36 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



vention would never have met were it not for the efforts of enthusiastic 

 supporters of the movement for some years back to create a deeper in- 

 terest in colonial affairs and Imperial connection. At the Conference 

 commercial questions absorbed the attention of the delegates, and per- 

 haps some historical students ma}' recall the fact that considerations of 

 trade and finance led to the famous convention that created •' a more 

 " perfect union " in 1787 for the American States previously bound 

 together by a loose confederation. 



Some strong reasons may be urged by not a few persons, from an 

 Imperial point of view, for giving Imperial assistance to such jDractical 

 propositions as a fast Atlantic and Pacific steam service betAveen Canada, 

 Australasia, and Great Britain — soon to be realized between Canada and 

 the parent State — and the laying of a cable, " free from all foreign con- 

 " trol " between the Dominion and Australasia. One can see in the 

 resolutions of the Conference advocating larger and freer commercial 

 relations between the colonial dependencies, as well as the removal of 

 any restraints that may be imposed by Imperial ti'eaties on the right of 

 Canada and other colonies to regulate their tariffs as they deem most 

 expedient, some important evidence of the growing desire among colonial 

 statesmen to give greater unity to the colonial empire. The Conference 

 also urged on English statesmen the necessity of reconsidering the posi- 

 tion they have assumed since the days of Cobden and Peel, and adopting 

 a policy which would give a preference to colonial products in the 

 markets of Great Britain, and create an Imperial Zollverein ; but while 

 no practical step has been taken in this direction by the Imperial Min 

 istry or Parliament since the passing of the resolution yet one sees in the 

 speeches of prominent British public men as well as in the strong desire 

 evinced by Mr. Laurier and his Ministerial colleagues to draw closer to 

 the imperial state, the most encouraging sign for the unity and integrity 

 of the empire at large. 



Indeed it is obvious that while Canadians may differ as to methods 

 of action, neither government nor opposition have any doubts as to the 

 advisability of strengthening the connection between the Dominion and 

 the Mother Country. This is the paramount question of the day among 

 all classes — among people and statesmen — and practical results of great 

 significance must be evolved ere long.^ 



1 Since this paper was read before the Royal Society of Canada, the Diamond 

 Jubilee, which showed so powerful sentiment of attachment to the Crown and 

 Empire, has already brought forth a practical result by the "denunciation" of 

 the imperial treaties with Germany and Belgium, which for some years past have 

 evoked the hostility of the Canadian government and parliament as entirely at var- 

 iance with the commercial freedom of the Dominion and her rights, expressed or 

 ' implied by the British No.-th America Act of Union, and as interposing serious 

 obstacles to more intimate commercial relations with the parent state. This action 

 on the part of the imperial government, in response to the bold and decisive tarilF 



