GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



321 



Colonies and Dependencies. British col- 

 onies are broadly distinguished as colonies hav- 

 ing responsible government, colonies having rep- 

 resentative legislative bodies, but an executive 

 responsible to the Crown, and Crown colonies. 

 In the first class the executive power resides in 

 the ministers, who are responsible to the colonial 

 Parliament, and the Imperial Government as- 

 sumes no right of veto or interference excepting 

 for grave imperial reasons. In the second class 

 the governor appointed by the Crown and the 

 officials of his own selection forming his coun- 

 cil have varying degrees of initiative and control 

 in legislation accordng to the terms of the co- 

 lonial charter. In Crown colonies the governor 

 and his council are the legislative and executive 

 authority under the British Colonial Office. The 

 rights of the Crown in all colonial affairs are 

 committed to the Secretary of State for the Col- 

 onies. The British Government spends about 

 2,000,000 on the colonies, mainly for military 

 and naval purposes. From the colonial revenues 

 Ceylon contributes 128,000 a year for defense; 

 Mauritius, 26,000; Hong-Kong, 70,000; Straits 

 Settlements, 126,000; Malta, 5,000; Natal, 

 4,000; West Africa, 10,000; Canada, 21,000; 

 total, 390,000. India pays 270,000 a year for 

 home charges and 335,000 for deferred pay of 

 British troops serving in India. Egypt pays 87,- 

 000 for the army of occupation. The number of 

 British garrison troops in the colonies in 1902 

 was 63,456, of which 5,466 were in Gibraltar, 

 10,840 in Malta, 135 in Cyprus, 15,185 in Cape 

 Colony and Natal, 3,583 in Mauritius, including 

 2,048 colonial troops, 727 in St. Helena, including 

 517 colonials, 2,262 in Sierra Leone, including 

 2,100 colonials, 5,436 in Egypt, 1,783 in Halifax, 

 327 in Esquimault, 3,068 in Bermuda, including 

 1,011 colonials, 1,774 in Jamaica, including 1,050 

 colonials, 1,529 in Barbados and St. Lucia, in- 

 cluding 600 colonials, 1,778 in Ceylon, including 

 265 colonials, 2,719 in Straits Settlements, inclu- 

 ding 1,215 colonials, 4,425 in Hong-Kong, inclu- 

 ding 2,463 colonials, 1,289 in Wei-Hai-Wei, inclu- 

 ding 1,083 colonials, 1,130 not detailed, including 

 1,100 colonials. The British forces in India num- 

 bered 73,518 officers and men. 



The prime ministers of the self-governing col- 

 onies held a conference in London in the summer 

 of 1902 under the presidency of the Colonial Sec- 

 retary. They decided that it w y ould be of advan- 

 tage to the empire to have conferences every four 

 years, at which the Secretary of State for the 

 Colonies and the prime ministers of self-govern- 

 ing colonies could discuss and consider questions 

 of common interest affecting the mother country 

 and the British dominions over the seas; that 

 in negotiating treaties the Imperial Government 

 should obtain the views of colonies affected; that 

 greater facilities should be given to young colo- 

 nists to enter the British army and navy ; that in 

 Government contracts, either of the imperial or 

 colonial governments, the products of the empire 

 should be preferred to those of foreign countries; 

 that shipping subsidies should be increased on 

 condition that no excessive freight charges should 

 be made nor any preference given to foreigners, 

 and that the steamers shall be at the service of 

 the Government in \var time ; that the privilege of 

 coastwise trade, including the trade between the 

 mother country and the colonies or between one 

 possession and another, should be denied to coun- 

 tries in which the corresponding trade is confined 

 to ships of their own nationality; that it is 

 advisable to adopt the metric system of weights 

 and measures throughout the empire; that there 

 should be mutual protection of patents in the 

 VOL. XLII. 21 A 



various parts of the empire; that in future cable 

 franchises a clause should be inserted reserving 

 to the government or governments concerned the 

 right of purchasing the cables; that cheap post- 

 age for newspapers and periodicals between dif- 

 ferent parts of the empire should be adopted. 

 The contribution of Australia to imperial naval 

 defense was increased to 200,000 per annum, 

 that of New Zealand to 40,000, both to be ap- 

 plied to an improved Australasian squadron and 

 the establishment of branches of the royal navy 

 reserve; Cape Colony's contribution toward the 

 general maintenance of the navy was increased 

 to 50,000 a year, and Natal contributes 35,000 

 for the same purpose; Newfoundland gives 

 3,000 a year and will build a training-ship for 

 a branch of the navy reserve; with other col- 

 onies correspondence was continued. The con- 

 ference considered that the principle of prefer- 

 ential trade between Great Britain and the col- 

 onies would stimulate and facilitate mutual com- 

 mercial intercourse and strengthen the empire by 

 promoting the development of the resources and 

 industries of the several parts, but recognized 

 that in the present circumstances of the colonies 

 it is not practicable to adopt a general system 

 of free trade within the empire; it was considered 

 desirable, however, that those colonies which 

 have not already adopted such a policy should 

 as far as their circumstances permit give sub- 

 stantial preferential treatment to the products 

 and manufactures of the United Kingdom. The 

 representatives of Canada were prepared to 

 recommend to their Parliament the existing pref- 

 erence of 33J per cent, and an additional prefer- 

 ence on lists of selected articles to be given either 

 by further reducing duties on British goods or by 

 raising the duties on foreign imports or im- 

 posing duties on such as are now free. New 

 Zealand's Premier proposed for his colony a gen- 

 eral reduction of 10 per cent, on British manufac- 

 tured goods, or a reduction of duties in favor of 

 Great Britain, or an increase or imposition of 

 duties against foreign countries on lists of se- 

 lected articles. The representatives of the Cape 

 of Good Hope and Natal proposed for South 

 Africa a preference of 25 per cent, in favor of 

 Great Britain or an equivalent increase in the 

 duties on foreign imports except articles on 

 which there are special rates. In discussing the 

 naval defense of the empire the premiers and the 

 British ministers could not agree on a general 

 resolution. Lord Selborne promised that Aus- 

 tralia and New Zealand should have the privilege 

 of manning one of the ships of the new Austral- 

 asian squadron and that 10 cadet ships in the 

 royal navy should be allotted annually to them, 

 but he insisted that the British navy must be all 

 one and praised Cape Colony and Natal for con- 

 tributing money for its support unreservedly. In 

 the discussion of military defense the Secretary of 

 State for War recommended the colonies to raise 

 special corps for imperial defense, to be trained 

 by British officers or so trained at any rate that 

 they could be put in line with British regulars 

 against European troops. The Premier of New 

 Zealand approved special bodies of troops set 

 apart for imperial service. The representatives 

 of Cape Colony and Natal were disposed to fall 

 in with this policy. The Canadian and Austra- 

 lian premiers, on the other hand, believed in rais- 

 ing the standard of training in the general body 

 of the colonial forces and organizing the depart- 

 mental services and the equipment required for 

 the mobilization of a field force, leaving it to 

 the colony to determine how and to what extent 

 it should render assistance; whereas, to estab- 



