Identity of central government is compatible with many different
degrees of centralisation, not only administrative, but even
legislative. A people may have the desire, and the capacity, for a
closer union than one merely federal, while yet their local
peculiarities and antecedents render considerable diversities
desirable in the details of their government. But if there is a real
desire on all hands to make the experiment successful, there needs
seldom be any difficulty in not only preserving these diversities, but
giving them the guarantee of a constitutional provision against any
attempt at assimilation, except by the voluntary act of those who
would be affected by the change.
Chapter 18
Of the Government of Dependencies by a Free State.
FREE STATES, like all others, may possess dependencies, acquired
either by conquest or by colonisation; and our own is the greatest
instance of the kind in modern history. It is a most important
question how such dependencies ought to be governed.
It is unnecessary to discuss the case of small posts, like
Gibraltar, Aden, or Heligoland, which are held only as naval or
military positions. The military or naval object is in this case
paramount, and the inhabitants cannot, consistently with it, be
admitted to the government of the place; though they ought to be
allowed all liberties and privileges compatible with that restriction,
including the free management of municipal affairs; and as a
compensation for being locally sacrificed to the convenience of the
governing State, should be admitted to equal rights with its native
subjects in all other parts of the empire.
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