PROBLEMS OF COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION 409 



races with whom we come in contact. The ethnological survey is the 

 most important part of colonial administration. We must learn to 

 respect the psychological and social character of the people with 

 whom we have to deal, respect it sufficiently at least to become 

 acquainted with it, to study it carefully, and to analyze its elements. 1 

 When we consider the difference between the highly trained, indus- 

 trious, peaceable, frugal Chinese and the shiftless, indolent Malays; 

 between the dreamy, philosophical Burmans and the warlike, 

 laborious tribes of Central India; between the fellaheen of Egypt, 

 the Moors of Algeria, and the multitude of negro races in Central 

 and Southern Africa; the very idea that one set of institutions, one 

 form of social practice, could be applicable to all these multiform 

 societies, would seem the result of pure ignorance. What the colo- 

 nial administrator needs above all else is imagination. Not the 

 abstract imagination which would create an artificial system, but 

 the reconstructive imagination which is able to understand the 

 social conditions of an alien population. In colonial affairs we are in 

 need more of the sense of justice than of benevolence. 2 Nothing is 

 more dangerous than an active benevolence without a proper know- 

 ledge of the civilizations with which it interferes. But the sense of 

 justice which accords them a certain right to live, which agrees that 

 there may be a justification for divergence from our standards, is 

 absolutely essential for lasting results in colonial administration. 

 Native societies themselves desire justice rather than benevolent 

 interference, and appreciate far more a ruler who respects their cus- 

 toms while governing them with a strong hand, than one who, under 

 the claim of humanity and benevolence, meddles with their every 

 social arrangement and institution. 



But, \ve may well ask, if we are not to use our civilization as a 

 criterion for our colonial activities, how shall we be guided in the 

 construction of a colonial policy? Are we to follow simply the most 

 material needs of our commerce and industry, and, totally disre- 

 garding the higher civilization of the natives, allow them to shift for 

 themselves; or is there some way in which we can understand the 

 needs of their own civilizations and assist them in realizing their 

 destiny? The simplest answer, and one that appeals to many 

 minds, is that we should let all these alien societies alone, and allow 

 them to develop unhindered, because no nation has the right to regard 

 itself as a providence for the social regeneration of other races. But 

 when we consider that we have actually become responsible for the 

 destiny of great multitudes of people, and that this responsibility 



1 The most successful investigation into the psychology of native populations 

 has been carried on by the ethnological department of the Dutch colonial gov- 

 ernment under the councilor on native affairs, Mr. Snouck-Hurgronje. 



2 It is an Arab proverb that one day of justice is better than seventy years of 

 prayer. 



