These questions roughly indicate the line of enquiry which I wish to follow. Behind them lies an issue {viii} which British people throughout the world will soon be forced to recognize as infinitely surpassing in momentous significance any upon which their political thought and energy are now being spent. We may not unreasonably believe that the movements at present going on in the mother-land and the colonies are only supplying us with the political formulae required for grappling with the higher national problem. It seems like sheer political blindness not to perceive that in different parts of the Empire forces are now actively at work which may at any moment precipitate a decision of this great question; movements in progress which, it seems safe to say, must of necessity lead up to a decision within a time measured at the very most by one or two decades. Nations take long to grow, but there are periods when, as in the long delayed flowering of certain plants, or in the crystallization of chemical solutions, new forms are taken with extreme rapidity. There are the strongest reasons for believing that the British nation has such a period immediately before it. The necessity for the creation of a body of sound public opinion upon the relations to each other of the various parts of the Empire is therefore urgent. In stating the case for British Unity I have constantly found myself merely linking together arguments already used by thinkers in many parts of the Empire. {ix} Any apology on my part for thus making use of other men's thoughts, is unnecessary. Earnest believers in a great cause only wish that the grounds of their belief should be made known as widely as possible. No one can be more conscious than myself of the incompleteness of the statement which I have tried to make. But even a partial study of a great subject may serve a useful purpose. If what is here said furnish to the advocates of National Unity some texts upon which they may enlarge and improve, if it provoke that honest criticism which leads to a firmer grasp of truth, I shall be more than satisfied. {x} {xi} CONTENTS CHAPTER I. PAGE INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER II FEDERATION 31 CHAPTER. III DEFENCE 59 CHAPTER IV. THE UNITED KINGDOM 103 CHAPTER V. CANADA 115 CHAPTER VI. FRENCH CANADA 153 CHAPTER VII. MR. GOLDWIN SMITH 163 CHAPTER VIII. AUSTRALIA. TASMANIA. NEW ZEALAND. .192 {xii} CHAPTER IX. PAGE SOUTH AFRICA. THE WEST INDIES 232 CHAPTER X. INDIA. 243 CHAPTER XI. AN AMERICAN VIEW 253 CHAPTER XII. FINANCE 271 CHAPTER XIII. TRADE AND FISCAL POLICY 278 CHAPTER XIV. PLANS. CONCLUSION 296 MAP Commercial and Strategic Chart of the British Empire, on Mercator's Projection .._End of book_. {1} _THE PROBLEM OF NATIONAL UNITY_ CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION.