|
|
When Carter’s estate was valued after his death in 1900, it amounted to only $6,000. He had not used public office to enrich himself, and as a judge he probably earned less than he would have if he had remained in private practice. On the one hand these facts reflect a lack of energy and ambition, on the other an essential honesty. He was never the politician’s politician, and the record of his career shows instances of caution, hesitation, and ambivalence, which led to accusations that he was ineffective, lacking in brilliance, and adept at using others. Yet all his contemporaries agreed that he was an able lawyer and judge and that his character was beyond reproach. Remembering him as genial, hospitable, charitable, and a keen angler, the author of his obituary noted, “There was never any of the insolence of office about him . . . he was always the same affable, kindly gentleman, free from all cant, bigotry and pretension.” He was one of the most prominent of Newfoundland’s 19th-century public servants, with a career spanning 43 years as politician and judge, and his historical importance lies in his role in the confederation debates of the 1860s, the establishment of denominational power-sharing, and his firm handling of the difficulties posed by French and American fishing rights in Newfoundland waters. Carter viewed Newfoundland with realism, as an isolated colony with a limited resource base, a fragile economy, and limited bargaining power. Confederation and caution therefore made sense. His failings as a politician helped prevent the colony from joining the union; had his caution been emulated by his successors, its attempt at independence might have stood a better chance.
|
