6   CONSTITUTIONAL LA W OF BRITISH DOMINIONS
Chapter over other forms of shipping was approved by a Colonial
^L     Merchant Shipping Conference of 1907. With abandon-
ment of control of commerce went control over customs
regulations and the postal services. Still more striking
was the surrender of any control over immigration re-
striction; the idea that any British subject, or at least
any European British subject, should bo entitled to free
entry into any part of the British Dominions was
surrendered by 1901. In the field of copyright a longer
battle was waged/ but by 1911 the right of every
Dominion to complete self-determination was con-
ceded. Even control over constitutional change was
relaxed; while the constitution of Canada of 1867 made
no provision for alteration save by the Imperial Parlia-
ment, that of the Commonwealth of Australia assigned
to the Commonwealth Parliament and the electorate
at a xeferendum almost unrestricted power of change.
The decision to withdraw imperial forces from all parts
of the colonies where there were no specially imperial
issues to be safeguarded, leaving the colonies to secure
their own internal defence, was taken in 1866-70, and
the colonies were left free to control their own locally
raised troops. Even when, as in South Africa until
1921_3 imperial forces had to be retained, the local
governments exercised supreme authority over the
forces which they raised. More difficulty was presented
by naval defence, which demanded action beyond
territorial limits and therefore was held normally to
belong to the imperial power, while this argument was
reinforced by the paramount importance of uniformity
in naval organisation and training. Even, however, on
this score the British Government yielded: the Colonial
^1 Keith, Responsible Government in the Dominions (ed, 1928), ii. 053-60.