Producers versus Profiteers: The Politics of Class in Newfoundland during the First World War

• Main Author: O'Brien, Mike
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: University of New Brunswick * Department of History 2011
• Subjects: E11 America (General); L Education (General); Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://research.library.mun.ca/420/; https://research.library.mun.ca/420/1/producers_versus_profiteers.pdf; https://research.library.mun.ca/420/3/producers_versus_profiteers.pdf; http://journals.hil.unb.ca/index.php/Acadiensis/article/view/18561

During the First World War a widespread public impression that merchants were taking advantage of the conflict to extract excessive profits became a major issue in Newfoundland politics, and a cause of widespread public discontent. The Fishermen's Protective Union and other labour organizations were able to use the profiteering issue as a catalyst for political mobilization, and by 1917 had succeeded in forcing the state to take a greater role in regulating the economy. While their gains turned out to be short-lived, the episode marked a significant moment in the history of collective action by Newfoundland's labouring classes.