England, Canada and the Great WarDesjardins, L. G. (Louis Georges)
History
England, Canada and the Great War
Desjardins, L. G. (Louis Georges)
Great Britain -- Colonies -- Canada; Imperialism; World War, 1914-1918; World War, 1914-1918 -- Canada
Would the colonial ministers in the British Cabinet be constitutionally
responsible to the people of the United Kingdom without holding their
mandate from them?
Such a system would be so absurd, so radically impossible, that it is
not necessary to argue to prove that it would not work for one single
year.
In my opinion, Colonial representation would be practicable only with
the creation of a new truly Imperial Parliament, the present British
Parliament to continue to exist but with constitutional powers reduced
to the management of the internal affairs of the United Kingdom. If such
is the scheme of the "Nationalists," then they are converts to that
Imperial Federation which they have vehemently denounced for years, and
to the largest measure possible of that Imperialism which has been
cursed with their worst maledictions.
If ever complete Imperial Federation becomes an accomplished fact, how
will it be organized? Will the new Imperial Parliament consist of one
Sovereign, one House of Lords--or Senate--one House of Commons?
Would the Sovereign be King or Emperor? I, for one, would prefer the
word EMPEROR. He might be titled His Majesty the Emperor of the British
Commonwealth and the King of Great Britain.
With Imperial Federation--a regime of complete Imperial autonomy--the
word "colonies" would no longer apply. Would Canada, Australia, South
Africa, India, New Zealand be called Kingdoms, like Prussia, Bavaria,
Saxony, Wurtemberg, of the German Empire?
Evidently, the constitutional powers of the new Parliament would be
limited to external relations, to strictly Imperial affairs.
The new constitutional organization of the British Empire would combine
Imperial, National and Provincial autonomy, each operating within the
well defined limits of their respective privileges and attributions.
Under such a regime, there would be three sorts of responsible Cabinets:
The Imperial Cabinet responsible to the whole Imperial electorate; the
National Cabinets of the component Kingdoms of the British Empire
responsible to the electorate of each one of those Kingdoms
respectively; the Provincial Cabinets responsible to the electors of
each province respectively.
The Royal--or rather Imperial--Prerogative to declare war and to make
peace would be exercised upon the responsibility of the Imperial
Cabinet.
To the new Imperial Parliament would undoubtedly be given the right and
the duty to provide for Imperial defense. They would have to organize an
Imperial army and an Imperial navy for the protection of the whole
Empire.
The whole of the reorganized Empire would have to pay the whole of the
expenditures required for Imperial purposes, defense and others, on land
and sea, out of revenues raised by laws of the Imperial Parliament.
Under the new Imperial constitutional regime, would the Imperial
Parliament be given the authority to regulate Imperial trade and
commerce, the Imperial postal service, &c.?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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