The Daily News. TUESDAY. JUNE 25, 1901. ANOTHER IMPERIAL CONFEREECE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 128, 25 June 1901, Page 2

The Daily News. TUESDAY. JUNE 25, 1901. ANOTHER IMPERIAL CONFEREECE.

A conference which appears liktlyt be pregnant with results of Imperial importance i«, it is said, to be held it. Lmdon cn tbe occasion of the coronation of King Edward the Seventh Alnady the matter is being di'cusssd, and its importance to the nation emphasised. Trie Auckland, Herald iu re-, feriing to it says: - The rumour which is current in Wellington that a Record Coi fircnce of Premiers will he held in I onion on the o'cifion •<f the Kings Ozonation may have ne other than that it is highly probable. This great national ceretnonia", which is likely to take p'aoe during th* summer of next, year, will rertaii ly be upon a scale of great magnificence, nnd be attended by the profuse and lavish pageantry so dear to all human kind. It would be entirely in keeping with the spirit and tendency of modern times that the Parliamentary chiefs of the various self governing States which are the backbone of the Empire should be invifctd With the hereditary chiefs of the great feuditories to take part in the g. and function. Their invi'a'ion would be a compliment to the various dominions, commonwealths and colonies of Great Britain; their attendance would add to the prrstigt of our KiDg, who alone of the mo-,-archs of the earth can summons from over sea the constitutional leadeis of ' free and self-governing peoples to do honour to his crowning. Apart from, and in addition to, the obvious politic 1 expediency of demonstrating on such a momentous occasion the unity and lovalty of the British nation, there is the very practical reason that a Conference of Premiers has much of the value of a grand national council without committing us hastily or prumi turely to the formal institution of that, inevitable body. The quest : ons discussed at tbe Jubilee Conference have all been advancing a stage in tbe past four years; in ano'her year we shall all agree fh it quinquennial consideration of Imperial topics is not too frequent. When the present Imperial movement his ripened to full frui ion, and le f t 'he British peoples with fu'leet freedom combined with the close-t unity, History, will doubtless place June 24, 1897, anurg th . epochraark'ng da'es. O i that day was I eld the first gathering fully represents'ive of tbe political activities of the British peoples, and though it was al'ogeth- r informa, being unauthorised by any legis'ation and possessed of no power o bind or to loose, it hud cevertheless, in a very rtal sense, a most irapn s ive effect. Every self-gjverning colony, or g oup of colonus, in the Empire hid sent i's Prtmitr to London to pay loving homage to their aged Sovereign on the Sixtieth Annivercary of her acce sion to the Throne. That'most memorable celebration over, they were invited by the Colonial Secretary to meet him in an informal c nforerce. AmoDg tbe events which Irtve be.n facilitattd bj the unders endings thsre arrived at, we may e- umeriite ihe fiscal p efert nca given by Canada 'o Britidi goods, the e tahlishme.-it of the Aus tialian Commonwi alth, tne prompt support given by tbe co'ooies to tlit Mother Country in S uth Afiraand the initiation of the Imperial Penny Pos 1 ;. It is not nrre siry to do more than call at ention to tliess good!) st ps towards more fitting Imperial relations in or e'er to justify sujh gatherings, The Little England critics of Mr. Chamberlain would understand [ better the apprecia'ion tba the coloi.ie« have for his policy if they would take the trouble to ste that he was responsible for this conference and thai

his i road-minded patriotism towards Greater Britain has powerfully h lped us to transform pap>;r resolutions into facts and deeds. The Premiers of New Zealand and Tasmania stood alone at, the Conference of' 97 io holding that the time was ripe to render more form 1 ] the political tis that bini together] Britain and her coionits. T u other-] weie agreed that for the tu,o being it| was bat er to waiva tin right to , uveal voice in Imperial c ncjrns wh ch ufFajt! us seeing that this neces an y involved i eontriou iog towards linpeii.l pspen ! diture, ULder the G org s the cryj aro.-e: "No taxiti -n withou*; reprc!-] -entation." Under V;c otia thaanswe j icime: "No repr.senta'ion without taxa ion." Thus cumple'ely lnve we changed the cnc unba; py politic.il relationship existing beSwe n th> British at Home a<;d the Britkh Abroad, But in the pait year i r twths colonies have rerlise 1 that it is i heir boundeo duty tj assume as far as tluy can their share of th<) Imperial nurdeo. It wou!d~be impos-ihle for ■uy individual to draft at the present time any deßui.e schema which would ,ivegeniiaUatisfactior,but it is hardly o be qn stio:,rd that at the next Cor.-fe-ence of Premie.s there would bo unanimous approval of the abstrac" principle, aud that some safe ud cautious movement in the directiou of giving Gnater Britain a fo:mal voice in the Imperial Councils could be arranged. What, if a prefers' it I tariff in clo ies were taken by •he Ur.it d Kingdom as s temporary iquivalent for their Imperii contribution, th : s to be giaduillv' mtdiflel into a Zollverein as the developments of the colohias mad twem capxble bath of supplying the H ma markets and of payißg mo e propaitionate contribution to Imperial Defence? This is but one of many suggestions, some more and some less practical, for the matter has been occupying the th.ugh's of amny earnest and able Wen's (f the Empire, and in multitude of cruncil the h»ppy mean may oft'-n be found. Yet until a feasible sug gestion is put forward by a politiclily representative Conference it is •mlybating the wind to discuss this vital question. Meanwhile it is well to keep in mind that under proportionate representation our Pa< i(h: idonies would cast more vo'ei th.n either Scotland or Ireland in nny Imperial Chamber. Among mo e immediate if notmore pre;siug qin-s'imis which nued new or renewed cons'deii tion is that of Imperial Postal R, f mi aid Imperial Cables; to secu o 'h se co-ordinate action cf all cur Govern meet is tece siry, and as we have sea frcm tbe renmkab'e resu'ts at h eri in the matteis discussed in June, 1897, there is no more potential iuflu nc* ii< securing this than that Uonfeience of Premiers which is at pre-ent our neues 1 ; approach to an Imreral Council.