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Show AT ITS BEST. England's territorial annexation policy baa taught her two things first, that th acquirement of new eon utnea is expensive, and, second, the further she advances the further she miiit go. That is, supremacy can only be maintained by constant couquct, and more annexation. Tbe foothold first gained in India obliged Britain to obtain control of the surrounding proviucea Shu is eveu now engaged in an unpleasant and expansive war which can only terminate when Afghanistan becomes a feudatory of the imperial crown, or British Iudia ia narrowed down. In Africa the same condition exists. Tbe ownership of the Cape Colony forced England to subdue- the adjacent tribeu and anuex their torritory. A failure fail-ure to undertake the Afghan and Zulu wars would have coat the British their prestige and supermacy on those continents, and a retirement without success from th038 campaigua will result re-sult in such a formidable revolt on the part of tho native populations s will threaten, if it does not actually destroy de-stroy British rule in the east. Hence, coat what they may, England muat win in tbeae wars, insignificant aB they may appear in themselves. Perhaps ambition may have something some-thing to do with this policy of everlastingly ever-lastingly adding to her dominions, though one might thiok that a monarch mon-arch having control of more than S.000,000 square miles of territory would be content to rest; but ambi tion can only be a minor incentive in such cases as those of Afghanistan and Zjluland. Sdlf-preservation is the great motivo. One doo3 not nead to bo a prophet to see that England's aggressive polL-y is carrying her too far. Tbe nation is becoming too l.irge, and is liable to crush iteeU with its own great weight. Her foreign complications complica-tions are becoming s:dly and dangerously danger-ously entangled, and her policy has ltd into expenses that must sooner or Inter prove rtiincm. It will surprise btntcemen and the keen observers ol nation, if the British empire does not .v.uiu nam-. j. UUU Li L'l ptJUU iog money lavishly in Asia during the past few yeirs, most of it has gone in maintaining herself. Very little has b;en gained either ofierri-tory ofierri-tory or prestige. In South Afnci absolute ab-solute disaster has come, and will probably continue for some time yet. Our own neighboring colony, col-ony, Canada, is discontented, and haa almost bid dt fiance to the mother country by adopting commercial aod fSuancial relations in direct opposition to the wishes of the crown, and eveu at home the popular discontent is widespread wide-spread because of tho trade depression and t ;e necessary increase of taxation caused by the expensive foreign policy of the government. Bntain is a great nation, but it has eeen tbe height of its gre&tnetg, Tbe descent u certain. |
