* * * * Later at the Board of Inland
Revenue Milner helped to work out Harcourt's Death Duties. In 1897 he went to South Africa to adjust, if possible, the bad relations of Dutch and British, and no period of his career earned more criticism. It is just to say, however, that the principles of all his administrative work have stood the test of time. In the Great War he did an enormous amount of official work. He was generally uncomfortable, however, when holding political offices, as he was incapable of taking a strictly party view. He was as ready to borrow an idea from State Socialism as from Imperialism. At the end of his life he surprised his Conservative friends by his complaisance towards Egypt. He had none of the arts of popularity, but he was deeply loved by those who knew him best. He was loynl and affectionate and generous, and his character was without stain.
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