Page:Australian views of England.djvu/72

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60
AUSTRALIAN VIEWS
[Let.

about the injustice of taxing their constituents for the benefit of the self-governing colonies, honorable gentlemen lustily cheered him. After the first dose, a good deal of uneasiness was manifested; one by one, and two by two, the seats began to thin, and in the next quarter of an hour a hundred members had escaped.

The resolution of Mr. Mills affirmed that those colonies exercising the right of self-government ought to take upon themselves the main responsibility of providing for their own internal good order and security. After a speech from the seconder, Mr. Buxton, in support, an addition to the motion was moved by Mr. Baxter "That such colonies ought to assist in their own external defence." Mr. Fortescue, the Under Secretary for the Colonies, assented on behalf of the Government to both the resolution and the amendment, and made a speech expressive of his concurrence in much that had been advanced, but doubting whether a general principle could be applied in all cases, especially in those colonies where the population was of mixed character, such, for example, as Trinidad. Sir James Ferguson, who had been a member of Mr. Mills' committee of last