IMPERIAL FEDERATION.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CVI, Issue 12550, 11 July 1901, Page 4

IMPERIAL FEDERATION.

The cable message which we publish this morn ; ng ccuceming the King's Title Bi.l and the possible redistribution of seats m the Imperial Parliament is one of those items of news which ar* valueless nnkss we knc.v the authority from whom they emanate. The King's Title Bill is not our affair, but we may be certain that bsfore it contemplated any alteration in the Royal designation, the- Salisbury Government would- at least go' through the form of inviting an expression of opinion from the- various parts of the Empire. But if the Government had an idea of the kind it would hardly be idiotic enough to tack the suggested alteration, a' mere formal matter, 3 ™ to aBO dealing with the redistribution cf seats. The truth ei the matter, as we hinted the other day, » that some zealous loyalist in London is supplying "suggestions" to the newspapers. We have heard 1 before of the proposal to give the colonies representation in the Imperial Parliament, but, if Imperial Federation is ever consummated it will riot be in that way. The colonies cannot admit the right "of the Mother Country to tax them for any purpose whatever unless they consent to the tax, and such a thing as taxation without -representation, is nob to be thought ofj But the ingenious gentleman who i/ inspiring some of our cable messages just now apparently suggests representation without taxation, a pleasant subject for patriotic platform addresses, but a very dangerous subject to •handle seriously. , If the colonies were ever given a direct voice in the domestic and Imperial politics of the Mother Country they might look with absolute certainty for, some subsequent scheme of colonial taxation. We have, just been reminding one another that even in an Australasian Federation we should havo altogether too little influence to affect the general policy of the' Commonwealth); what, then, would be our i position and prospects with, one or two representatives in the. Imperial Parliament? ' This idea, ci colonial representation in the British House of Commons is just a delusion and a snare, and'men who expect Lord Salisbury and Mr Chamberlain to adopt it are crediting t'hemi with very small powers of understanding. Moreover, of the whole British Cabinet nob more than one or two members would look with favour even on a commercial union of the Empire, and the most advanced Imperialist of them all never suggested a closer political union. The little message we are dealing with is full cf nice points. We did not know that the present was regarded as a favourable opportunity for reducing the representation of Ireland. Sooner or later, no doubt, there must be a redistribution of seats in the House of Commons, for if the six hundred and seventy seats were proportionately redistributed on the basis of the electoral roils of 1900, England would gain thirty-two seats, Wales would lose one, .Scotland would iose four, and Ireland would lose twenty-seven; and on. a population basis t ; he proportions would not be Tery different. But the colonies will have to be ledt out cf the reckoning. They would unanimously refuse to profit, or to appear to profit, at the expense ( oIE afflicted Ireland. On the face of it,.therefore the message is wholly absurd, and no good cause is to be gained by the publication of these inane suggestions. There is one method by which the colonies could be given reasonable representation in the Councils of the Empire wiuhout sacrificing anything of their independence, and we believe Mr Chamberlain has approved of' tho idea. The Agents-General might be formed into an Advisory Board, officially recognised by the Colonial Office, to be consulted on all questions affecting the interests of.their States. Their: opinions could be communicated to {foe House of Commons through the Secretary of State for the Colonies. The Agents-General wculd have to be endowed with extended powers, and it would he necessary for tihem to keep in perfect sympathy with public opinion in their polonies. We should have to be careful that the political side of their office was not unduly magnified, but the scheme, on the whole, would be satisfactory. It is desirable that the various parts of the Empire should ba thrown closer together, but the sentiments of the public platform are not always easily put in practice.