difference was that the Conference was merely a
meeting of independent Governments on an equal footing, each claiming to
be as much "His Majesty's Government" as any other, whereas the council
which Chamberlain urged in vain would have been a new Government,
supreme over all the Empire and dominated by the British
representatives. Chamberlain then suggested more centralized means
of defense, grants to the British navy, and the putting of a definite
proportion of colonial militia at the disposal of the British War
Office for overseas service. The Cape and Natal promised naval grants;
Australia and New Zealand increased their contributions for the
maintenance of a squadron in Pacific waters; but Canada held back. The
smaller colonies were sympathetic to the militia proposal; but Canada
and Australia rejected it on the grounds that it was "objectionable in
principle, as derogating from the powers of self-government enjoyed
by them, and would be calculated to impede the general improvement
in training and organization of their defense forces." Chamberlain's
additional proposal of free trade within the Empire and of a common
tariff against all foreign countries found little support. That each
part of the Empire should control its own tariff and that it should make
what concessions it wished on British imports, either as a part of a
reciprocal bargain or as a free gift, remained a fixed idea in the minds
of the leaders of the Dominions. Throughout the sessions it was Laurier
rather than Chamberlain who dominated the Conference.

Balked in his desire to effect political or military centralization,
Chamberlain turned anew to the possibilities of trade alliance. His
tariff reform campaign of 1903, which was a sequel to the Colonial
Conference of 1902, proposed that Great Britain set up a tariff,
incidentally to protect her own industries and to have matter for
bargaining with foreign powers, but mainly in order to keep the colonies
within her orbit by offering them special terms. In this way the Empire
would become once more self-sufficient. The issue thus thrust upon Great
Britain and the Empire in general was primarily a contest between free
traders and protectionists, not between the supporters of cooperation
and the supporters of centralization. On this basis the issue was fought
out in Great Britain and resulted in the overwhelming victory of free
trade and the Liberal party, aided as they were by the popular reaction
agai