PROBLEMS OF EMPIRE.
tion of South Africa would have already been an accomplished fact.
Federal government a growing idea.Except in South Africa the sentiment of Imperial unity has been growing. The assistance given from Canada, Australia, and New Zealand in this war is the proof, if any is needed, that all parts of the Empire have come to realise the duties and the responsibilities of their common citizenship. This assistance has been given in spite of the fact that no Federal government, no Federal organization for the purposes of defence, was yet in existence. But the time must come ere long when it will be necessary to organize the resources of the whole Empire for the common defence, and to establish a Federal government. Until the present war the burden of defending the Empire has fallen almost wholly on the shoulders of the mother country. While the Colonies were in their infancy it was only natural that this should be so; but the Colonies are now growing from youth to manhood. Their population and resources are year by year increasing relatively to those of the mother country. The population of Canada exceeds that of Scotland, the population of Australia is roughly equal to that of Ireland; while the white population of South Africa will ere long not be incomparable to that of Wales. This means that, in a properly constituted Imperial Parliament, Canada, Australia, and South Africa would carry as much weight as Scotland, Ireland, or Wales, and the control which they would be able to exercise on Imperial policy would not be inconsiderable. This control we must give them when they are prepared to bear their share of the maintenance of the naval and military forces of the Empire. The growth of the ordinary
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