BRITISH EMPIRE

the unofficial but popular and convenient term for the aggregation of territory under the Brit. crown. The title of the Brit. sovereign is ‘George V., by the grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. and of the Brit, Dominions beyond the Seas, King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India.’ The various colonies, po e ions, protectorates, etc., which comprise the empire are indicated in the accompanying table. The following ex-German colonies are held by mandate from the League of Nations: Togo and Kamerun (shared with France); Ger. E. Africa (shared with Belgium); island of Nauru (S. Pacific); Ger. 8.W. Africa (held by Union of 8. Africa); Ger. Samoan Islan ds (held by New Zealand); all Ger. po e ions 8. of equator except those mentioned above (held. by Commonwealth of Australia), Many of the Brit. states have responsible government, and a parliamentary system approximating closely to that of the mother country. All legislative Acts of these local parliaments require the royal a ent (given through a governor or gov.-gen. nominated by and acting for the crown.) Every colonial subject enjoys Brit. citizenship, and the right of ultimate appeal to the judicial committee of the Privy Council. Each self-governing St, is an imperium in imperio, and may be regarded as a nation intensely conscious of its nationality, especially since the participation of the Dominions in the World War. (For the movement towards closer union, see IMPERIAL Feprration.) Next in dignity to the self-governing colonies are the crown colonies, with legislative bodies partly elective and partly nominated; these are under the Colonial Office, and are ruled by governors and local officials i Mela by the home government. ependencies, in the specific use of the term, are ‘subordinate to the government of some other po e ion, or are provinces or parts of colonies administered by functionaries appointed by the governments on which they are dependent. Protectorates are.areas more or le subject to Brit. control by treaty or otherwise, but internally independent. The empire also includes ‘spheres of infilvence’ nominally belonging to Britain but either unoccupied or not yet brought under authority. In addition, there are the new territories handed over to Britain as mandatory of the League of Nations, held on specified conditions. The extraordinary growth of the empire between 1837 and the present time may be judged from the fact that in the former year the extent of Brit. territory was under 5,000,000 sq. m., and its population le than 200,000,000, about 30,000,000 being whites. Its area now exceeds 11,000,000 sq. m., more than one-fifth of the land surface of the world, and its pop. 417,000,000—about one fourth of the world’s inhabitants. The absolute a ener gah of the empire and its trade on Brit. sea-power is too obvious to need more than pa ing remark. Canada and Australia have now set themselves the task of building up navies of their own. See RBAT Inp1a; AFRICA, ETC. Important dates in development of British Empire: Cabot lands in Canada, 1497; French colonize Canada, 1535; English E. India Trading Co. formed, | 1599; Newfoundland colonized by British 1634; Jamaica captured, 1655; Brit. power supreme in Canada, 1763; Australia annexed by Captain Cook, 1770; Independence of Amer. colonies recognized, 1783; Cape Colony (S. Africa) founded, 1795; Brit. colonization of New Zealand, 1814; Brit. government take over control of India from EK, India Co., 1858; Dominion of Canada formed, 1867; First (Canadian) proposal for imperial preference in trade, 1879; Colonial Defense. Committee formed, 1885; First Colonial Conference, 1887; Brit. S. Africa Co. formed to colonize Rhodesia, 1889; Brit. power supreme in 8. Africa, 1900; Australian Commonwealth proclaimed, 1901; Union of s. African Colonies, 1909; Imperial Defense Conference, 1909; Overseas Dominions first consulted regarding imperial foreign policy, 1911; Self-governing Dominions’ acknowledged at the Peace Conference to be independent nations | 1919