England engaging in war, "by constituting under the sanction of the Imperial Parliament the Australian colonies quasi-Sovereign States, subject to Her Majesty, with power to make treaties with each other and with other states, and with power to concur in, or stand aloof from, England's quarrels as may to the colonies seem wise and expedient." It was a very pretty and characteristic document, and bore the impress of its authorship upon its face. Two of the Commissioners, if I rightly remember, refused to sign it, and the Report had no influence with Parliament or the country. Mr. Edward Jenkins may rest assured that the Australian people would never shuffle out of their responsibilities in this pitiful way. But, as he has quoted the text of Mr. Duffy's Royal Commissioners' Report ("The Colonial Question," by the author of Ginx's Baby), I cannot do better than give his refutation of the arguments therein adduced.
"No stronger hint could be given to us at home to arrive at a rapid decision upon our future Imperial policy. When the disintegration of our Empire is recommended by a Royal Commission, it is time to consider whether Her Majesty is to be Queen only of Great Britain, or an Imperial Sovereign. The proposal of the Victorian statesmen is unpractical. Such a relation of independent 'sovereignties' could not be maintained in this age;
