Gentlemen, if you have once made up your mind that you want some kind
of Government which will be responsible to the people, the next point
to consider will be, what kind of Government is it that you want. We
cannot forget that we live in the midst of an empire, the largest and
the most glorious empire in the history of the human race. We cannot
forget that our interests are bound up intimately with the interest of
England. We cannot forget that our interests are also bound up with
the interests of Australia and South Africa. All of us live and grow
under the sway of the same Empire. If you consider the geographical
magnitude of this Empire, the different races, the different creeds,
the different cultures, the different religions which this empire
represents, you will find that here is a glorious opportunity for
federating so many human races, with so many distinct interests,
distinct nationalities, different cultures, different religions and
in that way for contributing to the ultimate federation of the whole
human race. That is the philosophy of nationalism to-day. Therefore
first of all, we must get a government which will be autonomous in so
far as it will be government by the people and for the people. The
different provincial governments are to be connected together by some
sort of central government and then again that central government is to
be connected up with the different parts of this vast empire. That is
the sort of Government for which the time has come for which to make a
definite scheme.