Daniel Greene

Daniel Joseph Greene (* 1850 in St. John's , Newfoundland ; † December 12, 1911 there ) was a Canadian lawyer and politician of the Liberal Party who, in the wake of a legal and political crisis because of the elections to the Newfoundland House of Representatives in 1893, briefly was Prime Minister of the Crown Colony of Newfoundland between 1894 and 1895 .

Life

Greene completed a law degree at Laval University after attending school and practiced law after being admitted to the bar.

His political career began when he was elected to the House of Representatives at the age of 22 in 1875, where he took over the position of leader of the opposition in 1887 . In 1890 he was a member of a delegation of the Newfoundland government that protested in Ottawa against French fishing rights in Newfoundland. After the British and French settled Newfoundland in the 16th century, the sovereignty of Newfoundland was completely transferred to Great Britain through the Peace of Utrecht in 1713. However, certain fishing rights transferred to France had repeatedly led to disputes between French fishermen and the inhabitants of the colony. These fishing rights also included the production of stockfish on land between Cape Bonavista and Point Riche . Due to the treaty, France claimed the exclusive right to fish in these coastal regions and rejected the right of the inhabitants of the colony to build permanent settlements for the purposes of agriculture, mining and other reasons in this coastal region.

After the collapse of two major banks on December 10, 1894, Greene succeeded the brief minority government of the Conservative Tory Party under Prime Minister Augustus Frederick Goodridge on December 13, 1894, succeeding it as Prime Minister. His cabinet included figures such as Patrick J. Scott as receiver general and Augustus William Harvey , while the conservative Lawrence O'Brien Furlong remained Speaker of the House of Commons.

In addition to the tense financial and economic situation of the Crown Colony, Greene's 58-day term in office was particularly marked by the legal and political crisis due to the irregularities in the elections that took place in 1893, which led to the impeachment of several MPs and, ultimately, the resignation of Prime Minister William Whiteway on November 11th. April 1894. During his tenure, the so-called Disabilities Removal Act was passed , which meant that MPs who had been ousted after the elections in 1893 were again able to run for the House of Representatives.

Because of this law, Whiteway was re-elected to the House of Representatives in a by-election in the constituency of Harbor Grace and was thus able to assume the office of Prime Minister for the third time after Greene's resignation on February 8, 1895.

His nephew Joseph M. Greene was a representative of the Liberal Party between 1928 and 1932, as was his son James J. Greene , who was a member of the House of Representatives from 1959 to 1966 and chairman of the Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador between 1960 and 1966 1965 was also leader of the opposition.

Web links

• Entry in The Canadian Encyclopedia