All Red Line
"The All Red Line around the World" (1901) |
The conditions of the Empire are totally different to what they were some years back. When Her Majesty ascended the throne there was not a single mile of electric telegraph anywhere. There was not an iron ship of any class afloat, and mail steamships were practically unknown. From that period the conditions have been continually changing, and the process of growth and development still goes on. True, change has met with resistance from individuals and companies and classes, but resist it who may, the law of development follows its steady course, and continually makes demands on science and skill to meet the ever changing conditions. We are living in an age of transformation ; the spirit of discovery and enterprise, of invention and achievement, has extended and expanded the British Empire from the small islands on the coast of Europe to new territories, continental in extent, in both hemispheres. The development of the mercantile marine has carried the flag of our country over every mile of sea to meridians far distant from the Motherland. In these distant territories, communities have established themselves under the protection of that flag. They have drawn riches from the forest, the soil and the mine. They have caused noble cities to spring up, rivalling in the splendour of their streets and buildings the finest cities of the old world. These young nations, full of hope and vigour, have made progress in every direction; they are imbued with lofty aspirations, and their most ardent desire is to give their energy and strength to the building up of a greater British Empire, on the firm foundation of common interest and common sentiment.
At an earlier period of the world's history, it would have been difficult to conceive the possibility of any lasting political union between countries so widely separated by intervening seas. The problem is, however, being solved, not by old methods, but by the application of wise principles of government, aided in a wonderful way by the highest resources of modern science. Steam has made the separating oceans no longer barriers, but the general medium of union. Electricity has furnished the means by which the British people in all parts of the globe may exchange thought as freely as those within speaking distance. These twin agencies of civilization are pregnant with stupendous possibilities.
-- Sandford Fleming, Letter to The Right Honourable Joseph Chamberlain, Secretary of State for the Colonies; Ottawa, October 28th, 1898.