That system of Colonial responsible government which seems to
us so simple and obvious is, on the contrary, one of the most artificial
systems the world has ever known, based as it is upon conditions which
have never been present before in the world's history, and which are now
rapidly disappearing, never, perhaps, to recur. That a popular assembly
in complete control of the executive, should respect an unwritten
convention limiting its powers and rights to purely local affairs, and
submit to a purely external control of its wider interests and
destinies, seemed to most of Lord Durham's contemporaries almost
unthinkable. Not only those who opposed the policy, but many of those
who advocated it, were convinced that it would lead to complete
separation. Nor were their fears or hopes by any means ill-grounded.
That they were not justified by the event was due to an altogether
exceptional combination of factors. The first of these was the
overwhelming supremacy of the United Kingdom in commerce and naval
power, and its practical monopoly of political influence in the outer
world.
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