The Economic Union Party (EUP, formally the Party for Economic Union with the United States) was a political party formed in the Dominion of Newfoundland on 20 March 1948, during the first referendum campaign on the future of the country. The British-appointed

Commission of Government The Commission of Government was a non-elected body that governed the Dominion of Newfoundland from 1934 to 1949. Established following the collapse of Newfoundland's economy during the Great Depression, it was dissolved when the dominion beca ...

had administered the country since the financial collapse of 1934. The alternatives were "responsible government" (restoration of Newfoundland self-rule), or "

Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

" (joining

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

). The EUP was formed by a split in the

Responsible Government League The Responsible Government League was a political movement in the Dominion of Newfoundland. The Responsible Government League of Newfoundland, led by Peter Cashin, was formed in February 1947 by anti-Confederation delegates to the Newfoundland N ...

(RGL), which advocated " responsible government". A group of younger anti-Confederation delegates to the

Newfoundland National Convention The Newfoundland National Convention of 1946 to 1948 was a forum established to decide the constitutional future of Newfoundland. Nominations On 11 December 1945 the British Government announced that there would be an election to a national c ...

quit the RGL, because they thought the RGL was disorganized and had failed to present a positive alternative to Confederation. Thus it seemed that the RGL was doomed to lose the referendum to Joey Smallwood's Confederate Association, advocates of Confederation. The EUP was led by St. John's businessman

Chesley Crosbie Chesley Arthur "Ches" Crosbie (November 4, 1905 – December 26, 1962) was a Newfoundland businessman and politician. Early life Crosbie belonged to a prominent St. John's family involved in hotels, fish exporting, insurance, shipping and manufac ...

and "co-founded" by

Geoff Stirling Geoffrey William Stirling (March 22, 1921 – December 21, 2013) was a Canadian-American businessman and media magnate, best known for his work in his home city of St. John's, Newfoundland. Life Stirling was born in St. John's to Edgar Stiling ...

, publisher of ''The Sunday Herald''. The EUP believed that Newfoundland's voters had to be persuaded that "responsible government" could be made viable again. They proposed to revive the Newfoundland economy through

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...

and a

customs union A customs union is generally defined as a type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with a common external tariff.GATTArticle 24 s. 8 (a) Customs unions are established through trade pacts where the participant countries set up ...

with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. They also believed that the promise of economic union would give Newfoundlanders a positive reason to reject Confederation. There was no "economic union option" on the referendum ballot. The EUP therefore supported "responsible government", with the expectation that the independent Newfoundland government would negotiate the union with the United States. The party's support was concentrated on the Avalon Peninsula. Its economic ideas, though popular with the St. John's business community, failed to generate interest in the general population. Smallwood's forces attacked the EUP as "republican" (anti-monarchist), disloyal and anti-British. The split of the anti-Confederation forces into two organizations caused problems: tension between the EUP and the RGL, and wasteful division of resources. Conversely, the Confederate Association was well-funded and well-organized across the island. In the first referendum, held on 3 June 1948, "responsible government" won the most votes (44.6%). 41.1% voted for Confederation; 14.3% voted for continuing the Commission of Government. Since there was no majority, the results were inconclusive. A second referendum was held on 22 July, with only Confederation and Responsible Government on the ballot. The Economic Union Party decided to unite its efforts with the Responsible Government League for the second referendum, but morale was poor and the campaign was disorganized, compared to Smallwood's well-run machine. Confederation won the second referendum with 52.3% of the votes, and the EUP disbanded. Crosbie died in 1962 and Stirling remained active, through his media holdings, in Canadian discourse until shortly before his death in 2013.

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Bibliography

* *{{cite journal , last = Earle , first = Karl McNeil , title = Cousins of a Kind: The Newfoundland and Labrador Relationship with the United States , journal = American Review of Canadian Studies , volume = 28 , date = 1998 , issue = 4 , pages = 387–411 , doi = 10.1080/02722019809481611 Political history of Newfoundland and Labrador Political parties in the Dominion of Newfoundland 1948 establishments in Newfoundland Political parties established in 1948

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References

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