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Empire Federalism and Imperial Parliamentary Union, 1820–1870
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 February 2009
Extract
The movement for imperial federation has traditionally been regarded as a late nineteenth century phenomenon, which grew out of a supposed reaction against earlier ‘anti-imperialism’. J. E. Tyler set out to trace its growth ‘from its first beginnings… in and around 1868’. Historians were aware of the suggestions made before the American War of Independence that the colonies should send M.P.s to Westminster, but tended to dismiss them as of antiquarian rather than historical interest. A few also noted apparently isolated discussions of some Empire federal connexion in the first half of the nineteenth century, but no attempt was made to establish the existence of a continuous sentiment before 1870. C. A. Bodelsen did no more than list a series of examples he had discovered in the supposed age of anti-imperialism. In fact between 1820 and 1870 a debate about the federal nature of the Empire can be traced. Like the movement for imperial federation after 1870, there was only the vaguest unity of aim about the mid-century projects, and before 1870, as after, the idea was never consistently to the fore, but enjoyed short bursts of popularity. It is, however, fair to think of one single movement for a federal Empire throughout the nineteenth century. There is a clear continuity in ideas, in arguments, and in the people involved. Ideas of Empire federalism were influential, not so much for themselves as for their relationship to overall imperial thinking: to ignore the undercurrent of feeling for a united Empire is to distort the attitudes of many leading men. In the mid-nineteenth century general principles of imperial parliamentary union were argued chiefly from the particular case of British North America, the closest colonies to Britain and the most constitutionally advanced. This Canadian emphasis strengthened the analogies with the United States which occurred in any case.
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References
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105 Haliburton, T. C., Sam Slice's Wise Saws, pp. 221–2.Google Scholar What is striking about these arguments is the considerable influence which even a token representation was expected to have on the communities represented. Some of the proponents of colonial parliamentary representation were even prepared to include non-European territories and voters. This appears to have been the intention of Joseph Hume, and directly elected Indian M.P.s were called for in an article in the Asiatic and Colonial Journal in 1847. A scornful riposte followed, asserting that East India Company directors already in parliament were ‘far better and more extensively acquainted with the wants and requirements of their people, than any native can possibly be’. Nonetheless, T. C. Meekins ‘with the utmost diffidence’ revived the idea after the mutiny, arguing that half a dozen Indian members - ‘natives, who could speak the English language’ - with a few Indian princes in the House of Lords, might help to anglicize India. Not all agreed- Edward Stanley ruled out Ceylon as ‘exclusively native’ and most proposals for Indian parliamentary representation were for election by Europeans. Even so, eventual Indian electorates were not ruled out, even if not expected in the near future. Certainly it was easier to fit Indian representation more easily into parliament than any other scheme of a federal Empire. The Rev. William Arthur hoped that non-European territories might eventually take an equal part in his ‘Imperial Federation’ ‘though the distance seems all but endless …” This problem was to recur later in the nineteenth century and was never satisfactorily solved. That representation at Westminster was the only remotely workable solution was shown by G. K. Gokhale's request for the creation of six Indian seats in the House of Commons in 1895. (Hansard, 3rd ser., VI (16 08. 1831), cols. 110–24;Google ScholarAsiatic and Colonial Journal, I (1847–1848), 5–7, 221–5;Google ScholarMeekins, T. C., op. cit. p. 12;Google Scholar Hughenden Papers, Box III, B/XX/S/538, Edward Stanley to Disraeli, Madrid, 13 Nov. 1850; Morning Star, 10 Sept. 1858; Malcolm, Sir John, The Government of India, p. 269;Google ScholarLondon Quarterly Review, I (12. 1853), 551;Google ScholarMoore, R. J., Liberalism and Indian Politics 1872–1922 (London, 1966), p. 73.)Google Scholar For a discussion of the problem in a later period, Mehrotra, S. R., ‘Imperial Federation and India, 1868–1917’, Journal of Commonwealth Political Studies, I (1961), 29–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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123 Merivale, H., Lectures on Colonies, II, 290–1;Google ScholarLewis, G. C., op. cit. pp. 296–9.Google Scholar
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The arrangement of constituencies suggested was: Hume, 1831, British North America and Bermuda - 3, West Indies - 5, British India and Singapore - 4, Ceylon - 1, Australia - 1, Cape - 1, Mauritius - 1, Malta - 1, Gibraltar - 1, Channel Islands - 1; Stanley, 1850, British North America - 6, West Indies - 4, Cape - 1, Mauritius - 1, Malta - 1, Heligoland - 1; Colonial and Asiatic Review (1852), British North America - 6, West Indies - 4, India and China settlements - 10, Ceylon - 1, Australia - 5, New Zealand - 1, Cape - 2, Mauritius - 1. A marked lack of agreement about the territories to be represented illustrates the impracticability of the scheme.
135 Hughenden Papers, Box 109, B/XX/S/41, Derby to Disraeli, Knowsley, 11 Dec. 1851. Most proposals were for indirect election by the local legislature, where the mode of election was made specific at all, e.g. Colonial Magazine, XVI (03. 1849), 166;Google ScholarColonial Gazette, no. 204 (19 10. 1842), p. 659.Google Scholar
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