THE EUROPEAN SETTLERS 
■83 
this wealth and bring it to the market, and the European on the other hand 
will be enriched by this enterprise. But Central Africa is probably as remote 
from self government or representative institutions as is the case with India. 
It can only be administered under the benevolent despotism of the Imperial 
•Government, though in the future and developed administration there is no 
reason to suppose that black men may not serve as officials in common with 
white men and with yellow men, just as there are Negro officials in the adminis¬ 
tration of the West xWrican colonies, and Malay officials in the Government of 
the Straits Settlements. 
It must not be supposed that the Administration of British Central Africa 
has always had, or will always command the unhesitating support of the white 
settlers now in the country. It sometimes seems to me that the bulk of these 
sturdy pioneers (excellent though the results of their work have been in develop¬ 
ing the resources of the country) would, if allowed to govern this land in their 
•own way, use their power too selfishly in the interests of the white man. This 
I find to be the tendency everywhere where the governing white men are not 
wholly disinterested, are not, that is to say, paid to see fair play. From time to 
time a planter rises up to object to the natives being allowed to plant coffee, in 
case they should come into competition with him, or urges the Administration 
to use its power despotically to compel a black man to work for wages whether 
he will or not. 
The ideal of the average European trader and planter in Tropical Africa 
would be a country where the black millions toil unremittingly for the benefit of 
the white man. They would see that the negroes were well fed and not treated 
with harshness, but anything like free will as to whether they went to work 
or not, or any attempt at competing with the white man as regards education or 
skilled labour would not be tolerated. 
As a set off against this extreme is the almost equally unreasonable opinion 
entertained by the missionaries of a now fast-disappearing type, that Tropical 
Africa was to be developed with English money and at the cost of English 
lives, solely and only for the benefit of the black man, who, as in many mission 
stations, was to lead an agreeably idle life, receiving food and clothes gratis, and 
not being required to do much in exchange but make a more or less hypocritical 
profession of Christianity. This mawkish sentiment, however, no longer holds 
the field, and there is scarcely a mission in Nyasaland which does not inculcate 
among its pupils the stern necessity of work in all sections of humanity. The 
great service that Christian missions have rendered to Africa has been to act as 
the counterpoise to the possibly selfish policy of the irresponsible white pioneer, 
in whose eyes the native was merely a chattel, a more or less useful animal, 
but with no rights and very little feeling. 
It is the mission of an impartial administration to adopt a mean course 
between the extreme of sentiment and the extreme of selfishness. It must 
realise that but for the enterprise and capital of these much-criticised, rough 
and ready pioneers Central Africa would be of no value and the natives 
would receive no payment for the products of their land, would, in fact, 
relapse into their almost ape-like existence of fighting, feeding and breeding. 
Therefore due encouragement must be shown to European planters, traders 
and miners, whose presence in the country is the figure before the ciphers. 
Yet, it must be borne in mind that the negro is a man, with a man’s rights ; 
above all, that he was the owner of the country before we came, and deserves, 
nay, is entitled to, a share in the land, commensurate with his needs and 
