Financially, the British people
have certainly not been gainers by the acquisition of that colony.
Of course I shall be told that it adds to the prestige of Great Britain,
but this is an empty, bumptious boast dearly paid for
by the British tax-payer.
From an economic and moral point of view, however, I must admit
that a great deal of good has been done by the British Government in Hongkong.
It has provided the Chinese with an actual working model
of a Western system of government which, notwithstanding many difficulties,
has succeeded in transforming a barren island into a prosperous town,
which is now the largest shipping port in China. The impartial
administration of law and the humane treatment of criminals
cannot but excite admiration and gain the confidence of the natives.
If the British Government, in acquiring the desert island, had for its purpose
the instruction of the natives in a modern system of government,
she is to be sincerely congratulated, but it is feared that her motives
were less altruistic.
These remarks apply equally, if not with greater force, to the other colonies
or possessions in China under the control of European Powers,
as well as to the other colonies of the British Empire, such as Australia,
New Zealand, Canada, and others which are called "self-governing dominions".
The Imperial Government feels very tender toward these colonists,
and practically they are allowed to manage their affairs as they like.
Since they are so generously treated and enjoy the protection
of so great a power, there is no fear that these self-governing dominions
will ever become independent of their mother country; but if they ever
should do so, it is most improbable that she would declare war against them,
as the British people have grown wiser since their experience with
the American colonists.
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