798 THE FEDERATIONS AND THE UNION [PART IV 
actually transferred, or upon which the Commonwealth 
Parliament had power to make laws and had legislated, 
the Commonwealth Government was the proper channel 
of communication with the Imperial Government. In all 
other matters the proper channel of communication was the 
States Governor. They did not know whether the Common- 
wealth could legislate, under its power to make laws with 
respect to external affairs given by the constitution (s. 51 
(xxix)), so as to enforce Imperial treaties and to punish state 
officers who violated such treaties, but no such law had yet 
been made, and if an officer were charged with contravening 
an Imperial obligation of this kind, the Commonwealth 
Government had no power even to call upon him for an 
explanation, much less to punish him if he had done wrong. 
It would be absurd to make the Commonwealth Government 
the channel of communication in matters in which they were 
powerless to act, and it would be an indignity to the South 
Australian Government, with whom at present lay the duty 
of maintaining within its borders Imperial treaties, if it 
were compelled to approach His Majesty’s Government 
through the medium of any other Government. The fact 
that the High Court had original jurisdiction of ‘ matters 
arising under any treaty ’ or ‘ matters affecting the position 
of Consuls ’ did not transfer these questions to the executive 
control of the Commonwealth Government; the State 
Courts retained jurisdiction with regard to these cases. On 
the other hand, the Government of the Commonwealth ! 
held that the matter to be investigated fell directly within 
the sphere of the Commonwealth’s action. The fulfilment 
of treaty obligations was obviously one of those external 
affairs peculiarly federal which could not be dealt with 
independently by each state without producing an intolerable 
condition of confusion prolific in international complications. 
Trade and commerce with other countries and shipping were 
also specifically placed under Commonwealth control, and 
' See Mr. Deakin’s memorandum of September 26, 1902 ; ibid., pp. 10, 
11. The views of South Australia were given by Mr. Jenkins and 
Mr. Gordon.