in (Mackenzie 1986, 9). This time the idea arose to possibly solve the hard economic times that Newfoundland was experiencing. The average price for cod had fallen and the proportion of the labor force employed in the fishery had declined as well. Merchants were finding it difficult to make a profit, and poverty and unemployment were becoming increasingly more abundant. People were leaving Newfoundland to find work elsewhere. When Charles Tupper, the Canadian high commissioner of London arrived in Newfoundland to open negotiations, confederation was once again denied. The Newfoundland government showed reluctance to support a cause that had previously been disliked by so many people.
             Sir John Thompson and Mackenzie Bowell opened the idea of Confederation again in 1892 at the Halifax Conference (Mackenzie 1986, 9). This conference had been called to ease the tension between Newfoundland and Canada. Newfoundland had independently negotiated an agreement with the United States called the Bond Blaine Convention. This agreement would have allowed a free trade agreement exist between the United States and Newfoundland. Canada was upset that Newfoundland had deliberately left them out of the agreement. Canada then proceeded to form their own agreement with the United States, and the Newfoundland agreement was thrown out the window. Quite obviously, Newfoundland was furious with this. Canada had managed to step out of bounds and quite possibly ruin Newfoundland's only chance of economic redemption. Canadian interest in Newfoundland seemed to come about only if there was a competitive edge with trade relations with the United States. At this point, the two nations !
             viewed each other more as competitors in the fish industry than as partners, and Confederation would have to wait again.
             In 1895, this situation had shifted dramatically (Rowe 1980, 305). The bank cash of 1894 had sparked a severe financial crisis in Newfoundland and the ...