South Africa and the Transvaal war . , itmay be said to fill one with admiration and wonder. If one couldalways be sure of getting such a man as Joseph Chamberlain at theColonial Office, and such a man as Alfred Milner as High Commis-sioner, one would be strongly in favour of retaining permanently asmuch power as possible in the hands of the holders of these twooffices. But it is not possible to count upon a succession of suchministers. 11 is noteworthy, and I would especially emphasise the pointin view of what is to follow, that the appointment of Lord Milnerand Mr. Chamberlain to their respe
South Africa and the Transvaal war . , itmay be said to fill one with admiration and wonder. If one couldalways be sure of getting such a man as Joseph Chamberlain at theColonial Office, and such a man as Alfred Milner as High Commis-sioner, one would be strongly in favour of retaining permanently asmuch power as possible in the hands of the holders of these twooffices. But it is not possible to count upon a succession of suchministers. 11 is noteworthy, and I would especially emphasise the pointin view of what is to follow, that the appointment of Lord Milnerand Mr. Chamberlain to their respective offices may be said to havebeen in defiance of precedent. Since the institution of the ColonialSecretaryship half-a-century ago, ministers appointed to the officehave almost invariably been noblemen of little or no , Lord Milners earliest career was not official. He was quiteout of the groove in which the men who become colonial governorsusually run. It is regrettable, that the success of these two statesmen 80. Problems and Possibilities does not give the Government heart of L^race t(j put ajjpolntments inthe new colonies more lari^ely into the hands of men of provedinitiative and originaHty—men who have not had any good whichmay have been in theni strangled by red tape and lUimmery in thepublic offices. The complaint as to the appointments made in theTransvaal—appointments of untried striplings and callow fledglingsfrom the universities, is doubtless exaggerated ; but it is well toremember that putting power into the hands of the curled darlingsof the nation was one of the chief causes, among many contributorycauses, of the failure of Sir Theophilus Shepstones policy ; thereason why the annexation of the Transvaal, with the tacit consentand approval of the majority of its people, was subsequentlyrepudiated by them. However that may be, it is extremely regrettable that a country,possessing so many good men, men in every way indicated by theirabilities
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