"No doubt, if it was seriously alleged that the Act involved a breach of faith or a confiscation of the rights of absent persons, Her Majesty's Government would have to consider it carefully, and consider whether the discredit which such action on the part of a colony would entail on the rest of the Empire rendered it necessary for them to intervene. But no such charge is made, and if Her Majesty's Government were to intervene whenever the domestic legislation of a colony was alleged to affect the rights of residents, the right of self-government would be restricted to very narrow limits.... "The fact that the constituencies were not consulted on a measure of such importance might have furnished a reason for its rejection by the Upper Chamber, but would scarcely justify the Secretary of State in advising its disallowance even if it were admitted as a general principle of constitutional government in Newfoundland that the Legislature has no right to entertain any measure of first importance without an immediate mandate from the electors." The passing of the particular Bill by no means brought the Reid controversy to an end. In fact, the General Election in Newfoundland, of which the result was announced in November 1900, was fought entirely upon this absorbing question. The issue arose in the following way. The contract contained a clause providing that Mr Reid should not assign his rights over the railway without the consent of the Government. Mr Reid applied to the Government of Sir James Winter for such consent, but when that Government was defeated in February 1900, no answer had been received. Mr Reid wished to turn all his holdings in the colony over to a corporation capitalized at 25,000,000 dollars, he and his three sons forming the company. On the properties included he proposed to raise 5,000,000 dollars by debenture bonds, this sum to be expended in development.[51] A Liberal Ministry under Mr Bond, who had consistently opposed the Reid arrangements, displaced Sir James Winter. Finding himself unable to hold his own in the Assembly, Mr Bond formed a coalition with Mr Morris, the leader of a section of Liberals who had not associated themselves with the party opposition to the contract. The terms of accommodation were simple: "The contract was to be treated as a _fait accompli_, but no voluntary concessions were to be made to Mr Reid except for a consideration." Consistently with this view, Mr Reid was informed by the Government that the permission he requested would be given upon the following terms: (1) He should agree to resign his proprietary rights in the railway. (2) He should restore the telegraphs to the ownership of the Government. (3) He should consent to various modifications of his land grants in the interest of squatters able to establish their _de facto_ possession.