THE BRITISH EMPIRE.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3114, 24 April 1922, Page 7

THE BRITISH EMPIRE.

AS SEEN THROUGH AMERICAN EYES.

The Literary Digest, an admirable weekly journal published in New York, devotes a very considerable part of its issue of March 18th to a fair and friendly review of the British Empire, or .the “British Commonwealth of Nations,” to adopt the name for which General Smuts, South Africa’s great statesmen, lias expressed a preference as a truer description—a name, too, towards which the Prince of Wales showed leanings after his great tour. The writer of the article before ns starts out with the statement that “the third turning point in the evolution of the British Empire was reached in the world war, whose effect of transformation are going on before our eyes. . . . It would be difficult to find in world' development a parallel to the changes that are going on in that colossal congeries commonly called the British Empire, “compared with which old Rome’s magnificent domain was a ‘large parish.’ That is why it seems worth while to stop and devote a special number to this transformation, not in any pro-British or anti-British spirit, but purely for the information of friend and critic alike, and for all those who wish to keep step with the march of events.” Having expressed a desire to “present an adequate and fair account of the British dominions and domains, in every one of which America has specific interests,” the writer lays emphasis upon the British aim to act in co-operation with the United States, rc-ccalling the statement made there 'a nent by Mr Lloyd George in his address to the Imperial Conference last ye ay. The words of Richard Cobden as long ago as 1835 are re-called when he warned his countrymen that British policy should be turned rather toward America than confined toward European ground, and pointed to the danger of being superseded by America, because of her jjidustry, economy and peaceful policy. Turning more directly to bis main theme, tne writer says that some are. surprised to realise that the British Empire came into being only about 1850, and be quotes from “imperial England,'’ by Professors Lavcll and Paine, of Grinnel College : “Between 1 750 and 1850 the American colonies were lost, indeed, but in their place had come Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and India, and a colonial policy was beginning to take shape. ... At the opening of tlie war the British possessions included over eleven millions of square miles of territory, inhabited by about four hundred millions of people.” Tribute is then by apt quotation made to the part the dominions played in the great war. Then maps showing the world-wide character of the Empire before and after the great war are presented with .statements of areas and populations. Here we get the information that after the war the British Empire, including mandates, embraced an area of 13,749,182 square miles with a population of 455,565,478. Dealing with the “Basis of British Strength,” the writer says:—“Of course the development of the British Empire is in no small degree due to the character of its people; and such imponderables as psychology and cultural traditions are duly considered elsewhere. But since a nation, like a man, must have a body as well as a soul, we cannot rightly understand Britain’s place in the world of to-day and tomorrow without paying attention to certain facts dealing with the material strength ot the Kingdom or the Empire in wealth, natural resources, commercial standing, financial prestige, and means of defence on sea and land. '4 nere would bo no British Empire as we know it to-day if there had been no Drake or Nelson, if Clive and Wolfe and Wellington had never fought, or Raleigh. Pitt, and Disraeli had never dreamed and planned. Nor would the soldiers’ work and the sailors’ toil been of much avail" without the merchant adventurer and humble trader, to say nothing of great organisations of British brains and capital, like the Canadian Pacific, the Hudson Bay Company, .and the East India Company.”

Coming down to the present the writer makes these observations: — “Tlie effect of the war on the commercial standing of the British Empire cannot he forgotten. New York, for a tune at least, takes London's place as a centre of world finance. The burden of war debt, the after-war strikes and maladjustments of industry, the paralysis of world-trade and world-ship-ping have darkened the British 'skies. Yej to-day both American and British writers cannot see how a future as great as their past can he denied to :t people who insisted on paying in taxes more than a third- of the expense of the great war, and who have paid off .■£250,000,000 of their war debt in twelve months, facts and figures arc given to demonstrate the greatness of the Empre, and glowing tributes are paid to British character, culture, and life, but cannot pause to deal with these things, gratifying as they may he." Space is limited and we must hurrv on.

To each of the British Dominions tho writer devotes a special article. The first of these deals with “Canada, Land of Potentialities.” “The Roman Empire,” Ue says, “the vastest empire of former times, contained at its greatest extent about 1,000,()()() square miles. Canada is more than twice its size. Its land area of 3.(103,910 miles, one fourteenth of the land surface of the earth, is about thirty times the area of tho British Isles, and considerably exceeds the area of the United States and all its possessions.” Then wo read that its present population of nearly 9,000,000 represents an increase of roughly 05 per cent, over the population of 1 1901, and that at this rate children now living will see Canadians outnumbering the present white population of the whole British Empire.” A large amount of information, statistical and otherwise, is given of this vast Dominion, and we learn that in 1920 Canada had 39,399 miles of completed railways, including the Canadian National Grand Trunk, “the greatest transportation system in the world,” in addition to which there were 7041 miles of railroad controlled and operated by Canadian companies in the United States.

Next in order we find an article on “Old Ireland the New,” in which ..reference of an appreciative nature is made to the recent settlement. India and Egypt arc dealt with and then attention is given to Australia, the “Ileal Baud of the Golden Fleece.” The article on the Commonwealth opens in this wise: “Australia, the oldest of the continents geologically, is the newest in civilisation; on January 2G this ‘Commonwealth and Continent in one’ was i.'M years old.” Next reference is made; to the fact that Australia is larger than tin l United States and three-quarters as large as all Europe. Then follows a large amount of information about the conntry.

This Dominion has also a special article with the caption “New Zealand First,” that title being adopted because this young country had led the world in experimental legislation, fourteen subjects being named. Says the writer:—“ New Zealand policies of State stimulation and regulation of industry which put her on the map as ‘Newest England 1 and ‘Brighter Britain’ have not lost their advertising value.” As with other parts of the Empire, the writer gives to his readers

a large amount of information, drawn in the main from Bryce’s “Modern Democracies,” and generally speaking what is said is accurate and, shall we add? rather complimentary. Considerable space is given to South Africa and its possibilities, and every other part of the empire is touched upon, as is also the responsibilities accepted under the mandates over former German and Turkish countries and colonies.