An interesting debate took place in the Dominion Parlia- ment
on Monday on the Resolution—ultimately with- drawn—in favour of a full partnership union between Great Britain and Canada moved by Colonel Hughes. After Mr. Bruneau, while testifying to the loyalty of the French- Canadians to the British Crown, had opposed Colonial representation in the Imperial Parliament, Sir Wilfrid Laurier replied in an important and judicious speech. Colonel Hughes's project he declared to be impracticable, for complete partnership in a union of the Empire could not be combined with the maintenance of Colonial Parliaments in the rights they already enjoyed. While the relations between Great Britain and the Colonies were satisfactory, and contentment existed in every part of the Empire, it was idle to suppose that changes would be made, and futile to attempt them. The British Empire was an aggregation of nations all bearing allegiance to the same Sovereign, but it differed from the Empires of the past in that they rested on force, while the British Empire of to-day, so far as the great Colonies were concerned, rested altogether on the will of the Colonists themselves. Mr. Borden, the leader of the Opposition, pronounced himself in hearty sympathy with Mr. Chamberlain's movement in favour of mutual preference, but admitted that so far as it touched the material welfare of the people of the British Isles it was entirely a matter for the British people.
Previous page
