CO885-(6-7) — Page 240

241

HIT

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 885

6

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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

4

an agreement between Her Majesty and the Sovereign of the foreign State, and it is to Her Majesty's Government that the foreign State would apply in case of any question arising under it.

7. To give the Colonies the power of negotiating Treaties for themselves without reference to Her Majesty's Government would be to give them an international status as separate and sovereign States, and would be equivalent to breaking up the Empire into a number of independent States, a result which Her Majesty's Government are satisfied would be injurious equally to the Colonies and to the Mother Country, and would be desired by neither.

The negotiation, then, being between Her Majesty and the Sovereign of the foreign State must be conducted by Her Majesty's Representative at the Court of the foreign Power, who would keep Her Majesty's Government informed of the progress of the discussion, and seek instructions from them as necessity arose.

It could hardly be expected, however, that he would be sufficiently cognisant of the circumstances and wishes of the Colony to enable him to conduct the negotiation satisfactorily alone, and it would be desirable generally, therefore, that he should have the assistance, either as a second Plenipotentiary or in a subordinate capacity, as Her Majesty's Govern- ment think the circumstances require, of a delegate appointed by the Colonial Government.

If, as a result of the negotiations, any arrangement is arrived at it must be approved by Her Majesty's Government and by the Colonial Government, and also by the Colonial Legislature if it involves legislative action, before the ratifications can be exchanged.

8. The same considerations which dictate the procedure to be followed have also dictated the conditions under which, though never distinctly formulated, Her Majesty's Government have hitherto conducted such negotiations, and as to the propriety of which they are confident that no question can be

raised.

C

5

9. These considerations are the strict observance of existing international obligations, and the preserva- tion of the unity of the Empire. The question, then,

to be dealt with is how far these considerations necessarily limit the scope and application of any commercial arrangement dealing with the trade between one of Her Majesty's Colonies and a foreign Power, both in respect of the concessions which may be offered by the Colony and the concessions which it seeks in return.

10. It is obvious that a Colony could not offer

a foreign Power tariff concessions which were not

at the same time to be extended to all other Powers

entitled by Treaty to most-favoured-nation treatment

in the Colony. In the Constitution Acts of some Colonies such a course is specifically prohibited, but, even where that is not the case, it is obvious that Her Majesty could not properly enter into any engagements with a foreign Power inconsistent with Her obligations to other Powers, and before any Convention or Treaty can be ratified, therefore, Her Majesty's Government must be satisfied that it fulfils this condition, and also that any legislation for giving effect to it makes full provision for enabling Her Majesty to fulfil Her obligations, both to the Power immediately concerned, and to any other Powers whose rights under Treaty may be affected. To do otherwise would be a breach of public faith

to which Her Majesty's Government could not lend themselves in any way.

Further, Her Majesty's Government regard it as essential that any tariff concessions proposed to be conceded by a Colony to a foreign Power should

be extended to this country and to the rest of Her Majesty's dominions.

As I have already pointed out, there are but few nations with which Her Majesty's Government have not Treaties containing most-favoured-nation clauses, and to most of these Treaties all or some of the Responsible Government Colonies have adhered. Any tariff advantages granted by a Colony, there-

A 3

Page 240Page 241

242

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 885

LITE

6

fore, to a foreign Power would have to be extended to all Powers entitled by Treaty to most-favoured- nation treatment in the Colony, and Her Majesty's Government presume., that. no Colony would wish to afford to, practically, all foreign nations. better treatment than it accorded to the rest of the Empire of which it forms a part.

27 31

11. This point has already arisen in connexion with negotiations on behalf of Colonies with foreign States. When informal discussions with a view to

a commercial arrangement between, the United States of America and Canada took place in 1892, the delegates of the Dominion Government refused the demand of the United States that Canada should discriminate against the produce and manu- factures of the United Kingdom, and the negotiations were broken off on this point. Similarly, when New- foundland, in 1890, had made preliminary arrange- ments for a Convention with the United States under which preferential treatment might have been accorded to that Power, Her Majesty's Govern- ment acknowledged the force of the protest made by Canada, and when the Newfoundland Government proposed to pass legislation to grant the conces- sions stipulated for by the United States, my predecessor, in a despatch dated the 26th of March 1892, informed the Dominion Government that they might rest assured that Her Majesty will not be

!

advised to assent to any legislation discriminating directly against the products of the Dominion."

12. 'It must not be forgotten that, as I have pointed out in my other despatch of this date,* Whilst the grant of preferential tariff treatment is a friendly act to the country receiving it, it is an unfriendly act to countries or placés excluded from it, and Her Majesty's Government are satisfied that the bonds which unite the baribi

Various parts of the Empire together 'require that every Colony should accord to the rest at least as favourable terms as it grants to' any foreign country.· ́If a Colony were

FA

• Miscellaneous, No. 102.

7

to grant preferential treatment to the produce of a foreign country and were to refuse to extend the benefit of that treatment to the Mother Country and the other Colonies, or some of them, such a step could not fail to isolate and alienate that Colony from the rest of the Empire, and attract it politically as well as commercially towards the favoured Power. Her Majesty's Government are convinced that the Colonies will agree that such a result would

be fraught with danger to the interests of the Empire as a whole, and that they will also agree that it would be impossible for Her Majesty's Government to assent to any such arrangement.

13. In regard to the other side of the question, namely as to the terms which a Colony seeks from a foreign Power, the considerations mentioned appear

to require that a Colony should not endeavour in such a negotiation to obtain an advantage at the expense of other parts of Her Majesty's dominions. In the case, therefore, of preference being sought by or offered to the Colony in respect of any article in which it competed seriously with other Colonies or with the Mother Country, Her Majesty's Govern- ment would feel it to be their duty to use every effort to obtain the extension of the concession to the rest of the Empire, and in any case to ascertain as

far as possible whether the other Colonies affected would wish to be made a party to the arrangement.

In the event of this being impossible, and of the result to the trade of the excluded portions of the Empire being seriously prejudicial, it would be necessary to consider whether it was desirable, in the common interests, to proceed with the negotiation.

14. Her Majesty's Government recognise, of course, that in the present state of opinion among foreign Powers and many of the Colonies as to differential duties, and in a matter which, to some extent, would affect only a particular Colony, they would not feel justified in objecting to a proposal merely on the ground that it was inconsistent in this respect with the commercial and financial policy of this country. But the guardianship of the