Science in Public Affairs 



been made, has so many ramifications that a con- 

 densed description would necessarily fail to do 

 justice to it. 



A more scientific spirit is now also apparent in 

 matters of sanitation and health in the tropical 

 colonies, which is largely due to the efforts of Sir 

 Patrick Manson and Major Ronald Ross. No 

 doubt, very much still remains to be done, and 

 Great Britain can point to no achievement such 

 as that of the Americans, who cleared yellow fever, 

 malaria, and mosquitoes out of Havana, and claim 

 to have been equally successful along the route 

 of the Panama canal. But Sir William Macgregor 

 worked wonders in Lagos, and good results have 

 been obtained in the Federated Malay States and 

 Hongkong. 1 Moreover, in the estimates for 1905-6 

 there appears for the first time a grant of ^500 

 for the investigation of malaria in the exchequer- 

 aided colonies and protectorates. 



Where the importance of such matters is im- 

 perfectly realised, the blame attaches largely to 

 the system under which the higher officials are 

 appointed. Competitive cadetships have been 

 established in Ceylon, Hongkong, the Straits 

 Settlements, and the Federated Malay States, with 

 a view to training up officers to fill eventually the 

 most important posts in those colonies and states. 

 And these eastern places are certainly those in 

 which the Colonial Civil Service is the most effi- 

 cient. If the juniors have no special knowledge 



1 Cf. Major Ronald Ross : " Malaria and a Moral," University 

 Review, May 1905. 



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