The newspapers of the day were quick to report what Mr. Magor said. On January 12, 1932, The Evening Telegram had a long article about people on the dole. In it, Mr. Magor warned that some people asking for relief didn't really need it. He complained that some people were not willing to work in return for relief. He said that men who would not work for relief should be cut off. He also warned people who tried to get relief, but could get along without it. They would be prosecuted "to the limit of the law."

But the warning went further. Something else might happen. Magor said that relief might be cut off to whole communities unless people reported others who got relief but might not need it. In other words, people could be punished for abuses. But they could also be punished for not telling on others. This worried people. It was the kind of thing that could turn neighbour against neighbour.

Magor also tried to shame people. He said that people who took the dole but could live without it were "taking food out of the mouths of the needy which include women and children."

Picture of a Newfoundland Winter

When the ration amounts were made public, another long Newfoundland winter was setting in. The winters in Newfoundland have always been hard. Even today, many people dread the winter. In winter, we need extra clothes and more heat in our homes. In the 1930s, many people did not have enough heat or clothing in the winter. Food often ran out. People were hungry. Poor and desperate, some people said they would do whatever they had to get what they needed. In some cases, that meant raiding the merchants' stores when relief supplies ran out.

On January 2, 1932, The Evening Telegram printed the story of what happened in Spaniard's Bay on New Year's Eve. On that day, about 50 people from Spaniard's Bay went to Bay Roberts. They said their dole rations had run out. They made a threat: they would break in and take what they needed from the store of Captain John Parsons, unless something was done for them. The people in Bay Roberts said they would not put up with any "disorderly actions." The authorities were called. The government agreed to give the Spaniard's Bay people three days of rations. The situation blew over, and they went home. Captain Parsons' store was left alone.