CHAPTER XIV.

PLANS. CONCLUSION.

'There is not the least probability that the British constitution would be hurt by the union of Great Britain with the colonies, That constitution, on the contrary, would be completed by it, and seems to be imperfect without it. The assembly which deliberates and decides concerning the affairs of every part of the Empire, in order to be properly informed, ought certainly to have representatives from every part of it. That this union, however, could be easily effectuated, or that difficulties and great difficulties might not occur in the execution, I do not pretend. I have yet heard of none, however, which appear insurmountable.'----Adam Smith's _Wealth of Nations_.

THE advocates of national consolidation have been constantly subjected, as everyone familiar with current discussion knows, to two diametrically opposite forms of criticism. They are vigorously reproached by writers like Mr. Goldwin Smith for not stating in detail the method by which their purposes are to be accomplished; they are ridiculed by others as people who aim at binding together by means of a 'cut and dried plan' an Empire which has hitherto depended upon slow processes of growth for its constitutional development. It will be well to form a just estimate of these contradictory lines of criticism.

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The demand so often made for a formal and detailed statement of the precise constitutional methods by which national unity is to be secured appears to me to be put forward in defiance of the teachings of history. The grounds upon which this opinion is based are obvious to anyone who studies the methods by which Federal organization has been effected in the past.

Take first the case of the United States. The time between the recognition of American Independence in 1783 and the adoption of the Federal constitution in 1788 has been well called the 'critical period of American history.' During this period of strenuous agitation Alexander Hamilton, Madison, and other American statesmen had freely discussed in a general way their ideas upon Federal union, and had made many but widely divergent attempts to outline the main principles upon which it should be based.

Still, when the famous convention which met in 1787, eleven years after the declaration of independence, entered upon its discussions, it had to deal, not with any single plan, but with many contradictory plans, brought forward by states or individuals. It is now known that weeks and indeed months spent in anxious consultation elapsed before even the most sanguine among the delegates began to feel assurance that a plan which would harmonize conflicting ideas could be devised. Even when the Federal constitution was at length drafted, and Alexander Hamilton, at the last session of the convention, made {298} a final plea for its adoption, he emphasized his demand for the sacrifice of personal preferences by pointing out how remote its provisions were from the ideas which he had at the outset entertained and had indeed supported throughout the discussions. It was at a later period that Hamilton and other leaders of the Federation movement made their contributions to the famous 'Federalist,' a series of discussions avowedly written with a view to secure popular support for a plan which had previously, however, only been elaborated by the united wisdom of the trained statesmanship of the country[1].

The discussion of Canadian Confederation had been conducted only upon general lines up to the time when the leading public men of Canada, drawn alike from all political parties, met in conference at Quebec in 1866. The Federal system of the United States had given general direction to the public thought, but the actual scheme by which Confederation was accomplished had been barely outlined in the minds of a few of the principal delegates; the resolutions at first proposed were submitted to much criticism and revision, and the final form of the constitution was only adopted after weeks of earnest discussion. Even Sir John Macdonald admitted that on the quite {299} fundamental question of whether the union should or should not be Legislative, he only yielded his own convictions to the manifest objection of the majority in the Conference.

The agitation for Federal Union in Australia has gone on for many years; the examples of both the United States and Canada have been open to Australian study, and hence the easy construction of a system might have been assumed. Yet it was only when the responsible statesmen of the different colonies, and of the different political parties in these colonies, had met in general conference that a formal plan other than the essays of amateurs was placed before the public.

We have in our own generation seen the union of Italy and that of Germany consummated under the strain of intense national passion, and yet we know that even the chief agents in working out those great movements could only feel their way as they went along, taking advantage of opportunities and advancing with the advance of public sentiment--and that it was only when near their goal that they saw clearly the precise form which national unity would take.

One may therefore with some confidence appeal to history in support of the position that no great work of national consolidation has ever been carried out which started from a defined initial plan. The plan has been the crown of effort, not its starting-point.

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For this there are two manifest reasons. Years of discussion and agitation are almost necessary, especially under free popular constitutions, before that public opinion can be formed which enables statesmen to determine what sacrifices or concessions communities are willing to make to secure even a great end. Again, only statesmen practically and closely in touch with the people, familiar with the passions or prejudices of the communities concerned, and accustomed, moreover, to the work of practical administration, are able to give adequate constitutional expression to aspirations or desires for unity--necessarily more or less vague even when vehement; they alone can judge where compromise or concession must be made, or where it would be fatal.

It is on such grounds as these that advocates of the more complete political unity of the Empire have hitherto chiefly confined themselves, to pointing out the fundamental defects of the existing system, to the inculcation of principles, the study of facts, and the dissemination of information bearing upon the question. They have directed their efforts to bringing about conferences of statesmen duly qualified to deal with the questions at issue, and at the same time to creating a public opinion which would justify such conferences in taking vigorous action. They have felt that the formulation of detailed plans should be left for statesmen who had received a mandate from the people, and who would be responsible to the people for the results of their decisions.

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This policy constitutes the best answer to those who ridicule or reproach them with attempting to bind the Empire together by some preconceived system of their own. The only plan to which they look forward is such a one as may be the outcome of the will of the people and the wisdom of responsible statesmen representing the different parts of the Empire.

While the demand for a formal and detailed plan is illogical, the suggestion of plans is useful and helpful so far as they give definiteness to men's thought, and so help to form or strengthen public opinion.

But in approaching the study of possible plans we are met by a primary consideration.

There are clearly two ways in which national unity might be attained. One would be by a great act of constructive statesmanship, such as that which gave a constitution to the United States, that which confederated Canada, that which is doing the same for Australia, that which in other states has changed an old system for a new. Such an effort is what people have undertaken when they saw before them a great national problem, knew distinctly what they wished to accomplish, and were ready to run the risks always involved in radical change for the sake of the end to be obtained by new organization. To make such an effort requires statesmen with courage to lead, and with judgment to plan so as to command public approval; courage and judgment such as {302} those which unified Germany and Italy, or those which federated the United States and Canada. On a smaller scale we have in the history of the United Kingdom examples of this bold and definite statesmanship, as opposed to slow constitutional growth and change, in the acts of Union with Ireland and Scotland, or in the Reform Bills of half a century ago which gave to the vast but newly-formed industrial centres their true weight in the government of the country. To make decisive constitutional changes to meet distinct national necessities is strictly in keeping with our political traditions. An attempt to federate the Empire by a great act of political reconstruction would therefore differ from other events in our history not so much in kind as in degree. If the task to be undertaken seems great, we must remember that it would be faced in order to deal with facts of national growth and change without precedent in human history.

It can scarcely be denied that at any time circumstances may arise which would almost compel such an act of reconstruction. The demand of a single great colony to know the terms on which it might remain within the Empire as an alternative to independence would make the question practical at once. A great struggle for national safety or national existence would probably have the same effect. That the public mind should be prepared to deal intelligently with such a question is the strongest reason for the careful education of popular opinion on all matters relating to our national position.

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There is, however, another very different method by which the object in view may be attained or at least approached with the prospect of final attainment. Instead of radical change and reconstruction we may look to a policy of gradual but steady adaptation of existing national machinery to the new work which must be done.

This method commends itself more especially to thinkers in the mother-land, who are accustomed to consider that the supreme merit of the British institution consists in the fact that it is not a written rule,--not a system struck off at white heat by the efforts of legislators, but is, in the main, the result of a progressive historical development. To them further progress would seem safer if pursued on similar lines. The policy seems of less consequence to colonists, living as they do in countries going through rapid changes, and lending themselves more readily to new organization.

The ideal of Federation which naturally presents itself to the mind is one which provides a supreme Parliament or Council, national not merely in name but in reality, because containing in just proportion representatives of all the self-governing communities of the Empire. Such a body, relegating the management of local affairs to local Governments, and devoting its attention to a clearly defined range of purely Imperial concerns, would seem to satisfy a great national necessity. It would secure representation for all the great interests of the Empire, it {304} would bring together those best fitted to give advice on Imperial matters, and it would be free from that overwhelming responsibility for petty administration which now paralyzes, and at times renders ridiculous, the supreme council of the greatest nation in the world.

This, it seems to me, is the ideal which must be kept in view as the ultimate goal of our national aspiration and effort. It is a reasonable ideal, one which, as we have seen, long since commended itself to the philosophic mind of Adam Smith, and which has today, under the changed conditions of intercourse, infinitely more to justify it, and infinitely less to hinder its attainment than in his time. Even Burke, to whom it also occurred as a reasonable political conception, would have hesitated to employ the phrase, _opposuit natura_, with which he dismissed it, could he have grasped the possibility of what steam and the telegraph have done during the last half century. The realization of some such an ideal as this--a common representative body, Parliament or Council, directing the common policy of the Empire, while absolute independence of local government is secured for the various members--may fairly be looked upon as the only ultimate alternative to national disintegration, the only thing which can fully satisfy our Anglo-Saxon instincts of self-government, and give finality to our political system.

Meanwhile I have found that practical statesmen throughout the Empire, even those most devoted to {305} the cause of national unity, while recognizing that the difficulties constantly tend to diminish, look upon the immediate realization of this ideal as impracticable, or as involving too great a political effort, too sweeping a change in the existing machinery of national government. They turn themselves to the consideration of measures which will by gradual steps and a process of constitutional growth lead up to the desired end.

Prominent among such measures must be placed the proposal to summon periodical conferences of duly qualified representatives of the great colonies to consult with the home government and with each other on all questions of common concern. The public recognition of the right of consultation, the formal summoning of such conferences by the Head of the State, would of itself be a signal proof to the outside world of the reality of national unity, a decisive step towards its complete attainment. By bringing the leading statesmen of the colonies from time to time into immediate contact with those of the mother-land, the opportunity would be furnished for that personal understanding which becomes more and more necessary in the conduct of politics and diplomacy. In proportion as dignity is given to these conferences, and as their decisions are carried into effect, their influence on the policy of the Empire would increase till, it is believed, they would either themselves develop into an adequate Federal council, or would have gained an authority and experience entitling them to indicate the lines on which such a council could be created.

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The Conference of 1887, though merely tentative, proved how great is the variety of subjects which may usefully come under the consideration of such gatherings. New questions are constantly arising. A single illustration may be given. The right of Canada to make independent treaties has been so strongly urged by the leaders of the Opposition in the Dominion Parliament that it is difficult to see how, when next in power, they can avoid pressing the claim upon the Imperial Government. In the constitution outlined by the Australian convention at Sydney 'external affairs and treaties' were among the subjects specially reserved for the Federal Government. A prominent Victorian barrister has pointed out that this provision would bring up the whole question of the nature and limits of the Imperial connection. Newfoundland is now claiming the right to form separate treaties with foreign powers, and has thereby come into conflict with Canadian interests. It is clear that such questions should be settled on broad principles of general application. The fixing of such principles would of itself justify a conference of representatives of all the communities concerned. But conferences are occasional, and it would still be necessary to provide some means of more continuous contact between the thought of the Governments of the colonies and that of the mother-land. On this point of an adequate constitutional nexus we have many important suggestions, to a few of which reference should be made.

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Sir Frederick Pollock, in an article contributed to an English journal in March, 1891, says: 'Is there not any way, short of a gigantic constitutional experiment, of providing a visible symbol and rallying-point for the feeling of Imperial patriotism which has so notably increased within the last ten years? I think there is. One part of our constitution retains, not only in form, but in fact, the vigour of perpetual youth, and is capable of indefinite new growth as occasion may require, without doing any violence to established usage. I mean the Privy Council. From the Privy Council there have sprung within modern times the Board of Trade, the Judicial Committee, the Education Department, the Universities Committee, and virtually though not quite formally, the Local Government Board, and the several commissions now merged in the Agricultural Board. Why should there not be a Colonial and Imperial Committee of the Privy Council, on which the interests of the various parts of the Empire might be represented without the disturbance of any existing institution whatever, and whose functions might safely be left, to a large extent, to be moulded and defined by experience? ... It might be summoned to confer with the Cabinet, the Foreign or Colonial Minister, the Admiralty, or the War Office, at the discretion of the Prime Minister or of the department concerned; and its proceedings would be confidential. ... It is hardly needful to mention the Agents-General of the self-governing colonies as the kind of persons who {308} should be members of the Committee now suggested, being, of course, first made Privy Councillors. ... I believe that such a Committee might give us something much better than a written constitution for the British Empire; it might become the centre of an unwritten one.'

In the _Nineteenth Century_ for October, 1891, Sir Charles Tupper suggests a plan similar in principle to that of Sir Frederick Pollock, but more clearly defined. Assuming that at no distant date the Australasian and the North African groups of colonies will be federated, as the Canadian provinces now are, he proposes that each of these three great British communities shall be represented in this country by leading members of the Cabinets of the countries to which they belong, ministers going out of office when their own governments are changed, and so permanently representing the views of the government in power. Such a minister should in England be sworn _ex officio_ a member of the Privy Council, and though not a member of the Imperial Cabinet would be in a constitutional position to be called upon to meet it on every question of foreign policy or when any question that touched the interest of a colony was being considered. To this suggestion Sir Charles Tupper lends not only the great weight of his personal authority, but he supports his proposal by the expressed opinion of men like Earl Grey, the Marquis of Lorne, W. E. Forster, and others.

Once more, Lord Thring, looking at the question {309} as a constitutional expert, has stated his opinion that the best way in which the colonies could at present directly intervene in the general policy of the Empire would be by elevating the position of Agents-General to one akin to that of a minister of a foreign state, and by giving them in addition, as members of the Privy Council, the right of constitutional access to the British Government. This, he thinks, would satisfy the immediate necessities of the case, and would pave the way for the fuller representation which must come with the fuller acceptance of national responsibility.

Nothing can more fully show the change that has come over the public mind than the fact that proposals such as these are now made by constitutional authorities and responsible public men. It illustrates a complete reversal of the policy which was assumed without question by the statesmen of the last generation. The discussion has become one not of the principle of unity, but of ways and means to arrive at the most satisfactory constitutional nexus between the mother-land and her offshoots.

But it must not be thought that discovering the precise point of constitutional connection is the only or even the most important step towards effective unity. While the constitutional question is being debated there is much which Parliaments can do, much in which every voter in the Empire, by the use of his political influence can assist, to forward the cause of political unification. Foremost among these practical measures may be put the establishment of the cheapest possible {310} postal and telegraphic communication. The practical advantages which would flow from an inter-Imperial system of Penny Postage have been so often and so effectively presented by those who have given special attention to the question, that it is unnecessary to dwell upon them here. But from another aspect it may be said that when the emigrant of the remotest colony knows that, because he is a British citizen, the penny stamp upon his letter will carry the home news of father, mother, brother or sister over all the extent of a world-wide empire, such a fact will be more to the nation than the strength of many ironclads in the stronger national sentiment, the deeper feeling of national unity which it will evoke.

The same may be said of extended and cheapened telegraphic communication, which even now makes possible an extraordinary sympathy of national thought.

The beginning which has been made in co-operation for naval defence and in the strengthening of posts essential to common security, can with advantage be carried much further than it has yet been.

The addition to the judicial committee of the Privy Council of representative judges of the greater colonies, on the same principle that Indian law is now represented, is a practical measure which would give a more complete judicial unity to the Empire, and perhaps lay the foundation of a supreme court of final appeal for the federated nation. These are but {311} illustrations of lines on which immediate action can be taken and progress made.

But the work of unifying a great nation is not one that can or should be left to legislators alone. Statesmen must have behind them the strength of a trained and intelligent public opinion; the warmth of national passion. In forming such a public opinion and developing such a passion there is abundant room for the patriotic effort of every believer in the greatness and goodness of the cause, whatever may be his walk in life.

Chambers of Commerce, by the careful and practical study which they are able to give to commercial relations; by the opportunities which their associations furnish of bringing together the representatives of those trading interests upon which the Empire has been so largely built up, should be able to exercise a profound influence on public thought, and provide important information for the guidance of political leaders.

The discussion in working men's clubs of the industrial and political relations of the Empire is most desirable. So far from being remote from the ordinary interests of the working man, such discussions would be found to touch more closely than almost any others upon his daily work, wages, and food. It may with confidence be said, that a working man who does not have some fair knowledge of inter-Imperial relations is not fit to exercise the franchise for the Imperial Parliament.

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The equipment of all public reading-rooms and working men's clubs with maps specially designed to stimulate geographical imagination, and books to furnish accurate geographical information about the Empire would serve a highly useful purpose.

Upon the journalism of the Empire a great responsibility is laid. It is only a few years since even the most prominent English journals published colonial news under the head of foreign intelligence. Canadian news came to London by way of Philadelphia. All that is now changed. Four or five of the leading London dailies, and most of the greater provincial journals, now make the careful and conscientious study of colonial problems a marked feature of their work. One suggestion perhaps remains to be made. If the British interests at stake determine such questions, the time will probably soon come when in three if not four of the outlying parts of the Empire the greatest English journals should have as able and as well paid correspondents as in the great capitals of Europe. The work of such men, devoting their time to the study of colonial conditions, would do much to make English information accurate, and to create in the colonies confidence in English opinion on their affairs.

It is a crying evil that much of the English news published in the daily Canadian press, reaches it, even now, by way of New York, and has characteristics specially given to it to meet the demands of anti-British classes of American newspaper readers. Canadian {313} journalism can alone apply the remedy of direct communication carried on under reliable control.

In schools there is an immense work to be done. The cultivation of national sentiment in the minds of the young, on the basis of sound knowledge, historical, geographical and industrial, is not only a legitimate work, but a primary duty for the schools of a country. Especially is this true of countries where good government rests on the intelligence of the masses. Above all is it true for a nation which has the great birthright of free popular institutions; which has more than once stood as the bulwark of modern liberty, as it may have to stand again; which has traditions behind and prospects ahead fitted to fire the noblest and purest enthusiasm. Somewhat extended observation has led me to conclude that there is a very great lack of historical and geographical teaching in portions of the Empire. The deficiency is most marked on the historical side in the colonies, and especially in parts of Australia; on the geographical side in the mother-land. The remark applies equally to elementary and to secondary schools. It seems a lamentable thing that any British child abroad should grow up without having felt the splendid inspiration to be drawn from the study of British history; a disgraceful thing that any British child in the mother-land should grow up to exercise the franchise without a fair idea of the geography of the Empire whose destiny will be influenced by his vote.

I appeal to the teachers of our British world, and {314} to all who have to do with the direction of its education, to remedy this deficiency. The spread of educational facilities has placed in their hands a wonderful leverage with which to give direction to the destinies of the Empire. One hesitates whether to press this duty most strongly upon those who control the 'Public' and secondary schools, which chiefly educate the professional and political classes, or the common schools which give to the voting masses most of the early training which they get. Let both equally feel the significance of this great national responsibility.

This work of giving education upon the immediate problems of national life, begun at school, should be carried on at our colleges and universities. The author of the 'Expansion of England' has shown how much can be done from a single centre and by a single teacher when the highest resources of historical knowledge and literary skill are turned to the elucidation of national problems.

By manifold agencies and influences, then, is the problem of British unity to be worked out. Our freedom, our national traditions, our institutions, our Anglo-Saxon civilization, are the common heritage of all. It is the business of all to labour for their maintenance and for their security.

[1] 'In nothing could the flexibleness of Hamilton's intellect, or the genuineness of his patriotism, have been more finely shown than in the hearty zeal and transcendant ability with which he now wrote in defence of a plan of government so different from what he would have himself proposed.'----_The Critical Period of American History_, p. 342, John Fiske.

[Transcriber's Note: All spellings have been preserved as printed.]