And, gentlemen, of all its efforts, this is the one
which has been the nearest to success.....Not that I, for one,
object to self-government.....But self-government when it was
conceded ought to have been conceded as part of a great policy of
imperial consolidation. It ought to have been accompanied with an
imperial tariff, by securities for the people of England for the
enjoyment of the unappropriated lands which belonged to the
sovereign as their trustee, and by a military code which should
have precisely defined the means and the responsibilities by
which the colonies should be defended, and by which, if
necessary, this country should call for aid from the colonies
themselves. It ought further to have been accompanied by some
representative council in the metropolis, which would have
brought the colonies into constant and continuous relations with
the home government. All this, however, was omitted because those
who advised that policy looked upon the colonies of England,
looked even upon our connection with India as a burden on this
country, viewing everything in a financial aspect, and totally
passing by those moral and political considerations which make
nations great." Further on in the same speech he had declared,
"in my opinion no minister in this country will do his duty who
neglects any opportunity of reconstructing as much as possible
our colonial empire, and of responding to those distant
sympathies which may become the source of incalculable strength
and happiness to this land.
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