As to the future settlement Mr. Chamberlain was quite clear.
There will be a period of military rule, then a Crown Colony organisation, and then, as soon as possible, self- government. We do not agree with those who think that there should be no Crown Colony period, but that the mili- tary Government should last till self-government can be established, for a military Government is too primitive and too much wanting in elasticity. What we are anxious about is that the Crown Colony period should not be unduly prolonged, and that our administrators should not, owing to the fear of taking responsibility, ignore the fact that self-government is the greatest of political anodynes. Nothing shows this better than what has happened at the Cape. It was not the fear of the soldiers, or even the sense of loyalty to the Crown, which in the last resort kept the Dutch in the Cape, except on the border, from rising, but the possession of Parliamentary self-government. However, we do not greatly fear that the
late Republics will be for an unduly long period deprived of self-government. Very soon the British element in the Transvaal will unanimously ask for the Natal Constitution, and when they do they will have it.
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