The Seretse Problem
Sus,—The article on this subject in your issue of April 4th fails to do justice to the British authorities in the Reserve. Confronted with all the d;fficulties arising from the long regency and the mixed marriage, the British administrators have retained the allegiance of the tribe and have restrained it from disorder and bloodshed. It is a disservice to weaken the authority of those who have done such work by making vague imputations of supposed errors in their handling of -a complex and changing situation.
By a chance relevancy, the same issue of the Spectator contains a letter from Mr. Norman Mackinnon in which he describes the service of thanksgiving held in the Market Square in Pretoria fifty years ago, on the conclusion of the Boer War. I also was present on that memorable day. The order and the tenor of the service were, attributed to Lord Kitchener. The Square was lined by British troops, side by side with a war-worn Boer Commando straight from the veldt. The " Recessional " was sung, and also hymns by a group of school-children dressed in white. It was an intercession for peace. Such a spirit should animate those who feel called upon to comment on the
Bechuanaland disputes.—Yours faithfully, R. G. ABERCROMBIE. Rutland Hotel, Glossop Road, Sheffield.
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