THE ERA OF EXTRAVAGANCE 269 



throughout the Empire ; making the securities of colonial Govern- 

 ments available for the investment of trust funds ; uniformity in 

 the laws relating to bankruptcy, patents and marriage; and pro- 

 vision for taking the census on the same day throughout all British 

 possessions. 



There were men besides Chief Justice Higinbotham who re- 

 garded with suspicion any overtures from Downing Street as tending 

 to centralise administration, and the comparatively insignificant 

 results of this important conference were no doubt largely due to 

 the jealous manner in which the powers of the delegates were re- 

 stricted. Brilliant as were the speeches, and dignified as was the 

 discussion, it was purely consultative, though it certainly initiated 

 some beneficial results. It gave a certain tone of importance to 

 all the Colonies to be consulted in the affairs of the Empire, which 

 had hitherto been so self-contained ; and it roused some national 

 sentiment even in the Victorian- born subjects of the Queen, ac- 

 customed at all times to regard their own status with a superior 

 complacency. 



Although Mr. Higinbotham had been on the bench for six 

 years before the resignation of Sir Wm. Stawell elevated him to the 

 position of Chief Justice, his abstention from active politics had 

 not diminished the deep interest he took in public affairs, or dulled 

 the vigour with which he was always ready to champion prescrip- 

 tive rights. He declined the honour of knighthood, generally 

 associated with the position he occupied, and more than once he 

 gave the Ministry some experience of the difficulty of running such 

 a man in the ordinary official grooves. Early in 1889 Sir Henry 

 Loch desired leave of absence to visit England, and it became neces- 

 sary to appoint an Acting Governor. Sir Wm. Stawell had held the 

 commission of Lieutenant-Governor during his Chief Justiceship. 

 Before gazetting Mr. Higinbotham to that position, he was sounded 

 as to his willingness to communicate with the Colonial Office on 

 matters of domestic policy on the lines hitherto observed. He de- 

 clined to do so, upon grounds that were subsequently disclosed by 

 the publication of a voluminous despatch he had addressed to the 

 Colonial Secretary in February, 1887. In this very important 

 document he reviewed at great length the character of the instruc- 



