As the last days of 1949 ebbed to it‘s close, people everywhere seemed to be feeling more optimistic. The decade that had seen war fought on a scale never known before would soon be in the past, and there was renewed hope of happier days ahead. This was particularly true in rural Newfoundland and Labrador where in the past few months, many had more money to spend than they could have imagined even five years earlier. The Canadian government paid a small family allowance for every child under sixteen, and large families were common in the province. It was not unusual therefore for a family to be receiving these payments for ten or more children at the same time. Everyone over seventy also received an the old age pension of forty dollars a month, an amount considered extravagant by some. One man who had never married and lived alone, was heard to say that the government would soon go broke and half that amount would have been enough!  For most women though, who had depended solely upon their husbands for even the bare necessaries of life, it was the first time that they had money that was truly their own. 

Joseph R Smallwood, who had been the main drive behind the fight for union with Canada, and was now the province’s premier, was considered little less than a God by many of the largely illiterate rural population.  Soon to be known simply as “Joey”, the benefits brought by confederation alone would be enough to ensure his re-election for many years to come.  Mistakes  that would have caused other premiers their careers, rarely lost Joey a single seat in the next election. Adam, who still took a keen interest in politics, realized that the premier had far too much power and felt that it could only prove detrimental to the province. Clearly however,  it was not about to change in the foreseeable future.

Unlike his friend Mona, who attended Mass on a regular basis, Adam had not gone to church since coming to St. John’s in September. On Christmas Eve however, Mona had asked him to accompany her to Midnight Mass at the Bascilica on Military Road and he had readily agreed. Since his mother had been constantly reminding him about going to confession and Mass, he knew she’d be happy that he had at least taken the holy sacrament at Christmas. Mona’s family were as strict as his own about attending church but Mona said little about it. In fact, if it had not been that her two best friends at the residence, were adamant about attending Mass every Sunday, in fact one was still thinking about becoming a nun, she probably wouldn’t have gone as much either. Although they hadn’t discussed it a lot, she knew that Adam felt strongly that the church had too much control over it’s followers and after listening to him talk about it, readily agreed. She wasn’t ready to break with the church yet though  and probably never would. That was okay with Adam as well, feeling as he did, that there was still good in the church and hoping that changes would eventually come about.