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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 September 2013
Newfoundland, which proudly boasts that she is “Britain's oldest colony,” which has enjoyed responsible government since 1855, and which has been ranked by the Statute of Westminister as one of the Dominions of the British Commonwealth of Nations, voluntarily reverted to the status of a crown colony governed by a commission responsible to Whitehall. The event is without precedent in the history of the Empire. While certain West Indian colonies which have enjoyed representative assemblies have voluntarily given up their elected legislatures, no colony which had attained responsible government has ever before renounced it. The incident is sufficiently unique to be of interest alike to students of the history of the British Empire and of political science in general.
1 Keith, A. B., Responsible Government in the Dominions (2nd ed.), 11–12Google Scholar, cites the instances of Jamaica, Grenada, Tobago, St. Vincent, Antigua, Dominica, and British Honduras.
2 Newfoundland Royal Commission Report, Cmd. 4480, pp. 54–55 (hereafter cited Report). This report, on which the present paper is largely based, is the best survey of the island's political and economic conditions available. It will no doubt rank with Durham's famous report of 1839 recommending responsible government, and other great reports on Imperial problems. It deserves a place in the library of every political scientist for its keen analysis of the working of Newfoundland politics.
3 Although Newfoundland had not adopted the statute of Westminster, and therefore technically there was no restriction on Parliament legislating for the Dominion, constitutional practice was strictly observed. Parliament did not act until requested formally by the legislature of the island.
4 Labrador, its dependency, is about 110,000 square miles, but is very sparsely populated, while its resources are largely unknown. Until recently, Newfoundland's interest in Labrador was deemed to be confined to a narrow strip of sea coast, but an opinion of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in a reference on the question of the boundary between Newfoundland and Canada awarded Newfoundland an enormous area inland. In re Labrador Boundary, 43 T.L.R. 289.
5 P. 83.
6 Ibid., pp. 81–82.
7 Ibid., p. 87.
8 Ibid., p. 53, 83.
9 Ibid., p. 88.
10 Ibid., pp. 67–68.
11 Report, Chap. 7. Says the report, p. 91. “The question of attracting outside capital has thus been approached from the wrong angle; the fact that there can be no more powerful attraction to capital than good government has been either overlooked or ignored. In the absence of good government, inducements are doubtless required and a point is reached where the interests attracted are those represented by concession-hunters and speculators, and reputable concerns are repelled. This is what has taken place in Newfoundland, where ever-increasing inducements have been offered to capital until today few promoters would dream of undertaking any enterprise in Newfoundland without being assured first of such concessions as free grants of land, free entry for his goods either indefinitely or for a prolonged period of years, and exemption from taxation and other restrictions.”
12 Ibid., p. 45.
13 Ibid., p. 69.
14 Ibid., p. 45.
15 Ibid., pp. 43–44.
16 Report, Chaps. 7–8.
17 Speech of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, London Times, Dec. 8, 1933.
18 London Times, Dec. 19, 1933. “Ramp” is apparently English slang for the American “racket.”
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