NEWFOUNDLAND

Evening Star, Issue 22099, 20 April 1935, Page 18

NEWFOUNDLAND

EXPERIMENT 1H GOVERNMENT THE COMMISSION FIRST YEAR'S WORKING A new era in the chequered history of Newfoundland was ushered in by the establishment of Government by Commission on February 16, 1934, says a writer in the ‘ Manchester Guardian. ’ The report of the Royal Commission which had been appointed in 1932 .by the British Government, representing the Governments of the United Kingdom, Canada, and Newfoundland, had shown that the affairs of the country were in an apparently hopeless state. The commission of Government consists of three Englishmen and three Newfoundlanders, with the Governor, Admiral Sir D. Murray Anderson, as chairman. Sir John Hope Simpson is in charge of the Department of Natural Resources, Mr T. Lodge of the Department of Public Utilities, Mr E. N. R. Trentham of Finance, Air F. C. Alderdice of Home Affairs and Education,'Mr W. R. Howley of Justice, and Mr J. C. Puddester of Public Health and Welfare. Certain officials have been lent from the British Civil Service for the purpose of reorganising the Post Office and the Customs Department; an agricultural expert was lent by Canada ; and a Government geologist has boon appointed. . There has been a general reorganisation of the Civil Service, which, up to last year, had been .largely filled with the political friends of the party successful at the polls. Now a system of grading has been introduced with suitable salaries and entrance tests

The foundation of the country’s economic structure has always been, and probably always will be, the cod fishery. This has never been, except during the war, a great wealth-produc-ing industry, but in normal times it has enabled the majority of the fishermen to live independently, though on a low standard. The collapse of world prices has reduced the fishery to an uneconomic level in the. sense that a fisherman may have a successful season as far as quantity of fish is concerned and yet find himself in debt at the end of it. FISHERIES AND FORESTS. One of the first steps taken by the Government to assist the fishery was the outfitting on credit of many men who for any reason could not obtain supplies from the merchants. A number of bait depots have been erected by the Government at suitable points and stocked with herring, thus ensuring that while the codfish are " running ”no time will bo lost. Whether as a result of Government action or of natural causes, the year’s fishing has been better than the previous year .by about 200,000 quintals, representing about 1,500,000d0l (£300,000). Tbo Bank fishery was particularly successful, the Labrador fishery better than in 1933, but the inshore fishery was a partial failure. The uncertainty of the inshore fishery has led to an attempt to develop the deep-sea fishery, for which schooners are required. Formerly a bounty of 30dol (£6) a ton was given by the Government to those, who constructed vessels. The Commission of Government has abolished the bounty and substituted a scheme under which the ,whole cost of a vessel is advanced on loan at 4 per cent., repayable in six years. As a result of this policy there will he a good many more vessels during the coming year.

The forest wealth of Newfoundland and of its dependency Labrador has been extensively used in the manufacture of paper at Grand Falls and Corner Brook, hut until last year the export of unmanufactured > timber was prohibited. With the lifting of the ban on export the first permanent logging camp has been established at Alexis Bay, Labrador, and there has been an increase in the number of logging centres. Many men who would otherwise have been in receipt of Government relief have found employment. An export royalty of 25 cents (Is Oid) a cord is paid on all timber exported. AGRICULTURE AND FINANCE. The English commissioners had not been many weeks in the country before they began to advocate the development of agriculture as a means of supplementing the fisheries and of absorbing a number of the-unemployed. As a beginning a land colony, named Markland, was established near Whitbourne, and now a hundred families have been settled there. # The first season has been devoted mainly to the clearing of land and the building of houses, but the prospects are so good that plans are now being made to set up similar colonies at other convenient places. An attempt is also being made to encourage horticulture among the fishermen. During the last six months of 1934 the amount spent on Government relief was about 25 per cent. less than in the corresponding period of 1933, in spite of the fact that the ration has been increased by 15 to 20 per cent, A public health clinic has been set up, with three doctors and several nurses. The education grant, which had been reduced by 50 per cent., received a substantial but still inadequate increase; the training of teachers, which had been stopped as an economy measure, was resumed; and a committee has been appointed to revise the curriculum. The knowledge that the financial integrity of the country has been maintained by the timely assistance of the Mother Country and the fact that expert opinion is being sought on technical problems have created an atmosphere of confidence and optimism. The increase in confidence has been reflected in improved national finances. In his Budget speech in June last the Commissioner of Finance estimated that at the end of the-present fiscal year there would be a deficit of 2,192 GOO dollars (£438,500), but lor the first half of the year the revenue was greater than the estimate by over 1,000,000 dollars (£200,000), owing mainly to increased Customs revenue. On January 1 many adjustments in the tariff were made which, it was estimated, would cause a loss during the remaining half of the fiscal year of 325,000 dollars (£65,000), It is probable, however, that this loss will nob be realised. A large factor in the stabilisation of the finances of the country was the raising of a loan, backed by the British Government, enabling various loans at 4 per cent, to 6J per cent, to be converted to 3 per cent. This effected a saving of about 2,000,000 dollars (£400,000) annually. The past year may be described as a year of planning and preparation. In the fishery, in agriculture, in forestry, in mining, experts are at work tendering advice on which future policies will be based. The Government is certainly n dictatorship even if it is a benevolent one; indeed, the tendency is for it to become six separate dictatorships. Each Commissioner is supreme in his own department in fact.if not; in theory, In-

formation is withheld from the public, and this gives rise to rumours and misunderstandings, and sometimes to unfair criticism which damages the prestige of the Government. In spite of tins, enlightened opinion is wholly on the side of the Commission of Government. It is realised that conditions would have been infinitely worse had matters been allowed to drift, and that a year is too short a time in which to make radical changes involving the life and activities of a people. On the whole tho rate of progress has been satisfactory, and it will probably be accelerated as tho effects of good administration, wise planning, and bold leadership are increasingly felt.