CHAPTER II 
IMPERIAL CO-OPERATION 
3 1. Tar CoroNial CONFERENCE OF 1887 
Tur first Colonial Conference properly so called was sum- 
moned by dispatch addressed to the Governors of Colonies 
ander responsible government by Mr. Stanhope, the Secretary 
of State for the Colonies, on November 25, 1886.2 In that 
dispatch he quoted the remarks in the Queen’s speech on the 
prorogation of Parliament which referred to Her Colonial and 
Indian possessions in the following terms :— 
I have observed with much satisfaction the interest which, 
in an increasing degree, is evinced by the people of this 
country in the welfare of their Colonial and Indian fellow 
subjects ; and I am led to the conviction that there is on all 
sides a growing desire to draw closer in every practicable way 
the bonds which unite the various portions of the Empire. 
I have authorized communications to be entered into with 
the principal Colonial Governments with a view to the fuller 
ronsideration of matters of common interest. 
He added that Her Majesty’s Government had concurred 
that the Queen should be advised to summon a Colonial 
Conference in 1887 to discuss outstanding questions. He 
suggested that the most urgent question, and one brought 
to the front by the patriotic action of the Colonies in offering 
contingents of troops to take part in the Egyptian campaign, 
was that of the organization of military defence in the 
Empire ; and secondly, the promotion of commercial and 
social relations by the development of postal and telegraphic 
communication was, he thought, also of importance. But 
the dispatch deprecated the discussion of any of the subjects 
falling within the range of political federation. The Con- 
ference was to be purely consultative, and it was not material 
that the Colonies should have equal or proportionate repre- 
See Parl, Pap., C. 5091, 5091 I, for proceedings and papers.