Major Peter John Cashin (March 8, 1890 – May 21, 1977) was a businessman, soldier and politician in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

Early life

Cashin, a son of Sir Michael Cashin, joined the Newfoundland Regiment during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and ultimately served in the British Machine Gun Corps. He returned to the family fishery supply business upon being demobilized.

Political career

He entered politics by winning election to the Newfoundland

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

as a Liberal-Labour-Progressive in 1923, before crossing the floor to join the Newfoundland Liberal Party in 1925 in a dispute over

tariff A tariff or import tax is a duty (tax), duty imposed by a national Government, government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods ...

policy. He served as minister of finance from 1928 to 1932 when he resigned from the government and accused Sir

Richard Squires Sir Richard Anderson Squires KCMG (January 18, 1880 – March 26, 1940) was the Prime Minister of Newfoundland from 1919 to 1923 and from 1928 to 1932. As prime minister, Squires attempted to reform Newfoundland's fishing industry, but failed ...

, the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

, of falsifying the minutes of Executive Council meetings to cover up certain legal fees he had been paying himself out of public funds. His actions precipitated a general election that defeated the Squires government but also cost him his own

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

in the legislature. Cashin moved to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

in 1933 returning to Newfoundland in 1942.

Opposition to the Commission of Government and joining Canada

In his day he was considered one of the best orators in Newfoundland. Upon his return to the island he embarked on a campaign opposing the

Commission of Government The Commission of Government was a non-elected body that governed the Dominion of Newfoundland from 1934 to 1949. Established following the collapse of Newfoundland's economy during the Great Depression, it was dissolved when the dominion became ...

which had been brought about in 1934. He was elected to the Newfoundland National Convention formed in 1946 to consider the

dominion A dominion was any of several largely self-governance, self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of self-governing colony, colon ...

's future. In 1947, Cashin was one of the members of the National Convention's delegation to London charged with finding out what assistance the British government was prepared to give Newfoundland in the future including development aid or cancellation of the dominion's debt. The results were disappointing as Britain refused to give Newfoundland any promise of financial assistance. Nevertheless, he opposed

Joey Smallwood Joseph Roberts Smallwood (December 24, 1900 – December 17, 1991) was a Newfoundlander and Canadian politician. He was the main force who brought the Dominion of Newfoundland into Canadian Confederation in 1949, becoming the first premier of ...

's campaign to join

Canadian Confederation Canadian Confederation () was the process by which three British North American provinces—the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick—were united into one federation, called the Name of Canada#Adoption of Dominion, Dominion of Ca ...

and became the leader of the Responsible Government League leading it into the 1948

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

s on Newfoundland's status. On May 17, 1947, Cashin delivered this speech to the National Convention regarding the future of

. Cashin was unsuccessful in the referendum, though he was convinced that he had actually won and that the referendum result had been falsified by the British.

Later political career

After Newfoundland joined

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in 1949, Cashin was elected to the provincial legislature as an independent. In 1951, he joined the Newfoundland Progressive Conservatives leading it into that year's provincial election in which the party won five seats. He served as

leader of the opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

until 1953 when he quit the Tories to run again as an independent. Defeated in the election, Cashin then served as director of

civil defence Civil defense or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from human-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency management: prevention, mitigation, preparation, response, ...

for the province until 1965. Cashin's nephew, Richard Cashin, was a politician in the 1960s and subsequently an important

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

leader in the province.

References

External links

Peter Cashin
biography
remarks by Peter Cashin at the National Convention
Real Audio

biography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cashin, Peter 1890 births 1977 deaths Newfoundland military personnel of World War I Newfoundland National Convention members Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador MHAs Newfoundland and Labrador political party leaders Newfoundland People's Party MHAs Royal Newfoundland Regiment officers Machine Gun Corps officers 20th-century members of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly