there was no evidence to show that the Bill then presented had really been satisfactorily discussed and considered in the Colonies themselves. He said that it emanated, in the first instance, from a small coterie of Prime Ministers. He declared that the Bill would have come before the House with greater autority if they had reason to believe that proper pains had been bestowed upon it, and that proper efforts had been made to obtain full publicity and discussion for it in the Australian Colonies themselves. He condemned it as a very scanty, fragmentary and imperfect sketch of a Federal Constitution. Nevertheless, he was content that the House should pass the Bill in the form in which the Colonies had asked it to do so, and as a matter of favour to them, but the responsibility of its formation would rest substantially more with the Colonies than with Parliament. The action of both Houses confirmed this view.

In comparison, how irresistible is the present case! | Emanating in the first instance from the Australian electors, through specially chosen representatives, moulded by these with infinite pains, framed in full publicity, and then discussed for nearly 12 months in the Debates of the Convention, the columns of the Press, and the meetings of the people, the measure now to be submitted to the Imperial Parliament differs in every one of these respects, and radically differs, from the Feneral Council Bill. For the scanty, fragmentary, and imperfect sketch" of Federal Union presented in 1885 there has now been substituted a Constitution which may without presumption be characterised as complete in all its parts, and, after most anxious consideration of previous Federal Charters, approved and accepted by the Parliaments and the people of the federating Colonies. If British statesmen were content, as they showed that they were content, to pass the former measure in the shape given to it by Executive Governments alone, how much stronger is now the appeal of Australia to the sense of justice and of generosity of Government and Parliament when they are asked to confirm the Constitution of her Commonwealth, framed by the chosen of her people and solemnly agreed to by that people themselves. || In the speech from which extracts have already been taken, it was justly said that the responsibility for the Fcderal Council would rest with the Colonies themselves. Five Australian Colonies, by an aggregate majority of nearly three to one of their people, have affirmed with the utmost emphasis that they are prepared to take the responsibility of their own Constitution. They are of British stock; they are fellow countrymen of the people of this Kingdom; they have no more confidence in themselves and in their power to work out their own destiny than is right and just in men of their blood; that

they have no less, events have proved. Not arrogantly, but with the pride of their race, they ask to be accounted fit for those responsibilities which men of that race have never shirked and seldom abused. If they are given what they now ask, they will know that they have received a trust which their fellow subjects in this Kingdom will find them able to fulfil. In placing that trust in their hands the mother country will bind her Colonies to her with something stronger than words upon paper; with the high confidence which justice engenders, and the affection which gratitude evokes and perpetuates. Edmund Barton.

London, 23rd March, 1900.

Alfred Deakin.
James R. Dickson.
C. C. Kingston.
P. O. Fysh.

Anlagen.
A.

Resolution passed at the Conference of the Premiers of the Australasian Colonies on the 25th January, 1900.

,,That in compliance with the request contained in the despatch received from the Secretary of State for the Colonies, that Delegates from the Australian Colonies should be sent to England to explain and give assistance when the Australian Commonwealth Bill comes before the Imperial Parliament, this Conference is of opinion that each Colony should appoint a Delegate, and that such Delegates when appointed should represent all the Federating Colonies in unitedly urging the passage of the Bill through the Imperial Parliament without amendment, and in explaining any legal or constitutional questions that may arise."

B.

Draft of a Bill.

To Constitute the Commonwealth of Australia.

Whereas the people of [here name the Colonies which have adopted the Constitution, humbly relying on the blessing of Almighty God, have agreed to unite in one indissoluble Federal Commonwealth under the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and under the Constitution hereby established: And whereas it is expedient to provide for the admission into the Commonwealth of other Australasian Colonies and possessions of the Queen: Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's

Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in the present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: - || I. This Act may be cited as "The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act". || II. (This Act shall bind the Crown, and its) The provisions of this Act and of the Constitution set fort in the Schedule to this Act referring to the Queen shall extend to Her Majesty's Heirs and Successors in the Sovereignty of the United Kingdom. | III. It shall be lawful for the Queen, with the advice of the Privy Council, to declare by Proclamation that, on and after a day therein appointed, not being later than one year after the passing of this Act, the people of [here name the Colonies which have adopted the Constitution] shall be united in a Federal Commonwealth. under the name of ,,The Commonwealth of Australian". But the Queen may, at any time after the Proclamation, appoint a Governor-General for the Commonwealth. | IV. The Commonwealth shall be established, and the Constitution of the Commonwealth shall take effect, on and after the day so appointed. But the Parliaments of the several Colonies may at any time after the passing of this Act make any such laws, to come into operation on the day so appointed, as they might have made if the Constitution had taken effect at the passing of this Act. || V. This Act, and all laws made by the Parliament of the Commonwealth under the Constitution, shall be binding on the Courts, Judges, and people of every State, and of every part of the Commonwealth, notwithstanding anything in the laws of any State; and the laws of the Commonwealth shall be Colonial Laws within the meaning of the Colonial Laws Validity Act, 1865, (in force on all British ships, the Queen's ships of war excepted, whose first port of clearance and whose port of destination are in the Commonwealth).

Nothing in this Act or in the Schedule set forth as the Schedule to this Act shall affect any prerogative of the Crown to grant special leave to appeal to Her Majesty in Council. || VI. The Commonwealth" shall mean the Commonwealth of Australia as established under this Act. |,,Colony" shall mean any Colony or Province. The States" shall mean such of the Colonies of New South Wales, New Zealand, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, and South Australia, including the Northern Territory of South Australia, as for the time being are parts of the Commonwealth, and such Colonies or Territories as may be admitted into or established by the Commonwealth as States; and each of such parts of the Commonwealth shall be called a „State". || „Original States" shall mean such States as are parts of the Commonwealth at its establish

ment. || VII. The Federal Council of Australasia Act, 1885", is hereby repealed, but so as not to affect any laws passed by the Federal Council of Australasia and in force at the establishment of the Commonwealth. Any such law may be repealed as to any State by the Parliament of the Commonwealth, or to any Colony not being a State by the Parliament thereof. || VIII. After the passing of this Act the „Colonial Boundaries Act, 1895", shall not apply to any Colony which becomes a State of the Commonwealth; but the Commonwealth shall be taken to be a self-governing Colony for the purposes of that Act. || IX. The Constitution of the Commonwealth shall be as [follows:] set forth in the Schedule to this Act

amts über den Verfassungsentwurf. Kritik einzelner Bestimmungen insbesondere von Kap. 74.

Her Majesty's Government have had under their careful consideration the question how far it is possible to pass through the Imperial Parliament the Bill which has been submitted by the five Colonies of Australia; they desire to acknowledge the assistance they have received from the Memorandum prepared by the Australian Delegates, and they appreciate the friendly spirit in which the questions raised have been discussed. || Her Majesty's Government are most anxious that the Bill should be passed, and speedily passed, in a form which shall give to the Australian Colonies the Federation which they so earnestly desire; but, at the same time, it is their bounden duty to protect the interests of the United Kingdom and of other parts of the Empire which are also committed to their charge. || The points of difference are few in number, and involve a minimum of alteration. Her Majesty's Government observe that the Memorandum of the Delegates abstains from discussing any of the suggested alterations on their merits, and consists almost entirely of an appeal to Her Majesty's Government to accept without alteration the proposed Bill, as embodying the wishes of the people of Australia. || Her Majesty's Government feel it their duty to place on record some of the reasons which make it impossible for them to accede to this request, much as they would desire to do so. || The Memorandum of the Delegates requests that the whole of the draft Bill as received from the Colonies may be submitted to Parliament and passed into law. The distinction

which was drawn in the discussions of the Federal Convention between the,,covering clauses" and the Constitution" is no longer recognized, and it is contended that the whole Bill, covering clauses and Constitution. alike, ought to be passed by the Imperial Parliament without alteration, on the ground that it embodies the Agreement at which the people of the Colonies have arrived. || While there is every desire to give effect, as far as is possible, to the wishes of the people of Australia, it must be pointed out that the enabling Acts under which the Referendum was taken formally referred to the Constitution" only, and the Addresses from the Parliaments pray that the Constitution" may be submitted to the Imperial Parliament and passed into law. || The distinction between the covering clauses and the Constitution was clearly pointed out by Mr. Barton on several occasions in the course of the debates. Speaking at Adelaide at the sitting of the 14th April, 1897, on clause 5, with reference to the provision as to the operation of the laws of the Commonwealth on British ships: This appears to be a concession to Australia, and the best thing to do is to let the Imperial authorities deal with it." In the course of the debates at the Sydney meeting of the Convention in 1890, Mr. Barton again expressed himself more fully to the same effect. We do not expect," he said, "that the Imperial Legislature will amend the provisions which are in the Constitution itself, although they are an endeavour to extend our autonomy; but these covering clauses are suggestions to the Imperial Legislature, and it would be absurd to expect that, as regards these clauses, the Imperial Legislature will not make such amendments as they please." || It is clear therefore that the covering clauses were not regarded as a part of the Agreement between the Australian Colonies as to the Constitution under which they are prepared to unite, but rather as suggestions as to the terms of the Agreement between the Colonies and the Mother Country.

An examination of the covering clauses shows that they deal with matters in which Australia, being a part only of Her Majesty's dominions, could not properly claim to have a final voice. They affect in important respects the prerogative of the Crown and the powers and privileges of the Imperial Parliament and of the Legislature of other parts of the Empire. In regard to these matters, the Imperial Parliament and Government are in the position of trustees for the whole of Her Majesty's dominions, and the responsibility attaching to that trust makes it incumbent on them to examine with the utmost care any proposal which would in any degree affect their power to discharge the trust efficiently. They cannot relieve themselves of responsibility to those for whom they