This conclusion agrees substantially with one furnished to the author from an independent source, using other data.
In its entirety, the contribution of some 12,000 troops--more or less[5]--from the greater remote {p.084} dependencies does not indeed loom very large alongside the truly gigantic figure of 166,277 officers and men, who, between the 20th of October and the 31st of March, were despatched for South Africa from the ports of the United Kingdom; in which number are not included those drawn from India and from England prior to the earlier date, and who constituted the bulk of the force shut up in Ladysmith under Sir George White.

But the practical importance of a common sentiment--of a great moral fact--is not to be measured by figures only.

The idea of Imperial Federation justifies itself to the intelligence as well as to the imagination, resting upon the solid foundation of common interests as well as of common traditions.
[Footnote 5: More have sailed since the above information, but exact figures are wanting to the author.] In the adjustment of relative importance in men's intellects--which must precede any useful adjustment of mutual relations, benefits and responsibilities, by former political agreement--the colonies on the one hand will have to recognize the immensely greater burden, as indicated by the above figures and by the size of the fleet, borne by the United Kingdom.

The latter on its part must acknowledge, as {p.085} in practice she has done, not merely the right of the colonies to their local administration and self-government, but also the indispensable contribution to the mutual interests of all parts in the Federation, that results from local naval bases of operations in many decisive parts of the world, resting everywhere upon the one sure foundation for such bases--an enthusiastically loyal, self-dependent, and military population.

Military power, in analysis, consists principally of two factors--force and position--and if the greater wealth and population of the home country causes it to exceed in the former, the dispersion and character of the dependencies contribute decisively to the latter.
The transportation of the above immense body of soldiers, with all the equipment and supplies of war needed for a protracted campaign a distance of 6,000 miles[6] by sea, is an incident unprecedented, and in its success unsurpassed, in military history.