The Naked, the Hungry and the Homeless

Who wasn't hungry in Newfoundland in 1934? At least one third of the population was out of work. Thousands of children stayed home from school because they had no shoes or proper clothing. Diseases—such as tuberculosis—caused by poor housing, lack of coal and hunger were common.⁴ The government was flooded with telegrams calling for help. People were starving in the outports. Whole communities had nothing to eat and no way of getting any food. Sometimes men stole what they needed for their families. They threatened government officials. They broke into local stores. Small groups blocked roads in protest. Poorly paid woodsmen jumped trains and headed for home in despair. Their wages were so small they had no choice but to steal a ride.⁵ The telegrams warned of further problems. People begged for help.

In St. John's the newspapers reported a dozen cases of unemployed men being arrested and thrown in jail for living on the street. Families were thrown out of their homes because they could not pay their rent. Landlords smashed windows and took off doors, freezing out tenants who refused to leave. Children sold stolen bottles of rum on the street to feed themselves. The St. John's penitentiary was full. Many men were convicted of cheating on the dole, poaching rabbits and moose, and stealing food, clothing and liquor.

Who wasn't angry in 1934? The Great Depression and a failing fishery had caused thousands of people to be laid off.⁶ Factories closed. Fish merchants didn't want to give their fishermen the supplies they needed. They hoped the government would do it. The Newfoundland government had nearly gone bankrupt in 1931. To help cut spending, the government reduced welfare to the poor and unemployed. In St. John's the ration went from about six cents a day to five cents. It took a protest by the unemployed and an attack on Prime Minister Sir Richard Squires, to get it raised again. Rumors of misuse of funds and a riot at the prime minister's office in 1932, forced the Squires government out. The riot was led by Water Street merchants and Tory politicians. But it was blamed on the city's unemployed. The Squires government was replaced with a Tory government for a short time.

That new government cut dole rations again. The minister of justice thought about taking the right to vote away from Newfoundlanders on the dole. One hundred extra policemen were hired to keep the poor and unemployed under control. In St. John's, officers checked up on people on the dole and handled complaints about cheaters.