NEWFOUNDLAND 



4152 



NEWFOUNDLAND 



The People. There is little or no immigra- 

 tion, and the inhabitants of the island have 

 changed but slightly in character from the 

 early English, Scotch and French fisher folk 

 from whom they are descended. The popula- 



LOCATION MAP 



tion is almost entirely confined to the Avalon 

 Peninsula on the southeast coast, where the 

 capital and largest city, Saint Johns, is located. 

 Including the 4,016 inhabitants of Labrador, the 

 population of the colony in 1914 was 251,726. 

 The largest religious bodies are the Roman 

 Catholics, Anglicans, Methodists and Sal- 

 vation Army. The schools are denominational 

 and are controlled by four superintendents, 

 one representing each of these religious bodies, 

 and by inspectors for the Presbyterian and 

 Congregational schools. 



Industries. The coast waters swarm with 

 many varieties of fish and to its fisheries the 

 colony owes its very existence. More than 

 one-fourth of the entire population are engaged 

 in the industry. Cod is the most important 

 product, and although the cod fisheries have 

 been prosecuted for centuries, the waters along 

 the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador still 

 produce a large part of the world's supply. 

 Lobster, herring and salmon are also caught in 

 large quantities, and whaling is an important 

 branch of the fishing industry. 



Because for many years little attention was 

 paid to any interest but fishing, the arable river 

 valleys long lay idle and neglected. The gov- 

 ernment offered a bonus for cleared land in 



1891, and since that time agriculture has been 

 gradually increasing in importance. Potatoes, 

 turnips, hay and oats are the chief products of 

 the soil, and sheep, cattle, swine and horses are 

 raised. 



Copper is mined extensively and there are 

 valuable deposits of lead, iron, silver, coal, 

 gypsum, marble, granite and building stone. 

 Manufacturing is represented chiefly by the 

 pulp and paper industry. At Grand Falls there 

 are pulp and paper mills which are producing 

 100 tons of paper and 240 tons of pulp every 

 twenty-four hours. 



Communication and Trade. There are over 

 850 miles of railroad, most of this mileage being 

 owned b}' the government, and in districts near 

 the coast transportation is good. There is 

 steamship communication with Canada, the 

 United States and Great Britain, and with these 

 countries the colony has considerable trade. 

 The chief exports are dry codfish, pulp and 

 paper, iron ores, tinned lobster, sealskins, her- 

 ring, salmon and cod oil, seal oil and whale oil. 

 The imports consist principally of foodstuffs, 

 textiles, coal, machinery and hardware. 



Government and History. The laws of the 

 colony are made by a Parliament consisting of 

 a legislative council of fifteen members, nomi- 

 nated by the governor in council and holding 

 office for life, and a house of assembly of thirty- 

 six members elected by manhood suffrage. The 

 executive authority is vested in the governor, 

 who is appointed by the Crown, and by a coun- 

 cil of nine members who are responsible to the 

 lower house (house of assembly). 



Newfoundland, having been discovered in 

 1497 by John Cabot, is the oldest of Great 

 Britain's colonial possessions. The earliest set- 

 tlers were Portuguese, Spanish and French fish- 

 ermen, and when Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1583 

 took possession of the island for England and 

 tried to found a British colony, his attempts 

 were frustrated by the French, who remained 

 in control until 1713. By the Treaty of Utrecht 

 (1713), France recognized the sovereignty of 

 England but reserved the exclusive right to the 

 cod fisheries on the west coast and to Miquelon 

 and Saint Pierre islands as stations for fishing 

 fleets. 



The development of the colony was retarded 

 by the exclusion of all interests but fishing, and 

 the government was in the hands of the fishing 

 captains until 1832, when it was made repre- 

 sentative. The rivalry between the French and 

 English continued to exist until 1904, when 

 France gave up the rights on the west coast in 



