A—s

78

Third Day. IS April 1907.

it is calculated to interest the public, as showing how far the work has proceeded; I think it worth considering whether it ought not to be as complete a statement of the stage at which ihat organization has arrived as possible. Sir WILFRID LAURIER : I do not object, but it seems to me putting on paper what can be done without it. Mr. DEAKIN : The one criticism I have to offer upon it is that if this phrase were construed narrowly the reference to Colonies might be limited to Colonies referred to above. Now we all hope to see the union of South African States to which several of the representatives here have more than once alluded. Canada, Australia, and South Africa will then be three Dominions or Commonwealths which will include in themselves, with limited powers, states or provinces which occasionally might be entitled to share in some of these subsidiary Conferences, which, indeed, might be confined to them if the matters dealt with related only to certain special subjects. Ido not know whether the addition of those words would provide for this contingency quite clearly. *W T hile this shows the general scheme of the Conference, it ought not to exclude from participation in the subsidiary Conference some of the provinces or states which would not, or could not, be represented in the major Conferences to which we have been alluding, because they no longer possess the powers which would authorise them to speak or act upon the questions under discussion. Mr. WINSTON CHURCHILL : As a matter of drafting as we have now cut out in the first paragraph the words " affecting the relations of the Mother Country and His Majesty's Dominions over the Seas," would it not be possible to use the words " His Majesty's Dominions over the Seas," which have not been previously used in the resolution, in the place of the word " Colonies " in the third paragraph ? Sir WILFRID LAURIER : Ido not see the necessity of it. A " resolution " means that you shall do something which you could not do before. You can do this already. It is mere surplusage, but Ido not object to it, except on the point that there is no necessity for it. I think Mr. Winston Churchill's suggestion on the point of drafting is excellent. CHAIRMAN : "In this country or in His Majesty's Dominions over the seas." Sir JOSEPH WARD : I think with Sir Wilfrid Laurier, that as a matter of necessity we could do without it, but, on the other hand, I quite agree with Mr. Winston Churchill that it would convey a much brighter and stronger impression on the imaginative observer outside, who is anxious to see that there is some possibility of dealing with minor matters between the Colonies. Sir WILFRID LAURIER : It can do no harm, and possibly may do good. Dr. JAMESON : I suppose the " secretariat" in the previous paragraph is implied in this paragraph also ? Mr. DEAKIN : Certainly. Sir JOSEPH WARD : That is understood, and applies to the whole thing.

Future Constitution of the Conference. (Mr. Winston Churchill.) |