48

A—s

" self-governing colonies. The Secretary of State for the Colonies is re- " quested to arrange for such Imperial Conferences after communication with " the Prime Ministers of the respective colonies. In case of any emergency " arising upon which a special Imperial Conference may have been deemed " necessary, the next ordinary Conference to be held not sooner than three "years thereafter. That it is desirable to establish a system by which the " several Governments represented shall be kept informed during the periods " between the Conferences in regard to matters which have been or may be " subjects for discussion, by means of a permanent secretarial staff, charged, " under the direction of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, with the duty " of obtaining information for the use of the Conference, of attending to its " resolutions, and of conducting correspondence on matters relating to its " affairs. That upon matters of importance requiring consultation in common " either in this country or in the colonies between two or more of the Govern- " ments which cannot conveniently be postponed until the next Conference "or which involves subjects of a minor character, subsidiary Conferences " should be held between representatives of the colonies and of the Mother " Country specially chosen for the purpose." Sir JOSEPH WARD : I assume that in this resolution New Zealand, now known by the term " Colony," will be included in the expression " Dominion," which I think it ought to be. Mr. DEAKIN : I think it would be advantageous if we could have that in print and commence with it to-morrow morning. Sir WILFRID LAURIER : I was going to make the very same suggestion—that we should have it in print, so as to have the opportunity of looking into it. CHAIRMAN : We approach the hour for adjournment, and perhaps the Conference would like to adjourn now and consider this resolution tomorrow morning. Mr. F. R. MOOR : Could we have a copy of that resolution before it comes up to-morrow ? Sir JOSEPH WARD : I beg to submit to the Conference the following resolution : " That this Conference desires to express its regret at the death " of the late Mr. Seddon, and its sense of the loss the Empire has thereby " sustained." No words of mine are necessary to commend this resolution, expressive of our regret at the demise of a great Imperial and colonial statesman. lam sure that will be the opinion of us all. CHAIRMAN : Certainly. This was carried unanimously. Adjourned to to-morrow at 11 o'clock.

Second Day. 17 April 190:

Proposed Imperial Council. (Chairman.)