Commission of Government and the Great Depression

In 1934, most of the world was suffering through one of the worst economic periods in history: the Depression. The Depression began in 1929 when the Stock Market crashed. It continued until the beginning of the Second World War. During the Depression unemployment was very high. Jobs, money and food were scarce.

Newfoundland's economy in 1934 was based on the sale of raw materials like fish, minerals and wood to other countries. It still is today. During the Depression prices for these things fell to all-time lows. To make matters worse, there were some years in the 1930s when the fishery failed altogether. Newfoundlanders had always known hard times, but the Depression was like nothing they had ever seen.

The Depression made things bad for people throughout the world. But Newfoundland had especially hard times. In 1934 Newfoundland was an independent country. As an island it was also isolated. Newfoundland had close ties with Britain, but Britain was very far away. Britain did not want to bother with Newfoundland's problems.

During the Depression many people lived on welfare, called the "dole." This was never very much money. In Newfoundland in the 1930s the dole was only 6 cents a day per person. As the Depression deepened and the economy grew worse the government cut welfare benefits even further. Taxes were also increased. Many dole officers were very strict. They wanted to know exactly how much food and money people had before they would give them their "dole order." A Newfoundland folk song called "The Dole Song" describes what people thought of the dole: