A Motion brought forward in the House of Commons on
Tuesday by Mr. Hedderwicic, affirming that it was desirable in the interests of the Empire that the Colonies should be admitted to some direct representation in the Imperial Parliament, though withdrawn by the proposer, led to an interesting discussion. Mr. Chamberlain, while cordially acknowledging the good intentions of the mover and seconder, found in the Motion a curious disregard of Mr. Gladstone's pet theory of the impropriety of abstract Resolutions, and had no difficulty in showing that for the House to commit itself to such a Resolution would be premature, necessarily academie, and possibly mischievous. Mr. Chamberlain also made an excellent point in his allusion to the "magnificent rally of the Colonies to the cause of the Empire." It was an injustice, he continued, to say that they had answered our call, because we made no call. They had voluntarily offered the assistance we bad so gladly accepted, and great as that had been and valuable as it was, he believed that if in any stress or diffi- culty or crisis of our fate we did make a call on the Colonies, their efforts would be immensely greater even than those they had already made. Mr. Chamberlain did well to bring out this point. Just as the quality of Colonial loyalty has not been strained, so we should be careful in this matter of Imperial representation to follow the Colonies rather than appear to dictate or even to suggest.
Previous page
