A.—s.

" the monopoly of building these ships, and repairing them, our shipowners " have a harvest each year which they could obtain nowhere else." The United States are amongst the countries who have emphatically reserved their coastwise trade and given a very wide interpretation to that term. The Secretary of State at that time invited special attention to this part of Mr. Seddon's proposal, at page 72; and Sir Wilfrid Laurier, who had evidently given this subject close attention, at page 73, pointed out that 50 years ago the Navigation Laws " were repealed, largely at the instance of " the Colonies, and perhaps Canada was one of the chief motors in the new " departure. The conditions have changed very much since that time. The " Americans have extended their navigation laws, but not only to the coasting "trade, but to a class which is not at all used for coasting trade; " for instance, they have applied their law on the Pacific Ocean not " only to the coast of the American continent, not only to the coast "of the United States from California up to British Columbia, but they " include Honolulu as part of the United States. They have not allowed "the privileges to other*shipping. They reserve that exclusively to them- " selves." He explained the Canadian law, which offers reciprocity in the coasting trade—an offer not then taken advantage of by the United States, nor, I think, since. The representative of the Commonwealth, Sir Edmund Barton, at page 76, said : " Whether it would be possible with the concurrence of the whole of the self-governing portions of the Empire to " make a general navigation law accepting and asserting the principle, and " leaving the application of it to the autonomous action of the Governments " concerned, is a question which may well be considered; and I think this " whole question of the navigation laws is one which may demand a larger " and longer discussion than we have given to it yet." I think that discussion has now been held under the presidency or chairmanship of the President of the Board of Trade. Mr. LLOYD GEORGE : That is so. Mr. DEAKIN : Was it the law of Merchant Shipping only, or the Navigation Laws which were under consideration ? Mr. LLOYD GEORGE : I think we pretty well covered the whole ground. Sir JOSEPH WARD : That is so. Mr. DEAKIN : So I understand. This question now comes to us almost by transfer from your Conference. Mr. LLOYD GEORGE : Was this moved at all at our Conference ? Sir JOSEPH WARD : My impression is that it was not. Mr. LLOYD GEORGE : The only question we proposed to refer to this Conference was as to the islands of the Pacific, whether they should be included as part of the coastwise trade of Australia. Sir JOSEPH WARD : At the Navigation Conference we dealt with the power, admitted by everybody, of the Colonies to govern shipping within their own territories. We decided that the inter-communication between an outside place and fhe Colonies we had no jurisdiction over beyond our own

Thirteenth Day. 8 May 1907.

Coastwise Trade. (Mr. Deakin.)

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