LORD DERBY ON THE COLONIES.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 5, Issue 1330, 17 March 1883, Page 3

LORD DERBY ON THE COLONIES.

• : Thei Earl of Derby on.January 16tli received, at the Colonial office, the High Commissioner of Canada and the i Agents-general for Australian Colonies, New Zealand, and the Cape of Good Hope. Sir Alexander Gait, in adressing Lord.Derby, congratulating him upon his acceptance of the Secretaryship of the Colonies, and welcomed tho present interview as an evidence of his' appreciation of the growing importance of the constitutional Colonies. He trusted that the personal usefulness of himself and his collaegues in serving their respective Governments would be promoted by a more formal recognition than had hitherto been found sdvisabln, ol'the-deeper interest felt by the Colonies in all that concerned the' welfare of the nation of which they regarded, themselves as part, Lord Derby in reply, expressed his thanks for the address, and said that the growing importance of the great selfgoverning Colonies is recognized by every Englishman,'of whatever party or olass, Wo rejoice, he said, in their strength and prosperity, and have the right to expect results such as the world has not often seen where-the energies and experiences of anciont civilisation are applied to boundless territory and anwunexbausted soil. The position vh'ioh our country will hold in the history of the future will, in my judgement at least, depend far more on our achievements in the way of colonisation, and on the diffusion of our race over so many of the choice regions of tho earth, than on the part we have played, or may still, play in Europe. It is difficult to avoid the language of exaggeration in speaking of the possible future of such countries as Canada 'and Australia. We fully recognize and duljjjdklue the attachment of our ColoH kinsman to the constitution undePlvhiph we live to the Mother Country whence they have sprung, and to tho Empire/of which, though divided by distance, they continue to form a part. It will be my duty and my wish, and it will be equally that of any Minister who may hereafter stand in my place, to take care that the deep interest felt by the people of theso islands in the welfare of the Colonies shall find adequate expression in the language and-in the actions of the official representive of the Crown, The Times, discussing the interview, sayß that the claims made by the Agents-general mark a stage in the inevitable development of tho relations of the Mother Country and the Colonies, It is now felt to he time that the Agents-general should enjoy the Status of accredited representatives of their Governments, They have come to 1)0 the only channels through which the Imperial Government can obtain authentic knowledge of the wishes of the Colonial Governments. A Governor nominated by the Crown is no longer capable of conveying what a Colony has to say to us.