Another future for the abundant cod lies in the distribution of it in cold storage ; no doubt this will be greatly developed in the future. Hundreds of tons were thus sent to Europe during the war.
Finance.—The coinage is decimal. The measures and weights are as in England. The banks are Canadian. When the local banks went into liquidation, the Bank of Montreal, the Royal Bank of Canada, the Bank of Nova Scotia, and the Bank of Corn , merce at once stepped in, and have ever since rendered yeoman service. American, Canadian or Newfoundland Government notes are all accepted in the Colony, and there is no demur or worrying even over accepting silver or gold coins of all those countries in Newfoundland. The catholicity of a seafaring people happily pervades all their activities. All the Government finances, even their savings banks' business, is done through the great Bank of Montreal. The economic disadvantage to the country of this is apparent, where the power of every dollar is so much needed locally. The habit of saving in actual gold by fishermen became almost universal after failures of Newfoundland banks in 1895. Deposits in all the banks have increased considerably. The figures are :— The trade, revenue, expenditure, loans and public debt statistics, are equally illuminating:— There are approximately five million dollars in loans and in a sinking fund, reducing the liabilities of the public debt to approxi mately sixty-seven and a half million dollars. This makes the pub
lic debt per caput of the population about $26o, half of which was due to the World War. This is double that of any provinces of the Dominion of Canada. The steady borrowing of money is easy, and still goes on, and almost every year a new loan is con tracted. It is, however, hoped that the new industries now devel oping may make this unnecessary.
Public Debt.—At the end of the nineteenth century, the public debt of the Colony was small, approximately $9,000,000, and her population about 250,000. But Newfoundland, which has been described, not altogether unjustly, as a land of a repetition of mis fortunes, was suffering from a fresh series of disasters. In 1892, for the third time, the capital of the country, St. John's, was wiped out by fire, and in 1895 all the banks in the country failed, and many people all over the island lost the savings of their life times. This, capped by some bad fisheries, had greatly discouraged even the politicians in St. John's, and overtures were made to Canada to enter the federation on condition that their public debt be taken over by the Dominion. Sir Mackenzie Bowell, however, Prime Minister of Canada at that period, with his Cabinet, decided that the price was too great, a decision which many Canadians have bitterly criticized in later years. Since that time, Newfoundland's public debt has doubled several times, and stands in 1928, at some $67,500,000, with still only a population of 260,000. This has in volved heavy taxation, and a greatly increased cost of living. Un fortunately, concurrent with this increase there has been a de crease in the value of Newfoundland's main production, salt cod fish, and consequently a gradual decline in the number of vessels and men employed. Whereas, 9o% of the people were once living out of the fisheries, less than 5o% now are able to do so, though the greatly increased level of living partly accounts for this. The great war undoubtedly had much to do with this, but however that may be, even with the new labour opportunities that have arisen to supplement the incomes derivable from the season of open water, the fishery no longer supports the country, and a very large number of her yeoman families have left for the United States and Canada.