SANE IMPERIALISM—LORD CROMER'S REPORT.
NO one whose business it is to study the varying phases of public opinion can have failed to notice that at the present moment a certain pessimism prevails among thoughtful men in regard to the future of the Empire. People are inclined to talk as if there were no alternative to that egotistical Imperialism which strives for monopoly abroad and Protection at home save a Little Englandism which is fearful of all responsibility, which suspects the right of the Anglo-Saxon race to develop and to rule the "lesser breeds," and which looks with anxiety and dread upon that vast heritage of Empire to which we have succeeded. To men of sane and liberal ideals both alternatives are odious. They do not want a grasping, arbitrary, material, " tied-house " Empire on the one hand, and on the other they cannot endure the thought of abandoning our heritage of rule, and of shrinking from the responsibilities and duties which go with the "white man's burden." "Is there no third way ? Must the choice lie between these two alternatives ? "—such are the questions which they ask. In our opinion, there is another alternative. The true solution of the Imperial problem is, we hold, to be found in that sane Imperialism of which Lord Cromer is the latest, and one of the greatest exponents. That sane, liberal, and dutiful Imperialism has made Egypt and the Soudan what they are, just as in the past it gave us the India of Dalhousie and the Lawrences—the India we possess to-day—and laid the foundations of those .daughter-States on whose freedom and loyal inde- pendence the safety and. welfare of the Empire depend. The shrill, irresponsible, and reckless Imperialism which asserts that it is force or self-interest, the sword or a Protective tariff, which alone can maintain the Empire is only a, passing phase. The Empire owed nothing to it in the past, and can gain nothing from it in the future. It is by the application of a wise and free Imperialism that Empires such as ours are built up, and can ale-ae be developed and maintained. Such sant, Imperialism tolerates no cant in regard to the abstract right of persons who are obviously incapable of governing them- selves to attempt the task, and makes no pretence that the Hindoo is capable of rule because he can pass an examination in English literature. It knows also that freedom and complete self-government are the only conditions on which the white Anglo-Saxon com- munities oversea will remain within the Empire, and. that in their case the race-feeling and sentiment which it is now the fashion to deride as worthless bonds are links of adamant to unite the Empire if only we keep them uncorroded from the rust of a sordid materialism and selfish interests. In truth, the antiseptics of Empire are two :—In the case of the anbject and coloured populations, strength and justice and the determination to govern not in the interests of the governors but of the governed. In the case of those white communities which are in reality Britains oversea, absolute freedom and the resolve to rest the Empire on sentiment and loyalty, and not on mere material bonds.
But it may be asked,—How are we to learn and to preserve the spirit of this sane Imperialism ? The answer is,—By studying the work and carrying out the 'principles of the great exponents of such Imperialism. As a conerete example, we would point to Lord Cromer's Annual Report on Egypt and the Soudan EV:fished. this week. It is true that Lord Cromer only been called upon to deal in practice with one portion of the Imperial problem,—that which concerns the subject races. None the less, those who have eyes to see cannot fail to note that he has the root of the whole matter in him, and that if he had been asked, either at the Colonial Office or in the Anglo-Saxon communities oversea, to help to build up the self-governing portions of the Empire, his influence would have been equally potent and equally sound. It is impossible to read what he writes on subjects connected with the Empire without realising that he understands the principles of freedom as well as those of justice on which the Empire rests. Mr. Chamberlain, in one of- those moments of recklessness which have marked the last phase of his Imperialism, has proclaimed the monstrous doctrine, "No Preference, no Empire." That is, of course, the very reverse of the truth ; but it would be no exaggeration to declare "No Cromers, no Empire." It is to the men who, like Lord Cromer, have determined, while shirking no responsibility of government, to let their rule and work be inspired by liberal ideals that we owe the Imperial fabric. We wish we had space to draw attention in detail to the great number of wise and informing things said. by Lord Cromer in his new Annual Report. What makes that Report of special interest this year is the fact that it marks an epoch. The Anglo-French Agreement has legalised our position in Egypt, and has given us a free hand. We have now the right to build as we will. That we can now build for the prosperity of Egypt, and. the honour of Britain and the Empire, is due to the circumstance that Lord. Cromer and the band of men who have worked so loyally under him have laid the founda- tions of government well and truly. But though we cannot follow Lord Cromer in detail through his account of his stewardship in Egypt, or in his various suggestions for new developments, we may notice one or two of the principles of government which are laid. down in the Report. Lord Cromer, like the wise and practical states- man he is, does not attempt to formulate principles of government in the abstract. It is in the course of his handling of concrete facts that these principles emerge. Perhaps the most striking example of what we mean is to be found in the following passage :— " In deciding what general policy is to be adopted in countries such as Egypt and the Soudan, low taxation should be the keystone of the political arch. It brings general tranquillity in its train. It is an essential preliminary to steady and con- tinuous moral and material improvement. It allows, either at once or eventually, of the adoption, without serious danger to the St.ate, of a policy in other matters which is in general conformity with the liberal views and traditions of the British Government and of the British nation. Expenditure on objects, however desirable in themselves, should, I venture to think, be rejected, or at all events postponed, rather than that the principle of maintaining taxes at a low figure should be in any degree infringed. That is the policy which, for more than twenty years, has been adopted in Egypt and for some seven years in the Soudan."
This sounds simple and obvious enough, yet we believe it contains the grand secret of government in the case of Orientals. To make men good subjects they must be con- tented ; but no Oriental will be contented merely because of roads, railways, and other public improvements, even though these in reality confer great benefits upon him. The one thing that he cares for, and in a sense is grateful for, is low taxation. Hence Lord Cromer has always insisted that as far as possible public expenditure should be kept low. He has never yielded to the fatal temptation of arguing that even if taxation is made high, the people cannot grumble when they receive all the benefits. If you give an Oriental population reforms and improvements, you may give them what is good for them, but you will not be giving them what they want. If you give them low taxation, you are certain to be giving them what they want, and what they understand. Another admir- able statement which may prove of use to administrators is to be found in the paragraphs that deal with the European Civil servants in Egypt, with the method of their selection, and with the salaries of such officials. In the first place, Lord Cromer has devised an excellent system for avoiding jobbery in appointments on the one hand, and the difficulties of pure competitive examination on the other. In regard to the question of salaries Lord Cromer follows in the steps of Lord Cornwallis. Lord. Cornwallis, it may be remembered, once told the Directors of the East India Company that they could get plenty of men to take the post of Governor-General of India for nothing, but that it would be extremely improvident of them to adopt such a course. It is in the spirit of this luciferous saying that Load Cromer handles the question of high salaries. Before we leave the subject of Lord. Cromer's Report we must find space for the very satisfactory passage in which he awards praise and credit to the young British ofOcers who have helped that able administrator, Sir Reginald Wingate, in the government of the Soudan :— "I am not called upon to discuss, and still less to defend, the British military system considered as a whole. But I wish to say something of the officers, and more especially of the young officers, with whom I am brought in contact, and of whose work, in anneal= with the civil affairs of the Soudan, I have had some special opportunities of judging. Nothing has struek me more than their versatility. The readiness with which they adapt
themselves to novel ideas and circumstances is remarkable It is generally found that the officer throws himself with whole- hearted zeal into the work which lies before him, whether it be military or civil. He identifies himself with the people over
whom he has to rule As for capacity for civil administra- tion, all I can say is that some of the most valuable suggestions which have been received about such matters as land settlement, agricultural loans, &c., in the Soudan, have emanated from officers who but a short time before were performing purely military duties.
I doubt if any country in the world can dispose of agents who are their equals. They certainly cannot find their superiors. All they require, to supplement any want of knowledge or experience on their part, is technical advice on professional subjects, and a little friendly guidance on matters of principle from some superior civilian authority. When once they are taken away from the routine of the barrack-yard, given some interesting work to perform, made responsible for the proper performance of that work, and left a good deal to themselves, they speedily develop that power of government which, I trust I may be allowed to say without incurring a charge of undue national pride, is the prerogative of their Imperial race."
That Lord Cromer's experience is in no way exceptional we have not a doubt. The material from which the British officer is manufactured is the best material in the nation,—the material which produces in the Law, in the Church, and in commerce keen, able men. If the British officer—though, in our opinion, his defects are greatly exaggerated—sometimes fails to do himself justice, the fault is not his, but that of the system under which he works. Lord Cromer's splendid tribute to the young British officer will, we trust, not only tend to encourage men who have to a very considerable extent been unfairly criticised, but also force the home authorities—on whom, after all, the main responsibility rests—to consider whether there is not something wrong in an organisation which is unable to get better results out of such good material.
We can only end as we began, by strongly urging any who are inclined to despair of the Empire, and to imagine that it cannot be maintained except under the principle of monopoly, to turn to Lord Cromer's Report. They must not, as we have said, expect to find strings Of abstract disquisitions on the art of government ; but if they will study it carefully, and note the spirit which inspires it, they cannot but rise from its perusal strengthened and vivified. They will realise that the carrying on of the work of Empire is consistent with the maintenance of liberal ideals—we use the word in the non- party sense—and that instead of injuring those ideals at home, the possession and development of an Empire governed on the principles of sane Imperialism will lend them support. Imperial duties and responsibilities, properly understood and carried out, serve as antiseptics in the body politic, and prevent the growth of that narrow and selfish materialism which, as history shows, is apt to overcome the moral force of small, populous, and wealthy States.
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