LETTERS TO < THE EDITOR.
LORD DURHAM AND CANADIAN " RECONSTRUCTION.
[To THE EDITOR OP as "SPECTAfi0/4.1 .
a recent speech 3S;Ir. Aiainith referred, in passing, to Lord Durham's Report on the state of Canada as a document" whiChwai not Viithont its interest in the present crisis. ' Any one who reads that famous RepOrtwritten as has always been; understood by Charles Buller though signed by Lord_ Durha3ii -must bestinek by the permanent value of many of its conelde„ skins. It is, of course, primarily a survey of Canada in 'the year 1839, a statement of grievances and a suggestion of remedies. But it is also a manual of the art of politics; con- taining much that can never be out of date, and laying down principles-which extend far beyond the circumstances 'of its origin. Perhaps no man ever accomplished more than did Lord Durham in his short and unhappy term of power. ; The old question of his treatment.by the Home Government _ little impOrtance fol. us now, but the nature of his duties - and the measure of his success have a very real interest' for men who have. to face a kindred problem in South r Africa: Let me state briefly the points of likeness and 7.333;e: likeness. between the two cases. The. Canadian Rebellion: arose from two causes,—a legacy of race feeling, and certain' gross abuses under which the Fieneli-Canadian groaned. There was one crying constitutional grievance,—the fact that. the Executive was irresponsible, Out of all relation with the popular Legislature, and superimposed by the Home 'Govern- ment upon an unwilling people.. The rebellion was short- lived, being chiefly the work of, a class of turbulent theorists, for the 'Roman Catholic Church and the more respectable clisses among the French-Caniffians, however loudly: they. might declare their grievances, stopped short of actual die loyalty. Again, the rebels were rebellious subjects; not quasi- . independent States aided by sympathisers of the same race in British territory. In our problem there is no constitutional. grievance. 'The war has been fierce and sanguinary, and our opponents have been the total pOpulation of two States, who sought not relief but absolute independence, or, as the case may be, Dutch superiority in South Africa. Yet in Many essential re- . spects Lord Durham's problem was the same as ours. He had.to find ways and means to unite two. peoples of different race and religion, handicapped with mutual distruspand. a tradition of oppression, in a self-governing State. He had to break down racial barriers, and provide a new basis of party diVision. All this he had to do by degrees, but in the .meantime there, was the temporary military occupation before him; and the 414E.: cult question of the proper penal measures to be taken. In' the transition period which must follow the.. present war; when the Republics will be to a certain extent under military administration, the Governor who may be appointed .both to supervise the temporary government and.prepare the way for a return to representative institutions will have much the same task as Lord Durhain. Lord Durham had a twofold appointment. He was Governor-General of the five _British Colonies in North America, and he was also Lord High Commiesioner to inquire into and adjust all questions about civil governteent in Upper and Lower Canada. His powers were understOod to be unlimited,. and among them he had the right of bestowing pardons' as he. pleased. That is to say, he had to settle the consequences of ' the rebellion and distribute penalties, and he had to inquire into the situation and suggest remedies for the future: In the first duty he failed, and the failure was the cause of his recall: His_powers, which he had supposed limitless, were interpreted by his opponents at home as "strictly circumscribed. There' is no reason to believe that his treatment of the prisoners, hi. formal. as it might be, was not the wisest in thepircumitanees ;. but tbe insufficient definition of his supposed absolute power_ gave a. chance for hostile criticism, any reconstruction . it seems to me that the proper man must first be found,. and when found, must be given a free hand. For much of his work must be based upon local knowledge, which is often hard to explain to the world ; he must be prepared to act boldly and fearlessly ; he must be a judge of the nuances of character and popular feeling, which is the final test of the great adminis- trator. If such a man is hampered by nervousness about his powers, the peculiar value of the personal element in the recon- struction will be gone. Such was Lord Durham's case, and in the work before us the warning should not be forgotten. The suitable man, with full porers, is bound by no stereotyped orders ; he can exercise the diplomacy which the case may require, and he is the best judge of the proper penal measures to be adopted. If Sir Alfred Milner is to be the Lord Durham of South Africa, let us take care that the lesson from Lord Durham's failure be not forgotten. The evils which the Report attempted to grapple with were, firstly, the irrespon- sible Executive, and, secondly, the legacy of race bitterness which the rebellion had left. The first has no application in our case. The Dutch malcontents in the Cape cannot complain of such a constitutional grievance, for the Cape obtained an elective Legislature by letters patent in 1850, and responsible government by an Act of this Legislature, approved by the Crown in Council, in 1872. It will be the aim. of South African politicians to bring the conquered Republics' in time into: line with the admirable system of representative government which the Cape and Natal enjoy. But the second difficulty is our own to-day. We have to absorb into our Colonial system a hostile people, we have to attempt to supplant race feeling by a common patriotism. Lord Durham's solution was a legislative union of the Canadas. "In existing circumstances," to quote the Report, "the conclusion to which I am led is that no time should be lost in restoring the union of the Canadas under one Legisla- ture, and reconstituting them as one province." And the reasons on which he based his view deserve close considera- tion. The great thing was to secure a new division of parties. Hitherto they had been divided in race and lan- guage; but with the union would come new lines of general and local policy. The various States would feel themselves to be parts in a greater whole ; a general Canadian interest would take the place of Lower and Upper, French and English. I do not propose to enlarge upon the history of the union of Canada. Lord Durham's suggestions were carried into effect, and Lord Elgin finally established the policy which his father- in-law had begun. " The real and effectual vindication of Lord Durham's memory and proceedings," he wrote, " will be the success of a Governor-General of Canada who works out his views of government fairly ; " and the. close of the Elgin Administration saw this success. And the most recent events have given a new realisation to the hope, when in Sir Wilfrid Laurier we have one of our foremost Imperial statesmen, and when in South Africa French-Canadians who can speak little English are fighting under the flag. Will , not the same policy. ula good in the South African question? To be sure, it is early in the day to talk of it, for there is much to be done in the way of reconstruction before we can talk of union. But a united South Africa would deprive the old race distinctions of their force, since it would render meaningless for separatist purposes the political and geographical dis- tinctions which keep their memory alive. The trend of political thought at the present moment is in the direction of union and federation. Australia has shown a path which others will follow, and " Providence is on the side of the bigger social battalions." So we may yet hope to see the race factor in South Africa fall as thoroughly out of politics as it has done in Canada. Another of Lord Durham's suggestions seems to contain a _lesson. He advocated the extension of municipal institutions, and the establishment of an active system of local government.. It is of course a commonplace of politics, but in South Africa there is a value in municipal government which we are apt to overlook. It is essentially a country of townships, which have all the. local pride and jealousy of great cities. But in the Republics the rebel strength lies in the country districts. It is not the town Boer but the country Boer who has been our most dangerous enemy. The exclusiveness, selfishness; and intense individualism -to which we owe the war, flourish badly under free municipal institutions. I am inclined to believe that it would be the highest wisdom to foster carefully the townships of the two Republics, to make provisions for municipal activity, to extend the area of local government, and, however fora time we may curtail other privileges, to encourage this form of self-govern- ment in miniature. I do not suggest that this local activity should not be strictly supervised by the central. Government, for in newly formed townahipa experiments are o:ten made which are not desirable, and there is an unfortunate scope always for the blackguard. But the township is the loyal unit, as the farm is the disloyal one, and we must jealously
foster the elements of loyalty.—I am, Sir, &e., X. .
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