(
February 25 ,
1857 –
March 16 ,
1927 ) was the
Premier Of Newfoundland from
1900 to
1909 . He was born in
St. John's ,
Newfoundland , as the son of merchant
John Bond . Bond grew up in St. John's until
1872 when his father died and left the family a good deal of money. He went to
England where he was educated and came back to
Newfoundland and articled under Sir
William Whiteway .
He got involved in politics in
1882 when he ran for the House of Assembly in
Fortune Bay . He was speaker of the House of Assembly before the Whiteway government was defeated in
1885 . When Whiteway came back into power in
1889 ; Bond was made Colonial Secretary. Bond was created a
Knight Commander Of The Order Of St.Michael And St. George in
1891 . He tried to negotiate free trade with the
United States but it failed because of
Canada 's objection.
The government was defeated by judicial means in
1894 but came back to power shortly after because of the bank crash of
1894 . Bond became leader of the
Liberal Party after Whiteway lost the
1897 election. He became
Premier in 1900 after the Conservatives under Sir
James Winter lost a vote of confidence. As Prime Minister he once again tried to negotiate free trade with the
United States . It failed because of the objections of US senator
Henry Cabot Lodge .
Teddy Roosevelt tried to intervene but was not successful and it ended the friendship between the two nations. Relations between the
United States and Newfoundland deteriorated to the point where in
November 1905 in
Bonne Bay local fisherman clashed with Americans trying to buy bait on shore. In
1904 Bond was re-elected with a clear majority. He went on to settle the
French Shore issue which gave Newfoundland full control over the island.
In
1907 , his Attorney General Sir
Edward Patrick Morris walked across the floor and started his own party called the Peoples Party. In the
1908 election the two parties came to a tie getting 18 steats each out of the 36 seats. Bond was asked by the Governor if he could form a government and said that he could not because he would have to elect a government member as Speaker. Morris was asked and said he could and was sworn in as Prime Minister. His government failed as soon as Parliament was convened.
In the
1909 election
Morris won because he controlled government funds. Bond again led the Liberals into election in
1913 in an alliance with the Unionist Party of
William Coaker . They failed to defeat Morris and Bond resigned as Liberal Leader in January
1914 . In
1919 and again in 1923, the Liberals tried to persuade him to return. Bond responded with the prophetic response "If only I had the strength, how the fitters would fly; My poor country Newfoundland, the last stage". Bond died on his country estate in
Whitbourne at the age of 70.
Preceded by:
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Succeeded by:
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