His Excellency the Right Hon. Albert, 4th Earl Grey

Lithographer: Walton, C.W.
Medium: lithograph
Dimensions: 34 x 25.7 cm
National Archives of Canada, negative no. C-044335

EARL GREY, THE GOVERNOR AND CONFEDERATION

Calamities seemed the order of the day in Newfoundland in the early 1890's. First there was the St. John's fire of 1892, followed by a poor catch in 1893 and a bank failure in 1894. Canadian aid was welcomed by the beleaguered islanders, and the prospect of union with Canada seemed appealing to some in 1895. A delegation from Newfoundland journeyed to Ottawa to consider Canada's terms for confederation. The island's economy improved in 1896, and the arguments for union seemed less compelling. In 1902, Newfoundland held the strong hand, for her prime minister, Robert Bond, who had served on the Newfoundland delegation to Canada in 1895, had managed to negotiate special economic privileges for Newfoundland from the United Sates in what became known as the Bond-Hay Treaty. When Earl Gray became governor general in December 1904, Grey was seen as a man with ideas who "projected himself into active affairs, and things that were not active he stirred up." Earl Grey had to admit that Robert Bond was the best of the Newfoundland politicians, even though he considered Bond to have been touched, like others in the Bond family, by mental illness. When the Senate of the United Sates failed to ratify the Bond-Hay Treaty in 1906, Bond's star began to wane. The months between the Newfoundland elections of 1908 and 1909 marked the high point of confederation hopes. In March 1908. Morris accepted the leadership of the Opposition. The Grey papers amply document the behind-the-scene activities of Grey, Chief Justice Fitzpatrick of Canada, and one Harry J. Crowe. The latter was influential in bringing Lord Northcliffe's pulp and paper enterprise to Newfoundland, and he claimed to have the ear of Robert Bond. In the election campaign of 1909, Crowe's habit of confiding in too many people resulted in the publication of letters that were to send the Bond forces reeling, as they clearly indicated that Canadians were behind Bond. On the very eve of the election, Bond's Minister of Finance, Edward M. Jackman, revealed the names of those who had assured Bond that they could guarantee Morris's support if Bond were to fall into line on confederation. Among those named were Lord Gray and Governor MacGregor. On election day, at the end of one of the most bitter campaigns in Newfoundland history, great coloured placards, posted by the St. John's Evening Telegram, appeared. Morris was the victor, winning twenty-six seats to Bond's ten. Lord Grey did not give up his desire to keep Newfoundland out of the clutches of American capitalists. In 1911, Harry Crowe was telling the new Canadian prime minister, Robert Borden, that he could expect to add Newfoundland to Canada before his first term as prime minister had expired. That, however, should not happen until some time after the death of Borden and the other major figures on both sides of the confederation issue prior to World War I.

IAN MCCLYMONT
MANUSCRIPT DIVISION