The Dominions and colonies

When queen Victoria died, her eldest son, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, succeeded to the throne with the title of Edward the Seventh. He was born in Buckingham Palace on the 9-th of November 1841. In his childhood he was educated by the dowager Lady Littelton, and in his boyhood successively by the Reverend Henry Mildred Birch, Mr. F. W. Gibbes and others. Afterwards Edward resided in Edinburgh where he studied chemistry in its industrial application, and then — at Christ Church Colledge, Oxford, and at Trinity Colledge, Cambridge.

Early in 1863 the prince of Wales took his seat in the House of Lords as Duke of Cornwall.

In 1863 he married to the princess Alexandra, daughter of Christian IX, king of Denmark. From the time of their marriage the prince and princess were mainly in the country. They often filled queen Victoria's place at important public functions.

In January 1874 the prince of Wales attended the marriage in St. Petersburg of his brother, the duke of Edinburgh, with the Grand-duchess Maria of Russia. In 1885 he visited Ireland at a time of much political excitement, and was received enthusiastically in many places. Afterwards he took a great part in the famous Jubilee of Victoria in 1887; he rode on the queen's right at the great proces­sion to St. Paul's, and took his duties as an admiral of the fleet.

It was the especial distinction of Albert Edward, while prince of Wales, to have been a support to the throne before he was called upon to fill it. This cannot be said about any of his predecessors except Edward the Black Prince. Besides, he was a keen patron of the theatre, and had a British taste for sport.

On the death of queen Victoria he was almost sixty — the age at which many of the British rulers had had the end of their lives. The question what title the new king would assume was speedily settled: it was decided that he would be called Edward the Seventh. The new reign began by the holding a privy council at St. James's Palace at which the king announced his intentions to follow his mother's footsteps and to govern as a constitutional sovereign. On the 14-th of February the king and queen opened the parliament of state. Meanwhile, the South African War was still raging. Terms of peace were discussed in February 1901, but were rejected by the Boer leaders, who required their complete independence.

The Boers won victories in the Transvaal and in the Orange River Colony, and inflicted several losses on the British troops. But on the whole, in spite of their galant and determined resistance, the war went steadily against the Boers. Lines of small forts called "blockhouses" connected by hedges of barbed wire, protected the railways, united the towns in British occupation, and prevented the enemy from ranging freely about the country. Long marches by mounted troops, sweeping through large districts, drove the Boer forces into corners, and led to the capture of many prisoners.

The Boer women and children, who, both on account of the risk of starvation, and because they provided food and information for the Boers, could not be left in the open "veldt", were collected in "concentration camps", along with many men who had surrend­ed. At first the sanitary conditions of these camps were defective, and outbreaks of disease occurred, which caused a lamentable mo­rality among the children. The mistakes were mended with all pos sible speed; but these unfortunate occurrences, together with the distruction of farms and crops — often rendered necessary by the nature of guerilla warfare — called firth both protests from those at home who were opposed to the war.

The great bulk of the nation, however, remained firm in their resolution to carry on the struggle which had been forced upon them; and in the spring of 1902 the prospect of peace began to brighten. The resistance of the Boers was gradually worn down; their provisions and military supplies were exhausted, and their forces reduced. Negotiations for peace began early in April. On the 15-th of May the delegates from the two Bloer states met. and after some hesitation agreed to accept the British terms.

The chief of that terms were that all burghers should surrender and acknowledge Edward the Seventh as their sovereign; that pris­oners should at once be restored, and should lose neither liberty nor property; that a representative form of government should be estab­lished as soon as possible; and that Dutch as well as English should be recognised as the official language. On that basis peace was signed on the 31-st of May. Early in the following year Mr. Chamberlain visited South Africa, in order to investigate many problems awaiting solution, and to assure the Dutch of Great Brit­ain's desire to deal justly and generously with them.

The long war, which had cost the Empire nearly 45,000 men, and almost 200,000,000 of pounds thus came to an end. The prisoners, over 31,000 in number, returned; and the work of resettlement on the deserted and often desolated farms was actively going on. Prosperity gradually revived, but the process of recovery from the effects of the war was slower than everybody could expect. In order to increase the supply of labour in the gold-mines —the great source of wealth in the Transvaal — it was resolved to have a large number of Chinese la­bourers under very difficult conditions. During the last year of Lord Milner's administration this scheme was carried out, but met with opposition of Liberal party at home, who declared it to be a slavery.

When, at the close of 1905, a Liberal Government came into power in England, it very soon put an end to this system. At the same time ministers pledged themselves to introduce "responsible" government in the Transvaal and the Orange" River Colony — that is, a self-government on the Canadian or Australian model. Early in 1907 self-government was established in both colonies. So this experiment has turned out a success. Since the war both parties had learned to respect each other; and generous treatment concerning the conquered produced a fruitful effect.

As a result of the first elections held under the new constitution, Boer governments took office in both colonies; while, about the same time, in Cape Colony, the leaders of the Dutch party, "Bond", came into power. Meanwhile, the difficulties of the railway question, the requirements of common defence, and the need of united action in regard to the natives, had led all parties in South Africa to desire some form of federal union. A convention of delegates from the different provinces met at Durban in October 1908; and continued the deliberation of Cape Town and elsewhere during the winter. In February 1909 the scheme of federation was published.

The Dutch and the English language were then placed on an equal footing. The seat of the government was to be in Pretoria, but the Parliament was to meet at Cape Town.

Among the other "Overseas Dominions", Canada takes the first place, both as the oldest and during that period, the most progressive. In 1903 the question of the boundary between Canada and the territo­ry of Alaska was decided in favour of the United States.

A rapid development has taken place in the north-western terri­tories. New lines of railway were rapidly pushed across the South America continent; enormous areas of land were opened up to settlers for cultivation; immigration was wisely encouraged; and large numbers of immigrants, nearly a third of whom came from the United States, have entered the country.

Newfoundland remained outside the Dominion, and had made comparatively little progress.

In Australia the chief political change was due to the steady advance of the Labour party, which has shown strong socialistic tendencies. The general prosperity of the Commonwealth in Aus­tralia, which, as is natural in a mainly pastoral and agricultural country, is largely depended on the quantity of rain; with the end of the long drought in 1905, it began to revive.

The Australian governments showed a great interest in the question of national defence. During the South African war both Australia and New Zeland sent valuable aid.

The great Empire of India witnessed during this period some very important changes. Steps were taken in the direction of self-government; but these were unfortunately accompanied by a growth of political discontent, by plots and outrages.

As Viceroy (1899-1905), Lord Curzon displayed great energy and activity in administrative reform, in coping with plague and famine, and in the regulation of the frontier. The system of universi­ty education, the irrigation of unproductive lands, and the railways, were all examined by authoritative commissions (1902-1903). The standard of university teaching was raised; and co-operative banks were established to help the poorer classes of cultivation.

In 1905 the great province of Bengal, containing a population of about 80,000,000, was divided to have a better administration, but the "partition of Bengal" gave offence to the Hindu inhabitants, and a violent agitation broke out. Riots and outrages took place.

The relations between India and Afghanistan continued amica­ble, in spite of inrest on the north-western frontier, which required two small expeditions in 1908.

On the north-eastern frontier, however, there was more trouble; for Russian intrigues in Tibet forced the Indian Government in 1903-1904, to send an expedition into that almost unknown region. The British force, after overcoming some resistance from the natives and more serious obstacles in the nature of the country, advanced to the capital, Lhasa, where peace was made in September 1904. The Tibetians understood that it was better not to enter into any rela­tions with foreign powers, to have certain facilities for commerce and trade. After that the British troops returned.

In 1905, because of the difficulties with the Commander-in-Chief, Lord Kitchener, Lord Curzon resigned, and Lord Minto took his place. As the unrest in India increased, Mr. Morley took strong measures to suppress disorder, but at the same time announced that he intended to grant to natives a large share in the government. He began by nominating two natives as members of the India Council in London. Two years later, in 1909, the London Council Act was passed, among other reforms, the legislative councils in the Indian provinces were enlarged, and some care was taken that the Mohammedian population should not be swamped in the elections by the more numerous Hindus.

Among the other colonies and dependancies of the Empire, the progress made by Egypt and the Sudan under British administration has been most remarkable. The finances of Egypt, which thirty years ago were in utter confusion, have been placed upon a firm footing. By means of great dams created across the Nile, the irrigation of the valley, on which its fertility entirely depends, was extended and regulated, and large areas were added to cultivation. The condition of the peasant was improved, and education promoted.

In the Sudan the ravages committed by the Madhi and his successor the Khalifa were repaired; and a Colledge for native students was established in Khartum. But the very successes of the British, and the increase of wealth and prosperity, have produced some disagreeable results. Of late years there have appeared in Egypt serious symptoms of political discontent; and outrages and plots have taken place, resembling those that have been occurred in India, and arising from more or less similar cases.

The only territorial expansion which the Empire received dur­ing this period was in West Africa, to the north of Nigeria, where, in 1903, the persistent hostility of the Emir (native ruler) made necessary an expedition against him, which ended in the occupa­tion of the great Arab towns, and of a large tract of the surrounding territory. On the other hand, in Eastern Africa an unsuccessful war took place against the natives of Somaliland, led by a "Mullah" (fanatical priest); and the British forces had now practically with­drawn from the inland parts of that wild and barren country.

Of other events connected with the Empire beyond seas, the most important were those conferences of colonial premiers with the Home Government which were held in 1902 and 1907. These condenences, the third and fourth in the series, undoubtedly con­tributed to strengthen the sense of common interest and of national unity in the Empire at large.

The English poet of this period (by the way, he spent his child­hood in colonial India) Rudyard Kipling wrote many poems about British soldiers and their wars in Africa, in India and in Afghani­stan. We shall finish this chapter about the colonial expantion of the British Empire with several stanzas from his verses.

From "Boots"

We're foot — slog — slog — slog — sloggin' over Africa —

Foot — foot — foot — foot — sloggin' over Africa —

(Boots — boots — boots — boots — movin' up and down again!)

There's no discharge in the war!

…………

Don't — don't — don't — don't — look at what's in front of you.

(Boots — boots — boots — boots — movin' up and down again!)

Men — men — men — men go mad with watchin' 'em,

An' there's no discharge in the war!

………….

I — 'ave — marched — six — weeks in 'Ell an' certify

It — is not — fire — devils, dark, or anything,

But boots — boots — boots — boots — movin' up an' down again,

An' there's no discharge in the war!

From "Private Ortheris's song"

I fired a shot at a Afghan,

The begar 'e fired again,

An' I lay on my bed with a 'ole in my 'ed,

An' missed the next campaign!

I up with my gun at a Burman

Who carried a bloomin' 'dah',

But the cartridge stuck and the bay'nit bruk,

An' all I got was the scar.

(Chorus) Ho! don't you aim at a Afghan,

When you stand on the skyline clear;

An' don't you go for a Burman

If none o' your friends is near.

So these were the feelings and thoughts of a common soldier. And the last stanza we read here is from "The Ballad of East and West" (1889).

Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat; But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth, When to strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth!

NAMES AND EXPRESSIONS

Gibbes [gibz]

Edward, while prince of Wales — Эдвард, в то время как он

был принцем Уэльским...

protests from those at home who were opposed to the war —

протесты тех англичан, которые были настроены против войны

Dutch as well as English should be recognized as the official language — голландский должен быть признан официаль­ным языком наряду с английским

many problems awaiting solution — многие проблемы, ожи­дающие разрешения

this experiment turned out a success — этот эксперимент

оказался успешным

Durban [' d3:bən]

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