Chapter 450 Preparing for the Referendum
Granted, Britain could never have thought that a reputable great power had stood in the East.
But after all, it was also true that it could not do whatever it wanted as it had done in the colonial era, and New Delhi had already communicated with London about Kashmir, recognizing Britain’s special interests in the subcontinent, and its own side was left with only one drama.
Of course the proposal for a peacekeeping force did not come to nothing, with the United States and the Soviet Union coincidentally expressing interest in the proposal.
Stating that while the world is largely at peace at the moment, a greater role for the United Nations is also necessary to avoid a return to the old ways of the two world wars.
Of course all this has nothing to do with Alan Wilson, although he did do something in favor of openness and transparency through some internal civil service friendships, but ultimately, whether it’s India and Pakistan, or the Arabs and Israel, the fate is after all in their own hands.
The big event on the horizon is the long-set Newfoundland referendum. No matter what the United States, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom have in mind at the United Nations General Assembly, it has little to do with the status of Newfoundland.
Crown Prince Elizabeth is currently on a visit to Canada, and is naturally praised wherever she goes, with the Crown Prince and his wife touring the territory of the future Queen of Canada, surrounded by praises and flanks.
Canada has also issued a commemorative postage stamp in honor of Crown Prince Elizabeth’s visit to Canada.
Overall, it was a great visit for Crown Prince Elizabeth, and according to the schedule, the Crown Prince and Mrs. Elizabeth’s next stop was South Africa because of the election in the United States.
While the Crown Prince couple was leaving Canada, Alan Wilson was conferring with Newfoundland Magistrate Smallwood, about the referendum, “Honorable Joey, I believe you’ve been waiting for this day for a long time?”
“Oh Alan, something about deciding the future of Newfoundland is something that every citizen of Newfoundland looks forward to.” Smallwood responded unperturbed, “Sooner or later isn’t it?”
“Yes, sooner or later.” Alan Wilson nodded his head, indicating that he had also been mentally prepared.
In fact, the matter of the Newfoundland referendum was nothing more than a matter involving the relationship between the three countries of Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
After World War II, Britain had continued to decimate its budget for Newfoundland, hoping that Newfoundland would join the Canadian Confederation and end the dispatch of governments.
At first Newfoundland turned to Canada for help in restoring responsible government. However, the Canadian response was lukewarm, stating that it had no interest in helping Newfoundland economically unless Newfoundland chose to join the Canadian federation.
Although there was strong opposition in Newfoundland to the idea of joining the United States, both Britain and Canada believed that Newfoundland would eventually choose to join the United States, especially if Newfoundland fell back into economic difficulties. For its part, Britain could not tolerate the British North American colony joining the United States and feared that Newfoundland’s accession to the United States would inflame the Labrador border dispute.
The Canadians argued that Newfoundland’s membership in the Canadian Confederation would not benefit their economy and that if Newfoundland joined the United States, Canada would be surrounded by U.S. territory on almost all sides. In the end, the British government prohibited Newfoundland from holding a vote on whether to join the United States.
This was the situation before Allen Wilson left for London, which really had only one bottom line, and that was to do everything possible to prevent Newfoundland from moving closer to the United States, even if it meant giving Newfoundland to Canada.
Before Allen Wilson left, Newfoundland sent two separate delegations to London and Ottawa to negotiate and discuss the future of Newfoundland, the official delegation went to London and the civil delegation went to Ottawa.
The official delegation went to London and the civilian delegation went to Ottawa. This shows that among the middle and upper classes of Newfoundland, the opposition to the merger with Canada was even more overwhelming.
And Allen Wilson can see from the historical referendum results that the opposition to merger with Canada was not an attempt by the upper-middle class to protect their own interests, but did represent a large portion of the public opinion in Newfoundland.
The fact that Newfoundland eventually became part of Canada was indeed the result of British pressure to make it happen. The delegation that went to Ottawa, because it did not have an official color, also received a cold reception from Canada.
This was the background to Alan Wilson’s arrival in Newfoundland, after most of the year’s work, and delaying tactics. Anyway, up to now, Newfoundland was doing well.
When the current Crown Prince and his wife had just left Newfoundland, Allen Wilson felt that it was about time, and discussed with Smallwood whether it was time to openly discuss and decide the future of Newfoundland.
After the two agreed, Alan Wilson spread the news about the discussion of the future of Newfoundland, scheduled for October 2, in the Newfoundland parliament building, and at the same time will be broadcast through the current affairs, be heard by all the citizens of Newfoundland.
By the time Smallwood left the Governor General’s Mansion, Alan Wilson was the first to confirm the news during the evening broadcast.
Like a stone thrown into a calm pond, the broadcast had an immediate impact in the capital city of St. John’s. It then spread throughout Newfoundland and became a hot topic of conversation among the citizens of Newfoundland.
On October 2, 1948, many residents of Newfoundland waited at home, not going out or fishing as usual, for the broadcast to come on the radio.
At this time in the Newfoundland Parliament building, the members of the Newfoundland Committee sat down one by one, including Smallwood, there were forty-five Newfoundland delegates in all, plus Chancellor Fox, and him, the Administrator, providing forty-seven.
“Honored delegates, time has passed really quickly and here we are again.” Allen Wilson began with a greeting, “This discussion will reach the ears of the citizens of Newfoundland at the same time, after all, we need to be transparent with the great citizens of Newfoundland, it is in the interest of a transparent government.”
With a change of scenery, Alan Wilson stopped short of saying that you can be transparent, or you can have a government.
“At this moment in time, there are places in the world that are in the midst of war, like East Asia, like South Asia, like the Middle East. And what we are going to discuss today is to talk solemnly about the future of Newfoundland through a calm attitude and with the most reasoned remarks, since going to office, Newfoundland has left a deep impression on me, and the experience of working here will be a valuable asset in my life.”
Seeing the representatives who arrived at the parliamentary building nodded, Allen Wilson turned the tables and began our Newfoundland is too good expression, as the British Empire assigned to the Chief Executive, Allen Wilson in the half year, Newfoundland, after the local economy improved, began to wait for the representatives of all parties to state their views, while opening his mouth to remind, “pay attention to the tone of voice, many Newfoundland citizens are believed to be listening.”
“Since the Chief Executive has already made his words clear, I will say what I think, I think Newfoundland should join the Canadian federation, currently Canada has already established a social security system that covers the whole society.” Smallwood spoke first, “The advantage of joining Canada is that it would give all Newfoundland citizens a security.”
“Mr. Joy is right, but the price is that the sovereignty of Newfoundland’s fishing grounds will henceforth belong to Canada.” Immediately after Smallwood’s words, other delegates rose to retort, “There is a plot afoot in this conference to sell out Newfoundland to Canada.”
It was so loud that even a number of Newfoundland citizens listening to the broadcast heard a piercing busy signal.
“Uh, that is indeed the case.” Alan Wilson, seeing the tit-for-tat scene already at the very beginning, was already happy in his heart, but on the surface, he had to maintain an objective and neutral appearance, frowning, “Of course I’m talking about the sovereignty of Newfoundland’s fishing grounds, and not about other issues.”
“And from a social security point of view, Newfoundland is fully capable of establishing a similar system, which is not a big problem in terms of Newfoundland’s comparative population and industry, in fact, per capita resource possession. Of course Newfoundland doesn’t have everything it needs to be independent.”
Alan Wilson spoke eloquently, “The key is the way to stop cross-border fishing, Newfoundland doesn’t have the manpower to build up a basic small fleet of ships to make regular cruises of the waters under its jurisdiction.”
Forty-five commissioners were seen nodding their heads in recognition of the words of the London Assigned Administrator, feeling still neutral and objective.
Alan Wilson continued, “Actually, there is another issue, and that is that the current inflow of money into Newfoundland has a huge relationship with corporate taxes, which is made possible by the current peculiar shape of Newfoundland. Newfoundland is completely different from Canada, the U.S., and the U.K. when it comes to corporate taxes, and being in the position of being in the middle of the intersection of all three is what’s created the great fiscal surpluses that have been going on for a few months now, and if that neutrality is lost? It may not be a good thing.”
“Strong forestry resources is the other thing I’m talking about, and actually, looking at Canada and Australia and the U.S. correspondingly, both countries, Canada and Australia, make the same amount of money far more easily than the U.S. does. Because there is no such thing as social security in the US. Furthermore the population of the United States is so large that it is unrealistic to rely entirely on the state to guarantee all expenses, and furthermore the United States is not a government that is going to set up a social security system, which is in conflict with the American philosophy.”
While Allen Wilson was just being objective in his analysis, he actually blocked Canada’s path in the fisheries perspective. While at the same time excluding the U.S. through the Social Security everyone perspective.
Smallwood wanted to say something, but saw that most of the Newfoundland delegates very much recognized these words, and sighed in his heart.
“Should we give up the inflow of money on corporate tax issues? Or special treatment for the importation of raw materials from Europe? That’s up to the citizens of Newfoundland. In fact, the main question is whether or not it is possible to make Newfoundland a high-level region that is the envy of everyone in the days to come, and that is the most important question.”