345

A.—s

Tenth Day. 2 May 1907.

Preferential Trade. (Dr. Smartt.)

more smypathetic treatment of the case as we have presented it. I have no doubt that you, Lord Elgin, with your intimate association with the Colonial Office, and your knowledge of the fact that it is not in any way whatsoever a matter of " squalid bonds " that makes us urge this question, but an ardent desire to do something whereby you will link up in the future more strongly the bonds that bind together the different portions of the Empire. With your knowledge and intimate association with the Colonies, perhaps you will be able to treat us in a more sympathetic manner than the Chancellor of the Exchequer found himself able to do this morning; because this is absolutely certain, that you have now in the British Colonies large numbers of people who either were born in Great Britain or who have had intimate associations with Great Britain, but as your Colonies increase in size, as your population increases more and more, there will be vast numbers of those people who cannot have the old attachment and the old sympathy with the Mother Country that existing colonists have, and I feel convinced that in the distant future, if something is not done to unite more strongly than by mere sentiment the bonds of Empire, the result may be such as many of us here would not at all wish to contemplate. Now, I think, Lord Elgin, I would perhaps be in order in referring as well to the speech of the representative of India as to that of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. I followed very carefully the speech of Sir James Mackay, representing India, and I was really surprised when he said he regretted to say the Government of India was at variance with the views expressed by the majority of the other representatives of the outlying portions of the Empire. Mr. DEAKIN : The self-governing portions. Dr. SMARTT : The self-governing portions of the Empire; and were he here at the present moment I would have liked to have had the opportunity of asking him the question whether, although that may be the view of the Government of India, is it the view of the majority of Anglo-Indians?—and is it the view of the majority of the Indian My advices tell me it is not the view of the majority of Anglo-Indians; and it is also not the view of the majority of the Indian people, but though the Indian representative said that, from the point of view of his Government, he was entirely at variance with the arguments put forward by the representatives of the self-governing Colonies, he still, in the close of his remarks, went on to show us that he was extremely in sympathy with some of our proposals because, while stating that preferential treatment would be disadvantageous to India, almost in the same breath he stated that it would be a great advantage to India if he could have some reduction on the duty upon tobacco—Indian tobacco being a specially low valued article as compared with higher valued articles from other countries: and he finished up his remarks by saying that he hoped that whatever advantages the self-governing portions of the Empire gave to Great Britain, they would give those advantages to India. I think Tarn quite right in thus interpreting what he said; and really we might reply that, while we would be only too delighted to do so, surely we must say that there must be some recognition on the part of India in the way of reciprocating the advantages which he is desirous that we should give to that important portion of the Empire. Now, Lord Elgin, the Chancellor of the Exchequer stated in his opening remarks that Imperial unity cannot be furthered by ignoring local conditions and local sentiment. With that statement T think every member of this Conference agrees, but my contention is that there appears, on the part of the Chancellor, a tendency to ignore local conditions and local sentiment; and it is because we consider that the local conditions are of such a character

45—A. 5.