499

A.—s

" should apply for admission of English barristers and solicitors to the " Colonial Bar." My desire is to make it fair to both sides and equally applicable. Sir WILLIAM ROBSON : Sir Wilfrid Laurier thinks Canada may not be willing to agree. Sir WILFRID LAURIER : I say Canada ought to have no jurisdiction in the matter. Sir WILLIAM ROBSON : That is a very important block, and so again with Australia there is an important block. Mr. DEAKIN : You could not make it conditional, of course ? Sir WILLIAM ROBSON : You may depend upon it that although the English Parliament has, perhaps, a higher and more absolute power over Englishmen than any governing body has over any State, 'still there are unseen but unmistakable limitations to which Parliament is subject and when it comes up against a profession like the English Bar, it is very apt to discover that its limitations are somewhat substantial. Dr. SMARTT : Especially as the profession has a considerable number of votes. Mr. LLOYD GEORGE : Their influence is far-reaching. Sir WILLIAM ROBSON : The English Bar is extraordinarily wellrepresented. Sir JOSEPH WARD : I can only say that in our country there is no profession that stands higher in our estimation than the English Bar; we look upon them as the great representatives of a noble profession in every way, and I do not want to do anything that would in any way either weaken or interfere with any of the rights of the profession in England, very far from it. I would not be presumptuous enough to do anything of the kind, and we an anxious to bring about reciprocity between them upon fair terms only. What I would suggest is, that with the addition of the words I have proposed here, perhaps the resolution might be printed. Ido not know whether I have amplified it sufficiently to meet what I have tried to convey, and in the meantime, after it is printed, we might defer it until there is an opportunity of considering it. In any case, I have sufficient common-sense to know that if we proposed anything which was regarded by the English profession as adverse to their interests, we could not expect them to conform to it; we certainly do not want to make any change unless it is an act of goodwill on both sides. The matter has been brought forward in New Zealand by some of the very best men in our country, and I am anxious before we go away from this Conference that we should have an opportunity of considering whether we cannot show a little genuine and practical feeling of reciprocity between our countries on both sides of the water. CHAIRMAN : Can you not put it in such a form as we have had a good many resolutions as would invite that consideration ? Y T ou speak of getting at the feeling of the Bar, but we certainly cannot get the feeling of the Bar before we separate, as we should probably separate, to-morrow. Ido not see how it is possible to get very much of an outside opinion, and if you could

Thirteenth D»y. 8 May 1907.

Reciprocity as to Barristers. (Sir Joseph Ward.)