government, while the newest of all, West Australia, is entrusted with a representative legislature. Untrammelled by tradition and vested interests, these states have wrought out political and industrial conditions far more democratic than those that obtain in the mother-country. Some of the recent business enterprises of the several governments are The Austra distinctly socialistic in character. A project for a federation of the seven Australian colonies comparable to that of Canada has been recently (1898) put to vote. It failed of support in New South Wales, but an Australian federaJan. 1, 1901. tion cannot long be deferred.

lian Commonwealth

was proclaimed

Payne,
ch. XIII.

Bright, IV, 545-552.

Africa. In the scramble for possession of the Dark Continent, Great Britain has led the way. Reckoned in square miles, her territories are not so great as those of France, but the English have secured the richest portions of Africa and those best adapted to colonization from Europe.

At the Congress of Vienna (1815) England secured her title to Holland's colony at the Cape of Good Hope. The acquisition was regarded as a trading post merely, but the rich farmlands and wholesome climate attracted immigration. The English settlers pushed their way northward, disputing possession, first with the native. Kaffirs and then with the Dutch Boers, until the British claim far exceeded the original grant. Natal was annexed in 1843, and Bechuanaland in 1867. The rich diamond mines north of Orange River were thus brought within reach of business enterprise. Somewhat later, gold was discovered. in the Transvaal, and English prospectors crowded into the lands hitherto monopolized by the Dutch. The Boers have stubbornly stood their ground. Not even Jameson's raid (1896) was sufficient to shake their control. Diplomacy failed to settle the points in dispute, and the war that followed has taxed the resources of the British Empire. Salisbury's government is bent on the final conquest and annexation of the Transvaal.

1 The French possessions are estimated at 3,000,000 square miles, those of England at 2,300,000 square miles.

In central Africa, no such obstacle exists. Year by year, Traill, VI, the efforts of English missionaries and the achievements of 668-674. English explorers have brought new regions within the queen's dominion. In British South Africa, British Central Africa, and British East Africa, the Union Jack is respected by the inhabitants, and the English trader has obtained a foothold. The British policy of expansion in the interest of trade has been vigorously maintained by Cecil Rhodes. Resistance on the part of the native races is crushed with relentless severity. Similar conquests have carried the English flag north of the equator, and have brought British East Africa within easy distance of British outposts in the Soudan.

Since 1882, the English government has assumed responsibility for the affairs of Egypt and has thus become pledged Egypt. to the suppression of the Mahdist revolt in the Soudan. The Source-Book, recent victories of Sir Herbert Kitchener at Atbara (April, pp. 456–461. 1898) and at Omdurman1 (May, 1898), together with the arrangement with France as to Fashoda (March 22, 1899) arrived at by Lord Salisbury, have given Great Britain control of the valley of the Nile even to the source of that river in Lake Victoria. Once in possession of Khartoum, Kitchener telegraphed over the wire that connects Egypt with Cape Colony to know how soon Rhodes would come to meet him!

The work of the soldier is being rapidly supplemented by the civil engineer. The diamond lands and gold mines of South Africa have been connected by rail with the principal ports, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. A railroad route is being established between Lake Victoria and the east coast, at Mombaza, while a line is projected that will secure direct communication between Cairo and Cape Town. When this is done, Africa will, for all commercial purposes, belong to England. On the lower Niger, on the Gold Coast, and at Sierra Leone, Great Britain holds important commercial

1 Omdurman is across the river from Khartoum where Gordon was killed.

Impelling Motive of British Imperial Policy 493

posts, and maintains a "sphere of influence" sufficient to protect English traders venturing into the interior.

The administration of these several territories varies with the degree of civilization prevailing among the colonists and with the nature of the control exercised by Great Britain. Cape Colony, where English settlers have political preponderance,1 enjoys responsible government. Natal is accorded representative institutions, while the wilder regions are governed as crown colonies or merely acknowledge a British protectorate.

680-688.

Source-Book,

Imperial Federation. — The vast extent of the British possessions and the growing sense of common interest between the colonies and the mother-country have suggested various Traill, VI ̧ projects for imperial federation. Joseph Chamberlain, as colonial secretary in Lord Salisbury's cabinet, has done much to further this idea. The prominent place given to the colonial pp. 452-456. representatives at the recent Jubilee may serve to indicate the government policy. A federation of all the British dependencies would involve an imperial parliament in which each self-governing colony should be represented, and where all imperial affairs, such as trade, finance, military defence, should be discussed and determined. Each colony would remain as independent in internal administration as before, but all would gain strength and security from united action. There are many difficulties in the way of such a consummation of British imperialism, but it is likely to be attained in the near future.

Impelling Motive of British Imperial Policy. In the nineteenth, as in the eighteenth century, the determining motive in British colonial policy has been the opening up of commercial opportunity rather than territorial aggrandizement. A market must be furnished to English manufacturers, and trade advantages secured to English ships. The monopoly method was discredited by the revolt of the American colonies. The economic incentive proved a more

1 The native population of Cape Colony amounts (1891) to 1,150,000. Of the 377,000 Europeans, 38,500 are British-born.

potent influence than legislation or treaty.

America still furnishes raw material in exchange for English manufactures, and the Atlantic trade has enormously increased since the separation.

Holding first rank among commercial nations, Great Britain now asks no advantage but freedom to trade in all ports. The English race conquers and colonizes in order to maintain "the open door."