SECTION II., 1895. [3] Trans. R.S:C. 
I—The Canadian Dominion and proposed Australian Commonwealth: A 
Study in Comparative Politics. (') 
By JG. Bourinor,OmwbG. ET" D; DC, Dre D. 
(Read May 15th, 1895.) 
IE 
No one can deny that the most important feature of the present 
reign has been, not the victories won by Great Britain in foreign wars, 
for these are but insignificant compared with those of other times ; not 
triumphs in diplomacy, for they have not been remarkable, and Cana- 
dians will hardly consider even the Bering Sea treaty an equivalent 
for the Oregon or Maine surrender; not even success in literature, for 
more lasting fame has been probably won by writers of other periods ; 
not the extraordinary expansion of commerce and wealth, which has 
resulted from the evolution of sound economic ideas, national enterprise, 
and scientific discovery. No, assuredly the most significant and enduring 
achievement of the reign has been the economic, intellectual and political 
development of those prosperous communities which form the colonial 
empire of the British Isles. We have had quite recently some evidence 
of the remarkable growth, and the imperial aspirations of these countries, 
in the conference that has been held, in the political capital of the 
Dominion, of delegates from eight free, self-governing colonies in Austral- 
asia, South Africa and America, who came together for the express pur- 
pose of discussing questions which affect not merely their own peculiar 
and sectional interests, but touch most nearly the unity and integrity of 
the empire at large. Such a conference was an evidence not only of col- 
onial expansion and ambition, but an acknowledgment of the importance 
of Canada in the councils of the wide imperial domain of England, since 
it was not at London, but under the shadow of the parliament buildings, 
at Ottawa, that colonists met for purposes of deliberation. The fact 
that such a conference was possible in the year of grace 1894 is the most 
expressive testimony that could be borne to the success of the colonial 
policy of a reign which has given so admirable a system of government, 
not merely to Canada, but to all those colonies that have attained so 
favourable a position among the communities of the world. 
Every lover of imperial interests will watch with some curiosity the 


1 This paper is intended as a supplement to a series of papers on Comparative 
Politics in the previqus volumes of the Transactions, VIII. and XI., sec. 2. These 
papers were on: (1) The English Character of Canadian Institutions. (2) The Political 
Systems of Canada and the United States. (3) Federal Government in Switzerland. 
(4) Parliamentary compared with Congressional Government. 
