Imperial Relations.

And this brings me to another subject and problem which I think presses for solution,—the relations of all the Colonies with the Mother Country. The question is, should the bond of union remain as now, or be strengthened or weakened? I think it should be strengthened, and if strengthened, then the whole subject of Imperial communications and transport is supreme. You may remember that before the abolition of the provinces of this Colony, we used to lament their financial difficulties. The lamentable course of a province borrowing at 8, 10' and 15 per cent., and the general Government borrowing at the same time at 5½ or 6, was often pursued. Now there is a similar action going on in the Empire every day. The Imperial Government can borrow at 3 per cent., the Colony can borrow at 5. Were England to guarantee Colonial loans, the gain to them and to herself in the end would be very evidently great. And the reason of this reserve and and distrust is chiefly the want of better communications. Indeed, with communications of a high class between the different parts of the Empire, page 136 it seems possible enough for the Colonies to be represented in the British Parliament at least once in each alternate year; and they, as Adam Smith thought, would then become the counties of England, only slightly divided by sea.