NEWFOUNDLAND 



5705 



NEWFOUNDLAND 



M a sli ^ and vegetable- 



yrow in- i-i'iintry. 



Newfoundland possesses a full 

 me.i-uiv i if responsible go\.in 

 mi-lit. a> complete as that i-lljuyed 



uaila, Australia, ai 

 Afii'M. Tin- governor is api 

 by tin- I'.ritisli <'IO\MI with the ap- 

 |PMP\ ,il (if tin' local mtniMi v. The 

 Icui-l at im- ..iiMstd of two hoUS68 

 tin- legislative council, appointed 

 fur life, ami a house of assembly. 

 -li-rti-l b\ pupnlar vnte for four 

 years. Manhod suffrage and 

 secret ballot are in force. New - 

 fiiiinillaml is the only dominion hav- 



D ,val M-rvice as a branch of 

 tin- imperial naval establishment. 



The school system in Newfound- 

 land is entirely <lenominational. 

 New toiindland'sprohibitionlaw ex- 

 pired in L92G after eight yean exta*- 

 cnce. Under it no wines, spirits, or 

 beer of anv kin'l ''ould \tc manufac- 

 tiin-tl or imported. In 1919-20 the 

 imports amounted to 8,300,000, 

 and the exports to 7,100,000. 

 The chief items in the latter 

 category were dried cod, paper 

 and pulp, and herrings. 



HISTORY. Newfoundland was 

 discovered by John Cabot on June 

 24, 1497, an achievement for which 

 King Henry VII rewarded him 

 with the munificent sum of 10. 

 In 1498 Cabot made a second ex- 

 pedition to Newfoundland. In 

 1500 the Portuguese, under Caspar 

 de Cortereal, discovered and named 

 Conception Bay and Portugal 

 Cove. From 1521 Portuguese, 

 Spanish, French, Basque, and Eng- 

 lish fishermen prosecuted the cod- 

 fishery. In 1527 the first attempt 

 to found a colony in Newfoundland 

 was made by Robert Thorne, of 

 Bristol. In 1578 the number of 

 ships prosecuting the fishery in 

 ! Newfoundland had reached 400, of 

 which only 50 were English. 



On Aug. 5, 1583, Sir Humphrey 

 Gilbert formally annexed New- 

 foundland to England. The next 

 attempt at colonisation on a large 

 scale was by one Guy, a merchant 

 of Bristol. A patent was granted 

 to the earl of Northumberland, 

 keeper of the privy seal, Sir 

 Laurence Tansfield, baron of the 

 exchequer, and Sir Francis Bacon, 

 incorporating them under the 

 name of treasurers and company 

 of adventurers of the city of Lon- 

 don and Bristol for the colony 

 and plantation of Newfoundland. 

 This colonisation by Guy was the 

 first permanent settlement in Neu - 

 foundland. and the first settlement 

 by the English in any part of what 

 is now the British empire. 



In 1615 Captain Whitbourne, of 

 Devon, was sent to Newfoundland 

 by the high court of admiralty to 

 correct abuses which had sprung 



up in connexion with the fisheries. 



On his return he wrote the first 



of \.-\\f.. mull. mil In 1623 



CaUeit. afterward* 



!.!! I', iltmi'.ie. obtained a patent 



from .lames I of the whole of the 



pcniiiMila of Avalon, and settled at 



Ferry land. n< MI c.ipe Race. 



In I <'._'''. as many as 150 vessels 

 came from Devon to prosecute the 

 li.-heries in Newfoundland. In 

 1630 a regular code of laws was 

 issued by Charles I to govern the 

 Newfoundland liMu-rii-n, and five 

 years later the French received 

 permission to dry fish along the 

 coasts. In 1650 there were only 

 2,000 inhabitants in the fifteen 

 harbours then settled. In 1654 

 further colonists arrived from 

 England, under Sir David Kirke, 

 and in 1660 the town of Placentia 

 was founded by the French. By a 

 regulation of 1663, masters of 

 vessels were prohibited from carry- 

 ing any settlers to Newfoundland. 

 Merchants doing business there 

 petitioned the king against sending 

 out a governor, and rules were 

 issued under a fine of 100 to bring 

 back every fisherman brought out. 



In 1697, under the treaty of 

 Ryswick, the French were left in 

 possession of a considerable settle- 

 ment on the S.W. coast. In 1713, 

 by the treaty of Utrecht, the whole 

 island was ceded by France to 

 England, but certain fishing rights 

 were retained, out of which in- 

 numerable annual disputes have 

 arisen. After many futile efforts, 

 the question was finally settled 

 with France hi 1904. France re- 

 linquished practically all rights in 

 Newfoundland, receiving compen- 

 sation in another part of the world, 

 and a monetary payment for 

 fishermen affected. 



Jurisdiction over Labrador 



In 1792 the supreme court of 

 judicature was established in New- 

 foundland, and in 1809 jurisdiction 

 over Labrador was transferred from 

 Canada to the government of New- 

 foundland. In 1811 permission was 

 first granted to erect permanent 

 houses, and in 1813 the first grants 

 of land were made by Governor 

 Duckworth. In 1818 a fishery 

 treaty was made with the U.S.A., 

 under which many disputes arose. 

 They were, however, finally settled 

 by arbitration atTheHague.in 1910, 

 Newfoundland practically winning 

 every point by the unanimous de- 

 cision of the international court of 

 arbitration. In 1832 representa- 

 tive government was granted, but 

 not until 1855 was the full grant of 

 responsible government inaugur- 

 ated. 1865 saw the first geological 

 survey of the island. In 1869 took 

 place an election, by which the 

 party favouring confederation with 



Canada was defeated by a very 



large majority at the poll*. 



then one other -<-nou attempt at 



union has aUo failed. In 1*71 tin- 

 garrison of British troops was 

 withdrawn from Newfoundland. 

 In 1NW) took place the turning of 

 the sod for the first railway from 

 K. to \V., which, by the ;wldition of 

 various branches, now extends over 

 1,000 m. At the \V. terminus of tin- 

 route is Port aux Basques, 60 m. 

 from Sydney, on Cape Breton 

 Island: fast steamers connect tin- 

 Newfoundland rly. with that port. 

 Services in the Oreat War 



Newfoundland provided a very 

 creditable percentage of fi^htini; 

 men for its population. ll.X':.' 

 joined the various services, and, in 

 addition, 3,HM) Newfoundlanders 

 enlisted in the Canadian and other 

 forces. A distinct unit known as 

 the Royal Newfoundland Regiment 

 was formed, and this received it* 

 baptism of fire in Gallipoli, Sept.. 

 1915. After the evacuation it pro- 

 ceeded to Egypt and accompanied 

 the 29th division to France, joining 

 the 8th Army Corps. It fought in 

 the battle of the Somme, 1916, es- 

 pecially distinguishing itself in the 

 first attack on Beaumont- Hamel ; 

 in 1917 at Monchy-le-Preux, Pas- 

 schendaele, Ypres, and Cambrai ; 

 and in April, 1918, at Neuve- 

 Eglise. where it materially helped 

 in defeating the German offensive. 

 In Sept. the Newfoundlanders were 

 transferred to the 9th division, and 

 fought around Ypres, at Polygon 

 Wood, and elsewhere. During the 

 final Allied advance, Oct.-Nov., 

 they captured over 500 prisoners 

 and 100 machine guns. 



The Forestry Corps, numbering 

 about 1,000 men, did useful work 

 in Scotland. The Dominion also 

 provided nearly 3,000 seamen to 

 the Newfoundland R.N.R., who 

 served in warships and armed 

 auxiliaries. A war memorial is to 

 be erected in France to the memory 

 of Newfoundland's dead; it repre- 

 sents a caribou the badge of the 

 regiment on a great block of gran- 

 ite, the work designed and carried 

 out by Basil Gotto. Five repro- 

 ductions will be made and placed 

 at points along the battle front. 

 Pron. Newfund-land. 



Bibliography. Stanford's Com- 

 pendium of Geography and Travel, 

 N. America, v.il. i, 1907-11: His- 

 torical Geography of the British 

 Colonies (Newfoundland), J. D. 

 Rogers, 1911; Newfoundland in 

 1911, P. T. MacGrath, 1911: His- 

 tories: C. Pedley, 1803; D. W. 

 Prowae, 1897. 



Newfoundland Dog. Large, 

 handsome, and intelligent breed 

 of dog. First introduced to 

 Britain from Newfoundland in the 



