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.
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.
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.

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:
NationNamePortfolio
United KingdomJoseph ChamberlainSecretary of State for the Colonies
United KingdomLord SelborneFirst Lord of the Admiralty
United KingdomRear Admiral Wilfred CustanceDirector of Naval Intelligence
United KingdomLord OnslowUnder-Secretary of State for the Colonies
United KingdomGerald Balfour,President of the Board of Trade
United KingdomSir Montagu OmmanneyPermanent Under-Secretary for the Colonies
United KingdomSir Francis HopwoodPermanent Secretary to the Board of Trade
United KingdomSir Thomas HoldernessSecretary of the Revenue, Statistics and Commerce Department, India Office
United KingdomSir John AndersonSecretary to the Conference, of the Colonial Office
AustraliaSir Edmund BartonPrime Minister
AustraliaSir John ForrestMinister of Defence
Sir Wilfrid LaurierPrime Minister
William Stevens FieldingMinister of Finance
Sir William MulockPostmaster General of Canada
William PatersonMinister of Customs
Cape ColonySir John Gordon SpriggPrime Minister
Cape ColonyThomas FullerAgent-General
NatalSir Albert Henry HimePrime Minister
Newfoundland ColonySir Robert BondPremier
Colony of New ZealandRichard SeddonPrime Minister