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together by a common system of free trade and by a common commercial
policy towards other Powers. Unfortunately the profoundly different
policy adopted on these matters in England and her colonies has made
such a Union almost impracticable, and it is quite possible for the
English colonies to be united by closer commercial ties with foreign
countries than with the mother-country. The question of the common
defence of the Empire and the question of the representation of the
colonies in Imperial politics are also questions of great difficulty
and of pressing importance.

Something has been done showing at least a disposition to meet them.
The concession of preferential duties in favour of England by some of
our most important colonies, the small subsidies made to the
maintenance of the British navy, and the far more important military
assistance given by the colonies to the mother-country in the Egyptian
and the South African wars are indicative of the feeling of closer
unity which has grown up between England and her colonies, and in
addition to the appointment of Agents-General, the introduction of a
few eminent colonial judges into the Judicial Committee of the Privy
Council, which is the Supreme Court of Appeal of the Empire, has given
the colonies some real representation in Imperial affairs. Much more,
however, in this direction may be done. There have been several
instances of eminent colonials obtaining seats in the English House of
Commons to the great advantage of the Empire, but a regular
representation of the colonies in this assembly may, I think, be
dismissed as altogether impracticable. The mere distance is a
sufficient objection, and at least nine-tenths of the business of the
House of Commons deals with purely English questions depending for
their wise solution on inherited English habits and on compromises
with existing institutions, and a large proportion of them are
problems which have been already dealt with in the colonies on other
grounds and without any of the complexities of an old country. What
reason could there be for calling in the colonists to adjudicate,
perhaps even to turn the balance, on questions relating to English
education, English licensing laws, English taxation, English
dispositions of property? The difficulty of distinguishing between
Imperial and local questions would be insuperable. The division of the
House into two categories of members with distinct spheres of voting
po