Part Two
Land Settlement Begins

William Lidstone was one of these ten men. Land settlement was his idea. Times had been hard in Newfoundland for many years. William Lidstone thought he could get off the dole and support his family if the government would use his dole money to help him set up a farm. He had taken this plan to the government of Newfoundland in 1933. But the government said there was no way of knowing how the money would be spent. The government said no.

By the end of 1933, the Dominion of Newfoundland was bankrupt. It did not have enough money to govern and no one was willing to lend more. So the government shut itself down and asked Britain to take control of Newfoundland. In February of 1934, elected government was replaced by an appointed commission. This was the Commission of Government. For the next 15 years, there were no elections in Newfoundland. The Commission of Government made all the decisions.

The Commission of Government was run by commissioners who were appointed by the government of Britain. Some of these men were Newfoundlanders and some were sent from Britain. William Lidstone wondered if this new government would listen to his idea to get people off the dole. He went to talk to the Commission of Government. This time, he found people who were interested in his plan. Some of the commissioners knew that there were land settlement projects in Britain, Canada and the USA: These projects were helping people support themselves.

William Lidstone was told to find some men who would be trustees for the project. The trustees would work without pay and make sure that money for the project was spent properly. If William Lidstone could find trustees, the Commission of Government would use some dole money to set up a few farms. William Lidstone went to a young lawyer named Frederick Emerson. Emerson helped Lidstone find four trustees. They were Chesley A. Pippy, Rudolph Cochius, Dr. John Grieve and Sir Marmaduke Winter. Pippy was a young businessman. He owned a company that supplied equipment for road building. Cochius was born in Holland. He was a landscape designer. He had designed Bowering Park. Grieve was a doctor who had spent most of his life in Labrador. Winter was a businessman and retired politician.