Seddon's contribution to imperial relations 1897 to 1902

Abstract

This essay is not an attempt to give all Seddon’s relations with the Imperial authorities in the period; it is rather an analysis of the importance of his and New Zealand’s contributions to imperial relations. I have deliberately concentrated on his participation in the two Colonial Conferences because of the importance of his actions for both the national future of New Zealand and the future of the Empire. At the same time, I realise the danger of divorcing this topic from its historical context. Because he dominated policy decision making in New Zealand from 1899 to 1902 I have concentrated more on his personal decisions in this later period. Seddon’s “foreign policy” and New Zealand’s external relations were virtually one and the same in this middle part of his premiership. The main source material in this essay has been found in the Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives and in the microfilm of the New Zealand series of official papers of the Colonial Office. Although theses sources have proven adequate in giving an official view of Seddon’s relations with the Colonial Office they have not helped in analysing his motives and aims. Seddon kept no diary but his unnumerable speeches dominate the Parliamentary Debates and show the flexibility of his thinking on imperial issues. [Prefatory note]