Maura Mannion, left, and Rose Smart say Aly O’Brien’s dairy, which he kept around the years leading up to Confederation, make for a fascinating read. (Heather Barrett/CBC)

Take a step back in time to the mid-20th century, when debates about Newfoundland joining Confederation reigned.

One farmer’s fiery words of warning about joining Canada throw the reader right back into history — and they’re now on display at the 200-year-old O’Brien Farm, tucked away in the hills of St. John’s.

The diary is part of a new exhibit on the anti-Confederation sentiments of the O’Brien brothers.

“They could not have been more opposed to it. All three brothers, unanimous, said ‘no’ — no question about it,” said Maura Mannion, who is on the farm’s interpretation committee and was a long-time family friend of the brothers.

The brothers believed that Commission of Government, put in place in 1934, was only supposed to be temporary and Newfoundland would revert to self-governance when its financial affairs were sorted, said Mannion.

The exhibit is on display at the O’Brien Farm in St. John’s. (Heather Barrett/CBC)

She made a copy of O’Brien’s diary, now on display, and said it made for some interesting reading.

In one entry, O’Brien recounted that British Prime Minister Clement Attlee had announced that in the spring of 1946 the people of Newfoundland would select representatives to form a National Assembly. It was part of a process to determine whether the people wanted representative government, commission or confederation.

LISTEN | CBC’s Heather Barrett chats with Maura Mannion and Rose Smart on a new exhibit that focuses on Aly O’Brien’s anti-Confederation writings: 

O’Brien wrote about his reaction to that announcement with scathing words.

“This seems merely a sugarcoated promise of democratic rights. It is clearly a negation of the promise that our parliamentary government was to be restored,” he wrote.

He worried people would trade democratic rule for a promise of financial stability.

The O’Brien brothers were set against Newfoundland becoming a Canadian province. Their farm was a polling station, and the historic ballot box is now on display as part of an ongoing exhibit. (Heather Barrett/CBC)

In another entry, made on July 21, 1948, O’Brien described a toxic campaign for Confederation.

“Treachery, intrigue, bigotry, prejudice, class hatred, all the instincts of man’s lower nature have been appealed to in this vicious campaign waged by the Confederates to deprive our country of its right to full dominion status. To satisfy British imperialistic designs, the best interests of the people of this country are being placed on the auction block,” he wrote.

Mannion remembered O’Brien telling a reporter that he had flown a black flag after Newfoundland joined Canada.

“But as we approached our pension time, we went a little easier on that,” he wrote.

Cast a ballot

Rose Smart, who also sits on the farm’s interpretation committee, said the diary demonstrates O’Brien’s skill as a writer.

“He was very eloquent. He was very passionate. And so it’s like the characters come off the page, like all the different personalities,” said Smart.

“And his language was just so dramatic and passionate and he did not mince words. So it’s really fun to read.”

O’Brien’s diaries are the “heart of the exhibit,” but there are other items on display, Smart said.

“The O’Brien farm was a polling station and the site of active campaigning. So we have the original table, their kitchen table, which was a polling station through all the votes. And we have an original ballot box, which is pretty cool too.”

Visitors will also be given ballots so they can cast votes in Confederation and if enough people participate, she said they will reveal the results over Facebook.

Smart said O’Brien would have some thoughts for how polarized politics is becoming in present times.

“He does refer to the deliberate populism of appealing to people’s worst instincts — to separate, divide and separate and make people dislike the other faction as much as possible. So I would think he would notice that’s still going on.”

Mannion added that the diaries show the O’Brien brothers, while opposed to joining Canada, would not have minded a different union with another neighbouring country.

“They would have been quite happy to join the U.S. at the time,” said Mannion. “They would have been quite in favour of that, which might not have been such a good result given recent events.”

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