St. Paul daily globe., 1896-03-26
AN IMPERIAL TRADE UNION.
THAT THE TEXT OF HIS ADDRESS
BEFORE THE CANADA
cLtffi
ENGLISH IDEA OF. PROTECTION.
1t Is Possible That n Working
Basis of Agreement May BE
Reached.

Sir Robert Herbert, Gen. GallWey, Hon.
| Steveley Hill, Admiral McClntock. Sir
Bartlefrere Colmer and Messrs. w. z.
| TOmllnson, S. Godge and T. Il. Buck
mill, members of parliament. and many
Canadians were present tonight at the
dinner given to Rt. Hon. Joseph Cham
berlain, secretary of state for the col
onies, by the Canada club.
Mr. Chamberlain replied to a toast
| in which Lord Aberdeen coupled the
names of Chamberlain and Montagu.
| The colonial secretary was given an
enthusiastic reception, as he rose to
reply.
He said he felt honored to be associat-
ed with DR.. Montagu, and that it was
great pleasure to meet the many
representatives of the great America.
which stands first among the kindred
nations forming the British empire.
He had visited Canada, and had met
many of its leading statesmen, notably
Sir John Macdonald, that most i'm
perially minded man whose guiding
idea it was to maintain intact the local
independence of Canada in close alli-
ance with the mother country. Often
he did not have easy times. There
were many prominent men on both
sides of the Atlantic who had once as
sumed that it wos the manifest destiny
of Canada to be absorbed into the
great republic on It's southern frontier.
(Cries of mo, no; never.'D
Mr. Chamberlain continued: THAT
was the opinion. 1t Is an ancient con-
troversy and 1 will not refer to it
except to mark the contrast. between
the doubt and hesitation then and the
determination now of every son of Can
ada to maintain the local constitution
in it's special identity and at the same
time to draw closer the bonds which
unite him with the great parent state.
The recent resolution that seemed to
threaten us evoked from all the col
onies. especially from Canada, an out
burst of loyalty and affection that re-
verberated throughout the world, which
testifies a sentiment deeper than words
can express, and which dispelled the
idea that such expressions Of loyalty
and affection were superficial and
wouId not bear the test of serious con-
f1ict. so that if war broke out the
mother country would be left to her
fate. and the colonies could take care
of themselves. r
"The shadow OF war did darken the
horizon and to none was the snauoW
more ominous than to our fellow cltl-
zens of Canada. This decision was
emuha sized by the debates in the do
minion parliament. and the moral was
summed up in the eloquent speech OF
Mr. McNeill, who is quoted as having
said: From the British people, one
people, to the integrity Of the common
empire This orator, struck the right
chord when he said: The empire OIL
Great Britain is the common heritage
of all its sons and is not the appendag
of the United Kingdom Many speech
es were made to the same effect in the
dominion parliament and resolution
was passed by acclamation, repeated
allusion being made to the opportunity
which every community in the empire
was bound to seize, and the hope that
something would be done to bring US
nearer.
I'VE share that hope" continued Mr.
Chamberlain, "and ask you, is the
demonstration, this almost unlVersal
expression of loyalty of all the colonies,
to pass away without a serious effort
by colonial and imperial statesmen to
transform these high sentiments into
practical reSults?'
Mr.. Chamberlain then reviewed the
growth of the feeling for imperial fed
Grafton and said: Although eXper-
ience has shown that the final realiza-
ton of our hopes of federation. is
matter of such vast magnitude and
great complication that it cannot be
undertaken at the present time, 1T does
not follow on that account that we
should give up our aspirations. 1t is
only a proof that we must approach
the goal differently and not try to do
everything at once, but must seek the
line of least resistance. The boldeSt
might shrink before an attempt to Gre
ate a new government for the British
empire with large powers of taxation
and legislation over countries separated
by thousands Of miles of seas. We
may, however, approach this desirab
consummation by process of gradual
development. We may endeavor to es-
tablish some common interests and
common obligations. The greatest OBJ
legation is the imperial defense. The
greatest interest is the imperial trade.
The former must be reached through
the latter. as was the case in the Gre
alton of the German empire"
Remarking that it was natural that
Canada should take the initiative, Mr..
Chamberlain cited the resolution of the
Ottawa conference in favor of a Gus
ain and the colonies and also Mr. Nc
Neils resolution in the Canadian legis-
lature on Tuesday in favor of duty on
foreign imports. Although he foresaw
a very serious dislocation of the trade
with England, if such a proposal be-
came effective, Mr.. Chamberlain as
serted that the proposal merited re-
spect for the consideration.
''This proposal" Mr.. Chamberlain
1A5
small duty on food and raw material
and would increase the cost of living
and the pressure on the working class
es. Tt is useless for us to shut our eyes
to these facts. In return, we should
get very small considera ton in the
shape of a preference, maybe per
cent, and perhaps even per cent, in
competing with foreign manufacturers
in the colonial markets. This is a
very startling proposal for a free trade
country and seems in it's present form
impossible for us to adopt. I am a
profound free trader. but at the same
time I am not so pedantic that, if suf-
f1cient advantage were offered, would
not consider a deviation from the
strict dogma. But so far no sufficient
quid pro quo has been offered to induce
England to take certain loss and the
possible risk involved in renouncing
altogether her present commercial
policy.
Mr.. Chamberlain then proceeded to
invite the colonies to continue their eff
forts. and he expressed the opinion that
the Marquis of Ripon's Slispatch to the
governors of the colonies in 1896 had
not closed the doorsoto more favorable
proposals which might be advanced in
the future, and he called particular at
tention to Lord Ripoh' sVstatement that
Arrangement CTfa ti1P q c11Cfnroc