In the British colonies and dependencies
Parliament has delegated almost the whole of its
legislative and administrative authority to local
officers and legislatures; reserving merely the
right to legislate directly in case of necessity, and
the general supervision and control of the administration
 by a minister of the Crown. Such legislatures
 exist in the South African and Australian
colonies, in New Zealand, Canada, and India. In
all the colonies the system of government is
modelled upon that of England, and the legislative
assembly is wholly or partially elective and representative.
 In India the existing political conditions
 necessitated a somewhat different form of
legislature, composed of members selected by the
chief executive authority. The government is thus
autocratic in this great Empire of India; at the
same time it is so influenced and controlled by the
spirit of the English nation and of Parliamentary
government, that the people of India have obtained
as much freedom as was secured to the people
of England only after a struggle lasting many
Centuries, and they are governed on the most
enlightened principles. There is, moreover, a
strong tendency to encourage and foster native
public opinion ; to give the natives as large a share
in the administration as is possible; to allow local
(native) authorities to manage local affairs; and
to let the people choose their own local representatives.