XIII.—THE THIRD QUERY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1005, 4 March 1871, Page 17

XIII. — THE THIRD QUERY.

During the agitation referred to in previous articles the projeot of uniting England and her colonies into one great State was mooted. It could hardly fail to be so. The notion lay on the surface ; and few men could help feeling their pulse quicken at the conception of a mighty empire, embracing every clime, all powerful for good, and progressing from age to age in civilisation and refinement. Bat the schemes proposed for accomplishing this end were crude and rash, and gave those who cared nought for the consummation of England's greatness an opportunity of ridiculing them as empty visions. Evidently it is impossible to govern a number of countries, possessing the most divergent interests, and situated in all parts of the globe, from one point; no human mind could grasp the details necessary to enable him to

comprehend the exaot wants of each locality, and how they could be harmonised iuto a measure suitable for the general welfare. Confederation was therefore pooh-poohed as impossible ; and England, having erected a splendid empire at a vast expenditure of blood and money, Beemed quite prepared to let it fall into pieces without an effort to prevent such a catastrophe. Her rulers looked back into the past, and seeing nought there but the ruins of mighty nations, seemed disposed to fall back into their chairs and murmur " Allah wills it 1"

The disinclination to deal with the question exhibited by English statesmen may have partly arisen from the fact of its being mi generis, and no precedents existing to guide them. Neither the colonising nations of ancient nor of modern times have possessed dependencies like those of England. Her colonies have been acquired in the most dissimilar manner. Their relations with England are distinct and different, and have never been accurately defined. Each has its peculiar Interests ; while the interests of neither are identical with those of the mother country. English statesmen are not accustomed to solve problems of this nature. They have always had a Constitution to work upon, and perhaps this has somewhat impaired their originality. At any rate, the question ia surrounded with difficulties which must be met by novel processes of solution.

It ia always easy to fashion paper theories as to how a consitutional difficulty can be met, but such theories can seldom be embodied in practice when we have to remedy a def eot in the English constitution, which, having been constructed without definite plan, will not readily serve as a stock on which to graft a political system. In the present instance, more particularly, elaborate schemes are quite inapplicable. If we hang the fate of the Empire on any particular form of Government, we shall stand a very good chance of bringing it to ruin altogether. We must be content to imitate the practice of our forefathers, and, without following any striot rule, adapt our constitution to meet our wants ; but constantly striving towards more perfect union. The various parts of the Empire must be conaolidated gradually ; the main ties which now exist must be strengthened, and others created as opportunity may offer. I will now point out a few leading principles of what it appears to ore should be the joint policy of England and her colonies aa regards their relations to each other.

First, it should be fully recognised that the empire is to be consolidated. At present the great danger is that people may come to look upon ultimate separation as an inevitable result arising from the very nature of things, and which it ia not within the compaaa of human skill to prevent. Such a belief must impede all efforts to achieve a grander object. It is a faith without foundation. If many colonial politicians would devote but half the time they now spend in raking up grievances against the mother country, to devising a comprehensive policy for rivetting together the various parts of the Empire, the difficulty would soon be solved, and they would accomplish a statesmanlike and patriotic work. In the same manner could the Manchester statisticians more profitably employ their talents than in compiling long lists of imports and exports, which merely serve to promulgate the notion that man is an animal whose value must be estimated by the quantity of gooda he produces and consumes.

No permanent Constitution for the whole Empire can yet be framed. Whatever arrangements are made now must necessarily be of a temporary charaoter. When Canada and Australia each boasts its 20,000,000 of inhabitants they can treat with. England on something like equal terms, and will be in a position to bear a fair share of the cost of a combined armament. It is utterly impossible that either Bhould pay now such a portion of the cost of the army and navy as to entitle it to participate in the administration of foreign affairs. We must be content, for t season, to let things go on without material change, introducing, as occasion offers, new bonds to cement the union. Certain alterations could, however, be at once made, with every prospect of a happy result.

One of the chief disabilities under which the colonies have laboured has been the want of proper representation at home. Neglect has been bad enough ; but misrepresentation infinitely worse. Everybody in England who wanted to do so has had a kick at the colonists, knowing full well there was little chance of a return blow. People who have lived for a few years in New Zealand will remember the time when the bitterest obloquy was heaped upon us by the London press— when we were arraigned before

the b&r of public opinion, tried, and condemned without benefit of counsel or being heard in our own defence. Those days are happily past ; had they endured much longer than they did, the bitterest enmity might now exist between the inhabitants of this colony and of Great Britain. Violent injustice of this sort is not likely to be repeated ; the extension of the electric telegraph, and the increased frequency of steam communication, will dispel much of the gross ignorance that has hitherto prevailed, and supply che British publio with truthful information concerning the principal events that may happen in the colony. Our affairs will, however, not be placed before the people of Europe in a full and fair light until we have in England authorised exponents of our views. An endeavour haa lately been made to supply this want by appointing Agents-General to reside in England ; but it is unlikely that these gentlemen, devoid of real power and not speaking from the rostrum, will be able to exert any appreciable influence over the public mind. Moreover, as they conduct the financial operations of their respective Governments in the home market, their utterances are always liable to be regarded with bus* picion. The proper mode of giving the colonies a Btatus in England (if I may be allowed the expression) is by admitting their representatives into Parliament, where colonial affairs have always been looked upen as one of those subjects which can beat be discussed in Bellamy's. A strong colonial party is urgently needed in the House of Commons. A colonial party already exists, but it lacks a prime ingredient — iaen who have practical acquaintance with colonial life. A passing visit of a few months is better than no experience at all, but it does not render a man a thoroughly competent judge of the requirements of a colony. We want real se. tiers in the Hope, the accredited exponents of colonial feeling, and whose sole business it would be to bring the wants of the dependencies before the national senate. Such men could only be found in members chosen by the colonies themselves, and they would form the centre for a great party, strong enough to compel any Government to heed their complaints. lam aware that the proposal to admit colonial representatives into Parliament has often been put forward, and as often rejected aB impracticable ; but I submit that it ia essential for the preservation of the Empire, that the colonies should have a voice in Parliament ; and, while the project mi-iht have been unfeasible a few years ago, times have changed and brought it within the range of possibility. Granted that, in theory, representation should be accompanied by taxation ; yet, if both parties insist on their atriot rights, continued union is hopeless ; and theory must, therefore, give way to circumstances. There must be mutual concession, and the concession asked from England would not involve any dangerous interference with the disposal of her revenue. It is merely requisite to give each self-governed oolony a single member, , and their aggregate votes would not, speoial instances excepted, affect the supplies. Colonial members might even be disqualified from voting in Committee of Supply. As long as they were able to bring the grievances of their constituents under the notice of Parliament, the end sought for would be attained.

Such a concession would likwisetend to evoke national life in the colonies. This is their pressing want — national life ; not the narrow life of a petty canton, but the hot life of a mighty nation, with a cloud of glorious memories in its past, and a fiery pillar of still more glorious hopes in the future. England's selfgoverned dependencies are now small communities, busied with their domestio affairs, and heedless of the world beyond. They are training themselves to become the drudges of mankind. England can do much towards educating them for better things. It ia one of her dutieß to open to her children great careers, and this she can only do by affording to each of them an opportunity of rising to the highest offices of state, and of dealing with those problems which test the intellect of the wisest statesmen. Nor must she grudge the bestowal of honours upon colonists. Up till within the last year or two, the most eminent settlers were allowed to go unrewarded, unless they chanced to return home and their merits were paraded before the eyes of the Ministry by influential friends. A colonist Bhould be made to feel that his prospects of distinction are in no way impaired by his absence from the old country ; that in labouring for the oolony in which he resides, he is labouring for the Empire, and the Empire will reward him. And when I say honours, I mean genuine honours ; not decorations manufactured specially for the colonial market. People do not, by emigrating, lose knowledge of the difference between honours of the first and second rank ; yet it would really seem

that English ministers imagine such to be the case. With prospeots of achieving distinction in their own country, and a Pailiamentary career in the future, many of the finest minds among the colonists, who now chafe and fume at the curb put upoa their ambition, and look to separation as a means by which to get rid of the restraint, would gladly devote their energies to the work of establishing the Empire. An impetus would be given to the political energy of all classes of society. The humblest settler would feel that he might one day hope to return to his native land olothed with the dignity of representative of his Adopted country, and possessor of a seat in i»e national Legislature. The military side of the question is undoubtedly a moßt important one. The colonies are perfectly justified in desiring to be preserved from the horror* of war ; but, on tho other hand, they have all, with the exception of Canada, and recently Victoria, exhibited rather too much readiness to evade the responsibilities whioh attaoh to all denizens of civilised Ifcates in regard to protecting the state against foreign enemies. However, Ido not wish to occupy the censor's chair, and will Bimply point out that a firmlybound confederacy of England and her present dependencies would be far too strong for any other nation to attack ; while, if the empire were broken up, the riches of two or three of the smaller states would offer a provocative to attaok from foreign powers. It is the old fable of the bundle of sticks over again. And it would be ridiculous for either of the assaulted States to rely upon its recent confederates for assistance, since the disunion would have taken place in order that such assistance might not be rendered. Firmly bound together, the military strength of England and her dependencies would be invincible. Whatever weakness may now result from the connexion is solely owing to the military duties of each not being properly denned. Each doubts the other's willingness and strength. Whether Imperial troops should be retained in the colonies or not is immaterial in a political point of view, Military authorities say that our supremacy depends on our command of the sea, and this accords with our natural traditions. So far as the Australian colonies are concerned, they are safe from any attack threatening their independence so long as England rules the ocean ; and they have the additional security of holding possession of all the coal-beds to be found over many thousand square miles of the earth's surface ; so that an enemy would be unable to keep a steam fleet in the Australian waters for any length of time. The chief peril which they would incar in time of war would proceed from the sudden raids of light armed vessels. It is likewise obvious that one or two regiments in a country can only serve as a rallying point for the local militia. But on the other hand, the colonists generally look upon troops as the symbol of Imperial power, and this feeling cannot be aafely disregarded. Yet the home taxpayer may fairly urge that he should not be made to pay for suoh troops, seeing that it is as much the interest of the settler as of himself that the unity of the Empire should be maintained. If then a colony desire the presence of Imperial regiments, it should be permitted to have them on undertaking to pay their full cost. The colony would thus become entitled to demand that the troops should be placed at its own disposal, and not removed from the country without its consent. By this means a douDle object would be effected — a highly trained nucleus for the local forces would be obtained, and the strength of the Imperial army augmented without cost to the home Government. While, however, the colonies are bound in fairness and honour to make every effort towards self-defence, it should be clearly understood that England will put forth the last iota of her power for their protection. At present, colonists rather hope than firmly believe that she would do so in the event of wax. Many doubt if England could do more than hold her own against a strong alliance ; but this opinion is grounded on mere speculation, and its correctness or otherwise could only be proved by the actual result of a conflict. History tells us that she has always risen to the emergency, however dangerous it might be. But the true way of ensuring her support is to show ourselves willing to bear our own share of any burdens that may fall upon the nation ; and for the Colonial Governments to arrange with the home authorities a system ef defence for the whole empire. This is the best security for lasting peace.

England would gratify her colonies and lose little herself by conferring on them ample powers of making commercial treaties with foreign countries ; such treaties, of course, being subject to ratification by the Home Government. Differential duties ought not to be imposed ; but' reciprocal exchange of products might

be effeoted with advantage to both parties, and with certainly no more injury to home merchants than the protective tariffs which prevail in Victoria and elsewhere. England should either wholly control the trade of the colonies, or suffer the utmost liberty of action consistent with selfpreservation. If Victoria be permitted to impose heavy duties for the express purpose of shutting out British goods from her markets, she certainly ought not to be forbidden to make a reciprocity treaty, and although it 1b a moot point whether or no a self-governed colony possesses such power, yet the doubt should be settled by a distinct Eat