Joseph Roberts Smallwood
Edited with an Introduction by Melvin Baker and a Prefatory Note by Edward Roberts
"You are right in saying that the Convention this year (or, more properly, last year) was a great success. There was a great crowd there, and I enjoyed it immensely. Your father made a wonderful speech there, and it was so eloquent that I was actually forced to cry! Can you imagine me crying? It was a wonderful speech, tho really. I had never heard anything like it, altho I listened in New York to some of America's finest orators. W.F. called on me twice to speak about Nationalization, my pet subject....There were over a hundred delegates at Port Union, and the Northern capital was a brilliant place for the week." [J.R. Smallwood to Camilla Coaker 9 March 1922, CNS Archives, Coll-9]
(A version of this article was published in the Christmas 2001 issue of the Newfoundland Quarterly)
Introduction
Established on 3 November 1908 by William Ford Coaker, (1) the Fishermen's Protective Union (2) convened annual meetings of delegates from its district councils to discuss issues of common concern and to give union leaders direction on policy for the forthcoming year. Until 1918, the convention was held in a number of different locations: Change Islands (1909); Catalina (1910); Greenspond (1911); Bonavista (1912); St. John's (1913); Catalina (1914); St. John's (1915); and Catalina (1916 and 1917). In 1918, the convention was first held in Port Union, a new, planned community the union commenced building in 1916 in Catalina harbor to be the commercial headquarters of the Fishermen's Union Trading Company and its subsidiary companies.
St. John's journalist, Joseph Roberts Smallwood, (3) was an enthusiastic supporter of the FPU and in 1921 was an assistant editor for the Evening Advocate. In August 1921, Smallwood made his first visit to Port Union and wrote a glowing review of the "soul of the Fishermen's Protective Union" where the "hopes and aspirations of the fishermen of the North take concrete form and lay a foundation upon which will yet be built a structure which unionists the world over might envy." Writing from Coaker's office on the fourth floor of the Trading Company's offices at Port Union, he marvelled at being "actually in the sacred spot which of all places in Newfoundland crystalizes unionism and cooperation, and stands as eloquent testimony of the contention that men united can do almost anything, and certainly what men divided cannot do." Smallwood provided a general description of the town, of work on the piers, and of Coaker himself. "I look through the window," he observed, and "there upon the wharf my eye falls upon the man who has by his vision and imagination, his peerless organizing genius, his indomitable courage, and matchless energy made it all possible. I see him busier than any man on the waterfront... I see him directing, supervising, helping, giving a hand - where needed - all quite without hesitation, and with an evident zest and keen enjoyment... The man never seems to tire. He must have a stupendous reserve. He is out of bed and on the wharf and in the store at six in the morning, is here all day, and I have seen him here each night so far this week when I left, late in the night, to retire." (4)
His next visit to Port Union
was to attend the 13th Convention of the FPU which opened on
2 December 2 1921. Prior to the first session of the Convention, shareholders'
meetings were held for the various Union-owned companies and Coaker called
upon Smallwood to address the first of these meetings on nationalization
which Coaker and Smallwood defined as meaning greater government regulation
of exporting and marketing codfish. For Smallwood, nationalization meant
taking a "national" perspective in solving the problems of the fishery
instead of the long, entrenched individualism typical of the St. John's
business community.
Smallwood was at this time
confident enough to offer Coaker private advice on the future direction
of the FPU, which he believed Coaker was not giving sufficient attention.
"I think one of the drawbacks on you," he wrote Coaker on 5 November 1921,
"is the fact that you are tied down to the U.T.C (Union Trading Company),
and the other companies. Can't you get some big man capable of taking care
of the companies, and you yourself launch out? History produces a man like
you every now and then; history judges that man not so much by his actual
achievements as by the extent to which he went in exploiting his opportunities.
You are in the rather enviable position of having had thrust into your
grasp opportunities for far-reaching good which no Newfoundlander before
you possessed or dreamed of possessing. Make no mistake - Newfoundland
history will judge you kindly as it is... If you fail Newfoundland, then
she is indeed unfortunate and in sad truth the Cinderella of the Empire.
There is but one Coaker, and he has but one lifetime."
(5)
In the spring of 1922 Smallwood
returned to New York and, except for a brief visit later that year to raise
local capital for an American film company interested in producing a film
in Newfoundland, he remained there until late 1923, mainly working as a
journalist. In late 1923, he hurriedly returned to Newfoundland from New
York to attend the annual convention of the FPU, the 15th anniversary
of the Union's founding in 1908. The Advocate reported that Smallwood
had been commissioned by a "prominent New York labor newspaper to write
descriptive articles about the picturesque gatherings of the toilers of
the sea, and will also write a number of special magazine articles about
the union and other Newfoundland topics." Smallwood, a honorary member
of the FPU, brought greetings to the Convention from Eugene Debs, leader
of the Socialist Party of America, and from Frank Hodges, secretary of
the Miners' Federation of Great Britain whom Smallwood had met in the United
States. (6)
Following the 1923 convention, Smallwood returned to New York where he
stayed until January 1925 when he came back to Newfoundland to reorganize
and revive the labour union associated with the pulp and paper mill at
Grand Falls. Except for a visit in late 1926 and early 1927 to England,
Smallwood spent the remainder of his life in Newfoundland in a variety
of private and public careers.
Prefatory
Note
These three short pieces,
written by a very young Joey Smallwood and published in the FPU's own newspaper,
are fun to read. They also strike a familiar note: the vivid images, forceful
cadence and colourful language could just as easily have been written by
the much older Smallwood 40 or 50 years later. But they are more noteworthy
for their revelations about their author than what they say about their
subject.
The FPU was very much a made-in-Newfoundland
organization: I'm not aware of any parallel to it in any other country.
It was very much the product of its time, the first two decades of the
20th century, and its place, the north-east coast of Newfoundland.
It was also unmistakably the creation of one man - William Coaker. He was
at one and the same time its inner strength and its fatal weakness. His
utopian vision inspired and shaped the Union, and his vibrant personality
and his astonishing energy drove it. His flawed decisions doomed it.
A note of unreality pervades
the three articles. Mr. Smallwood speaks in glowing terms of the "parliament
of the North", and lavishes extravagant praise upon the FPU and all its
works. But the absence of any reference to its accomplishments - and to
its failures - is striking. By 1923, the FPU was far more than a debating
society, or even the creator of Port Union and a number of quasi-commercial
operations. It was a group of men who had revolutionized politics in their
own "country", to use Mr. Smallwood's word. The Bonavista Platform, the
solid phalanx of MHA's elected in the 1913 General Election, and FPU's
participation in the war-time Coalition and in the Squires Administration
all took place in the decade before these articles were written. The famed
Coaker Regulations - the bold revolutionary plan that exemplified both
the Union's greatest triumph and its greatest failure - were part of its
legacy too. It's strange that the young Joe Smallwood made no reference
to any of them in his paean of praise to Sir William, or in his fervent
advocacy of nationalization (to give the word the emphasis he did)
of the fishery. Granted, most of those who read The Evening Advocate
would be aware of this, but the silence is still remarkable.
What does come through Mr.
Smallwood's enthusiastic prose are uncanny precursors of Smallwood-the-politician.
There is the hero worship - and there is no other word for his feeling
for Coaker. One could be forgiven for wondering whether the feet of such
a paragon ever touched the earth. And one can only marvel at Smallwood's
extravagant language and one-sided conclusions. He is mesmerized by oratory,
and allows the rhetoric of his own words to carry him well beyond the reality
of the events he describes. There's much in these three brief essays that
bespeaks the man who made himself the voice of Confederation in 1946, and
the Premier of the new Province three years later.
I've long believed that one
cannot understand Newfoundland during the last 100 years or so without
understanding Smallwood, and that one cannot understand Smallwood without
understanding Coaker. The strongest and most pervasive link between them
is the north-east coast. The communities between Bay de Verde and St. Anthony
were the heart and the soul of Coakerism and the Union. They were the heart
and soul, too, of the Confederate movement and the Liberal Party which
grew from it. (Due acknowledgment must be paid to the strong support given
both by the people of the southwest and west coasts, too, of course.) Smallwood's
deification of the North offers a revealing insight into this relationship.
One final comment. Coaker
was an enlightened and forward-thinking man, in the terms of his times.
And so was Joe Smallwood. What should one make, then, of the stark fact
that the only time he speaks of women in all three articles is in the penultimate
sentence of the final one?
"The Parliament
of Port Union. An Ever-to-be remembered Experience" by J.R. Smallwood,
Port Union, Friday. [Originally published in the Evening Advocate
6 December 1921]
"A little kingdom within
the borders of Newfoundland."
Thus I thought as I looked
at the first annual convention of the F.P.U. that I have been privileged
to attend.
For here, before my eyes,
about me, was a parliament - a parliament of fishermen. Here were delegates
from all the bays of the North, and from the South. Here were representatives
delegated by many local councils to travel to the union capital; and here,
at the fishermen's parliament, they are to express and give voice to the
sentiments of the majority of their "constituents." Here, in short, was
a national council representing fishermen, fishermen's interests, and all
that fishermen stand for. Here, indeed, was a fully authorized, fully equipped
parliament of Newfoundland. It was a sight well calculated to set the mind
thinking furiously. This lesson in practical unionism, practical cooperation,
is something whose equal I have not seen elsewhere - and I have attended
labor meetings in three cities on the continent.
I confess here to a feeling
of pride in Newfoundland as I looked about me and saw actually for myself
this superb demonstration of the intellect of my native country.
Le me strike this down: I
am convinced that the House of Assembly is made up of no greater intellect
than I saw at this fishermen's parliament in the little republic of Port
Union tonight. And I mean no disrespect to the Newfoundland House of Parliament,
either!
The President of this little
fishermen's republic, W.F. Coaker, sat surrounded by delegates representing
thirty thousand fishermen. Immediately near him were the leading figures
of the giant organization of which this was the 13th annual
convention. Eleven members of the House of Assembly sat around in that
parliament this night. They have come out of such conventions and surely
there were others in this gathering who would some day follow in their
footsteps.
My mind just couldn't help
roving around. Here there were crowded into such compact area so many things
eloquent of all the F.P.U. is and stands for. In the first place, the convention
was being held in Port Union a town brought into existence by the money
of the fishermen, marshalled by the constructive genius of the President,
and made the headquarters of a union, a trading company, and a party, whose
ramifications extend throughout the entire North of this country. Here
in Port Union stands a huge plant and premises whose equal does not exist
in Newfoundland. Here are wharves and piers which no other place in Newfoundland
can offer. Here is a shipbuilding yard where already ten or twelve vessels
have been turned out, where two are on the stocks, and where two more will
be built before the winter shall have passed away; an electric company
which lights and heats Port Union. Here is a fine large hotel - a moving
picture theatre, beautiful church, fine houses, bottling works - all called
out of the prolific vision of the President and founder of the organization,
plus the unwavering support and sympathy of the fishermen-toilers.
(7)
Here, too, were eleven members
of the House of Assembly, as I have said, elected from and by the fishermen
to represent them and to fight their battles in the national parliament.
Where else, thought I, can constituents in this country meet eleven of
their Assembly representatives in a convention and talk to them, listen
to them, instruct them, advise them, and generally inform them of the wishes
and desires of the fishermen voters? Here, gathered between four walls,
were all types of delegates from all sides of the country - old men and
middle-aged and young, representative of all shades of thought - seriously
discussing and debating big subjects of grave and vital importance to our
country. Where else in Newfoundland is this done? This convention represents,
in my opinion, the most conscious, intelligent and enlightened citizenship
that will be found in Newfoundland, all opinions of Tory and reactionary
politicians to the contrary notwithstanding.
I rather think that things
are taken for granted by many of us who are apt to unthinkingly accept
anything as it comes. Citizenship calls for bold, conscious enlightened
public opinion and action - and there is in Newfoundland no organization
thru which such sentiment can take coherent form better than thru the F.P.U.
This, I think, is the best type of citizenship and patriotism to be found.
How interesting - and how
moving - to look around you and see men who have been with the union from
the beginning, taking part in its fights and campaigns, sharing its troubles
and difficulties, facing the scorn and hatred of enemies and opponents,
thru thick and thin, fair weather and foul! I take off my hat to those
men.
I am, since the convention,
wiser in at least one respect - I can understand perhaps better than ever
just why the North stands by Coaker, President of Port Union, and will
stand by him. I had seen the President "in action" in the House and in
other places. This was the first time seeing him in a convention. No written
report of his speeches does him or them justice - one must be there to
witness every gesture, hear every intonation and inflexion, and to watch
him as he pours out the veritable torrent of words on whatever subject
he happens to be handling. I consider President Coaker to be the foremost
orator in Newfoundland to-day. He is at once authoritative and sincere.
His knowledge is illimitable, his sincerity plain as the daylight, and
his vision and faith and optimism a thing of infinite wonder to at least
one Newfoundlander.
W.F. Coaker has more faith
in Newfoundland than, I think, any other Newfoundlander. For all those
years since 1908 he has kept hammering away with his message of faith and
optimism, coupled with intelligent, honest action, and as he expounded
it tonight it was enough to cheer the heart of any man who loved his country
in the true spirit of patriotism. Here he sits amid delegates from all
the harbors of all the bays of the North. Here he listens carefully to
every word they utter. Here he jots down every now and then some utterance
of some delegate. When this convention is over, this much is certain: W.F.
Coaker will be as fully and authoritatively conversant with the most intimate
concerns, affairs and thoughts of the North as if he were living personally
in every harbor of the North, at one and the same time. I can understand,
now, why when he stands up in his seat in the House, he gives free voice
to the sentiment animating the entire North of this country. He is both
the voice and the leader of the North.
I am barely back from tonight's
session of the convention; so much has been said and done that my impressions
are more or less chaotic. This stands out: the fishermen of the North of
Newfoundland are far more fortunate - perhaps - than they imagine or realize
in having at the van of their solid ranks a leader tried and true, capable,
optimistic and sincere.
"A Memorable
Convention. Two great Issues Brought by the Fishermen's Parliament," by
J.R. Smallwood (on the Bonavista Branch). [Originally published in the
Evening Advocate, 7 December 1921]
The F.P.U. Convention is
over, and those of us who live south of Port Union are returning to-day,
Sunday, by train. Pretty well everyone on this train was at the convention;
so that, with the discussion and argument and debate that is going on,
one could imagine himself attending another convention. Big questions are
being debated and argued on all sides of me as I write this article on
a valise set on my knees. Big subjects of national interest are being thrashed
out by the delegates who crowd this car. It is the first phase of the aftermath;
the aftermath of the fishermen's parliament.
This, perhaps, is the biggest
feature of the F.P.U. Convention. This convention is more than a mere meeting
of delegates. The scope of an F.P.U. Convention extends further than discussion
at the Convention Hall. It goes afar. It sets the entire north talking,
arguing, debating. Big problems are brought up at this convention; big
problems of national interest are expounded by experts in their sphere.
The delegates listen, absorb, give their personal and local council opinions,
and carry back to their "constituents" the big news of the day. In this
way is set in motion a discussion that extends throughout the north and
lasts until [the] next convention. Out of all this debate, discussion and
argument in all the bays and harbors, a strong public opinion emerges,
and the north becomes a solid, enormous phalanx of union sentiment. In
union councils in hundreds of harbors this winter such great subjects as
Nationalization of fish exports, the Humber Valley project, etc., will
be fought out, many a time.
Such is the real value of
the convention: it is something like the text of a sermon, and what is
brought there a winter-long sermon is preached by the entire north. This
is a very splendid type of citizenship - one that is not equalled, I honestly
believe, in any other part of the country. Nor would I imply thereby any
disrespect for the rest of the country. But there are the facts; the North
has its convention, where it can meet, face to face, its leaders and members.
Such an enlightened public opinion as comes from much discussion on facts
and truth is indeed an asset to any country.
I have often heard the North
described as the ignorant, gullible part of Newfoundland. I want to say
here that this is not only the case, but is the most enlightened section
of the country. Take the district council chairmen; they are members of
the Assembly and members of the Government. What there is to know about
things concerning the country, they know. And what they know they tell
their friends of the Union - so far, that is, of course, as it is compatible
to the government to do. In other words, they take their constituents,
the people of the North, into their confidence. Thus the North is able
to intelligently take up and discuss the big problems before the country.
I am a great believer in democracy; I believe sincerely in the people.
It is pleasing to realize that out of the combined intellect and wisdom
of the North wise and far-reaching decisions must and do and will evolve.
My one regret in this connection is that the other sections of the country
have not their conventions and "sub parliaments," so that they may enjoy
the same opportunity of knowing and discussing national affairs. Where
people have been hearing and reading about, talking, discussing and debating
any particular subject for a couple or more years, it is impossible for
politicians who blow along to successfully misrepresent the issues and
to gull the people. That is why the Opposition will not - according to
rumour - place candidates against Union men in Union districts next election.
There is a tribute to the effectiveness of the F.P.U., its convention,
and Councils!
A word as to the two main
issues given definite and topical form and identity at the Convention.
Of the two, I am, I think, interested most in Nationalization of fish exports.
The Humber Valley project is a gigantic one, with immense possibilities
in it for Newfoundland. If this projected industry will absorb, in a few
years, 10,000 men, it is extremely good. That much - or part of them -
taken from the fishery would of course increase the catch and thus enhance
the price somewhat, making the work of fishing just as valuable as now
both to the individuals engaged at it, and to the country as a country.
In other words, the fishery would be the same then with 8 or 10 thousand
men withdrawn from it, as now. But there are the 8,000 or 10,000 men. They
earn an extra ten million dollars, of which the country gets 4,000,000
in taxes from the imports on which the ten million is spent. In other words
this project would be valuable.
Nationalization of fish exports
is a subject which interests and fascinates me. I see in it potentialities
for good to Newfoundland which might outweigh even those of the Humber
proposition. (8) Nationalization is something
fundamental - something which would set in motion vast tendencies for good.
After all, the fishery is the staple industry. Industrialism will
come in Newfoundland - but, personally I want it to come in the right way
and through the working of the right laws. Nationalization would mean this.
It would make possible the coming of industrialism from within rather
than from without. I want to see industrialism come to Newfoundland in
such a way that Newfoundland and Newfoundlanders will get all there is
in it to get. Just now we as a country, in common with all countries, are
in a state of flux, in a period of depression. Necessarily, then, we must
take hold of whatever immediate means of improvement may present itself.
To my mind - and I write only my opinion here - we should enunciate as
a policy that industrialism must come in Newfoundland in the way that will
benefit Newfoundland most.
As I said on both occasions
in the Convention when President Coaker did me the honor of inviting me
to outline my views, nationalization is a national subject.
National solution of a
national problem: The problem being,
of course, one of getting the most for our fish in the foreign markets
that is humanly possible, by application of the best brains and recognition
of the sanest laws of economics, to obtain.
A national solution
of national problem. It is a national problem. It concerns more
than the fishermen. It concerns everyone in Newfoundland, who has to make
his living in Newfoundland. It concerns lawyers, clergy, teachers, office
workers, wharf workers, factory workers, shop workers, road workers, and
in short all workers and types of workers in the
national industry,
the staple product. And as I have said elsewhere, all life and conditions
in Newfoundland take their colour from the measure of success met in the
one big industry.
And that success depends
on the marketing of the fish.
Therefore it is nationally
essential to market the fish well.
But the fish is not marketed
profitably and well.
And how to do so is the national
problem.
And the solution of that
problem is a national solution.
Nationalization!
"Visitor
gives his Impressions of the Fishermen's Parliament. Found more common
sense and solid information in Union Convention than in House of Assembly,"
by J.R. Smallwood. [Originally published in the Evening Advocate
30 November 1923]
Contrary to regretting my
decision to come all the distance from New York to attend the 15th
annual convention of the Fishermen's Protective Union of Newfoundland,
I have been congratulating myself ever since I arrived in the country and
especially since I arrived at Port Union. (9)
To have been here in the Capital of the North, taking even a minor part
in the deliberations of the Fishermen's Parliament, has been a very great
and a very rare pleasure. The memory of the long train-ride from New York,
with the stopovers and delays, has faded before the keen relish with which
I have attended the sittings of the fifteenth session of the Supreme Court
of the powerful Fishermen's Union. Simply to hear the final speech of President
Coaker, delivered a few minutes before the end of the session, was more
than worth the coming. To have sat, as it were, at the feet of the hundreds
of noble fishermen-delegates from the bays and harbors of the far-flung,
spray-drenched coasts of our country, and to have listened attentively
to their solid, sound, informative speeches, and to have enjoyed that priceless
opportunity of finding out my countrymen's feelings and to get a glimpse
of the sentiments that are moving them, was ample compensation and reward
for that five-day train ride. I do not know, at the moment, where this
time next year will find me. I do know, I think, that from that spot, wherever
it be, I will come to attend the sixteenth annual convention of the fishermen's
wonderful organization.
I declare and assert here
that if President Coaker had done nothing else in his unique career than
to organize this annual convention of fishermen-delegates, from all parts
of the country, bringing with them the feelings of their fellows, and pooling
their combined information in a convention, President's Coaker's good points
would outweigh his bad ones.
For, my friends, this very
sort of thing is the hope, the very hope, of Democracy. Rule by the people,
for the people, positively cannot take place unless you have all the people,
or most of them, seriously considering their welfare and considering the
welfare of the people in general, and alert and vigilant to guard their
rights, and bold to assert their rights, and unafraid to let the country
and the government know what in, their opinion, should be done.
It is a wonderful achievement,
the getting together, under one roof, of several hundred men who are experienced
in life, experienced in the great industry of our country, men of thought,
men of intelligence, men who have observed things and have not been slow
to form their own judgement. They meet for several days and have a regular
parliament of their own. Each man talks about the problems of the country,
each man contributes his own views, his own information, to the general
fund of opinion and information and thus it is possible for the convention
to bring out the best opinion, soundest wisdom and most varied information
that exists in the country. It is one thing to call a meeting of the Board
of Trade, say; or the Fish Exporters' Association; or the Manufacturers'
Association. These bodies include only a tiny section of the people, men,
with special interests of their own. They can and will see things only
from their own standpoint. But when a convention of the fishermen is called,
you get the people themselves! You get the elected delegates from many
dozens of bays and harbors, and it is as though you held a meeting of thirty
or forty thousand fishermen. It is entirely impossible to exaggerate the
value of such a wonderful clearing-house of the ideas, opinions and information
of the people. No wonder President Coaker understands the people so well!
No wonder he has such almost mysterious knowledge of the fishermen! No
wonder he is so deeply informed on the great fishery of our island! No
other man in Newfoundland can possibly have the knowledge and information
that he possesses, and for a very good reason.
I have sat in the Press Gallery
of the House of Assembly a great many times, and listened to the speeches
and watched and followed the proceedings. I formed certain judgements of
my own regarding the ability, worth and sincerity of the House. And I do
not fear here to declare my opinion that out of these sessions of the Fishermen's
Parliament come more sound, common-sense, better judgement, higher and
loftier idealism and deeper principles. I heard speeches from fishermen
at the convention that for clarity and expressiveness far excelled many
of the speeches I heard in the House of Assembly. In the House of Assembly
I have seen a great deal of insincere claptrap, a huge deal of buncombe,
and heard more nonsense from supposedly intelligent men than ten sessions
of the Fishermen's Parliament would contain.
It would be invidious, I
suppose, to single out a few names from the many who took part in the debates
of the convention. But I cannot refrain from mentioning one or two. The
speech by Delegate Herbert Elliott, from Port Albert, N.D.B. [Notre Dame
Bay], was a splendid effort at constructive, informative debate, and had
it been delivered in the House of Assembly, and been reported in the papers,
people would be remarking what a fine address it was. Mr. Elliott certainly
opened the eyes of many of us with his wide information on fishery matters.
I only wish the people who oppose a fish policy could have been there to
hear him. Then, too, I greatly enjoyed the fine speech by Delegate Walter
Watton, secretary of Fogo District Council. It was just surprising to hear
the splendid speeches which these and other fishermen, men who do not pretend
to be orators or public speakers, delivered at the sittings of the Supreme
Council convention and the annual meetings of the various district councils.
Here, at these district council meetings, the F.P.U. House of Assembly
members could meet the representative men of their district, face to face,
sitting around a common table, and man to man discussing the needs and
problems of the district. How the members of non-union districts might
envy the F.P.U. representatives this great opportunity! This, my friends,
is the sort of thing that gives Demons (the People) a voice in Democracy.
Really, I cannot get over
it. Here are several hundred fishermen, plain, honest, blunt, men without
pretensions to statesmanship, actually coming by steamer and train from
all directions to meet in a hall, and, spend three days talking over and
debating the great problems of our country. No more do the fishermen permit
House of Assembly representatives to handle the problems which affect the
whole people, without having some voice in the solution of those problems.
The old system was to elect a representative for four years and then give
him full reign to do what he likes, say what he likes, vote how he likes,
and generally, if he wishes, to represent himself or, what is much worse,
represent and champion the selfish interests of some small group who made
it worth the representative's while to take such and such a stand. Gone
forever, so far as the North is concerned, is that sort of thing; that
custom of the people to lie apathetically and uninterestedly and let the
representative to do their thinking for them. Democracy, instead, is now
coming into part of its own, and the People themselves are attempting to
rule themselves. The citizens of old Greece had the best and finest democracy
only as long as it was possible for the entire population of communities
to meeting the public square and talk over their problems. That WAS democracy.
That is the thing which the F.P.U. and the Convention and annual meetings
make possible.
How I wish the other workers
and toilers of our country could have such an opportunity to get together
and talk matters over among themselves! If the workers of St. John's had
some sort of central organization to which all the workers would be affiliated,
and to which periodically they could send duly elected representatives
to talk over and debate their problems! If only the workers out on the
Humber industry, and on Bell Island, and indeed wherever there is an industry
or wherever there are workers if only they had some sort of a clearing-house
for their ideas and information! If only the fishermen in those parts of
the country where the F.P.U. is not in existence could have some such organization!
And, above all, if only there
were one grand central clearing-house for all the workers of Newfoundland!
If it were possible to have a central organization embracing all the toilers
of Newfoundland, whether fishermen or industrial worker, sea or land worker,
hand or brain worker, men or women workers!
There must, and there
will be, such an organization.
Notes
1.William Ford Coaker (19 October 1871 - 26 October 1938).
2. On
the history of the FPU, see Ian McDonald, "To Each His Own": William
Coaker and the Fishermen's Protective Union in Newfoundland Politics 1908-1925,
St. John's 1987.
3.For details on Smallwood, see the following sources: Joseph R. Smallwood, I Chose Canada, Toronto 1973;
Richard
Gwyn, Smallwood: The Unlikely Revolutionary, Toronto 1968; Harold Horwood, Joey: The Life and Political Times of Joey
Smallwood, Toronto
1989; Melvin Baker, "Joseph Roberts Smallwood," in Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, vol. 5, St. John's 1994, pp. 208-25
and
" J.R. Smallwood – Labour and Socialist Leader," Newfoundland
Quarterly, vol. XCIII, no. 1 (Fall 1999), 23-8; Melvin Baker and
Hans
Rollmann, "Joey Smallwood – He didn't see Confederation, but ... he did see a 'socialist' utopia by 1971!" in James R. Thoms, ed.,
Fifty Golden Years: The Illustrated Story of Newfoundland and Labrador's Union with Canada, St. John's 1999, 78-79; and the 1998
Advocate Press
reprint of Smallwood's Coaker of Newfoundland, pp. 1-31.
8. This refers to the government's efforts to establish
a pulp and paper mill on the Humber River at Corner Brook. See James K.
Hiller, "The Politics of Newsprint: The Newfoundland Pulp and Paper Industry,
1915-1939," Acadiensis, 19/2 (Spring 1990), pp. 3-39.
9. On Smallwood's activities in the early 1920s,
see Baker, "Introduction," in Smallwood, Coaker of Newfoundland,
pp. 1-31.