this day resumes that ancient and honourable trust whereby a free people govern themselves. The long
interval of Commission administration is now concluded. Authority is returned to the people, through
their elected representatives, in Parliament assembled.
Therefore I, the Right Honourable J. M. Cashin, Prime Minister of the Dominion of Newfoundland,
do proclaim this day, the Thirty-First of March in the Year of Our Lord Nineteen Hundred and Forty-Nine,
as Restoration Day; and I declare that responsible government is henceforth resumed in this Dominion,
subject to our allegiance to the Crown and to our constitution and laws.
On the Meaning of the Restoration
This restoration is not the work of a moment, but the work of a people remembering who they are.
We affirm self-government under the Crown, the ancient liberties of our Constitution, and the rule of law
administered in the name of the King by Ministers answerable to the House of Assembly. We acknowledge the
dignity of labour, the sanctity of contract, and the guardianship we hold over the seas, forests, and
minerals entrusted to us by Providence and by our forefathers.
The Government henceforth shall be carried on openly and frugally. Revenues will be raised and spent only
by the consent of the people’s representatives. The Courts shall be independent; the Press free; the
Churches and schools respected in their several spheres; and every Newfoundlander secure in person and
property under the equal protection of the laws.
Immediate Measures of the Government
In the days immediately before us, the House of Assembly will be summoned to transact the public business.
Essential services will continue without interruption by means of an Interim Supply until a full Budget is
laid before Parliament. Departments will be re-constituted upon a responsible footing, with particular care
for Fisheries and Marine, Public Works and Transport, and the Treasury. A Civil Service Commission will be
established to uphold merit, integrity, and economy throughout the administration.
We shall maintain friendly relations and fair dealing with all nations and neighbours in trade and
navigation, seeking prosperity without compromising our sovereignty or our honour. Our resources will be
husbanded with prudence and developed for the common good, that the fruits of this island and of Labrador
may bless both the present generation and those yet to come.
Appeal to Unity and Duty
I ask every citizen—fisherman and miner, merchant and labourer, farmer, teacher, and mariner—to take up
the duties of citizenship with renewed courage. Let us labour together in charity toward one another,
abjuring bitterness and the counsels of despair. We are one people, set upon these rocks and shores by
history and by hope, equal before God and the law, resolved to hand down to our children a Dominion
more just, more prosperous, and more free.
May Providence guide our counsels; may industry sweeten our daily bread; and may the blessing of Almighty
God rest upon Newfoundland and her people.
J. M. Cashin
Prime Minister of the Dominion of Newfoundland
St. John’s, this Thirty-First day of March, 1949