31 JULY 1909, Page 2

We congratulate Mr. Balfour on taking so strong a line,

and on thus placing on record his view of the matter. Though we hold that the Colonial Office has acted through- out with culpable weakness, we are glad to say that Colonel Seely in his reply fully admitted the true principles by which such matters should be judged. His speeches also place on record that no man must be allowed to use the machinery of Empire for the furtherance of his private lusts. We are glad to note that Colonel Seely endorsed a point which we made at the very beginning of this controversy,—namely, that no real improvement can be expected as long as the Colonial Office 'continues to pay the existing miserable salaries to its East African administrators. Unless we can afford to pay salaries sufficient to attract a good class of men, and to enable such men when we have got them to marry and make homes in the districts which they administer, we had better abandon our East African dominions. It is useless to spend money in building railways, granting shipping subsidies, and in other forms of material development if we are to do the work of government through men who are unfit to carry on the duties and responsibilities with which they are entrusted.