G.C.N.O.

Governor-General and Com- His Excellency The Rt. Hon. Earl Grey, G.C.M.G., 26 Sep., 1904 mander-in-Chief

10 Dec., 1904

Ottawa

50,000

Toronto

The Hon. Sir C. Alphouse P. Pelletier, K.C.M.G.
Duncan Cameron Fraser, Esq.

Lieutenant-Governor

Col. Sir H. E. McCallum, R.E., G.C.M.G., A.D.C.
Brevet-Col. Sir F. J. Dealtry Lugard, K.C.M.G., ¦

1 May, 1907

24 Aug., 1907

1 May, 1907

29 uly, 1907

15 Apr., 1904

20 Aug., 1904

15 Apr., 1904

30 May, 1904

1 Feb., 1904

20 Jan., 1902

23 May, 1904

IMPERIAL CONFERENCE.

The Imperial Conference has been constituted under the terms of the first resolution of the Colonial Conference of 1907, which was as follows:

"That it will be to the advantage of the Empire if a Conference, to be called the Imperial Conference, is held every four years, at which questions of common interest may be discussed and considered as between His Majesty's Government and His Governments of the self-governing Dominions beyond the seas. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom will be ex-officio President, and the Prime Ministers of the self-governing Dominions ex-officio members, of the Conference. The Secretary of State for the Colonies will be an ex-officio member of the Conference and will take the chair in the absence of the President. He will arrange for such Imperial Conferences after communication with the Prime Ministers of the respective Dominions.

Such other Ministers as the respective Governments may appoint will also be members of the Conference-it being understood that, except by special permission of the Conference, each discussion will be conducted by not more than two representatives from each Government, and that each Government will have only one vote. That it is desirable to establish a system by which the several Governments represented shall be kept informed during the periods between the Conferences in regard to matters which have been or may be subjects for discussion, by means of a permanent secretarial staff, charged, under the direction of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, with the duty of obtaining information for the use of the Conference, of attending to its resolutions, and of conducting correspondence on matters relating to its affairs.

That upon matters of importance requiring consultation between two or more Governments which cannot conveniently be postponed until the next Conference, of involving subjects of a minor character or such as call for detailed consideration, subsidiary Conferences should be held between representatives of the Governments concerned specially chosen for the purpose."

MEMBERS OF THE IMPERIAL CONFERENCE.

President-The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Chairman (in the absence of the President)-The Secretary of State for the Colonies. The Prime Minister of the Dominion of | The Prime Minister of Cape Colony. Canada. The Prime Minister of the Transvaal. The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth The Prime Minister of Newfoundland. of Australia. The Prime Minister of the Orange River Colony.

The Prime Minister of the Dominion of
New Zealand.

The Prime Minister of Natal.

Secretarial Staff.

Secretary-H. W. Just, C.B., C.M.G.

Assistant Secretaries-W. A. Robinson, H. E. Dale.
Clerk-A. Berriedale Keith.

Prior to the Conference of 1907 there were four Colonial Conferences (three in London and one in Ottawa). A brief account of these five Conferences follows: The invitations to the Conference of 1887, despatched by Mr. Stanhope in November, 1886, met with a prompt response in all quarters; they were addressed to the Governors of all the Colonies in view of the celebration of Conference the Jubilee of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. All the of 1887. self-governing Colonies sent delegates, as well as Natal and Western Australia, and representative gentlemen from some of the larger Crown Colonies attended meetings at which matters of interest to these dependencies were discussed. The proceedings were opened on the 4th of April with an address from the President, Sir Henry Holland, now Viscount Knutsford, in which he reviewed the progress of the Empire during Her Majesty's reign and indicated the object for which the Conference had been summoned. The most prominent question discussed was the organisation of Colonial Defence, and an important agreement was arrived at for the increase of the Australasian Squadron. Five fast cruisers and two torpedo gunboats were to be added to the squadron, the Colonies paying, for

maintenance and depreciation of these vessels, 126,000l. per annum for ten years. All the Colonial Legislatures passed the necessary legislation for giving effect to this arrangement, and vessels for service on the Australasian Station reached Australia in September, 1891. The defence of the important stations of King George's Sound and Thursday Island were also fully discussed, but no final decision was arrived at. It was also agreed that an Imperial Officer should be selected to inspect the Colonial forces and military defences. Among the other questions which came before the Conference were the provision for the Government of British New Guinea, and it was agreed that Queensland, acting with New South Wales and Victoria, should contribute 15,000l. a year for ten years for this purpose, the Imperial Government undertaking to provide a suitable steamer and maintain it for three years at an estimated cost of 29,000l. Queensland passed the necessary legislation in 1887, and the proclamation of sovereignty over the territory took place on the 4th September, 1887, Dr. (now Sir William) MacGregor was selected as the first administrator of the new colony.

A full interchange of views on the relations of the Australasian Colonies with the Islands in the Pacific took place between Her Majesty's Government and the Colonial delegates, and the Conference unanimously approved the position taken up with regard to Samoa, and also the proposal for a joint Anglo-French Naval Commission for the preservation of the neutrality of the New Hebrides.

Among other questions discussed were the Australian and Pacific Mail services, telegraphic communication with Australia, the proposal for an Imperial Penny Post, the adoption of similar legislation with regard to merchandise marks and patents, and the enforcement of Colonial judgments and Orders in Bankruptcy. In pursuance of the arrangement as to the inspection of the local forces of Australasia referred to above, Major-Gen. Sir Bevan Edwards, K.C.MG., C.B., visited all the principal Colonies during 1890, and inspected their forces and defences. One important result of this report was that it showed the importance of a closer union of the Australasian Colonies, and at the instance of Sir H. Parkes, the Premier of New South Wales, an Inter-colonial Conference was held in Melbourne during 1890, to consider the question of Federation. The result of its proceedings will be found in the account of Australia, and also of the proceedings of the Federation Convention which resulted from it. A Conference of Australasian Prime Ministers was held at Hobart in 1895 to discuss the question, and measures were passed by all the Colonies except Queensland for the election of delegates (ten from each Colony) to draft a Constitution Act. The delegates were elected in February, 1897, and prepared the basis of a constitution. The later developments are described under the heading "Australia" (C. 5091, 5091-I.)

During 1894 a Colonial Conference was held at Ottawa, on the invitation of the Dominion Government, to consider the question of trade and communications

Conference of 1894.

between the Colonies, and between the Colonies and the Mother Country. Delegates attended from New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand and from the Cape Colony, and important resolutions were passed urging the removal of legislative or treaty obstacles to preferential tariff treatment within the Empire, the establishment of a mail service between Great Britain and Australasia, ria Canada, and the connection of Canada and Australasia by a cable under British control. A Committee of representatives of the Imperial and Colonial Governments was appointed in 1896 to consider the question of this cable, and eventually the execution of the project was decided on and a Board constituted to manage the undertaking. The work of laying was commenced in 1902 (C. 7553).

The distinguishing event of the year 1897 was the celebration of the completion of the sixtieth year of Her Majesty's reign. Early in the year invitations were addressed to the Prime Ministers of all the self-governing Colonies Conference to attend the celebration in London as guests of the Queen. The of 1897. Prime Ministers, eleven in number, accepted and attended. Advantage was taken of their presence to hold a conference between them and the Secretary of State for the discussion of various questions of common interest. The proceedings were private, but a summary was presented to Parliament (C. 8596, July, 1897), in which were published the opening address by Mr. Chamberlain, setting forth the subjects of discussion, a short statement by Mr. Goschen on the question of naval defence, with special reference to the Australian naval agreement, and the resolutions arrived at by the Conference. It was generally agreed that the meeting had been most conducive to the interests of the Empire, and that it would be well to

hold similar meetings in the future when occasion offered. As a result of a resolution passed at the Conference the commercial treaties of this country with Germany and Belgium were denounced on the 30th of July, in order that the fiscal relations between the Mother Country and the Colonies might be completely independent of fiscal relations with foreign countries. This question had been brought prominently to the front by a Tariff Act passed in Canada, giving preferential treatment to the Mother Country, and the resolution was passed unanimously by the Conference largely in consequence of the urgent request of the Dominion Government. The matter of Imperial defence received much attention, and an offer was made by Sir J. Gordon Sprigg, on behalf of Cape Colony, to present a first-class battleship as a contribution to the British navy--for which a contribution in money was afterwards substituted.

Conference

Advantage was taken of the presence in London of the Prime Ministers of the selfgoverning Colonies in connection with His Majesty's Coronation, in 1902, to discuss with them various important questions of general interest, especially the political and commercial relations of the Empire and its naval and of 1902. military defence. In the result a very considerable improvement was arranged, subject to the approval of the Parliaments concerned, in the terms of the Australasian Naval Agreement, by which the effectiveness of the squadron to which it relates, as part of the naval force of the Empire, was to be greatly increased, and the amount of the Colonial contribution towards the maintenance of the squadron raised from 126,000l. a year to 240,0007. Premiers of Cape Colony and Natal intimated their desire to increase their unconditional contributions to the Navy from 30,0007. and 12,0007. to 50,0007. and 35,000l. respectively. Newfoundland agreed to contribute 3,000, a year towards the expense of a branch of the Royal Navy Reserve established in the Colony, on the condition that the number should be raised to 600 men. Various important resolutions were passed respecting commercial relations (see Cd. 1299).

The

The last Colonial Conference (thereafter to be designated the Imperial Conference) was held in 1907, in which the Prime Ministers of all the self-governing Colonies took

Conference

part, including the Transvaal, where the first elections under responsible government had just taken place. At the opening meeting, on April of 1907. 15th, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman welcomed the Colonial representatives on behalf of His Majesty's Government. The primary subject for consideration was that of the future Constitution of the Conference, raised by Mr. Lyttelton's despatch of 20th April, 1905, proposing the establishment of an Imperial Council. The resolution adopted (which is quoted above) provided for the meeting of an Imperial Conference every four years between His Majesty's Government and the Governments of the self-governing Dominions beyond the Seas, with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom as ex-officio President, the Secretary of State for the Colonies taking the chair in his absence; and also provided that a permanent secretarial staff should attend to the business of the Conference during the period between its meetings. In the course of discussion Lord Elgin undertook so to alter the organisation of the Colonial Office that there should be a separate division dealing with the self-governing Dominions. The manner in which this undertaking was carried out by him is explained in his despatch of 21st Sept., 1907 (Cd. 3795).

The Conference affirmed the need of developing a General Staff, selected from the forces of the Empire as a whole, to study military science in all its branches. With regard to naval defence, Australia indicated a desire to make provision for a local force, diverting to its service the subsidy now paid to the Admiralty under the Naval Agreement. The scheme now engaging the attention of the Commonwealth Government is shown in Cd. 4325.

The members of the Conference, with exception of His Majesty's Government, reaffirmed the resolutions of the Conference of 1902 on the subject of Preferential Trade within the Empire, His Majesty's Government being unable to admit that it is necessary or expedient to alter the fiscal system of the United Kingdom.

Among other subjects brought before the Conference were the improvement of mail communication with Australia, cia Canada, the promotion of emigration to British Colonies, the adoption of uniform conditions of naturalisation throughout the Empire, uniformity in Company law, in trade statistics and in trade marks and patents, and the codification of the rules governing appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (see Cd. 3523).