The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-09-23

''NhH'HN ~ SooIVp lttt, ana consequently
u they accumulated at the rate Of one foot In
a century. IA evidence seems 10 suggest. more
than twenty-slx millions Of year, must have
elapsed during their formation
On this second day also Sir George Robert
son gave an address which has attracted rom
siderable attention, He took NJ his subject
Political Geography and the British Empire"
One Of the points discussed was this:
There Is a general impression that We have
been hastily and unfortunately acquisItive
whether We could help It or not; that the new
provinces, districts and protectorutes are some
OF them weak 10 huidity, that the great and
unprecedented growth Of the Empire has led
to a stretching and thinning Of its holding
links which are overstrained by the weight
OF unwieldy extension and far beyond the help
OF a protecting hand
Sir Georges conclusion was thus stated. Il
hope TO be- able to show that in some important
respects this suspicion II not altogether true:
that science, human ingenuity and racial en-
ergy have given us ZONE compensations. and
that II Il not paradoxical nor incorrect TO say
that our recent enormous growth Of empire
has been everywhere accompanied by a re-
markable shrinkaRe Of distance-by quicker
and closer intercommunication Of all its PARTS
one with another and with the heart centre.
The world as a whole has strangely con-
tract"d owing TO a bewilderinR increase In
linos 81 communication, to our more detailed
geographical knowledge, TO the formation
OF new harbors, the extension Of railways
the increased speed and the increased number
Of steamships, and the greatly augmented
carrying poTer Of great sailing vessels built
Of steel. Then hardly second in Importance
TO these influences are the great land lines
and the sea cables, the postal improvements.
the telephones and, perhaps We may soon add
the proved commercial utility Of wireless
biography. This universal time-diminution
in verbal and personal contact has brought
the colonies, our dependencies. protectorates.
and our dependencies Of dependencies. closer
10 each other and all Of them nearer still to
III. Measured by time-distancc. which is the
controller Of the merchant and the Cabinet
Minister Just a. much as Of the soldier. the
world has. indeed. wonderfully contracted.
and with this lessening the do,niniorS Of the
Queen have been rapidly consolidating Nor
Is this powerful influence by any means ex-
hausted. In the near future we may antici-
pate equally remarkable improvements Of
a like kind. especially in railways. telegraph
lines, and deep-sea cables, and In other scien-
tifc discoveries for transmitting mans mes
sages through water, in the air.
or. perhaps, by the vibrations Of the earth. For
us particularly, railway schemes Of expansion
must be mainly relied ,ron to oTen up and to
connect distant parts Of the Empire But
our true and only trustworthy road Of inter-
communication between the heart Of the Empire
and its limits must always be the sea II We
ever forget that, there may be a calamitCus
awakening We are a world Power solely be
cause Of our warships and bscau'e Of our com-
mand of he sea In the future also we shall
remain a world Power only e long as we hold
aa,,,on 90 tha aAa - 81, lilo, ..,.. - a..
term. not merely by the force and efficiency
Of the fighting navy, but by the excellence
and the perfecting of our mercantile marine.
by inCrea sing its magnitude, carrying power
and speed, and by anXiously attending 10 its
recruitment by British sailors We must not
attempt 20 ovcrtaX our resources to guard
railway lines through foreign semi-CiviliZed OF
savage countries by exported or local armies
A heavy land responsibility rests upon rs al
ready Under a little more We might be easily
overweighted and crushed down We must
concentrate all our surplus energies upon our
sea communications Therefore the railway
lines which ] spoke Of as helping to consolidate
the Empire in the near future are those only
which are projected or are being built In The
various colonies and dependencies, lines 70 dis
tribute and collect. 10 connect provinces and
feed harbors
We ought certainly to join all the shores
of the Queens dominions by sea cables COM
pletely controlled by British authority. To
rely upon connection between our own cables
through telegraph systems stretching across
foreign countries. however friendly, or to per-
init the ends Of these sentient nerves oi the
Empire to emerge upon shores which might
possibly become an encmy's country, is dan
gerous to the point OF reCklessness. that parent
Of disaster. As a melancholy instance of my
meaning il is only necessary for Us TO remem-
Der the Pekin catastrophe-how We suffered
from those dreadful intervals Of dead silence.
when We could not even communicate directly
with our own naval officers al Taku. or with
any one beyond Shanghai, although We have
in our possession a place Of arms at Wei-hai-
wei upon the Gulf Of Pechili.