Mexico weekly ledger., 1900-03-29
A COLONIAL EMPIRY.
How Great Britain Governs Her Colo.
Hies-Causes That Contribute to
England's Success

England's Success
We make the following extract from
an extended and able article, Published
in the Yale Law Journal, BY L B.
Wilfey, now of st. Louis, formerly Of
Mexico. We are sorry that we have
not the room for the article In full;
aThe peculiar interest which st
taches to the study Of the Colonial
Empire OF Great Britain At the present
time arises out Of three considerations.
First, because II is the most extensive
and successful system Of colonization
the world has seen; second, because
the prestige which It has brought to
the British nation is being seriously
menaeed by the ~reversals now being
sustained IN South Africa; and third,
because the United States have re-
Gently acquired possessions, some Of
which are 90 far removed from our
shores and are surrounded by such
climatic, social, racial and religious
conditions that they will have to be
treated, for stime At least, a. de-
Tendencies, before they can be in
corporated into the Federal Union.
The record Of the Colonial Empire of
Great Britain Is a wonderful record; q
tale Of peace and war, Of change, of
enlargemeut,of unparalleled growth.
Strong, healthy nations, Like healthy
individuals, must grow This can be
done In two ways-eifhef by taking
possession Of adjacent lands or Of dis
tant parts of the world. England has
been debarred from the first method
BY mature and hence has devoted her
energies to c~olonizing lands beyond
the seaB.
sFour causes have contributed large
IL to the success of this enterprise
two If which might be termed
mechanical or scientific, and two ed-
ministrstiye or historical. The
scientific agencies referred to are the
improved methods of applying steam
to transportation and the use of
electricity in transmitting intelligence
under the sea Al well over the land.
These forces, by practically ~annihilat-
ing space and time, have brought
about conditions without which
neither the commercial and financial
activity nor the political life OF the
Empire could exist. The failure Of
the Empires of antiquity was often
due to the fact that they were unable
70 overcome these physical conditions
which lay IN the way Of vigorous and
effective administration Of possessions
lying at q great distance from the
seat Of government. Aristotle e.
timated that one hundred thousand
freemen were too many fsg g single
stateyet Great Britain rules 9 single de-
tendency OF two hundred and fifty
millions Of Inhabitants, distant thous-
ands Of miles from her shores. Steam
and electricity are the natural enc
mics Of ignorance, prejudice and pro-
vincialism. They spread democracy
and learning. You viii recall that
they have only been effective az
world agencies during the last fifty
wears. The first submarine cable be-
tween England and America was not
successfully laid until 1885. The ships
that carried the first settlers to
Australia took eight months on the
voyage, whereas now the trip can be
made in less than six weeks. Burke
expaiiated at length upon the eject
remoteneas had upon administration,
In his time it took six weeks to reach
the American Colonies. Three
thousand miles of ocean, says he,
s'lies between you and them. You
cannot pump this dry. No contriv-
ance can prevent the effect of the
distance In weakening government,
Who are you that you should fret and
rage and bite the chains OF naturei
While Burke was perhaps the mosi
profound statesman that ever lived,
he caught no glimpses OF what the
future had In store In the way oil
scientific invention. For purpose ol
pumped dry and the chains OF nature
burst asunder. Man has conquered
nature with nature. The storm cloud
and raging billow have no terrors fol
him. he makes the lightning Of the
one minister to his needs and laughi
at the fury OF the other, Ne hi
leviathan Of steel and steam gather
speed by churning 1t into foam. Nov
the execution follows swift on thu
heels Of the order and the ocean Il
crossed "a as many days as II then 70,
quired weeks.
when we consider the vastness o.
the Empire, that it. lies on thu
scattered fringe of many oceans, and
embrace every zone and parts o
every continent, that 1t number
among lts inhabitants representative
OF every known q and types o
every form of civilization, from thI
lowest TO the highest, from the eldes
to the ycungest-the Hottentot snl
the Observation-Disclosures who's
origin Is lost in the twilight of histoE,
and civilization springs full panoplieG
that It deals with religion of ever
form, and institutions of ever
character, and that it controls all thu
great highways Of the seas, we ars
amazed and naturally wonder and In
quire how is all this done2 VIVA
methods are adopted? What politics
alchemy has the people Of this nttlG
iale discovered which enables them Il
stretch their scepter to the four cor,
nerB Of the earth, and hold In thefl
hands the destiny of such q large por'
ton of mankind2
The answer to this is that machinery
of government In some instances Il
simple in others complex. Thers
is no hard and fast rule. The system
in use Is noted for its variety znC
lexibility Of rules. It isnot attempt.
ed to govern Canada and Basutolanf
In the same manner. The English
never commit the folly Of making
set of ideal laws and then undertaking
10 make their Colonies conform to it
They realize that the law under which
q people live is the natural expression
and product OF their intellectual anc
moral and social gifts and habits
whence 1t follows that communities
representing different types Of Life
-.--EaA asAawm.k ~mFa - Ian -