movements with reference to Samoa. These conditions, economic and political, affected all the colonies more or less intimately and resulted in the first real, though loose, form of federal union. At the instigation of the Honorable James Service, premier of Victoria, a convention met at Sydney, November, 1883, composed of delegates from all the colonial governments. This convention adopted a bill providing for the establishment of a Federal Council, with power to deal with certain specified subjects and with such other matters as might be referred to it by two or more colonies. … New South Wales and New Zealand refused to agree to the bill, but it was adopted by the other colonies; and the Imperial Parliament, in 1885, passed an act permitting such a Council to be called into existence at the request of any three colonies, to be joined by other colonies as they saw fit. Meetings of the Council took place in 1886, 1888, 1889 and 1891, but very little was accomplished. That the Federal Council was a very weak affair is obvious. … Meanwhile, interest in a more adequate form of federation was growing. In 1890 Sir Henry Parkes proposed a plan for federal union of a real and vigorous sort. At his suggestion, a conference met at Melbourne, February 6, 1890, to decide on the best method of getting the question into definite shape for consideration. … Provision was made … for the calling of a convention to draw up a constitution. … In accordance with the decision of the conference, delegates from the several colonies convened at Sydney, March 2, 1891; and with the work of this convention began the third and final stage in the federation movement. The Sydney convention formulated a bill, embodying a draft of a federal constitution, and then resolved that provision should be made by the several parliaments to submit it to the people in such manner as each colony should see fit. … But there was no sufficient external pressure to bring about an immediate discussion and an early settlement. … The result was that nothing was done. … Meanwhile, federation leagues had been organized in different colonies, and in 1893 delegates from a number of these leagues met at Bendigo, Victoria. … After adopting the bill of 1891 as a basis of discussion, the Bendigo conference resolved to urge the colonial governments to pass uniform enabling acts for a new convention—its members to be elected by popular vote—to frame a constitution which should be submitted to the people for approval. This proposal met with general favor and resulted in the calling of a meeting of the premiers of all the colonies at Hobart in January, 1895. There an enabling bill was drafted which five premiers agreed to lay before their respective parliaments. … It took two years to get this machinery into working order. At