VENEZUELA AND AFTER 349 



sion and solution of pressing concrete problems 

 opened a way through which, more Britannico, 

 the broad considerations of constitutional theory 

 were sidetracked and imperial consolidation was 

 approached by the slow but sure pathway of 

 extra-constitutional experiment. In 1887, on 

 the occasion of Queen Victoria s jubilee, a con 

 ference of colonial representatives was held at 

 London under the auspices of the colonial 

 secretary. Its consultations were of little ef 

 fect save in revealing a basis of common in 

 terest in the widely scattered members of the 

 empire. As was prophesied by Lord Salisbury, 

 however, this meeting became &quot;the parent of a 

 long progeniture&quot;; for such conferences have 

 become an established feature of the imperial 

 system, assembling every four years, and act 

 ing under a well-defined constitution. This 

 imperial conference is, in fact, a new and sig 

 nificant organ of policy and administration for 

 his British Majesty s dominions. In its de 

 liberations have taken shape the policies which 

 in recent years have done so much to increase 

 the force of the British Empire. The obstacles 

 to be overcome, in the shape of conflicting 

 interests and the spirit of local independence, 

 have not availed to thwart the trend toward 



