NEWFOUNDLAND Great Sentence

Great Sentence

A crony of the Crown who, when in London, downs many a whiskey & soda with George V is handsome, aristocratic Admiral Sir David Murray Anderson. In his battling youth Sir David bombarded Afrikanders to Queen Victoria's taste, later commanded the royal steam yacht Victoria and Albert to King Edward's satisfaction, became personal aide-de-camp to King George and is now His Majesty's Governor of Newfoundland. One day last week both houses of the Newfoundland Parliament passed and sent to Sir David an historic resolution which compressed into a single rumbling, mealy-mouthed sentence the whole Empire formula of turning Newfoundland back from self-government at St. John's to government from London (TIME, Dec. 4).

Sensitive about the fact that they were never quite a ''dominion,'' the legislators of St. John's referred to Newfoundland as an '"island" in the Great Sentence of their resolution. Text:

"To the King's most excellent majesty and most gracious sovereign, we Your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects in the Legislative Council and Assembly of Newfoundland, humbly approach Your Majesty praying that whereas in the present emergency Your Majesty's island of Newfoundland is unable from its own resources to defray the interest charge son the public debt and whereas the Royal Commission appointed by Your Majesty's warrant bearing the date of the seventeenth day of February 1933 to examine into the future of Newfoundland, has recommended that for the time being and until such time as the island may become self-supporting again, the administration of the island should be vested in His Excellency the Governor acting on the advice of a specially created Commission Government, and that during such period Your Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom should assume general responsibility for the finances of Newfoundland and should in particular make such arrangement as may be deemed just and practicable with the view of securing for Newfoundland a reduction in the present burden of the public debt, and whereas Your Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom have signified their readiness subject to the approval of parliament to accept the recommendations of the Royal Commission and have detailed proposals for carrying those recommendations into effect, now therefore Your Majesty may graciously be pleased to, suspend the letters patent under the great seal and to issue new letters patent which should provide for the administration of the island until such time as it may become self-supporting again on the basis of the recommendations which are contained in the report of the Royal Commission and of which a summary is set out in the annex hereto and further that Your Majesty may graciously be pleased to cause to be laid before the parliament of the United Kingdom in its present session such measures as may enable them to be given immediate effect."

In London the House of Commons was believed ready to shoulder the British taxpayer with Newfoundland's public debt of $101,000,000, to give the island proper British rule under the Crown and root out Newfoundland corruption.

Under the new set-up Crown Crony Sir David Murray Anderson becomes virtually viceroy of Newfoundland. On the advice of the MacDonald Government in London, he will appoint a Newfoundland Commission Government consisting of three commissioners from the United Kingdom, three from Newfoundland.

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