Page:Problems of Empire.djvu/10

PREFACE most important journals become ardent advocates of a national ideal which they had at first looked upon with distrust; they saw prominent men, who had long held aloof, gradually led to put themselves at the head of a movement which was profoundly influencing the national mind; above all, they witnessed the formation of a sound body of public opinion which accepted the central idea that the continued unity of the Empire is a question which rises far above most of the issues which divide our party politics; and that the attainment of a completer unity than at present exists ought to be the supreme object of our national policy.

When the responsibilities of office compelled Lord Rosebery (in 1892) to resign the direction of the League, his place was filled by the late Mr. Edward Stanhope, under whose Presidency the League was dissolved. With the policy of dissolution I never agreed. It gave offence to Members of the League in Canada, was rejected by those of Australia, and only made way for organizations on somewhat narrower lines in England. In my judgment, the League might have continued to furnish a middle ground upon which men of all parties could study and discuss the problems of Empire without the acrimony which usually attends party debate. But in the absence of such an arena for discussion, it was inevitable that sooner or later, under our system of politics, some of these problems would furnish watchwords for party fight.

That time has now apparently arrived.

The early advocates of Imperial Federation were inclined to treat Protection and Free Trade as questions which might fairly be left open for solution in the light of changing circumstances. Whether the principle