BRITISH EMPIRE. Under this designa tion are included all the territories united under the Crown of Great Britain and subject to the ultimate control of the Imperial Parliament at Westminster. Round the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, as a nucleus, are grouped a large number of dependencies in all quarters of. the globe, which may be divided into live classes, according to the degree of self-gov ernment possessed by each. (I) The first class would comprise those States in America, Austra lasia, and Africa, which enjoy the fullest meas ure of autonomy as far as this may be assured by an independent legislature and judiciary, sub ject only to the limited control which the Crown, as executive, may see fit to exercise through its representatives, the Governors of the separate colonies. Under this head would come Newfound land, the Bahama Islands, Barbados. and the Bermuda Islands, in the Western Hemisphere; the new-born Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand, in Oceaniea, and Cape Colony and Natal, in South Africa. In every one of these dependencies the lawmaking power is vested in a • representative legislature acting in cooperation with an executive appointed by the Crown. In theory the Crown may disallow any law enacted by the colonial Parliaments, but, in accordance with the well-established principles of English policy regarding the relations of the legislature and the executive, the right of veto is practically in abeyance or exercised only in ease where evi dently the interests not merely of a single colony, but of the entire Empire, are at stake. (2) The second class of dependencies embraces the colonies in which the lawmaking power is vested in a Gov ernor and a single-chambered legislative council, the latter composed. in most cases, partly of nomi nees of the Crown and partly of representatives elected by the people. This group would include the Channel Islands: Malta and Cyprus, in the Alediterranean Sea: Ceylon and 1\lauritins, with its dependencies. in the Indian Ocean: and, in America. Jamaica, the Leeward Islands, and Guiana. (3) A grade below are those dependen cies which are ruled by a Governor and a council nominated entirely by the Crown. In these the element of representative is entirely absent. To this category belongs the richest pos session of the British Crown, the Empire of India. which is ruled by a Governor and a nomi nated legislative council in India, acting under the supervision of the Secretary of State fur India and a council appointed by him in Great Britain. Other possessions of the same rank are
the colonies of Gibraltar. Aden. and Hong Kong, the Straits Settlements, the islands of Ascension and Saint Helena in the South Atlan tic, and a large number of dependencies in Africa, including the Orange River Colony, the Trans vaal Colony, Basutoland, Nigeria, the Gold Coast, Lagos. Gambia, and Sierra Leone. In America the list comprises British Honduras, Trinidad, the Windward Islands. and the Falkland Islands. Fiji, in the Pacific Ocean, also belongs in the same class. In each of these colonies the power is vested in a British official, known variously as Governor, High Commissioner, or Administrator, who may or may not be assisted in his functions by an appointed council. Certain of the so called protectorates are in reality examples of the same type. Such are the East Africa Protec torate and the Central Africa Protectorate, which are directly ruled by British officials. in the one ease by the Consul-General at Zanzibar, in the other by a resident. (4) Rhodesia and British North Borneo are at present the only instances of a type of colony once so important in the im perial scheme of Great Britain—a dependency, namely, which is administered by a trading cor poration whose rights are based upon treaty relations with the native chiefs, and which acts under the control of the British Government. Thus in Rhodesia the administrator of the com pany is assisted in the performance of his duties by the British resident, and in the case of British North Borneo the Governor appointed by the di rectors of the company must be confirmed by the British Secretary of State for the Colonies. (5) Finally there are the British protectorates, pos sessions in which.the native government has been left intact, but made merely the machine for the execution of the will of Great Britain. In each ease a British official is set by the side of the native authorities with ample power to restrain all acts deemed hostile to British interests or the welfare of the community, and, in the last resort, to assume the government himself. To this last class belong the native States of India; the coun try of Sikkim, in the Himalayas; the island of Socotra and the Bahrein Islands, in the Persian Gulf ; Zanzibar, the Somali Coast, Bechuanaland Protectorate, and Uganda Protectorate, in Af rica; and the Tonga or Friendly Islands, in the Pacific.