Responsible Government League
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The Responsible Government League was a political movement in the
Dominion of Newfoundland Newfoundland was a British dominion in eastern North America, today the modern Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It was established on 26 September 1907, and confirmed by the Balfour Declaration of 1926 and the Statute of Westmi ...
. The Responsible Government League of Newfoundland, led by
Peter Cashin Major Peter John Cashin (March 8, 1890 – May 21, 1977) was a businessman, soldier and politician in Newfoundland. Early life Cashin, a son of Sir Michael Cashin, joined the Newfoundland Regiment during World War I and ultimately served in the ...
, was formed in February 1947 by anti-
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 ...
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 ...
on the future of the colony.{{cite web, title=The 1948 Referendums, url=http://www.heritage.nf.ca/confederation/referendums.html, publisher=Heritage Newfoundland and Labrador, accessdate=21 October 2011 It was one of several Anti-Confederation movements which suffered intermittent popularity between 1865 and 1948 as the issue of Confederation between the colonies of
Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
and
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 ...
was debated. The purpose of the RGL was to ensure that Newfoundland and Canada remain separate countries.


Background

In the 19th century, various Anti-Confederates were strengthened in their resolve by outspoken figures such as Charles Fox Bennett who successfully championed Responsible Government's cause in an election on the confederation issue in 1869. Bennett was opposed to Confederation because he feared the Québécois: he thought that if Newfoundland joined in Confederation with Quebec, then the Canadian Parliament would be dominated by Canada East (Quebec); he feared there would be a whole dynasty of
French-Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fr ...
statesmen who would centralize power in
Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
and ignore the people of Newfoundland; he feared a National Unity Crisis within Canada and believed that Newfoundland would lose control of its natural resources to the new federal government. Both before and during the Confederation debates of the 1860s, there was a "Native Newfoundlanders" movement: The Newfoundland Natives' Society was formed in 1840 to lobby for more labour and employment rights in the forestry and fishery for Newfoundland residents. Also, songs such as "The Anti-Confederation Song" and "The Antis of Plate Cove" were popular at the time. In 1869, the people of the Colony of Newfoundland voted in a
General Election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
against
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 ...
with Canada. The Confederation debates were furious and sometimes ludicrous: Anti-Confederates charged Newfoundland children would be drafted into the Canadian Army and die to be left unburied in distant sandy, dry Canadian deserts. There was also vague, xenophobic, anti-French sentiment. Because Newfoundland did not join Canada in 1869, it would remain a separate political entity for a further four generations. During the 1890s the question of Confederation again arose but Canadian diplomats were cold to the idea. The colony was granted
dominion The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 1926 ...
status at the same time as
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. During
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Newfoundland mustered its own Regiment, and sent it to both
Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...
,
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
and the Western Front,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. In return for this contribution, the
Prime Minister of Newfoundland The premier of Newfoundland and Labrador is current title of the first minister for the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, which was at certain points in its history a colony, dominion, and province. The province had a system of re ...
was appointed to Britain's
House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
. Newfoundland was granted dominion status and was as independent as Australia, Canada, or New Zealand in this Period. This was confirmed in the Balfour declaration and in The
Statute of Westminster, 1931 The Statute of Westminster 1931 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that sets the basis for the relationship between the Commonwealth realms and the Crown. Passed on 11 December 1931, the statute increased the sovereignty of the ...
. The
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
hit the Newfoundland economy hard causing the dominion government to collapse in bankruptcy.


Commission of Government

Newfoundland's economy experienced many cycles of recession. Its government's finances collapsed completely in the early 1930s due in part to considerable debts incurred by the government in its aid of the
Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
effort during the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and the large government debt acquired in constructing a railway across the island. Economic collapse led to political crisis. In 1932, due to economic dislocations brought about by the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, government corruption and a resulting riot and the lingering effects of a large public debt noted above, the Newfoundland economy collapsed and the government was forced out of office. A new government led by Frederick C. Alderdice came to power after promising to ask the British Government to appoint a Royal Commission to inquire into the possibility of suspending responsible government. That Royal Commission recommended a "rest from politics," after which the Newfoundland legislature requested that the British appoint a Commission of Government. In February 1934 the island reverted to something similar to
crown colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony administered by The Crown within the British Empire. There was usually a Governor, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local Counci ...
status. A
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 became ...
was established to govern the Dominion.


Confederation debate

Calls for a return to a system of democracy in Newfoundland had been quiet during the Second World War, but the question of Newfoundland's constitution was reawakened by
Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. He was Deputy Prime Mini ...
in the British Parliament. In 1946, a ''National Convention'' was called by the Governor of Newfoundland and the Commissioners of Government. In September 1947 the assembly was convened. The mandate of the National Convention was to debate the various forms of government that the people were to choose from. While almost all members of the National Convention advocated change, two strong factions soon developed. One called for Confederation with Canada. The other called for the restoration of
responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive bran ...
for Newfoundland, and for it to revert to its previous status. Since the pro-Confederation forces in the Convention seemed to have the upper hand, a group of business and professional men and women outside the Convention formed a sort of political party, the RGL, to counter the effective pro-Confederation propaganda. The RGL suffered a split on March 20, 1948 when a number of younger delegates and supporters, fearing that the League was poorly run and would lose the referendum, left to form the
Party for Economic Union with the United States 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 Briti ...
with
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 ...
as its leader. The RGL tended to draw its support from The Avalon peninsula, Bonavista South, and from
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
s in Eastern Newfoundland. There were two referendums held in 1948 as the first vote on June 3 was inconclusive with responsible government receiving 44.6%, confederation 41.1% and Commission of Government 14.3%. A second referendum was held with only confederation and responsible government on the ballot. The Economic Union Party and Responsible Government League tried to reunite the opposition to Joey Smallwood's Confederate Association but relations between Crosbie and Cashin's parties were tense allowing the Confederate League to benefit from better funding and a united organization. The Responsible Government League lost the second referendum held on July 22 with 47.7% of the vote compared to 52.3% for confederation. The RGL attempted to scuttle or delay confederation through a petition to the British government, signed by 50,000 Newfoundlanders, demanding the immediate restoration of the
Newfoundland House of Assembly The Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly is the unicameral deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It meets in the Confederation Building in St. Jo ...
arguing that only it had the authority to enact Confederation. The petition was ignored and a legal challenge by six members of the pre-1934 House of Assembly that argued that the National Convention Act and the Referendum Act were both unconstitutional was quashed when Justice Dunfield ruled that with the reversion of Newfoundland to Crown Colony status in 1934, the British Parliament was free to do as it saw fi

Having lost the fight against Confederation, the Responsible Government League decided to join with the
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC; french: Parti progressiste-conservateur du Canada) was a centre-right federal political party in Canada that existed from 1942 to 2003. From Canadian Confederation in 1867 until 1942, the ...
and form the Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland with H. G. R. Mews as the new party's first leader and RGL leaders Cashin and
Malcolm Hollett Malcolm Mercer Hollett (December 9, 1891 – September 23, 1985) was a Newfoundland magistrate, politician and Canadian Senator. The son of Henry and Mary Hollett, he was born in Great Burin and received his early education there and at the Met ...
leading the party through the 1950s.


Sources


The 1948 Referendums


References

Political parties established in 1947 Political parties in the Dominion of Newfoundland Political parties disestablished in 1949 1947 establishments in Newfoundland