Page:The Life and Times of Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt.djvu/374

LIFE AND TIMES OF SIR A. T. GALT for the colonies; those interests in the colonies which reaped benefit from the lavish expenditure of the Mother Country during wars and war scares preferred "Colonial Office despotism, with huge imperial expenditure, to the freest institutions with imperial economy." It was indefensible from a strategic point of view; the little detachments scattered in half a hundred stations would be only tempting prizes for an enemy victorious at the heart of the empire. The money thus wasted might have built up a mighty empire had it been devoted to systematic colonization. He urged the strict enforcement of the maxim, "no imperial expenditure for local purposes." Wars with civilized states were of necessity imperial wars, and the men and money should be provided by the imperial government, though, Molesworth added, in certain cases it would not be unreasonable to expect that the colonies would assist with both money and men, and if given self-government, would even come to the aid of the Mother Country in any just and necessary war.

The policy thus strongly advocated was more slowly adopted. A beginning was made in Australia, where there were neither savage tribes nor foreign invaders to be feared, and the policy was extended gradually to New Zealand and Cape Colony, faced by formidable native foes, and to British North America, most exposed to foreign attack. By 1854, out of a total regular army of 140,000, some 20,000 still remained in the self-governing colonies and as many in military stations abroad. One-third of the regulars stationed in Canada had been withdrawn in the seven or eight years preceding.

With this gradual withdrawal of British troops, the colonies found it necessary to increase their own military forces. Before summarizing the Canadian developments, it is essential to review briefly the course of military affairs in Great Britain itself, since this course exercised an influence over Canadian policy as important as it is 336