THE THREE BRITISH EMPIRES.

The article presents an abstract of the research by L. Ottlik which examined the sociological characteristics of the British Empire. The British Empire of today is a complex of three different systems. Taken literally, only the first of these should be called an `empire,' as it consists of colonies dependent on the overwhelming power of Great Britain; the second is the "Imperial Federation" of Great Britain and the British Dominions; and the third is something between the other two and tying together a group of protected communities. The recently published report, of the Committee on Inter-Imperial Relations to the Imperial Conference establishes a Dominion Status on the principle of full and unlimited sovereignty. No doubt this act of repealing constitutional bonds, which have become obsolete, will do much to strengthen the real unity of the British Commonwealth of Nations. Moreover, sovereign independence is not a question of legislation, but an ideal the realization of which requires complete self-suffisance. Turning from the past to the future, the two prominent problems of British policy seem to be China and the European Continent.