THE TKCJE TEMPER OF EMPIRE. 



299 



removed, is a question lying at the root of much imperial 

 unrest. In dealing with it the true temper of Empire is to be 

 found in a spirit of caution in every procedure wliich has a 

 tendency to bring into collision the usages and prejudices of 

 communities, a spirit giving time for the slow and silent 

 operation of desired improvements, with a constant conviction 

 that every attempt to accelerate the end will be attended with 

 the danger of defeat, but at the same time with a constant 

 conviction that any arrest or reversal of an accepted policy 

 will be no less certainly attended with danger of defeating the 

 end. Sir Donald Wallace closes a chapter on Imperial Federa- 

 tion, in his Web of Umpire, with a, \vdi,vmng that in attempting 

 to realise the closer union of the Empire, it is probable that 

 many mistakes will be made. He suggests, however, that their 

 number may be reduced by the adoption of the old Horatian 

 maxirn, Festinct lente. Lord Beaconsfield gave the same advice 

 in his caution that in practical politics nothing is more necessary 

 than to distinguish between the excellence of a principle and 

 its premature or inopportune application. And in the same 

 spirit, the American philosopher, Waldo Emerson, declared that 

 there is nothing more remarkable than the ease with wiiich a 

 benefactor may become a malefactor by extending his activity 

 into an area where it is not due. 



It is not enough that the local legislature should be 

 dominated by this spirit. The fundamental difference between 

 the status of the Dominions and the Crown Colonies and India 

 in their relation to the Crown is that in the Dominions 

 the Sovereign reigns, in the Crown Colonies and India he 

 not only reigns but governs and administers through his 

 ministers, who are responsible for a continuity of policy in 

 the true temper of Empire. The greatest of all ])erils lies in 

 the pressure brought to bear on ministers to make the interests 

 of the Crown Colonies and India subordinate to the exigencies 

 of party politics at home. I believe that the Council of India 

 is an effective agency against arrest or reversal of policy in 

 India ; and the opinion seems to be gaining ground that a 

 similar Council connected with the Colonial Oftice would be an 

 equally effective agency in securing continuity and at the same 

 time gradual development of policy in the Crown Colonies. 



Of Treasure. 



In the term Treasure, I include all the natural resources of 

 the constituent parts of the Empire and I define the true 



