James Spearman Winter

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Sir James Spearman Winter KCMG (born January 1, 1845 in Lamaline , Newfoundland , † October 6, 1911 in Toronto ) was a Canadian lawyer , judge and politician of the Tory Party, who was Prime Minister of the Crown Colony of Newfoundland between 1897 and 1900 .

Life

Lawyer and member of the House of Representatives

Winter, the son of a customs officer, completed his education at the General Protestant and Church of England Academy in St. John's and was 1,859 merchant's assistant , before a study of 1,861 law at the law firm of Hugh Hoyles began. After being admitted as a lawyer, he founded his own law firm in 1867, which he operated in partnership with Donal Morison from 1881.

His political career began in 1873 when he was elected as a candidate for the Conservative Party by Frederick Bowker Terrington Carter in the constituency of Burin as a member of the Newfoundland House of Representatives. His choice was largely shaped by the Protestant Orange Order in Canada , in which Winter was involved as master of the Royal Oak Lodge of St. John's. During this time he began working with William Vallance Whiteway , who rose to become Newfoundland's leading politician in the mid-1870s and was Prime Minister of the Crown Colony from 1878 to 1885, 1889 to 1894 and 1895 to 1897 . Winter himself was Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1877 and 1878 and then acted as Grand Master of the Orange Order in Newfoundland and Labrador between 1878 and 1885 .

Winter was a stronger conservative and less visionary than many others in Whiteway's party, and his support was not unconditional. Although he approved a railway construction policy, in 1881 he strongly criticized the first railway construction contract for the construction of a line from St. John's to Halls Bay and was one of the eight MPs who voted against. Most opponents of the treaty went into opposition and joined the largely trade-oriented New Party that had been formed to oppose Whiteway's progressive policies. Winter, however, remained a member of the Conservative Party after he was promised the office of Solicitor General .

Solicitor General 1882 to 1885

The three-time Prime Minister William Whiteway was initially a sponsor of Winters, later his serious opponent

After his re-election to the House of Representatives in Burin constituency in 1882, Winter was appointed Solicitor General by Prime Minister Whiteway. Although the government had won the election with a comfortable majority, Whiteway was a coalition with the almost entirely of Roman Catholic existing members Liberal Party one, to compensate for the loss of his had gone over to the New Party supporters. This alliance and continued loyalty was put to the test by a clash between the Protestant Orange Order and Catholics at Harbor Grace in December 1883.

Winter and Whiteway served as Prosecutors for the Crown in the trials of nineteen Catholics charged with murder. Two acquittals angered numerous Protestants, including Winter, and led to a divergent alliance between the New Party and an Orange Order political committee founded in 1883 and dominated by Alexander James Whiteford McNeily . Protecting the rights of Protestants was a priority for some, while others saw it primarily as a maneuver to weaken the Whiteway government and, with luck, replace it with a new government more committed to the needs of trade. At that time, Winter, who was still Grand Master of the Orange Order in Newfoundland, remained a member of the government, creating considerable tension within the order.

In February 1885, representatives of the Orange Order and the New Party joined forces in the House of Representatives to end the alliance between Whitewayn and the Catholic Liberals and to force them into the opposition . The next step in this strategy was the unification of all non-liberals in a new Reform Party formed Protestant party chaired by Winter, while Whiteway was to be resigned to a decent role outside of politics. After Whiteway initially refused to cooperate, Winter resigned as Solicitor General in his government in June 1885 and also resigned from the Conservative Party. In October 1885, Whiteway finally agreed to resign and also agreed to merge his now smaller Conservative Party with the Reform Party. However, a mutually acceptable party chairman was made a condition, who was found in the member of the House of Lords at the time, Robert Thorburn .

Attorney General 1885 to 1889

Economic problems and dispute over fishing rights

Against Robert Thorburn subject to winter with his efforts in 1885 to become prime minister, but took in his cabinet the influential post of Attorney General

After Thorburn was then Prime Minister of the Crown Colony, Winter took over the office of Attorney General ( Attorney General ) in his cabinet. In the House of Representatives elections held shortly afterwards in the fall of 1885, which were marked by violent sectoric rhetoric, Winter was re-elected as a member of the constituency of Harbor Grace with the support of the Orange Order and the Reform Party was confirmed in its power. The religiously motivated politics, which had been fomented by representatives of the Orange Order and manipulated by anti-Whiteway politicians, then took a back seat, with the result that within a year several leading Catholics joined the now tolerant Reform Party government, and the previous Liberal Party was dissolved. The reform party was able to expand its position and work out alternatives to Whiteway's priorities in railway and domestic policy development. Winter, who was one of the most experienced and influential members of the government, missed the opportunity to become one of the most important and dominant public figures in the Crown Colony.

The central problem facing the Thorburn administration was to reconcile its own conservatism with the price the Liberals demanded for the parties to merge, as well as with the growing expenses caused by the economic depression . This led to a hostile political stance towards French fishermen and the Bait Act introduced by Winter on both banks of the Crown Colony as well as the Newfoundland Shore Agreement. At the same time urged the winter, the British Colonial Office ( Colonial Office ,) him permission to negotiate with the United States to enter into a reciprocal agreement. As a result, a separate fisheries authority was established, which also dealt with rural development. At the same time, the government invested heavily in public works that required foreign credit for the first time in the history of the Crown Colony. At the end of the credit period this was used for the railway construction, so that ultimately no alternative to the progressive policy of the previous Whiteways government was offered.

Failed plans to join the Canadian Confederation

Rather, the stability of Thorburn's government was badly damaged after Winter decided to attempt to join the crown colony of the Canadian Confederation . Influenced by Newfoundland's desire for an independent reciprocal agreement with the US, the Canadian government under Prime Minister John Macdonald became interested in a union with Newfoundland for the first time since the 1860s. In October 1887, Canadian Treasury Secretary Charles Tupper visited St. John's for talks that proved inconclusive. At a fisheries conference in Washington, DC shortly afterwards , Tupper had the opportunity to have lengthy discussions with Winter, who represented Newfoundland at the conference. Winter returned to St. John's in February 1888 with an elaborate system for union and Canadian approval for a formal confederation conference if he so wished.

The Reform Party was so divided on this matter that despite an invitation from Ottawa, no delegation was sent to negotiate. Ultimately, the intention of joining the Confederation reduced the party's chances of electoral success.

Electoral defeat in 1889 and opposition years

In 1889 the Reform Party suffered a severe election defeat by a new Liberal Party under William Whiteway, who then became Prime Minister of the Crown Colony for the second time.

Winter, who was beaten Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George for his services at the Fisheries Conference in Washington in 1888 and from then on carried the suffix "Sir", ran again for a seat in the House of Representatives in the constituency of Harbor Grace . In spite of the previous considerable, partly unlawful expenditure in this district, however, he only achieved the last place among the constituency candidates with 604 votes and thus left the House of Representatives. The election result also reflected the resentment of the local Orange Order members against what they saw as the fraud against the Order by Winter and the government.

Nevertheless, he remained politically active and in 1890 played a leading role against the British-French Modus Vivendi regarding the lobster fishery on the French coast. He tried to portray the liberals as incapable of defending colonial interests against French aggression in order to highlight reasons for a patriotic attitude for the opposition . Winter, Alfred Bishop Morine and Patrick J. Scott traveled to England as "people's delegates" to embarrass Whiteway and bring an extreme view of Newfoundland rights into the controversy. At that time she was issuing a leaflet in London , giving numerous interviews, and generally helping to create the impression that the Crown Colony was in a status of virtual rebellion.

At the end of 1890, Winter acted as the plaintiff's representative in the well-known Baird et al. v. Walker up. James Baird, a Tory supporter , merchant and owner of a lobster factory that had been closed due to the existing modus vivendi, had successfully sued the Commodore of the Newfoundland Naval Squadron for trespassing. The success of the process embarrassed the British government and also helped spark a crisis within the Whiteway government.

Winter was also actively involved with Morine and other former members of the Reform Party in plans to found a Confederate Party. They hoped for help from Canada after the second Whiteway administration sought to negotiate an independent reciprocity with the US and retaliated against Canadian fishermen after the failure of these efforts. In the fall of 1891, Winter went incognito to Ottawa under the code name "Mr Spearman" to negotiate with members of the Canadian government under the new Prime Minister John Abbott , but from there he did not receive the desired promises, especially since the Newfoundland supporters of a confederation the approval of Canada had overrated for a union. In the House of Representatives, Morine spoke out against possible anti-Canadian measures and corresponded regularly with the Canadian Justice Minister Sir John Sparrow David Thompson .

Re-elected to the House of Representatives and Justice to the Newfoundland Supreme Court

In November 1892, Winter won a by-election in the Burin constituency and became a member of the House of Representatives again. At the same time, he created the opportunity to take over the leadership of the party before the next elections.

After he played an active role during the parliamentary sessions, he accepted an appeal to the Supreme Court of Newfoundland by the Governor of the Crown Colony John Terence Nicholls O'Brien in May 1893 . This move, which involved a prominent opponent of Prime Minister Whiteway, ultimately led to the end of the nascent Confederate Party.

Unfortunately, Winter, a former prominent Tory, was presiding judge in February and March 1894 as presiding judge in the first Supreme Court case on the Controverted Election Act , 1887, which he had introduced as Attorney General. It was one of numerous trials against liberals by Tories who were unsuccessful in the 1893 election. Because of his litigation, which was partially disqualifying for the Liberals, Winter was accused of partiality. While his final verdict was justified, according to a note by a Colonial Office official, it appeared to be "a case of Satan rebuking Sin".

Despite his judicial competence, Winter resigned as a judge of the Supreme Court in November 1896 and resumed his legal practice. On the one hand, judges' salaries had been cut due to the banking crisis of 1894, and with it his income; on the other hand, there was preliminary criticism from the Whiteway administration. A short time later he was asked by leading Tories to become party chairman.

Chairman of the Tory Party and Prime Minister 1897 to 1900

Government program, dispute over the Newfoundland Railway contract and fisheries dispute

Map of the Newfoundland Railway

In February 1897, Winter became chairman of the Tory party and won with his party the elections in the fall of 1897 with a majority of ten seats in the House of Representatives. During the election campaign, his party promised a stabilization of the collapsed fish prices, an improvement in the policies of the previously ruling Liberal Party and a series of political changes. He himself became Prime Minister of the Crown Colony of Newfoundland in October 1897, succeeding William Whiteway. The driving force of his government, however, was Alfred B. Morine, who took over the office of finance minister. In the period that followed, the public service was downsized and reorganized, tariffs reformed and the financial management of the crown colony made more efficient. The British government was convinced to set up a Royal Commission to clarify the problems in the French-speaking coastal region.

However, the first major crisis arose in early 1898 after his government signed a new railway contract with Robert Gillespie Reid , the owner of Newfoundland Railway . Both Winter and Morine were closely tied to Reid's interests: Winter was Reid's permanent legal advisor in the early 1890s and prepared the Reid Convention in 1893, which was now replaced, while Morine was subsequently Reid's legal advisor. The controversial treaty provided for substantial concessions. During the deliberations in the House of Representatives, in the course of which the liberal opposition split, the treaty ultimately contributed to the failure of the Winter government. Robert Bond , leader of the Liberals against the treaty , led an emotional and nationalist struggle against the treaty with the support of Governor Herbert Harley Murray . When the Colonial Department rejected an intervention, Governor Murray reshuffled the government and dismissed Treasury Secretary Morine from the Executive Board because of his previous work as Reid's attorney.

In the summer of 1898, Winter asked the British government to abolish French fishing rights in the Newfoundland area, claiming that France had given up Newfoundland and that France was now reluctant to exercise its alleged rights. After the British and French colonized 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 have 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.

Government crisis and resignation

On the surface, Winter was now in a strong position with the liberals split and his main rival in the government sacked. However, this time too, he missed the opportunity to take advantage of the situation. Instead, the Tory party split. In early 1898, Winter had agreed to assume the role of President of the Supreme Court and to hand over the post of Prime Minister to Morine in late 1898. However, this was objected to by numerous party members, so that the planned handover was postponed. When Winter in Washington as representative of the Crown Colony at meetings of the High Commission (Common early 1899 Joint High Commission was), Morine called for implementation of the transfer of power agreement. Because of this, the government almost collapsed. Although the new Governor Henry Edward McCallum reached an agreement through which Morine returned to the cabinet and Winter agreed to resign in late 1899, internal disputes in the Tory Party continued. Ultimately, in November 1899, Winter successfully requested Morine's resignation.

In February 1900, Winter convened a special session of the House of Representatives to renew the legislation to enforce the Anglo-French Fisheries Treaty. Unexpectedly, opposition leader Robert Bond tabled a motion of no confidence in the government, which resulted in Winter resigning as prime minister on March 5, 1900. As the session continued, he saw Morine being elected as the new party leader, while his claim as leader of the opposition was rejected by the House Speaker and Bond. As a result, Winter no longer attended the meetings. This is what his supporters did too or agreed with the government. A subsequent application for employment in the colonial service was rejected.

Last years of life and family

After leaving politics, Winter resumed his legal work. However, having lost much of his legal practice, he unsuccessfully asked Prime Minister Bond to be appointed judge. He made his living in the episode mainly through orders from the Rober Gillespie Reid owned Reid Newfoundland Company .

In the 1904 elections he was run by the United Opposition Party again in his old constituency of Burin , but suffered a heavy defeat.

Only after Bond suffered a defeat in the 1909 elections and lost the office of Prime Minister of the now Dominion Newfoundland to Edward Morris , a former student of Winter and also a supporter of Reid, Winter received public contracts again. In 1909 he became legal advisor to the Newfoundland Section in the British case for the arbitration of fishing rights in the North Atlantic . In London he was a member of the Canadian Council responsible for this case in the summer of 1909, and in 1910 he also helped prepare the counter-trial, in which he appeared before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague .

Less than a year after his return, Winter died after a long illness.

Two of Winter's sons were also politically active: James A. Winter represented the United Newfoundland Party between 1928 and 1934 in the House of Representatives and was last Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1932 to 1934, while his younger brother Harry A. Winter was a member between 1923 and 1924 as well Spokesman for the House of Representatives and was again a member of the House of Representatives from 1932 to 1934 and was most recently a judge at the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador between 1947 and 1964.

Publications

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "James Spearman Winter" & searchLimits = Newfoundland Administration . In: The Mercury of November 5, 1897
  2. ^ "James Spearman Winter" & searchLimits = Newfoundland Ministry . In: Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald & General Advertiser, November 6, 1897
  3. ^ "James Spearman Winter" & searchLimits = The New Premier . In: The Inquirer & Commercial News of November 12, 1897
  4. ^ The Reid Newfoundland Company (1898-1920)
  5. ^ "James Spearman Winter" & searchLimits = Newfoundland: French Fishing Rights . In: Kalgoorlie Miner, July 2, 1898
  6. ^ "James Spearman Winter" & searchLimits = Newfoundland: Defeat of the Ministry . In: The Sydney Morning Herald of February 21, 1900
  7. ^ "James Spearman Winter" & searchLimits = Newfoundland Politics . In: The North Queensland Register, February 26, 1900
  8. ^ "James Spearman Winter" & searchLimits = The Newfoundland Crisis . In: Kalgoorlie Western Argus, April 26, 1900
  9. ^ Bibliography
personal data
SURNAME Winter, James Spearman
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian politician and Prime Minister of the Crown Colony of Newfoundland
DATE OF BIRTH January 1, 1845
PLACE OF BIRTH Lamaline , Newfoundland
DATE OF DEATH October 6, 1911
Place of death Toronto