128 SECTIONAL ADDRESSES, 
maritime Empire. It shows the lands as connected by the Atlantic 
and the Indian but not by the Pacific Ocean; Great Britain, the naval 
and military headquarters of the Empire, on the central meridian; and 
Port Said and Cape Town as connecting positions between the western 
and eastern parts of the Empire. i 2d ; 
Upon this map a symmetrical distribution of our lands is 
revealed when a Great Circle is drawn connecting Halifax in Nova 
Scotia, the eastern terminal port.of the Canadian Pacific Railway, 
with Fremantle, the western terminal port. of the Australian railway 
system. ‘This truly direct line, twisted on Mercator’s map into the 
form of the letter S, extends just half-way round the meridians but is 
somewhat shorter than the semi-circumference of the globe, the differ- 
ence Of latitude between Halifax, N.S., and Fremantle being less than 
ninety degrees. ‘The line passes through Lower Egypt close to the Suez 
Canal following the general direction of the Main Track of the Empire, 
which is the steaming route from Canada to Great Britain, and thence 
by the Suez Canal to India and Australia. At one end of the line lies 
the Canadian Doiinion, and at the other Australasia, to the north 
the British Isles, and to the south the Union’ of South Africa, 
the chief homes of the British nation. Our coloured peoples are also 
distributed symmetrically about the line, India being on the east, the 
Crown Colonies and the Protectorates of Africa on the west, so that it 
is the axis of symmetry of the Empire. Not far from its middle point 
is the Isthmus of Suez, where our direct line of sea communication is 
crossed by the only continuous route for the international railways 
which will connect our Indian and African possessions, and adjacent to 
the Isthmus is the central station of our airways. 
Such is the form and position of the British Empire, regarded as a 
maritime organisation, which in fact it is. 
The Empire thus mapped has an Intermediate Position among the 
commercial, national, religious, and racial communities of the world 
such as is occupied by no other State. The ocean routes must always 
be the Link between the two great land areas of the world, and in the 
present state of land communication provide the connection between 
the numerous independent systems of continental railways. The chief 
of these systems is based on the ports of Continental Europe, of which 
the greatest communicate with the ocean, and therefore with other rail- 
way systems, by way of the English Channel. Thus the island of Great 
Britain is intermediate between the principal termini of the European 
railways and the other railway systems. Its harbourage is unequalled 
by that of any country of Continental Europe, and its supply of ship- 
building material and coal exceptionally good. Thus the physical 
characters of the island accord with its position on the commercial map, 
and the Metropolitan British in their Intermediate Position have become 
the chief common carriers of international commerce. Much of this 
profitable business used to be in the hands of smaller European States, 
whose commerce eventually suffered from their inability to defend them- 
selves against more powerful neighbours. Our merchant shipping is 
protected by the Royal Navy, but owing to the recent development of 
fighting aircraft, ships of war can no longer protect the island itself, 
