NEWFOUNDLAND.
BESIDES several other claims on the attention of the intelligent student, the British Empire deserves consideration as a vast democratic laboratory. In the different countries, small and great, which go to snake it up there are in progress experiments in the practice of self-government of the most diverse character. Here in the United Kingdom, for example, we have in existence three, or even four, quite distinct educational systems, in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, and also the greatest variety' of interpretation by local authorities of their responsi- bilities in the sphere of what is called" municipal trading." rn the Australasian Colonies experiments of kinds for whieh public opinion at home is still unripe are on foot, being tried in relation both to education and to compulsory arbitration in labour disputes. But quite as remarkable as any development in self-government within or without the Queen's dominions, and indeed, so far as our recollection serves us, destitute of any approximate historical prece- dent, is what is shortly, but very inadequately, styled the Railway Contract" in Newfoundland, as it was carried through by the late Legislature of the Colony, and as it may be affected by the General Election held there early in the past month. On this topic an able correspondent, signing himself "Colonial Born,' sends us a very interest-, leg communication. We are unable to publish it, partly on account of its length and partly by reason of an ex- pression or two which, in view of the recent painful experience of a daily contemporary, strike us as capable of penal interpretation by a jury temporarily wielding, and enjoying, the functions of Press Censor. We readily, however, endeavour to meet our correspondent's wish that the Newfoundland situation should be brought fairly before the public at home, and to that end shall avail our- selves of his letter as well as of other sources of infor- mation.
In November, 1897, a General Election in Newfound- land resulted in the return of a large majority of so-called Tory Members to the popular branch of the Legislature. Party names have very little meaning in "our oldest Colony," and we are unable to say what, if any, positive programme was put forward by Sir James Winter and Mr. Marine, the principal leaders of the then successful party. But there was one expectation which undoubtedly they did not raise, and that was that, if placed in power by the electors, they would enter into any fresh or extended arrangements with Mr. R. G. Reid, a Canadian capitalist, with whom the previous Government in 1893 had made a contract, under which he undertook to "operate" a large portion of the railways of the Colony up to the year 1903, in return for very extensive permanent grants of lands along the lines of those railways. It is freely alleged by members of the Liberal party that denuncia- tion of these land concessions played an important part in the campaign by which their opponents secured power in 1897, and though this allegation is disputed by the Tory leaders, the latter have never pretended that any further development of the policy in question was foreshadowed by them. Nor was anything of the kind indicated in the Speech from the Throne with which the first Session of the new Legislature was opened. That Session, however, was only a very few weeks old when the Premier, Sir James Winter, introduced Resolutions on which to base a Bill enacting a new contract with Mr. Reid, of tilt most comprehensive and far-reaching description. I amounted, in effect, to the transfer to Mr. Reid of the vole of the railways of the Colony in perpetuity ; of the %elegraph system so far as owned by the Government, tnd the local sea communications, for long terms of years. with solid subsidies; the dry-dock at St. John's ; and the pick, as freehold, of all the Crown lands, together with the minerals under them, to which he had not become already entitled under the contract of 1893. In return, M. Reid was to pay—besides royalties on any minerals he might raise--a net sum of rather under 900,000 dole. Having regard to the fact that in the year (1897) before this " deal ' a small part of the railway alone, that from St. John's to Harbor Grace, bad been bought by the pre- vious Government for nearly 1,500,000 dole., it is not diffi- cult to understand that the Governor of Newfoundland in 1898, Sir Herbert Murray, who had only been made acquainted with the intentions of his Ministers on the day before that on which the Premier introduced the Resolu- tions already mentioned, protested that the price proposed to be taken for the railway was far too low. Indeed, on that and other grounds the Governor was strongly opposed to the contract, and would probably have been glad if Mr. Chamberlain could have seen his way to authorise him to reserve the Act giving force to the "deal" for her Majesty's pleasure. Mr. Chamberlain, however, took a perfectly clear . line from the outset. On its merits he was entirely enfavourable to the Reid con-. tract, of which he wrote that "such an abdication by a Government of some of its most important functions is without parallel." But he held that the transaction, extraordinary as it was, fell entirely within the powers of local self-government enjoyed by Newfoundland, and that any Imperial action in arrest or nullification of it would be an unjustifiable breach of the Charter of the Colony. Holding this view, he steadily refused to yield to the pressure brought to bear upon him in the shape of a bombardment of petitions from all parts of the Colony, which lasted for several months after the contract and the Bill authorising it had been signed by the Governor, entreating that the latter might be disallowed. The, strongest point in support of this entreaty was the hurry with which the Bill was pushed through the Legislature, and which, as it was plausibly alleged, prevented the scattered electorate of Newfoundland from being aware of the startling manner in which the principal assets of the Colony were proposed to be dealt with by party leaders who had given no warning of their intentions. The Governor felt so 'keenly on this bead that he urged that, even at the risk of creating a precedent, the electorate should have an opportunity of pronouncing for or against the contract before the Bill was finally sanctioned. Mr. Chamberlain, however, was unshakable in the opinion: that "in accepting' the privilege of self-government, the Colony had accepted the full responsibilities inseparable' from that privilege, and that if the machinery it had provided for the work of legislation and administra. lion had proved defective, or the persons to whom it had entrusted its destinies had faded to discharge their trust, they could not look to her Majesty's Government to supplement or remedy those defects, or to judge between them and their duly chosen re- presentatives."
We are by no means prepared to say that Mr. Chamber- lain ought to have taken a less rigid view of his constitu- tional duty, but the ease was certainly an extreme one. Considerably more than half the total number of Newfound. lenders who voted at the General Election of 1897 are said to have signed petitions for the disallowance of the Reid Contract BilL And feeling in the Colony in regard to the manner in which that measure was rushed through the Legislature was probably exacerbated by the discovery that Mr. Morine, the Minister of Finance, who was more prominent than even the Premier, Sir J. Winter, in pushing it forward, was at the same time Mr. Reid's retained legal adviser. It is true that when challenged on the subject by the Governor in October, 1898, Mr. Morine maintained that he only advised the great contractor on, private matters in which his interests and those of the Colony could not clash, that in that capacity his position had long been known in the Courts, and that other present or former members of the Executive Council had; while occupying that office, been permitted to act as' solicitors and counsel to the same contractor when con.' tracts between him and the Government were pending:' If so, it is a pity, for unquestionably the twa positions are incompatible, and Sir H. Murray was clearly right in insisting that Mr. Morine should resign his office in the Government while retaining his professional connection with Mr. Reid. Some months later, in April, 1899, a. new Governor having succeeded, Mr. Morino re-entered office,, on undertaking not to act as Mr. Reid's adviser, but about a year ago he again resigned. Since then he has been active. in forwarding the contractor's desire to form, and transfer his rights to, a limited liability company controlled by his sods,' and authorised to raise five million dollars' worth of debentures for the better working of his concessions. In the meantime, a split in the Tory party had led to the accession to office of a. Liberal Cabinet with Mr. Bond as its head, which strongly opposed any modification in Mr. Reid's favour of the letter of the obligations which he bad accepted', unless he would assent to important altera- tions in favour of the Colony,—such, for example, as the, conversion of his fee-simple of the railways. into a tenancy for a term of -years, and the relinquishment Of his bold upon the telegraphs. These terms were resisted by the contractor, and, with the issue still unsettled, the gee- Orate was consulted. The result has been an almost com- plete sweeping of the board by Mr. Bond and the Liberals, and Mr. Bond is now not only in office, but in power, with apparently something like a free hand for the treatment of the Reid monopolies. In giving this very decisive vote, the electors of Newfoundland, as it seems to us, have acted in a way which redounds distinctly to their credit. A poor people, they were urged by Mr. Morine, on Mr. Reid's behalf, to relax the contract in his favour, in order to enable him to give large employment. But they re- sented the efforts which appeared to them to be made to fill the popular House of the Legislature with personal hench- men of Mr. Reid's, and preferred the independence of their Parliament to the bait of larger work and wages for themselves. They have acted rightly, but the Ministry which they have installed in almost unchecked authority has a difficult task before it. To drive Mr. Reid, who appears to have carried out his contract honourably, into throwing it up, would probably be a dangerous course. For it seems very doubtful—such, at least, was the most remarkable contention in the Winter-Morine Ministry's vindication of their "deal "—whether the Colony is able to conduct a large railway system with economy, purity, and efficiency as a Department of Government. Capital, also, is clearly needed for the development of the great resources of the Colony, and any harsh treatment of Mr. Reid might frighten other capital away. In a word, the mischief done by the contracts of 1893 and 1898 cannot be undone in a hurry, or by violent action. Compromise of some kind there will have to be, but, happily, the popular temper evinced at the recent elections secures that the present Government is in a position to deal with Mr. Reid in a spirit of firmness and dignity.
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