Commission of Government

Inscription

COMMISSION OF GOVERNMENT In 1933, Responsible Government was temporarily suspended due to the outcome of a Royal Commission report on Newfoundland's financial affairs. The report recommended an unelected Commission of Government until Newfoundland's finances improved and the people demanded the return of Responsible Government. The British Government-appointed Commission was sworn in on February 16, 1934. The Commission worked to improve economic and societal conditions. Their accomplishments include the cottage hospital system, the Newfoundland Ranger Force, and many educational and economic reforms. Despite their efforts to diversify the economy, there was little relief from poverty and the Great Depression. The Commission often faced local opposition and this period remains a divisive topic today. Commission of Government remained in place until Confederation with Canada in 1949. The last sitting of the House of Assembly under Responsible Government, December 2, 1933. Courtesy The Rooms Provincial Archives Division. "We have stepped down from the position which the country has occupied for seventy-eight years, compelled to admit that we had permitted the management of our own affairs to result in failure and to bring the Dominion on the verge of ruin." — The Evening Telegram, November 30, 1933. The Commission consisted of six appointed members – three from Newfoundland and three from Britain, chaired by the governor. Governor David Murray Anderson, surrounded by Commissioners, signing documents at the ceremony inaugurating Commission of Government, February 16, 1934. Courtesy The Rooms Provincial Archives Division. "The voice of the masses has been almost stifled, and their former alert interest in public affairs and active co-operation with Government, have been supplanted by sullen submission to the intolerable situation which a seven-headed dictatorship has imposed upon them." — The Newfoundlander, October 6, 1934.