellers to familiarize themselves with the sections of the seaboard which they serve, and as the rates charged are the lowest compatible with good service, it is easy to see that they are favourites on their routes.
thsTbnd.
HontJon : Printed bt Whitehead, Morris & Co., Ltd. 9 & 10 Fenchurch Street, E.G.
1911.
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