Page:The empire and the century.djvu/930

 It may be said that there is now in London a school, founded in recent times, with the declared object 'to organize, promote, and supply liberal courses of education specially adapted to the needs of persons who are, or who intend to be, engaged in any kind of administration, including the service of any Government.' The object is admirable, but the Governors of the London School of Economics would hardly suggest that they are yet able to offer to students a liberal course of education in the art of administration, and no qualification in that subject is required by the Civil Service Commissioners in their examination of candidates for the Home, the Indian, or the Colonial services.

This is not the place to describe the constitution of the Crown Colonies, but everyone knows that a Governor, appointed by the Crown, is directly responsible for the administration of his charge. The Governor is subject to the authority of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, with whom he is in constant correspondence on every subject of importance, and sometimes on matters of apparently trifling detail The ultimate authority, the final court of appeal, in executive matters, is Downing Street. It may be questioned whether the British people realize how admirably the work of the Colonial Office is done, how efficient is the staff of that department of the public service, and how much of the efficiency is due to the great qualities and the businesslike methods of Mr. Chamberlain, who, during the eight years that he was Colonial Secretary, won for his office the admiration and respect of the Colonies to a degree never known before. The striking characteristics of the work done in Downing Street in its connection with the Crown Colonies are the patient care with which each question is examined and the anxiety to be just in every case, however great or however small the issue. Mr. Chamberlain introduced a readiness to encourage promising proposals, and to support distant workers in their efforts to advance British interests, even when those efforts met with opposition or complaint