83

A.—4

25 May, 1911.] Reconstitution of the Colonial Office. [2nd Day. Mr. HARCOLTRT : Yes, the political or permanent. Say on the question of emigration, it might be desirable to have the President or the Secretary of the Local Government Board, or, on questions of naturalisation, the Home Office. Dr. FINDLAY : As a member of the Committee ? Mr. HARCOURT : I really do not contemplate that Committee ever coming to a vote, and therefore I have not considered the question. A Committee which had to come to a vote on these matters, which were purely advisory, would not be very valuable. Certainly its votes, or a matter which was defeated by vote, would not lead to an effective result. Therefore I do not contemplate it from that point of view. The PRESIDENT : It would be very desirable to have the Foreign Secretary there at times. Mr. HARCOURT : Very. The PRESIDENT : That is just the sort of information they want to have, and at present they do not get. Sir JOSEPH WARD : I think that is a very important point. The PRESIDENT : As you were speaking this morning about treaties, it might be very useful to have a body to which the Foreign Secretary could be summoned to explain exactly what the position was. Sir JOSEPH WARD : It would be very valuable indeed. What was it you said with regard to the status of the High Commissioners ? ' Mr. HARCOURT : It was really leading up to what you have now said. I thought it might be possible that some of the Dominions might not wish their High Commissioner to be necessarily an ex offtcio member of this Standing Committee of the Imperial Conference. Ido not know precisely what view you take of the status of your High Commissioners—l am not talking of the individuals but of the office —whether you wish to regard them as representing the Government for all purposes here, or more in the nature of commercial agents of high standing. There are various views which may be taken by different Dominions. If you are going to accept the idea of the High Commissioners being ex officio members of this Committee as representatives of the Dominions, then you have to decide that that is really the status you wish your Commissioners to hold in this country. Dr. FINDLAY : I suppose there would be no objection to associating somebody with the High Commissioner ? Mr. HARCOURT : I think it would be a pity if you, by association, made the Committee unwieldy, because we know very well committees, when they have got past a certain number, have at once passed their usefulness. The PRESIDENT : Really, the suggestion as to the High Commissioners put forward by His Majesty's Government is merely tentative and for consideration, because you know a great deal better than we do, and we want to know your views, as to the position you desire your High Commissioners to occupy. We have no opinion one way or the other. Sir WILFRID LAURIER : The whole object of this motion is, as I understand the motions that go before it, to provide a means of communication between the Imperial Government and the autonomous Governments of the Empire. Such a means of communication already exists, and, for my part, I must say that we are quite satisfied with the present system. The Colonial Office has been reorganized some three years ago, and I repeat what I said in Parliament, that in its present form it has given to us, at all events in Canada, ample satisfaction. As to whether it would be advisable to further bisect the