cHAP. vii] CABINET SYSTEM IN DOMINIONS 343 
be expected that a council of advice for Imperial purposes 
could be formed out of such material, but nothing has 
hitherto been done to carry out this end,! the responsibility 
for the failure to act resting with the Dominions and not 
with the Imperial Government. It is doubtful how far this 
difficulty can be overcome : if, of course, the appointment 
were purely ministerial, and the post were held from time 
to time by the minister appointed by the Government of 
the day, the result might easily be that the officer acting in the 
post would be able more nearly to express the sentiments 
of his Government, but it cannot be ignored that such an 
arrangement would have the disadvantage of resulting in 
more frequent changes of officers than at present, when several 
Agents-General or High Commissioners have been retained 
in office for many years,® thus, as far as the non-political 
interest of the places they represent are concerned, acquiring 
experience and knowledge superior to that which could ever 
be possessed by officers who were frequently changed. 
The Provinces of Canada are represented in this country 
by Agents-General or minor agents, but these officers are not 
accredited to or officially recognized by the Imperial Govern- 
ment as is the Dominion High Commissioner, as the Dominion 
Government alone represents the Dominion. This state of 
affairs has recently elicited a vigorous protest from the 
Premier of Ontario, and is resented also in British Columbia 
and elsewhere.3 
* This was one of the proposals for the Imperial Conference of 1911 made 
by New Zealand ; see Parl. Pap., Cd. 5513, p. 6; below Part VIII. At times 
Agents-General have tried to secure election to Parliament, but Sir J. 
Vogel's desire to do so led to his retirement, and of late there have been no 
cases where Agents-General have sat in the House of Commons. 
* Lord Strathcona for Canada from 1896 to 1911; Mr. P. Reeves for New 
Zealand from 1896 to 1908, when he resigned, since then Sir W. Hall Jones ; 
Sir R. Solomon for the Transvaal from 1906, and since 1910 for the Union. 
Several Agents-General have held office for long periods, e. g. Sir H. Tozer 
tor ten years for Queensland, the late Mr. Dobson for several years for Tas. 
mania, &c. The Australian States still have Agents- General with full status. 
* Cf. the fact that ex-members of Provincial Executive Councils receive 
the term ‘ Hon.’ only in Canada and England by courtesy, not officially ; 
soe Canadian Annual Review, 1905, n. 185.