The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-08-25

The death of Lord Salisbury brings up
the Chamberlain idea of preferential tariffs
among the component parts of the British
Empire. and. while the great premier new
er gave public expression on the subject.
the fact that Mr.. Chamberlain's proposals
were not made until after he had quit office
posed. He may have thought the time was
not ripe. or he may have been opposed al
together: it is not very material Great
men often help TO work out the destiny of
a nation without full consciousness of just
what their work will lead TO. They get
out of harmony with the very results they
have helped to bring about; and invariably,
when this is the case they drop out and
the nation goes along its way the ac-
complshment of its goal Salisbury never
got out of harmony with British imperial
ism, but advancing age took him quite out
of touch with the details of affairs even
before ne resigned Office, and thus it is not
unlikely that he preferred that the empire
should rest for a period about where he
had left it,
But a nation cannot stand still. 1t must
go forward or backward Salisbury carried
forward the work of imperial expansion
with remarkable vigor, until at his re-
tirement the British Empire had possessions
in every quarter of the earth, knit together
physically by the most powerful navy the
world has known, and lines OF Notifications
and naval supply stations that seem ample
for all possible contingencies Of war. But
for all that it is loosely constructed fab
ric, with very little of unity in either gov
ernmental form or commercial practice or
national spirit. Some of the colonies are
ruled by the crown through viceroys, and
between this form, used to rule the inhabi-
tants of India, and the practically repub-
lican government of Canada come all the
variations imaginable. Nor is there any
thing in their commercial relations that
would signify that they belong to the Brit
| ish Empire. To solidify and unity this vast
| empire, composed Of peoples of various
races. is the herculean task set before the
present and future generations of British
| statesmen.
| Chamberlain is at least one British states
| man that comprehends this fact fully and
| is disposed to go forth actively to meet it.
| He was bright enough to seize the occasion
| of the Boer war to appeal to the loyalty
of the other colonies, and the response was
gratifying to his hopes, particularly the
| spirit shown by Canada and Australia. His
| proposition of a zollverein. with the pref
| erential tariff as the chief bond, is the log
| ical and sensible method of consolidating
and unifying the empire. 1t clashes with
| the free-trade tradition; it is at cross pur-
| poses with British investments in some
| foreign countries, and it is not in harmony
| with the policies some of the British col
onies have worked out for themselves.
| There are many other obstacles but it must
win in the end, for the British Empire is a
most imperfect political structure and must
| so remain until it is a substantial econo-
mic structure. The age is an age of ma
teriaIsm, and its prizes are the triumphs
| of industry and commerce. Mems thoughts
| and aspirations run i'm these channels, and
without economic solidarity there can be
no lasting unity of life or purpose in the
enormous. widely scattered, loosely-knit
military and political fabric, the British
/ Empire.