Evening star., 1949-04-03
Cunudo's Tenth Province

Canada has just acquired tenth prov
ince. 1t consists of the big island of New
foundland, lying off the mouth of the St.
Lawrence Gulf, together with strip of
territory which, though forming part OF
the mainland, has been the Newfoundland
dependency of Labrador. The total terri
tory thus acquired by Canada is $4,000
square miles, with some 100000 inhabit-
ants. Thereby, Canada's population rises
beyond the 100000 mark, while its en-
larged area of $4,000 square miles
slightly exceeds that of the entire Euro
pean continent.
The story behind this merger is long
and moving one. Away back in the year
1497, only five years after Columbus dis
covery of the New World, a ship sailed out
of Bristol, England, bound westward on a
transatlantic quest. It's master, John
Cabot, was not an Englishman, but a
Genoese compatriot of Columbus. However,
he was in English service and under a
directive from the Crown Cabot presently
raised a rugged island, which he aptly
named New Found Land and took possess
sion in the name of King Henry VII That
notoriously penurious monarch rewarded
Cabot with the sum of ten pounds sterling
worth lot more in those days than now,
but even so, hardly munificent gift.
Thus began Englands first overseas col
ony And, proud of that primacy, its inhab-
itants have, until the other day, maintained
their political identity over more than four
and one-half centuries. Life has not been
too easy for the Newfoundlanders. The
climate is bleak and the soil mostly unfit
for agriculture The chief industry has
always been fishing, supplemented by some
numbering and mining. The islands eco
nomic life has thus been dependent on
imports of food and manufactured articles.
Fish is an international commodity
drawn from many sources and hence highly
competitive, with sharp price variations on
the world market. At low points in the
price cycle, Newfoundlanders have been
hard put to make both ends meet. This
was especially true during the global de-
preston of the 1930s, which left New
foundland economically PROSTATE and with
q public debt-load amounting to inSol-
vency In this extremity, the island turned
to the Motherland. Britain agreed to as
sumo financial responsibility. But, in re-
turn, Newfoundland had to give up self
government in favor of a commission gov
ernment under British control.
This irked proud people who had so
priced their independence that they had
turned down an offer to join Canada on
the latter's attainment of Dominion Fed
Grafton In 1867. Newoundland's plight
naturally led to heart searching as to its
future, loss of f-government weighing
heavily on the national consciousness. Al
though World War II brought financial
betterment to Newfoundland through
rising prices for its products and the es-
tablishment of United States air bases
continuance of this prosperity could not
be assured So the project for a merger
with Canada was revived. The issue was
hotly debated. Strong sentiment for inde-
pendence persisted and there was even
some talk OF annexation to the United
states. But at plebiscite held last year
the proponents Of union with Canada wor
by a slight majority, and the terms o1
merger were satisfactorily worked out
Newfoundland's economic prospects hav'