The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-04-18

1t be carried out through those Demo-
Gratis and their allies who are sincere
in believing in it, instead of by the
traitorous hands that are unwilling to
! deal honestly either with themselves
or with the people,
UNITED STATES OF AUSTRALASIA.
While Englishmen are dreaming of a
| federation joining the colonies to the
mother country, the move initiated
some years ago by that remarkable
statesman, the late Sir Henry Parkes,
OF New South Wales, 10 form a union
OF the Australian colonies. has reached
point where delegates are IN conven-
ton formulating the constitution of
the common general government. Rep
resentatives from New South Wales.
| Victoria, Tasmania and South and West
Australia are in session, while Queens
land is not represented. New Zealand,
with seven hundred miles Of ocean
intervening, feels, in her isolation, less
need Of union, and has no delegates in
the convention. The process Of subdi-
vision, that carved out province after
province from the parent colonies, has
nearly ceased, and the tendency TO
consolidation, so notable everywhere,
las set in. Canada set the example,
and the Central American states are
the latest to feel the unifying i'm
pulse. 1t is the spirit of the Gay and
shows in trade and commar as well
as in governments
But if the Australian colonists have
come to regard union as desirable
they wish to preserve as tenaciousIy as
did our forefathers the independence
of the several colonies in all local mat
tefs, committing to the federation only
those larger affairs that concern all
The rights, powers. privileges and ter
ritory of each colony remain intact.
The connecting link with the mother
| country is to be the same as Canada's.
a government appointed by the queen.
but the limit of his power is as VET
underlined, although it is not likely that
he will be given more than the COVER
nor general Of Canada has. English
colonists everywhere have been more
inclined to take away than to grant
power to the representative of the
! Kingdom. In one respect the conyen-
ton carries the judicial power and iu-
risdictiOn farther than this country in
/ court not only original Jurisdiction in
federal affairs, but final appellate iu-
risdiction in all cases. This provision
will have some advantages along with
the possibly serious one of denrivino.
the several colonies Of that independ-
ence they have reserved In spite of
the restriction on the Jurisdiction of
our own federal supreme court. we
have seen it absorbing Jurisdiction over
matters supposed to be solely within
that of state courts. An advantage will
be the exemption from confusion and
conflict Of judicial law prevailing with
us which involves the absurdftv of an
act being legal in one state and illegal
in an adjoining one, not because Of pos
tive, statutory enactment, but from
the different application of the princi-
pies of common law to particular cases.
The Australian plan will lead Ultimate
ly to the uniformity of judicial law
over the union
Another provision secures the abso-
Lutte freedom Of trade between the col
ontes, thus removing the source Of
constant irritation that has found ex-
preston in retaIiatory tariffs, injuring
intercolonial trade and restricting de-
velopment. New South Wales and Vic
toria have held opposite courses, the
former using tariffs as a revenue pro-
ducer but with a distinct trend towards
free trade, While Victoria has always
been dominated by the Tory policy of
using the tariff primarily for protec-
ton, and incidentally for revenue, the
same as our own Tories have done and
are doing. 1t is probable that this
question will cut the larger figure in
the discussions when the convention
coIhpleIeS IlS WOrK ana RENTS the con-
stitution to the colonies for their ac-
ton. The latest action reported is the
decisive rejection of the proposition to
admit women to suffrage in the cleo
ton Of federal representatives New
Zealand, where woman suffrage is CO
extensive with male, was not represent
ed, but possibly her experience may
have been regarded as a warning by
the other colonies.