§ SIR HENRY HOLLANDasked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, Whether the Draft Bill to enable the Australasian Colonies to establish a Federal Council, which it was proposed to introduce at the end of last Session, was identical in terms with the Draft Bill agreed upon by the representatives of those Colonies in the Convention held at Sydney, or whether it embodied the Amendments which the First Lord of the Treasury on the 24th of November said were required in it; whether the Draft Bill of Her Majesty's Government has been sent out to those Colonies with the suggested Amendments for further consideration; and, whether there is any objection to laying upon the Table of the House a copy of the Circular Despatch containing the terms of those Amendments?
§ MR. EVELYN ASHLEYThe Government never contemplated the introduction of any other Bill than that adopted by the Sydney Convention; and if the Bill had been introduced at the time mentioned in the Question the proposed Amendments would have been embodied. The Draft Bill, with the Amendments, will be sent for the consideration of the Colonial Governments either this week or the next; and I hope to be able to lay without delay on the Table of the House the Circular Despatch showing the Amendments to be inserted.