COMMONWEALTH	369
Though the coloured peoples of the British Empire are often in
a state of subjection, it is the avowed policy of Britain that they
should be given opportunities of education and progress, and
that colour in itself shall be no barrier to advancement, even to
the highest offices in the State. Whatever present practice may be,
there is no place in Britain's theory of Empire for the view that
coloured races should be kept in permanent subjection. South
Africa, taking the contrary view, forms thus a distinct Empire
within the Commonwealth. This may one day create a grave
problem; for should the South African Government be involved
in serious difficulties with its native population, it is hard to
predict what public opinion in Great Britain would be.-The very
primitive and often unclean habits of many Africans in the Union
make the problem, no doubt, exceptionally difficult, but whether
this justifies a doctrine of permanent inequality is another
question. The possibility of adding Rhodesia and neighbouring
parts of the British Empire to the Union is envisaged by the 1909
Act, but the difference of opinion on native jpolicy has so far
checked the British Government fiom carrying out the transfer.
By the Peace Treaties of 1919, the former German colony
of South West Africa has become a Class C Mandate of the Union.
The abundant resources and trade of the Union, and its importance
as a producer of gold, cause it to maintain relations of its own
with foreign powers. The recent growth of Italian power in
Africa, and the German demand for the return of lost colonies,
oblige the Government of the Union to follow dosely the course
of European politics.
EIRE.
The conquest of Ireland began in the twelfth century and was
not completed until the sixteenth. Although many settlements of
English and Scottish people were made there, the native Irish
have always formed the great majority of the population, and
were treated by the English Government as an alien and subject
people. The Catholic faith was persecuted, and Irish agriculture