Responsible Government League
The Responsible Government League was a political movement in the Dominion of Newfoundland.
The Responsible Government League of Newfoundland, led by Peter Cashin, was formed in February 1947 by anti-Confederation delegates to the Newfoundland National Convention on the future of the colony[1] It was one of several Anti-Confederation movements which suffered intermitant popularity between 1865 and 1948 as the issue of Confederation between the colonies of Newfoundland and Canada 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 Sir R.J. Bennett who championed Responsible Government's cause in the 1860s. Bennett was opposed to Confederation because he feared the Quebecois: he thought that if Newfoundland joined in Confederation with Quebec, then the Canadian Parliament would be dominated by Quebec; he feared ther would be a whole dynasty of French-Canadian statesmen who would centralize power in Ottawa 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 Native Newfoundland Society was formed 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 1867 the people of the Colony of Newfoundland voted in a General Election against Confederation with Canada. The Confederation debates werte 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 1867, 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 status in 1907 at the same time as New Zealand.
During World War One, Newfoundland mustered its own small army, called the Newfoundland Regiment, and sent it both Gallipoli, Turkey and Flander's Fields, France. In return for this contribution, the Prime Minister of Newfoundland was appointed to Britain's House of Lords. The Statute of Westminster, 1931 was to have granted Newfoundland independence, however, the Great Depression hit the Newfoundland economy hard causing the dominion government to collapse in bankruptcy and the Newfoundland House of Assembly never ratified the Statute.
Commission of Government
Newfoundland's economy was depressed in the 1920s but it collapsed completely during the Great Depression. The dole was two cents a day per man the same as the cost of a postage stamp. Economic collapse led to political crisis. In 1934, due to economic dislocations brought about by the Depression, government corruption and a resulting riot and the lingering effects of a large public debt, most of which was incurred during World War I, the Newfoundland economy collapsed and Responsible Government was suspended with the Dominion of Newfoundland reverting to the status of a Crown Colony ruled by London. A committee of bankers was appointed to govern the colony as the Commission of Government. Except for the Knights of Colombus, the Orange Lodge and St. John's City Council, there was not a democratic institution on the Island; this situation lasted until the end of World War Two.
Confederation debate
Calls for a return to a system of democracy in Newfoundland were first made by Clement Attlee in the British Parliament even while World War II raged. With the end of World War II in 1945, demands for change to Newfoundland's Commission of Government grew. In 1946, a National Convention was called by the Governor of Newfoundland and the Commissioners of Government. In 1947 the National Assembly of Newfoundland was convened. The mandate of the National Assembly was to debate the various forms of Government that the people were to choose from. Included were the ideas of "Responsible Government", "Economic Union with the United States", "Independence", a continuation of "Commission of Government" or "Confederation with Canada". The National Convention dispatched three delegations: one to the United Kingdom and two to the Dominion of Canada.
The mandate of the National Assembly was to debate the various forms of Government that the people were to choose from. Included were the ideas of "Responsible Government", "Economic Union with the United States", "Union with Canada" and a "Commission of Government". 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 a responsible government for Newfoundland, and for it to revert to its previous status.
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 Unity with the United States with Chesley Crosbie as its leader.
The RGL tended to draw its support from rural areas, and from Roman Catholics not anxious to become part of predominantly-Protestant Canada. There were two referenda for 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.,
Having lost the fight against Confederation, the Responsible Government League decided to join with the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and form the Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador.