THE LESSON OF NEWFOUNDLAND.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 4, 5 January 1934, Page 6

THE LESSON OF NEWFOUNDLAND.

It might have been, expectcd that Newfoundland, priding itself on its status as a Dominion, would have been too independent to accept help from Britain when faced with financial disaster. Yet such has not been the case, and the British taxpayer is likely to be faced with a considerable burden in undertaking to straighten out the finances of a country that has come to financial ruin entirely through its own fault. The White Paper on Newfoundland shows the existence of conditions which a London journal likens to those of the most corrupt Latin American republics. There was no regular Civil Service, but each political party, on obtaining office, dealt out posts to its supporters as part of the spoil. Default was averted at the end of 1931 only by a loan from four Canadian banks on terms which involved some measure of control of the country's revenue. There would have been actual default on a later instalment of interest had not Britain herself guaranteed the payment. It is no wonder that the latest developments in Newfoundland have given rise to some sharp comment in Britain. For one thing, as the "Spectator says," there is very little to be said for the survival of this miniature Dominion, with a population of less than a quarter of a million; Newfoundland should be a federated province of Canada. Newfoundlanders wish to be independent, but their independence has landed them in dependence upon Britain. This raises the wider question of the position of the Dominions in times of crisis. The Dominions claim to be virtually independent nations within the JEmpire, and they resent British interference in their affairs, but they turn to the Motherland when they are in difficulties. 'Newfoundland, after bankrupting herself through extravagance and corruption, allows Britain to take over the government and provide the necessary finance. Other Dominions have gratefully accepted relief from Britain in the matter of war debt payments. Newfoundland's case is extreme, but it reminds the Dominions that, thongh they have set up housekeeping on their own account, they still have a generous parent to turn to in the hour of need. *