a great deal about the doctrine of evolution.

It is the solution to a great many questions; but if anyone will look at the political history of Great Britain he will see that it is devolution and not evolution which is governing in this country. We are devolving to local authorities in a variety of ways many of those matters and duties which we think the people can best discharge locally. I conceive, therefore, that the position Canada occupies in this respect, and the success that has attended the working of her Constitution, are worthy of the attention of the statesmen of this country at the present moment. If we could see our way to dismiss the land question as one of the burning questions in regard to Ireland, I believe the means could be found for assimilating Ireland with England and Scotland very much in the same way that Canada now stands relatively to her French and maritime and interior provinces. In the discussion of this question I believe that the example of the United States and Canada might be considered with the greatest possible benefit to the Empire at large. I read with extreme pleasure the remarks made the other evening at the St. George's Club by our excellent Premier, Sir John Macdonald, who spoke of the Colonies as being auxiliary kingdoms-auxiliary to the Mother Country in point of strength and influence. I do not myself believe much in a kingdom that is not under one head, but his idea, I take it, was that under the Sovereign of the British Empire we should be able to unite the strength and resources of every Colony, that we should unite upon a system whereby we would have one common defence and one common navy-that, for instance, the sixty thousand men who have been mentioned to-night as being engaged in the fisheries of Canada, should be able to aid in manning the vessels of the British Navy and in carrying the flag of England to any part of the world. It is by helping to draw together the Empire in this way that this Institute is doing the best and most worthy work. I think the suggestion of a Congress to follow the coming Colonial and Indian Exhibition is an excellent one, and that under the auspices of our President, the Prince of Wales, and of the noble Duke, our Chairman of Council, such a Congress might very well indeed be inaugurated, and would be attended with great advantage to the whole Empire. There can be no doubt that the forthcoming Exhibition will be an educator of the people of England as to what the Empire really consists of. It will be seen that there is nothing on the face of the earth needed for man which is not grown or produced as cheaply in or brought as readily from portions of the British Empire as from other parts of the world.

K

General Sir HENRY NORMAN, K.C.B., C.I.E.: Having been asked to say a few words on this occasion, I feel somewhat at a disadvantage, because I have no special knowledge of the Dominion of Canada except what may be derived from conversation with others, from books, and from a short but pleasant visit I paid there on my return from India some time ago. But latterly, in the position in which Her Majesty has been pleased to place me as Governor of Jamaica, I have gone more closely into the statistics and information I could obtain with respect to Canada. Last year a resolution was brought forward in the newly-constituted Council of Jamaica with the view to bring about a political and commercial confederation with the Dominion of Canada. That resolution fell to the ground, and I believe that, so far as the political confederation of the countries was concerned, the proposal did not meet with the general concurrence of the people of the island. It would, in point of fact, be difficult to conceive of any confederation of the kind between Jamaica and Canada, except such as might prevail between all the Colonies of the Empire. They are separated by very great distances. Their political history and constitution are very different. One is a northern country; the other is entirely tropical. The population of one is entirely white; that of the other, with the exception of a small minority, is black. I therefore do not think there is any probability of a political confederation between these two countries, but the same arguments do not apply to a commercial arrangement. Canada produces various articles that are consumed in Jamaica. Jamaica produces sugar, coffee, rum, and other articles consumed in Canada. Both countries raise a large portion of revenue from import duties, and the idea occurred to some gentlemen in Jamaica that possibly, in return for a reduction of import duties in Jamaica, Canada would respond and take off the duties on rum, sugar, coffee, &c. It became my duty to send a Commission to Canada to see whether any such arrangement could be come to. The Commission were kindly received by the Government and by various public meetings that they addressed. No result came about, and there is no doubt great difficulty in bringing about any result, because, of course, what Jamaica would desire is that the import duties should only be abolished as affects Jamaica herself, whereas if it is advantageous to Canada to give this concession to Jamaica, it would be equally advantageous to give it to the West India islands generally, and then the benefit to Jamaica would be next to nothing. Therefore, I do not think it will be easy to make the arrangement desired by Jamaica. I have alluded to

some dissimilarities between the two countries, but I cannot forbear alluding to one particular in which they are very much alike. From some two years' experience in Jamaica I can say that the Jamaicans are thoroughly loyal; that they are-as the Canadians are-bent upon doing all in their power to maintain the unity and the strength of this Empire; and I can assure you that when, the other day, there was a chance of war with Russia, the services of the inhabitants of Kingston were placed at my disposal for enrolment as volunteers, and similar offers were made from other parts of the island. It was not a mere vainglorious offer, but an offer made in sober reality, and has resulted in the enrolment of very eligible recruits-if I, an old soldier, may so call them-who, there is reason to believe, will prove efficient volunteers, and a credit to the Colony to which they belong. Whether any commercial arrangement can be concluded between them or not, I am quite sure that the great Dominion of Canada has no more sincere well-wishers than the people of Jamaica, and they view the development, the success, and the prosperity of Canada, and all the country has accomplished, with pleasure and admiration.

Professor W. FREAM: In his remarks concerning the want of knowledge of geography on the part of English boys and Englishmen generally, I think Mr. Colmer has spoken some words of welldeserved rebuke. A very large number of the young men who leave our shores to go to the British Colonies have no more idea of the geography of the Colonies than of the geography of Jupiter, Mars, or Saturn; and I think the work Sir Charles Tupper has begun, of sending out maps of the Dominion, and the issue of maps of the railway district by the railway authorities, are excellent examples. With regard to the visit of the British Association to Canada, I happened to be one who was included in the party that went across the Atlantic in 1884, and the visit resulted in a knowledge of the Dominion such as could be obtained in no other way. It has afforded many of us pleasant recollections, and has led to happy reunions, and is likely to lead to many more. Canada is now brought so near that it is perfectly possible to go across to the Pacific coast and come back again, having seen a good deal of the country, within seven or eight weeks. I think the Government of Canada might do something to induce tourists to go there instead of to Switzerland and Germany. They would, at any rate, get their money's worth by going to Canada, and this they do not always get elsewhere, while their minds would be well stocked with information concerning an important portion of the Empire. The

suggestion that this Institute should, by means of its publications, scatter broadcast information relative to the various Colonies is an admirable one. It could afford knowledge of a valuable character -knowledge which, to a certain extent, comes at first hand. Mr. Colmer has alluded to several of the Departments under the control of the Government. I happen to know that in some of its agricultural practices the Dominion, or some provinces of the Dominion, are well ahead of Great Britain. There are some matters in which the Mother Country might well be instructed by the province of Manitoba, for instance, which has a Board of Agriculture such as I am afraid we shall not get in England for many years to come. In reference to the live stock quarantine, Mr. Colmer trenched on a subject of primary importance. The Canadian Government have established the most rigid system of quarantine that exists anywhere, and this is the safest guarantee they can possess in respect to the future development of the Transatlantic cattle trade. If ever they let cattle disease or any disease scheduled by our Government into the Dominion, from that moment we shall close our ports to Canadian live stock, so that they will do wisely to persevere in their stringent measures. Mr. Colmer's remarks with reference to the Canadian Pacific Railway give rise to a curious reflection. Hitherto railways have been called into existence generally by the requirements of population. This railway, I imagine, is almost unique. It is itself the pioneer of civilisation, and will, I feel sure, aid materially in the peopling of the vast districts through which it runs. Mr. Colmer's remarks with reference to forestry open up an important subject. The prairie is practically treeless. It is not, I trust, destined to remain so. I think certain districts might with advantage be planted, and that by a judicious process of thinning out a stock of timber might be obtained that would prove of great service to the settlers. When the subject of British forestry was under the attention of the House of Commons last session, I suggested that Canada was greatly in need of one or more schools of forestry such as existed in France and other countries, and that such a school should be established with as little delay as possible. The conservation and development of the forests of the Dominion is a subject of Imperial as well as colonial interest, and the establishment in Canada of a forestry school-the cost of which might be jointly borne by the Dominion and the Imperial Government-would be an admirable means of training British foresters for service in different parts of the Empire. I cannot quite give my adhesion to Mr. Colmer's statement that a special training for a colonial life is

not necessary. I think such a training would be useful. It is a cruel thing for a father to send his son to Canada, New Zealand, or Australia with a small sum of money, and to tell him to do his best. It places him in harm's way, and is bound to end, in the majority of cases, in disaster. I think a knowledge of English farming would be exceedingly valuable on the prairie.

Mr. STAVELEY HILL, Q.C., M.P.: I did not come prepared to add anything to the remarks that have been made, but I suppose I may be looked upon as one who has at any rate seen something of the "recent development of Canada." Having gone across in 1881, when the North-West first began to be developed, I cannot but remember how I went in the first passenger train from Winnipeg to Brandon, and took weeks upon weeks in the long journey to the Rocky Mountains, while I came home the year before last in fourteen days' travelling. This will show how recent the development has been, and that we need not be afraid to part from those we love who go there because the distance is great. The North-West is so close to us, indeed, that in my home in the Rocky Mountains I feel in close touch almost with my friends in Staffordshire. We owe a great deal to the Canadian Pacific Railway Company for the undaunted way in which they have met the difficulties before them. It seems but the other day that I was watching them carry the line along towards its goal, which they reached in six years less than the time allotted them. I do not agree with the remarks made by the last speaker as to there being so much to be done with regard to the planting of the prairie. As one who has seen much of the more wooded parts, let me remind him that, far more than the planting of trees, we have to guard the trees that exist already. The greatest enemy we have in the prairie and in our ranges in the Rocky Mountains is the occurrence of those dreadful fires which begin sometimes in September or October, and last frequently until the heavy snows of January, and which cause great destruction of timber. It is to stop these fires that we should look to every energy being put forward by the Canadian Government; and I am sure Sir Alexander Galt knows that country so well that he will help us in every way he can. I sincerely congratulate Sir Alexander Galt on finding him here to-day. I congratulate him also on the great success that has attended his enterprise in the development of those coal regions which I came upon in 1882. I sincerely trust that at the forthcoming Exhibition we may find, not only Montreal and Ontario, but the North-West provinces well represented by their agricultural and mineral products, and that we shall show that it