您的提交不完全，下面是完整的句子： They preferred the economic and military comfort to be had in a powerful empire and for them and for the Imperial Parliament which gave its legitimising blessing to the enterprise, the new colonial Federation was no more self-governing or independent than had been its component colonies. 译文如下： 他们（各个澳洲的英国殖民地）更喜欢从强大的帝国（一战之前的英帝国）中获得经济和军事上的慰籍，对于这些殖民地以及帝国议会（已经认可了各个殖民地的独立）来说，这个新的殖民地联邦（澳大利亚联邦）与其说是独立的或自治的，不如说是帝国的殖民地合体。