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2nd Day.] Imperial Council. [25 May, 1911. General BOTHA— cont. factory reply can be given to them. If any real authority is to be vested in such an Imperial Council, I feel convinced that the self-governing powers of the various parts of the Empire must necessarily be encroached upon, and that would be a proposition which I am certain no Parliament in any part of the Empire will entertain for one moment. If no real authority is to be given to such a Council, I fear very much that it would only become a meddlesome body which will continually endeavour to interfere with the domestic concerns of the various parts of the Empire, and cause nothing but unpleasantness and friction —in fact, the very opposite of what we desire. I feel certain that, with the political genius which characterises the British race a solution of this difficult problem will ultimately be evolved. It may be that the time will arrive when a body will come into existence upon which the various parts of the Empire are represented by men elected by the people of the Empire, and it may be that in years to come these Imperial Conferences which we are holding to-day will be looked upon as a link in a long chain of evolution of such a body. But that day has not arrived yet, and we must not try to force the pace unduly. If our Imperial Conferences are not quite as satisfactory as we might wish them to be, then let us do our best to make them more so. But what are we asked to do now 1 It would probably mean, I submit, the creation of some body in which would be centralised authority over the Empire. Now, this would, in my mind, be a step entirely antagonistic to the policy of Great Britain, which has been so successful in the past and which has undoubtedly made the Empire what it is to-day. It is the policy of decentralisation which has made the Empire—the poAver granted to its various peoples to govern themselves. It is the liberty which these peoples have enjoyed and enjoy under the British flag which has bound them to the Mother Country. That is the strongest tie between the Mother Country and the Dominions, and I am sure that any scheme which does not fully recognise this could only bring disappointment and disallusionment. I fear that the premature creation of such an Imperial Council as is suggested would, rather than bring the different parts of the Empire closer together, tend to make the connection onerous and unpleasant to the Dominions. Let us beware of such a result. Decentralisation and liberty have done wonders. Let us be very careful before we in the slightest manner depart from that policy. It is co-operation, and always better co-operation, between the various parts of the Empire which we want, and that is what we must always strive for. I have very seriously considered this proposal, but I cannot come to any other conclusion than that the objections against such a scheme are far weightier than any benefits which may arise therefrom, and T regret, therefore, that I shall not be able to record my vote in favour of it. Sir EDWARD MORRIS : Mr. Asquith, I desire to say that I also have listened with the very greatest interest to the very interesting and able address of Sir Joseph Ward, and I am in entire sympathy with the underlying motive or suggestion running through his remarks, but I am quite convinced that the proposal would not in any way effect what he desires. I quite appreciate and agree with the suggestion arising out of your question that the effect of such a Council, legislative body, or Parliament as is now T proposed would be to supersede the functions of the Imperial Government, and that the two bodies could not existtogether. The idea, I think, that Sir Joseph Ward has is that some remedy should be proposed in order to give the great Dominions that he and his colleagues represent some say in, or some Advisory Council, or representatives in relation to the larger questions of Imperial Government. It seems to me that the only way that could ever be accomplished would be to have some representation in the Imperial Parliament, but that as regards the dealing with large questions like war and treaties and navies, that is to remain at least for a very long while in the hands of the Imperial Government, who are largely responsible, and who have to bear the great proportion of the expenditure. Any scheme of representation, no matter what you may call it—Parliament or Council—of the oversea Dominions must have so very small a representation