MR. PARNELL ON FEDERATION OF THE EMPIRE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6147, 30 July 1881, Page 7

MR. PARNELL ON FEDERATION OF THE EMPIRE.

A New York Herald reporter has been interviewing celebrities to obtain their opinions on Federation.' Mr. Parnell, with whiom he conversed recently in the smoking-room of the House of Commons, thinks that the project of a , confederation of England arid her dependencies is a practicable one, but says:— "I doubt much whether the colonies would consent to a union of the kind, because it would certainly entail a contribution from

them to the-imperial revenue. At present they have all the advantages of a connection with the mother'country without any of its expenses. England would always defend them if they were attacked. As an example I may mention the recent war against the Zulus, which was iidertaken at imperial expense. The navy as well as the army of England is also at the service of the colonies free of charge, and they practically benefit by the diplomatic and consular machinery of Great Britain which is spread over the world, and do not contribute to its support. If there was a representation for the colonies in the Imperial Parliament taxation would necessarily follow. The question of free trade and protection also comes in here. At present the colonies claim a right to proteot : themselves against English manufatured articles. If they joined a confederation of the kind suggested by the Herald the question of protected duties would become a common one, and the unifora enactment over all communities forming the confederation would be necessary, just as that one State of the American, Union is not permitted to protect itself against the manufactures of another. England would have a great deal to gain by such an arrngement; but the colonies would have a good deal to lose, and they are not at all likely to consent to it. As regards .the share of Ireland in the transaction, the programme of: home rule put forward by Air. Butt contemplated a confederation between England, Ireland, and, Scotland, and Ireland and, her Parliament would havo borne the same relation toward the Imperial Parliament that the State and its Legislature-inthe American Union now bears toward the Congress at Washington. The land question has rather thrown the question of the self-government of Ireland for the moment into the shade, but if the former question is settled on a lasting basis there can be no doubt that a more or less extensive measure of autonomy will follow for Ireland as one of the most immediate consequences."