As President of the League I occupied the chair. Among those present were: Sir Charles Tupper, Bart., G.C.M.G.; Sir Donald Smith, K.C.M.G.; the Hon. Arthur R. Dickey, M.P.; Senators W. J. Almon, C. A. Boulton, John Dobson, Thomas McKay, Clarence Primrose, W. D. Perley, and Josiah Wood. The following members of Parliament: W. H. Bennett, G. F. Baird, T. D. Craig, G. R. R. Cockburn, Henry Cargill, George E. Casey, F. M. Carpenter, G. E. Corbould, Dr. Hugh Cameron, Emerson Coatsworth, D. W. Davis, Eugene A. Dyer, Thomas Earle, Charles Fairburn, W. T. Hodgins, A. Haslam, Major S. Hughes, David Henderson, Charles E. Kaulbach, J. B. Mills, A. C. Macdonald, J. H. Marshall, James Masson, J. A. Mara, W. F. Maclean, D’Alton McCarthy, G. V. McInerney, John McLean, H. F. McDougall, Major R. R. Maclennan, Alex. McNeill, W. B. Northrup, Lt.-Col. O’Brien, H. A. Powell, A. W. Ross, Dr. Thomas Sproule, J. Stevenson, William Smith, Lt.-Col. Tisdale, Thomas Temple, Lt.-Col. Tyrwhitt, Dr. N. W. White, R. C. Weldon, R. D. Wilmot, W. H. Hutchins, Major McGillivray, William Stubbs, J. G. Chesley, A. B. Ingram; and Messrs. S. J. Alexander, Sandford Fleming, C.M.G., N. F. Hagel, Q.C., James Johnston, Thomas Macfarlane, Archibald McGoun, C. C. McCaul, Q.C., Joseph Nelson, J. C. Pope, E. E. Sheppard, J. G. Alexander, J. Coates, Joseph Nelson, McLeod Stewart, R. W. Shannon, Major Sherwood, Major Clark, Dr. Kingsford, Dr. Beattie Nesbitt, Prof. Robertson, Dr. Rholston, Lt.-Col. Scoble, Captain Smith, George E. Evans (Hon. Secretary), and others.
I moved the adoption of the annual report, which contained a copy of the constitution of the British Empire League, and recommended that the Canadian League be affiliated with that body.
As to the question of changing the name of the League, I said:
That the Canadian delegation had urged the retention of the name Imperial Federation League, but the arguments in favour of the change were so great that we felt we had to yield to the wishes of our English brethren. The word Federation was objected to by some, and there is no doubt that to attempt to prepare a fixed and written constitution for a federated Empire, with all its divergent interests, would be a very difficult thing to do. If a dozen of the very ablest men in all the Empire were to devote any amount of time and their greatest energies to prepare a scheme for such a federation, and succeeded in making one practical and workable under existing conditions, might not ten or twenty years so change the conditions as to make a fixed written constitution very embarrassing and unsuitable? Such a method is not in accord with the genius of the British Constitution. The British Constitution is unwritten; it has “broadened down from precedent to precedent,” always elastic, always adapting itself to changing conditions. So should the idea of British unity be carried out. Let us work along the lines of least resistance. The memorial included in the report urges a conference to consider the trade question. A conference might arrange some plan to carry out that one idea; in a year or two another conference could be called to consider some other point of agreement. Soon these conferences would become periodical. Soon a committee would be appointed to carry out the wishes of the conferences in the periods between the meetings; and then you would have an Imperial Council, and Imperial Federation would have become evolved in accordance with the true genius of the Anglo-Saxon race. Let us take one step at a time, and we shall slowly but surely realise our wishes.
These remarks outlined the policy that the Executive Committee had agreed upon, and foreshadowed much that has since occurred.
Mr. Alexander McNeill seconded the adoption of the report, which was carried unanimously.
Sir Charles Tupper then moved the first resolution:
Whereas the British Empire League has been formally inaugurated in London with practically the same objects in view as the Imperial Federation League, this meeting expresses its sympathy and concurrence therewith, and resolves that hereafter the Imperial Federation League in Canada shall be a branch of the British Empire League, and shall be known and described as the British Empire League in Canada.
In his speech he gave a short sketch of the progress of the old League, and pointed out that it was an important fact that this organisation had committed itself to the policy of removing the obstruction to preferential trade with Great Britain which existed through the treaties with Belgium and Germany.
Mr. D’Alton McCarthy seconded the resolution. He also spoke of the work of the old League which he had founded in Canada, and of which he was the first President. He said: