At a meeting of the members of the British Empire
League, held on Thursday at the Guildhall under the presidency of the Lord Mayor, the Duke of Devonshire made a very im- portant statement as to the general agreement between Great Britain and the Australian Colonies (including New Zealand) about the relative obligations of the Mother-country and those Colonies themselves in relation to Colonial defence. Their agreement was only for a limited period, which will soon expire; but the Duke of Devonshire hopes that when it ex- pires it will be renewed, after careful consideration, and that probably others of our Colonies will join with the Australian Colonies in the reciprocal undertaking. Great Britain has accepted the responsibility of protecting the Colonial territory abroad against " organised in- vasion from the sea," but this is not intended to include small descents on portions of the coast by mere raiders. Nevertheless Great Britain regards it as her duty to protect certain important stations and places, like the coaling-stations and refitting ports for instance, even from sudden raids of this kind, and a full exchange of views on these subjects has been entered into with the Colonies which would be of the utmost importance in case of war. We earnestly trust that when the time comes for reconsidering this agreement, the Colonies will be found even more willing to strengthen their relations with the Mother-country than they were when the agreement with the Australian Colonies was first made.
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