It was because of the Depression-based debt that the island of Newfoundland, plus mainland Labrador (twice the area of the island), was forced into bankruptcy.
The area was forced to accept being governed by a British governor assisted by a panel of six others. There were three officials from the British parliament and three so-called business "leaders" from St. John's, Nfld--all men. The out-port fishermen were regarded as belonging to the "lesser breeds", without the law.
TAXES?--Acting as corporation, the government had the power to levy heavy taxes on all imports--canned and salted meats, and so on. Thus, people who purchased imported goods paid heavy taxes.
Meanwhile, enterprising locals--willing to live on fish and other local products--were quite happy. Lots of bartering went on.
THE EDUCATION SYSTEM. Interestingly, Nfld (now NL) then had a totally denominational school system. Based on numbers, the largest system was owned and operated by the Roman Catholic Church. All other denominations--Anglican, United Church (the system I attended), the Salvation Army, and others--were free to own and operate their own schools. Bible-believing and church-obeying theocrats, in all denominations, loved it. The few who objected to the powers there were simple grumbled to themselves.
MEDICARE? Only the few rich--some travelled to Canada, England and the USA--could afford the best of care. The rest were forced to depend on charity, which churches did their best to provide.
HOW I MADE OUT? I lucked out. Despite the fact that I was the seventh of eight children in a working-class-iron-ore mining family, I got to go to university, and did a seven-year program--a BA, plus theology.
In my last year at seminary, I got married--my wife got a job as a teacher. With her help, we went on to the ministry--not a high-paying career in NL--debt-free.
This career began in 1947 (I was 17). Then, identified as a British citizen and as a student, I migrated, quite freely, to New Brunswick, Canada. There I attended Mount Allison University
www.mta.ca (where I met my wife)--associated with the United Church. It is in Sackville, NB.
BTW, it was with the efforts of the NL students in Canada that, in 1949, helped bring about Confederation of NL with Canada, as its tenth province. We were honoured with a visit from The Hon. Joseph Smallwood (check his story in WIKI
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joey_Smallwood When we met him, it was more than a brief word. He took the time to chat and name the families who supported him in the small communities from which we came.
Interestingly, most the voters in the merchant-dominated Capital--St.John's (the Baptist day--name of the RC Church)--refused to support him--the little man from Gambo--near the Gander Air Port--an out port.
BTW, with a Methodist background, he was a member of the UC. Politically, he was a LIBERAL--a strong social democrat but a pragmatist, who courted compassionate, conservative capitalists. He admired American know-how and energy. But he was also loyal to England.
Most of all, he loved Newfoundland. I must add, he did make some mistakes in the latter-days of his career.
He was a great orator, who earned his living and made his reputation as a writer, a journalist--once worked in New York city--and as a radio personality.
