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Show BRITISH EMPIRE NOT A SOURCE OF DANGER. Justice Howard of the New York supreme su-preme court fears the growth of the British empire and. in an article In the New York Herald, warns this country to guard against England, the Colossus of the earth. He attempts a parallel between the increasing mastery' nf Britain and the Persian and Romao empires, but tho Herald says editorially: editor-ially: The ancient empires did not consist D Srles Of mutually dependent -tales and colonies, linked together by a common language and literature, i ommon laws and great ideals of freedom free-dom and human brotherhood. The;, were made up of military conquered nations of widely differing civilizations civiliza-tions and ideals, heavily taxed, controlled con-trolled by powerful and harsh proconsuls procon-suls and strong military organizations, with a great monarch, such as Darius. Alexander or Caesar, ruling over all j 8 figurehead of awe and Insatiable ambition. am-bition. Nothing like this prevails through- out the Briti.-h Empire today. Britain herself is a veritable and advanced de-1 mocracy. which extends to her remot-est remot-est dominions and colonies the fullest j possible measure of self government and extracts neither toll nor tribute from any one of them, even in return for the protection afforded by her mlphty fleet to their coasts and commerce. com-merce. There Is no great emperor or Caesar kaiser as he would be called today in Germany at the head of the British Empire threatening the world with his mailed fist. The king-emperor, who derives the latter half of his title from India, is a symbol of figurehead, figure-head, of whom it is said that he rules but does not govern and who as the titular head of a state has far less au thority than the president of the r Unlted States. The executive head of the Brills', government Is the prime minister, who is removable, together with his fellov ministers, by a voto of tho common ., who aro elected on the widest exist Ing franchise, and li Is Impossible for tho premier or any other member of the government to arrogate to uimself dictatorial or autocratic authority. The self-governing overseas dominions of Britain are on a similar basis, with a go crnor who nominally represents the king, with the same measure of authority au-thority and no more As for the possibly imperialistic ten dencles of tho British people of that there need be little fear Even in the days of Joseph Chamberlain, greatest of nil British imperialists, who as secretary sec-retary of state for the colonies, more tha ntwenty years ago, enunciated the .'illiirimr docirines of imperial federation federa-tion and of free trade within the empire em-pire and protection against the world, , i m fieri a 1 1 m tiuidi no advanci beyond a modesl system of reciprocal preferential preferen-tial duties between Britain and a few Of her colonies And if a lesson were needed bj Britain as to the danger of imperial greed and insatiable ambition she has had It In the result of German Ger-man weltpolltlk. But she has amply demonstrated thai her greatest desire is to establish bonds of moral if not political union with this country and her people seem confident of the future fu-ture of civilization if the United Btates and Britain the two great English speakinc nations are Joined In tho task of preserving the peace of the world To this end it may be believed that she would gladly see us take up a far larger share of "the white man's burden" than we seem nt present disposed dis-posed to do. |