Imperial Parliament

“ When we add to all this that there are many occasions, which we can here only allude to, on which a Colonial Governor can, and does, act so as to hinder courses of action which conflict with English interests or policy, it becomes clear enough that, as far as constitutional arrangements can secure the reality of sovereignty, the Imperial Parliament maintains its supremacy throughout the length and breadth of the British Empire. ”

“ Would any one, in his desire to relieve the Imperial Parliament of some of its functions, select as an area of self-government a region where one part is divided against another by passions, and, if you will, by prejudices, more violent, and more deeply-rooted than those which afflict any other fraction of the United Kingdom, choose that other fraction where, and how, you will? ”

“ In those countries, therefore, the power of the imperial parliament must be limited as jealously as the power of the crown, and many of its functions must be discharged by provincial diets, and a descending series of local authorities. ”

“ There is only one Sovereign and Independent Parliament in the Empire—the Imperial Parliament; its supremacy is indefeasible and inalienable. Every other Parliament in the Empire is subordinate, and an Irish Parliament must be subordinate. ”

“ I will tell you fairly that you, as the less populous and less powerful part of this great nation—you of all the men in the United Kingdom, have by far the strongest interest in a thorough reform of the Imperial Parliament, and I believe that you yourselves could not do yourselves such complete justice by yourselves as you can do, by fairly acting with the generous millions of my countrymen in whose name I stand here. ”

“ For my own part, I do not believe it is possible to create an Imperial Parliament in the true sense of the term—a great Council of the Empire sitting in London and controlling all imperial, as distinguished from local, legislation and administration. From my point of view, the enormous amount of "foreign pressure" necessary to produce so vital a change in the Constitution would be much more likely to disrupt the outlying members. People who talk lightly of the task do not seem to me to realise what would be the immediate effect of their panacea. ”

“ It has long been apparent that the Imperial Parliament, as at present constituted, is unequal to the double task of managing the affairs of a world-wide Empire while also performing the minor functions which in Federated States are assigned to the individual communities of the Federation. ”

“ You have to take things as they are, not as you might wish them to be. A Parliamentary Federation of the Empire, by forming an Imperial Parliament, in which all these great British possessions should be represented, I regard as utterly impracticable, because it is in antagonism with the constitution of this country, and also with the constitution of all the autonomous Colonies. ”

“ Inability of Parliament to cope with the work of Empire.It must be clear to every sensible man that the task imposed on our present Imperial Parliament is absolutely beyond the capacity of a single assembly. The House of Commons attempts to deal with the internal affairs of Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and England. ”

“ All political writers have agreed that the knowledge of what was taking place in England, with regard to our organization, greatly strengthened the hands of the Imperial Parliament in its difficult task of framing and placing upon the Statute Book those two great measures which have remained the basis of politics and defence throughout the Empire: the Imperial Defence Act and the Imperial Parliamentary Representation Act. At the time there were not wanting critics who held that a short reign of peace would bring opposition to legislation born of a state of war ”

“ The Federalists therefore propose that the Imperial Parliament, while maintaining its supremacy absolutely intact, shall delegate a large part of its functions to a number of subordinate national or provincial Parliaments, who shall manage the domestic affairs of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, or of such other territorial divisions as may be agreed upon. These national or provincial Parliaments will be entirely independent one of another, but all will acknowledge the full and absolute sovereignty of the Imperial Parliament. ”

“ The United Kingdom Parliament is at present the Imperial Parliament, and as suggested in this article, and in the resolution which has been carried by a considerable number of Liberal Associations, will remain the Imperial Parliament till the Colonies are ready to bear their share of common burdens. ”

“ The British Empire would no longer comprise a Metropolis holding autonomous Colonies and Crown Colonies, but would be organized in a new Sovereign State with an Imperial Parliament to which all the component parts—or Kingdoms—would send representatives. ”

“ The Imperial Parliament has created many Parliaments and given to them power to deal in general as they wish with local affairs, but it never parted with its own overriding authority—it has no power to do so—and in several of the colonies it has exercised that overriding authority from time to time. ”

“ If I am not greatly mistaken, one of the first achievements of this movement will be the safe steering of the British public through the General Election. With the New Year I hope to see a real Imperial Parliament sitting. By that I mean a strong Government administering England from the House of Commons, while some of its members sit in an Imperial Chamber—Westminster Hall—and help elected representatives of every one of the Colonies to govern the Empire. My belief is there will be no such thing as an Opposition in the House. ”

“ If our foreign policy was going to rest not only on the basis of our Cabinet here, but, finally, on the whole of the British Empire, it would have to be a simpler policy, a more intelligible policy, and a policy which would in the end lead to less friction and greater security. No one would dispute the supremacy of the Imperial Parliament. They would always look upon the British Government as the senior partner in the concern. ”

“ We are the trustees for the future of the Empire. Upon what is done or neglected in Parliament beforehand must depend sooner or later the fate of England and of the British dominions throughout the world. We are bound in this House to look beyond the bawling and the brawling of the day, and to uphold Imperial policy above the clamour of selfish or short-sighted interests. ”

“ But to give them local assemblies which have no real power, and which are doomed to sit by and be the impotent spectators of 380 their own and their constituents' ruin, by the burgh-directed measures of the Imperial Parliament, is to mock them with a shadow of constitutional privileges which, in this age of intelligence, will not long be borne. ”

“ What was first a single kingdom stretched into an empire; and an imperial superintendence, of some kind or other, became necessary. Parliament, from a mere representative of the people, and a guardian of popular privileges for its own immediate constituents, grew into a mighty sovereign. Instead of being a control on the crown on its own behalf, it communicated a sort of strength to the royal authority, which was wanted for the conservation of a new object, but which could not be safely trusted to the crown alone. ”

“ During this same hundred years, as civilization has advanced, education enlightened the masses, intelligence expanded among the people, and experience been gained, there has grown up that marvellous form [Pg 257] of self-government under which we Canadians and our brother colonists live—the British Constitutional Monarchy. In this British Empire, in the colonial parliaments, as in the Imperial Parliament, the King or Sovereign represents all the people, not a party, and is the permanent chairman of the nation. The will of Parliament, tempered by his continued counsel, is his will. ”

“ The history of the last half century can scarcely make them sanguine that when the burning questions of to-day have been disposed of they will find in the Imperial Parliament the knowledge, the interest, or the time necessary for dealing with new questions as they arise—for arise they assuredly will. ”

“ No other country has ever attempted to carry on its business with such inadequate machinery. It is not attempted in Germany, in the United States, or in Switzerland.
Remedies suggested.Two alternative remedies are suggested by the experience of other countries. An Imperial Parliament, representative of the whole Empire, might be established, the existing Parliament confining itself to questions which affect the United Kingdom as a whole, and to the special interests of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. ”

“ If there be such a thing as supreme actual and effective authority, such authority is throughout the whole of the United Kingdom exercised by the Imperial Parliament, not occasionally and in theory, but every day and in the ordinary course of affairs. ”

“ The prime ministers of the great colonies began to deliberate in common with the statesmen of Britain; and the discussions, though at first quite informal and devoid of authority, have become more intimate and vital as time has passed: a beginning at least has been made in the common discussion of problems affecting the Empire as a whole. And alongside of, and in consequence of, all this, imperial questions have been treated with a new seriousness in the British parliament, and the offices which deal with them have ceased to be, as they once were, reserved for statesmen of the second rank. ”

“ While the Government, therefore, proceeded with its preparations for the establishment of representative institutions, it was incumbent on the leaders of the opposition party to prepare on their side for the time when constitutional government of a kind would be an accomplished fact, and complete their organization in readiness for the Parliament, whose opening would furnish them with the desired field for their activities. Thus, the effect of the Imperial decree was to hasten the development of political parties. ”

“ What seems to be required ultimately at Westminster is a small Parliament devoted to Imperial affairs—Imperial finance, Imperial legislation, and Imperial administration—and leaving to subordinate Parliaments the administration of local matters. Many are firmly convinced that in that way the United Kingdom would become a more successful and efficient country, with legislation better adapted to the needs of its inhabitants, and with a mind more free for the consideration of great Imperial affairs. ”

“ Our practice must be squared with our constitutional creed, and the Crown, which is the Imperial Executive, must be given such advisory assistance and such an extension of the area of its delegation as will increase its practical efficiency. The 'trustee' doctrine of the British Parliament may well be allowed to stand for the present, till facts compel a change. In effect, the self-governing Colonies are even now independent in their legislative powers, and there is no desire in the British Parliament to tamper with their freedom. ”

“ It is difficult to create armies and navies in the hour of need, and it is no easier to improvise a constitution.
↑ Such an Imperial Cabinet would, of course, account to the British Parliament, though indirectly, by means of its colonial representatives, it would account also to the colonial legislatures. If legislative federation ever came into being, it would be responsible to the federal legislature. ”

“ I look, I say, on the Imperial rights of Great Britain, and the privileges which the colonies ought to enjoy under those rights, to be just the most reconcilable things in the world. The Parliament of Great Britain sits at the head of her extensive Empire in two capacities: one as the local legislature of this island, providing for all things at home immediately and by no other instrument than the executive power ”

“ In the Holy Roman Empire, the Imperial Diet possessed a shadow of legislative authority. Of the mediæval legislatures, the English Parliament is of the most importance, because it was the only one to attain a complete development. ”

“ Unionists cannot complain of what the Government is doing for them. And on the negative side of policy—in their duty as a mere Opposition—their course is clear. It is a fundamental article of their faith to maintain the authority of the Imperial Parliament in Ireland. ”

“ But if the congestion of Parliamentary business might be appreciably relieved by some such provincial bodies—larger "national" bodies would only duplicate work, not relieve it—the true remedy for the confusion of principles and objectives which, rather than the mere waste of time, is the chief defect of our Parliamentary system, lies in a proper separation of the local affairs of the United Kingdom from the general work of the Empire, in other words, in some form of Imperial federation. ”

“ This standing Council of the Empire was to be formed of a President, one Elector, one Bishop, one Prince, one Count, and sixteen representatives of the States. It was to summon the Diet, of which it served as a standing committee, to nominate the members of the Imperial Chamber, to collect taxes, to maintain order at home, and decide on questions of peace and war. Although under the presidency of the Emperor or his Stadtholder, nothing of importance could be done without its leave, and thus it shared the executive power with him. ”