1902 Colonial Conference

The 1902 Colonial Conference followed the conclusion of the Boer War and was held on the occasion of the coronation of Edward VII. As with the previous conference, it was called by Secretary of State for the Colonies Joseph Chamberlain who opened it on 30 June 1902.[1]

1902 Colonial Conference
Front row left-right: Sir Robert Bond (Premier of the Newfoundland Colony), Richard Seddon (Prime Minister of New Zealand), Sir Wilfrid Laurier (Prime Minister of Canada), Joseph Chamberlain (Secretary of State for the Colonies (Chairman)), Sir Edmund Barton (Prime Minister of Australia), Sir Albert Henry Hime (Prime Minister of Natal), Thomas Fuller (Agent-General for Cape Colony)
Dates	30 June–11 August 1902
Cities	London, United Kingdom
Heads of Government	7
Chair	Joseph Chamberlain (Secretary of State for the Colonies)
Follows	1897 Colonial Conference
Precedes	1907 Imperial Conference
Key points
Imperial defence, imperial council, customs union, Imperial Preference

Chamberlain used the occasion to resubmit his earlier proposals made at the 1897 Colonial Conference for an Imperial Council made up of colonial representatives which would act as a quasi-Imperial Parliament and make decisions for the colonies on imperial policy. This proposal, along with Chamberlain's idea for a unified imperial defence scheme, was rejected by most of the colonial prime ministers. While New Zealand proposed that each colony provide a special force for imperial defence in the case of war, Canada and Australia both believed this idea undermined self-government.[2]

Chamberlain also proposed an imperial economic union or customs union with free trade within the empire and tariffs against goods from outside of it. The colonies, however, passed a resolution rejecting imperial free trade. A resolution in favour of imperial preference as proposed by Canada was approved and Chamberlain agreed to bring the idea to the British government. However, this plan was not implemented until the British Empire Economic Conference in 1932.[2]

Participants

The conference was hosted by King Edward VII, with his Colonial Secretary and the Premiers of various colonies or their representatives and members of their cabinets:

Nation	Name	Portfolio
United Kingdom	Joseph Chamberlain	Secretary of State for the Colonies (Chairman)
	Lord Selborne	First Lord of the Admiralty
	Rear Admiral Wilfred Custance	Director of Naval Intelligence
	Lord Onslow	Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies
	Gerald Balfour,	President of the Board of Trade
	Sir Montagu Ommanney	Permanent Under-Secretary for the Colonies
	Sir Francis Hopwood	Permanent Secretary to the Board of Trade
	Sir Thomas Holderness	Secretary of the Revenue, Statistics and Commerce Department, India Office
	Sir John Anderson	Secretary to the Conference, of the Colonial Office
Australia	Sir Edmund Barton	Prime Minister
	Sir John Forrest	Minister of Defence
Canada	Sir Wilfrid Laurier	Prime Minister
	William Stevens Fielding	Minister of Finance
	Sir William Mulock	Postmaster General of Canada
	William Paterson	Minister of Customs
Cape Colony	Sir John Gordon Sprigg	Prime Minister
	Thomas Fuller	Agent-General
Natal	Sir Albert Henry Hime	Prime Minister
Newfoundland Colony	Sir Robert Bond	Premier
Colony of New Zealand	Richard Seddon	Prime Minister

[3][4]

See also

• Imperial Conference

References

1. "The Conference of Colonial Premiers". The Times (36808). London. 1 July 1902. p. 6.
2. Historical dictionary of European imperialism. Greenwood Publishing Group. 1991. p. 138. ISBN 0313262578.
3. Papers relating to a conference between the secretary of state for the colonies and the prime ministers of self-governing colonies; June to August, 1902
4. "The Life an Work of Richard John Seddon". nzetc.victoria.ac.nz. Retrieved 24 July 2017.