in the matter of mutual concessions. He could then, as a party leader, adopt whatever line he thought fit in formulating his own national fiscal policy for the approval of his own country. Only it would be his duty to acquaint the country with any formal proposals made to him in Conference, whether he liked them or not. In Conference each Premier would be a national representative, not a party representative, but out of Conference he would be a party leader to the same extent as under the present system.
Alien immigration, or at any rate coloured immigration, is an 'internal' question so for as it affects the coloured populations of the dependencies. The Conference would endeavour to discover a common principle of exclusion or restriction, so as to minimize the sentimental disadvantage and practical inconvenience arising from the application of different principles by different countries of the Empire.
The dependencies themselves constitute an 'internal' Imperial interest which seems to belong to a class apart From the point of view of Canada or Australia, the interest, perhaps, is mainly 'external,' because those countries have no direct connection with the dependencies, which, however, may become a cause of war with foreign Powers. To England, on the other hand, being the suzerain of the dependencies, and solely responsible for their administration, the interest is mainly 'internal.' This divergency between the points of view of England and the Colonies respectively seems to be a danger to the prospects of close alliance. It is essential to durable Imperial solidarity that the Colonies should acquire an interest in the dependencies of a kind similar to our own—that is to say, the sense of a national duty in the task of administration.
If all the States are to be equally ready to defend the dependencies, our monopoly of administration must be given up. How to set about making the required change, which can only be gradual, is a question which the Conference would enable our Premier to discuss
