Lord Tennyson presided on Monday night at a banquet held
to commemorate the first settlement in Australia on January 26th, 1788,—the first banquet, it may be added, which the united representatives of Commonwealth and States had ever given together. Speaking, "not as a party man, but as an Imperialist to Imperialists," Lord Tennyson expressed four hopes with regard to the Colonial Conference. First, he hoped that a co-operative system of local defence throughout the Empire would be constructed by the Conference. Personally, he approved of the scheme of an Australian torpedo-flotilla, manned and run by Australians, and he was glad to find that Lord Brassey not only supported this scheme, but regarded the Australian annual contribution of 2200,000 to our Navy as a mistake. Secondly, he hoped that an Imperial Intelligence Committee would be organised and established in collabora- tion with the various Governors and Premiere, and with consultative powers in regard to the external relations of the Colonies. He preferred this to an Imperial Advisory Committee in London, aa that might be apt to create friction and distrust among our autonomous communities. Thirdly, Lord Tennyson hoped that the Australian delegates would lay before the Conference a well-considered scheme of preferential tariffs in favour of British commodities without any attempt to strike a bargain ; and his fourth hope, which he believed would be realised, was that Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman as Prime Minister would open the Conference, since it was not only Colonial but Imperial, and such an act would gratify the Empire and would demonstrate to foreign nations the essential oneness of the Mother-country with our oversea dominions. Lord Elgin, who also spoke, said that he would cordially welcome Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman in this capacity. We need hardly say that, apart from his fiscal aspirations, we cordially share Lord Tennyson's hopes, and are glad to find him supporting the creation of an Australian Navy.
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