The West Indies : Their Common Interest and Imperial Aim. 337 



I have indicated. Later on, a permanent and independent President 

 might be appointed whose salary would be contributed to by the various 

 colonies and, following out the logical idea of development, as the trade 

 and wealth of the West Indies grew, we might eventually see a permanent 

 West Indian Court established with judges appointed for this work alone. 



I see that Barbados has petitioned the Home Government on this 

 matter, but from the petition I infer that it is considering the strengthen- 

 ing of its own Court of Appeal rather than taking the wider view of the 

 subject which would appear to be necessary for the common interest of 

 the West Indies. It might have been better to consult the other colonies 

 interested first and to have arranged a definite scheme ; but one must 

 not criticise any colony in taking a definite step forward and I can only 

 hope that one of the next conferences will be a legal one which may be 

 able to bring this matter to a satisfactory consummation. I have touched 

 on these subjects wherein the West Indies may find a common interest 

 and there are various other ones which have been suggested in one form 

 or other but which I shall not allude to because time does not permit and 

 also because, while admitting their sentimental value, I cannot for the 

 present at any rate see their material advantage. But there is a greater 

 matter behind all these — what is the logical development of all these 

 ideas of unity and uniformity ? If communities draw continually nearer 

 to each other in a common commercial interest must they not eventually 

 find a common political interest ? I may remind you how Aristotle opens 

 his first book on " Politics."' ;i All communities aim at some good, but 

 the political community, which is the highest of all and which embraces 

 all the rest, aims, and in a greater degree than any other, at the highest 

 good." 



Precursor of a Larger Scheme. 



I must admit that my own views are changing. I have held, and I 

 do so still, that the West Indian community of interest is essentially com- 

 mercial, but when one studies such questions as the West Indian Court 

 of Appeal, to which I have referred, and sees its logical development 

 until a distinct and separate Court is created and perhaps the need of 

 codified West Indian law arises : when one looks at the development of 

 Customs until we see before us a Customs Union and perhaps a West 

 Indian Customs service with its own officials and a common revenue, one 

 begins to feel that we are creating a body with suitable and useful limbs 

 but with no head. Who is to give effect to, to supervise, all these schemes ? 

 An increasing round of ad hoe conferences is obviously no solution. 

 Therefore I believe that if progress is made on the lines indicated, we 

 must eventually be faced with the desire of some kind of political union. 

 Now, the first question which will suggest itself to this colony will be, 

 " Granted that the islands will benefit by political union, why should we, 

 a continental colony, with continental interests and aims, ally ourselves 

 with islands whose development may be on different lines ?" After reading 

 our morning papers, some of us have to-day " Dip t into the future far 

 as human eye could see,'" and picture this colony as one with a teeming 



