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SIR CHARLES BRUCE, G.C.M.G., ON 



Discussion. 



The Chairman said : I am sorry that Lord Halsbury* was unable 

 to return in time to thank Sir Charles Bruce for his admirable paper. 

 I venture to think that when the Volume of Transactions of the 

 Institute comes to be printed no paper will be found in it of more 

 general interest and value than this. One of the most remarkable 

 things in it is the evidence that it gives that Sir Charles, among the 

 manifold duties of his office of Governor of Mauritius, has yet found 

 time to study the broad questions with which he deals so wisely. 

 His was clearly not a post of idleness and retirement. 



I will not presume to follow him in the capacity of critic, but I 

 should like to say a few words on some of the points raised. 



(1) Foreign Policy: — It is clear that this must always lie with the 

 Central Authority ; it would be impossible for every colony to have 

 its own, I refer to such subjects as the denial of the rights of 

 British citizenship to the coloured races who are members of the 

 British Empire and subjects of the same King. The treatment of 

 Indians in South Africa, and of the yellow races in Canada are cases 

 in point. There is a tendency to treat these as " aliens " and to 

 exclude them from their rights in the colonies on various pretexts. 



(2) Transport : — In the colony I had the honour to govern there 

 was not even a direct postal line of communication with the 

 principal port. The only line was American, or by one indirect. 

 Products which should have reached England if there had been 

 direct British means of communication were diverted elsewhere. The 

 evil is that if the mother country does not help, the colonies 

 naturally turn elsewhere and form relations which are difficult ever 

 to undo. (3) Defence : — This I recognise as most difficult. The 

 colonies are so widely scattered that effective co-operation is almost 

 impossible. It is only by free consultation and in a spirit of real 

 sympathy amongst all the colonies concerned that the problem can 

 be solved. There must be the concurrence and co-operation of all 

 when any one is attacked. As far as Lord Morley is concerned, all 



* Lord Halsbury, the President, who had attended the meeting of the 

 'Council just before this meeting, had expressed his intention if possible 

 of returning from another engagement in order to hear the close of 

 .Sir Charles Bruce's address. 



