NEWFOUNDLAND AND CONFEDERATION 1864 - 1870 by FRANCIS J. SMITH Thesis presented to the Department of History of the University of Ottawa as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts ^DEi, ^ LibRAKicS «. Ottawa, Canada, 1970 UMI Number: EC55676 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI® UMI Microform EC55676 Copyright 2011 by ProQuest LLC All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 CURRICULUM STUDIDRUM Francis J. Smith was born on July 22, 1937, at Cupids, Newfoundland. He graduated from Memorial University of IMewfoundland with a B.A. (Ed.) degree in 1961 and from the University of Dttaua with a B.A. in 19G*t. PREFACE In a national referendum held on July 22, 1948, the people of Newfoundland voted by a small majority to enter into a Confederation with the Dominion of Canada. Union was completed on March 31, 1949, when Newfoundland became Canada's youngest and tenth province. Just eighty years prior to this in the general election of 18G9, the voters of Newfoundland had rejected the idea of Confederation with Canada. The story of that rejection has not yet been adequately told. The topic has been the subject of several articles, notably one by H.B. Mayo, "Newfoundland and Confederation in the Eighteen- Sixties" in the Canadian Historical Review for 1948, and another by the late A.M. Fraser, "The Nineteenth-Century Negotiations for Confederation of Newfoundland with Canada" in the Canadian Historical Association Report for 1949. A political history of the decade in which the Confederation question was being debated has been written by Edward Moulton in his Master of Arts thesis, "The Political Histoid of Newfoundland, 1861-1869". In the articles the treR+ement of the subject has been far too brief, and the political history does not focus its attention exclusively on the problem of Confederation. Published works dealing with the Confederation issue at the national level have usually passed over the Newfoundland problem. There have, however, been two works that have dealt with it tD some degree. U.L. Morton's The Critical Years; The Union of British North America, 1857-1673 shows Newfoundland's role in the Quebec iv Conference, but only in as much as the presence of her delegates there upset some of the arrangements agreed to at Charlottetown. The best published treatement was done by P.B. Uaite in his The Life and Times of Confederation, 186^-1867, yet here, too, after giving a fairly adequate analysis of the situation to the end of April, 1865, the author summarizes the rest of the events to 1869. Nowhere, then, do we find a study on the subject comparable to that done for Prince Edward Island by Father Francis Bolger in Prince Edward Island and Confederation, 1863-1873, or for Nova Scotia by K.G. Pryke in his Nova Scotia and Confederation, 186*4-1870. In view of this, I have thought it important to attempt the same for Newfoundland. In this study the Confederation question is isolated therefore from the other issues that do not have a direct bearing on it. For example, the French Shore problem touched slightly on the matter, and will be dealt with only in its aspects that directly concern Confederation. In looking at the role played by the St. John's merchants only their political connections with Confederation will be discussed. Likewise, the Quebec Conference will be described only in as much as it affects Newfoundland. Why did the Confederation scheme not meet with success in Newfoundland in the 1860's? It is not enough to say that her people rejected it in a democratic election. Any answer to the question must include a detailed examination of the roles played V by the various political groups - both in the colony and outside of it - in contributing to the defeat of Confederation. The thesis, therefore, examines the parts played by the following political groups: the Canadian government as seen in its Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald; the Newfoundland people themselves with a special consideration of their religious and economic groupings; the Colonial Office and its governors; and finally, the position of the government of Newfoundland and its premiers between 1864 and 1870, Hugh William Hoyles and Frederick B.T. Carter. The principal sources for the thesis will be the various despatches exchanged between the Colonial Office and its governors in Newfoundland. The daily newspapers of St. John's have provided the records of the Assembly debates and much editorial comment. Personal papers of the political figures involved have not been so abundant. Only in the case of Sir John A. Macdonald was it possible to get even a few of his personal papers on the subject. ACKNOUILEGEMENTS The idea for the thesis originated during the summer of 1967 at the University of Ottawa when I did a term paper for Doctor Joseph Levitt on a similar topic. I would like to express my appreciation to him for his interest and advice at that time and since. In gathering the research material I was greatly assisted by the staffs of the National Archives in Ottawa, the Arts and Culture Library in St. John's, and the Newfoundland Provincial Archives. To all of them I am very thankful. I would also like to thank my wife, Kathleen, for her typing and for her encouragement. A special word of thanks is due to Professor Jacques Monet, S.J., of the University of Ottawa under whose direction this thesis was written. I am deeply indebted to him for his kind assistance and advice. TABLE DF CONTENTS Chapter Page Preface iii Acknowledgements ui I Introduction 1 II Charlottetown, Quebec, and Newfoundland, 1864 13 III A Debate And An Election, 1865 48 IV Neufoundland Hesitates, 1866-1867 90 V The Search For Better Terms, 3867-69 110 VI Newfoundland Rejects Confederation, 1869-70 146 VII Conclusion 169 Appendix 1 Biographical Notes on Political Figures of Newfoundland 178 Bibliography 182 Abstract 190 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The colony of IMeujfoundland in 1864 was "the most isolated and the most particular" of the British North American Provinces. 1 It was the closest in proximity to the Old World, and was the oldest of the British possessions. It lay to the east of the St. Lawrence River, separated in the north from the mainland by the nine mile Straits of Belle Isle. To the south-west, the Cabot Strait separated it from Nova Scotia by sixty miles of particularly turbulent ocean. It lies between the latitudes of 46° 38' and 51° 39' north - which places St. John's in the extreme east in a more southerly latitude than that of Victoria, B.C. Newfoundland's climate, however, is somewhat colder being tempered by the cold and fog-producing waters of the Labrador Current. In 1864, only the long and amply indented coastline was settled, while the interior of the island, covered with vast forests of spruce and birch, was virtually unknown and unsettled. The economy of Newfoundland was based almost exclusively on the island's famed fisheries, the produce of which was sold to the Mediterranean and the West Indian countries. The fisheries were still financed and managed by English merchants. Newfoundland's merchant class, concentrated on the south side of Water Street, the principal road in St. John's, maintained strong financial and family ties with the West Country of England whence the vast majority of them had originatec 1 W.L. Morton, The Critical Years; The Union of British North America, 1857-1873. (Toronto, 1964), pp. 41-42. 2 and this fact, in addition to the island's geographical position, 2 tended to give Newfoundland a special trans-Atlantic outlook. The "merchant princes" were far from popular with the fishermen and were often accused Df dominating Newfoundland by imposing a monopoly over her trade. During the period of representative government from 1832 to 1855, they had dominated the membership of the Executive Council, but with the establishment of responsible government, they found their influence there considerably weakened. Yet, through their organization, the St. John's Chamber of Commerce, they were still a power to be reckoned with at election time. Anything that might be expected to disrupt their normal trading system - a fisherman would call it their monopoly - would immediately be suspect. Besides the fisheries, Newfoundland had little else to support its economy. Mineral explorations were being started, but only in the Tilt Cove area to the north was there any real mining activity. Agriculture was scarcely developed. Only 65 of the island's 42,000 square miles had come under cultivation. Even the common commodity of hay had to be imported from Canada to feed the small herds of cattle during the winter months. Although Newfoundland had been claimed for England's Henry Ull in 1497, and reclaimed by Sir Humphrey Gilbert for 2 Ibid. , p. 52. 3 P.B. Ulaite, The Life and Times of Confederation, 1864-1867 (Toronto, 1962), p. 161. 3 Queen Elizabeth in 1583, its development as a settled colony was retarded by the rule of the admiral governors in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.