What Kind of Times Were These?

ABOUT FORTY MEN [CAME] TO ME IN STARVING CONDITION I CONSULTED RELIEVING OFFICER WHO INFORMS ME NOTHING CAN BE DONE THEIR ALLOWANCE WILL NOT BE DUE TILL EIGHTH AND NINTH FEBRUARY STOP IMPOSSIBLE THESE FAMILIES EXIST FOURTEEN DAYS WITHOUT FOOD STOP CAN ANY ARRANGEMENTS BE MADE HELP OUT SITUATION IF NOTHING I FEAR CONSEQUENCES.¹

The words above are a puzzle until we know more about where they came from. The writing seems strange. Who was starving? Where? When? Who sent the message? Who read it?

The words made up a message sent by telegram. They come from a time when there were few phones and no faxes. The telegram was sent on January 24, 1934 from a magistrate in Burgeo, Newfoundland. It was sent to the Minister of Justice in St. John's. The people who had no food were living in a time when many people were very poor. The telegram itself comes from a large file in the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador. The file has many messages like the one above. We can look at them and ask: what kind of times were these?

Many people think of Newfoundland in the early 20th century as a peaceful place. Often, people talk about the "good old days." For many people, this still means the time before 1949, the year when Newfoundland became a province of Canada. This joining with Canada was called Confederation.

Newfoundland has many songs and stories that look back on the past as a peaceful time. These songs and stories tell of hard-working people making ends meet by living from the land and the sea.

This picture of peace and hard work tells only one part of the story of Newfoundland before Confederation. There were hard times, too. Before Confederation, Newfoundlanders fought in two world wars. There were years when the fishery was very poor, and people could not make ends meet no matter how hard they worked.