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Straits Settlements St. Helena The "Empire'8" Interview 1 Hong" Kong F^i Islands Mauritius WITH MR. HOPKINS (JOINT SECRETARY OF THE LEAGUE IN CANAOa) Cyprus Bermuda Gibraltar INDIA * MALTA PERIM FALKLAND ISLANDS ADEN /rr iiiiii /^i F to 1 "S , THE REORGANIZATION OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE By George E. Parkin, Esq., M.A. The development of the Anglo-Saxon race, as we rather loosely call the people which has its home in the British Isles, has become, v ithin the last century, the chief factor and central feature in human history. The flux of population, by which new and great centres of human activity are created, has been so overwhelmingly Anglo-Saxon that nearly all minor currents are absorbed and assimilated by it. In the new continents over which the race is spreading, the offshoots of other European families for the most part lose their identity, and tend to dis- appear in the dominant mass. Since it has found space on which to expand it has increased with great rapidity, and seems destined ulti- mately to surpass, in mere mass of numbers, any other branch of the human stock, while its comparative influence is indefinitely increased by the singular individual energy of its members and the collective energy of its communities. Add to this the fact that it embodies the most aggressive moral forces and the most progressive political and social forces of the world, and we have sufficient grounds on which to predict for it a future of supreme interest, and infinitely greater than its past. The bifurcation of Anglo-Saxon national lite which was caused by the American Revolution is now, after a hundred years, fully recognized as the most important political event in modern history. Hitherto, the fact that it led to the foundation of the American Republic has been considered an adequate measure of its vast significance. But immense though that fact is, it is now beginning to be clearly seen that the American Revolution has had another effect of at least equal significance and probable influence upon the world's future. It compelled Great Britain, by the stern teaching of experience, to master the true principles of colonial government, and, as a consequence, to acquire the art of bringing her colonies into essential harmony with the national life. The folly of so-called statesmen, which reft from Great Britain her first great offshoot, left untouched the nation-building energy of her people, and around her has since grown up, in every quarter of the globe, a vast system of dependencies, occupying an eighth of the earth's surface and embracing even now a considerable portion of the world's population, with a capacity for enormous expansion. National development on such a scale is uiiparalleled in history, and must be pregnant with results. Already, as the process of expansion goes on, it has become manifest that this aggregation of states is slowly but surely outgrowing 123210 the system under which it was created. The question of its reconstruc- tion or adaptation to new conditions is undoubtedly one of the greatest of the world-problems now coming up for solution. In one of his most striking poems Matthew Arnold speaks of England as The weary Titan, with deaf ; . , Ears, and labor-dimmed eyes, Staggering on to her goal. Bearing, on shoulders immense, Atlantean, the load Well-nigh not to be borne • ' Of the too vast orb of her fate. ' ' It is not the poet's mind alone which is profoundly moved by this fact of Great Britain's vast expansion ; by the question of whether she will continue able to bear her enormous burden of empire. Statesmen have to face the fact in all its gravity ; nations in every quarter of the globe know that their future history depends, more than on anything else, on the answer given to the question. For the world at large, civi- lized and uncivilized, there is not at present, in the whole range of possible political variation, any question of such far-reaching significance as whether Great Britain shall remain a political unit, with effective energy equal to her actual and increasing greatness, or, yielding to some process of disintegration or dismemberment, shall abdicate her present position of world-wide influence, and suffer the great current of her national life to be broken up into many separate channels. The growing influence, immense interests, and widening aspirations of the greater colonies — the commercial, legislative, and even social exigencies of the whole national system — make it clear that an answer to this great political problem cannot long be delayed, A profound movement of thought upon the subject has for the past few years been going on among British people in every part of the world. More recently, a great stimulus to discussion has been given by the formation of the Imperial Federation League, a society unofficial in its character, but guided or supported by many of the best minds of the empire, and apparently destined to become a rallying-point for a strong national enthusiasm. Within a short time a remarkable change has come over public opinion in the British Isles themselves. Twenty years ago it almost seemed as if Great Britain was ready voluntarily to throw away her vast colonial empire. A whole school of politicians favored the idea, and seemed to have gained the public ear. The " Times," supposed to reflect public opinion, claimed that England was paying too high a price for enjoying the luxury of colonial loyalty, and warned the colonies to prepare for the separation that was inevitable. John Bright's eloquence ;»nd Goldwin Smith's literary skill were alike employed in the same direction. Under such guidance, intoxicated by the success of free trade, and indulging in dreams of a cosmopolitan future which it was to produce for the nations, the British people seemed for a time to look upon the colonies as burdens which entailed responsi- bilities without giving any adequate return. All this has now been changed. John Bright in England and Goldwin Smith in Canada still \ \ harp on the old string, but get no response from the popular heart, nor even from political parties. Great Britain has found that she still has to fight for her own hand, commercially and politically, and cannot afford to despise her natural allies. The vigor of colonial life, the expansion of colonial trade and power, the greatness of the part which the colonies are manifestly destined to take in affairs, have impressed even the slow British imagination. The integrity of the empire is fast becoming an essential article in the creed ot all political parties The idea appeals to the instincts of Great Britain's new democracy even more strongly than to the pride of her aristocracy, and with bettei reason, for the vast unoccupied areas of the e'npire in the colonies offer to the workingman a field of hope when the pressure at home has become too severe. Statesmen of the first rank, such as Earl Rosebery and the late W. E. Forster, have grasped the idea that national consolidation should form the supreme object of national policy, and have done what they could to develop the puolic sontiment which alone can make it such. The range of the national vision is widening ; there is a tendency to look beyond the old ruts of European diplomacy to the nobler work and larger destiny opened up in the Greater Britain beyond the sea. To the development of this wider view the growth of the United States has contributed largely. It has illustrated on a large scale the expansive energy of our race where the conditions are favorable. It has enlarged our conception of Anglo-Saxon self-governing capacity. It has shown that an unparalleled impulse to a nation's life may be given by vast breadth of territory with variety of climate and production. On the other hand, the British people see in the American Union proof that immense territorial extent is not incompatible, imder modern con- ditions, with that representative system of popular government which had its birth and development in England and its most notable adapta- tion in America. They are beginning to believe that their political system will safely bear the strain of still further adaptation to wider areas, if the welfare or necessities of the empire demand a change. That they will demand it is a proposition now become so evide ji. that it scarcely requires proof. The home population of Great Britain, which alone exercises national fimctions in their broadest sense, and bears the full burden of national responsibilities, is about thirty-five millions. This number has practically rea tied its outside limit of expansion. The Anglo-Saxon population of the empire abroad is already " about eleven millions, and is increasing rapidly. It is a population which has already grouped itself into communities of national extent, self-governing, self- reliant, progressive, and with a clear sense of the large place which they are destined to fill in the world. The time cannot be veiy far distant when, by the flux of population and the process of growth, their num- bers will equal or surpass those of the people of the British Isles. There can be no question that long before that period has arrived a readjust- ment of functions and responsibilities will be essential to the maintenance of the empire as a political unit. The British people at home cannot continue to bear alone the increasing burden of imperial duties. Great communities like Australia or Canada would disgrace the traditions of the race if they remained permanently content with anything short of an 6 equal share in the largest possible national life. For both mother land and colonies that largest life will unquestionably be foun ' '-« organic national unity. The weight of public sentiment throughout the empire is at present strongly in favor of such unity, and national interest recommends it. , . It is perhaps hard for Americans, imbued with traditions of the struggle by which their country threw off the yoke of an oppressive English Government, to understand how completely, and for what strong reasons, the relations between Great Britain and her present colonies are those of profound sympathy and warm affection. The mother land regards with natural pride the energy which is planting free political institutions and extending civilization in so many quarters of the globe ; which is opening up such vast areas of virgin soil for British occupation, and which, by so doing, is preparing for her a solution of the difficult problem pressing upon her at home from dense population and limited land — a solution such as no other of the overcrowded nations of Europe can hope for. To the richness of her own past the colonies open a boundless vista of hope for the future. The colonies, on the other hand, feel equally proud of their unbroken connection with the grand traditions of the mother land. Little has occurred to mar the strength of this sentimental attachment. They have enjoyed the advantages of being members of a great empire without, as yet, bearing the severer weight of its burdens. All the perfect freedom of self-government for which they have asked has been ungrudgingly allowed. The population whicl is flowing into their waste lands comes chiefly from the mother country — not driven out by religious persecution or political tyranny, but the over- flow of a fecund race, impelled by the spirit of enterprise, or in search of the larger breathing-space of new continents. In almost every case they come to strengthen the loyalty of the colony. The emigrant is encouraged or even assisted in leaving the old Britain ; he is heartily welcomed in the new Britain beyond the seas. For generations afterwards his descendants speak of "going home" without feeling it necessary to explain that by " home " they mean England, Scotland or Ireland. Great Britain's new colonial policy has thus given a new cohesion to the empire. Even in the case of a distinct race, with strong race instincts, it has achieved a marked success. P'rench-Canadians are not only con- tent with their political condition, but warmly loyal to British connection. Their greatest statesman emphasized, but scarcely exaggerated, this atti- tude of mind when he described himself as an Englishman speaking French. So high an authority as Cardinal Manning told me not long since that French-Canadian bishops and clergy had over and over again assured him that their people were practically a unit in preferring British to French connection. There is no doubt that in respect of either religious freedom or political security the preference is justified. The lapse of years bring into stronger relief the truth of Montalembert's remark, that the Frenchmen of Canada had gained under British rule a freedom which the Frenchmen of France never knew. With this sentiment, which makes unity possible, the national inter- est coincides. For the colonies the alternative is independence, when, as small and str iggling nationalities, they will have to take their place I i in a world which has developed distinct tendencies towards the aj(- glomeration of immense states, and where absorption or comparative insignificance can alone await them. For Great Britain the choice is be- tween amalgamating permanently in some way her strength and resources with those of the colonies, or abdicating the relatively foremost place which she now holds among the nations. The growth in population of the United States and the expansion of Russia are already beginning to dwarf by comparison all other nations. Those confined to Europe will, within the next fifty years, be out of the first rank. Great Britain alone, with unlimited room for healthful expansion on other continents, has the possibility of a future equal to the greatest ; has the chance of retaining her hegemony as a ruling and civilizing power. Should she throw away the opportunity, her history will be one of arrested development. The process by which her vast colonial empire has come to her has been one of spontaneous growth, the outcome of a decisive national tendency. By inherent inclination the Anglo-Saxon is a trader. The character is one of which we need not feel ashamed. It has been found to consist in our history, with all the fighting .energy of the Roman and much of the intel- lectual energy of the Greek. It does not seem incompatible with the moral energy of Christianity, and furnishes the widest opportimity for its exercise. It has been under the impulse of this trading instinct that Great Britain has founded empire ; to satisfy it, she must maintain empire. Among all the nations of the earth she stands in the unique position of owning by undisputed right; immense areas of territory under every cli- mate on the globe, and hence produces, or can produce, within her own national boundaries, all the raw materials of commerce. As civilization becomes more complex and more diffused, the products of every clime are, in an increasing ratio, laid under contribution to supply its manifold wants. Every step towards the complete national assimilation of so widespread an empire must favor the free exchange of commodities, with the necessary result of stimulating productive energy and developing latent resources. Every expansion of trade makes the security of trade a matter of increasing importance. For a race of traders, scattered over all quarters of the globe, peace, made secure by resting on organized power, is a supreme interest. The best guarantee of permanent peace that the world could have would be the consolidation of a great oceanic empire, the interests of whose members would lie chiefly in safe com- mercial intercourse. For fiUing such a place in the world Great Britain's position is absolutely unique among the nations of history. She holds the chief key to the commerce of the East in the passes of the Mediter- ranean and the Red seas. She commands an alternate route by the Cape of Good Hope. Across Canada she has yet a third, giving her for many purposes a still closer connection with the extreme East than do the other two. The geographical distribution of the coal areas under her control, and the defended or defensible harbors suitable for coaling stations contigious to them, are among the most remarkable elements in her incomparable resources for prosecuting or protecting commerce in an age of steam. Already in electric connection with almost every important point in her dominions, her telegraph system only awaits the laying of 8 the proposed cable from British Cohimbia to Australasia to make that connection complete without touching on foreign soil. Her widely separated provinces and outlying posts of vantage are thus effectively in touch for mutual support, more than the parts of any of the great nations of the past. She thus unites the comprehensiveness of a world-wide empire with a relative compactness secured by that practical contraction of our planet which has taken place under the combined influences of steam and electricity. No other nation has ever had — it is well nigh impossible to believe that any other nation ever will have — so comnr .ding a position for exercising the functions of what we have called an oceanic empire, interested in developing and able to protect the commerce of the world. The question of whether she shall per- manently retain this positio!i is one of profound international as well as national concern. Above all, for the United States, as a great trading community, kindred in race, language, and, speaking ver broadly, in national purpose, it must have a deep and abiding interest. The political writers of the past century, from De Tocqueville on- ward, have been acci. tomed to draw from the American Revolution the confident inference t. at the natural tendency of colonies is towards separation from the mother land ; that the growth of local interests and feelings of independence make new communities detach themselves, like ripe fruit, from the parent stem. If the birth of the American republic gave strength co this inference, its growth has done much to dissipate the idea. The development of the United States has proved that the spread of a nation over vast areas, including widely separated States with diverse interests, need not prevent it from becoming strongly boimd together in a political organism which combines the advantages of national greatness and unity of purpose with jealously guarded freedom of local self-government. This is in part due to the amazing change which has been effected in the mutual relation of the world's inhabitants by improved means of speedy intercourse. Steam and electricity have re-created the world, and on a more accessible scale. Canada, or even Australia, is now much closer to the centre of the British Empire "for all practical purposes than were the Western and Pacific States to Wash- ington forty years ago. Under these new conditions there is no sufficient reason for doubting that an empire like that of Great Britain can be held together in bonds as secure as those which bind together great conti- nental states like those of the United States and Russia, provided that the elements of true national life are present, as they certainly are in this case. The federation of Great Britain and her colonies would only be an extension of what already has been done on a large scale. The United St ites are a federation, Germany is a federation, each designed by its framers to obviate the difficulties incident to the administration of a congeries of small states, and for great ends to secure unity of national action. The problem before Great Britain is different, but would seem to be incomparably less difficult than that involved in either of the two cases referred to. In Germany, dynasties and states whose individual existence had been carefully preserved and fondly chenshed for centuries long presented an apparently insuperable barrier to union, effected at las sir St I be nn( ln( 9 last only under the strong pressure of external dan 'er p.nd in the enthu- siasm of a great and successfid struggle for race supremacy. Every student of American history knows the violent prejudices which had to be overcome and the extraordinary effort which it reqiiired to organize and gain acceptance for the Federal Constitution, even after the War of Independence had demonstrated the necessity for uniteeans of conferences between delegates from the different sections of the Empire interested in Federa';ion ; and that when the subject had reached this stage it would then come within the domain of statesmanship and be dealt with first by representatives of the different Governments concerned, met for the purpose of trying to come to an understanding, and then by their Parliaments or Legislatures which might accept or reject or propose modifications. THE ULTIMATE DECISION would thus rest with the people so far as their particular interests were concerned. It is confidently believed that in this way Federation could be accomplished without any radical political changes ; that Colonies could retain all the pov, ers they might think requisite for working out their own destiny ; and that difficulties would gradually disappear until what is now a complicated problem would become a simple one. An illustration will perhaps best explain what I mean. Supposing that one of the results of such conferences should be that Britain was willing to stipulate that our mercantile navy and coasts should be defended by the Imperial navy if we were willing to pay a stipulated annual sum towards its maintenance. The question of what we should do could be considered and dealt with by ourselves without delegation, and, speaking for myself, I have no doubt that mai y, if not all, of the matters involved in Federa- tion could be similarly de lit with. This is surely definite enough for us to work up to ; and is it not worth working for ? If the arrangements made required changing after- wards there is no leason for supposing that they would not be changed. And finally as to the necessity of any action just now, on our part, to change our status. I for one would be well content to let matters go on as at present for many years. But is there any possibility of tliat ? I » i -f ■i I VV-I I mk T : body of ccially a liere is a o impor- f such a :ts much ns which be l)ene- liscussed id States 1, on the We had at we are Executive rt of the : opinion ■standing iferences ;rested in it would h first by for the by their propose jsts were on could Colonies king out ear until >ne. Aft that one rilling to d by the towards nsidered r myself, Federa- ls it not ng after- changed. 3ur part, tters go of tliat ? J I 21 Canada has reached a point at which her future is not only a matter of great interest to herself, but to others ; and she must soon accept THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF A NATION in some form or other. On the 7th of August, 1887, Mr. Sherman, one of the shrewdest and most distinguished statesmen in the United States, said in his place in the Senate, '* I want Canada to be a part of the United States. Within ten years from this time the Dominion of Canada will, in my judgment, be represented either in the Imperial Parliament of Great Britain or in the Congress of the United States." Mr. Culhom, the chairman of the Senate Committee on the relations Ijetween the United States and Canada, said, a few weeks ago, that it was, in his opinion, the duty of the United States so to shape the course of events that the American flag should float over Canada within a few years. This is quite in keeping with the action of the President and Senate in reference to retaliation and other matters affecting (Janada. Mr. Blaine and many other politicians might be quoted. The New York press has taken up the subject. It is discussed not only by men, but also by women, in the United States; and a map has just been published showing how the United States would look if Canada formed a part of it. There are some amongst ourselves, very few I am gJad to say, who favor Annexation, and our city press almost daily discusses THE QUESTION OF OUR FUTURE as one of the present. Under these circumstances we, who have faith in our country and who aspire to become a great nation, think the time has come for speaking out and for letting England as well as the United States know that we do not wish to sever our connection with the land of our ancestors ; that we think the separation of Britain from her Colonies would seal her doom ; and that both in her interest and our own we are prepared to do all we can to maintain the connection, at any rate, with the Mother Country. We have not the same affection for other Colonies as we have for the parent State, nor is our interest in them so great. And if the larger scheme of Federation should be found impracticable there is no reason why we should not make our own r^rrangements with the Imperial Government I have a strong opinion ihat Britain, while willing to give us everything we want, will never willingly surrender her right — a right which is absolutely hers at present — of using the Canadian Pacific railway as a road between England and the East, and of coaling at what may be called both ends of that line, which are matters of great commercial and military importance to her. It is too readily taken for granted that Britain would willingly let Canada go. And if such a proposal were made in earnest it would very soon appear that England's ancient instinct for trade is just as keen as ever and that we should have to face a much more serious problem than Federation. A. J. Cattanach, President Toronto Branch Imperial Federation League. Toronto, Feb. 25. 22 An Interview with Mr. Hopkins (ONE OF TIIK SECRETAK.es o^ THE LEAGUE IN CANADA) ON THE PROGRESS OF THE MOVEMENT OF IMPERIAL FEDERATION. April, 1389. 1 Thf Empirf, yesterday had a pleasant interview with Mr. J. Castell Hopkins, one of the secretaries ot the Imperial Federation League in the Dominion, during the course of which the following conversation took place : What progress has the league been making of late ? About a year ago we had branches established i i Montreal, Ingersoll, Halifax, Peterboro', Ottawa and Toronto. Since then we have organ- ized in Brantford, Pert Arthur, St. Thomas, Orillia, Lindsay and county of Victoria, St. John, N.B., Chatham, Ont., Pictou, N.S., Wiarton, Belleville and Kingston. One distinguishing feature of the movement so far has been the way in which it seems to have appealed to all classes of the people and all parts of the country. The St. John, N.B., branch has for its president the veteran Sir Leonard Tilley, and for vice-presi- dents the Warden of St. John county, the Mayor of the city and the Mayor of Portland, N.B. The county of Victoria branch is most com- plete in its organization, and comprises amongst its officers and executive the leading men of all occupations and fxilitical opinions to be found within the county. So, in Montreal, the first branch in the Dominion, and one of the most active, the membership is made up of leading busi- ness men as well as of politicians and lawyers. The president of the Halifax branch is Sir Adams Archibald; of the league in Victoria, B.C., Sir Marthew Begb'e, Chief Justice of British Columbia; of the Ottawa branch, Mr. Sandford Fleming, and '^f the newly-formed Kingston branch, Princif>al Grant. Another marked feature is the spontaneous nature of the movement. Men are thinking, Writing and speaking about the future of the Empire in all directions, without concerted action in many cases, and yet witu a clearly visible effect, upon the development of what was a few years a,go merely an idea, into an actual working policy. Since the formation of the Organizing Committee of the league a few months ago in this city, I have hadsf me means of judging (as it's honorable secretary) of the entirely natural, not forced growth of our principles. From Halifax to Vancouver come enquiries as to the plat- form of the league, and the mode of forming branches, with innumerable requests for literature dealing with the subject. 23 What steps are being taken by the league to further its objects ? At the close of the year a council meeting was held at which a com- mittee was appointed for the purpose of promoting a conference l:)etween the self-governing colonies to consider tratle and other relations. The result of the committee's consideration was the sending of a circular letter on behalf of the league to the more prominent politicians of our sister colonies, inviting their co-operation in the matter, and pointing out the great possibilities of trade which the building of the C.P.R. and the establishment of cable and steam communication must in the future create. In addition to this step, Mr. George R. Parkin is now on his way to Australia to condu< a campaign there on behalf of our principles in accordance with the pressing invitation of the league in Victoria. In this connection, I might say that Mr. Parkin's meetings during his tour through Canada wcp most successful. Crowded houses greeted him at St. John, N.B., Ot.awa, St. Thomas, Kingston, Belleville, Montreal, 1 ^ronto and Vancouver. Principal Grant has, since his return from Ai/'^.^ralia, also delivered most eloquent addresses at Ottawa and King- ston. I may say here that branches are in course of formation at Wood- stock, Picton, Cookstown, Barrie, Calgary, Yarmouth, N.S., St. Mary's, Vancouver, B.C., Winnipeg, Paisley, Brampton and Hamilton. Much difference of opinion prevails, I believe, Mr. Hopkins, as to the policy of Imperial Federationists. Can you tell me what the league is aiming at ? Well, it would seem to me that all advocates of this p)olicy are united in believing that we should resist attempts at disintegration of the Empire in whatever part of the world they may arise ; that we should strive to educate the public mind as to the benefits of British institutions and of Imperial unity, and the advantages to be derived from making that union permanent and establishing it upon a more equal and satisfactory footing. As regards the platform of the league, it has recently been summed up by our President, Lord Rosebery, in the words ; " The closest possible union — in sympathy, in external i :tion, in defence." It would seem to be generally recognized that there are three distinct branches of the question, and that we may attain them all in lime, but that even if only one is gained it is a result well worth striving for. I should be disposed to sum them up in the following order : , I. Combination for mutual defence. II. Co-operation for commercial purposes. III. Consolidation of existing political relations. The way in which we expect to attain our object may be described as that of gradual development upwards, not revolution, but evolution, from the Colonial status of to-day to the national position of the future ; from the dependency of the present, to the Federal State of the time to come, by means chiefly of consultative conferences ; the development of trade, cable and steam communication between the different parts of the Empire. It is often asserted that there are few prominent supporters of the movement either in England or the colonies. Is that a fact ? I think that the best reply to that question will be to gi'^e the names 24 ti ili of a few of the more distinguished Federationists, and here I would like to say that many old-time advocates of Canadian independence are now joining the league, as offering in its platform the truest and best system of independence in Canada. There are some sixty members of the Senate przd CouL.ons upon o;ir council, with many men distinguished in busi- ness and legal circles, amongst whom may he mentioned Hon. G. E. Foster, Minister of Finance ; Hon. C. H. Tupper, Minister of Marine ; Hon. G. W. Allen, Hon. J. R. Gowan, Hon. J. C. Schultz, Dalton McCarthy, Q.C., M.P., president, and Alex. McNiell, M.P., vice- president of the league in Canada ; Adam Brovm, M.P., Sir Adam Wilson, late chief justice; G. R. R. Cockburn, M.P., C. N. Skinner, M.P., Sir D. A. Smith, M.P., H. A. Ward, M.P., N. Clarke Wallace, M.P., Geo. Hague, general manager Merchants' Bank ; Andrew Robert- son, of Montreal ; T. Wolbertson Thomas, general manager Molsons Bank; J. G. Bourinot, Ottawa; E. F. Clarke, M.P. P., mayor of Toronto ; Bishop Courtney, of Nova Scotia, and Archbishop O'Brien, of Halifax. In Great Britain the number of leading men who favor our principles is so great as to defy mention. Lord Aberdeen, Lord Ash - ! bgurne, Lord Charles Beresford, Lord Brabourne, Henry Broadhurst, M.P., a pronounced Radical and formerly Under Secretary of State ; Prof. James Price, M.P., Lord Carnarvon, Sir Donald Currie, M.P., Lord Dunraven, Sir Jarries Fergusson, M.P., General Sir Gerald Graham, Lord George Hamilton, M.P., Lord Herschill, Sir M. Hicks- Beach, M. P., Rt. Hon. Ed. Stanhope, M.P., Prof. Montague Burrows, M.P., Prof. G. G. Stokes, M.P., the Bishops of Littlefield and Rochester, Lord Knntsford, Sir Jno. Lubbock, M.P., Sir Lyon Playfair, M.P., Lord Tennyson, Prof. J. R. Seeley, Lord Rosebery are all upon the list of our council. Sir John Macdonald is a member of the council in Britain, while Hon. Oliver Mowat seconded the resolution which formed the league in London in the year 1884. In Australasia a few of our prominent supporters are Hon. James Service, late Premier, and the Hon. D. Gillies, present Premier of Victoria ; Sir Samuel Griffith, late Premier of Queensland ; Sir John Downer, Premier of South Australia, and Hon. J. C. Bray, late Premier; Sir Arthur Blyth, South Australia; Sir Daniel Cooper, of New South Wales ; Sir Charles Gaven Duffy, late Premier of Victoria ; Sir William Fox and Sir William Fitzherbert, Sir Robert Stout and Sir Harry Atkinson, of New Zealand ; Sir Arthur Hodgson, of Queensland ; Sir Charles Nicholson, N.S.W. ; Sir Saul Samuel, N.S.W. ; Sir Francis Smith, of Tasmania, and many more. I think that I have named sufficient to controvert any staterrent as to our lack of prominent supporters. Il .he league then satisfied with the progress it has been making ? Yes. I feel certain that we have no cause for discontent, but every ground for satisfaction. Throughout the self-governing parts of the Empire the sentiment is daily growing in favor of closer union, and this is most clearly shown in the utterances of men high in position in the Mother Land and elsewhere, who dare not run counter to this rapidly rising tide of opinion. Mr. Gladstone, when he said in a recent letter that he " should view with the utmost satisfaction throughout the British Empire, a more thorough and substantial union of the different countries « rauld like | e are now st system he Senate 1 in busi- on. G. E. f Marine ; z, Dalton .P., vice- sir Adam , Skinner, Wallace, w Robert - : Molsons mayor of )'Brien, of favor our ^ord Ash- roadhurst, of State ; rie, M.P., iir Gerald M. Hicks- Burrows, Rochester, lir, M.P., n the list ouncil in Ich formed ;w of our and the ffith, late ustralia, ustralia ; uffy, late rbert, Sir r Arthur Sir Saul more. I as to our 25 and peoples paying allegiance to her Majesty," no doubt expressed the view of a majority of the Liberal party in Great Britain. Mr. Chamber- lain spoke as follows, a year ago at the Devonshire Club, saying " that he was well aware that up to the present time no practical scheme of federation had been submitted, hut he did not think that such a scheme was impossible. There were two points which had to be prominently borne in mind. There was the question of commereiai union within the Empire and the question of union for defence." I believe that the Prince of Wales voiced the sentiments of the great mass of the British people when he recently stated that " we regard the colonies as integral parts of the Empire, and our warmest sympathies are with our brethren beyond the sea, who are no less dear to us than if they dwelt in Surrey or in Kent." And I think, further, that Mr. Wilfrid Laurier outlined the true policy for the Canadian people when he said at Somerset, Quebec, in August, 1887 : " It is a matter to be hoped that those nations which recognize the sovereignty of Great Britain may be united by commercial union, so as to open up trade with Australia and other countxies." Enough has been said, however, to show what progress we have made, what support we have obtained and what we desire to effect. Our hopes for the future, I can merely say, are as boundless as is the power and prosperity which will attend our Dominion and our Empire if Imperial Federation becomes a fact. J making ? (but every ts of the and this )n in the rapidly int letter \e British countries