166 
A COLONY IN THE MAKING 
CHAP. 
knew, as I did, that I should want labour. Now I ask 
you to help me get it.” And thirdly, we have the view 
of the native himself. What that view is it would 
take a wise man indeed to discover. 
Now, of course, speaking as a settler, I am pre¬ 
judiced. I hold most strongly the second view. I 
cannot argue with the native and therefore I must do 
so with the humanitarian, and to him I will put the 
following points :— 
It is generally conceded that when we take over 
the government of an erstwhile savage State we confer 
a benefit. Any missionary will tell you that! And the 
man who has the votes will probably agree with him. 
We give peace where war was. We give justice 
where injustice ruled. We give law and order where 
the only law was the law of strength. We give 
Christianity, or a chance of it, where Paganism ruled. 
Whether the native looks on it in that light is another 
matter. I am afraid that possibly he doesn’t as yet 
truly appreciate his benefits. Even in Uganda, where 
evidences of present prosperity jostle with the patent 
mutilations of the past; where the native, minus a 
hand or an ear severed by the order of his late 
sovereign, rides on the bicycle obtained through the 
missionary, I fear that a huge majority would, given a 
chance, vote for a return to past conditions. But, 
sir—the personal predilection of .the savage is nothing 
to us, we stand by the deeds and opinions of missionary 
and Government. We have conferred a benefit on 
the native, now what is he going to do in return ? 
The wishes of the People in England, as interpreted 
by Parliament and instructed by Government, have 
laid down that the native is not to be forced to work 
against his will—to do so would, in their opinion, 
