COLONIAL CONFERENCE CONCLUSIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIII, Issue 231, 29 September 1902, Page 2

COLONIAL CONFERENCE CONCLUSIONS.

THE RESULTS AND THEIR

RECEPTION.

(From Our London Correspondent)

LONDON, Augnst 15,

"They do not know by now much the half exceeds the Whole," ia the ancient paradox which one of the London daily papers applies to the result'- of tne Colonial Conference. It is certainly applicable. The conference is interesting and its work valuable, both for what it has done and what it has left undone. What it has done has been to pave the way to a fuller and closer consideration, of the Empire's relations in trade and defence; what it has declined to <_o is to disturb the existing fiscal and military systems of autonomous colonies. It is generally considered here that the most important feature in the conference proceedings has been its restraint. The temptation was strong to produce a dramatic programme that must have commanded world-wide attention, and might have been epoch making. The conference might, for instance, have recommended adoption of an Imperial Customs Union, under which there would be free trade between all parts of Empire and a tariff barrjer against the rest of the world. It might also have decided to create an Imperial army, and to which every port of the Empire should contribute proportionately, and in the control of which every part of the Empire might participate in an Imperial legislature in which the United Kingdom, India and the colonies would have proportional representation. There are many leaders of thought in England who dream these dreams, and there were some in the conference (notably Mr Chamberlain and Mr Seddon) who possibly hoped to see them realised wholly or in part. But obviously the time is not yet for such structural changes in the constitution of Empire. Political considerations compelled Mr Chamberlain to abandon his zollverein scheme before he went into the conference. The attitude of the Canadian Premier and of the Australian Commonwealth destroyed whatever hopes the Secretary for War may have entertained of an Imperial military combination. There remained of these ambitious projects only the naval; subsidies, of which hopeful anticipations were entertained. These anticipations have been so far realised that I am in a position to say the Admiralty authorities are entirely satisfied with the recommendations which colonial Premiers have agreed to place before their respective Parliaments.

Although the conference did not fulfil the high hopes that were at one time held in regard to its probable results, the list of its decisions includes some that may be far-reaching in their ultimate effects. Among these may be mentioned notably the approval of principle of preferential tariffs, the giving of preference to British and colonial tenderers in Government contracts, the extension of system of ocean steamships' subsidies, the promotion of intra-Imper-ial trade, and the re-organisation of Australasian section of British navy on a basis that incorporates the colonies with the United Kingdom as sources from which both men and money may be drawn, and enlarges the naval training area of the nation.

One of the most important subjects dealt with by the Colonial Conference was that relating to the subsidy system in connection with lines of mail steamships. It was not found practicable to lay down any definite system that would be applicable to all 'parts of the Empire, but the conference was unanimous in its opinion that only British-owned and Britishcontrolled ships should be subsidised. This policy, if acted upon, will, for instance, operate against any continuance of the subsidy to the Spreckels line of mail steamships between San Francisco and Australasia. The consensus of opinion in the conference was that wherever justifiable for postal or commercial reasons the rates of subsidy should be increased, and that one of the purposes that should be kept in view should be' the maintenance of British mercantile supremacy in British ports, on all British lines of communication.

It will be a recommendation to the Parliaments of the United Kingdom and of the colonies to give effect as far as possible to these considerations. This is one of the most practical and practicable of conference decisions, inasmuch as it may be given effect to with greater ease and promptitude and with less probability of conflicting with vested interests than would be involved in the revision of the various colonial tariffs.

The most important decision of the conference in relation to Imperial naval defence was that dealing with the renewal of the Australian naval squadron agreement. The conference recommended to the approval of the Parliaments of the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand a modification of the existing agreement to the effect that the present subsidy of £125,000 a year should be increased, subject to the condition that the obsolete ships in the Squadron shall "be replaced T>y the newest and most effective types of cruisers; that a certain proportion of the ships of the squadron shall be officered and manned by Australians and New Zealanders; that such Australians and !sTew Zealanders shall be quartered together in certain cruisers or drill-ships, to which they shall be exclusively assigned, and that they shall receive rates of pay equal to the local standard rate- The members representing Australia, New Zealand, Cape Colony and Natal agreed to advise their respective Parliaments to increase their contributions to the Imperial navy in the following proportions: Commonwealth of Australia, £200,000; New Zealand, £40,000; "Cape Colony, £50,000; and Natal, £35,000; or a total of £325,----000. This h rather more than double Mto present* contributions. Canada refused to contribute to either naval or military Imperial defence-

There will be three drill-ships, one of which shall be stationed at Sydney, one at Melbourne, and one in New Zealand. They win be similar jbcjcgb_» jressrvo afcsjjs <3£« f&*_}*&te*9r>

tralian station, which at present are Usually confined, to harbour, and manned with only maintenance crews. It will be remembered that there has long been a demand on the pari of the colonies for permission to use these ships for training purposes for the benefit of local naval forces. They will now have their opportunity.

One of the cruisers will be permanently stationed in New Zealand, but the whole fleet will of course visit the various Australasian ports, as heretofore. The idea of establishing an Australian navy, owned and controlled by the Commonwealth, was gone into fully by the Premiers in consultation with the Admiralty officers, but the decision unanimously arrived at was that the cost would be altogether beyond the financial resources of the colonies, and that the results in efficiency and up-to-dateness would not be so satisfactory as under a scheme whereby the Admiralty was under an obligation to supply the latest ships and armaments, and to replace them as they became ineffective or obsolete.

The representatives of the whole of the colonies intimated their intention of contributing towards the national memorial in commemoration of Queen Victoria in the capital of the Empire. The total contribution of the self-governing colonies alone will probably exceed £106,000. Already for this purpose Canada has promised a contribution of £30,000; Cape Colony, £20,000;' New Zealand, not less than £15,000; and Natal, £10,000. The amount to be contributed by Australia has not yet been fixed, but is expected to be on the same scale as the contributions from other colonies. One of the proposals which the Premier of New Zealand brought before the Colonial Conference was for the annexation of Fiji to New Zealand. The proposal, however, met with such scant approval that it was promptly abandoned. Fiji is what is known as a "Crown colony," and Mr. Chamberlain's view that it should be permitted, as other Crown colonies have been, to work out its political destiny towards constitutional selfgovernment, met with general acceptance.