closer together; that the self-government which is developing
our strength should be made a source of future strength to
this country. And in the colonies there is a certain amount of
danger. There is a sense of isolation-the sense that they are
comparatively alone, that they are not those inherent parts of the
empire in that sense which makes them in fact co-partners in all
your joys and hopes, and, I may add, in all your sorrows. The
colonies have no share in the government of the empire. They
govern themselves, but they have no word in the great questions
that come up for discussion. For instance, there is the question
of peace and war, which in itself is one carrying, it may be,
desolation to the homes of colonists and destruction to their
property: they have no voice in the settlement of such a question
as that. And believing, as I firmly do, that the British Empire is
an empire of peace, that it is not an empire that any reasonable
men desire to see extended by force, I say that the possession of
those colonies is in itself the strongest guarantee that that policy
will be carried out. It is not the outlying portions of the empire
certainly that would desire to provoke contests with other countries.
I will now venture to call your attention for a moment to what
these colonies themselves are in reference to the summary I have
just read. I will not refer to India, because, though India is a
,possession, and a most valuable possession, of the Crown-one of
.enormous importance-still it is, we may say, sui generis; it is not
.one you can speak of in the same connection as the self-governing
colonies. I make the same remark in reference to the military
and naval stations that stud the face of the earth. These are
posts held by this country as a means of maintaining its influence
throughout the rest of the world and protecting its several
possessions. I therefore desire more particularly to refer to what
are known as the self-governing colonies-those colonies which,
under the wise policy of this country, have been permitted to have
the freest form of self-government. Now I desire to consider
with the self-governing colonies, the West Indies, because I believe
the time is not remote when the constitution which was enjoyed
by Jamaica for some time, and afterwards parted with, will be