Arizona republican., 1899-05-19
PRICE OF COLONIES
FdCfS Furnished From inc
 Experience of England.
A Brief and lnfere sling Outline of inc Political and Business Rela. lions Between fine Mother COun- try and Her Far Away Offspring.

Washington, May 1S.-(Sp3cial.)- J.
 British colonial methods and the eX- isting relations, financial and other
 wise, between the home government
 and the colonies are tersely and in
 terestingly outlined in a letter Te-
 gently received by the treasury bureau of statistics in reply to a series of
 questions upon this subject. The Let
 ter is written by MT. s. G. Hobson,
 editor of :the Hardwareman" and ''The Hardware Exporter" London, and presents in brief space so much interesting and important information regarding business relations between the British government and its col onies that it will doubtless prove in teresting to many people in the United States. The letter is as follows:
 ''In reply to your question concern ing the relations of the mother coun- try to the colonies, you ask:
 "1. Whether the home govern ment expended any considerable sums of money in the earlier history of the colonies.
 "'2. Whether such expenditures, if made, have been refunded by the col onies.
 "'3 Whether the large sums which have been expended in permanent inn provements, such as railways, te1e- graph lines, public highways, har- bors, etc, have been supplied in part by the home government, and if so, in what proportion?
 "'4. Whether the troops in the col onies are supported by the home gov ernment or by the revenues of the col onies themselves; and,
 "'5. Whether the colonial system Is generally looked upon by the people of the home government as advan- tageous or otherwise
 -'In reply to the first question: No. The government has not spent any sum of moRey insthe ear Her history of the colonies, so that secondly there has been no return Of initial outlay by the colonies. It is necessary here to carefully discrimi- nate between colonial expenditure pure and simple, and home govern menr expenditure for defence. Wherever public works have been of value either from a military or naval point of view, the home gov always expends a fair share. For example, the harbor of St. Lueie, in the West Indies, was recently put into condition at a cost of 75,O00 pounds sterling, to which the govern ment contributed 25,OOO pounds ster- ling; and in like manner many of the harbors throughout our colonies, and particularly in South Australian waters, have been partially subsidized by the home government.
 But so far as colonization is con- cerned it has been a natural process. the home government only taking cognizance of the colony when it has grown sufficiently to warrant self government.
 Then again, there are occasionally in times of colonial dIs- -ress; for example the West Indian sugar plantations having proved un- remunerative, a grant-in-aid is made to them, and it may or may not be re- paid, but sometimes the colonies have 1 been unable to meet their liability, l md the government wipes out tho 1 lebt.
 '3. With regard to thts question no l governmental money is expended on | always, telegraph lines or public { highways. excepting so far. as they are ] covered in my answer to No. 1. But | he government will often meet the | 'ase by giving a guarantee. But if i he government guarantee be siven in | oloniaI projects of this description, ap:tal is always forthcoming. and here is hardly any case on record where the government has been called Ipon to make good it's guarantee. The nly case in my memory is that or he Turkish bonds, but as a general uie. tt is perfectly accurate to as ume that the government guarantee lways meets the financial difficulty. Or example, there is an agitation h ogth Africa for a railway from Cepa Olony to Cairo. MT Rhodes has been Interviewing the home goVernment.i skiing, not for capital, but for guar ntee- The government will only the railway so far as it onsiders it of commercial value, and as given it's guarantee for one sec- on of this project. MT. Rhodes will ow have no difficulty in obtaining loney from the nation, for it is cov- red by the guarantee. ]
 "4. The troops in the colonies are < aid directly by the home government ut the leading colonies pay the gov 'nment a proportion. The amount |; oweVer is approximately very nall, and by no means regular; some { )lonies pay, and some do not. { Cape Colony has recently offered ( le home government the price of (