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240 ECONOMIC INQUIRIES AND STUDIES
so urgent and absorbing may become the administra-
tion of what is really another India. All this will also
make an additional claim on the energies of an over-
worked Parliament. Some considerable change must
accordingly take place in order to relieve the central
Government, the business of administration being re-
duced to a system, and the review of Parliament being
applied in a more systematic way. With this is con-
nected the more general problem of the federation of
the Empire, by which the self-governing Colonies
would share the responsibilities of Empire with the
Mother Country-a problem, however, which is now
so familiar that it need only be mentioned in passing
as clearly suggested by the review we have had before
us. The announcement just made of the success
achieved in promoting the Federation of the Australian
Colonies is of good omen for the larger Confederation
of the Empire to which we must look forward.

The practical issue to which these considerations
lead is the necessity for all agreeing to make the most
of the Empire in the way of development and organ-
ization. I speak as one having so great a sense of the
difficulties and dangers ora great Empire that if there
had been free. choice in the matter at any time I should
have deprecated the conquest of India and other con-
quests which have made the Empire what it is. But
the choice has not been quite free, and especially it is
not open to us -to give up any part of the Empire at
will without making so great an alteration of our posi-
tion in the world that our freedom and independence
at horne would be endangered. As the worst thing
possible is to halt between two opinions, we must
accordingly, even if we dislike Empire, make the best
of our position. We are in for this great Empire, and
there is an end of the matter. On all sides then, on
little Englanders as well as great Englanders, the main
idea of policy should now be to knit the different parts
of the Empire together so that they should support