81G 



iiKrouT— 1884. 



*fii!«' 



i- 



Inasmuch as the payer feel.s thu payiiiL'it wliether tlie money be applied to 

 ji't'iierrtl or to local purposes, it is but just to add together tlie two great heada of 

 imperial and hical revenue. Thus the total of 20;j and 61 milhons amounts to 

 204 millions sterling annually, truly an amazing amount at first sight, the like of 

 wliieh has never yet been imagined. Still the sum is not apparenrly high for tlic 

 total population, amounting to 11. T),?. 4rf. per bead per annum.' But tlieaveract' 

 incidence varies greatly, being 41. 7s. 5(1. per bead in the United Kiiisrdom 

 til. lAs. If/, per head in the Colonies and Dependenoies, and only 7,s. lid. jj 

 India. 



Another test of power relates to the provision for external defence and 

 internal protection — in other words, to armies, auxiliary forces, and organised 

 pohce, to navies and marine. 



Now the men trained to arms in the Briti.sh Empire may bt> stated at BoOjOOO 

 including the regular British forces at home and abroad, the militia, and voluiiteera 

 in the United Kingdom, and in the Colonies, the British Native forces in India, 

 and other countries. This includes 10,0(X) Egyptian troops under a British 

 general, but excludes tlie forces of tlic Native StG,tes of India, and of the otlier 

 countries politically connected with the empire. If, however, tlie forces nf tlit? 

 Native States of India were to be added (and they are generally available fur 

 imperial purposes), then the total of 8.50,000 would be raised to nearly a 

 aiillion. 



Thus the men under arms, or etl'ectively trained to arms, are in number more 

 than three-quarters of a million, and under the last-named computation would amount 

 to nearly a million. This number represents those who are really serving, or wIm 

 are in receipt of allowances, or are actually called out from time to time — and net 

 those vvlio are liable to be summoned in event of emergency. This actual total 

 -will bear comparison niuuerically with the standing armies of the martial empire- 

 now in the world, tliough there may be an important difibrcnce in respect ti 

 military organisation. But the total is very small in comparison with the size of 

 the British Empire, representing only one soldier to every 10 squares miles, and to 

 every 876 of the population. Thus the military forces of the British Empire, 

 taken at the outside tigure, are much smaller relatively to the territory and the 

 people than those of any other great State, excepting only tlu' United' States of 

 America. There remains, too, the cardinal fact that the British military forces 

 are raised entirely by voluntary enlistment, a circumstance almost unique in the 

 military arrangements of the present age. 



Of the total strength 850,000, about 150,000 are soldiers of the dark or 

 coloured races, and the remainder, or 700,000, are of the fair or dominant race. 

 But if the total of a million be taken, then it may be said that 300,000 are of the 

 dark races, and 700,000 of the fair or dominant race. These proportions are 

 isatisfactorj' in respect to the safety of the empire. 



The defensive armaments of the empire by sea and land cost 41 millions 

 sterling annualh-, or 20 per cent, of the total of revenue and receipts, wliich pro- 

 portion is less than that shown by any great State in the world, except tiie 

 United States. If the expenditure be compared witli the whole population of the 

 empire, then it amounts to less than four shillings a head, which (always with 

 the exception of the United States) is the cheapest rate to be found in any great 

 State of the world. 



Subsidiary to external defence is that internal protection which a police force 

 secures. Now the police force of the British Em])ire, metropolitan, municipal, 

 and rural together, is in numbers about 210,000. Of this total, 51,000 are in the 

 United Kingdom, and 147,000 in India, the remainder being in the Colonies and 

 Dependencies. It may be n question whether there .should be added to this total 

 the number of village police in India, who are paid not by the State, but by 

 village cesses, and who are legally recognised. Their number is not exactly known, 

 lout is not less than JJ50,000, and this addition would l)ring the grand total of the 

 police for the empire up to 560,000. 



' This ratio includes the British subjects only, and not the Native States under 

 British control. 



