y the authority, on appeal from them, of the
King's commanders stationed off the island. Still, the evils were very
real, and extorted recognition even from the gang of west country
monopolists who strangled for so long the growth of the island. We
find a recommendation offered by them to the Board of Trade with
astounding assurance, that the 3000 odd men, women, and children, who
by this time composed the population of Newfoundland, "should be
encouraged to settle in Nova Scotia--as they might be of service
there, where inhabitants were wanted."

The colonists themselves had other and better remedies. A
spontaneously elected Assembly passed ordinances which attest the
sincerity of the general desire for reform. In 1728 the informing zeal
of Lord Vere Beauclerk elicited a decisive step from the Board of
Trade, and Captain Henry Osborne was appointed the first Governor of
Newfoundland (1729), with authority to appoint justices of the peace.
Even at such a moment the cloven hoof of prejudice peeped through, and
Osborne and his justices were explicitly warned to interfere in no way
with the privileges of the admirals, as defined by 10 and 11 William
III. Governor Osborne addressed himself to his duties with great
energy. He appointed justices and constables, carved the island into
districts, and erected prisons and stocks. His influence was weakened
by his departure when the season ended, for till the nineteenth
century the governors, like the fish, were migratory. A tedious
quarrel followed between the justices and the admirals as to the
limits of their respective jurisdictions; the admirals, whose wits
seem to have been sharpened by judicial practice, insisting that their
own authority was derived from statute, whereas that of the justices
merely rested upon an Order in Council.

In 1749 the great sailor Rodney, then a commander in the Navy, was
appointed Governor. He distinguished himself by a humane consideration
for the interests of the fishing servants. His answer to a petition
from the merchants for permission to lower the contract rate of wages,
in view of the badness of the season, has often been quoted, and is
pleasant to read:

"Mr Drake and myself would be glad to ease the merchants in all that
lay in our power, but we are by no means capable of acting as desired,
to serve any people whatever. I have only one question to ask, namely:
'Had the season been good in proportion as it has proved bad, would
the me