CO885-(16-18) — Page 638

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O.885

18 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

the King, and not to a Conference; that they had no right to demand invitations to the Coro- nation, and that such a request might have been misunderstood had it been preferred; further, that the Conference held on that occasion was one which fortuitously arose out of the presence of so many Colonial Premiers in London; that, however convenient and important it may have been, it was not a formal and authoritative Conference as the earlier ones had been, and that certainly, above all, it had no right to regulate the character and com- position of future Conferences. Such reasoning may be good or bad. A more practical explana- tion of any inconsistency in the attitude of the States is to be found in the growing cleavage upon the question of State rights versus Federal authority.

7. It is not the business of the Imperial Govern)- ment to take sides in a purely Australian contro- versy. The federation of groups of separate Colo- nies into single Governments of wider resources and more august authority is doubtless a desirable object. But the relations of the Colonial Office with the individual Colonies, as well as with the Federal Power, require to be very carefully adjusted during the transition period, or we may run the risk of substituting for the policy of divide and rule" the practice "unify and estrange." A certain degree of enlightened oppor tunism must influence our action. Whether in Australia or South Africa, the creation of a new Central Government ought not to be allowed to alienate the loyalties of the subordinate or con- tributory Governments, so long, at any rate, as they retain in any effective degree their identity and power. Still less should we, at a time when so much is uncertain in Australia, pronounce decisively upon a disputed Australian question, stake our whole influence upon the side of the Federal Government, and so incur the resent- ment of six Governments with whom have continual relations for the sake of grati- fying a single Government, which, whatever its parchments, has less direct and natural force. Such a course, it is suggested, would be injurious to the conduct of Colonial affairs, and prejudice the settlement of many difficulties which crop up from day to day. It would, further fail altogether to help the Com- monwealth to worry through this difficult period, would only, on the contrary, stimulate the con- troversy, aggravate the jealousies, and embroil the

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Imperial Government in their midst. The best way to dispose our own affairs and gradually fortify the position of the Commonwealth is by remaining neuter in this quarrel, bringing both parties together, inculcating forbearance, soothing ruffled susceptibilities, and showing to both an equal measure of courtesy and respect,

8. If it be objected that the scope of this argu- ment is altogether too wide and serious for such

a light matter as the giving or not giving of a semi-social invitation to half-a-dozen gentlemen from Australia, I would direct attention to the protests of the Australian States themselves, especially to that of South Australia, and to the evidence of their resentment, which has already accumulated on other matters. Mr. Ramsay Macdonald, who has just returned from a visit to Australia, fully confirms the strength of the feeling which has been excited, and proposes himself to move an amendment to the Address upon the subject.

9. It is not denied that reasons may be found

to make a good debating case against the invit- ing of the State Premiers; but it is submitted that these are only good reasons for doing an impolitic and an unpopular thing. No real difficulties lie in the way of their inclusion. There are solid and numerous grounds for dis- tinguishing between the Premiers of the Austra- lian States and those of the Canadian Provinces; and as Sir W. Laurier has alrealy obtained per- mission to bring a number of his Federal Ministers, it would not seem that any protest is to be looked for from that quarter.

Logic

cannot be pleaded as a bar, for what logic

is there in a system which freely accords two Representatives to Natal and Newfoundland, and will deny any representation to New South Wales with five times their aggregate population? No embarrassment is to be looked for at the Conference Board, for hardly anything is settled by votes, and no decision is binding. The State Premiers would take their seats upon the same terms as other members of the Conference; but their position and status would have to be borne in mind in considering the weight to be attached to any opinions they might express upon subjects which, formally at any rate, have been vested in the Federal Government.

10. It

necessary, however, that the State

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Premiers should be invited for some specific act of business of which their competence to judge is beyond dispute. One of the most important acts of the Conference will be to decide upon its future composition-that' is to say, among other matters, and first among such matters, whether the State Premiers are to attend future Con- ferences or not. It cannot be denied that this at least is a question which directly concerns them, and at the decision of which they have a right to be present; and this should be the reason assigned for their invitation to the Conference.

By taking this path we may even at the eleventh hour avoid the difficulties in which a decided pronouncement either on the one side or the other will involve us, and may gratify the desires of the State Premiers without derogating from the status of the Commonwealth Govern-

ment.

January 20, 1907.

W. S. C.

PRINTED A THE FOREIGN OFFICE BY J. M. HARRI602.- 31;1/1907.