The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1886. THE COLONIAL CONFERENCE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1428, 9 December 1886, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1886. THE COLONIAL CONFERENCE.

Reuter’s Agency has forwarded to us the substance of a very important despatch addressed, under date November 25, by the Secretary of State, to the Governors of the several colonies. From this it appears that, following out the hint given in the Queen’s speech of September 2S, Ministers have advised Her Majesty to summon a conference of representatives of the principal colonies, to be held in London in April or May next, to discuss questions of common interest, such as defence, cable communication, etc. We are glad to perceive that it is not intended to discuss Imperial Federation, for which the time is certainly notripe yet, if indeed it ever will be, but there car be no doubt that the matters indicated and others which chuld be mentioned can be best dealt with by concerted action, indeed with regard to the question of defence, it is highly expedient, nay, necessary, to arrive at a common understanding without loss of time. For it is impossible to say how soon the colonies may be exposed to the unpleasant but inevitable consequences of the outbreak of a war between the Great Powers, in which England may he involved, and should such an eventuality occur the visits of hostile cruisers are among the consequences which must naturally be looked for. How far England is to go in affording protection to the colonies, and how far they are to be expected to undertake the duty of there own defence needs to be distinctly understood, and also what proportion, if any, of the cost of the maintenance of a sufficient and efficient naval force in colonial waters is to be borne by the colonies themselves. Upon all these points

it fis obvious that the coiones should be consulted, and a belter means could not have been devised ■f arriving at the views and wishes of these scattered offshoots of he Empire than that of holding the proposed Conference. The present Government has taken a step which shows the value they attach to the colonies, and, as has already been remarked by a London paper, there is 1 peculiar fitness in holding this great Imperial Conference, for such it is destined to be, in the year which marks the jubilee of the Queen’s reign. It will bring together for the first time in the history of the Empire accredited representatives of all its outlying parts which, together, form the Greater Britain, assembled together for common ounsel and advice to Her Majesty’s Ministers, and will, indeed, be t.ie most important Council of State the j

nation has vet seen ; not, perhaps, irj its immediate effect;, hut as the initial step in a new departure, which may lead up to great and noble developments, deepening and strengthening the foundations of that vast Empire whose borders extend into every continent, and whose outposts are in every sea.