cial interpretation, and the
whole power of organized society. That structure is the American
Empire--as real to-day as the Roman Empire in the days of Julius Caesar;
the French Empire under the Little Corporal, or the British Empire of
the Great Commoner, William E. Gladstone.

Approved or disapproved; exalted or condemned; the fact of empire must
be evident even to the hasty observer. The student, tracing its
ramifications, realizes that the structure has been building for
generations.

2. _The Characteristics of Empire_

Many minds will refuse to accept the term "empire" as applied to a
republic. Accustomed to link "empire" with "emperor," they conceive of a
supreme hereditary ruler as an essential part of imperial life. A little
reflection will show the inadequacy of such a concept. "The British
Empire" is an official term, used by the British Government, although
Great Britain is a limited monarchy, whose king has less power than the
President of the United States. On the other hand, eastern potentates,
who exercise absolute sway over their tiny dominions do not rule
"empires."

Recent usage has given the term "empire" a very definite meaning, which
refers, not to an "emperor" but to certain relations between the parts
of a political or even of an economic organization. The earlier uses of
the word "empire" were, of course, largely political. Even in that
political sense, however, an "empire" does not necessarily imply the
domain of an "emperor."

According to the definition appearing in the "New English Dictionary"
wherever "supreme and extensive political dominion" is exercised "by a
sovereign state over its dependencies" an empire exists. The empire is
"an aggregation of subject territories ruled over by a sovereign state."
The terms of the definition are political, but it leaves the emperor
entirely out of account and makes an empire primarily a matter of
organization and not of personality.

During the last fifty years colonialism, the search for foreign markets,
and the competition for the control of "undeveloped" countries has
brought the words "empire" and "imperialism" into a new category, where
they relate, not to the ruler--be he King or Emperor--but to the
extension of commercial and economic interests. The "financial
imperialism" of F. C. Howe and the "imperialism" of J. A. Hobson are
primarily economic and only incidentally political.

"Empire" conveys the idea of widespread authority, domi