be carried. Dunfield clearly implied that he was not exactly confident about the financial health of the company from the outset. His judgment was that the government went from being a supportive partner to being a strict creditor. Then the Second World War came and stopped the free export of pit props. The people from 1934 to 1939 received according to Dunfield, not less than $800,000 in wages when they might have been on the dole. Dunfield acknowledged Williams' particular line of skill, but thought that he was not experienced in other fields and that he himself had admitted so. The $250,000 reinvestment Williams made in Labrador from his Newfoundland trade, coupled with the money from his Cardiff company hid the true position according to Dunfield, which was that the Labrador enterprise needed a much greater capital investment and a larger working capital than had been provided. Dunfield laid the blame firmly on Williams and said that the government was also to blame for failing to fulfil its partnership contribution in the circumstances. Dunfield thought the government lacked the right calibre of officials, with the right training to work successfully with Williams the business person. Dunfield went so far as to say in his final report that Williams should perhaps be given another chance. Dunfield was in fact quite sympathetic towards Williams and definite that he was not entirely to blame for what had happened. He knew that the Government had gained more than it had lost on the venture and he would not swallow the vitriolic anti-Williams propaganda. He had found no evidence to justify the bad impression that other people and he had held before the start of the enquiry about Williams. Dunfield might have over-reacted against the very suggestion that he should take part in any sort of rigged public enquiry to attack Williams' character and discredit him. Instead, he recommended that the Government and Williams should try again. In 1945 the population of Port Hope Simpson had been 352 which included 119 children. However, one year later from Williams's point of view, the situation had looked desperate, "When I restarted at Hope Simpson in 1946 I was faced with a derelict township, everything that could be turned into cash was sold, or stolen, down to the office furniture....I have already spent over $20,000 putting the place right...The argument that we could not get the labour is