1468 IMPERIAL UNITY [PART VIII
Mother Country or sister Colonies, they would require to
receive careful consideration before they could be approved.
Her Majesty's Government, however, had decided to meet,
the views of the Australian Colonies and repeal the existing
prohibitions with regard to differential duties, but any Bill
which might be passed under the power so conferred would
require to be reserved for the signification of the royal
pleasure. Any Act, however, giving such preference should
not give a discretion to an Executive Government as to the
application of the preference, but should contain in itself
the terms which it was proposed to grant.
On the other hand, the Imperial Government were not yet
prepared todenounce the treaties with Belgium and Germany;
these treaties did not prohibit the Imperial Government from
granting preferential treatment to the Colonies nor inter-
colonial preference ; they only prevented a preference being
granted by the Colonies to the Imperial Government, and
the Imperial Government did not think the advantage of the
preference would outweigh the loss to the trade of the two
countries, worth then £41,000,000, for though a new treaty
might be negotiated it would be difficult to secure satisfac-
tory terms.
The second dispatch dealt with the question of commercial
negotiations with foreign Powers, and laid down the principles
that all such negotiations must be conducted through Her
Majesty’s representative ; that any agreement must receive
before signature the consent of Her Majesty's Government,
and that every concession granted to a foreign Power must
be automatically extended to the United Kingdom and to
all other British possessions, and that no concession should
be made to or asked from a foreign Power which would
injuriouslv affect British interests.
§ 3. THE CorLoNIAL CONFERENCE oF 1897
The next Colonial Conference was held in 1897 on the
invitation of the Imperial Government, and took place in
connexion with the celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of
Her Majesty’s succession. All the self-governing Colonies
