LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM IN THE TRANSVAAL AND ORANGE RIVER COLONIES.

pro TIM EDITOR OP P115 ..sraersrea."1 Sr,—In view of the approaching meeting of Parliament, it may be perhaps not inappropriate to express the hope that his Majesty's gracious Speech from the Throne will contain a scheme of modified administrative reform for the Transvaal and Orange River Colonies. It is not my purpose in this letter to criticise or reflect on Lord Milner's administration.' I do not disguise for a moment that I am not in agreement' with the policy which preceded the outbreak of hostilities between this country and the Dutch Republics ; in fact, I fought two contested elections within a few months on that issue. I may, however, incidentally say, in this connection, that I have always pictured to myself two Lord Milners,— the Lord Milner of the Bloemfontein Conference, and the. Lord Milner who since the Vereeniging Conference has directed his brilliant administrative ability to evolving order out of the chaos and desolation created by the war, a task of unparalleled magnitude.

On my return from South Africa, where I had some opportunity of observing Lord Miler's efforts and appreciating the difficulties which confronted him, I felt bound in common fairness to bear humble testimony in the House of Commons to his single-minded work. However much some of us may differ from Lord Milner, it should at least be remembered that his policy is of necessity in- separable from that of the Administration who appointed him, and with whom ultimate responsibility rests. I feel that it will be a bad day for this country when our Pro- consuls who govern the diverse races inhabiting the enormous area of the British Empire in themselves provide food and sustenance for the insatiable appetite of conflicting platform politicians. However distinct may be the cleavage which divides parties, let us at any rate accord generous indulgence to those great public servants who under most trying condi- tions, which are often but little understood in this country, devotedly perform their duty to the State, and uphold that prestige which enables these islands to rule four hundred million people. Do not let us too closely rake in the ashes of the past in South Africa : let us rather, as practical men, consider the problems of the present, which in all conscience are formidable beyond conception.

My principal reason, then, in venturing to occupy your valuable space is to win, if possible, your powerful support for my con- tention that the hour is ripe for substituting for the pure Crown Colony system, under which the annexed provinces are to-day governed, the form of administration which prevails in Barbadoes. I intervene in this matter because it is currently reported that Mr. Ly-ttelton has in contemplation the form of government which Jamaica and certain other Crown Colonies unhappily enjoy. I have seen the latter system at work, the underlying principle of which consists in a composite Council containing the very essentials of friction,—viz., members nominated by the Crown, and members elected by the people, sitting together ; the nomi- nated ready, at the bidding of their superiors, to whom they owe place and office, subserviently to vote down the elected minority. It would fare ill with them if they did otherwise.

Many of your readers are no doubt familiar with the discontent and bad blood, not infrequently culminating in actual riot,

which this absurd Constitution o even amongst the negro population of the West Indies. ihave many times witnessed the nominated and elected members " glowering " at each other across the table in the Council Chamber, and can confidently assert that the surcharged atmosphere which is present from the moment of the openinc, of the Assembly not infrequently ends in combustion and "deadlock," accompanied accordingly by the inevitable intervention of Downing Street, which but adds fresh fuel to the already grave disquietude and unrest.

Surely a similar procedure is not exactly calculated to promote peace and confidence in our new dependencies ! On the contrary, it may conceivably have the disconcerting, but not illogical, result of uniting the white races in common antagonism to the Mother- country, and the fears, therefore, of Mr. Rhodes concerning the danger of a neighbouring cosmopolitan Republic containing, in addition to its colossal natural resources, acute brains from Africa, Europe, and America may not be beyond the bounds of forcible realisation. At any rate, let it be admitted that a farcical Constitution of this nature will set independent minds thinking.

. I do not presume to put forward the principle of the Barbadoes Constitution as a final or perfect solution ; I merely venture to Advance the proposition on the following grounds :— , (1) That the time has arrived when benevolent despotism,! however well-intentioned, should cease, in view of the growing

desire of Britishers and Dutch to take an active part in the government of their own country, the continued denial of which is, in my humble judgment, fraught with danger to the British connection.

(2) A composite Council of the Jamaican brand has been proved in practice to be a farce and a delusion, and infinitely more unsatisfactory than the system at present in vogue in the Trans- vaal, which, whatever be its shortcomings, is an honest and straightforward dictatorship. (3) The Barbadoes Administration comprises a wholly elected Assembly, the Governor, the nominee of Downing Street, retaining modified control by means of an Executive Department, on which the House of Assembly is represented through certain of its Members delegated for that purpose. This Executive body intro- duces all money votes, prepares the Estimates, and initiates all Government measures.

It is obvious, therefore, that the Executive Government must in a large measure be influenced in its legislative proposals by

the knowledge of the fact that there will be public discussion thereon by a freely elected House. This alone must necessarily be advantageous to the country from every point of view. More-

over, I would urge that, in order to safeguard the Executive,

which is, after all, a semi-official authority, from capricious action on the part of the Assembly, at least a two-thirds majority of the

House should be necessary to stop money supplies, such a majority implying that there must be something radically wrong in the Government's financial proposals to bring about so strong a combination.

Further, I believe that such a Chamber would provide an adequate safety-valve, and that its debates would prove of in- valuable guidance to public opinion in this country. If, for example, an elected Chamber, even under the administrative restrictions which I have mentioned, had been in Session at Pretoria during the last few months, Transvaal public opinion could have made itself heard through recognised constitutional channels in relation to the vexed question of Chinese labour.

What a commotion would have been saved thereby in this country ! Again, I beg to submit that the Boers, who have reasonable ground for holding aloof from the Council as at present constituted, and likewise from a Council of the Jamaican pattern, would have no excuse for abstention from a freely elected Assembly.

In the event of a Constitution on the Barbadoes precedent being established, it should be made incontestably clear that this form of administration is but a stepping-stone to early and com- plete self-government.

May I add that, as one who has been present at the debates in the Cape House, and has attempted to tap varied sources of information regarding Cape and South African politics generally, I frankly confess I have less fear of the Dutchman "under commando" than of the Parliamentary capacity, adroitness, and intellectual equipment of the leaders of Dutch opinion, particu- larly in Cape Colony, when employed in anti-British agitation ? Dutch machinations in the South invariably reflect to our dis- advantage in the North. A combination of "brain and rifle" has within recent memory held up the British Empire for three years at a cost of £250,000,000, and at the price of intolerable war taxation which still presses sorely on the nation. Let us be careful to learn some lessons from the past. I venture, therefore, with great diffidence, to suggest an inter- mediate administration in the territories of the North, in which both British and Dutch can take an honourable part,—a form of government which, while encouraging the ventilation of just grievances and the advocacy of legitimate aspirations, in which both races have a common interest, will kill the intrigue of the astute Dutch politician of the South, and pave the way to the creation of unfettered self-governing institutions and the ultimate unification of all South African States and Protectorates under a Commonwealth Federal Government of the type which in Australia and the Dominion of Canada is emblematical of the highest liberty and loyal partnership in the community of nations owning allegiance to Edward VII.

In South Africa the task of healing the wounds opened by the war is well-nigh superhuman, and appears almost impossible of achievement, unless, indeed, politicians in this country are content for a time to liberate that distracted land from the clang of party controversy, and to permit the statesman, whatever be his political complexion, to bear his responsibilities untrammelled until a brighter dawn breaks.

—I am, Sir, Ste., ALEXANDER 0. MURRAY,

Master of Elibank.