We arrived at St. John’s after dark on Thursday, the 27th August. At this hour the approach through the Narrows is unspoilt by the squalor of the shacks that perch precariously on the western side, and the lights of the town lend romance that is somewhat lacking by daylight. As Mr. Ewbank was also on the boat, we were met by Lieutenant James Walwyn (the A.D.C.)¹⁹ in uniform and by all the Commissioners except Mr. Trentham²⁰ and Mr. Howley²¹ who were away. The hotel, to which we at once went, is a seven-storey building of surprisingly spacious construction. All the English Commissioners and civil servants live in the hotel.²² Each has his own sitting room and a bedroom or bedrooms shut off into a private flat at the end of a wing. We were accommodated in the same way. The hotel was originally built by a Company which failed. It was then taken over by the Government. It is now well run and comfortable, and compares favourably with hotels at home in towns of the same size as St. John’s. As it is now beginning to pay its way under the management of Mr. Dunn²³ (who, with Mr. Wild,²⁴ has given it a good deal of attention) the Treasury need not regret its existence, while English officials must all be devoutly thankful for it. Moreover, it is important that there should be a hotel at which business people from other countries can stay in comfort; otherwise they would not go to St. John’s at all, and the economic life of the island would suffer.

2. We stayed in St. John’s until Monday, 7th September, and most of the time I spent in interviewing people. I had talks not only with the Governor and all the Commissioners and English civil servants, but also with a number of people of all sorts, including Water Street merchants, lawyers, one or two ex-politicians and the leader of the longshoremen Anglice,²⁵ dock labourers). It is not easy to arrive at public opinion in Newfoundland. The lack of it was no doubt one of the causes of the collapse of responsible Government. The general impression left from my talks with outside unofficial people is as follows.

3. No responsible person wishes to return to the old system, and it is commonly recognised that Commission Government must last a long time. One elderly lawyer, who has never come into the limelight but who has evidently thought more deeply than most, impressed it on me that politics in a poor and backward country must always be corrupt. There could, he thought, be no return to the old system until a leisured class had grown up, until wealth was more widely distributed and in any case until all the politicians of the old school were dead and gone. Many people do not contemplate a return to the old system at any time. They have in mind some form of Colonial constitution as the ultimate solution. Bermuda and Jamaica are mentioned as examples, though any accurate knowledge of Colonial constitutions is lacking.

4. But because Commission Government is preferred to “responsible” Government, it does not follow that there is any lack of criticism of the present Government. Changes of personnel are regarded as undesirable. There is a general feeling that the Commission have lacked a coherent policy and that there has been a lack of co-operation between the Commissioners. Unfortunately, this criticism is not unfounded. The Governor himself has been much exercised by these shortcomings, and the proposals that may reach us for a four-year plan should be read against this background. It is also unfortunately true that the Commission have made a number of mistakes. The fishery position has not been well handled. Much of the money spent, e.g. on supplies, has been wasted. Now the spending policy has given place to one of statutory control, but this is not working well. There is much criticism of the personnel of the Statutory Authority.²⁶ Difficulty over the fisheries is inevitable, as an archangel could not create unity of purpose in Water Street, but there have been unnecessary mistakes in other fields. It is unnecessary to refer to the Kean case.²⁷ There was another blunder the other day, by which the blueberry business, now quite an important one, was seriously damaged. The Department of Natural Resources, without consulting the trade as a whole, suddenly offered to pay pickers 15 cents a gallon at a time when the trade was paying 12 cents. (This was not, I believe, Sir John Hope Simpson’s mistake; the action was taken by a subordinate). There was of course an immediate outcry, and for a short time chaos reigned, during which much of the crop was wasted.

5. In this case the mistake arose from a failure to consult interested parties; and there have been other cases of half-baked legislation (e.g. on the question of shop hours) which has to be amended for similar reasons. There is a general feeling that there should be more consultation with local opinion. Mr. Lodge would tell you that this would be of little value because local opinion [would] be too incoherent and fickle to afford any “cover.” There is much truth in this. Nearly all the criticism you hear is destructive and much of it is ill-considered. But even if local opinion is now incapable of helping, it must be trained, and can only be trained by practice, to give constructive advice. It will not be possible indefinitely to continue a system under which a white population, once a democracy, is deprived of any voice in its affairs. Whether the time is yet ripe to form an “advisory council,” or (in my view a better alternative) to broaden the Commission into an executive council with unofficial (nominated) members, is an open question. Personally I do not think that the time is ripe. It would be better, I think, to begin with ad hoc consultation and by forming Committees of local people for particular purposes (just as local trustees are employed for land settlement) before embarking on any form of general Parliament.

6. As I have referred to criticisms and blunders, it is only fair to add that, apart from a few grumbles at the increased strictness of the Customs, I heard nothing but praise of the three English civil servants. Mr. Wild, through his tact and good sense, has managed to make his criticisms effective without giving offence. It says much for Mr. Dunn that importers speak highly of him. They appreciate the protection which strict and impartial administration gives to legitimate trade. Mr. Dunn told me that the leaks which he has stopped in the Customs are saving at least $500,000 a year. He is satisfied that we are now getting the revenue. In the old days the Customs’ launch was slow and betrayed its presence by volumes of smoke. At times it was sent in the opposite direction to the projected smuggling operations of Government supporters. This vessel has been replaced by an ex-rum runner and its movements are of course uninfluenced by political considerations.²⁸ In one year before the change the Post Office lost $800,000. In 1935–6 under Mr. Harper’s administration the loss was reduced to $16,743. In the old days post offices were established widespread not from any need of the service but to provide an income for political supporters. I was told of one place in which there were four in two miles of road! Redundant offices have of course been closed. There has also been a great saving through the increased use of wireless, as the maintenance of land lines, particularly during the winter, was difficult and expensive.

7. The three Departments which have English civil servants to run the machine are now reasonably efficient, though Mr. Harper²⁹ told me that he regards the continued efficiency of his Department as dependent on his continuous supervision. I should doubt whether the efficiency of some of the other Departments is satisfactory. It is a question whether one or two more English civil servants would be desirable. For example, the higher staff of the Department of Natural Resources seemed to me to be hardly equal to their responsibilities. There would be some feeling at another “foreign importation,” but efficiency would be improved. If Mr. Ewbank asks for any such help, I think we should be sympathetic. I should doubt whether recruitment is always satisfactory. There is no organization analogous to the Civil Service Commission, though Mr. Wild told me that he and Messrs. Dunn and Harper had combined to “vet” candidates for their Departments. He also told me that on occasion their rejects had been accepted by other Departments. It is a question whether something in the nature of a Civil Service Commission should be established.

8. Although the novelty of Commission Government has now worn off, and the natural Irish tendency to be “agin the Government” has reasserted itself, I do not myself see much present risk of serious trouble. Some people will tell you that, if there was an election, Sir Richard Squires would be re-elected by a large majority. He is behind the Fishermen’s Advocate, a paper which vilifies the Commissioners in every issue. In order to clear himself from disgrace he adopted the simple device of sending every elector a Christmas card with a pious text. Some people will tell you that this device was successful and that many now regard him as a martyr, but others think he is too discredited to carry weight, and the failure of such attempts as have been made to stir up trouble supports the latter view. However, the Commission cannot afford to ship any unnecessary water.³⁰

9. While the general view is that trouble is unlikely, one business man told me that he had just covered his premises against riot for the first time. As this man is in the confidence of the leader of the longshoremen (Mr. Coady³¹), his view is important. Through him I was able to have a talk to Mr. Coady. He is an ex-seaman, small of stature, almost illiterate, but shrewd and full of character. By making him to sit on the sofa and smoke his pipe I soon got him to thaw. He said he “approved” of Commission Government, but it was soon evident that he had little feeling for or against any system of Government as such. His approval was simply a reflection of his personal admiration for Mr. Lodge. (“Trentham he’s a lofty. He’s just, but he’s lofty”). He made it plain that if Mr. Lodge went we could not rely on the friendliness of the longshoremen. He spoke of the Murray Andersons³² as angels from heaven. (This is mainly because Lady Anderson worked very hard in distributing clothes to the poor and got Mr. Coady to help her). He had suspected that Sir Murray Anderson was recalled prematurely “because he was good to the poor.” Unfortunately, he has not taken to the present Governor. I could not gather why; he would only say “I don’t approve of him.” I tried to suggest a kindlier view, but I fear that I made little impression. It is also unfortunate that his relations with the employers’ organisation are unsatisfactory. He has been badly handled by Mr. Leonard Outer-bridge³³ (the chairman of that body) and described one episode which has embittered his feelings towards him. “If he were in the water, Sir, I’d pull him out, but you can’t forget it.” I have suggested to Mr. Ewbank that he should make a point of seeing Mr. Coady. Mr. Lodge’s forthcoming departure makes it desirable that Mr. Coady should establish friendly relations with another English Commissioner.

10. I did not see the press, who kindly refrained from interviewing me. The St. John’s press, though not uncritical, is moderate in tone, and the articles on the occasion of Sir John Hope Simpson’s departure were friendly. The only abusive newspaper is the Fishermen’s Advocate, published at Twillingate.³⁴

11. Of the three Newfoundland Commissioners, Mr. Puddester³⁵ (Public Health and Welfare) is probably the best, and would certainly be the most difficult to replace. He is no flier, but he gave me the impression of being keen on his job, which, as it includes the administration of the dole, is a most distasteful one. One hears that in some places people are getting the dole who ought to be able to support themselves. How much there may be in this it is difficult to say. I have also heard the opposite criticism. For example, a local merchant complained that fishermen who owed him fish in return for the season’s supplies were refused dole until they sold the fish which, he said, was not theirs to sell. The difficulties of administration must be enormous. On the whole I should doubt whether another Newfoundlander could be found who would administer the dole as economically, and the job is hardly one for an English Commissioner. Mr. Lodge told me that Mr. Puddester was upset at being asked to continue for only a year, and that he feared he might begin to “play politics.” He (Mr. Puddester) said nothing to me to suggest that he was dissatisfied, but it would be unwise to conclude from this that he is not. I am pretty clear that his services should, if possible, be retained. Mr. Alec Winter³⁶ (Mr. Alderdice’s successor as Commissioner for Education) is a rather colourless figure, though the appointment has been well received. I should expect him to keep out of trouble, but if any progress is to be made with educational reform — and I am impressed with the importance of this — a more forceful personality would be necessary. Mr. Howley was the only Newfoundland Commissioner who opened out at all. He told me — and I can believe it — that he and his Newfoundland colleagues felt that they had not been sufficiently taken into confidence in the past and that they had been made to share responsibility for policies about which they had not been fully consulted. This is a defect which the present Governor is anxious to remedy. Mr. Howley himself does not impress. If it were for me to decide, I should replace him by Mr. Edward Emerson,³⁷ who was Minister for Justice in the Alderdice Government. Mr. Edward Emerson’s mental equipment is far above that of the average Newfoundland politician, and he could make a much more useful contribution than Mr. Howley. At present he is friendly, though critical. If he were to become unfriendly, he would be very dangerous.

12. A point about which the Governor is rather anxious and which was also spontaneously mentioned by several private individuals is the anomalous position, as some regard it, of the Governor as both King’s representative and also Chairman of the Commission. The late Governor was content in practice to lay the emphasis on the first function, but the present Governor takes his position as Chairman much more seriously. It was suggested to me by several people that loyalty to the Crown suffers if the Governor is identified with unpopular policies. To such people I pointed out that under a Colonial form of constitution, towards which many people think we should work, the Governor would be far more responsible for policy than he is now. But the point may not be without substance in a country like Newfoundland, which has grown used to a Governor who acts purely as a constitutional monarch. The new conception of the Governor’s position must of course have a longer test than the few months of the present Governor’s tenure of office before any conclusion can be reached.

13. On Sunday, 30th August, we went out to Haricot (near Colinet, St. Mary’s Bay) to see one of the new settlements. We were driven by Mr. C.A. Pippy,³⁸ a member of the Land Settlement Board. In course of our visit but not on this day we met all the members of this Board, who were previously the Markland Trustees. They are a curiously assorted body, but all men of character united by enthusiasm for their work. Mr. Pippy is a business man, one of the few really live business men in St. John’s. He is agent for all sorts of machinery, agricultural, roadmaking etc. He really understands the machinery he sells and gives good advice and service to the buyer. He is much disliked in St. John’s and his detractors tell stories of unscrupulous business methods. On the other hand he has the complete confidence of so important a buyer as the A.N.D.³⁹ Certainly he is very charming personally, and I heard many stories of kindness done by him to people in misfortune. Of his practical ability and disinterested enthusiasm for land settlement I feel no doubt. Then there is Mr. Fred Emerson.⁴⁰ He is highly cultivated and musical, has travelled widely and knows languages. Reaction against his environment has made him rather precocious. His particular province in land settlement is education, which is run on undenominational lines. His enthusiasm is almost religious in fervor. The third member is Dr. Grieve,⁴¹ a Scot who is in charge of the Mental Hospital at St. John’s where he has introduced great reforms.

14. The origin of land settlement is quite romantic. Mr. Pippy had been helping some of the unemployed in St. John’s and one of them, an ex-soldier named Lidstone,⁴² asked to be given a chance on the land. One day in the spring of 1934 Mr. Pippy came to see Mr. Lodge, who then hardly knew him, and asked him to come and see off ten unemployed ex-soldiers who were starting for Markland, the original settlement.⁴³ Mr. Lodge told him to see Sir John Hope Simpson, but himself went off to see off the settlers.⁴⁴ For some reason, Sir John Hope Simpson and the Markland Trustees never hit it off, and Mr. Lodge has been responsible for the subsequent development, under which what was originally a private charitable venture has become a Government Service. There are now five settlements. The original Markland has now 110 families. This is now recognised to be too big. Last year Haricot was started with 25 families. This year settlements have been planted at Brown’s Arm near Botwood and at Pasadena near Deer Lake, each with 25 families. A Roman Catholic settlement at Lourdes on the West Coast with 30 families has also been brought within the scheme, though in general the settlements are undenominational. Thus the settlements now contain about 1,200 souls.⁴⁵

15. When a settlement is started the families of the settlers are taken off the dole and their maintenance is charged to Land Settlement funds, the maintenance of each man’s family being charged against his account. At the outset the men go alone in charge of a manager (who will have received training at Markland as an under-manager). The first months are spent in clearing land, the men living under canvas. The necessary settlers’ houses are erected at the same time, together with a store and a school. The building is done by contract as being more economical than using settlers’ labour. A house costs $420. It is of the simplest construction; for example there are no internal doors. When the houses are ready, the families arrive. They are supplied with such household gear and clothes as are essential. A man is not charged with the cost of the house (which is not to be his property unless he buys it later when self-supporting), but all goods supplied to him are charged against him. A man with a family of average size is allowed to spend $3.50 a week on food. Each man has to work 8½ hours a day on communal work, and receives credit in his account for the work which he does. All communal work is credited at the same rate, whether the man be store keeper, mechanic or labourer. His day’s work done, a man is at liberty to work on his own stead, and as his stead becomes productive the amount he can spend at the store on food is reduced. Any surplus reduction from his own stead he can “turn in” to the store and receive credit for it. Thus the scheme is based partly on communist and partly on individualist principles. This mixture will give rise to problems in the future, but at present I could detect no sign of difficulties from this cause. There have been serious difficulties with unsatisfactory settlers, though the proportion of failures is not high. The Newfoundlander makes a good settler. He is docile, patient and hardy. Having grown up with the truck system, he does not expect a packet of wages on Friday. Though incompetent in complex affairs such as administration or business, he is a very handy man. Any Newfoundlander can clear a plot of land, till a garden, make a motor car go, build a boat or a shack or a vegetable cellar. What he needs is leadership, and this is supplied by the managers, mostly young men fresh from the Memorial College, the nearest approach to a University in Newfoundland.⁴⁶

16. There has been a great deal of criticism of the land settlement policy, though much of it is uninformed. It is certainly doubtful whether the Markland settlement is in the right place, but other settlements have been better chosen. It was inevitable that there should be early mistakes. The organization still leaves something to be desired. The powers of the Land Settlement Board are insufficiently defined, and no written agreements have been made with the settlers. The gross cost per family is certainly high, probably about $1,200 including education and supervision, and this has given rise to much criticism though it would be difficult to say that there has been extravagance. If the settlers become self supporting — and Mr. Pippy, who is a hard-headed business man, with a healthy dislike for “toy” settlements, is confident that they will do so — much of the gross cost will be repaid and real value will have been created. In the past the agricultural possibilities of Newfoundland have been neglected. The shortness of the season which does not begin till June, is compensated for by the fertility of the soil. Growth is remarkably rapid. The season is too short for cereals, but fodder and vegetable crops do well.

17. One could not but be impressed by the progress made in a year at Haricot. Each of the settlers had cleared himself a garden. One that we visited was a 60 year old seaman named Thistle.⁴⁷ He had a nice garden of about ½ acre, with some beautiful cabbages. He had built himself an enclosed well and a hen house, and was building a vegetable cellar. (This is necessary to preserve the vegetables against the frost). All this of course had been done in spare time. The common field had a crop of oats; and more land was being cleared. There was a carpenter’s shop to provide indoor work in bad weather. The men had built a dory for themselves, and were making wheelbarrows and school desks to be traded to other settlements. The men will of course receive credit in their accounts for the value of this work.

18. We had a picnic lunch in the school house. After lunch we went on to Whitbourne, and had tea with Major Anderton⁴⁸ and his wife. Major Anderton is in charge of the Newfoundland Rangers,⁴⁹ the new force who are responsible for police etc. work outside the Avalon Peninsula and on the Labrador. Major Anderton, who comes from the Canadian Mounted Police, is a man of splendid physique and character, and his wife, a Scottish nurse whom he met in the Arctic, is worthy of him. The first Rangers to be trained are already away on detachment, and a second batch are in training at the barracks, which we visited. The arrangement by which the Police within the Avalon Peninsula and the magistrates outside it are responsible to the Commissioner for Justice, while the Rangers are responsible to the Commissioner for Natural Resources, is a curious one. What is really needed, one would think, is a system of District Commissioners responsible to a Department of District Administration to whom the Rangers would also be responsible.

19. The weather during our first days at St. John’s had been cold and wet, but today it became brilliantly fine. The sun, though not very hot, is more brilliant than it ever is at home, and as the evening comes on, the colours in sky and distance are wonderful. The country owes its beauty to this brilliance and colour, without which the landscape would be monotonous. It is the same everywhere. An undistinguished and rather ragged forest of fir, spruce, birch and alder is varied only by “ponds” (Anglice, lakes) and patches of bog (sometimes very extensive) or by “barrens” where the soil has been burnt or is too thin and rocky to support a growth of trees. There is practically no level ground, but none of the hills are of any great height. We had dinner in a beautifully kept road house at Brigus at the foot of Conception Bay and got home about 11 o’clock.⁵⁰ All day trips ended thus at Brigus, and a very pleasant ending it always was.

20. On Monday 31st August we visited the Fish Research Laboratory at Bay Bulls, about 20 miles from St. John’s. This place is rather a tragedy. Dr. Thompson⁵¹ has been in charge from the first, when the Laboratory was set up by the E.M.B.⁵² before the change of Government. In his early days he was somewhat outspoken in his criticisms and was consequently himself attacked. Moreover he has been isolated in a Catholic settlement, where he is dubbed a “black Protestant.” As a result he has become so embittered as to lose his usefulness to Newfoundland. He has collected more scientific data about the codfish than are likely to be applied for many years, but there is a complete hiatus between the Laboratory and the fishermen. The Fishery Inspectors were to receive lectures at the Laboratory but they have never been there. At present in his view any scientific exploitation of the codfish is impossible owing to the obstinate ignorance of the fishermen. He told me he did not want to stay. The important thing, he said, was to see that the lobster and salmon were not overfished. For this he had collected the necessary scientific data; it is now a matter of administration. There is no lack of codfish or risk of overfishing. Owing to varying water temperatures, they do not come inshore every year. The present year is such a year. The shore fishery must therefore always be a gamble. The fishery can only be properly conducted in trawlers or schooners. A day or two after our visit Dr. Thompson was offered and accepted an appointment in Australia. The whole future of the Laboratory will have to be considered. For one thing, the Laboratory is in the wrong place. If it is to work, as it should, in close touch with the merchants, it ought to be in St. John’s. It is also for consideration whether it is necessary to continue to employ a man of such high scientific attainments.⁵³

21. On Friday, 4th September, we went to Markland. Unfortunately it was a pouring wet day, and the original programme of showing us the settlers at work had to be abandoned. We talked to various settlers in their steads. Their morale was impressive. (At one time, when there was a threat of trouble at St. John’s, a deputation from Markland came and offered their services as extra police). Among those to whom we talked to was Lidstone, who originally asked to be given a chance on the land. His health has given out and he has had to be excused from community work, but he is still a pioneer in his garden, where he has started mushroom growing, and has a splendid hen-house.

22. On Sunday, 6th September, we were taken out by Mr. Ches. Crosbie,⁵⁴ almost the only person I met in the codfish business who seemed to be alive. We went first to Port de Grave, a settlement on a spur of land running out into Conception Bay. It is perched on a rocky bit of coast where there is no timber and no soil and the people depend entirely on the fishery. The very soil in the merchant’s front garden has had to be fetched in a cart. Port de Grave is a scene of abject poverty. We called on the merchant, Mr. Andrews,⁵⁵ a good type of man whose fortune has been exhausted in supporting the fishermen. Men of this type feel sore at the strictures on the merchants in the Amulree Report.⁵⁶ One hears a good deal on this subject. We then went on through Harbour Grace to Carbonear, one of the larger outposts, where we lunched with the local merchant Mr. Moores.⁵⁷ He did not impress me very much.

23. We then turned back to Harbour Grace and visited the drainage experiment, the main purpose of our visit. Harbour Grace itself is a sad sight. It has once been a considerable place, and much of it is brick built, a rarity in Newfoundland. It is now utterly decayed, and is known at Carbonear as the deserted village. It contains, however, one element of life: Mr. Herman Archibald⁵⁸ and his 12 sons. This man was once a boot and shoe manufacturer, who has taken enthusiastically to farming. He runs a Co-operative Self-Help Association⁵⁹ at Harbour Grace, and has been put in charge of the drainage experiment. I could not get any intelligible figures of cost from him. If you ask him a question he drowns you in words and boisterous laughter. However, I got later Mr. Pippy’s estimates of the cost of draining 50 acres, which, he told me, will be very close to the actual cost. This estimate was $155 per acre, including fencing, ploughing, limeing (2 tons per acre), seeding, commercial fertiliser, fuel, repairs and depreciation on mechanical equipment at 25%. (The machinery actually lasts much longer than 4 years). Mr. Archibald said that he had put in more lateral drains than he thought would be necessary, so the cost may be reducible. He has ceased to use box drains, which are rather expensive; he puts rock at the bottom of the drains, and bog roots on the rock. These materials are of course available on the spot. The cost of draining bog land is considerably less than the cost of clearing forest land, and there are large stretches of suitable bog in the Avalon Peninsula. The fertility of the drained bog has come as a surprise to all concerned. Most of the drained area was sown with oats which have been cut green for fodder. Although the crop was sown a month late — there was nothing showing on the 1st July — three tons to the acre have been obtained, which compares favourably with agricultural land elsewhere in the island. The intention is to turn the land over to hay, which sells at $30 a ton and more in Newfoundland.

24. On Monday 7th September we set off by train. The Lodges had one private car and we another, and these were attached to a freight train. This was the most comfortable railway journey I ever took. We never ran at night, and usually stopped for meals. The cars were beautifully clean, the beds comfortable and the meals such as are rarely met with on a train. The first day took us out of the Avalon Peninsula. The isthmus is utterly barren and deserted; I doubt if it will ever be worth building a road along this section.

25. On the morning of 8th September, we stopped at Hattie’s Camp, the site of the new air base.⁶⁰ There are to be four runways, crossing like a star. One will be 1,600 yards long and 400 yards wide; the other three 1,500 yards long and 200 yards wide. Each will require a road surface, and the total surfacing will be equivalent to about 100 miles of road. The runways will occupy an area of about a square mile, and it is at present proposed also to clear of trees an area of about 7 square miles round the aerodrome. As the trees are not of any height, the necessity for this seems doubtful. This additional clearing would cost about £30,000. Mr. Lodge’s view is that the whole thing is on an unnecessarily extravagant scale. Although I felt unable to judge of the need for so enormous an aerodrome, I felt devoutly thankful that the site is nearly 9 hours by rail from St. John’s and altogether without road communication. It is thus well away from the eyes and ears of local critics. It is actually 216 miles from St. John’s to Hattie’s Camp, but it must be remembered that the trains are so slow that the distance is equivalent to at least twice the same distance at home. The railway is of narrow gauge and full of curves and gradients. There are no cuttings or embankments and the railway winds round or goes over the hills. Thirty-five miles an hour feels like ninety, and the fastest “express” is supposed to average 25 m.p.h.

26. We reached Grand Falls in the afternoon, where we stayed until the 11th September with Mr. Vincent Jones,⁶¹ the A.N.D. Co.’s manager, at Northcliffe House. There we were in an English country house with a charming English host and hostess. We were shown all over the mill. It is not altogether up to date, and the layout is open to criticism, but the Company has been prudently managed. The proportion of spruce to fir in this part of the island is higher than in the west. This gives Grand Falls an advantage over Corner Brook, since a cord of spruce will make more paper than the same quantity of fir. The woodsman is paid by the cord, a measure of bulk, while paper is sold by weight.⁶²

27. On the 9th September we went to Botwood and thence by motor boat to Brown’s Arm, one of the new land settlements. This settlement is only 3 months old, and there was not much but clearing to see. The settlers’ houses were just completed, and the families expected in a few days. The young manager (Mr. Chafe⁶³) impressed me very favourably.

28. On the 11th September we visited the mine at Buchans. There is a rich deposit containing zinc, lead, copper and a little gold. At present it supports about 600 employees, and the value of the concentrates extracted has been as high as $4 to $5 million a year. It will be worked out in about 12 years. We were shown over the works, but the processes of separation must remain a mystery to anyone ignorant of chemistry. Buchans is a bleak spot, at an elevation of 700 feet, and miles from other human occupation. In winter the temperature commonly falls to 25° below zero.⁶⁴

29. On the 12th September we visited “Marble Mountain” (actually limestone), where the most difficult section of the new C.D.F.⁶⁵ road from Corner Brook to Grand Falls is under construction. We also saw the penstock (pipeline) through which water flows from Grand Lake to the I.P.P.⁶⁶ power house. This penstock burst a few months ago, and flooded the power house. The repairs will cost about £100,000, apart from the loss caused by stopping the mill at Corner Brook, which was wholly or partly out of action for weeks. This was a bad business; if the plant had been properly designed the accident would not have had such consequences.

30. On the 13th September we visited another land settlement at Pasadena. This settlement is the same age as that at Brown’s Arm, and there is great rivalry between the two managers, who are friends. The manager at Pasadena (Mr. Dawson)⁶⁷ is very energetic and works his men very hard. He has cleared, or begun to clear, a large area; but he is not an easy man to handle. His demands for machinery, if acceded to, would make the initial cost prohibitive. As the day of our visit was a Sunday, no work was in progress.

31. In the evening we went on to Corner Brook. The General Manager, Mr. Elderkin,⁶⁸ has recently been dismissed for reasons which Mr. Lodge has yet to discover. The management is now in the hands of a Committee, including the accountant (Major Howard),⁶⁹ who has been there from the first days of the mill, and the mill manager (Mr. Silver),⁷⁰ a typical “hard boiled” American executive. This seems a curious arrangement, which one would not expect to work smoothly. We were shown over the mill the next morning. I understand that it is about the lowest-cost mill in the world. For this reason, Mr. Lodge feels no anxiety, despite the financial difficulties of the I.P.P., that there will be a default on the obligations guaranteed by the United Kingdom and Newfoundland Governments, since, as he puts it, the I.P. Company (the parent Company) could not afford to let the Corner Brook mill “get loose.” In other words, if the I.P.P. were to default and if we were to enter upon our security and run the mill in competition with the I.P., the latter could not meet the competition. Mr. Lodge and Major Howard both said that they could not understand why the Bank let the place get into the hands of the I.P. Company.⁷¹

32. We went on board the Northern Ranger on the evening of the 14th September at Humbermouth. This is the new vessel recently built for the Newfoundland Railway by Fleming & Ferguson, at a cost of £62,000. She is of 1,364 tons and carries 1,000 tons of cargo. Her maximum speed is about 11 knots. She replaces the Prospero (1904; 970 tons) and the Sagona (1889; 700 tons) and is cheaper to run than the Prospero alone. She plies from St. John’s to Humbermouth and back, north about, touching at 69 ports on the way, including some on the Labrador. On the boat deck are two “cabins de luxe,” one of which was occupied by the Lodges and the other by ourselves. These cabins are very comfortable, about 9’ x 9’, with good beds, panelled in light polished oak with chromium fittings. Each has a private bathroom, and you are allowed unlimited fresh water. The rest of the first class accommodation is very clean but less commodious. Any Treasury misgivings which I felt at the cabins de luxe were relieved when I heard that all last season they could have been let many times over to “round trippers.”

33. An account of the voyage port by port would be tedious. The ports vary from relatively important places, such as St. Anthony, Little Bay Islands, Twillingate etc., where the population runs into four figures and the steamer can be moored at a wharf, to little hamlets off which the steamer lies at anchor. At ports of the latter type, cargo is loaded from and discharged into small motor boats, and passengers are dealt with in the same way. One day we were waylaid in mid-Atlantic by a small boat with a passenger from a settlement at which the ship does not call. Patients on stretchers are not uncommon. At Forteau in the Labrador we took on board a case of beri-beri⁷² for the Grenfell Hospital further down the coast. At all these ports, almost without exception, the Government steamer is the only means of communication with the outside world, and her arrival is consequently the event of the fortnight.

34. On the northern section of the West Coast the lobster fishery was just opening and lobsters were obtainable at 5 and 10 cents each! The lobsters are canned in very unsatisfactory conditions in tiny sheds, and Newfoundland lobster consequently has an indifferent reputation. The fishermen are sometimes not only unskilful but dishonest, and it is not unknown to find codfish in a tin of “lobster”, but merchants in St. John’s accept the goods in payment of debts otherwise irrecoverable. The operation of canning ought to be brought under control.

35. When on the Labrador, we went to St. Lewis’ Harbour (18th September) to see a logging operation of the Labrador Development Company (Mr. J.O. Williams).⁷³ Unfortunately the pit props had just been shipped and there was nothing to be seen except the log cabins and the husky dogs etc. Owing to lack of time we could not go to the main centre of the Company’s operations at Hope Simpson.⁷⁴ Mr. Lodge does not regard the C.D.F. loan to this Company as in any danger. The railway buys Welsh steam coal from the Company who can offer a more favourable price than other importers, and Powell-Duffryn,⁷⁵ according to Mr. Lodge, will always be willing to buy pit props from anyone who will buy coal. But Mr. J.O. Williams has gone ahead with his operations in the Labrador rather faster than prudence would warrant, and Mr. Lodge has not put on the brake because, whatever he might think as a Director, he wishes as a Commissioner to provide employment. Consequently, the Company will be short of working capital this winter and may require accommodation up to $70,000. The Manager of the Royal Bank of Canada (Mr. Baxter, a Scottish-born Canadian, more Scot than Canadian)⁷⁶ was on the boat. He is the Company’s banker, and was feeling doubtful whether it was sound banking to advance so large a sum against timber as yet uncut. He had hoped for a Government guarantee, but Mr. Lodge told him that this could not be done. I do not know what conclusion he will reach, but from what he said I should expect that the decision to terminate Mr. Lodge’s appointment will cause him to decide against the business. However, Mr. Lodge said that he anticipated no difficulty in raising the money in one way or another. I will not deny that this business makes me uneasy. There has been some resentment in St. John’s that Mr. J.O. Williams despite previous business failures should have got a Government loan because, as they put it, he “speaks English and plays bridge”. Consequently there is a constant undercurrent of unfavourable gossip about the Company. However, we are in it now and must hope for the best.

36. Another matter which Mr. Baxter mentioned to me was that the Royal Bank of Canada have about $350,000 of Newfoundland silver currency, which is about $300,000 more than they need for current business. He asks that the Government should relieve him of this. The only other Bank substantially affected is the Bank of Montreal, and they do not hold nearly so much. The Royal Bank of Canada has the Catholic business and serves the poorer population, and this, Mr. Baxter said, was the cause of the accumulation of silver. I was of course entirely non-committal, and Mr. Baxter expected nothing else.

37. On the 19th September we called at St. Anthony, the headquarters of the Grenfell Association. We were taken over the hospital by Dr. Curtis.⁷⁷ Dr. Curtis was inclined to complain that the hospital was filled with tuberculosis cases from all parts of the island, to the detriment of their proper work. But if he accepts the cases, what can he expect? Dr. Curtis takes a gloomy view of the progress of tuberculosis in Newfoundland; Dr. Grieve (of the Land Settlement Board) had given me a less gloomy impression. I should doubt whether the facts have been adequately investigated. The Grenfell Association is not popular in Newfoundland, because Sir W. Grenfell⁷⁸ has depicted the island in black colours in his begging expeditions in the United States. The general layout at St. Anthony gave the impression that more could have been done if the funds available had been more economically spent.

38. We arrived back in St. John’s on the 23rd September and spent the last two days of our visit at Government House, where we were most kindly and hospitably entertained by the Governor and Lady Walwyn.⁷⁹ We sailed on the afternoon of 25th September. To sail is the most exhausting social function that St. John’s provides. Everyone comes to see everyone off. It was a muggy hot day, and the boat seethed with people, with many of whom we had now at least a bowing acquaintance. The function is endless. Everyone had to be on board at 2.0, and we were to sail at 3.0. Actually we sailed at 5.30; and the boat deck was still crowded with people, waving long after anyone ashore was recognisable. People on Signal Hill and in the shacks at the Narrows waved back as the ship steamed out. At last St. John’s disappeared into the fog and the steam whistle began its long serenade. But our cabin was full of flowers and chocolates to remind us of the hospitality of St. John’s.

39. Despite a bad fishery and bad markets, the revenue for the 3 months June–August exceeded by over $400,000 the revenue for the corresponding period in 1935. This is somewhat of a puzzle. It is attributed partly to improved business activity generally arising from confidence in Commission Government, which, whatever its shortcomings, looks good in comparison with other Governments on the American continent. It is also partly due to the revival of the New York stock market. Much of the money made in Newfoundland in more prosperous days was invested in the United States, and these investments are once more beginning to produce dividends.

40. St. John’s itself is full of motor cars. This is one of the most striking impressions to a new arrival. The well-to-do classes live comfortably, and there is a continuous social round. Some people will tell you that there is a general tendency to overspend, and that much of the appearance of wealth is illusory and comes from increased purchases on credit. Traders generally seem to be unduly liberal in giving credit. But I have also been told that there “was never so much money in St. John’s.” Prices in St. John’s are very high, and in the outports higher still. Mr. Vincent Jones said that, for the purpose of fixing salaries, the A.N.D. Co. took the cost of living to be about 33% above that in Canada, i.e. about 50% above that in the United Kingdom. But the shops do not make money, partly because of high costs and partly owing to inefficiency. Money is dear, mortgages being about 6%.⁸⁰

41. The truth is that the wealth of the island is coming less and less from the codfishery and more from places like Grand Falls, Corner Brook and Buchans.⁸¹ Both bank managers to whom I spoke were remarkably optimistic as to the tourist traffic likely to come as a result of road developments, and would have liked to see more rapid progress with the new Corner Brook–Grand Falls road. There is also the prospect of cellulose developments, which should lead to the exploitation of the Reid properties on the Gander River.⁸² Sir John Hope Simpson is optimistic of mineral developments, though Mr. Lodge regards his hopes as greatly exaggerated. Taking one thing with another, Newfoundland is not naturally such a very poor country. Its wealth probably exceeds that of Palestine. The poverty that exists is more due to moral than material causes. Bad government in the past has frightened off the right type of entrepreneur, and gathered the vultures; and the people have been pauperized and kept in ignorance.

42. The difficulty is that there are so many people in the wrong place, perched on a rocky coast without soil or timber waiting for the codfish to come inshore and expecting the Government to support them when they do not. Not that the fishery is dead. There are plenty of codfish on the banks. But the methods of production are hopelessly out of date. Future development must take the form of marketing a more attractive product, such as frozen fillets, in new markets, e.g. the U.S.A. But for modern methods, the shore fishery is useless. It is too uncertain. A continuous supply of fresh fish, which modern methods require, can only be obtained by schooner or trawler, and no skipper of a sea-going ship would look for a crew in places which depend solely on the shore fishery. The men would not be up to the work.

43. The fact is that the problem of the special areas finds a close parallel in Newfoundland.⁸³ Whatever may come in the way of tourist or mineral development, there is no possible development that can touch some of the outports. Where the people have more than one string to their bow, where they have a little land, some timber, lobsters or a run of salmon, in addition to the shore fishing, they are not too badly off. They do not require a high standard. In one of the less poverty-stricken places in the St. Barbe area the postmistress, asked if they were happy, replied “happy as Kings.” But where the shore fishery is the sole means of livelihood, the position is hopeless. It will be necessary, sooner or later, to remove the people from places where this is their only resource. If land settlement, whether based on clearing or drainage, can produce a self-supporting population, it may offer a solution. Though the initial cost may be high, it has to be compared with the prospect of interminable dole. Land settlement does not of course necessarily mean settlement inland. Indeed, it is now recognised that it is better carried out on the coast, where fishing will provide an additional means of livelihood. The essential point is that a settler in a country such as Newfoundland, if he is to remain independent, ought to have more than one means of livelihood, so that if one fails, he can fall back on another. In general I return with a less gloomy view of the prospects than that with which I started.

44. While everyone was most kind and helpful, a special debt of gratitude is due to Mr. Lodge. He made all the arrangements, including those for the day trips and the trips across and round the island, and accompanied us everywhere. He also advised me as to people with whom I should talk, selecting those who were likely to be intelligently critical rather than those who would be laudatory. The Manager of the Bank of Montreal (Mr. Suckling)⁸⁴ was also very helpful in enabling me to meet people. For the loan of a large camera I was indebted to Mr. Pippy.