§ MR. D. A. THOMASTo ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he is at liberty to state broadly the grounds upon which the representatives of the colonies, more particularly those of Canada, came to the resolution at the Conference last year that, in the present circumstances of the colonies, it is not practicable to adopt a general system of free trade as between the mother country and the British Dominions beyond the seas; and to what extent the resolution was
† See (4) Debates, cxxii., 1796.1140 due to the necessity of protecting colonial manufactures against those in this country.(Answered by Mr. Secretary Chamberlain.) The hon. Gentleman asks me to give a broad indication of what was in the minds of the Colonial Premiers when they came to certain resolutions. I regret to say that, not being a thought I reader, I am unable to comply with his request.