THE COLONIST. Published Every Morning. Thursday, February 3, 1910. THE EMPIRE.

Colonist, Volume LII, Issue 12763, 3 February 1910, Page 2

THE COLONIST. Published Every Morning. Thursday, February 3, 1910. THE EMPIRE.

Mb J. Ellis Barkek's book, "Great and Greater Britain," which discusses the problems of the Motherland md the Empire, problems of politics, defence, commerce and. industry, is a work that might be widely read with advantage. Th© aiithor ' knows what he is talking about; he is a successful English journalist, a recognised authority on matters of history, and : in earlier works he has made valuable contributions to the literature dealing with Imperial affairs. He attacks the disorganised condition of the Empire as its greatest weakness. The British Empire, he says, is merely a geographical expression, as little arganiSed as the Dutch world empire or the Phoenician world empire of old. Mr Barker considers America, and' Germany in relation to Britain. " In shipping America is striving to become a serious rival. She means to reserve ler shipping trade to American citizens by ■ protective measures similar to those by which she has raised her manufacturing industries and made her home market exclusive. With the completion of the Panama Canal she will strike a great blow at British trade with the East. The great 'ndustrial centres of America, are situated on or near the- east coast where coal and iron abound, they are separated from Asia by a longer sea than that which separates Great Britain from Asia. Therefore Great' Britain is at present the half-way house and the carrier for sea borne trade between the United States and the East. Wlien the Panama Canal is finished, tlie American east coast will be no longer farther away from" Asia' than Great Britain, but Great Britain will be farther away from Asia than the American east coast, and the Suez Canal route, which possesses , ninny great disadvantages, may cease to be the world's high road of commerce be-, tween- the East and the West. An:ori- , ca may th&reforo become the natural half-way house and the carrier for water borne goods exchanged between v the East and the West, and, unless i Britain takes in time vigoroxis coun- ■ ter measures of self defence, she may I lose to the United States not only the Chinese and Japanese market, but. the | Indian market as well. . Germany, whether she gets them by: peaceful means or not, requires outlets for her growing population, which increases every year by 900,000, whilst Britain's increases only by some 300,000. The Kaiser's watchword, "Germany's future lies upon the water," has become the watchword and the rallying cry of the German nation, and as Great.Britain rules the sea, and possesses practically all the most desirable colonies situated in the temperate zone, Ger--1 many must be able to overcome Britain in order to carry out her aims. Therefore, the preamble to the great Ger--1 man Naval Bill of. 1900, by which ' £200,000,000 were voted for naval pur--1 poses, plainly stated, "Germany must have a. fleet or such strength that a war against the mightiest naval Power , would involve risks threatening the supremacy of that Power." Through that document Germany proclaimed to r the world her determination to chilI lenge the naval supremacy of Britain. Li consideringthe relative strength of Britain and Germany, Mf Barker reaches the conclusion that; the «■s- ' sistance of the overseas dominions is vital to the maintenance of Britain's position ' as a great Power. She- cannot', much longer defend the Empire single-hand-ed. "Therefore," ha says, "the Prime Ministers of :Great Britain and of the colonies must seriously think of creating without delay an Imperial force for the defence of the Empire, directed by an Imperial Cabinet, and financed by Imperial means. The. action of fche Colonial Conference may determine the fate of Great Britain and the Empire, for the next ten or twenty years should decide whether the British Em-pire-will stand." The financial position of Britain is presented in an unfavourable light. The national wealth, says Mr Barker, is stagnant, if aot actually declining. "The- taxation .s the heaviest in the world, arid it '9twice as heavy as that of Germany. Yet Great Britain will have to '.n---crease taxation very greatly^in the immediate future. The national ?x---ponditur- which amounted to £99,---220,068 in 1893-4, and to £153,444,---231 in 1907-8, will probably exceed £200,000,000 within four or five years. I Old age pensions, naval requirements, and the automatic growth of expenditure on education, salaries, etc., alone should increase next year's budget to at least £180,000,000. Where is tho money to come from ?"