after all the existence of the Empire depends, was thoroughly threshed out in debate, and already the effect has been, on the whole, all that could be expected. It is hoped that this Council will be the forerunner of many, and that each of them will be a fresh link in binding us together. But why should such Councils be always held in London? Surely this scientific progress in steam and electricity, upon which Lord Salisbury very properly laid such stress, has its uses for public men as well as for the common people. Why, therefore, should it not be feasible that some future Council of the Empire should be held in Melbourne, Wellington, Ottawa, Cape Town, or Sydney? Englishmen must notice the excellent effect produced (even though subsequent "party" manoeuvres wrecked his labours in America) by sending on a colonial mission a statesman of first-rate rank like Mr. Chamberlain. More than anything else it makes the colonists feel that they are of some account in the reckoning. It diverts, as it were, the public mind of the Empire to them, and they become for the time being the centre of attraction. This is exactly what is wanted as a check to the over- centralisation of London. Consider the effect of a Council held in Melbourne or
