The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-02-11
THE COLONIES AND THE MOTHER
COUNTRY.

FfOfbtff tdU h0u GQ2cUc.
For the moment, Colonial affairs, after a
long step into the foreground, are thrust back
again. But it is obvious that the relations of
the mother country and the colonies are soon
to form what is called question:; and there
fore we venture the contribution of few
hints on the subject. Very much the best
suggestion ever made about il is contained in
pamphlet published several years ago by Mr..
Henry Thring, which attracted at the time
hardly any of the notice which its conspicuous
merit deserved. Mr.. Thring is one of the
most intelligent and influential of our legis-
lators, though fortunately both for the coun-
try and for himself, he has no seat in Parlia-
ment, and never will have one. OF course
no one man makes any important law, but
the person who draws up and puts into dis
tinct and categorical shape the views of
the Cabinet, which are often very
general and more or less crude, has more
to do with legislation practically than
any other individual man. At all
events, what he says is entitled to the utmost
respect and attention, and nothing which
bears his name can safely be disregarded as
impracticable or visionary. Let us see, then,
what Mr.. Thring has to say on this great
topic. The pamphlet to which we refer is
called Suggestions on Colonial Reform" 1t
was published by Messrs. Stevens and Haynes,
and its preface is dated January IL, 1865.
We earnestly recommend it to all persons
interested in the subject. Mr.. Thrings great
point is that whereas the colonies and the
mother country may be reciprocally of the
greatest use to each other, and whereas it is
necessary in order that they may be of use
that their mutual obligations and the charac-
| ter of their relations to each other should be
| definitely understood and clearly settled, it
would be well to pass an act to define them.
! Such definition as Mr. Thring points out
would remove numerous future possibilities
of quarrel, as to which he we'll remarks:-
''More than half the heartburnings and bick-
| erings in the world arise from the absence of
| settled rule of conduct to meet q
| possible contingency, from the impossibility
of parting without the pride Of the one party
being hurt, OF the dignity of the other
offended. Mr.. Thring embodied the scheme
| by which he proposed to effect this object in
| draft bill, which forms an appendix to his
pamphlet, and on the provisions of which we
will proceed to make some remarks. Its fun
damental principle is as novel as it is just. 1t
is simply this that the connection between
the mother country and the colony ought to
be regarded as an advantage to both parties,
but in particular to the colony; and that, on
the one hand, the colony should, if it
pleas ed, have right, recognized by statute,
to withdraw from the connection; while, on
the other hand, the mother country should
have right, if the colony misbehaved itself,
to punish such misbehavior by ex-
pulsion AS things stand at present
there is a feeling--a diminishing feeling,
no doubt, but still a feeling-that by pro-
claiming its independence colony would, as
it were, punish the mother country for any
misconduct on its part, and that the power to
do so constitutes hold over the pride of the
United Kingdom which puts it to q certain
extent at the mercy of its dependencies Mr.
Thring justly points out that this is quite a
mistake; that in most cases such conduct
would amount to cutting of your nose to
spite your face, and that if expulsion were
regarded as q punishment (Which il really
would be-, union would he regarded as pri
vilege, which it really is.
The scheme OF the bill by which Mr..
Thring hoped to accomplish these objects
was as follows:--The first part related to the
formation of new colonies; the second to the
constitutions to be provided for those which
as vet have no constitution; the third to !
| division between imperial and local power
and the fourth to the proceedings by which
colonies might, if they wished it, obtain indie
pendence, or, if they incurred such penalty
be visited by expulsion. OF these parts tn,
third and fourth are by far the most interest
ing and important. The third, which draw
the line between local and imperial powers
is Justly described by Mr. Thring as tho key
, stone of his scheme. 1t reserves to til,
+ Grown the right of declaring war, and al
. rights incident thereto; Ss, for example, tina
of establishing prize courts, carrying on diplo
' matte relations with foreign countries, an
the like; and it declares that in the even
OF foreign war the United Kingdom
VIII protect the colony, ii tn
. colony viii render for its own defens