A GLOOMY VIEW. 59 



could not last among people of Saxon blood ; hence 

 reform, relaxation of repressive law, "responsible gov- 

 ernment." But the situation is changed more in 

 appearance than in reality. Modern methods have 

 changed what was robbery into various forms of 

 swindling. Where a people are thus held in commer- 

 cial slavery, morality in business and politics will not 

 touch high-water mark ; where government is admin- 

 istered with the ulterior object of enriching the few at 

 the expense of the many, it surprises no thoughtful 

 mind that the lesson of example is learned, and those 

 who are preyed upon too often turn to prey upon one 

 another. The recent financial history of Newfound- 

 land is a case in point. Since we came home, in 

 December, 1894, the island experienced a financial 

 cyclone whose wreckage will leave marks for years. 



A GLOOMY VIEW. 



One of their writers puts it strongly under date of 

 January 30th, 1895: "Newfoundland to-day is a 

 country without banks, without currency, without 

 credit. Its commerce and trade are shattered, its 

 population reduced to hopeless misery." Making due 

 allowance for over-statement natural to too close a 

 view-point, there remains only too much underlying 

 fact. The difficulty about the French fishery rights 



