The times., 1900-12-31
The Principles of COLONIZATION.

In reviewing the history of colonies
| from the earliest times until the present
| day. one main fact stands out with the
! distinctness of the north star on a moon
| less night. and that is that If an empire
| is to be successful it cannot be controlled
by centralizing force. great system OF
government. including colonies in various
parts of the world, is something like the
solar system-both centrifugal and CEN
tripetal forces must be at work. The
Roman Empire. vast as it was, and un-
precedented as was it's glory. went to
pieces simply from disregard OF this very
plain law. Every State and colony was
made to contribute all 1t could TO the
pride and wealth OF the Imperial City.
Strong men were removed from conquered
provinces and given pls.ces of honor at the
capital. Care was taken that no colony
should grow strong enough to be a pos
sibIe rebel The central idea of the whole
magnificent and abominable system was
the concentration of all the strength, wit,
luxury, glory and beauty that the world
could produce in that one City of the
Seven Hills, and the result was not the
revolt of the colonies, or the disintegra-
tion of the Empire from the weakness of
its cohesive force. for care had been
taken that there should be no independent
feeling stronger than the cohesion Of the
PARTICLES; but the gradual rotting of The
heart. This was inevitable.
The fundamental necessity OF strong
man is action. Without it he degenerates.
becomes demoralized, goes to pieces. This
is especially true of the man OF great
executive ability, who can hold his own in
rough country. among violent contend
ing forces When. therefore, the men who
could have been governors of the distant
provinces of Britain, Gaul. and Germany
were gathered into the one city of Rome,
among all the luxurious surroundings
which Latin Imagination could conceive
and unlimited slave labor execute. when
they were relieved of the necessity Of
hard work. they rapidly became demoral-
lied. They did not rebel, because they
lost the power to do SO, and because
there was no object which made 1t worth
their while This was the case even with
the born Roman much more SO with the
savage, the Gaul. Briton, or Goth, to
WHOM uudNEuSLOiilti luAuI tallAS "lA4i ali
the poignant suggestion Of novel pleasure
to unjaded sensibiiities. Hence the
wreck of the Roman Empire; and any
other empire established upon the same
plan will be wrecked just as surely.
The true basis for a system OF colonial
government is one in which each colony
shall be assured of fair and equal share
in all the benefits Of imperial power. There
must moreover. be provision for the hap
piness and usefulness of the colonists in
their owa place. The colonial must not
be looked down upon as inferior, first be-
cause as a general thing he is not one, and
a false view OF any subject is always mis-
chieyous, and second because 1t is OF the
utmost Importance that he should not be
essentially the inferior of the home bred
citizen. The outposts OF the empire. or of
the government which is not an empire,
need strong men to take care Of them;
men who are fitted not only to look after
the interests of their government, but
who will make life worth living for them
selves and their neighbors. They must
not be looking forward continually to
going ''home,'' but must regard the place
in which they live as home, and give
their best energies not to getting money