A.—6

26

Second Day. 17 April 190"

Sir JOSEPH WARD : Yes, if a discussion were to take place as you suggest, giving an outline of what is in the minds of the different representatives, it might enable us to arrive at some concrete form of expressing our desire upon this important matter. For my own part lam quite prepared to fall in with whatever is the best way of arriving at a decision upon it. I would just like to say that I am of the opinion that it is perhaps a little premature, Mr. Deakin, to commence to discuss what the term should be. We first want to see whether we are in accord upon the general principle of establishing an Imperial Council under some name. Mr. F. R. MOOR : Would it not promote the object we have in view if the Colonies who have brought forward these resolutions would in brief give us their ideas each individually as to what form this should take? PROPOSED IMPERIAL COUNCIL. Sir WILFRID LAURIER : Canada has made no suggestion upon this point. I may say that in our country, as we have stated in our despatch, we do not view it with much favour, but we approach it with an open mind. I would at this moment observe relative to the suggestion of Mr. Deakin that we should take up at once the first proposal of the Commonwealth of Australia. " That it is desirable to establish an Imperial Council to consist "of representatives of Great Britain and the self-governing Colonies chosen " ex officio from their existing administrations," and that the title should be the last thing to be determined. We should know beforehand what should be the functions and the powers and duties of that Council and define those, and then according to the functions which were deputed to it the title would depend. It might be a Council or a Conference or anything you please, but it seems to me that the very first thing, as Mr. Moor suggests, is that we should settle what we have in our own minds. For my own part I approach the subject with a perfectly frank mind, but I think the suggestion made is a good one, that the gentlemen from Australia, the Cape, and New Zealand should give us their view r s in a general outline, what they have in mind as to the functions of this Imperial Council which they think ought to be established. That would bring forward at once the whole scope of the discussion, and we could determine then how we could agree, but I do not think that we should give it a name unless we know what it is. « Mr. DEAKIN : If it be your wish, Lord Elgin, I have no possible objection to state off-hand, and shall endeavour to do so in as few words as possible, the general purport of this proposal. Our discussion will probably resolve itself into some such analytical method as I just ventured to suggest. We found in the despatch from the previous Imperial Government a proposal to adopt the title " Imperial Council." This we understood was intended to be conferred upon the existing Conferences without any substantial alteration in their powers, or in the principle of their constitution. We were prepared to mark our appreciation of the intention by the adoption of that title. It appeared to us a fitting cognomen for such a body, and if its constitution were elaborated to some slight degree it might have been a judicious thing to accept it even at this stage: but the intention of this general resolution of ours was to retain these Conferences precisely as they have existed —this Conference as it now exists—unaltered in personnel or in procedure, except so far as we might with advantage connect its several meetings during the intervals of. its assembling, and provide for a more efficient means of keeping its members in touch with one another, and with the Government of Great Britain. Our idea was not to endow the new body

Proposed Imperial Council.