625. End of the Boer War (1902); Completion of Imperial Federation,
1910.
Not long after Edward VII came to the throne the Boers (S623) laid
down their arms (1902) and recognized the King as their true and
lawful Sovereign. The announcement set the "joy bells" ringing all
over Great Britain.
Under Edward VII the Crown became the center of a greart movement for
more complete Imperial Unity. We have seen that the process of
forming a federation of Great Britain and her widely scattered
colonies had made good progress under Victoria (SS618, 619). She had
seen the creation of the Dominion of Canada (1867), the Dominion of
New Zealand (1875), and the consolidation of the six Australian
colonies into the Commonwealth of Australia (1901). Nine years later
(1910) the four states which had been the scene of the Boer War (S623)
were consolidated in like manner and received the name of the Union of
South Africa.[1] Boer and Briton seem now to have made up their minds
to live together as one family, and, as farmers and stock raisers,
they will work out their destiny on the land. Speaking of the
political significance of this event, a prominent official in South
Africa said, "Without the influence of King Edward I, I do not think
the union could have been effected."
[1] The Union of South Africa is formed of the states of the Cape of
Good Hope, the Transvaal, and the Orange Free State. Lord Gladstone,
son of the late W.E. Gladstone, was appointed Governor of the new
Commonwealth, and General Botha, who had commanded in the Boer army,
was made Prime Minister.
The establishment of the Union of South Africa completed the framework
of the Imperial Federation (SS618, 619). Admiral Mahan, of the
American navy, classes the expansion of the British Empire with that
of the expansion of the United States, and declares that it ranks as
one of the foremost facts of "contemporaneous history." The
Commonwealth of Australia and the Union of South Africa (with the
Dominion of New Zealand) mark the southern limit of the Imperial
Federation. The Dominion of Canada marks its northeren limit. (See
map facing p. 422.)
All these British possessions enjoy a degree of self-government which
falls but little short of entire independence. In fact, commercially
they are independent, for, as we have seen (S616), while England
maintains free trade, her colonies still keep up a strict protective
tariff and impose duties even on British imports. Notwithstanding
this difference, all the colonies are loyal subjects of the English
Crown, and all stand ready to defend the English flag.