Note 14 — Chapter VIII

December, 1894. And now the long impending crash has come—both the banks of Newfoundland have failed, and ten out of twelve merchants’ firms have had to suspend payment, while the masses of the population are face to face with absolute starvation. The Truck System has entailed ruin on all concerned in it, and has brought the country to the verge of bankruptcy. There are not few, however, who see in these terrible events the promise of better things. A better system of trade must arise, a better relation between labour and capital, a better era for this oldest of England’s colonies. “Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth.” God grant it may be so in this case.