PROBLEMS OF EMPIRE.
probably true. As regards England the case is different. The seat of government is in London. In the House of Commons England has such a preponderating voice that the necessity for a separate legislature to deal with his business does not come home to an Englishman with the same force as to a Scotchman, an Irishman, or a Welshman. Though there is already a considerable body of opinion in favour of devolution of business from the House of Commons in some shape or other, it is undoubtedly in England that most educational work must be done before there can be a prospect of carrying a measure of Federal government for the United Kingdom. The 'predominant partner' must be induced to contemplate devolution as applied to himself, and to realise that if he wishes proper attention given to the housing question, the problem of the aged poor, temperance, the condition of British industry, the depopulation of the agricultural districts, he must have a Parliament free to devote its wholeImperial Federation League. time to English business. That this is not a difficult task is the experience of those who have addressed meetings in all parts of the country during the past six months on the necessity of devolution,
We have hitherto been considering the policy of Federal government with special reference to the United Kingdom; but a survey of the subject would be incomplete unless it was also considered in its relation to the constitutional structure of the Empire. Nearly twenty years ago the Imperial Federation League was formed, under the presidency of the late Mr. W. E. Forster, with the object of bringing home to the public mind the fact that the constitutional arrangements under which the Empire was then governed, and is still
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