| Summary: | Amongst the chief causes bringing about the economic illnesses that have repeatedly plagued the Island of Newfoundland the widespread dispersal of population has always been recognized as being predominant. The history of the Island shows that for centuries, political, economic and cultural factors have combined to perpetuate this situation. In the earliest stages of development after the discovery of the Island, settlement was discouraged and in fact at times forbidden by laws which were initiated at the instigation of certain West Country merchants in England, who sought monopolistic rights to these prolific fishing grounds.
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