Sir Alfred Milner, who has been created a Peer with
the title of Lord Milner of Cape Town, was entertained at luncheon last Saturday by Mr. Chamberlain. A party of seventy were invited, which included the Duke of Cambridge, Lord Salisbury, Mr. Balfour, Lord Roberts, and Sir Henry Fowler, and would have included Lord Rosebery but for his mother's recent death ; and after luncheon Mr. Chamberlain made a short speech in which he dwelt on the honours paid to his guest as proofs "of the unabated confidence of his Sovereign and his fellow-countrymen." He was confident, he said, that the smouldering elements of the war would soon be extinguished, and Lord Milner would be at liberty to establish "the machinery which will reconcile and unite the two races whose co-operation is necessary to its prosperity," and "lay broad and deep the foundations of a united South Africa." The plan, therefore, is a speedy though not an immediate federation like that of Australia, though probably with larger powers reserved to the Governor-General, especially in regard to the Army and the all-important native question.
Previous page
